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Knight Stars in Cycling Past the Matterhorn, Sept. 29

By: Aug. 09, 2005
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Tony Award-winner and two-time Academy Award-nominee Shirley Knight will make her long-awaited return to the New York stage in Cycling Past the Matterhorn, which will begin performances at the Harold Clurman Theatre (410 W. 42nd St. on Theatre Row) on Tuesday, September 20th with opening night on Thursday, September 29th.

Written by Deborah Grimberg and directed by Eleanor Holdridge, the show is set in contemporary London. Cycling Past the Matterhorn "is a fast-paced comedy about a mother and daughter at a crossroads. Amy is a young sidewalk psychic (with mediocre abilities) who earns her modest living forecasting the troubled lives of the British public. Amy's eccentric mother, Esther, has recently been left by her husband and has just discovered she is slowly going blind. Amy, fearing being stuck as Esther's caretaker, considers marrying her American boyfriend to escape the predicament while Esther decides to forge ahead with her life ('If Stevie Wonder can do it than so can I!'), and joins a cycling excursion in Switzerland to see the mountains while she still can," according to notes for the show.

Knight will play Esther, and Brenda Wehle will play her sister Anita, and Nina Jacques will portray Joanne; the roles of Amy and Amy's fiancé, Doug, have not yet been cast. The play features scenic design by Beowolf Borrit, costume design by Kiki Smith, lighting design by Les Dickit and sound design and original compositions by Scott Killian.

Playwright Grimberg received Sherrill C. Corwin Metropolitan Theatre Award in 2000 for Cycling Past the Matterhorn. The play had its world premiere in 2003 as part of the New York International Fringe Festival in a production directed by Grimberg. Last year, the show was presented regionally by The Theatre Company at the University of Detroit, Mercy.

Knight received a Tony Award (as well as a Drama Desk nomination) for her performance in Kennedy's Children. She also received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for The Young Man from Atlanta, and other Broadway credits include We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Three Sisters and The Watering Place. She picked up Oscar nominations for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth; other film credits include Petulia, As Good as It Gets, Divine Sisters of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and will appear on "Desperate Housewives" this fall (as Bree's mother-in-law).

Cycling Past the Matterhorn will play Tuesday- Saturday evenings at 8 p.m.; with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are priced at $55.00 and will be available from Ticket Central (212-279-4200). For more information, please visit www.cyclingpastthematterhorn.com.
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