MCC Delays LaBute Premiere; Subs Comedy by Busch
by Broadway.com Staff • Oct 27, 2008
MCC Theater will delay its previously planned off-Broadway production of The Break of Noon, a new play by Neil LaBute, to avoid drawing attention away from the Broadway transfer of LaBute's Reasons to Be Pretty. The off-Broadway company will instead present the New York premiere of Charles Busch's The Third Story, which will begin performances at the Lucille Lortel Theatre on January 14, 2009 and open on February 2, for a limited engagement continuing through February 28. The Break of Noon has been rescheduled for an off-Broadway premiere in September 2009.
The Third Story premiered in September at the La Jolla Playhouse in California with Busch as Queenie Bartlett, a Los Angeles mobster and character in a script written by a mother and son screenwriting team Mary Beth Peil and Jonathan Walker. The production was directed by frequent Busch collaborator Carl Andress. Other than Busch, no casting as been set for the off-Broadway production.
The Third Story premiered in September at the La Jolla Playhouse in California with Busch as Queenie Bartlett, a Los Angeles mobster and character in a script written by a mother and son screenwriting team Mary Beth Peil and Jonathan Walker. The production was directed by frequent Busch collaborator Carl Andress. Other than Busch, no casting as been set for the off-Broadway production.
“With our hit production of Neil LaBute’s Reasons to be Pretty now slated to open on Broadway in early 2009, we felt that Neil, his two plays, and our audience, would be best served if these plays did not open back-to-back,” Artistic Director Robert LuPone said in a statement. “We are especially thrilled to have the opportunity to present Charles Busch’s new work and have a win-win situation on our hands. We get to produce two plays we are passionate about and Charles can have his long-awaited Lortel homecoming. He tells us he cannot wait to get back on the Lortel stage after playing Red Scare on Sunset there in 1991.”
As previously announced, LaBute's Reasons to be Pretty is headed for Broadway in February; MCC produced the dark comedy's off-Broadway premiere last summer starring Piper Perabo, Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski and Pablo Schreiber, directed by Terry Kinney. Last summer's announcement of the Broadway transfer indicated that the four stars would repeat their roles on Broadway, but no futher confirmation has been given and no theater is yet set.
As previously announced, LaBute's Reasons to be Pretty is headed for Broadway in February; MCC produced the dark comedy's off-Broadway premiere last summer starring Piper Perabo, Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski and Pablo Schreiber, directed by Terry Kinney. Last summer's announcement of the Broadway transfer indicated that the four stars would repeat their roles on Broadway, but no futher confirmation has been given and no theater is yet set.