On May 19 at 4 PM, at the 15th and final offering in the Public Theatre's third annual "New York Now!" festival, Tony winner Mandy Patinkin will topline a musical work-in-progress from the songwriter and director of last years much applauded Floyd Collins, Adam Guettel and Tina Landau.
Myths and Hymns is the title of the piece, and, true to its name, it employs ancient Greek myths and Protestant hymn-texts as a jumping-off point to explore new musical territory. Guettel calls it an oratorio or a song cycle.
The author and Patinkin constitute two-fifths of the cast. They will be joined on stage by Billy Porter of Grease!, Terry McCarthy of Floyd Collins and Lynette DuPre, Ann Duquesnay's current standby in Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk,. Ted Sperling will serve as the show's musical director.
Monday's one-time-only reading is sold out, but a "wish list" is being kept.
Myths and Hymns was originally done July 26, 1996, in North Hampton, MA, produced by the New Lyrical Festival and Institution founded by Wiley Hausam.-- By Harry Haun