Photo Coverage: 'THE THIRD STORY' Opening Night Party

The Third Story stars Kathleen Turner is directed by Carl Andress. Ms. Turner appears opposite Mr. Busch, who was previously announced to play the other leading female role.

Ms. Turner returns to the New York stage following her remarkable and critically acclaimed performance as Martha in the 2005 revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Third Story marks her first appearance in a fully staged Off Broadway play in more than 30 years. This production marks the New York Premiere of the show following a recently completed run at La Jolla Playhouse.

Preview performances began at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on January 14 and continue through February 28, 2009. Opening night is set for Monday, February 2 at 7:00 p.m.

A mother and son screenwriting team hunker down in Omaha after fleeing Commie-obsessed 1940's Hollywood. A romantically-inclined but socially-inept princess makes a deal with an ancient witch. And tommy guns meet test tubes as a way-too-well-dressed first lady of the mob forms a desperate alliance with a cloning scientist whose experiments have had, um, less-than-consistent results. Gangster flicks, fairy tales and B-movie sci-fi collide in this epic comic fable from the sick and silly imagination of Charles Busch.

Flexible Premium 2 play subscriptions are now available for $99, which means that patrons may purchase it and use both tickets for The Third Story or Coraline, a new musical with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields and book by David Greenspan.

MCC Theater is one of New York City's leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season. When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences. MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through presentation of its main stage works; its Literary Program, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers and its Education & Outreach Program, allowing more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices in the arts.

Notable MCC Theater highlights include: their 2008 Broadway-bound production of Neil LaBute's reasons to be pretty (to open at a theatre to be announced in February, 2009), the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery's Frozen; Neil LaBute's Fat Pig; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne's Beirut. Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards.

For a complete production history, visit www.mcctheater.org.

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