Photo Flash: MCC Presents LaBute's 'reasons to be pretty'

MCC Theater presents the World Premiere of Neil LaBute's bristling new comic drama reasons to be pretty directed by Terry Kinney.  The play marks Kinney's directorial return to the New York stage where he was last represented by Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Tony Award-winning revival of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

The complete cast includes Piper Perabo (as Carly), Alison Pill (Steph), Thomas Sadoski (Greg) and Pablo Schreiber (Kent).

reasons to be pretty marks the sixth collaboration between MCC Theater and LaBute, who is MCC's Resident Playwright.  This new work puts a final, ferocious cap on a trilogy of plays that began with The Shape of Things and Fat Pig (which MCC also premiered).  Performances of the four-character play begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street) on May 14 and will continue through July 5, with an opening night set for Monday, June 2, 2008.

"America's obsession with physical beauty is confronted headlong in this brutal and exhilarating new play.  In reasons to be pretty, Greg's tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his offhanded remarks about a female coworker'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?" describe press notes.

Individual tickets are available through www.ticketcentral.com or by calling (212) 279-4200.

For tickets and information visit www.MCCTheater.org.

Thomas Sadoski and Alison Pill

Pablo Schreiber and Thomas Sadoski

Thomas Sadoski and Alison Pill

Alison Pill and Thomas Sadoski

Thomas Sadoski and Piper Perabo

Pablo Schreiber and Thomas Sadoski

Alison Pill and Thomas Sadoski

Photos by Joan Marcus.