Huffman, Berkley, Harner, Etc. Join Beane's The Cartells

Elizabeth Berkley, Jason Butler Harner, Peter Frechette, Peter Hermann, Cady Huffman, Pedro Pascal and Kristen Schaal have joined the cast of the upcoming Drama Dept. and Comix co-presentation of The Cartells, A Prime Time Soap…Live. 

Drama Dept. turns the talents of its acclaimed theatrical company to the world of prime time soaps with The Cartells, by Douglas Carter Beane (The Little Dog Laughed, As Bees in Honey Drown).  Directed by Carl Andress, The Cartells is a live, four-part, weekly stage series premiering Monday, October 16, 2006 at Comix (353 W. 14th St.) in New York's Meatpacking District.

Starring Vanessa Aspillaga as Margarita Cartell (the number one wife), Berkley as Gamine Cartell (the reckless daughter), Keith Davis as Suitor (the Biloxi millionaire), Tony Award-winner Joanna Gleason as Titsiana Cartell (the estranged wife), Harner as Sterling Cartell (the younger son), Frechette as Cravin Cartell (the patriarch),  Hermann as Dank Sellars (the media heir), Tony Award-winner Huffman as Karma Smugg Cartell (the new wife), Tony Award-nominee Brian d'Arcy James as Cronin Cartell (the number one son), Pascal as Emanuel (the lover), David Rakoff as Hubris (the butler), Schaal as Skeeter Jo Smugg (the new wife's daughter) and Joey Slotnick as Samson Solomon (the attorney), The Cartells is "about a wealthy oil family having too much fun in an Aaron Spelling kind of way," state press materials.

"And, for those audience members who miss an episode, each weekly performance will begin with 'Previously on The Cartells…,' to be sure everyone's all caught up on who's doing what to whom, who's feeling the love and who's in the doghouse.

(Dylan Baker, originally announced to star in the role of Craven Cartell, has withdrawn from the production due to scheduling conflicts.)

"What will happen when Craven Cartell's missing wife Titsiana reappears on the day he is to wed Karma Smugg? Will Craven go back to laying his pipeline with Titsiana or will he go all green with Karma? When Gamine says 'action' before sex with Dank, is it just foreplay? Why can't Sterling find the right girl? And why does he spend so much time with Samson? And how does Hubris the butler always know the perfect Bible verse? Find out answers to all these and more at The Cartells."

The Cartells features set deign by B.T. Whitehill, costume design by Jeriana Hochberg, lighting design by Kirk Bookman and Julie Seitel and sound design/original music by Lewis Flinn.

The performance schedule is as follows:

    Episode #1 – "The Eye of the Needle" – Monday, October 16 at 8 p.m.
    Episode #2 – "Far Above Rubies" – Monday, October 23 at 8 p.m.
    Episode #3 – "Perish the Sword" – Monday, October 30 at 8 p.m.
    Episode #4 – "Cast a Stone" – Monday, November 6 at 8 p.m.

Tickets for all performances are $35 each and can be purchased by calling 212-524-2500. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.ComixNY.com on in-person at Comix Box Office at 353 W. 14th St.). The box office opens at 10 a.m. daily. Dinner seating is also available.

For each performance, a limited number of VIP seats are available for a $125 donation to Drama Dept. VIP seating includes pre-show cocktails and appetizers, the best seats in the house, and an exclusive post-show reception with the cast and creators. Visit www.ComixNY.com or www.dramadept.org for more information.