'Dead Man's Cell Phone' Completes Casting; Begins Feb.8

Playwrights Horizons has announced complete details for the eagerly-awaited New York premiere of Dead Man's Cell Phone, a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House, Eurydice) that will mark the return to the stage of Tony, Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker (Proof, "Weeds").   

Directed by two-time Obie Award winner Anne Bogart (Artistic Director of SITI Company), the production will begin previews on Friday, February 8 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).  Opening Night is set for Tuesday, March 4 at 7PM. 

Parker will be returning to the stage for the first time since earning a 2005 Tony nomination for the Broadway production of Reckless.  She previously won a Tony Award for Proof and was also nominated for Prelude to a Kiss.  She stars in the hit Showtime series "Weeds," for which she earned a Golden Globe Award, as well as an Emmy nomination and second Golden Globe nomination.  The series enters its fourth season next year. 

As previously announced, she will be joined by Drama Desk and Obie Award winner Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Tony nomination for Angels in America, the current A Hard Heart with Epic Theatre Ensemble) and Obie Award winner Bill Camp (Homebody/Kabul, Coram Boy, NYTW's recent The Misanthrope and current Beckett Shorts).   

Completing the cast of Dead Man's Cell Phone are David AaRon Baker (Broadway's A Raisin in the Sun, The Rainmaker, Abe Lincoln in Illinois), Carla Harting (Off-Broadway's Eurydice, Orson's Shadow) and Kelly Maurer (Broadway's The Old Neighborhood). 

"Gordon (Bill Camp) is dead, but his cell phone lives on.  When Jean (Mary-Louise Parker), an empathetic museum worker, answers his ringing phone beside her in a café, she is soon playing unwitting comforter and confessor to the man's grieving friends and family.  Before she knows it, Jean is ensnarled in the underbelly of the dead man's bizarre life.  A wildly imaginative new comedy, Dead Man's Cell Phone is the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her assumptions about morality, redemption and the need to connect in a technology-obsessed world," explain press notes.

The production will feature scenic and costume designs by G.W. Mercier, lighting design by Brian H Scott and soundscape by Darron L West.  Production Stage Manager will be Elizabeth Moreau. 

The performance schedule for Dead Man's Cell Phone will be Tuesdays through Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2:30 & 8PM and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM.  Subscriptions are now available to guarantee seats to Dead Man's Cell Phone. Single tickets will go on sale January 11.

A new ticketing initiative created this season, LIVEforFIVE makes available $5 tickets for the first preview performance of each Playwrights Horizons production through a lottery via the company's website.  The LIVEforFIVE lottery for Dead Man's Cell Phone will be for the first preview on Friday, February 8 at 8 PM.  Entries for the lottery will be accepted beginning Wednesday, January 30 at 10 AM, with theatergoers filling out an entry form at www.playwrightshorizons.org. Complete dates and details will be announced in coming weeks.  At least 50 tickets will be available for Mainstage shows via the lottery.

Reflecting Playwrights' Horizons ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $20 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. Student Rush, $15 rush tickets, subject to availability, day of performance only, starting one hour before curtain to full-time graduate and undergraduate students. One ticket per person, per purchase. Valid student ID required.  

A special open captioned performance of Dead Man's Cell Phone for theatergoers who are deaf and hard of hearing will be held on Sunday, February 17 at 2:30 PM. Funding for this program is provided, in part, by the Theodore H. Barth Foundation and the Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus program in cooperation with the New York State Council on the Arts. How to order tickets for the open captioned performance: Log on to www.playwrightshorizons.org, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily) via Relay Service (800) 421-1220, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (noon-8pm daily) via Relay Service (800) 662-1220, or by fax:  a printable order form may be found online at www.playwrightshorizons.org/tickets.html 

For subscription and ticket information to all Playwrights' Horizons productions, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8 pm daily, or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at

www.playwrightshorizons.org