Garafalo, Cooper, Chalfant, Etc. Cast in SpeakEasy

Some casting has been announced for The Fire Dept's SpeakEasy, a theatrical event written by Rob Ackerman, Suzanne Bradbeer, Anton Dudley, Brian Keith Jackson, Rajiv Joseph, Laurence Klavan, Carson Kreitzer, Neil LaBute, Edwin Sanchez, Theresa Rebeck, Sheri Wilner.  SpeakEasy will be performed at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street) for 3 performances only, October 22, 23, and 24 at 9:30pm each evening.

The cast of SpeakEasy includes Janeane Garafalo (The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Reality Bites, Now and Then), Chuck Cooper (Caroline, or Change, TONY-winner, The Life), Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels In America), Amelia Campbell (Tryst, Waiting In The Wings, The Herbal Bed), Jeremy Schwartz (The Last Carburetor, Karla), Judith Hawking (Voices In The Dark, Ivanov), Jessica Blank (The Exonerated, "Rescue Me"), and Antoinette LaVecchia ("The Sopranos"). More casting will be announced shortly.

SpeakEasy will feature music by Stefania De Kenessey and Nick Hallett. Staged environmentally, it will be directed by Erica Gould.  "Outside, strange and unfamiliar streets; inside, the SpeakEasy: a magical world, long-dormant, where nothing is as it seems."

SpeakEasy grew out of a short play by LaBute featuring Mos Def that Gould directed for the MCC Benefit at Circle in the Square in January 2005.

SpeakEasy is the launch production of The Fire Dept, a new theater company founded by Jessica Blank, Erica Gould, and Audrey Rosenberg. SpeakEasy is presented by Joe's Pub and produced by Audrey Rosenberg.

Tickets for SpeakEasy are $25, and the show plays at Joe's Pub at The Public Theatre (425 Lafayette Street) from October 22-24, 2006. Tickets can be purchased at The Public Theater Box Office or through Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or www.telecharge.com.   For more information, please visit: www.thefiredept.org