Ethan Lipton's New Musical THE OUTER SPACE Blasts Off Tonight at The Public Theater

The Public Theater will begin previews for the world premiere musical The Outer Space tonight, February 23, in Joe's Pub at The Public. With book and lyrics by Ethan Lipton and directed by Leigh Silverman, the show has been extended one week through Sunday, April 9, with an official press opening on Wednesday, March 8.

The Outer Space features music composed and performed by Ethan Lipton, Vito Dieterle, Eben Levy, and Ian Riggs.

This season, Ethan Lipton (No Place to Go, Tumacho) returns to The Public with a new adventure in bittersweet and hilariously off-kilter storytelling. With music composed and performed by Ethan Lipton, Vito Dieterle, Eben Levy and Ian Riggs, The Outer Space follows two human beings who buy an old spaceship, leaving the noise, pollution and overpriced rents of Earth for the vast beauty and treacherous terrain of the final frontier. But can they survive the mission? Leigh Silverman (No Place to Go, Well, Violet) directs this out-of-this-world musical about the impossible quest to create a sustainable life.

THE OUTER SPACE features scenic and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Ben Stanton, and sound design by Nicholas Pope.

Continuing The Public's mission to make great theater accessible to all, The Public's First Performance "Free for All" returns this spring; free tickets to the first preview tonight, February 23, will be available February 16, via TodayTix mobile lottery.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Leigh Silverman (Director). With Ethan Lipton: Tumacho (Clubbed Thumb); No Place to Go (Public Theater). Broadway: Violet (Roundabout; Tony nom); Chinglish; Well. Off-Broadway/regional: Sweet Charity (New Group); On The Exhale (Roundabout); Hurricane Diane (Two River Theater); All The Ways to Say I Love You (MCC); The Wild Party (Encores!); The Way We Get By (Second Stage); American Hero (WTF; Second Stage); Kung Fu (Signature Theatre); The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (Playwrights Horizons); The Madrid (MTC); Golden Child (Signature Theatre); In The Wake (CTG/Berkeley/Public Theater; Obie Award, Lortel nomination); The Call (Playwrights Horizons); Go Back to Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons; Obie Award); Yellow Face (CTG/Public Theater); Well (Public Theater).

Ethan Lipton (Book and Lyrics)'s plays include Tumacho; Red-Handed Otter; Luther; Goodbye April, Hello May; and Meat. His musical No Place to Go (Obie Award) was a New York Voices commission and produced by The Public in Joe's Pub and has toured widely in the U.S. and Europe. Lipton is an alum of The Public's Emerging Writers Group, a Clubbed Thumb associate artist, and a Playwrights Realm Page One fellow. Ethan Lipton & his Orchestra (featuring Levy, Dieterle, and Riggs) has been a band since 2005 and has released four studio albums.

Vito Dieterle (Saxophones/Keyboards) has appeared at The Public/Two River Theater/London in No Place to Go. Dieterle has been in the Orchestra for 12-ish years and appears on the group's albums. Dieterle has been a featured soloist in venues around the country. In New York, he is a frequent player with People Like Us/The Truth, and he leads his own quartet throughout the city. Dieterle studied at The New School with many jazz greats. Dieterle is also the co-creator of Silver Lining, Stop Time, and The Django.

Eben Levy (Guitar) has appeared at The Public, Two River Theater, and The Gate Theatre in London in No Place to Go. Levy has been in the Orchestra since 2005 and appears on the group's albums. Levy was co-leader of the '90s funk band Chucklehead. Chucklehead awoke from slumber in 2013 to fend off mid-life crisis. Levy has written music extensively for film and television.

Ian M. Riggs (Bass) is also a composer, singer, and guitarist who performs and records in and out of New York City with a wide range of artists, including Burning Spear, Howard Fishman, The Lonesome Trio, Justin VivIan Bond, Matthew Welch, and The Defibulators.

The Public Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. In over 10 years at The Public, Eustis has created new community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences like Public Lab, Public Studio, Public Forum, Public Works, and a remount of the Mobile Unit. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all; Public Works, an expanding initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences and the community each year; and audience and artist development initiatives that range from Emerging Writers Group and to the Public Forum series. The Public's work is also seen on tour throughout the U.S. and internationally and in collaborations and co-productions with regional and international theaters. The Public is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and in October 2012 the landmark building downtown at Astor Place was revitalized to physically manifest the Company's core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences, by dramatically opening up the building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning acclaimed American musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda and in spring 2017, Lynn Nottage's acclaimed new play Sweat. The Public has received 59 Tony Awards, 168 Obie Awards, 53 Drama Desk Awards, 54 Lortel Awards, 32 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics Awards, and five Pulitzer Prizes. Visit www.publictheater.org.