Huntington artistic director Peter DuBois will stage the play about a young bride who exchanges souls with a mysterious old man when he kisses her on her wedding day. Prelude will run May 14-June 13. An official opening has been set for May 19.
"When I began to work on the play, I was listening to a lot of Duke Ellington, and I thought that song had extra reverberations for my story – more than just the ones in connection with the big kiss in Act One; there are a lot of kisses in the play, and there’s an ultimate, metaphoric one...," Lucas said of his play in a statement.
Beck (The Norman Conquests on Broadway, A Prayer For My Enemy, The Drunken City) will star as the bride Rita, with Sgambati (The Coast of Utopia on Broadway, Frost/Nixon) as her husband Peter and Dixon (Broadway's Gypsy, Cyrano de Bergerac) as the Old Man.
The cast will also feature Nancy E. Carroll (Present Laughter), Michael Hammond (Long Day's Journey Into Night), Ken Cheeseman (All My Sons), Jason Bowen, Ted Hewlett, Timothy John Smith and Cheryl McMahon.
The Huntington bills Prelude this way: "Peter and Rita are two young, happy lovers who are getting married. On their wedding day, an old man comes up to kiss the bride. During this kiss, their souls exchange, and the young, beautiful woman Peter just married now houses the soul of an old man, leading to a breathtaking series of events that explores the enduring power of love and the nature of commitment, and asks how well can we ever know the ones we love." Prelude to a Kiss will have scenic design by Scott Bradley, costume design by Elizabeth Hope Clancy, lighting design by Japhy Weideman, and sound and original music by David Remedios.
Playwright Craig Lucas also received a Tony nomination for the book to the Tony-winning musical The Light in the Piazza. His plays include The Singing Forest, A Prayer for My Enemy, The Dying Gaul, Reckless, Small Tragedy, Missing Persons, Blue Window and Stranger.
Tickets are available by calling (617) 266-0800 or by visiting Huntington Theatre. The Huntington Theatre Company performs on the Boston University main stage, located at 264 Huntington Avenue in Boston, MA.
