Len Cariou to Star in TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE at Sea Dog Theater

The award-winning Sea Dog Theater will present Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, by Jeffrey Hatcher and Mitch Albom, based on the book by Mitch Albom, directed by Erwin Maas (New York Times Critic’s Pick for Poison and A Kid Like Rishi), starring Tony Award winner and Emmy nominee Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd original cast, CBS’s “Blue Bloods”) and three-time NYIT “Best Actor” nominee Chris Domig.

Tuesdays with Morrie runs March 1 - 23, 2024 in a limited engagement at St. George’s Episcopal Church, located at 209 East 16th Street in New York City. Previews begin March 1 for a March 7 opening.

Tuesdays with Morrie is the humorous and poignant story of career-obsessed journalist Mitch Albom, who sixteen years after graduation serendipitously learns that his former sociology professor Morrie is battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease. What starts as a simple visit, turns into a weekly pilgrimage and the last class in the meaning of life.

Artistic Director Chris Domig says, “Sea Dog Theater seeks to tell stories of alienation and reconciliation. We create theater about and for people on the margin of society, exploring the realms of personal, interpersonal, communal, societal, and existential alienation, and investigating the conditions necessary for reconciliation to occur. As we navigated the years of the pandemic, it quickly became clear how disproportionately it affected the elderly among us. During this time I picked up Tuesdays with Morrie. By the end of it, I was in tears. I was surprised by how timeless the story was and how relevant it remained. Our company decided to do a reading of the play once Covid restrictions lifted. I also knew who I was going to ask to play Morrie: Len Cariou. Len has been a dear friend of our company since its founding in 2017. He has worked with us on numerous readings. He immediately said yes to playing Morrie. We did a reading of the play in 2021 and since then have worked towards this production. Everything we do at Sea Dog Theater is relationally anchored. Len’s friendship and mentorship towards our company and myself mirrors the love that Morrie has for Mitch. This has been a beautiful journey and we look forward to sharing it with a wider audience.”

Featuring vocalist Sally Shaw. Original music written and performed on piano by Chris Domig.

Sea Dog Theater is additionally produced by Dan Swern, Managing Director. The production team includes Guy DeLancey (Set, Light & Costume Design), Eamon Goodman (Sound Design), Chris White (Sound Mixer) and James FitzSimmons (Production Stage Manager).

Performances are Wednesdays – Saturdays at 7pm. Run time is 90 minutes. Tickets are $55 (general), $35 (previews), $35 (seniors 65+) and $20 (students). For info and to purchase tickets go to https://www.seadogtheater.org.

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About Len Cariou

Len Cariou is an internationally recognized Tony Award-winning and Emmy-nominated actor whose career spans over six decades on Broadway and regional stages, in film, and television. A member of the Theatre Hall of Fame, he is celebrated in particular for originating the role of Frederick Egerman in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, and for his legendary performance as the title character in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He remains highly regarded for classical repertoires performed at the Stratford Festival and Guthrie theatres including King Lear, which he assayed twice. His one-man show Broadway and the Bard embraces both the dramatic and musical elements of his sojourn in his beloved profession. Len is also known for playing the patriarch of the family in “Blue Bloods,” one of CBS’s highest rated primetime programs. Len is a member of the Order of Manitoba and an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is a dear friend of Sea Dog Theater and originally played Morrie in their reading of Tuesdays with Morrie in 2022.
 

About Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom is a best-selling author, a nationally acclaimed newspaper columnist (with the Detroit Free Press), a radio host (with WJR-AM) and a television commentator (with ESPN and ABC). His well-known book Tuesdays with Morrie is now the best-selling memoir of all time, with nearly ten million copies sold worldwide. Albom, along with playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, adapted the book into a hit play, which opened Off-Broadway in 2002 and has been performed in regional theaters throughout North America. Albom’s first novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, was published in 2003 and was on The New York Times best-sellers list for two years. With a screenplay by Albom, Five People was adapted into an ABC movie that aired in 2004 and starred Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn and Jeff Daniels. Albom has founded three charities in Detroit: “The Dream Fund,” “A Time To Help,” and “S.A.Y. Detroit,” which helps Detroit’s homeless. He serves on numerous charitable boards around the country and makes his home in suburban Detroit.

About Jeffrey Hatcher

Jeffrey Hatcher’s Broadway credits include Never Gonna Dance (book). Off-Broadway credits include Three Viewings and A Picasso at Manhattan Theatre Club; The Government Inspector at Red Bull Theater; Scotland Road and The Turn Of The Screw at Primary Stages; Lucky Duck (book w/ Bill Russell) at the New Victory Theater; Tuesdays with Morrie (w/ Mitch Albom) at the Minetta Lane Theatre; Murder by Poe, The Turn of The Screw and A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court at The Acting Company. FILM/TV: “Stage Beauty,” “Casanova,” “The Duchess,” “Mr. Holmes,” “The Good Liar,” “Columbo,” “Murder at the Cannes Film Festival” and “The Mentalist.” GRANTS/AWARDS: NEA, TCG, Lila Wallace Fund, Rosenthal New Play Prize, Frankel Award, Charles MacArthur Fellowship Award, McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Barrymore Award (Best New Play) and the 2013 Ivey Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member and/or alumnus of the Playwrights’ Center, the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild and New Dramatists.

About Erwin Maas

Erwin Maas is a New York based theatermaker, curator, educator and international arts advocate from the Netherlands with extensive international experience across a variety of creative and community contexts. In New York, his directions both Off Broadway and site specific have received multiple New York Times Critic’s Picks. His directing work ranges from plays by contemporary playwrights to devised, interdisciplinary immersive projects, opera, music theater and dance with performances for all ages. He is the Co-Executive Director of the Pan-African Creative Exchange (PACE) and teaches at CUNY Brooklyn College’s MFA Performance and Interactive Media Arts Program (PIMA). https://erwinmaas.com

Chris Domig

Chris Domig was born and raised in Salzburg, Austria. He is co-founder of the award-winning Sea Dog Theater in NYC and serves as artistic director. He is currently developing a play about Viktor Frankl’s life and his book Man’s Search for Meaning. He has been nominated three times for the New York Innovative Theater Awards Outstanding Actor category and won the Outstanding Actor Award at the New York International Fringe Festival. TV and film credits include “Fleishman Is In Trouble,” the film Ava opposite Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, “Blue Bloods,” “Blacklist” and “Law & Order.” https://www.christopherdomig.com

Photo credit: Jeremy Varner