JOY, a new romantic comedy by John Fisher (Medea: the Musical, Combat!), will open at The Actors' Playhouse (100 Seventh Ave. South) in Greenwich Village on Sunday, August 14, 2005 (7:30 p.m.), with previews beginning on Sunday, July 31st.
Directed by Ben Rimalower (Snoopy, The Musical), and produced by Sean Mackey, Eva Price and Rimalower, JOY comes direct from a sold-out engagement at New York's Producer's Club earlier this year. The play follows a group of college friends as they fall in and out of love in San Francisco over the course of a year. Paul, an aspiring writer, and Gabriel, a closeted undergrad, become romantically involved, as do lesbians Kegan and Elsa. "With heartbreak, humor, ancient ethics, Cole Porter, a few good martinis and some really bad modern dance, JOY is the story of seven friends discovering their own unique love of life, each other and themselves in the magical City by the Bay," state the show's production notes.JOY stars Ken Barnett (Wonderful Town) as Corey, Michael Busillo (Texas Homos) as Darryl, Ben Curtis (known commercially as "The Dell Dude") as Christian, January LaVoy (Steven Spielberg's The War of the Worlds) as Kegan, Brooke Sunny Moriber (The Wild Party) as Elsa, Christopher Sloan (Cabaret, nat'l tour) as Gabriel and Paul Whitthorne (The Normal Heart) as Paul. The show features choreography by James DeForte (The Women Upstairs) and musical direction by Mark Hartman (Avenue Q), as well as set design by Wilson Chin (Say You Love Satan), costumes by David Kaley (Newsical), lightingby Ben Stanton (Light Raise the Roof) and sound by Zach Williamson (Bedbound).
JOY will play at 8 PM on Monday through Friday (with the theatre dark on Tuesday), as well as at 5 PM and 9 PM on Saturday and 3 PM and 7 PM on Sunday.Tickets are $65 each and can be purchased via Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200 beginning Friday, July 8. Through Labor Day weekend, Saturday afternoon performances are $50 each. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the Actors' Playhouse Box Office (100 Seventh Ave. South) beginning Wednesday, July 20. The Box Office opens at 3 p.m. on weekdays (closed Tuesdays), 1 p.m. on Saturdays and noon on Sundays. For more information, visit www.joytheplay.com.
