Elton John & Partner David Furnish Join NEXT FALL Producing Team

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.

In a statement, Elton John & David Furnish said: "We are excited to join the team bringing Geoffrey Nauffts' extraordinary play to Broadway. After fulfilling experiences bringing new musicals to the stage, it was seeing this inspiring and timely new work that attracted us to take on our first play. As we continue to collaborate together on the score for the new film Showstopper, we are thrilled to extend our working relationship with Geoffrey Nauffts and Anthony Barrile to the stage."

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.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.