Luker and Others Announced for New A.R. Gurney Play

Primary Stages (Casey Childs, Executive Producer; Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) has announced casting for the first production of its 2006-2007 season: the world premiere of Indian Blood by A.R. Gurney.

Directed by Mark Lamos (Seascape, The Rivals), the eight-member cast features Matthew Arkin (Dinner with Friends, The Sunshine Boys, Laughter on the 23rd Floor), Jeremy Blackman (A Christmas Carol, Beauty and the Beast), Jack Gilpin (The Elephant Man, Beyond Therapy), Rebecca Luker (The Music Man, The Sound of Music), Katherine McGrath (A Man of No Importance, The Real Inspector Hound), John McMartin (original casts of Grey Gardens, Follies, Sweet Charity), Charles Socarides (Awake & Sing!) and Pamela Payton-Wright (The Cherry Orchard, The Crucible). Performances begin Tuesday evening, July 25, 2006 at 7PM for a limited engagement through Saturday evening, September 2, 2006 by Primary Stages, the resident company at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street). Opening Night is Wednesday evening, August 9, 2006 at 7PM.

Opening Primary Stages 22nd season is the world premiere of Indian Blood by A.R. Gurney, a witty, warm, and thoroughly delightful comedy about family and coming-of-age. Young Eddie uses his Indian ancestry as a cause and an excuse for his adolescent attacks on the genteel world around him. Was it his ties to the Seneca tribe or his talent as a budding artist that caused his privileged world to turn upside down? A prolific playwright, A.R. Gurney has written The Dining Room, Sylvia, Love Letters, The Fourth Wall, and Strictly Academic. Indian Blood is the third A.R. Gurney play produced by Primary Stages.

Primary Stages new performance schedule:

Indian Blood will play the following new performance schedule: Tuesdays at 7PM, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8PM with matinees Saturdays at 2PM. Additionally, there are Sunday matinees scheduled for July 30, August 6 & 13 at 3PM and Wednesday matinees on August 16, 23 & 30 at 2PM. The limited engagement begins performances Tuesday evening, July 25, 2006 and continues through Saturday evening, September 2, 2006. OPENING NIGHT IS WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 9, 2006 at 7:00PM. Single tickets are $60 and may be purchased at 59E59 Theaters box office (E. 59th St. between Park and Madison Avenues), through Ticket Central online at www.ticketcentral.com or by calling (212) 279-4200 beginning June 19. Group tickets (15+) are $47.50 each, and are available by calling 212-840-9705. For further information about Primary Stages, please visit our website at www.primarystages.com or call 212-840-9705.

Primary Stages recently announced the line-up for its 2006-2007 season which, in addition to Indian Blood, includes the New York premieres of Southern Comforts by Kathleen Clark directed by Judith Ivey (September 19, 2006 - October 29, 2006) and the new musical Adrift in Macao with book & lyrics by Christopher Durang, music by Peter Melnick, direction by Sheryl Kaller and choreography by Christopher Gattelli (January 23, 2007 - March 4, 2007). The 2006-2007 season closes with the world premiere of Terrence McNally's new play Deuce featuring Marian Seldes (March 20, 2007 - April 29, 2007). A 4-play subscription package is $185 and is available by calling TicketCentral at (212) 279-4200 or online at www.TicketCentral.com. For additional information about Primary Stages, please visit the website at www.primarystages.com.

PRIMARY STAGES, the resident company at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59 Street), was founded in 1984 as a New York state non-profit theatre company with the mission of producing new plays and nurturing the development of playwrights. Primary Stages has significantly contributed to the non-profit theatre community producing twenty-one seasons and over ninety productions. By fostering an environment where writers are encouraged to explore the scope of their creative vision, Primary Stages has been instrumental in developing the skills of hundreds of young artists as well as helping to create a library of new works for theatre. Primary Stages has given life to many new plays (many of them world premieres) by such writers as A.R. Gurney, Terrence McNally, Julia Jordan, Conor McPherson, Willy Holtzman, Romulus Linney, Donald Margulies, Melissa Manchester, John Patrick Shanley, Lanie Robertson, Gen LeRoy, David Ives, Constance Congdon, and Mac Wellman.

Over the years the company has received considerable critical acclaim as well as numerous theatre and literary awards, including the Lucille Lortel, the OBIE, the Outer Critics Circle, several Drama Desk nominations, and three Audelco Awards. The Stendhal Syndrome, The Day Emily Married, The Fourth Wall, All in the Timing, The Old Settler, Missing/Kissing, When They Speak of Rita, The Model Apartment, Scotland Road, You Should Be So Lucky, Sabina, Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams, The Right Kind of People, In The Continuum (now being performed by its creators in Zimbabwe and South Africa) and the recent A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop are among the many plays brought to national attention at Primary Stages and are now being produced throughout the world.