Mary-Louise Parker Answers 'Dead Man's Cell Phone' Winter 08

Playwrights Horizons has announced that Tony, Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker will star in the New York premiere of Dead Man's Cell Phone, a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl.

Directed by two-time Obie Award winner Anne Bogart, the production will begin previews on Friday, February 8 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).  Opening Night is set for Tuesday, March 4 at 7PM.

Mary-Louise Parker will be returning to the stage for the first time since earning a 2005 Tony nomination for the Broadway production of Reckless.  Starring in Proof she swept the 2001 Theater award season, winning Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, Lortel, Obie, New York Magazine and T. Schreiber Awards.  She also earned a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Prelude to a Kiss.  Parker currently stars in the Showtime series "Weeds," now in its third season, and for which she earned a Golden Globe Award, a second Golden Globe nomination and an Emmy nomination.

Parker joins previously-announced cast member, Tony Award nominee Kathleen Chalfant (Angels in America, Wit).  Additional casting will be announced in the coming months.

"Dead Man's Cell Phone Gordon is dead, but his cell phone lives on.  When Jean, an empathetic museum worker, answers his ringing phone beside her in a café, she is soon playing unwitting comforter and confessor to the man's grieving friends and family," describe press notes, "Before she knows it, Jean is ensnarled in the underbelly of the dead man's bizarre life.  A wildly imaginative new comedy, Dead Man's Cell Phone is the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her assumptions about morality, redemption and the need to connect in a technology-obsessed world."

The production will feature scenic and costume designs by G.W. Mercier, lighting design by Brian Scott and soundscape by Darron L. West.  Production Stage Manager will be Elizabeth Moreau.

The performance schedule for Dead Man's Cell Phone will be Tuesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30PM & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30PM & 7:30 PM.  Subscriptions are now available to guarantee seats to Dead Man's Cell Phone. Single tickets will go on sale December 28. For subscription and ticket information to all Playwrights Horizons productions, call Ticket Central 212-279-4200, Noon to 8PM daily, or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at www.playwrightshorizons.org

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd

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