The Peccadillo Theater Company is pleased to announce their first production as the resident theater company at Theatre at St. Clement's – Charles MacArthur's classic screwball comedy JOHNNY ON A SPOT. The play tells the story of a politician who dies in a whorehouse on the eve of his election to the United States Senate; his campaign manager's frantic efforts to cover up the story should seem very familiar in the wake of the Eliot Spitzer scandal. Peccadillo Artistic Director Dan Wackerman (Room Service, Counsellor-At-Law) will direct. Performances will begin on Thursday, September 4th, continuing through Saturday, October 4th. Opening night is scheduled for Monday, September 8th at 7pm.
This fast-paced satire of American politics by a master of farce concerns the machinations of a particularly inventive campaign manager to elect Governor Johnny, a devout drunk and skirt-chaser, to the U.S. Senate. When he drops dead in a whorehouse, the manager conspires to keep him "alive" long enough to win the election. This political satire has not been revived in New York City since a limited engagement at BAM almost thirty years ago; that production was well received, as were more recent stagings in London and at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival. "With the elections coming up, MacArthur's play should really strike a nerve," said Wackerman. MacArthur is the author of many plays and screenplays, and is perhaps best known for his classic The Front Page.
Director
Dan Wackerman is the artistic director of The
Peccadillo Theater Company. Most recently, he directed
Sylvia Regan's Morning Star. Other credits include the critically acclaimed off-Broadway revival of
John Murray and Alan Boretz's Room Service and a revival of
Dorothy Parker &
Arnaud d'Usseau's The Ladies of the Corridor at the 13th Street Theatre. His production of
Elmer Rice's Counsellor-at-Law at Theatre at Saint Clement's earned him an OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction; the show also received the
Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival, and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Outstanding Direction & Revival. Other directing credits for Peccadillo include
S.N. Behrman's Jane,
John Colton's The Shanghai Gesture, and
Eugene O'Neill's All God's Chillun Got Wings, Desire Under the Elms, and Strange Interlude, and the original musical The Talk Of The Town.
The
Peccadillo Theater Company is in its second decade of producing forgotten American classics - "forgotten" in the sense that most of the work they do has seldom, if ever, been revived in New York City, and "classic" in the sense of enduring theatrical value. Their production of Room Service transferred from Bank Street Theatre and played for more than six months off-Broadway. Other successes include Counsellor-At-Law (two Lortel Awards, OBIE Award) and The Talk Of The Town, which ran for over a year in the Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel.
JOHNNY ON A SPOT will begin performances on Thursday, September 4th and will continue until Saturday, October 4th. The schedule will be Thursday through Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Opening night is scheduled for Monday, September 8th at 7pm; this is the only Monday performance. Tickets will be $20.00 and may be purchased by calling Theatermania at 212-352-3101, or online at www.theatermania.com.
JOHNNY ON A SPOT will be performed at Theatre at St. Clement's (423 West 46th Street, between 9th and 10th avenues Thursday September 4th through Saturday October 4th, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm. For tickets call 212-352-3101, or order online at www.theatermania.com
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