Roundabout Theatre Company will present the new work as a co-premiere — with the San Diego's Old Globe — at their Off-Broadway Laura Pels Theatre starting June 9, 2006. The show will open June 27 for a limited engagement currently slated through Sept. 3.
"Under a pot-bellied sky on a struggling pig farm somewhere in America, Tom, Tina (Finneran) and their hired hand Tim (Marshall-Green) fight to hold onto everything they have—namely, a herd of fifteen thousand restless pigs," reads a description of the Orwellian tale. The tongue-in-cheek synopsis continues "Dumping sludge into the river has driven Tom to drink, and Tim seems to have caught Tina's eye, but when Teddy (O'Hare), an officer of the Environmental Protection Agency, arrives to inspect the operation, life on the farm explodes, implodes, then explodes again. Not literally, of course, but…you get the idea."
Finneran earned her Tony honor in 2002 for the revival of Noises Off. The actress has previously worked for Roundabout on Broadway as Sally Bowles in Cabaret and Off-Broadway in Arms and the Man and You Never Can Tell. Other credits include The Iceman Cometh, Proposals, The Heiress, In the Summer House, My Favorite Year, On Borrowed Time the Encores! production of Lil' Abner, the London premiere of Fuddy Meers, on television in "The Inside," "Wonderfalls," "Frasier" and the film "Bewitched."
O'Hare— a Tony winner for his turn in Take Me Out — is also a Roundabout veteran, having appeared on Broadway in Assassins, Cabaret and Major Barbara. He currently stars in the Broadway revival of Sweet Charity. Other credits include Racing Demon, Vienna Lusthaus - Revisited, Helen, 10 Unknowns, The Devils, The Arabian Nights, Lonely Planet, films turns in "Derailed," "21 Grams," "Garden State" and the television remake of "Once Upon A Mattress."
Also currently on the boards is Marshall-Green in Off-Broadway's Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead. The actor, known to television audiences for his stints on "The O.C." and "24," has also been seen Off-Broadway in Neil Labute's The Distance From Here and Swimming in the Shallows. Additional casting and design team to be announced shortly. Pig Farm will also enjoy a premiere at The Old Globe Theatre in Sept. 2006.
Playwright Kotis and director Rando reteam anew following their previous collaboration on the Tony Award-winning Urinetown. Rando earned a 2002 Tony for Best Direction while Kotis received awards for Best Book and Best Original Score.
Rando has also directed Mere Mortals, Ancient History/English Made Simple, Lives of the Saints, Polish Joke, the City Center's Encores! concert versions of The Pajama Game, Do Re Mi, and Strike up the Band as well as The Dinner Party, A Thousand Clowns and Dance of the Vampires. He is also slated to helm the upcoming musical The Wedding Singer.
Kotis is also developing two new musicals including Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) and The Man In The White Suit. Other plays include Eat the Taste, Jobey and Katherine, Baron Von Siebenburg Melts Through the Floorboards and Give the People What They Want.
Tickets to Pig Farm at the Laura Pels Theatre, located at 111 West 46th Street will be available in the spring by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212) 719 1300. For more information, go online to www.roundabouttheatre.org.
