Parker Posey Joins Cast of Off-Broadway Hurlyburly

By Andrew Gans
and Ernio Hernandez
27 Oct 2004

Parker Posey (right), with Eric Bogosian
Parker Posey (right), with Eric Bogosian
Photo by Aubrey Reuben

Actress Parker Posey, once named queen of the independent film by Time Magazine, has joined the cast of the upcoming Off-Broadway production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly.

The actress joins the previously announced Ethan Hawke, Wallace Shawn, Bobby Cannavale, Josh Hamilton and Catherine Kellner for the New Group's mounting of the David Rabe play.

New Group artistic director Scott Elliott (Aunt Dan and Lemon) will stage the work for his troupe at Theatre Row — where the company is in residence. The play will begin Jan. 10, 2005 and open Jan. 27 for a run through March 5, 2005.

The design team of Hurlyburly includes Derek McLane (sets), Jeff Mahshie (costumes), Jason Lyons (lights) and Ken Travis (sound).

Parker Posey co-starred in the Signature Theatre's 2002 production of Fifth of July. She also appeared in Broadway's Taller Than a Dwarf and the Los Angeles premiere of Four Dogs and a Bone. The actress is perhaps best known for her work in more than 50 films, including "Waiting for Guffman" and "A Mighty Wind."

Rabe's Los Angeles-set drama follows the lives of four men "caught in love hate relationships with Hollywood and women," according to a release. The play ran Off Broadway in 1984 with a cast that included William Hurt, Judith Ivey, Harvey Keitel, Cynthia Nixon, Ron Silver, Jerry Stiller and Sigourney Weaver. The work then transferred to Broadway garnering four Tony nominations (with one win for Ivey). Rabe later adapted it for the screen for the 1998 film starring Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Anna Paquin, Meg Ryan, Chazz Palminteri and Robin Wright Penn.

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John Cullum (Urinetown, Shenandoah) currently stars in The New Group presentation of Michael Murphy's Sin (A Cardinal Deposed) which will run through Dec. 4. The company will also co-present (with The Play Company) the American premiere of Sascha Dugdale translation of Vladimir and Oleg Presnyakov's Terrorism directed by James Lapine (Into The Woods, Fran's Bed).

The New Group season will play at Theatre Row, 410 West 42 St. For more information on The New Group, visit www.thenewgroup.org.