'The Joke' with Gelber & Sadoski Opens Tomorrow, 10/20

Studio Dante, founded in 2003 by Michael & Victoria Imperioli, proudly presents the world premiere of The Joke, a new play by Sam Marks directed by Sam Gold.  This limited Off-Broadway engagement will play Wednesday, October 17 – Saturday, November 10 at Studio Dante (257 West 29th Street).  Opening Night is set for Saturday, October 20 at 8:00 PM.

"Good evening and welcome ladies and gentlemen!  It's 1965 and two comedians, 'Steady Eddie' and 'Doug the Mug,' knock'em dead every night in the Catskills. Despite the laughter and the applause, Doug tires of performing in the shadow of his abrasively negative, fame-seeking partner, so in the style of Lenny Bruce, decides to add some honest, biting and socially challenging material to his own act.  Cheap shots and punch lines fly on and off-stage as the struggle for the spotlight ensues over a decade of performances at the cusp of a new direction of stand up comedy.  With their personal and professional lives uncovered at center stage, Eddie and Doug must find a way to laugh it off while staying at the top of their game.  Sam Marks' The Joke takes a look at the friendship and the rivalry between two comic partners during the golden years of the Borsht Belt," describe press notes.

This production features Jordan Gelber (B'way: Avenue Q; Off-B'way: Birth and After Birth – Atlantic Theater Company, Elvis People, Jump!, The Polish Play, Realism; Film and TV: Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Riding in Cars with Boys, HBO's Everyday People - IFP/Gotham Award nominee for Breakthrough Acting - and Fan Boys) and Thomas Sadoski (B'way: Reckless; Off-B'way: All This Intimacy, Gemini, Jump/Cut – The Women's Project, Where We're Born, This Is Our Youth, Stay, Thunderbird).

Playwright Sam Mark's credits include Nelson (Partial Comfort Productions/Theatre Row) The Bigger Man, Which Wolf is Wolf and Craft (Flea Theater, directed by Obie Award-winning Robert O' Hara).  Sam developed a television series with Tom Fontana (creator of "OZ" and "Homicide") for HBO based on his play Craft.  This Summer, Sam was included in the "50 to Watch" by The Dramatist Magazine.  He is currently developing a web series for MTV.

Sam Gold has directed Betty Shamieh's The Black Eyed (NYTW) and Chocolate In Heat (The Tank), Colin McKenn's The Secret Agenda Of Trees (Cherry Lane), Rogelio Martinez's Fizz (The Ohio Theater), Judy Blume's Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing (The Hangar Theater), and the US Premiere of Joanna Laurens' The Three Birds (Gale Gates).  Sam is a Wooster Group current associate, NYTW Usual Suspect, Drama League Directing Fellow and a recipient of the Princess Grace Award.

This production includes Set and Costume Design by Victoria Imperioli and Lighting Design by Tony Giovannetti, both Studio Dante resident designers.  Sound Design is by David M. Lawson.

The Joke will play Wednesday – Saturday at 8:00 PM at Studio Dante (257 West 29th Street, between 7th & 8th Avenues).  Tickets may be arranged through Smarttix at www.smarttix.com or by calling (212) 868-4444.  Tickets are $35.  For more information, visit www.studiodante.com.

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