Kathleen Turner Stars in MCC's THE THIRD STORY 1/14

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that Kathleen Turner has been confirmed to star in their production of Charles Busch's The Third Story, directed by Carl Andress.  Ms. Turner will appear opposite Mr. Busch, who was previously announced to play the other leading female role.  

Ms. Turner returns to the New York stage following her remarkable and critically acclaimed performance as Martha in the 2005 revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Third Story marks her first appearance in a fully staged Off Broadway play in more than 30 years.  Further casting of the six-character play will be announced shortly.  This production marks the New York Premiere of the show following a recently completed run at La Jolla Playhouse. 

Performances will begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on January 14 and continue through February 28, 2009.  Opening night is set for Monday, February 2 at 7:00 p.m.

A mother and son screenwriting team hunker down in Omaha after fleeing Commie-obsessed 1940's Hollywood.  A romantically-inclined but socially-inept princess makes a deal with an ancient witch.  And tommy guns meet test tubes as a way-too-well-dressed first lady of the mob forms a desperate alliance with a cloning scientist whose experiments have had, um, less-than-consistent results.  Gangster flicks, fairy tales and B-movie sci-fi collide in this epic comic fable from the sick and silly imagination of Charles Busch.

Flexible Premium 2 play subscriptions are now available for $99, which means that patrons may purchase it and use both tickets for The Third Story or Coraline, a new musical with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields and book by David Greenspan.

MCC Theater is one of New York City's leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season.  When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences.  MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through presentation of its main stage works; its Literary Program, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers and its Education & Outreach Program, allowing more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices in the arts. 

Notable MCC Theater highlights include: their 2008 Broadway-bound production of Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty (to open at a theatre to be announced in February, 2009), the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery's Frozen; Neil LaBute's Fat Pig; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne's Beirut.  Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards. 

For a complete production history, visit www.mcctheater.org. 

Kathleen Turner has garnered critical acclaim for her performances in a wide variety of film and theatre.

This year, she directed the Roundabout Theatre Company production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Crimes of the Heart. In 2007, she received London's coveted Evening Standard and London Critics Circle awards as well as a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for the West End production of Edward Albee's modern classic Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, having been nominated for the 2005 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play during the acclaimed run on Broadway. 

In the fall of 2000, Turner broke box-office records starring in the stage version of the classic film The Graduate in London's West End, playing the role of Mrs. Robinson.  In 2002 she took The Graduate to Broadway.  In 1998, she made her British stage debut at the Chichester Festival Theater, which was founded by Sir Laurence Olivier.  Recently, Kathleen worked with Michael Lessac who directed Turner as Tallulah Bankhead in Sandra Ryan Heyward's one-woman show Tallulah -- which she toured in across the U.S.  Turner starred on Broadway in Jean Cocteau's Indiscretions. Other stage works include her portrayal of Maggie the Cat, in the 1989 Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the Broadway's production of Gemini, and Camille at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven.  Turner also starred in Travesties, The Seagull, Toyer and A Midsumer's Night Dream at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C.

In film, Turner was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in Body Heat.  She won the Golden Globe Award for her performances in Romancing the Stone and Prizzi's Honor.  Her work in Peggy Sue Got Married brought her both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination and she earned yet another Golden Globe nomination for War of the Roses. 

In 2008, Turner wrote of her many accomplishments and life experiences in her autobiography titled Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on my Life, Love, and Leading Roles. The book, co-authored by Gloria Feldt, secured a position on the New York Times Best-Seller List. Turner's extensive film credits include the critically acclaimed The Virgin Suicides directed by Sofia Coppola, The Man with Two Brains with Steve Martin; Jewel of the Nile with Michael Douglas; Crimes of Passion; The Accidental Tourist; V.I. Warshawski; John Water's Serial Mom; Naked in New York and Moonlight and Valentino.  

And it is impossible to forget Turner's standout performance as the sultry voice of Jessica Rabbit in Who framed Roger Rabbit? In addition to her film and stage work Kathleen is an ambassador for Planned Parenthood and also sits on the boards for City Meals on Wheels, People for the American Way, Childhelp and the Ms. Foundation. She speaks across the country on behalf of these various causes.

She is a Missouri native, but was raised in Canada, Cuba and England where her father was a diplomat. 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride