CSC's THREE SISTERS Sells Out Within 24 Hours of Opening

Classic Stage Company's acclaimed new production of Anton Chekhov's THREE SISTERS sold out its entire engagement through March 6 within 24 hours of its opening this past Thursday, February 3.  Directed by Austin Pendleton, the production features Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, Jessica Hecht, Marin Ireland, Juliet Rylance and Peter Sarsgaard.  Also featured in the cast  are Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Anson Mount, Roberta Maxwell, Louis Zorich, George Morfogen, Paul Lazar, Gabriel Bettio and James Patrick Nelson. 
 
"We're thrilled to have so many extraordinary artists back with us again on THREE SISTERS.  This continuity is tremendously rewarding for us at CSC," said Artistic Director Brian Kulick. "This is an incredibly ambitious season for us at CSC and we couldn't be happier that THREE SISTERS has resonated so deeply with audiences," said Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen.
 
Ben Brantley in The New York Times called THREE SISTERS "a wonderfully fresh and affecting production."  Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly raved "THREE SISTERS is a beautifully heartbreaking new production that glows with modern energy and finesse.  (Rating A)."  Jennifer Farrar of The Associated Press added "this is a stirring production.  Genuinely affecting."  David Cote of Time Out NY and NY 1 News said "the stars perfectly align in this exceptionally sensitive production."  Legendary critic John Simon wrote "Give Chekhov a fine production such as CSC's THREE SISTERS and what you get is genuine, live masterwork theater.  Austin Pendleton's production is a milestone."     Hilton Als in The New Yorker wrote "it is a measure of how well this production is directed by Austin Pendleton that I finally understood what Chekhov was doing..... Pendleton uses his actors fully and intelligently, opening the play up, carrying it away from the usual preciousness of Chekhov stagings, and depositing us in a world of good and evil that, like time, kills us in dribs and drabs."
 
The creative team for THREE SISTERS includes set design by Walt Spangler, costume design by Marco Piemontese, lighting design by Keith Parham, sound design and original music by Christian Frederickson and Ryan Rumery and hair design by Paul Huntley.  
 
THREE SISTERS, Chekhov's immortal masterpiece of thwarted dreams, continues CSC's commitment to its Chekhov Initiative that began with The Seagull, starring Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming, followed by their acclaimed production in 2009 of Uncle Vanya, which featured many of the cast members who appear in THREE SISTERS. 
 
Now in its 44th year as one of New York's most exciting theatres, Classic Stage Company is the award-winning Off-Broadway theatre committed to re-imagining the classical repertory for a contemporary American audience.  Led by Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, they recently presented David Ives' highly acclaimed Venus In Fur, directed by Walter Bobbie as well as Ostrovsky's The Forest, adapted by Kathleen Tolan, starring Dianne Wiest and John Douglas Thompson, and directed by Brian Kulick.  In the previous season the company presented three sold-out acclaimed productions: Shakespeare's The Tempest, starring Mandy Patinkin; Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, starring Denis O'Hare, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard; and Anne Carson's An Oresteia.  Recent productions: critically acclaimed sold-out runs of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, starring Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming; the world premiere of David Ives' New Jerusalem, directed by Walter Bobbie; Hamlet, Richard II, and Richard III starring Michael Cumpsty and directed by Brian Kulick; and Zoe Caldwell in Yasmina Reza's A Spanish Play, directed by John Turturro.
 
CSC presents plays from the past that speak directly to the issues of today.  As CSC returns to works of the past, it endeavors to keep a clear eye on the future, particularly in terms of the next generation of artists and audiences.  Founded in 1967, CSC has received wide recognition for its significant contributions to theatre as an art form through productions of classic plays, translations and adaptations and a long-standing commitment to the identification and nurturing of leading and emerging artists. Classic Stage's artists are the finest established and emerging theater practitioners working in this country. Highly respected and widely regarded as a major force in New York and American theatre, Classic Stage has been cited repeatedly by all the major Off-Broadway theater awards: Obies, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and the 1999 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.  Memberships to Classic Stage Company productions are available at various price levels, including the flexible MasterPass membership, which in addition to prime seats entitles members to participate in CSC special series, including their sold-out Open Rehearsal events.  For more information on Classic Stage Company visit the theatre's website at www.classicstage.org.
 
The company will next present DOUBLE FALSEHOOD, written by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, adapted for the 18th Century stage by Lewis Theobald, and directed by Brian Kulick.  DOUBLE FALSEHOOD will play a limited engagement at CSC from Friday, March 11 through Sunday, April 3.  The official press opening is scheduled for Tuesday, March 22 at 7pm.