Christine Lahti & Michael Cristofer Step Into Off-Bway Body of Water

Christine Lahti and Michael Cristofer have stepped in to play leading roles in Primary Stages' upcoming production of Lee Blessing's A Body of Water, replacing previously announced stars Margaret Colin and David Rasche. Colin's departure is blamed on a scheduling conflict with the TV show Gossip Girl, on which she plays the recurring role of fashion designer Eleanor Waldorf. Rasche left the production to replace Craig Bierko in the upcoming Broadway premiere of To Be or Not to Be.

Because of recasting, A Body of Water will delay the beginning of previews from September 30 to October 3, with opening night remaining set for October 14 at 59E59 Theatres. Maria Mileaf is the director.

A Body of Water is described as a haunting drama that explores the slippery nature of reality and conviction. Avis Lahti and Moss Cristofer awake one morning in a house set in the forested hills above a picturesque body of water. The weather's great, the view's magnificent. However, neither of them seems to know whose house this is or who they are. Will the stranger at their doorstep Laura Odeh be able to help?

Lahti most recently replaced Jill Clayburgh in Playwrights Horizons' off-Broadway production of The Busy World is Hushed. A busy film and TV actress, she has appeared on New York stages in The Exonerated, Three Hotels, Little Murders, The Country Girl, Landscape of the Body, The Woods, Marco Polo Sings a Solo and in the Broadway production of The Heidi Chronicles.

Cristofer's recent acting credits include the off-Broadway play Trumpery and Romeo and Juliet as Lord Capulet in Central Park. As a playwright, he won the Pulitzer Prize for The Shadow Box and wrote such plays as Breaking Up, The Lady and the Clarinet and Black Angel.

According to Variety, Blessing has reworked A Body of Water significantly since its 2006 premiere at San Diego's Old Globe, tightening the psychological drama from two acts to one.