Neil LaBute News

Playwright, filmmaker and author Neil LaBute will participate in an upcoming New York Times TimesTalks at the new TimesCenter (242 West 41st Street) on Monday, March 23rd at 6:30 p.m. The event, titled 'An Evening with Neil LaBute and Friends,' will feature Mr. LaBute in conversation about his career with New York Times reporter Patrick Healy and will also include excerpts from his trilogy of plays, The Shape of Things, Fat Pig and his latest work, reasons to be pretty (currently in previews at the Lyceum Theater), selected specifically for the occasion.

Ian Rickson will direct Amanda Drew, Andrew Lincoln and Toby Jones in the European premiere of Jez Butterworth's Parlour Song which runs at the Almeida from 19 March - 9 May 2009 with press night on 26 March. Designs are by Jeremy Herbert, lighting is by Peter Mumford and music is by Stephen Warbeck. Parlour Song is sponsored by Aspen Re.

Theatre for a New Audience's acclaimed production of Othello directed by Arin Arbus in her Off-Broadway directing debut, returns to the stage with the entire cast intact for twelve performances only, April 15 through April 24, at The Duke on 42nd StreetSM, a New 42nd Street? project, 229 West 42nd Street. Othello is following Theatre for a New Audience's production of Hamlet, directed by David Esbjornson. Hamlet begins previews Tuesday, March 17, at 7:30pm, opening Thursday, March 26, at 6:30pm, and running through Sunday, April 12.

The producers of MCC Theater's reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute announced that the previously cancelled Saturday matinee performance (3/21) has been reinstated, and that early previews and rehearsals are continuing apace.

Tom Greenwald has been promoted to Executive Creative Director at SpotCo. The announcement was made by Drew Hodges, President and Founder of the agency.

The producers of MCC Theater?s reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute announced that three preview matinee performances have been cancelled, in order to accommodate a shift in television shooting schedules, and to allow for the usual rehearsal time during this period of early preview performances.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) have announced that, in order to accommodate ticket demand, they will extend the New York Premiere of Charles Busch's The Third Story. Directed by Carl Andress. the six-character play will now continue through Sunday, March 15 (two additional weeks) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC). The production, which opened on February 2, features Mr. Busch, Scott Parkinson, Sarah Rafferty, Jennifer Van Dyck, Jonathan Walker and Kathleen Turner (and marks Ms. Turner's return to Off Broadway in more than 30 years).

'Never say you know the last word about any human heart', Henry James Neil LaBute's Wrecks and other plays, is a collection of rarely staged plays. In fact Mr. LaBute refers to them as a 'group of bastards who have waited to find a home.' They are not linked by a distinct theme.

Michael Attenborough will direct the European premiere of Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling which runs at the Almeida from 14 May - 4 July 2009 with press night on 21 May. Designs are by Miriam Buether with lighting by Colin Grenfell, music by Stephen Warbeck, sound by Paul Arditti and movement by Imogen Knight.

Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) presented another all-star line-up for the company's annual gala, Miscast 2009.

The Geffen Playhouse is postponing the previously announced production of Nightmare Alley, set to occupy the final slot in the theater's 08/09 season, and replacing it with Beau Willimon's acclaimed new political play Farragut North.

The New York Timesi s reporting that Theatre for a New Audience and director, Arin Arbus' critically acclaimed production of Othello will return to the Duke on 42nd Street Theatre, April 15th through 24th. The show will again feature John Douglas Thompson as Othello, Ned Eisenberg as Iago, and Juliet Rylance as Desdemona.

Chris Rock is assembling an all-star comedy cast for his forthcoming movie Death At A Funeral - both Martin Lawrence and Tracy Morgan have signed on to the project. The film, a remake of a 2007 British movie of the same name, revolves around a dysfunctional family which comes together for the patriarch's funeral, only to be rocked by gay revelations from the deceased's alleged former lover.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) is pleased to announce another all-star line-up for the company's annual gala, to be held Monday, March 9, 2009 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues).

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) is pleased to announce another all-star line-up for the company's annual gala, to be held Monday, March 9, 2009 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues).

Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009.

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) have announced that, in order to accommodate ticket demand, they will extend the New York Premiere of Charles Busch's The Third Story. Directed by Carl Andress. the six-character play will now continue through Sunday, March 6th (an additional week) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC).

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) is pleased to announce another all-star line-up for the company's annual gala, to be held Monday, March 9, 2009 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues).

The Fire Dept Artistic Directors Erica Gould and Audrey Rosenberg have announced that the return of the company's Salon Series-staged readings of new plays, presented in non-proscenium environments that encourage an intimacy between audience and performer, followed by a discussion with the artists and noted guest speakers whose life experiences speak to the issues raised by the material-will begin with The Minotaur by Anna Ziegler (BFF), directed by Erica Gould (Neil LaBute's autobahn and Stand Up), and starring Mario Cantone (Sex and the City), Jill Clayburgh (Dirty Sexy Money, An Unmarried Woman), Campbell Scott (Dying Young, Singles, Longtime Companion), and Jeremy Webb (The Glorious Ones, Kander & Ebb's The Visit) on Friday, March 27 at 7 pm at the historic Players Club, 16 Gramercy Park South at 20th Street. The event will be produced by Audrey Rosenberg (Infamous with Sandra Bullock, upcoming documentary about Barack Obama).