New York City Center Stage II will serve as the new home for the famed Off-Broadway company. The Pearl will lease the space from Manhattan Theatre Club, which will continue to present its productions at its Broadway home (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre) and City Center Stage I. (The final Pearl offering at Theatre 80 in the East Village is Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré, which runs through June 14.)
The new season will launch Oct. 2 with J.M. Synge's The Playboy of the Western World under the direction of the Pearl's new artistic director, J.R. Sullivan.
Founding artistic director Shepard Sobel said in a statement, "Moving to Theatre 80 from our small theater in Chelsea in 1994 was a tremendous advantage to The Pearl. I know that our move to City Center will provide just as many opportunities for growth and change. While we are disappointed the East Village is losing a theatrical venue to commercial enterprise, we are thrilled to be moving to the theatre district to usher in this exciting new era of The Pearl in this vibrant new community."
The Pearl's 2009-2010 season follows: The Playboy of the Western World (Oct. 2-Nov. 22); Bernard Shaw's Misalliance (Dec. 4-Jan. 24, 2010); Charles Dickens' Hard Times, directed by J.R. Sullivan (Feb. 5-March 28, 2010); and Frank Gilroy's The Subject Was Roses (April 9-May 9, 2010).
The 2009-2010 resident acting company includes Jolly Abraham, Rachel Botchan, Robin Leslie Brown, Bradford Cover, Dominic Cuskern, Dan Daily, TJ Edwards, Robert Hock, Sean McNall, Carol Schultz and Edward Seamon. Tickets for the 2009-2010 Pearl season at City Center Stage II will go on sale Aug. 1. For tickets phone (212) 581-1212 or visit CityCenter.
For more information visit PearlTheatre.
