Calarco recently won a 2006 Helen Hayes Award for directing the Signature Theatre production of Urinetown, a major hit for the D.C. resident company. It took eight awards in all, including outstanding resident production of a musical.
Floyd and Clea, the cross-country tale of a former country-western singer, has book and lyrics by David Cale, and music by Jonathan Kreisberg and David Cale. Performances begin in November at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater at 416 W. 42nd Street.
Casting has not yet been announced.
"Burnt out, living out of his Studebaker, former country-western star Floyd Duffner's best days seem to be behind him," according to Playwrights Horizons. "But when a 20-year-old feral beauty with an electrifying voice enters the picture, an unlikely friendship and musical partnership begins to blossom. A freewheeling musical journey from Montana to Austin (with a side trip to Hollywood), Floyd and Clea is a tale of sweet heartbreak, a parable about finding the strength, against all odds, to keep on keepin' on."
The musical was previously seen at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago and Hartford Stage. Calarco is an artistic associate at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, where he directed the multiple Helen Hayes Award-winning Urinetown, plus the world premiere of Norman Allen's Nijinsky's Last Dance (Helen Hayes Award for Best Director); Side Show (Helen Hayes Award for Best Director); and the world premiere of his own play, in the absence of spring, which premiered in New York at Second Stage as the inaugural production of their New Plays Uptown series, under his own direction. His Signature Urinetown won eight Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Director and Outstanding Musical Production.
David Cale (book, music and lyrics) is returning to Playwrights Horizons for the first time since the production of his play Lillian. He has written and performed six solo shows including Deep in a Dream of You (Public Theater, Museum of Modern Art, Goodman Theatre, Bessie Award) and Smooch Music (The Kitchen, Goodman), both written in collaboration with composer Roy Nathanson, and The Redthroats (Second Stage, P.S. 122, Goodman, Mark Taper Forum, Taper Too, Bessie Award). A book of his monologues has been published by Vintage Books. As an actor he recently appeared Off-Broadway in Stephen Bill's Curtains (Obie Award) directed by Scott Elliott.
Jonathan Kreisberg (music) is represented on CDs, "Kreisberg Trio," "Trioing," "Nine Stories Wide," "New for Now" (featuring his organ trio) and "Unearth" (showcasing his quintet). When not touring, he can be found at his steady Wednesday trio gig at La Lanterna in Greenwich Village.
Visit www.playwrightshorizons.com.
