An invite-only presentation of the new musical Mary & Max took place yesterday starring Tony Winner Shuler Hensley (Oklahoma, Sweet Charity, The Whale), Tony Nominee Sydney Lucas (Fun Home), Drama Desk Nominee Julia Murney, The Color Purple's Kyle Scatliffe, and Lauren Elder (Sideshow, Hair).

Directed by Olivier nominee Stafford Arima and written by Bobby Cronin & Crystal Skillman, Mary & Max is adapted from the claymation feature film by Academy Award winning writer/animator Adam Elliot. The creative team aims to capture the rich, heightened, and visually inventive world of the claymation film by creating a humorous, moving and "theatrical" musical crafted with mask work, puppetry, and projection.

Set in the 70s & 80s, Mary & Max explores the true story of a random friendship between two very different people. Mary Daisy Dinkle, a chubby and lonely ten-year-old, has a birthmark on her forehead the color of poo and eyes the color of muddy puddles, and lives in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Max Jerry Horowitz, a 44-year-old obese New Yorker, is soon diagnosed with a newly named disorder, Asperger Syndrome. As pen-pals, these most unlikely of souls discover a new world together - conquering bullies, sharing love advice, letting go of imaginary friends, the struggles of losing family - the full scope of the ups-and-downs of friendship, spanning twenty years and two continents. But will Mary and Max find a way to meet each other...even when their friendship is tested with betrayal?