Jonathan Pryce, John Lithgow, David Margulies and Armand Assante were some of the cast who starred on Broadway under Mike Nichols' direction in Trevor Griffiths' play Comedians. Now, 25 years later, director Ted Lambert and his cast try their hand at the original text (sans the Broadway changes) at The Club at La MaMa E.T.C. April 26-May 13.
Comedians spotlights a group of men who are enrolled in a night school class for stand-up comedy. Their final class will take place on stage at a local club in front of an audience and, supposedly, a talent agent. Since the show is mostly set in a club, the production will use its space (a la Cabaret) to its advantage.
Lambert has cast the drama about comedy with foreign actors including English, Irish, Australian and Indian born performers for authentic accents. In the cast are Australian Shawn Corbett, Brits George Taylor, Stephen Donovan, Christopher Flavell, Martin Hillier, Felix van Dyk, Mark Cameron Pow, Irishmen Tim Gilmore, John O'Callaghan, and India's Debargo Sanyal.
Set design for Comedians is provided by Dawn Petrlik. Ken Tabachnick handles lighting design. And costume design is by Katie Gilmartin.
For tickets to Comedians at La MaMa, 74A East Fourth St., call (212) 475-7710. For more information, visit www.lamama.org.