MCC Replaces LaBute With Busch's THE THIRD STORY

MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that the second offering of their 2008-09 season will be Charles Busch’s The Third Story, directed by Carl Andress.  The Third Story replaces the previously announced World Premiere production of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon, which the company will now present as their first show of MCC Theater’s 24th season, in September of 2009.  Mr. Busch will appear in The Third Story himself in the leading female role; further casting will be announced shortly.  This production will mark the New York Premiere of the show following a recently completed run at La Jolla Playhouse.  Performances will begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on January 14 and continue through February 28, 2009.  Opening night is set for Monday, February 2 at 7:00 p.m.

A mother and son screenwriting team hunker down in Omaha after fleeing Commie-obsessed 1940’s Hollywood.  A romantically-inclined but socially-inept princess makes a deal with an ancient witch.  And tommy guns meet test tubes as a way-too-well-dressed first lady of the mob forms a desperate alliance with a cloning scientist whose experiments have had, um, less-than-consistent results.  Gangster flicks, fairy tales and B-movie sci-fi collide in this epic comic fable from the mind of one of the American theater’s premier talents.  The Third Story is both a sublimely crafted tale of love, longing and sacrifice and, in true Buschian fashion, a helluva good time.

“With our hit production of Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty now slated to open on Broadway in early 2009, we felt that Neil, his two plays, and our audience, would be best served if these plays did not open back-to-back,” explained Artistic Director Robert LuPone.  “We are especially thrilled to have the opportunity to present Charles Busch’s new work and have a win-win situation on our hands.  We get to produce two plays we are passionate about and Charles can have his long-awaited Lortel homecoming.  He tells us he cannot wait to get back on the Lortel stage after playing Red Scare on Sunset there in 1991.”

Currently, tickets to this exclusive event are only available to MCC Subscribers.  Special 2 play subscriptions that will include Coraline, a new musical with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields and book by David Greenspan, will be available November 10 for as little as $79.  Individual tickets to The Third Story will be available to the general public at a later date to be announced.

MCC Theater is one of New York City's leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season.  When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences.  MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through presentation of its mainstage works; its Literary Program, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers and its Education & Outreach Program, allowing more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices in the arts.  Notable MCC Theater highlights include: their 2008 Broadway-bound production of Neil LaBute’s reasons to be pretty (to open at a theatre to be announced in February, 2009), the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery’s Frozen; Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig; Rebecca Gilman’s The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman’s Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson’s The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne’s Beirut.  Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards.  For a complete production history, visit www.mcctheater.org.

 Charles Busch (Playwright, Baba Yaga, Queenie Bartlett) is the author and star of such plays as The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset and Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, which ran five years and is one of the longest running plays in Off Broadway history.  His play The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife ran for 777 performances on Broadway and received a Tony nomination for Best Play.  He wrote and starred in the film versions of his plays, Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie Die, the latter of which won him the Best Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival.  In 2003, Mr. Busch received a special Drama Desk Award for career achievement as both performer and playwright.  Mr. Busch made his directorial debut with the film A Very Serious Person, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.  He is also the subject of the documentary film The Lady in Question is Charles Busch.

Carl Andress (Director).  Directing credits include: The Third Story (La Jolla Playhouse), Die Mommie Die! (New World Stages); Sheldon Harnick and Joe Raposo’s A Wonderful Life (Shubert Theater - named one of TIME Magazine's Best in Theater 2005); Charles Busch & Julie Halston: Together on Broadway (Music Box Theater); Douglas Carter Beane’s The Cartells (Drama Dept.); Shanghai Moon (Drama Dept., Bay Street Theater, Theater for the New City); The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife (Paper Mill Playhouse; Coconut Grove Playhouse; Royal Poinciana Playhouse); Crush the Infamous Thing (Coconut Grove Playhouse); Carmen Pelaez’s Rum & Coke (Abingdon Theater Co.); J.A.P. Chronicles – The Musical (Perry Street Theater); Queen Amarantha (WPA Theater); Times Square Angel (Theater for the New City); It's Not My Fault, It Was On Fire When I Got There (FringeNYC/Theater for the New City); TRUE COLORS (Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center); Broadway for Medicine (NY City Center); Literacy Partners Annual Gala (NY State Theater).  Also, co-writer and co-star of the independent feature, A Very Serious Person (Tribeca Film Festival).

Photos by Peter James Zielinski

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