Judy Kaye To Star In LOST IN YONKERS At The Old Globe

Old Globe Executive Producer Lou Spisto today announced the complete cast and creative team for Neil Simon's Lost in Yonkers, the inaugural production of the Globe's Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre. Tony Award winner Judy Kaye will play Grandma Kurnitz in Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Directed by Scott Schwartz, Lost in Yonkers will run Jan. 23 - Feb. 28. Previews run from Jan. 23 - Jan. 27. Opening night is Jan. 28 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets to Lost in Yonkers are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets go on sale January 5 at noon. and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office.

Neil Simon's most critically acclaimed work, Lost in Yonkers received both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play. Set in the summer of 1942, two Young Brothers, Arty and Jay, are left to live with their grandmother by their financially strapped father. The boys must contend with the dominating Grandma Kurnitz who runs the family-owned candy store, their mentally-challenged Aunt Bella and her secret romance, and Uncle Louie, a small-time hood. A mix of both comedy and drama, Lost in Yonkers was hailed by the New York Post as "The best play Simon ever wrote."

In addition to Kaye, the cast also features Jeffrey Bender (Louie), Steven Kaplan (Jay), Austyn Myers (Arty), Amanda Naughton (Gert), Jennifer Regan (Bella) and Spencer Rowe (Eddie).

The Lost in Yonkers creative team includes Ralph Funicello (Scenic Design), Alejo Vietti (Costume Design), Matthew McCarthy (Lighting Design), Paul Peterson (Sound Design) and Diana Moser (Stage Manager).

The intimate 250-seat arena-style Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre is part of the Globe's new Conrad Prebys Theatre Center which features an education center, multipurpose hall and a restaurant with heated outdoor seating. The White Theatre features a fully-trapped stage, state-of-the-art acoustics, two stage level entrances, plush seating and complete access for patrons with disabilities. The facility also includes multiple dressing rooms and a green room serving both the White Theatre, the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 612-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre.

Judy Kaye starred on Broadway in Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award. She has also performed in the show at the York Theatre (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards), the Berkshire Theatre Festival and venues in Los Angeles, Westport, Tucson, Phoenix, San Francisco, Baltimore, Sarasota and Rochester. Kaye also appeared in Zorba for the Reprise Series in Los Angeles (Ovation Award nomination), and in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber on Fleet Street on Broadway as Mrs. Lovett, which she then repeated on the National Tour (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Garland and Carbonell Awards). Her career highlights include the Broadway productions of Phantom of the Opera (Tony Award, Drama Desk nomination), Mamma Mia! (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), On the Twentieth Century (Theatre World Award, Drama Desk nomination) and Ragtime (Ovation Award). She has appeared with symphony orchestras around the country and the world, and has sung at the White House twice.

Scott Schwartz has directed several shows on Broadway including Golda's Balcony and Jane Eyre (co-directed with John Caird). He also co-directed Jane Eyre at La Jolla Playhouse in 1999. Off Broadway credits include Bat Boy: The Musical (Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards, Outstanding Off Broadway Musical; Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), Tick Tick...Boom! (Outer Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Off Broadway Musical; Drama Desk nomination, Outstanding Director of a Musical), Rooms: A Rock Romance, The Foreigner starring Matthew Broderick for Roundabout Theatre Company, The Castle (Outer Critics Circle nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play), Miss Julie and No Way to Treat a Lady. He also directed Golda's Balcony in London, in Los Angeles at the Wadsworth Theater and in San Francisco at the American Conservatory Theater. Most recently, he directed the world premiere of Séance on a Wet Sunday Afternoon, a new opera starring Lauren Flanigan at Opera Santa Barbara. Other recent credits include Othello and Much Ado About Nothing at the Alley Theater, and a new reinvisioning of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at Paper Mill Playhouse, Theatre Under the Stars, Theatre on the Square and North Shore Music Theater (2008 IRNE Award, Outstanding Director of a Musical).

Neil Simon has been represented on Broadway by Come Blow Your Horn, Little Me, Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Sweet Charity, The Star-Spangled Girl, Plaza Suite, Promises, Promises, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Gingerbread lady, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Sunshine Boys, The Good Doctor, God's Favorite, California Suite, Chapter Two, They're Playing Our Song, I Ought to Be in Pictures, Fools, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues (1985 Tony Award), the female version of The Odd Couple, Broadway Bound, Rumors, Lost in Yonkers (1991 Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award), Jake's Women, The Goodbye Girl, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Proposals, The Dinner Party and 45 Seconds from Broadway. Off Broadway: London Suite. Films include Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, The Out-of-Towners, Plaza Suite, The Heartbreak Kid, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Murder by Death, The Sunshine Boys, The Goodbye Girl, The Cheap Detective, California Suite, Chapter Two, Seems Like Old Times, Only When I Laugh, I Ought to Be in Pictures, Max Dungan Returns, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Lost in Yonkers.

TICKETS to Lost in Yonkers are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets go on sale January 5 at noon and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Performances begin on Jan. 23 and continue through Feb. 28. Ticket prices range from $29-$62. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, Jan. 23 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday Jan. 24 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

The Globe's year-long 75th Anniversary celebration will begin with the recently announced 2010 Summer Season. Acclaimed director Adrian Noble is the Artistic Director of the 2010 Shakespeare Festival and will direct Shakespeare's King Lear (June 12 - Sept. 23) and Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III (June 19 - Sept. 24). Presented in repertory, the Shakespeare Festival will also include The Taming of the Shrew (June 16 - Sept. 26). The season also features the World Premiere of the Broadway-bound musical, Robin and the 7 Hoods (July 14 - Aug. 22) directed by Casey Nicholaw with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen, and the West Coast Premiere of The Last Romance (July 30 - Sept. 5), a romantic comedy by Joe DiPietro starring television icon, Marion Ross. Tickets to the Globe's 2010 Summer Season are currently available by subscription only.

SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS offer substantial savings with special subscriber benefits. Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623] or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Subscriptions to the Globe's Summer Season range from $75 to $365. Five-play packages range from $146 to $365. Four-play packages (Festival plus musical) range from $117 to $309. Shakespeare Festival packages (3 plays) range from $75 to $225. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and younger, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

LOCATION: The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Valet parking is also available ($10). For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.

CALENDAR: Duncan Sheik in Concert (1/11), Whisper House (1/13-2/21), Lost in Yonkers (1/23-2/28), Street Lights (2/20-2/28), Boeing-Boeing (3/13-4/18), Alive and Well (3/20-4/25), What You Will (5/1-6/6), The Whipping Man (5/8-6/13).

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theaters and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for 74 years. Under the direction of Executive Producer Louis G. Spisto, The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the 580-seat Old Globe Theatre, the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre and the 612-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 300,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theater's education and community programs. Numerous world premieres such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Catered Affair, and the annual holiday musical, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theaters across the country.

To post a comment, you must register and login.