LaMaMa to Extract Shepard's Tooth of Crime; Wise Stars

LaMaMa, one of New York's most famous experimental theatres, will present the rarely-staged Sam Shepard play The Tooth of Crime during its 45th anniversary season, according to the New York Times.  Previews will begin October 3rd, and the show will run through October 22nd.

The Tooth of Crime will be staged in its original version; Shepard rewrote it in 1997 as The Tooth of Crime (Second Dance), and theatre companies have only been able to present that revision.  Shepard has allowed one more performance of the play as originally written.

The play, which had its New York premiere in 1972 , was previously seen at LaMaMa in 1983.  The work, which concerns a battle for supremacy between an aging rock star and an ambitious newcomer, was staged by George Ferencz--to critical acclaim--as a rock concert.  Ferencz will also direct the new version this season.

Ray Wise will return as Hoss, the older rock star.  Wise won an Obie for his performance in that role in 1983.  On Broadway, he has been seen in Tartuffe and Romeo and Juliet, while film and TV credits include Good Night, and Good Luck and "24."

Shepard, whose Buried Child won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, has also penned such works as True West, Curse of the Starving Class and Fool for Love.   He is also known for his work as an actor.

The cast will also include Arthur Adair as Referee, Raul Aranus as Doc, Gideon Charles Davis as Galatic Jack, Nick Denning as Crow, Cary Gant as Cheyenne, John Andrew Morrison as Starman, and Jenne Vath as Becky Lou.

The production will feature music by Shepard, musical direction by Bob Jewett, stage design by Bill Stabile, lighting design by Jeff Tapper, and costumes by Sally Lesser.

"La MaMa Experimental Theatre is a world-renowned cultural organization led by founder Ellen Stewart. For 44 years La MaMa has passionately pursued its original mission to develop, nurture, support, produce and present new and original performance work by artists of all nations and cultures. We believe that in order to flourish, art needs the company of colleagues, the spirit of collaboration, the comfort of continuation, a public forum in which to be evaluated and fiscal support," state notes on LaMaMa's website.

Visit www.lamama.org for more information.