MCC To Host Two Nights of LaBute, 6/9, 6/23

 MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that it will host two one-night-only readings of plays by Neil LaBute exploring America's obsession with physical beauty.  MCC's current production of LaBute's bristling new comic drama reasons to be pretty puts a final, ferocious cap on a trilogy of plays that began with The Shape of Things and Fat Pig (which MCC also premiered).  The series will bring together many of the original artists from the first two plays in the trilogy in support of reasons to be pretty, which marks the sixth collaboration between MCC Theater and LaBute, MCC's Playwright-in-Residence.
 
The series will commence on Monday, June 9 with Fat Pig starring original cast member Ashlie Atkinson,  Steven Pasquale, Jessica Capshaw and Jon Bernthal under the direction of original director Jo Bonney followed by The Shape of Things on Monday, June 23 starring Paul Rudd under the direction of Carolyn Cantor.  Complete casting for both plays will be forthcoming.  Both readings will take place at 7:00 p.m. at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street) where reasons to be pretty is currently in performances for a June 2, 2008 opening.
 
Premium reserved seats are available now – donors who make a $100 contribution will receive two prime location reserved seats for the reading of their choice by calling MCC's Development Department at (212) 727-7722 ext. 233.
 
A limited number of general admission tickets for both readings are $20 each and will go on sale Tuesday, May 27 by visiting www.mcctheater.org or through www.ticketcentral.com or by calling (212) 279-4200.
 
The Plays:
 
Fat Pig
Cow.  Slob.  Pig.  How many insults can you hear before you stand up and defend the woman you love?  Tom faces just that question when he falls for Helen, a bright, funny, sexy young woman who also happens to be plus-sized.  Forced to explain his new relationship to his friends who think that size does matter, Tom faces a tough choice in LaBute's "most emotionally engaging and unsettling play." –The New York Times
 
The Shape of Things
In a modern version of Adam's seduction by Eve, The Shape of Things pits gentle, awkward, overweight Adam against worldly, analytical, amoral Evelyn, a graduate student in art.  After a chance meeting at a museum, they embark on an intense relationship that causes shy and principled Adam to go to extraordinary lengths, including cosmetic surgery, and a betrayal of his best friend, to improve his appearance and "character."  In the process, Evelyn's subtle and insistent coaching results in a reconstruction of Adam's fundamental moral being and leads to a shattering conclusion.
 
reasons to be pretty
America's obsession with physical beauty is confronted headlong in this brutal and exhilarating new play.  Greg's tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his off-handed remarks about a female co-worker's pretty face (and his girlfriend's lack thereof) get back to said girlfriend.  But that's just the beginning.  Greg's best buddy Kent, and Kent's wife Carly also enter into the picture and the emotional equation becomes exponentially more complicated.  As their relationship crumbles, their friends are pulled into the fray and all are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?  Terry Kinney directs the four-person cast of Piper Perabo, Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski and Pablo Schreiber.  Individual tickets for reasons to be pretty are $59 and are now available through www.ticketcentral.com or by calling (212) 279-4200.
 

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