THE TEMPERAMENTALS Begins Previews at New World Stages, Feb 18

By popular and critical demand the acclaimed "The Temperamentals" by Jon Marans, will now transfer this winter to New World Stages, the producers announced to The New York Times today. 

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.

It 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.

MAN underdog and Daryl Roth presented the new American play. Thomas Jay Ryan played Harry Hay and Michael Urie (TV's "Ugly Betty") starred Rudi Gernreich, with Tom Beckett, Matthew Schneck, & Sam Breslin Wright completing the cast.

Both Ryan and Urie will reprise their roles at New World Stages, on W. 50th St. The New York Times reports that the producers are talking to the three other actors from the original production about returning as well. Previews are set to begin on Feb. 18, with an opening night on Feb. 28. The specific theater to be used at New World Stages is still under discussion according to The Times.

The acclaimed play is directed by Jonathan Silverstein. Set & Costume design is by Clint Ramos, lighting by Josh Bradford and Daniel Kluger is the sound designer. "Temperamental" was a code word in the early 1950s, part of a created language of secret words used to communicate. In this underground world, danger was always an underlying presence. But with it, a heady, intoxicating secrecy also hung in the air.

"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 with Bob 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

Photo by Michael Portainiere/FollowSpotPhoto.com