Andrew Samonsky & Hannah Elless Will Lead Transport Group's BENNY & JOON Developmental Lab

Transport Group, the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and OBIE Award-winning theatre company, by special arrangement with Tony Award winning producer Larry Hirschhorn, will give a private developmental lab presentation of Benny & Joon, a new musical. Based on the 1993 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture starring Aidan Quinn, Johnny Depp, and Mary Stuart Masterson, written by Barry Berman and Leslie McNeil, Benny & Joon features a book by Kirsten Guenther (Breaking Through), music by Nolan Gasser (chief musicologist of pandora.com), and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein (Little Women). Under the direction of Transport Group Artistic Director and five-time Drama Desk nominee Jack Cummings III, the cast features Andrew Samonsky as "Benny" (Queen of the Mist), Hannah Elless as "Joon" (Bright Star),Colin Hanlon (Submissions Only), Mamie Parris (See Rock City & Other Destinations), Zak Resnick (Piece of My Heart), Tally Sessions (House of Blue Leaves), Natalie Toro (A Tale of Two Cities), and Jason SweetTooth Williams (Things to Ruin). John DiPinto will music direct.

The presentations take place September 17 and September 18.

Transport Group's fall calendar also includes the upcoming revival of Once Upon a Mattress, starringJackie Hoffman and John "Lypsinka"Epperson at Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street. Performances begin November 23 and run through January 3, 2016. Jack Cummings III directs.Once Upon a Mattress features music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and a book byJay Thompson, Marshall Barer, and Dean Fuller. Tickets are now on sale.

For more information about Transport Group, please visit transportgroup.org.