Casting has been announced for the world premiere of David Epstein's Surface to Air, directed by Tony Award-winner James Naughton (City of Angels, Chicago, "Ally McBeal"), July 11 - August 5, 2007 at Symphony Space (Broadway at 95th Street).
Lois Smith and Tony winner Cady Huffman will join Bruce Altman (films such as Regarding Henry, Glengarry Glen Ross, more than 50 plays), Larry Bryggman (King Lear, Tony nominations for Proof and Picnic, Festen, Twelve Angry Men), James Colby (A Long Day's Journey Into Night and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Hartford Stage), Marisa Echeverria (Jersey Boys at La Jolla Playhouse, "Law & Order," "Rescue Me") and Mark J. Sullivan (Helen Hayes Award-nominee for After Ashley) in this story of a family's homecoming torn apart by unresolved passions. A July 18 opening is planned. Surface to Air is the second in Symphony Space's annual Summer Stock on Broadway series.
Surface to Air is "the story of a family forced to confront long-repressed issues and current realities when
The Remains of their son, a Vietnam veteran, are returned to them 30 years after his plane was shot down over Vietnam," according to press notes.
Cady Huffman won a Tony Award for her portrayal of "Ulla" in
The Producers and was nominated for a Tony for her role as "Ziegfield's Favorite" in
The Will Roger Follies. She later appeared as herself in several guest spots on the television show "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Her movie credits include
The Hero and
Romance & Cigarettes with
James Gandolfini and
Susan Sarandon, and she portrayed Dr. Paige Miller on "One Life to Live."
Lois Smith made her Broadway debut in the 1952 comedy
Time Out for Ginger. A member of the
Steppenwolf Theatre Company, she appeared as Ma Joad in their production of
The Grapes of Wrath in Chicago, San Diego, and London before bringing it to New York City, where her performance earned her a Tony Award nomination. Other Broadway credits include
Buried Child, Stages, The Iceman Cometh, and
Orpheus Descending. Smith made her film debut in East of Eden in 1955. Her many film credits include
Five Easy Pieces, Up the Sandbox, Fatal Attraction, Fried Green Tomatoes and,
Dead Man Walking and she has been seen on television in soap operas ("Another World," "The Edge of Night," "All My Children") and numerous primetime dramas, including "The Defenders," "Dr. Kildare," "Route 66," thirtysomething, The Practice, "Law and Order," "E.R." and "Grey's Anatomy."
David Epstein's plays have been produced Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, in Europe and at regional theatres across the US. His play Exact Change was seen had a critically acclaimed run in London at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. He wrote the books and collaborated on the lyrics for the Off-Broadway musicals
Wanted and
The Bonus Army with the late Rev.
Al Carmines. His screenplay for
Palookaville was an award winner at the Venice Film Festival. He has written for the major film and TV studios and his work has been produced numerous times by network TV and PBS.
Surface to Air will run July 11 - August 5, 2007, according to the following schedule: Tues at 7pm, Wednesday through Sat at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm and 7pm.
Tickets are $36 and $45 and are available by visiting the
Symphony Space Box Office at Broadway and 95th Street or by calling 212-864-5400, Tuesday-Sunday, noon to 6 pm, or online at
www.symphonyspace.org. For more information, contact (212) 864-1414 or
info@symphonyspace.org.
Photos - Cady Huffman and Lois Smith
