One-time fashion king Isaac Mizrahi’s solo show, Les MIZrahi, will conclude its extended run Off-Broadway on Dec. 16. The Drama Dept.'s first venture into cabaret began previews at the Greenwich House Theatre in Greenwich Village Oct. 5 for an opening Oct. 19.
Mizrahi, 38, was a reigning fashion designer throughout the '90s, prominent enough to become the subject of the successful 1995 documentary film, "Unzipped." In 1998, however, he closed his business.
Mizrahi not only sings and dances in the show but design the sets and costumes (something he has done before for the likes of Twyla Tharp and Mark Morris). He’s accompanied by the Ben Waltzer Trio, made up of Waltzer on piano, Nicolas Thys on bass and Joe Strasser on drums.
The design team includes Kirk Bookman (lights), Wendall K. Harrington (projections), Laura Brace Brown (sound) and Charles Atlas (video montage).
Next up for the Drama Dept. is the long-promised and still-unnamed new work by brother and sister theatre team of David and Amy Sedaris. At this point, the only things know about the project are that Amy will star and the four-week run will commence in mid-March. Other cast members, specific dates and play title are to be announced. Amy Sedaris recently appeared in the troupe's production of Beane's The Country Club. Brother David, meanwhile, is the comic author of such volumes as "Barrel Fever" and "Naked." Together, they operate as The Talent Family and have presented a series of satirical, sketch-like comedies such as One Woman Shoe and The Little Frieda Mysteries. Most of these shows were seen at La MaMa, but the Sedaris siblings appear to have found a new home at the Drama Dept.
* Other possibilities for The Drama Dept.'s upcoming season are new works by Douglas Carter Beane and Richard Greenberg. Two plays by Beane, who is the troupe's artistic director, have been Drama Dept. productions: As Bees in Honey Drown and The Country Club. His new work is a musical, The Big Time, written with Douglas Cohen, author of No Way to Treat a Lady.
Greenberg's new work, The Dazzle, directed by David Warren, is also expected to make the Dept. schedule. The play, about two brothers and a mysterious society woman, is currently being staged by New York Stage and Film at Vassar College, with a cast including Peter Frechette and Reg Rogers. Greenberg, an original member of the Dept., has yet to provide the company with a new play, although his one-act, The Author's Voice, was revived last season as part of a double bill.
—By Robert Simonson
