MCC Theater Extends RIDE THE CYCLONE Due To Popular Demand – Now Through December 29

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, William Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) has announced a two-week extension - now through December 29, 2016 - for the New York City premiere of MCC Theater's new musical Ride the Cyclone, the third musical in MCC's now-iconic 30-year history of producing new works for the American theater. The production began previews on November 9, 2016 at the Lucille Lortel Theater (121 Christopher Street) and celebrated its Opening Night on November 30. It was previously scheduled through December 18. For tickets and info, visit www.mcctheater.org

With book, music and lyrics by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, and direction and choreography by Rachel Rockwell, Ride the Cyclone had its celebrated U.S. premiere in 2015 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Ride the Cyclone stars Lillian Castillo, Gus Halper, Karl Hamilton, Emily Rohm, Tiffany Tatreau, Kholby Wardell, and Alex Wyse.

The Saint Cassian High School Chamber Choir will board the Cyclone roller coaster at 8:17pm. At 8:19 the front axle will break, sending them to their tragic demise. A mechanical fortune teller invites each to tell the story of a life interrupted - with the promise of a prize like no other. Ride the Cyclone is a wildly original new musical - part comedy, part tragedy, and wholly unexpected.

During its smash-hit world premiere in 2015, the Chicago Tribune raved: "Quirky, bizarre, emotionally hefty and rather tantalizing... Ride the Cyclone, poised to take the world by storm, is edgy and just dangerous enough to feel fresh and yet completely steeped in the traditions of musical theater." The New York Times called it: "An unceasingly delightful new musical...a witty, small-scaled show of immense sweetness and originality. If purgatory were really this much fun, I'd be happy to spend a lifetime there."

Ride the Cyclone features scenic design by Scott Davis, costume design by Theresa Ham, lighting by Greg Hofmann, sound by Garth Helm, and projections by Mike Tutaj. Musical supervision by Doug Peck and musical direction by Remy Kurs.

The 2016-17 MCC Theater season will also include the NYC premiere of Anna Jordan's Bruntwood Prize-winning play YEN (January 12 - February 19, 2016) directed by OBIE winner Trip Cullman, the latest play makes its American premiere at MCC after making its world premiere at the Royal Court following The Pride and The Nether; and the NYC playwriting and stage acting debut of Emmy-nominated "Friends" star Matthew Perry who wrote and will star in his play The End of Longing (May 18 - June 24, 2017), directed by Lindsay Posner, following its hit London run. In addition to its mainstage premieres, MCC will continue its PlayLabs series and education initiatives throughout the season. More information on this year's PlayLabs, which showcase in-progress works by emerging playwrights and invite audiences into the development process, is available at www.mcctheater.org.

MCC Theater broke ground on its first permanent home- a two-theater complex on West 52nd Street and 10th Avenue-on March 22, 2016. Set to open in 2018, the space will unite MCC's diverse roster of programs under one roof for the first time in the company's three-decade history. The new facility will also allow MCC to expand its programming and establish it as a cultural anchor within the Clinton neighborhood. The $35 million project is funded by a public-private partnership between the Theater and the City of New York, with $30.5 million raised to-date.

About MCC Theater

MCC is one of New York's leading nonprofit Off-Broadway companies, driven by a mission to provoke conversations that have never happened and otherwise never would. Founded in 1986 as a collective of artists leading peer-based classes to support their own development as actors, writers and directors, the tenets of collaboration, education, and community are at the core of MCC Theater's programming. One of the only theaters in the country led continuously by its founders, Artistic Directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, and William Cantler, MCC fulfills its mission through the production of world, American, and New York premiere plays and musicals that challenge artists and audiences to confront contemporary personal and social issues, and robust playwright development and education initiatives that foster the next generation of theater artists and students.

Plays and musicals developed by the company have gone on to stagings around the globe. Notable productions over the course of the company's 30-year history include Robert Askins' Hand to God, nominated for five Tony Awards and transferred to London's West End; Sharr White's The Other Place, starring Laurie Metcalf; The Submission by Jeff Talbot, winner of the inaugural Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award for new American plays; Bryony Lavery's Frozen, a 2004 Tony nominee for Best play and winner for Brian F. O'Byrne's performance; Wit by Margaret Edson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1999; the classic cult musical Carrie, which has gone on to international productions since the Theater's extensive redevelopment work and staging in 2012, the first in more than two decades; and ten plays by Playwright-in-Residence Neil LaBute, including Fat Pig; reasons to be pretty, a 2009 Tony nominee for Best Play; and Reasons to Be Happy. Blake West joined the company in 2006 as Executive Director. MCC will open its first permanent home in 2018 in Manhattan's Clinton neighborhood, unifying the company's activities under one roof for the first time and expanding its producing, artist development, and education programming. The Theater is currently in the midst of a $35 million campaign to support its expansion and growing artistic operations, with $30.5 million raised to-date.

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