THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER Begins Previews Today

Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman's THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER begins previews today, Friday, Nov. 25. The production stars Jim Brochu as Sheridan Whiteside, Tony Award winner Cady Huffman as Lorraine Sheldon, and Mary Stout. Presented by the award-winning Peccadillo Theater Company, this marks the Off-Broadway debut of the classic American comedy. Opening is scheduled for December 4th at Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46th Street (between Ninth & Tenth Aves.)

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER opened at the Music Box Theatre on October 16, 1939 and ran for 739 performances. In the hilarious comedy satire, celebrated critic and radio personality SheriDan Whiteside slips on an icy doorstep while on a December lecture tour. Confined for several weeks of recovery at the Midwestern home of the utterly conventional Mr. and Mrs. Stanley, he proceeds to turn the family's life inside out with his incessant demands, long-distance phone calls and parade of eccentric celebrity guests. As Whiteside's secretary Maggie says, "He would see his mother burned at the stake if that was the only way he could light his cigarette!"

Mary Stout has numerous Broadway credits including Jane Eyre, Beauty and the Beast, Me and My Girl, My Favorite Year, Copperfield, and A Christmas Carol. On TV, Mary is best known as Eugenia Bremer on AMC's hit series "Remember WENN." Film: Aladdin, Sweet and Lowdown, Hunchback of Notre Dame, 24 Nights, Holy Man, Made for Each Other, Swimming on the Moon.

The 28-member cast of THE MAN WHO CAME THE DINNER will also feature Joseph R. Sicari, Amy Landon, Dave Bobb, Ray Crisara, Ira Denmark, Scott Evans, Thursday Farrar, Kevin Fugaro, Jenna Gavigan, Kristin Griffith, Einar Gunn, Susan Jeffries, Kristine Nevins, John Seidman, Carolyn Seiff, Jay Stratton, Tony Triano, Reggie Whitehead, Daron Lamar Williams, and John Windsor-Cunningham.

Led by Obie Award-winning director, Dan Wackerman, the creative team includes scenic design by Harry Feiner, costume design by Amy Pedigo-Otto and lighting design by Jimmy Lawlor.

Founded in 1994, The Peccadillo Theater Company is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the rediscovery of classic American theater, particularly those works which, despite their obvious literary and theatrical value, are not regularly revived. Beginning with Eugene O'Neill (generally considered the starting point of modern American theater), Peccadillo concentrates on the era of the so-called well-made play, a period of sparkling wit and sophistication in comedy as well as deepening realism in the drama. It encompasses such diverse and little-known works as The Silver Cord by Sidney Howard, Jane by S.N. Behrman, The Shanghai Gesture by John Colton as well as the neglected plays of celebrated authors like Dorothy Parker and John O'Hara. Collectively, this work represents nothing less than the American experience itself in all its contradictions and screwball energy.

In recent years, Peccadillo has broadened its mission to include original plays and musicals that share some of the virtues of classic American theater such as period style, well-defined characters and strong plotting. Such was the case with The Talk of the Town, an original musical about the legendary wits of the Algonquin Roundtable, several of whose plays Peccadillo has produced. And Zero Hour, about the actor/comedian Zero Mostel, whose appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee was just as explosive as his stage performances. Peccadillo's most recent production was its critically acclaimed revival of the George Abbott/Arthur Schwartz/Dorothy Fields musical A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Outer Critics Circle nominee Best Musical Revival).

THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER will play a limited engagement through December 18th and the performance schedule is Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 7 pm, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm, with matinees Saturday at 2 pm and Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets are $25 and are available by calling 212-352-3101 or through www.ThePeccadillo.com.

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