Mantello Talks DESERT CITIES, SPIDEY & More
By: Jessica Lewis Dec. 14, 2010
Lincoln Center Theater, under the direction of Andre Bishop (Artistic Director) and Bernard Gersten (Executive Producer), is presenting Stockard Channing, Stacy Keach, Linda Lavin, Elizabeth Marvel and Thomas Sadoski in the cast of its upcoming production of OTHER DESERT CITIES, a new play by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Joe Mantello, beginning performances Thursday, December 16 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 W. 65 Street.) Opening night is Thursday, January 13 at 6:45pm.
Time Out recently caught up with Joe Mantello to discuss the projects trajectory from Broadway (as originally announced) to off-Broadway, Broadway's latest celebrity obsession, the motivation behind his transition from successful actor to director, Spider-Man.
On the decision to move the show from Broadway to off: "Given the casting pressures of having a new play on Broadway these days, I think Robbie [Baitz] just wanted to get back to the work and remove as much pressure as possible to deliver a commercial hit."
On celebrities infiltrating Broadway: "I don't know this to be true, but I think in some way it is a kind of insurance policy to balance out...Are we really going to get into this? I mean, I wanna get off my soapbox, because what the fuck do I know? I don't know anything, and it'll probably be different tomorrow. But there is a process that happens when you're making something, be it a musical or a new play. That process takes time, and mistakes will be made along the way, and you will go down and hit dead ends. But it is so public now. Any yahoo with a computer can start a firestorm."
On Spider-Man: "It's shocking to me. We've got a lot of disgruntled people who have a lot to say and feel that their opinions are as valid as anyone else's. And I don't think they are! I don't! If you're a discerning person, I want to know what you have to say. But that woman who stood up and said, "I feel like we're guinea pigs" at Spider-Man? Go fuck yourself! If you don't want to see something that's unfinished, go to the box office and tell them that. But this entitlement! [In the past,] people went out of town and very quietly worked on shows, and if you took the train to New Haven or Boston you got to see it. But there wasn't this thing."
To read the full Q & A, click here.
In Other Desert Cities, Brooke Wyeth (to be played by Elizabeth Marvel), a once promising novelist, returns home after a six year absence to celebrate Christmas in Palm Springs with her parents (Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach), former members of the Reagan inner-circle, her brother(casting for this role to be announced), and her aunt (Linda Lavin). When Brooke announces that she is about to publish a memoir focusing on an explosive chapter in the family's history, the holiday reunion is thrown into turmoil and the Wyeths are both bound together and torn apart as they struggle to come to terms with their past.
OTHER DESERT CITIES will have sets by John Lee Beatty, costumes by David Zinn, lighting by Kenneth Posner, sound by Jill BC DuBoff and original music by Justin Ellington.
Jon Robin Baitz returns to Lincoln Center Theater where his plays A Fair Country and Ten Unknowns premiered and where his play The Substance of Fire enjoyed an extended run after its original run at Playwrights Horizons. He is also the author of the plays Mizlansky/Zilinsky, The Film Society, The End of the Day, The Paris Letter, and, a new adaptation of Hedda Gabler. He wrote the screenplay for the film People I Know and the film version of The Substance of Fire. His television credits include The West Wing, Alias and Brothers & Sisters, which he created.
Joe Mantello directed the LCT productions of God's Heart and A Man of No Importance. Winner of two Tony Awards for his direction of Assassins and Take Me Out, his credits include Wicked, Pal Joey, November, The Receptionist, Three Days of Rain and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.
