Glover and Gets Open McNally's Lisbon Traviata in Washington, D.C. March 25

By Adam Hetrick
25 Mar 2010

Lisbon Traviata stars Malcolm Gets and John Glover
Lisbon Traviata stars Malcolm Gets and John Glover
Photo by Carol Rosegg

Terrence McNally's 1989 comic drama The Lisbon Traviata, starring Tony Award winner John Glover and Tony nominee Malcolm Gets, officially opens March 25 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Tony Award nominee Christopher Ashley (Memphis, Xanadu, Give It Up!) directs the play about romantic and operatic obsession, which began previews March 20 and will run through April 11.

The Lisbon Traviata is the second of McNally's plays to get underway as part of the Kennedy Center's Nights at the Opera series. The five-week celebration of McNally's work also includes the premiere of Golden Age (currently running) and Master Class, starring Tyne Daly (beginning March 25).

Glover, who earned a Tony Award for his work in McNally's Love! Valour Compassion!, stars as opera queen Mendy, with Gets (The Story of My Life, A New Brain) as Stephen. The cast also features Chris Hartl (Primrose, Nicholas Nickleby) as Paul and Manu Narayan (Bombay Dreams) as Mike.

According to press notes, "The Lisbon Traviata places the two faces of classic theater, comedy and tragedy, in stark relief. Stephen especially adores Maria Callas and dishing the latest gossip with his best friend, Mendy, a wildly flamboyant and catty opera queen. They talk late into the night in an attempt to distract Stephen from his unraveling relationship with his partner. When Stephen returns home to confront his lover, a tragedy erupts on the scale of a grand opera."

The production has set design by Derek McLane, costume design by David Woolard, lighting design by Philip S. Rosenberg and sound design by John Gromada.

McNally earned Tony Awards for his plays Master Class and Love! Valour! Compassion!, as well as the books to the musicals Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime. His works also include The Ritz; Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Deuce; Some Men; Corpus Christi; Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams; The Lisbon Traviata; The Rink; A Man of No Importance; and The Full Monty. A Broadway revival of Lips Together, Teeth Apart will open in April.

For tickets phone (202) 467-4600 or visit Kennedy-Center.