Marcy in the Galaxy — billed as "a humorous and poignant musical glimpse at what happens when dreams of being a New York artist take longer to come true than planned" — has book, music, and lyrics by Nancy Shayne, based on a story by Shayne and Michael Patrick King.

Transport Group artistic director Jack Cummings III directs. Opening is April 6.

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According to Transport Group, "At mid-life, Marcy finds herself alone in the Galaxy Diner — out of money and almost out of hope — in this darkly comic romp through dreams, disappointment, family, first love, and absolutely delicious diner desserts."

Champlin is an Obie Award winner for Transport Group's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and appeared in Broadway's Sweeney Todd and Hollywood Arms. The cast of Marcy in the Galaxy also includes Teri Ralston (original Broadway casts of Stephen Sondheim's Company and A Little Night Music); Janet Carroll (Broadway's Little Women, TV's "Murphy Brown"); Mary-Pat Green (original Broadway cast of Sweeney Todd); Jenny Fellner (Transport Group's Crossing Brooklyn and Broadway's Mamma Mia!); and Jonathan Hammond (Transport Group's The Audience and the national tour of The Light in the Piazza).

Transport Group, which presents at 220 East 4th Street (between Avenues A and B) in the East Village, is the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and a 2007 Obie Award.

Writer Shayne's credits include The Audience (Transport Group, contributed story, music and lyrics); Two Bitter Women in a Coffee Shop (book, music and lyrics, HBO Comedy Festival, directed by Michael Patrick King); "Roseanne's Saturday Night Special" (Fox TV, writer, music and lyrics); "Sex and The City" (seasons five and six, incidental music, lyrics); music for Jerry Stiller's Grammy-nominated audio book "Married to Laughter" (Random House Audio) and more.

Shayne is a founder, along with Lavinia Moyer and Divina Cook, of the now-defunct Attic Theatre in Detroit.

The set design is by Sandra Goldmark; the costume design is by Kathryn Rohe; the lighting design is by R. Lee Kennedy (Drama Desk nominee for The Audience); the sound design is by Michael Rasbury; musical direction, arrangements and orchestrations are by Mark Berman (Broadway's The Boy From Oz); dramaturgy is by Adam R. Perlman; production stage manager is Wendy Patten.

Marcy in the Galaxy plays Thursday through Saturday and Monday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM through April 20. There is only one performance on March 29.

The evening performance on April 5 is at 7 PM. There are added performances on March 30 at 7 PM and April 2 at 8 PM.

Tickets are $38 and are available at www.transportgroup.org or by phoning (212) 352-3101; $10 rush tickets are available to students one hour prior to curtain.

For more information about Transport Group and Marcy in the Galaxy, visit www.transportgroup.org.

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Founded in 2001, Transport Group, under the leadership of Jack Cummings III, artistic director, and Lori Finerman, executive director, is a not-for-profit theatre company that develops and produces work by American playwrights and composers with the aim of exploring the American consciousness in the 20th and 21st centuries. Transport Group presented its premiere production in 2002: Thornton Wilder's Our Town, which featured older actors in the roles of Emily and George and a 12-year-old girl as the Stage Manager. Its second production, Requiem for William, an evening of seven seldom produced plays by William Inge, that featured a cast of 26 as well as original songs, premiered in 2003. In 2004 the company presented the first New York revival of Michael John LaChiusa's First Lady Suite, which received rave reviews, played to sold-out houses, and earned two Drama Desk Award nominations including outstanding revival of a musical. Recent productions include the world premiere of the musical The Audience, which featured a cast of 46 actors and earned three Drama Desk Award nominations, including outstanding musical; Normal, a new musical about a mother's battle to save her daughter from anorexia; cul-de-sac, a new play by Tony Award nominee John Cariani; the first New York revival of Tad Mosel's Pulitzer Prize play, All the Way Home; the 50th anniversary, Obie-winning production of William Inge's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and the world premiere musical Crossing Brooklyn. Transport Group is the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award for its "breadth of vision and its presentation of challenging productions."