“The Marriage of Bette and Boo” in NYC at Roundabout Theatre (June-August 2008)

“Beyond Therapy” in joint production at Williamstown and Bay Street Theatre

The Marriage of Bette and Boo – June 12-September 7

The Roundabout Theatre is presenting Durang’s 1985 Obie-winning play The Marriage of Bette and Boo in its first major NYC revival.  The production is being directed by Walter Bobbie, and stars Kate Jennings Grant and Christopher Evan Welch as Bette and Boo.   Bette’s family is played by Victoria Clark and Adam LeFevre as her parents Margaret and Paul, and Heather Burns and Zoe Lister-Jones play her sisters Emily and Joan.  John Glover and Julie Hagerty play Boo’s parents Karl and Soot.  Terry Beaver plays the priest Father Donnally.  And Charles Socarides plays Matt, the son of Bette and Boo.

Sets are by David Korins, costumes are by Susan Hilferty, lighting is by Donald Holder.  The play runs from June 12 through September 7, and plays at the Roundabout’s Laura Pels Theatre on 111 West 46^th Street.  For more information and for tickets, here is a link to the theatre’s website. 

To read about the original production, click here.    

To read an article on Durang and The Marriage of Bette and Boo (and also on John Guare and Marco Polo Sings a Solo), follow this link to an essay by film and theatre critic Steve Vineberg from The Threepenny Review.

Beyond Therapy – June 11-22 at Williamstown
July 8-27 at Bay Street Theatre

Durang’s screwball comedy Beyond Therapy -- about messed up lovers and even more messed up therapists -- is being presented in a joint production by the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts and by the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, Long Island, N.Y.

The production is being directed by Alex Timbers, and stars Katie Finneran and Darren Goldstein as Prudence and Bruce, who meet through a personals ad.  Their therapists are played by Darrell Hammond and Kate Burton.  Bob the lover is played by Matt McGrath, and Andrew is played by Bryce Pinkham. 

The set is by Walt Spangler, the costumes are by Emily Rebholz, the lighting is by Jeff Croiter, and the sound is by Fitz Patton.

The run at Williamstown is from June 11 through June 22.  Here’s a link to the theatre’s website. 

The run at Bay Street is from July 8-27.  And here’s a link to Bay Street’s website.

For information on the original off-Broadway and Broadway versions of the play, click here.

CD of Durang-Melnick Musical Adrift in Macao Now Available

The musical Adrift in Macao, with book and lyrics by Christopher Durang and music by Peter Melnick, premiered in New York City in 2007 at Primary Stages.

And before that, this light-hearted film noir parody musical had a successful run at Philadelphia Theatre Company in the fall of 2005, winning three of the show’s performers Philadelphia’s Barrymore Awards: Rachel deBenedet for Best Actress in a Musical, and Orville Mendoza and Michele Ragusa for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. The three performers recreated their roles in the Primary Stages production and are on the CD.

Filling out the rest of the talented cast are Alan Campbell as the mysterious ex-patriate Mitch, Will Swenson as the shady and womanizing nightclub owner Rick, and Jonathan Rayson and Elisa Van Duyne as the Trenchcoat Chorus.

Rachel deBenedet
photo by Mark Garvin
 

The productions were directed by Sheryl Kaller, musical direction was by Fred Lassen, choreography by Christopher Gattelli, set by Thomas Lynch, costumes by Willa Kim, lighting by Jeff Croiter, orchestrations by Michael Starobin, casting by Mark Simon.

The show is a light-hearted, playful parody of glamorous film noir films, in which the leading lady can always get a job singing in nightclubs no matter how she sings, and the leading man is always mysterious and can't go home for murky reasons he won't say. Plus there's also the mysterious Mr. McGuffin who everyone is searching for. Songs include In a Foreign City in a Slinky Dress, Pretty Moon Over Macao, The Chase, and Ticky, Ticky, Tocky Bangkok.

Performance rights are through Samuel French.
To buy the CD on amazon.com, here is the link. Amazon.com
 

Cover Design by Wendy Lai
Photograph by Peter Cook
Artwork courtesy of McCarter Theatre
 

“Miss Witherspoon” and
“Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge”
Available Through Grove Press

Durang’s most recent play Miss Witherspoon is published with his light-hearted parody Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge in a paperback volume published by Grove Press.

Miss Witherspoon was a hit in its joint premiere at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton and Playwrights Horizons in New York.  Starring Kristine Nielsen and directed by Emily Mann, the play was named one of the Ten Best Plays of 2005 by Time Magazine and Newsday, and was a finalist for the Pulitizer Prize. (Losing to 1954’s Teahouse of the August Moon, which was awarded the Prize for a second time.)

“This is Durang at the top of his metaphysical, apocalyptic, high- and pop-culture game...” – Linda Winer, Newsday.  “An endearingly meditative farce… it’s a pleasure to note that [Durang] hasn’t lost his screwball.” – Richard Corliss, Time.

Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge is Durang’s playful Dickens romp in which Scrooge’s journey to redemption is torpedoed by an out-of-control Mrs. Cratchit, who’s sick of all the suffering in her life and wants to get drunk and jump off London Bridge.

“A hilarious success. … [the show] goes in so many wonderfully loony directions at once.”– Gordon Spencer, Pittsburgh Pulp.  “Fiendishly funny” – Doug Shanaberger, Observor-Reporter.  “Durang is the toast of Pittsburgh!” – Edna Welthorpe, Daily Telegraph.

With a short introduction written by Durang, the book is available now.  Amazon Books or Grove/Atlantic (search under Durang). 

The performance rights to both plays are handled by Dramatists Play Services.