Manhattan Theatre Club to Premiere New Plays by Elaine May and Charles Busch in 2004-05
By Kenneth Jones
27 May 2004
Elaine May's new work, After the Night and the Music, will make its world premiere at Broadway's Biltmore Theatre in spring 2005 in a Manhattan Theatre Club staging.
Daniel Sullivan (MTC's Proof and Sight Unseen) will direct the piece by actress, director, screenwriter and playwright May, who penned Adult Entertainment, Taller Than a Dwarf, "The Birdcage," "Primary Colors," "A New Leaf" and more.
Apparently referencing the song "You and the Night and the Music," the new work will open May 19, 2005, and be the third production at the MTC Biltmore in a 2004-05 season that also includes Craig Lucas' Reckless directed by Mark Brokaw (opening Oct. 14 after previews begin Sept. 22) and Donald Margulies' Brooklyn Boy directed by Daniel Sullivan (opening Feb. 3, 2005).
The world premiere of Charles Busch's new comedy, Our Leading Lady, at MTC's Stage I Off-Broadway at City Center, reunites the playwright with MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow, who staged his MTC hit, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife. The new play, a touching and comic valentine to the theatre, focuses on 19th century actress Laura Keene and the troupe of actors who are putting on Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater the night President Abraham Lincoln is to attend. Opening is set for March 8, 2005.
As previously reported, Patrick Shanley's Doubt, about a Bronx Catholic school in the 1960s, is to open the Stage I season in a production directed by Doug Hughes. It opens Nov. 22.
Under consideration for Stage II are Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso and Nilo Cruz's Beauty of the Father.
The Reckless revival, starring Mary-Louise Parker, is a co-production with Second Stage. Brooklyn Boy is a co-production with South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA, where it begins Sept. 3-Oct. 10. Here's how SCR bills the Margulies play: "Everyone knows fame can be bad for you. But this bad? When Eric Weiss finally gets a novel on the best seller list, it's hard to celebrate. His marriage is threatening to unravel — again. His father is hospitalized, and his aunt tells him he should have worn a tie on 'Today.' Then Hollywood beckons. It looks like all that glitters really could be gold. But Eric has a lot to learn in this funny and emotionally satisfying look at family, friends and fame."
For more information, visit www.manhattantheatreclub.com.
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