Terrence McNally's FIRE AND AIR Begins Tonight at Classic Stage Company

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director J.H. Doyle and Executive Producer Jeff Griffin, will present the world premiere of Fire and Air, a new play by Tony Award winner Terrence McNally, directed by J.H. Doyle, beginning performances tonight, January 17 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 25. Opening night is Thursday, February 1.

The cast of Fire and Air features James Cusati-Moyer (Nijinsky), John Glover (Dima), Douglas Hodge (Diaghilev), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Massine), Marsha Mason (Dunya) and Marin Mazzie (Misia).

FIRE AND AIR explores the rich history of the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev's itinerant Russian ballet company. Surrounded by great talents of art, design, and music, the tempestuous relationship between Diaghilev and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky revolutionizes dance forever.

Fire and Air features scenic design by J.H. Doyle, costume design by Ann Hould-Ward, lighting design by Jane Cox, sound design by Matt Stine and hair and make-up design by J. Jared Janas.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Terrence McNally (Playwright) is a recipient of the Dramatists Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and the Lucille Lortel Lifetime Achievement Award. He has won four Tony Awards for his plays Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and his musical books for Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime. Other select Broadway: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, It's Only a Play, The Visit, and Anastasia. Select Off-Broadway: Where Has Tommy Flowers Gone?; The Lisbon Traviata; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; A Perfect Ganesh; Corpus Christi; And Away We Go. TV: Andre's Mother (Emmy Award). Opera librettos: Great Scott, Dead Man Walking.

J.H. Doyle (Director). CSC: As You Like It, Pacific Overtures, Dead Poets Society, Passion, Allegro, Peer Gynt. Broadway: Sweeney Todd (Tony and Drama Desk Awards, Best Director of a Musical), Company (Tony Award, Best Musical Revival), A Catered Affair (Drama League Award, Best Musical Production), The Visit (Tony nom., Best Musical), The Color Purple (Tony nom., Best Musical Revival). Off-Broadway: Wings (Second Stage); Road Show (Public Theatre); Where's Charley?, Irma La Douce (Encores!). Regional: Kiss Me Kate (Stratford); Caucasian Chalk Circle (ACT); Merrily We Roll Along, The Three Sisters (Cincinnati); Ten Cents a Dance (Williamstown); The Exorcist (LA). In the UK, John has been artistic director of four regional theaters. Numerous credits include: The Gondoliers, Mack and Mabel (West End); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Regent's Park); Oklahoma! (Chichester); Amadeus (Wilton's Music Hall). Opera includes Madama Butterfly (Grange Park), Lucia Di Lammermoor (Houston/La Fenice/ Sydney Opera House), Peter Grimes (Metropolitan Opera, NY), The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (LA Opera). He directed the feature film Main Street.

James Cusati-Moyer (Nijinsky) CSC debut. Broadway: Six Degrees of Separation (dir. Trip Cullman). NY/Regional: The Devil in The Soldier's Tale featuring Michael Cerveris (Carnegie Hall, dir. Liz Diamond), Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (Westport Country Playhouse, dir. Mark Lamos), Portland Stage Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival. Television: "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt", "The Path", "Red Oaks", "Blue Bloods", "Time After Time." Training: MFA, Yale School of Drama.

John Glover (Dima) Broadway: The Cherry Orchard (Roundabout), Macbeth (Lincoln Center), Death of a Salesman (dir. Mike Nichols), The Royal Family (MTC), Waiting for Godot (Tony and Drama League nom., Roundabout), Man in Chair in The Drowsy Chaperone, Love! Valour! Compassion! (Tony Award. Drama Desk and Drama League nom.), The Great God Brown (Drama Desk Award, dir. Hal Prince). Off-Broadway: The Paris Letters (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Drama League noms.), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Roundabout), Nicholi and the Others (LCT); Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare in the Park, dir. Jack O'Brian), Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare in the Park, dir. Dan Sullivan). Regional: Some Men (Barrymore nom., Philadelphia Theatre Co.); The Lisbon Traviata (Helen Hayes nom., Kennedy Center); Lips Together, Teeth Apart (Mark Taper Forum). Television: 5 Emmy noms. Film: numerous.

Douglas Hodge (Diaghilev) CSC debut. Broadway: Old Times (Director), Cyrano de Bergerac (Roundabout), La Cage Aux Folles (Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Olivier). West End includes: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Olivier Best Actor nom). Many shows at Royal Court, Almeida, Donmar, Shakespeare's Globe, and National Theatre. Associate Director of the Donmar Theatre from 2011-2017. Ten years working exclusively with Harold Pinter as actor/director. Upcoming movies: Red Sparrow, The Bet, High Wire, Wanderland, Jonathon. Upcoming TV: "Black Mirror", "The Watergate Tapes", "Maigret". Stiles and Drewe 2012 Best New Song Award. Trained at RADA and was Council Member of the National Youth Theatre.

Jay Armstrong Johnson (Massine) CSC debut. Broadway: On the Town, Hands On a Hardbody, Catch Me If You Can, Hair. Off-Broadway: The Mad Ones, Working (Drama Desk Award, Prospect Theater Company), Wild Animals You Should Know (MCC). Other NY: Candide (NYCO, dir. Hal Prince), Sweeney Todd (NY Philharmonic, filmed for PBS), The Most Happy Fella (City Center Encores!) Candida, A Woman of No Importance (Symphony Space). TV/Film: "Quantico" (ABC), Sex and the City 2. www.jayarmstrongjohnson.org

Marsha Mason (Dunya) has received four Academy Award nominations for her roles in the films The Goodbye Girl, Cinderella Liberty, Only When I Laugh, and Chapter Two. She has been the recipient of two Golden Globe Awards for her film roles and received an Emmy Award nomination for her role on Frasier. TV: "The Middle", "Grace & Frankie", "The Good Wife". Broadway: Impressionism, Steel Magnolias. Regional: Watch on the Rhine (Arena Stage) Arms & The Man (Old Globe). Director: Chapter Two, Act of God, Steel Magnolias.

Marin Mazzie (Misia) CSC debut. Broadway: The King and I, Bullets Over Broadway (Outer Critics Circle Award), Next to Normal, Enron, Kiss Me, Kate (OCC Award. Tony, Drama Desk, Olivier noms.), Ragtime (Tony, DD, OCC noms.), Passion (Tony nom., PBS), Spamalot (also London), Man of La Mancha, Into the Woods, Big River. Encores!: Zorba, Kismet, Out Of This World. Off-Broadway: includes Carrie (DD nom.). TV: includes "The Big C", "Smash", "Without a Trace," "Still Standing". American Theater Hall of Fame Inductee. marinmazzie.com

Classic Stage Company (CSC). CSC is committed to re-imagining classic stories for contemporary audiences. The company has been a home for New York's finest established and emerging artists to grapple with the great works of the world's repertory that speak directly to the issues of today. CSC serves an average of 35,000 audience members annually, including more than 4,000 students through its nationally recognized education programs. Productions have been cited repeatedly by all the major Off-Broadway theater awards including the Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.