Mahoney, Parisse, Tudyk to Headline Roundabout's Prelude to a Kiss

A revival of Craig Lucas's Prelude to a Kiss will be the next attraction at the Roundabout Theater Company's Broadway home, the American Airlines Theater. John Mahoney, Annie Parisse, Alan Tudyk and Robin Bartlett are set to star, under the direction of Daniel Sullivan. Previews will begin February 16, with an official opening night on March 8. The limited engagement is set to run through April 22.

In Prelude to a Kiss, Peter Tudyk and Rita Parisse follow their whirlwind courtship with a storybook wedding. After a mysterious elderly man Mahoney appears and kisses the bride at the wedding, the two lovers are sent on a magical journey that they will never forget. As they struggle to come to terms with their relationship and Rita's nagging doubts, their love is put to the test by unknown forces.

Prelude to a Kiss received its world premiere off-Broadway at Circle Repertory Company in February 1990 starring Mary-Louise Parker, Alec Baldwin and the late Barnard Hughes. The production transferred to Broadway on May 1, 1990, starring Parker, Timothy Hutton and Hughes and was nominated for a Best Play Tony Award. In 1992, Lucas adapted the play for a feature film starring Meg Ryan and Baldwin. Bartlett is cast as Rita's mother, Mrs. Boyle, a role originally played by Debra Monk. Additional casting, including the role of Mr. Boyle originally played by Larry Bryggman, will be announced shortly.

Mahoney, well known for his role as Martin Crane on TV's Frasier, won a Tony Award for his Broadway debut performance in The House of Blue Leaves. Other recent theater credits include Romance at London's Almeida Theatre, The Drawer Boy at Steppenwolf where he is a longtime company member, Dublin, and Galway, Ireland, and The Weir at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles. Mahoney starred in Long Day's Journey into Night at the Irish Repertory Company in Chicago and Galway. Other Steppenwolf credits include The Man Who Came to Dinner, No Man's Land, Wrong Turn at Lungfish, Orphans, The Collection, Supple in Combat, Arms and the Man and Death and the Maiden.

Parisse, who played Assistant D.A. Alexandra Borgia on NBC's Law & Order, recently starred in the Vineyard Theatre's production of The Internationalist. Other theater credits include Coastal Disturbances, Monster, The Credeaux Canvas, The Crackwalker, The Wild Duck and Misalliance.

Tudyk's New York theater credits include Spamalot, Epic Proportions, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Oedipus, Misalliance and Bunny Bunny.

Bartlett starred in the original off-Broadway production of Lucas's Reckless at Circle Rep. Her extensive New York theater credits include Yentl, Sholem Aleichem, Agamemnon, Found a Peanut, Fen, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Dybbuck, Life and Limb, Frankie and Annie, The Philanthropist, Isn't It Romantic, The Seagull, Cave Life and The Early Girl.

The design team for Prelude to a Kiss includes Santo Loquasto sets, Jane Greenwood costumes, Donald Holder lights and John Gromada sound and original compositions.

According to Variety, the Roundabout's revival of Prelude to a Kiss came together quickly after two other revivals—the originally announced Les Liaisons Dangereuses and a potential production of Harold Pinter's Old Times—failed to come together.