Marlo Thomas returns to the Bat Theatre Company's production of The Guys by Anne Nelson, Dec. 3-20, a production spokesperson confirmed. Her male co-star will be announced shortly for the production at downtown New York City's Flea Theatre.
Thomas — television's "That Girl" or mother to Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) on "Friends" — has appeared on the Broadway stage in The Shadow Box, Social Security and Thieves. Other credits include The Vagina Monologues, Six Degrees of Separation, and most recently Paper Doll. Thomas also created the "Free To Be...You and Me" TV specials, books and records, which was recently adapted for the stage at The Drama Dept.
Thomas and her soon-to-be-named co-star will take part in The Flea Theater's “Holiday Flea-for-All” — two free performances of The Guys given as a gift to the city of New York. Tickets to the free Nov. 19 performance (featuring the current cast of Peggy Lipton and Dan Lauria) and Dec. 18 performance (with Thomas) will be distributed at the box office (41 White Street) beginning at 6PM on the day of each performance for that evening only on a first come, first served basis. There is a limit of two tickets per person.
Flea Theater producing director Carol Ostrow explained in a release, “Following the September 11th attacks, The Flea Theater, like every other business in the neighborhood closed down. When we re-opened the theater a month later, our attendance dropped by 90%...Our theater was clearly going to join the list of business casualties as a result of 9/11...The Guys saved The Flea. The Holiday Flea For-All is our way of saying thank you to the city."
The film version of The Guys featuring former cast members Sigourney Weaver and Anthony LaPaglia under the direction of Bat artistic director (and Weaver's husband) Jim Simpson premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sept. 11. "The Guys" was picked up for distribution by Universal Pictures' division Focus Features and will play an Academy Award-qualifying run in Los Angeles Dec. 13 prior to a wide theatrical release in either February or March of 2003 according to a Focus Features spokesperson. *
The Guys, based on first-time playwright Anne Nelson's real experiences, is a dialogue between a fire captain — who has lost most of his men in the Sept. 11 attack — and an editor who helps him write the eulogies as she struggles herself to come to terms with the event. Both find out, "We have no idea what wonders lie hidden in the people around us."
The New York casts of The Guys have included Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Irwin, Anthony LaPaglia, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Swoosie Kurtz, Amy Irving, Tom Wopat,Carol Kane, Stephen Lang, Marlo Thomas, Polly Draper, Terrence Mann, Peggy Lipton and Dan Lauria. The Los Angeles production has featured Robbins, Helen Hunt, Sarandon, Philip Baker Hall, Jeanne Tripplehorn, David Hyde Pierce and Glenne Headley. Robbins and Sarandon also performed the work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
For tickets to The Guys at The Flea, 41 White Street in Tribeca, call (212) 206 1515 or visit www.thebat.com. Limited $15 tickets for firemen and Port Authority workers with ID. Rush Tickets ($25) are sold on the same day, based on availability.
— by Ernio Hernandez
