Lincoln Center Theater's SHOWS FOR DAYS, Starring Patti LuPone, Michael Urie and More, Opens Tonight

Lincoln Center Theater presents Patti LuPone, Dale Soules, Michael Urie, Jordan Dean, Lance Coadie Williams, and Zoë Winters in Shows For Days, a new play by Douglas Carter Beane, directed by Jerry Zaks. The production will open tonight, June 29 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street).

SHOWS FOR DAYS is playwright Douglas Carter Beane's fond remembrance of his immersion into a life in the theater. The comedy is set in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1973, when 14-year-old Car, the play's narrator and the author's alter-ego (to be played by Michael Urie), is introduced to the world of theater through his local community theatre, the Prometheus Theatre, and its devoted cast and crew which is led by Irene (to be played by Patti LuPone), an indomitable force of nature whose life is dedicated to putting on productions she directs, designs, and stars in. Jordan Dean, Dale Soules,Lance Coadie Williams, and Zoë Winters will also be featured as members of the theatre troupe.

SHOWS FOR DAYS will have sets by John Lee Beatty, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting byNatasha Katz, and sound by Leon Rothenberg.

DOUGLAS CARTER BEANE is the author of The Nance, produced by Lincoln Center Theater in 2013, which was filmed by Live from Lincoln Center and shown in movie theaters and broadcast on PBS. His other plays include The Little Dog Laughed (Tony Award nomination, Olivier Award nomination, GLAAD Media Award), Mr. & Mrs. Fitch, As Bees in Honey Drown (winner of the Outer Critics Circle's John Gassner Playwriting Award), Advice From a Caterpillar, The Country Club, Music From a Sparkling Planet, and The Cartells. He received Tony Award nominations for the books of the Broadway musical Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Sister Act, Lysistrata Jones, and Xanadu, for which he also won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards. His screenplays include To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and Advice from a Caterpillar (Best Feature, Aspen Comedy Festival).

JERRY ZAKS returns to LCT where he directed The House of Blue Leaves, Anything Goes, The Front Page, Six Degrees of Separation, and A Bad Friend. He has directed over 30 productions in New York and is the winner of four Tony Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, and an Obie Award. His other productions include Guys and Dolls, Lend Me A Tenor, La Cage Aux Folles, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, A Bronx Tale, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, and Beyond Therapy. He directed the films Marvin's Room and Who Do You Love? and episodes of the long-running comedy series' "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Frasier," and "Two and a Half Men."

PATTI LuPONE returns to Lincoln Center Theater where she starred as Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes (Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk Award), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics' Circle Award nominations), and her one-woman show Matters of the Heart. A two-time Tony Award winner for her performances as Rose in the 2008 revival of Gypsy and as Eva Peron in Evita, her most recent NY stage performances include Anna 1 in The Seven Deadly Sins with the NY City Ballet, Joanne in Company with theNew York Philharmonic, and the Broadway productions of David Mamet's The Anarchist, An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin, and John Doyle's production of Sweeney Todd (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations). She is currently appearing in the Los Angeles Opera production of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles and will be seen in the upcoming season of the Showtime series "Penny Dreadful."

DALE SOULES is currently appearing in Posterity, a new play written and directed by Doug Wright at the Atlantic Theater Company. Her Broadway credits include Hands On A Hard Body, Grey Gardens, The Crucible, The Magic Show, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Dude, and the original production of Hair. Her Off-Broadway credits include the award-winning 2014 production of I Remember Mama. Winner of a SAG Award as a member of the cast of "Orange is the New Black," her other television credits include "Unforgettable," "Law & Order," "American Playhouse," "Sesame Street," and Maurice Sendak's "Really Rosie." She'll be seen in the upcoming film AWOL.

MICHAEL URIE won the Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Clarence Derwent Awards for his performance in the long-running Off-Broadway hit Buyer and Cellar. His other theater credits include the Broadway production of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and the Off-Broadway productions of The Cherry Orchard, Angels in America, and The Tempermentals (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and Theatre World awards). Perhaps best known for his performance as Marc in the hit ABC series "Ugly Betty," his other television credits include guest star roles on "Modern Family," "The Good Wife," and "Hot in Cleveland." His film credits include Uptown Girl, Beverly HillsChihuahua, and He's Way More Famous Than You, which he also directed.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus