Two people who meet by chance discover they were meant to be together in Terence McNally's bittersweet comedy, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Todd Nielsen directs Libby West and Thomas Fiscella in the title roles at International City Theatre beginning August 29. Performances continue through September 21, with low-priced previews taking place August 26, 27 and 28.
Are any of us really prepared to meet the one person we cannot live without? Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune combines poignancy with laughter as it traces the unlikely romance that develops between two middle-aged "losers." In a cramped walkup on Manhattan's West Side, Frankie, a waitress, and Johnny, a short order cook, have fallen into bed together at the end of their first date. This comedy for adults about a one-night stand asks all the questions we are afraid to ask ourselves about love.
"
Terrence McNally's play is a masterful, poignant, very human comedy," said Nielsen. "It explores the tentative and often awkward humorous first steps in the lives of two people stumbling into a new relationship together."
Frankie and Johnny premiered in 1987 at Off Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club with
Kathy Bates and Kenneth Welsh, then transferred to the Westside Theatre where it ran for fifteen months. A 1991 film adaptation by McNally shortened the title to Frankie and Johnny and was a dramatic departure from the play. In 2002, a Tony-nominated Broadway production with
Edie Falco and
Stanley Tucci ran for 243 performances.
Terence McNally is considered to be one of America's foremost dramatists and is the recipient of four Tony Awards, two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Rockefeller Grant, the Lucille Lortel Award, the Hull-Warriner Award and a citation from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He frequently explores themes of sexuality and the stigma of AIDS in his work. McNally's plays include The Ritz; The Lisbon Traviata; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; A Perfect Ganesh; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Master Class; Corpus Christi; and Deuce; as well as the musicals The Rink; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Ragtime; The Full Monty; The Visit; A Man of No Importance; and
Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life.
Todd Nielsen directed the West Coast premiere of Ray Cooney's Tom, Dick and Harry for ICT, and, a few years prior, the musical HONK! Other recent directing projects include Murder, Mayhem and Music, a benefit for Interact Theatre Company; Plaid Tidings for the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland; and Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Welk Resort in Escondido. Next, he'll be directing The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood for the Nine O'Clock Players; Ben Franklin in Paris for the 42nd Street Moon Theatre in San Francisco; and Squabbles for the Norris Theatre. Todd was also Resident Director for one of the National tours of Disney's
The Lion King.
Libby West (Frankie)'s work in the theater includes appearances Off-Broadway at The Public Theater and The Promenade Theater; regionally at the Pasadena Playhouse; South Coast Rep; The Mark Taper Forum; The Old Globe; American Conservatory Theatre; Denver Center Theater; Paper Mill Playhouse; The Shakespeare Theatre; Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; The Intiman Theatre; The Wilma Theatre; CATF; and IRT; in New York City at The Actors Studio; SoHo Rep; Expanded Arts; Third Eye Rep; The West End Theater and The Kraine; and in Los Angeles at A Noise Within; The Furious Theater; the Odyssey; The Theatre @ Boston Court; Open City Ensemble and LAGLC. She is the recipient of a Dean Goodman Choice Award and a Fox Foundation Fellowship, and was named Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Comedy by Stage Scene LA for her work as Lily Garland in Twentieth Century on the International City Theatre stage. Television credits: Jericho; Six Feet Under; As The World Turns; One Life to Live; and All My Children. Feature films: Fractalus, Two Weeks Notice and Die Blessed, and numerous indies such as Zombie Holocaust and You; A Midsummer Night's Re-Write; Who Flew?; Divorce Be Gone; Iceman; Dream House; Ride of Passage; The Guests; Dream State; and The Wedding Video.
Thomas Fiscella (Johnny)'s recent work includes his critically acclaimed central performance in the world premiere of Tranced at Laguna Playhouse. He is a member of Circle X Theatre Company, appearing in plays and staged readings including The Bigger Man, What Once We Felt, The Internationalist, Air Conditioning and An American Book of the Dead. Also with Circle X, he co-developed and directed You're From Philly which later transferred to the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood, then to the Philadelphia Live Arts/Philly Fringe Fest, and back to L.A. for a revival at the Lonny Chapman Group Repertory Theatre. In Chicago, Fiscella performed at Victory Gardens, Live Bait, Organic, Shattered Globe, Firehouse and Chicago Shakespeare Repertory Theatres, including critically acclaimed productions of Stalag 17 and The Manchurian Candidate (both recipients of "Jeff" citations for outstanding cast and production). Other highlights: a jazz-age Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (Texas Shakespeare Festival); Miss Evers' Boys (Detroit Rep Theatre); and a national tour of The Sound of Music.
The Set Designer for Frankie and Johnny is Stephen Gifford; Lighting and Sound Design are by Chris Kittrell; Property Designers are Patty and Gordon Briles; Production Stage Manager is Michael Alan Ankney; Casting is by
Michael Donovan Casting; and Shashin Desai produces for International City Theatre.
International City Theatre is the Resident Professional Theater at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, and the recipient of the Margaret Harford Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle for "Sustained Excellence in Theater."
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune runs Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, August 29 through September 21. Tickets are $32.00 and $37.00 on Thursdays, and $37.00 and $42.00 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, except opening night which is $50.00 and $60.00 and includes a reception with the actors following the performance. Preview performances take place on Tuesday, August 26; Wednesday, August 27; and Thursday, August 28 at 8 pm. Preview tickets are $29.00. International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center at 300 E. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. For reservations and information, call the ICT Box Office at (562) 436-4610 or go to www.ictlongbeach.org.
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