Photo Coverage: Joan Rivers and Tovah Feldshuh Visit 'THE TEMPERAMENTALS'

By popular and critical demand the acclaimed "The Temperamentals" by Jon Marans, has now extend the engagement for the summer through August 23rd. The hit show welcomed stage and screen greats Joan Rivers and Tovah Feldshuh backstage after a recent performance and BroadwayWorld.com was there!

A new summer schedule began July 6th for the hit show "The Temperamentals" by Jon Marans, performances are now Friday - Tuesday at 8:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm.

"The Temperamentals" reopened on June 10th for what was announced to be a limited four week run Off Broadway at the larger (same location) TBG Theater, 312 West 36 Street 3rd Floor, NYC. The original showcase production began previews on April 30, 2009 for that limited engagement through May 18th in the intimate Studio Theatre.

All performances were sold out in advance with a waiting list for all the shows. MAN underdog and Daryl Roth are presenting the new American play. Thomas Jay Ryan plays Harry Hay and Michael Urie (TV's "Ugly Betty") is Rudi Gernreich, withTom Beckett, Matthew Schneck, & Sam Breslin Wrightcompleting the cast. The acclaimed play is directed byJonathan Silverstein. Set & Costume design is by Clint Ramos, lighting by Josh Bradford and Daniel Kluger is the sound designer.

"The Temperamentals" tells the story of two men - the communist Harry Hay and the Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich - as they fall in love while building the first gay rights organization in the United States pre Stonewall. The play weaves together the personal and political to tell a relatively unknown chapter in gay history. It explores the love between two complex men, as their impossible dream of forming such an unheard of organization becomes a reality in this perilous, unpredictable world. It is an intimate portrayal of the men who created history and the epic struggles they overcame. The characters consist of the actual men who founded the Mattachine Society (Harry Hay, Rudi Gernreich, Chuck Rowland, Bob Hull, and Dale Jennings), as well as other prominent figures of the time.

Jon Marans' "Old Wicked Songs" was a 1996 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama, winner of New York Drama League, L.A. Drama Logue Award, and included in Otis Guernsey's Best Plays of 1996-97. It has been produced in over a dozen countries including in London's West End withBob Hoskins and James Callis. Jon and Yuri Sivo were hired by Universal Pictures and Tribeca Films to write a political/war screenplay based on the acclaimed book CHASING THE DRAGON. Robert DeNiro is slated to play the role of Henry Luce.

Jonathan Silverstein recent credits are the acclaimed Off Broadway revivals of "The Dining Room" (Drama Desk nomination; Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble) and "Tea and Sympathy", both for the Keen Company, where he serves as Resident Director. Some other NYC credits include: Cocteau's "Indiscretions", "Red Herring" (New York International Fringe Festival; "Outstanding Direction" award), "The Hasty Heart" to name a few. Some regional credits are: "The Fantasticks", "Urinetown", "Tick, Tick, BOOM!", "Much Ado About Nothing", and "Cymbeline". www.jonnysilver.com

Tickets are only $50 through Smarttix: online at www.smarttix.com or by phone at (212) 868-4444. Theatre is air-conditioned and there is an elevator.

For more information visit www.thetemperamentals.com.

Photos by Peter James Zielinski

Joan Rivers and Tovah Feldshuh

Joan Rivers, Matthew Schneck, Thomas Jay Ryan, Sam Breslin Wright, and Michael Urie

Joan Rivers, Matthew Schneck, and Thomas Jay Ryan

Tandy Cronyn, Joan Rivers, and Tovah Feldshuh

Tandy Cronyn, Joan Rivers, Tovah Feldshuh, and director Jonathan Silverstein

Michael Urie