Drama Dept., a relatively new New York theatre company that made a splash June 1996 with its premiere production, Tennessee Williams' Kingdom Of Earth (an adaptation of The Seven Descents Of Myrtle, returns in January 1997 with June Moon, the 1929 George S. Kaufman and Ring Lardner comedy. Mark Nelson, who starred as Einstein in Off-Broadway's Picasso At The Lapin Agile, directs the show, which tells the story of a naive Tin Pan Alley songwriter who falls for a big city woman. Though a musical comedy, the show -- which opened scant weeks before the stock market crash -- has a dark undercurrent that foreshadowed the oncoming economic events of the 1930's.

Starring in June Moon will be Cynthia Nixon, who was also in Kingdom and has been seen on Broadway in Hurlyburly and Angels In America. Robert Joy (The Nerd, Shimada), Becky Ann Baker, Albert Macklin (NYSF's Dog Opera, Amy Hohn, Robert Ari (Laughter On The 23rd Floor), Peter Jacobson (Valiant Theatre Company's recent Rhinoceros) and Stacy Highsmith round out the cast.

For tickets ($12) and information on June Moon, which will open Jan. 8 and run to Jan. 19, 1997 at the Ohio Theatre on Wooster Street, call (212) 629-3014.

-- By David Lefkowitz