Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks & More Will Take Part in TRUE WEST Staged Reading at The Cherry Lane Theatre

The Cherry Lane Theatre, the Off-Broadway venue now owned by film studio A24, has unveiled more of its opening week programming, including events featuring Spike Lee, Sofia Coppola, Jodie Foster, Michael Shannon, and more. Tickets for each event will be available for purchase via lottery entry only. The lottery is now live here, and will close for all shows on Wednesday, August 27th at 12 pm.

The "Red Door Repopening" week will kick off with a screening of Spike Lee's 25th Hour on Monday, September 8, with the director himself. Theater programming will begin Tuesday with a live staged reading of Sam Shepard's True West featuring Michael Shannon and Paul Sparks, with direction by Lila Neugebauer.

The launch will also feature the previously announced Sundays with Sofia, a series of film screenings hosted by celebrated director Sofia Coppola. The inaugural edition will be a showing of Adrian Lyne's Foxes, screening on September 14, followed by a block party. It was also announced that Natalie Palamides' Weer will run from September 20 through October 19. Take a look at the full programming lineup below.

"Red Door Repopening" Week

Monday, September 8th, 7:00 PM-  25th Hour Film Screening and Q&A with Spike Lee 

Tuesday, September 9th, 7:00 PM – True West Staged Reading featuring Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks, Marylouise Burke, and more. Directed by Lila Neugebauer

Wednesday, September 10th, 8:00 PM– Jerrod Carmichael On Stage in New York City

Thursday, September 11th, 8:30 PM – Malcolm Gladwell and Brandi Carlile in Conversation 

Sunday, September 14th, 12:00 PM- Sundays with Sofia film screening of Foxes and Q&A with Sofia Coppola and Jodie Foster

Other programming will be announced at a later time, but is expected to include multi-week theater productions, standup, film screenings, staged readings, and pop-up performances. Newly minted renovations include new seating, updated technical equipment, a new film projector and screen, and a refurbished lobby, now with a concessions kiosk. 

In June, it was also announced that a new dining experience will be available upon the theaters' reopening, now confirmed to be called Wild Cherry. The venue will include a lobby restaurant and bar, run by the team behind Frenchette, Le Rock, and most recently, Le Veau D’Or. 

The Cherry Lane Theatre has been around since 1923, and has been home to mainstage productions and its award-winning Mentor Project, which for 20 years has paired emerging writers with established playwrights in the development, rehearsal and fully-staged production of their work.

Writers who have been mentored at Cherry Lane include Katori Hall, Sheila Callaghan, Rajiv Joseph, Anne Washburn, Jocelyn Bioh, Nathan Yungerberg, Ren Dara Santiago, Jiehae Park and Antoinette Nwandu, whose play PASS OVER was produced by Mentor Project in 2016. Mentors have included Lynn Nottage, Taylor Mac, Craig Lucas, Lucy Thurber, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Kwame Kwei Armah and Diana Oh.

A24 is the studio behind numerous films, such as Sing Sing, Babygirl, Queer, and the critically-acclaimed Everything Everywhere All at Once. Other A24 films include The Humans, Hereditary, Zola, The Florida Project, Lady Bird, Moonlight, Uncut Gems, Eighth Grade, Aftersun, and more.

Photo Credit: A24