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By Ernio Hernandez
13 Jan 2004

Charles Durning

Charles Durning begins his turn as the final performer to take on the title role in Christopher Trumbo's homage Trumbo, Jan. 13-18 at the Westside Theatre.

Durning recently starred in the Charles Nelson Reilly-directed staging of Harvey. Other credits include The Gin Game, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Inherit the Wind, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and That Championship Season.

Christopher Trumbo, son of the work's focal character, culled the play from the letters of the legendary blacklisted screenwriter. Trumbo tells the story of one of the "Hollywood Ten" who went before the House Un-American Activities Committee. After refusing to answer questions about his political affiliations, Trumbo was fired from MGM and imprisoned for a year. Peter Askin (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Sexaholix... a love story) directs.

The show recently announced its official closing of Jan. 18. The production will have played 10 previews and 168 regular performances by the end of its new run.

Trumbo, which originally played Monday evenings only for a run March 31-June 16, continued its rotating cast structure at the Westside Theatre for its current Tuesdays-to-Sundays run, which opened Sept. 4, 2003, at the theatre.

Nathan Lane began the official run in the title role with successive stints featuring F. Murray Abraham, Brian Dennehy, Gore Vidal, Richard Dreyfuss, Roger Rees, Robert Loggia, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Richards and Chris Cooper. Gordon McDonald has played in the show's other role of Narrator/Christopher.

The play's focus, Trumbo, wrote such screenplays as "The Brave One," "Exodus," "Spartacus," "Roman Holiday," and "Papillon" as well as the novel "Johnny Got His Gun."

For tickets to the new run of Trumbo, at the Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St., call (212) 239-6200 or click here.

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