Second Stage Presents MR. & MRS. FITCH, Begins Previews 1/26

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) will present the world premiere of MR. & MRS. FITCH, a new comedy from Douglas Carter Beane (The Little Dog Laughed, Xanadu) starring Tony Award winners John Lithgow and Jennifer Ehle. Directed by Scott Ellis, who also staged the Second Stage world premiere and Broadway transfer of Beane's Tony-nominated hit comedy The Little Doug Laughed, MR. & MRS. FITCH begins previews at Second Stage Theatre (305 West 43rd street) on Tuesday, January 26 at 7:00pm; opening night is scheduled for Monday, February 22 at 6:45pm. The production runs through Sunday, April 4.

Meet gossip columnists MR. & MRS. FITCH. When the social circuit no longer provides any scandalous news, they find that great celebrity can appear out of thin air. Tony Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane's wicked new comedy is a scathing look at who is in, who is out and who may not even exist at all.

MR. & MRS. FITCH features scenic design by Allen Moyer, costume design by Jeff Mahshie, and lighting design by Kenneth Posner.

The World Premiere production of MR. & MRS. FITCH is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

John Lithgow's many Broadway appearances include The Changing Room, My Fat Friend, Trelawney of the Wells, Comedians, Anna Christie, Once in a Lifetime, Spokesong, Bedroom Farce, Beyond Therapy, Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Front Page, M. Butterfly, Sweet Smell of Success, The Retreat From Moscow, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and, most recently, All My Sons. Off-Broadway: Mrs. Farnsworth, Stories by Heart. England: Malvolio in Twelfth Night (RSC). Television: "3rd Rock From the Sun." Film: The World According to Garp, Terms of Endearment, Twilight Zone: the Movie, Footloose, Cliffhanger, Shrek and Kinsey. Dance: Carnival of the Animals (NYC Ballet). For children: eight bestselling picture books, three CDs and concerts with major U.S. orchestras. Awards: two Tonys (of five nominations), three Drama Desk Awards, four Emmys (of ten nominations), two Oscar nominations, four Grammy nominations, a Golden Globe, two SAG Awards.

In 2000, Jennifer Ehle received critical acclaim and a Best Performance Tony Award for Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing. She then won her second Tony Award in 2006 for her portrayal of three characters in Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia. Her performance as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 BBC television adaptation of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice earned her a BAFTA award. In 2010 she will be seen in HBO's "A Game of Thrones," based on George R.R. Martin's fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire, and opposite Geoffrey Rush in Tom Hooper's The King's Speech.

Douglas Carter Beane returns to Second Stage Theatre, which produced the world premiere of his Tony-nominated play The Little Dog Laughed. His other works include the book for the Tony-nominated musical Xanadu (Tony nomination, Drama Desk winner), As Bees in Honey Drown (Outer Critics Circle, Gassner Award), Music From a Sparkling Planet, The Country Club, Advice From a Caterpillar, The Cartells. Musicals: The Big Time and the upcoming Lysistrata Jones and The Bandwagon. Revues: Mondo Drama and White Lies. Screenplays: Advice From a Caterpillar (Aspen Comedy Festival Best Feature); To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. As Artistic Director of the Drama Dept., he produced more than 40 productions including revivals of As Thousands Cheer, June Moon and The Torchbearers and world premieres by Paul Rudnick, David Sedaris and Wendy Wasserstein.

Scott Ellis returns to Second Stage Theatre where he directed Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed. Other Second Stage credits include Good Boys and True, The Waverly Gallery with Eileen Heckert, and That Championship Season. Broadway credits include Curtains, Twelve Angry Men (Tony, Drama Desk nominations), Arthur Miller's The Man Who Had All the Luck with Chris O'Donnell, The Boys From Syracuse, The Rainmaker with Woody Harrelson and Jayne Atkinson, 1776 (Drama Desk, Tony nomination), Picnic (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Company, A Month in the Country with Helen Mirren, Steel Pier (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle awards, Tony nomination), She Loves Me (Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations, Outer Critics Circle Award and Olivier Award for Best Director and Best Revival, London production). Off-Broadway: Entertaining Mr. Sloane with Alec Baldwin; Dark Rapture; And the World Goes' Round: The Songs of Kander & Ebb (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle awards); among others. NYC Opera: 110 in the Shade, A Little Night Music. TV: director/co-conceiver of "Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall" and Great Performances' "My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies," "30 Rock," Frasier," "Hope and Faith," "Stacked," and "Out of Practice." MR. Ellis is the associate artistic director for the Roundabout Theatre Company. MR. Ellis was recently named Executive Producer/Director of the Showtime series "Weeds."

Founded in 1979 under the leadership of Artistic Director Carole Rothman, Second Stage Theatre produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America's best contemporary theatre, including Tiny Alice and Peter and Jerry by Edward Albee; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo's Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem by Ricky Jay; Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; Living Out by Lisa Loomer; This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Some Men by Terrence McNally; eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; Everyday Rapture by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott; Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deavere Smith; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Crowns by ReGina Taylor; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Spoils of War by Michael Weller; Before It Hits Home, Jar the Floor and Birdie Blue by Cheryl L. West; Jitney by August Wilson; Lemon Sky, Serenading Louie and Sympathetic Magic by Lanford Wilson; and Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci by Mary Zimmerman. The company's more than 130 citations include the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley for Next to Normal), Best Score (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal) and Best Orchestrations (Tom Kitt and Michael Starobin, Next to Normal), the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed), 2005 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, ...Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, ...Spelling Bee), 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 23 Obie Awards, four Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, five Theatre World Awards, 11 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 15 AUDELCO Awards.

In 1999, Second Stage Theatre opened its state-of-the-art, 296-seat theatre, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. In 2002, Second Stage launched "Second Stage Theatre Uptown" series to showcase the work of up and coming artists at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre. The Theatre supports artists through several programs that include residencies, fellowships and commissions, and engages students and community members through education and outreach programs.

Second Stage Theatre has announced that it has acquired the right to purchase the historic Helen Hayes Theatre, located at 240 W. 44th Street. With this new home, Second Stage will be the only theater company on Broadway dedicated exclusively to the development and presentation of contemporary American theatrical productions. Second Stage will also become one of only four non-profit theater companies that own and operate theaters on Broadway. The company will continue to lease and operate their original theaters on the city's Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan.

Second Stage Theatre is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony-winning musical Next to Normal, which is playing at the Booth Theatre.

MR. & MRS. FITCH will be performed January 26 - Sunday, February 7 on the following schedule: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm & 7pm.

Beginning Tuesday, February 9, MR. & MRS. FITCH will be performed on the following schedule: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm.

All evening performances Wednesday, February 24 - Friday, February 26 will be performed at 7pm. There will be no performance Tuesday, February 23.

Tickets are $70 and may be purchased by phoning 212-246-4422 or 800-766-6048 or online at www.2ST.com. Patrons age 30 and under may purchase a limited number of specially-priced $30 tickets in advance. A limited number of student rush tickets are $15 and are available one hour prior to curtain.

Group tickets are available by phoning 212-246-4422.

For more information, please visit www.2ST.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

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