THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR, Starring Michael Urie, Begins This Week at Red Bull

A friendly reminder! Red Bull Theater begins performances tomorrow, Tuesday, for their next mainstage production: The Government Inspector, directed by Mr. Berger, which will open at The Duke on 42nd Street (229 West 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues). Performances will begin May 16th, with Opening Night set for June 1st. This limited Off-Broadway engagement will run though June 24th only.

The inimitable Michael Urie (Buyer & Cellar, "Ugly Betty") leads the all-star cast that includes Mary Testa (two Tony Award nominations, five Drama Desk nominations, Drama Desk Special Award for "consistently outstanding work"), Arnie Burton (Peter & the Starcatcher, 39 Steps), Stephen DeRosa ("Boardwalk Empire," Into the Woods), and Michael McGrath (Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Nice Work If You Can Get It and Tony and Drama Desk nominations for Spamalot). They will be joined by Ryan Garbayo, Kelly Hutchinson, David Manis, Ben Mehl, Talene Monahon, Luis Moreno, James Rana, Tom Alan Robbins, and Mary Lou Rosato.

All politics are local. Gogol's deeply silly satire of small-town corruption offers a riotous portrait of rampaging self-delusion. When the crooked leadership of a provincial village discovers that an undercover inspector is coming to root out their commonplace corruption, the town weaves a web of bribery, lies, and utter madness. This New York Premiere of acclaimed playwright Jeffrey Hatcher's (Stage Beauty) adaptation offers a hilarious reminder of the timelessness of bureaucracy and buffoonery.

"There isn't another company like Red Bull! Red Bull Theater chooses plays that we don't know like The Government Inspector, but should know. Plays that now ring true in a new way. Russia 1830. Russia today. America today. These plays are suddenly ripped from today's headlines. It's amazing how much they knew then about how we are now. That's why people keep coming back to the Red Bull, why artists keep clamoring to work with them. I know that's why I do. The Government Inspector is going to be a total delight and I can't wait to share it with audiences," said Mr. Urie.

The Government Inspector has set design by Alexis Distler, costume design by Tilly Grimes, lighting design by Peter West, with sound design and original song composed by Greg Pliska.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born on April Fool's Day in 1809 in the Ukraine, then part of Russia. His classmates at school, observing his various physical and social peculiarities, nicknamed him 'the mysterious dwarf.' In 1828, Gogol arrived in Saint Petersburg, obtaining a low-level, low-paying post in the government bureaucracy. After an equally unrewarding stint at a second government post, Gogol began teaching at a girl's boarding school in 1831. Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, Gogol's two-volume collection of stories, derived from Ukrainian folklore, was published in 1831 and 1832 and was instantly well received, gaining Gogol the attention of Aleksandr Pushkin, Russia's leading literary figure, who provided him with the idea for the plot of The Government Inspector. In 1834, Gogol began a position at Saint Petersburg University. Gogol quickly proved himself a resounding failure, and left this post after only one year. During that year, Gogol published two books of short stories, Mirgorod and Arabesques; a collection of essays; as well as two plays, Marriage and The Government Inspector. The Government Inspector was brought to the attention of the Tsar, who liked it so much that he requested the first theatrical production (1836). Gogol, reacting to heavy criticism by the government officials his play lampooned, declared that 'everyone is against me' and left Russia. He spent the next twelve years in self-imposed exile. After Pushkin died in 1837, Gogol inherited the mantle as the leading Russian writer of the day. Gogol's literary masterpiece Dead Souls and the first edition of his collected works were published in 1842. In 1848, he returned to Russia, settling in Moscow. In 1852, Gogol died, age 42, as the result of an extreme religious fast and absurdly bad doctoring.

Jeffrey Hatcher's Broadway credits include Never Gonna Dance (book). Off-Broadway credits include Three Viewings and A Picasso at Manhattan Theatre Club; Scotland Road and The Turn of the Screw at Primary Stages; Tuesdays with Morrie (with Mitch Albom) at the Minetta Lane; Murder by Poe, The Turn of the Screw, and The Spy at The Acting Company; and Neddy at American Place. Other credits include Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Mrs. Mannerly, Murderers, Mercy of a Storm, Smash, Korczak's Children, To Fool the Eye, Confederacy of Dunces, The Critic, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and others at The Guthrie, Old Globe, Yale Rep, The Geffen, Seattle Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Arizona Theater Company, San Jose Rep, The Empty Space, Indiana Rep, Children's Theater Company, History Theater, Madison Rep, Intiman, Illusion, Denver Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Rep, Repertory Theater of St. Louis, Actors Theater of Louisville, Philadelphia Theater Company, Huntington, Shakespeare Theatre (D.C.), Asolo, City Theater, Studio Arena and dozens more in the U.S. and abroad. Film and television credits include Stage Beauty, Casanova, The Duchess, Mr. Holmes, and episodes of "Columbo" and "The Mentalist." Grants/awards: NEA, TCG, Lila Wallace Fund, Rosenthal New Play Prize, Frankel Award, Charles MacArthur Fellowship Award, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Barrymore Award Best New Play, and IVEY Award Best New Play. He is a member and/or alumnus of The Playwrights Center, the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild, and New Dramatists.

Michael Urie originated the role of Alex More in Jonathan Tolins's Buyer & Cellar Off-Broadway, on tour, and in London (Drama Desk Award, Clarence Derwent Award, Lucille Lortel Award, LA Drama Critics Award; Drama League, OCC Award nominations). New York theatre credits include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Broadway), Shows For Days (LCT), Homos, Or Everyone In America (LAByrinth), The Cherry Orchard (CSC), Angels in America (Signature), The Temperamentals (Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Theatre World awards; Drama League nomination), The Revenger's Tragedy (Red Bull), Another Vermeer (HB Playwrights). Film: He's Way More Famous Than You (also directed), Thank You for Judging (co-director/exec. producer), Beverly Hills Chihuahua, WTC View, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, The Decoy Bride, Petunia, Such Good People, The Hyperglot (director), Grantham & Rose (exec. producer). TV: "Modern Family," "Younger," "Workaholics," "The Good Wife," "Hot in Cleveland," "Partners," "Ugly Betty" and the host of "Cocktails And Classics." Web series: "What's Your Emergency" (director). Training: Juilliard. Michael will emcee the 62nd Annual Drama Desk Awards on Sunday, June 4th at Town Hall.

Red Bull Theater is the not-profit Off-Broadway theater company specializing in plays of heightened language. With the Jacobean plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries as its cornerstone, Red Bull Theater embraces the imagination of theatergoers through intimate, imaginative productions of great classic stories from all eras and cultures.

Red Bull Theater has previously staged productions of Pericles, The Revenger's Tragedy, Edward the Second, Women Beware Women, The Duchess of Malfi, The Witch of Edmonton, The Maids, The Dance of Death, Loot, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Volpone, 'Tis Pity She's A Whore, as well as last season's hit productions of Middleton and Rowley's The Changeling and Sheridan's The School For Scandal as well as Coriolanus earlier this season.

Red Bull Theater's work has been recognized with multiple Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, Callaway and OBIE Award nominations and awards, including the Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Revival in the 2015-'16 season (School for Scandal). The company has staged nearly 150 Revelation Readings, named by the Village Voice "Best Play Reading Series," also developing new plays of heightened language and classical adaptations through workshops and offering educational programs for students of all ages. Post-play Bull Session discussions with scholars following select Sunday matinees and Readings are free and open to the public.

Red Bull Theater offers Master Classes throughout the year. Taught by top working professionals including Kathleen Chalfant, John Douglas Thompson, Olympia Dukakis, Heidi Griffiths, and Patrick Page, Red Bull Theater's intensives and workshops cover a variety of disciplines, including auditioning, text, voice, movement, clowning, stage combat, and acting Shakespeare. Classes are open to adults at all levels of training or experience. They range from one to four days with limited class sizes to allow one-on-one attention. You can enroll in any combination of classes, or take the whole series for a year-long training experience.

Built as part of the NEW 42ND STREET Studios to support performing artists in the creation of their work, The Duke on 42nd Street is a premier venue in the heart of the theater district. Along with the NEW 42ND STREET Studios and The New Victory Theater, The Duke on 42nd Street is a project of The New 42nd Street, the independent nonprofit organization charged with the continuous cultural revival of 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Committed to the transformational power of the arts, the dedicated Board and Staff of The New 42nd Street build on the foundation of seven historic theaters to make extraordinary performing arts and cultural engagement part of everyone's life.

Performances will be Tuesday & Wednesday evenings at 7:30, Thursday, Friday & Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees select Wednesdays at 2pm, Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets for The Government Inspector, from $60, are available now.

The Duke on 42nd Street, a NEW 42ND STREET project, is located at 229 West 42nd Street, between 7th & 8th Avenues. For more information about The Government Inspector and all of Red Bull's programs visit www.redbulltheater.com.