The 19th Century Russian classic, The Idiot, will get an updating for the 21st Century in the Theater for the New City's production beginning previews Dec. 28. Anatole Fourmantchouk adapted and directs The Idiot, which opens Jan. 6 for an open-ended run.

A modern continuation of the 1868 novel, this Idiot finds Prince Micy, a descendant of an ancient Russian family, in the city of New York prophesying for the dawn of a new millennium. The current society, not unlike our own, is obsessed with wealth, power and sex and finds this innocent prophet crazy, an idiot.

Stass Klassen stars as Micy. Also in the cast are Christopher Cartmill, Bill Green, David Greenwood, Ruth Kulerman, Marcus Powell, Alex Raben, James Rutigliano, Michael Graves, Sandra Trullinger and Cory Walter.

The Idiot is a production of the New York Art Theatre, a company dedicated, like the like-named Moscow branch, to long periods of workshop and rehearsal before a piece is presented. Productions have included Samuel Beckett's All That Fall, Eugene Ionesco's The Picture and an all male Romeo and Juliet. Fourmentchouk and Klassen began the company in 1994.

Tickets to The Idiot are $45 and available by calling Ticketmaster at (212) 307-4100. For other information, call (212) 684-8298. -- By Christine Ehren