New York Theatre Workshop's (NYTW) Production of Claudia Shear's Dirty Blonde, begins previews two days earlier than previously announced. Production sources told Playbill On-Line that the play begins previews Dec. 11 and opens officially Jan. 13.
Conceived by playwright Shear together with director James Lapine, Dirty Blonde is the story of two single New Yorkers who meet at Mae West's grave site.
Dirty Blonde's cast includes Kevin Chamberlin, playwright Claudia Shear and Bob Stillman.
The play marks Shear's return to NYTW, where she triumphed in 1993 with her one-woman "tour de résumé" Blown Sideways , a 64-job search for employment. That earned her an Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination. Shear has numerous film, television and theatre credits and is widely published.
The show is helmed by James Lapine, who collaborated with Stephen Sondheim as both librettist and director on the Broadway productions of Passion, Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George. With William Finn, he collaborated on Off-Broadway's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, which were later produced together on Broadway as Falsettos, and on A New Brain . Dirty Blonde will be presented by NYTW, under the auspices of artistic director James C. Nicola and managing director Jo Beddoe.
Set designs are by Doug Stein, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by David Lander and sound design is by Daniel Moses Schreier.
Past NYTW productions include Caryl Churchill's Owners and Traps, Shear's Blown Sideways Through Life, Tony Kushner's Slavs!, Doug Wright's Quills, David Rabe's A Question of Mercy, Mark Ravenhill's Shopping and Fucking, Eugene O'Neill's More Stately Mansions, Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical, Rent, by Jonathan Larson.
Dirty Blonde plays at NYTW at 79 East 4 Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue. Previews begin Dec. 11 with press opening on Jan. 13. Tickets are $45 ($28 for seniors; $12 for full-time students) and are available by phoning the NYTW box office at (212) 460-5475. NYTW continues its CHEAPTIX program, offering limited $10 discounted tickets two hours before show.
