David Furnish Talks NEXT FALL with the New York Times

As previously reported, Elton John & David Furnish have joined the producing team of NEXT FALL, the new American play by Geoffrey Nauffts and directed by Sheryl Kaller. NEXT FALL opens on Broadway on Thursday, March 11, 2010 with preview performances beginning Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at the Helen Hayes Theatre.

Film director and producer David Furnish spoke with the New York Tims today about the reasons he and partner Elton John decided to join the producing team.

Furnish tells Patrick Healy of the New York Times how deeply the play resonated with the pair: "One of the reasons Elton and I entered into our partnership - the first day it became legal in Britain to do so - is that we felt it was an opportunity to protect ourselves with official recognition of our relationship... I found it quite poignant in the play when the character Luke is in the hospital and his partner can't visit him and doesn't have any civil rights."

Furnish recalled that he and John began talking to producers about coming on board with the Broadway transfer last fall, and while they offered a few suggestions, they did not recommend any major re-writes or cast changes.

Furnish went on to say "We're going to support the show in every way that we can, doing publicity, coming to New York next week to see previews and offer input... We're hoping that because there's no celebrity name on the marquee, by lending our names - and our belief in and admiration for this show - more people will be aware that it's out there."

NEXT FALL stars Patrick Breen as Adam, Maddie Corman as Holly, Sean Dugan as Brandon, Patrick Heusinger as Luke, Connie Ray as Arlene and Cotter Smith as Butch.

In addition to Elton John & David Furnish, NEXT FALL is produced on Broadway by Barbara Manocherian, Richard Willis, Tom Smedes, Carole L. Haber/Chase Mishkin Ostar, Anthony Barille, Michael Palitz, Bob Boyett, Roy Furman in association with Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director; John Alexander, Managing Director; Andy Donald, Associate Artistic Director; Brittany O'Neill, Producer). James Spry is an Associate Producer and Susan Mindell is the Executive Producer.

The creative team for NEXT FALL includes Wilson Chin (Set Design), Jeff Croiter (Lighting Design), John Gromada (Sound Design) and Jess Goldstein (Costume Design).

NEXT FALL had its world premiere in a Naked Angels production, opening to critical acclaim on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. NEXT FALL played a sold-out run off-Broadway, extending three times, and played through August 8th.

Geoffrey Nauffts' NEXT FALL takes a witty and provocative look at faith, commitment and unconditional love. While the play's central story focuses on the 5-year relationship between Adam and Luke, NEXT FALL goes beyond a typical love story. This timely and compelling new American play forces us all to examine what it means to "believe" and what it might cost us not to.

Tickets for NEXT FALL are available by calling Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area, online at Telecharge.com or in person at the Helen Hayes Theatre box office (240 West 44th Street). Tickets are $116.50 each.

Performances run: February 16 - March 14: Monday - Saturday @ 8pm, Wednesday & Saturday @ 3pm. Beginning March 15: Tuesday @ 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday @ 8pm, Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday @ 3pm.  For more information visit www.nextfallbroadway.com.

To follow NEXT FALL on Twitter: @NextFall. Find NEXT FALL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nextfall.