It officially opened at the Promenade Theatre on Sept. 28 to largely negative reviews, after previews from Sept. 9. It will have played 21 previews and 21 regular performances.
Lane tells the story of a young couple, both actors, living in New York in the 1970s. Both are cast in a new musical titled I Married a Communist, but one gets left behind when the show moves to Broadway.
"I've been thinking about the show for a long time," said Lane, who often refers to himself as "Mr. Broadway" and operates a website under that name. "It's been a kind of generational process. I've been in the theatre my entire life—writing, directing, organizing. In the Wings is a snapshot of what it was like way back then, long before cell phones."
Featured are Josh Prince (Forbidden Broadway, Little Me), Lisa Datz (The Full Monty), Brian Henderson, Marilyn Sokol (Conversations With My Father) and Peter Scolari (Sly Fox, Hairspray, TV's "Newhart").
Jeremy Dobrish (The Joys of Sex, artistic director of adobe theatre company) directs. The songs are by pianist-composer-performer Michael Garin (Song of Singapore). The scenic design is by William Barclay; costume design by Mattie Ullrich; lighting design by Phil Monat and sound design by Jill B C DuBoff.
Bonnie Comley and Stellar Productions International present the production.
As a producer, Lane has been involved in the current Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof, the recent revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Ragtime, among other shows. He is also co-owner and co-operator of the Palace Theatre on Broadway and a partner in 37 Arts.
Lane and columnist Ward Morehouse III were the odd-couple writing team behind 2001's short-lived Off-Broadway offering If It Were Easy... The incident of a producer presenting plays written by his own hand is unusual, but not unheard of in the New York theatre. David Belasco, the great impresario of the early decades of the 20th century, fashioned many vehicles for his stable of stars, notably the plays Madama Butterfly and The Girl of the Golden West. Richard Rodgers frequently produced his own musicals, though he started out his career solely as a composer. George Abbott, too, began as an artist—first an actor, then a writer and director—but often produced his shows later on.
The phenomenon of producer-playwright is rarer today. The most recent example, perhaps, is Stuart Ostrow, who presented his own effort, Stages, on Broadway in 1979. A notorious flop, it ran a single performance.
Performances are Tuesday-Saturday at 8 PM with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM. Tickets are $66.25 for all performances. Tickets and information are available at Telecharge.com, (212) 239-6200.
Visit the official website at www.InTheWings.biz.
