'Beebo Brinker' Sells-Out Entire Run, Off-Bway Next?

Hourglass Group has sold out the entire run of The Beebo Brinker Chronicles at The Fourth Street Theatre. A stage adaptation of Ann Bannon's groundbreaking lesbian pulp novels of the 1950s and 1960s, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles is written by Kate Moira Ryan (25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, 2007 GLAAD Media Award Winner for Best Play) and Linda S. Chapman (Gertrude and Alice: A Likeness to Loving) and directed by Leigh Silverman (Well).

Previews began September 27 with opening night on October 1. The current run is scheduled through October 20, but the producers expect to be able to announce a limited engagement Off-Broadway extension before the end of the week.

"Set in pre-Stonewall Greenwich Village, The Beebo Brinker Chronicles celebrates the era when 'the love that dares not speak its name' began breaking the old rules. Fueled by booze and furtive sex, the play follows the lives and loves of Laura, Beth and Beebo as they navigate uncharted territories of desire. Beth and Laura, secret lovers in college, went separate ways after graduation: Beth married and had children, Laura moved to New York. Both pine for each other, but before they can reunite, they find themselves entangled in the web of Beebo Brinker, a butch denizen of the bars with a soft spot for young lesbians fresh off the bus," explain press notes.

2007 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Beebo Brinker's introduction into the world of gay and lesbian literature. Bannon's steamy paperback novels of coming-out have been embraced by three generations of lesbians and the books are currently in their third printing by Cleis Press.

The production features David Greenspan, Carolyn Baeumler, Bill Dawes, Autumn Dornfeld, Marin Ireland and Anna Foss Wilson. Design team includes Theresa Squire (costumes), Rachel Hauck (set), Nicole Pearce (lights), Jill BC DuBoff (sound) and Tessa Dunning (props).

The Beebo Brinker Chronicles runs September 27 - October 20. Performances are Thursdays – Saturdays at 7PM, Sundays at 5PM, Mondays at 7PM with additional shows Wednesday October 10 at 3PM and Wednesday October 17 at 7PM. The Fourth Street Theatre is 83 East 4th Street, between Bowery and 2nd Avenue. Tickets are $20 available at 212-352-3101 or www.beebobrinker.com.  All performances are currently sold out; a waiting list for tickets begins 30 minutes before show time.