The New York premiere of David Lindsay-Abaire's comedy,Wonder of the World, with Sarah Jessica Parker playing a housewife who flees to Niagara Falls, begins Oct. 11, a couple days later than announced, at Manhattan Theatre Club.
Parker shares the stage with Marylouise Burke, Kristine Nielsen, Amy Sedaris, Alan Tudyk, Kevin Chamberlin and Bill Raymond. The slight delay beyond the announced first date of Oct. 9 is owing to lost production and rehearsal time in recent weeks.
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The Off-Broadway nonprofit, hot this past season with Broadway's Proof and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, will kick off the 2001-2002 season with Wonder, directed by Christopher Ashley. Previews begin Oct. 11 at MTC's Stage I at City Center. Opening is set for Nov. 1.
Wonder of the World had its world premiere May 22-July 16, 2000, by Washington DC's Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Lindsay-Abaire (2001 Kesselring Prize winner for Kimberly Akimbo) penned the offbeat comedy, Fuddy Meers, seen at MTC in late 1999 prior to a brief Off-Broadway commercial run in 2000. Parker ("Sex and the City," Sylvia, Once Upon a Mattress) will play Cass, a wife who leaves her husband in search of something better in Niagara Falls. Armed with a "to-do list" that includes "learn Swedish, eat venison, witness an execution, wear a large wig," Cass meets Lois, a suicidal alcoholic with a pickle barrel perfect for the falls. A romantic boat captain, a psychotic helicopter pilot and a bickering couple disguised as detectives were also part of the story's mix.
Designing Wonder are David Gallo (set), David C. Woolard (costumes), Ken Billington (lighting) and Mark Bennett (music & sound).
Lindsay-Abaire's other plays include A Devil Inside and The Kitchen Sink Drama. He is also working on a new play, Jiminy Christmas, a vehicle for comedian actress Janeane Garofalo.
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The 2001-2002 season also includes a virtual transfer of the recent summer LAByrinth Theatre staging of John Patrick Shanley's divorce comedy, Where's My Money?, on MTC's Stage II, beginning Oct. 16 and directed by the author; and Alan Ayckbourn's related in repertory plays, House (on Stage I) and Garden (on Stage II), beginning April 26, 2002 and opening May 21, 2002, under the direction of John Tillinger.
For MTC information, call (212) 399-3030 or visit ManhattanTheatreClub.com.
— By Kenneth Jones
