Despite a previously announced extension, Nicky Silver's The Altruists will close at Off-Broadway's Vineyard Theatre April 1 as originally planned. The reason? Several actors -- including star Veanne Cox -- are taking television gigs. Cox just landed a new Warner Brothers series, while two of her co-horts on the show will find themselves guest spotting in TV-land.
Performances of Altruists began Feb. 17 with an opening March 6. Regular Silver-helmer David Warren directs.
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Cox was Tony-nominated as Amy, the harried bride-to-be in the Roundabout revival of Company. Other credits include the Vineyard's Flora, the Red Menace, The Batting Cage, The Waiting Room and Bodoni County.
Sam Robards co-stars with Cox. He can currently be seen as Jim, one of the gay neighbors inhabiting Kevin Spacey's subdivision in the Academy Award nominated "American Beauty." Off-Broadway he appeared in Roundabout's Misalliance and Second Stage's Moonchildren. Also in the cast are Joey Slotnick ("The Single Guy"), Kali Rocha (The Ride Down Mt. Morgan) and Eddie Cahill.
The Altruists, set among an eccentric group of New York do-gooders whose politics don't quite match their lives, pokes fun at leftists, fascists, sexists, ageists, racists and every other -ist and -ism movement in today's world. Five of Silver's plays have received world premieres at the Vineyard: Pterodactyls, Raised in Captivity, The Maiden's Prayer, The Eros Trilogy and My Marriage to Ernest Borgnine.
Designing the show are Neil Patel (sets), Teresa Snider-Stein (costumes), Ken Posner (lighting) and John Grimada (sound and original music).
Tickets are $40. The Vineyard Theatre is located at 108 East 15th Street. For tickets, call (212) 353-0303.
-- By Christine Ehren
