Hurlyburly Presented by The New Group Begins Previews Tonight

The New Group will present the first New York revival of Hurlyburly by David Rabe as the second show of its 2004-2005 mainstage season. This limited Off-Broadway engagement will run Tuesday, January 11th through Saturday, March 5th at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). Official Opening set for Thursday, January 27th @ 6:30 PM.

Written by David Rabe, Hurlyburly depicts the addled lives of four Los Angeles men caught in love-hate relationships with Hollywood women. Featuring a newly revised script from Mr. Rabe, the play is a brutally comic reflection on the decade of decadence in the cocaine-and-sex infused Hollywood Hills in the mid-1980s. This is the first New York revival of Hurlyburly since its celebrated Broadway run in 1984. The 1984 production began Off-Broadway, then ran for a year on Broadway garnering four Tony® nominations.

Directed by Scott Elliott, this production features Bobby Cannavale, Josh Hamilton, Ethan Hawke, Catherine Kellner, Parker Posey, Wallace Shawn and Halley Wegryn Gross (bios follow) and set by Derek McLane (B'way: I Am My Own Wife, The Women, Present Laughter, The Three Sisters and at The New Group ­ Aunt Dan and Lemon, Comedians, What the Butler Saw, others), lights by Jason Lyons (Kiki & Herb: Coup de Theatre and at The New Group ­ Aunt Dan and Lemon, Comedians, Smelling A Rat, others), sound by Ken Travis (B'way/Assoc.: Night Must Fall, Epic Proportions, One Flew Over the Cuckoo¹s Nest; Off-B¹way: Kiki & Herb: Coup de Theatre, Endpapers and at The New Group ­ Aunt Dan and Lemon, Comedians, ŒButler¹, others) and costumes by Jeff Mahshie (Head Designer of Chaiken Clothing since 1998).

After winning the Tony® Award for last year's Avenue Q, The New Group kicked off its 2004-2005 season with Michael Murphy's Sin (A Cardinal Deposed) directed by Carl Forsman and starring John Cullum. Last year, the company presented an extended run of Wallace Shawn¹s Aunt Dan and Lemon directed by Scott Elliott and starring Kristen Johnston and Lili Taylor (Obie Award) and the world premiere of Roar by Betty Shamieh, directed by Marion McClinton. The New Group is a theatre-in-residence at Theatre Row.

Hurlyburly is presented by The New Group in association with The Kennedy/Marshall Company.

Hurlyburly will play at The New Group @ Theatre Row (The Acorn Theater/410 West 42nd Street between 9th & 10th). Schedule: Monday ­ Saturday @ 8:00 PM, with matinee on Saturday @ 2:00 PM. Tickets are available at www.TicketCentral.com or (212) 279-4200 or the Theatre Row box office (410 West 42nd Street). Tickets are $51.25. For more info, check out www.TheNewGroup.org.

BIOS:

Bobby Cannavale ("Phil"): Theater credits include: f-ing A (The Public), A Flea In Her Ear (Roundabout), Two Sisters and a Piano (McCarter Theatre), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (Williamstown). Film credits include: Shall We Dance, The Station Agent, The Guru, The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Bone Collector. Television credits include: "Will & Grace," "Six Feet Under," "OZ," "Third Watch."

Josh Hamilton ("Mickey"): Theater credits include: Proof (B'way), The Violet Hour (Steppenwolf), This Is Our Youth (The New Group), Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Atlantic), Cider House Rules, As Bees in Honey Drown, Suburbia (Lincoln Center). Film credits include: The Bourne Identity, The House of Yes, With Honors, Alive. Television credits include: "The Practice," "The 60s' (mini-series), "Absolutely Fabulous."

Ethan Hawke ("Eddie"): Theater credits include: Henry IV (Lincoln Center), Chekov¹s The Seagull (B'way), The Late Henry Moss (Signature), The Cider House Rules, Sam Shepard¹s Buried Child (Steppenwolf), Sophistry (Playwrights), Tennessee Williams¹ Camino Real (Williamstown) and many others with The Malaparte Theater Company, where he was also Artistic Director. Film credits include: Before Sunset, Training Day, Before Sunrise, Hamlet, Gattaca, Reality Bites, Alive, Dead Poets Society.

Catherine Kellner ("Bonnie"): Theater credits include: The Iceman Cometh (B'way), The Long Christmas Ride Home (Vineyard), Necessary Targets (Variety Arts), You Never Can Tell (Roundabout). Film credits include: Pearl Harbor, Shaft, 200 Cigarettes.

Parker Posey ("Darlene"): Theater credits include: Taller Than a Dwarf (B¹way), Fifth of July (Signature), Four Dogs and a Bone (Geffen). Film credits include: Laws of Attraction, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, Clockwatchers, You¹ve Got Mail, The House of Yes, Waiting for Guffman.

Wallace Shawn ("Artie"): Film credits include: Woody Allen¹s Radio Days and Manhattan, My Dinner with Andre, Vanya on 42nd Street, The Princess Bride, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc., Toy Story. Playwriting credits include: The Fever (Obie Award), Aunt Dan and Lemon, Marie and Bruce, Our Late Night (Obie Award). He has appeared onstage in The Mandrake, The Hotel Play, The Fever, Aunt Dan and Lemon, Wifey, The Designated Mourner.

Halley Wegryn Gross ('Donna'): Theater credits include: Stealing Sweets and Punching People (Summer Play Festival), True Love. Television credits include: "Third Watch," "The Education of Max Bickford."

David Rabe (playwright): The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Streamers (Tony® Nomination), Boom Boom Room (Tony® Nomination), Sticks and Bones (Tony® Award‹ Best Play). Other awards: New York Drama Critics Circle, Obie and Drama Desk.

Scott Elliott (director): B'way credits include: The Women, Three Sisters (both with Roundabout Theatre Company) and Present Laughter. Film: A Map of the World. At The New Group, where he is Artistic Director, he has directed Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Women of Lockerbie, Comedians, Smelling a Rat, Ecstasy, Goose-Pimples, Curtains, Hazelwood Jr. High, East is East, Cranes, What the Butler Saw, Betwixt and Andrew After Dark.

For more info, go to www.TheNewGroup.org.