Stritch to Guest Star in 'Stories Left to Tell,' 6/26

Producers Eric Falkenstein and Michael Alden have announced that theater icon Elaine Stritch will be the next star to step into the acclaimed Naked Angels production of Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell.  On June 26th, for one-night-only, the Tony Award-Winning actress take on the role of "Career," becoming the latest guest actor to tread the boards in one of the best reviewed, hippest and most heartfelt plays in New York.  Stritch succeeds TV and film star Michelle Trachtenberg (June 19-24).  

Like Spalding Gray, Stritch is no stranger to monologues and solo shows.  Her Tony and Drama Desk Award-Winning Broadway show Elaine Stritch at Liberty traced her illustrious career, which includes roles in Company, The Little Foxes, Bus Stop, A Delicate Balance, Sail Away and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?  Stritch also received an Emmy Award for the television broadcast of At Liberty.  Her film credits include A Farewell To Arms, Providence, Cocoon: The Return, Woody Allen's September, Out To Sea with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, Krippendorf¹s Tribe, An Unexpected Wife, Woody Allen's Small Time Crooks, Autumn in New York and Monster-In-Law. Television credits include "The Cosby Show," "3rd Rock from the Sun," "Soul Man," "Law & Order" (Emmy Award) and "30 Rock."

For this special, one-night-only performance, Stritch joins original cast members Kathleen Chalfant, Hazelle Goodman and Tony-winner Frank Wood.  The current cast also includes soap-opera star Darnell Williams ("All My Children" and "Guiding Light").  With this role, Stritch adds her name to an impressive (and eclectic) list of actors including Richard Kind, Fisher Stevens, Estelle Parsons, Josh Lucas, Rachel Dratch, Bruce Vilanch, Valerie Smaldone, Dylan Walsh, Charles Busch, Whoopi Goldberg, David Boreanaz and Christopher Gorham, who have all filled the 5th guest actor position.

"Spalding Gray is one of the most revered and irreverent storytellers of our time.  He became an indelible image: sitting alone at a desk on a bare stage, delivering hilarious and moving monologues that had a singular resonance with his audiences.  Conceived by Kathleen Russo, Gray¹s widow and directed by Lucy Sexton, Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell assembles both well-known and never-before-seen work spanning Gray¹s extraordinary life and career," state press materials.

Performances are Tuesday through Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are priced at $35 - $65 and are available by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or phoning (212) 307-4100.  In addition, tickets can be purchased directly from the Minetta Lane Theatre box office by phoning (212) 420-8000.

Photo by Ben Strothmann