Brad Oscar to Star in '(W)hole'

Casting has been announced for Lane Berne's darkly comic play, (W)hole, which is premiering at the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival on Tuesday, July 15 at 9:00pm at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre.   

David Glenn Armstrong directs Tony Award-nominee Brad Oscar (The Producers, Spamalot), Lynne Wintersteller (Closer Than Ever, A Grand Night for Singing), Stephen Bienskie (Silence! - The Musical, CATS), Kathryn Mowat Murphy (Fosse, Roundabout's upcoming Pal Joey), and Kevin B. McGlynn (Forbidden Broadway, Kiss Me, Kate tour).

In (W)hole, a kiss from the most beautiful woman in the world (Murphy) sinks a simple keysmith (Bienskie) into a literal hole from which he cannot escape despite the efforts of his emotionally distant mother (Wintersteller), his overbearing boss (McGlynn), and Germany's leading eccentric quicksand expert (Oscar).

Playwright Bernes has previously been produced at the New York International Fringe Festival (The Mercy Swing) and at the Bloomington Playwrights Project (Playing God, Bestfriends).  

Director Armstrong has the rare triple honor this year of directing the first New York revivals of the first Broadway productions of Lerner & Loewe (The Day Before Spring at the York), Bock & Harnick (The Body Beautiful at the York, original cast album to be released in August) and Jonathan Larson (Rent at Larson and Armstrong's alma mater, Adelphi University, in September).

"I must read upwards of eighty new scripts a year," commented Armstrong, "and there was a visceral thrill right there on page one of Berne's play that made it impossible to put down.  Her language literally leaps right off the page and sears itself into the darkest and most dangerous corners of your consciousness."

3AM:Productions oversees this entry in the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival, for which 40 plays were selected for production from over 450 submissions.  John Gideon, resident composer for the Inverse Theatre, is the sound designer.  Sabina Ptasznik and Hilary Krishnan are the production managers.

Tickets, priced $18, may be purchased by phoning 212-279-4200 or by visiting www.ticketcentral.com.  The Peter Jay Sharp Theatre is located at 416 West 42nd Street in Manhattan.

Photo by Peter James Zielinski.

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