Frozen is set to open March 18 for a run through April 10 at the East 13th Street Theatre.
The Manhattan Class Company — better known by its abbreviated moniker MCC — brings the work to New York for its American premiere, following its debut at London's Royal National Theater.
Frozen connects the lives of three strangers involved in a child's disappearance. Doug Hughes — who directed last season's MCC staging of Scattergood — directs.
Kurtz made a cameo appearance (via film) in MCC's staging of Kate Robin's Intrigue With Faye last season. Her last stint on Broadway was in the Nora Ephron play with music Imaginary Friends in which she played literary diva Lillian Hellman. She was also set to star as another famous author, Jacqueline Susann, in the long-Broadway-bound production of Paper Doll which was postponed. She has won Tony Awards for her turns in Fifth of July and The House of Blue Leaves. Kurtz is also known for her film roles in "The World According to Garp," "Against All Odds," "Dangerous Liaisons" and on television's "Sisters."
O'Byrne starred in the original productions of Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Skull in Connemara and The Lonesome West, as well as the Broadway stagings of the first and latter, which earned him his Tony nods. Other stage credits include The Sisters Rosensweig, Hapgood, Seconds Out and Smelling a Rat. Robins has been a regular at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey for each of the last seven seasons, in such works as Three Sisters, Arms and the Man and Twelfth Night. On Broadway, she was seen in The Herbal Bed and The Real Thing and Off-Broadway in Tiny Alice and Mrs. Klein.
The design team for Frozen includes Hugh Landwehr (set), Catherine Zuber (costume), Clifton Taylor (lighting), Angelina Avallone (make-up and tattoo) and David Van Tieghem (sound) — who also provides original music. Rick Sordelet handles fight direction and Stephen Gabis serves as dialect coach.
Playwright Bryony Lavery, director Doug Hughes and the cast will join special guests playwrights John Guare and Wendy Wasserstein in MCC's Tuesday TalkBack Series where the artists discuss the show, themes and various topics. Audience members will be invited to ask questions at the events which follow the 7 PM performances. (Guests and topics are subject to change; check the website for updated info.)
MCC's new three-play season began with Eric Coble's Bright Ideas directed by John Rando (Urinetown, Polish Joke). The American premiere of Neil LaBute's The Distance From Here will follow Frozen, opening May 5 at The Duke on 42nd Street under the direction of Michael Greif (Rent, Never Gonna Dance).
For tickets to Frozen at the East 13th Street Theatre, 136 East 13 St. (between Third and Fourth Ave.), call (212) 279-4200. For more information on MCC, visit www.mcctheater.com.
