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TRANSPORT GROUP

TO PRESENT WORLD PREMIERE OF A NEW PLAY,

cul-de-sac

BEGINNING PERFORMANCES THURSDAY, APRIL 20

 

PLAY ABOUT THREE COUPLES ON THEIR ‘WISTERIA LANE’

SCHEDULED TO OPEN SUNDAY, APRIL 30

COMPANY PRESENTED ACCLAIMED, DRAMA DESK NOMINATED PRODUCTIONS OF FIRST LADY SUITE AND THE AUDIENCE

Transport Group artistic directors Robyn Hussa and Jack Cummings III have announced that the world premiere of a new American play, cul- de-sac, written by Tony Award nominee John Cariani, will begin performances on Thursday, April 20 at 8pm at the Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4 Street.  cul-de-sac, which is directed by Mr. Cummings (who received a Drama Desk Award nomination for his direction of Transport Group’s The Audience), is scheduled to open Sunday, April 30 at 3pm.

A dark comedy that explores the bizarre secrets of three houses in one neighborhood on an ordinary spring evening, cul-de-sac tells the stories of three couples on a suburban dead end street who go to extreme measures to force their dreams, revealing long-suppressed agendas that threaten their survival.

The cast of cul-de-sac is Nicole Alifante (Off-Broadway’s Lobby Hero and TG’s Requiem for William), John Cariani (Tony nominee and Outer Critics Circle Award winner for Fiddler on the Roof), Robyn Hussa (TG’s Our Town, Requiem for William, First Lady Suite, and The Audience), Monica Russell (TG’s Our Town, Requiem for William, and The Audience), James Weber (TG’s Our Town, Requiem for William, and The Audience), and John Wellmann (TG’s Our Town, Requiem for William, and The Audience).

John Cariani’s most recent play is Almost, Maine.  On Broadway he appeared in the recent Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof (2004 Outer Critics Circle Award; Tony Nomination).   His off-Broadway credits include Two Gentlemen of Verona (The Public/NYSF); Modern Orthodox; and It’s My Party.  His regional credits include three seasons with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival; Studio Arena (Buffalo); and Delaware Theatre Company.  His film acting credits include Scotland, PA; Showtime; Kissing Jessica Stein; Robot Stories, and on television he plays Beck, the forensics tech on Law & Order.  Mr. Cariani is originally from Presque Isle, Maine, and is a graduate of Amherst College.

The scenic design for cul-de-sac is by Sandra Goldmark costume design is by Kathryn Rohe; lighting design is by R. Lee Kennedy (Drama Desk nominee for The Audience); sound design is by Seth Guterman.  Original music is by Emmy-winner Tom Kochan.  The musical director is John DiPinto.  The production stage manager is Rebecca Yarsin.

Founded in 2001 by artistic directors Robyn Hussa and Jack Cummings III, Transport Group presented its premiere production in 2002: Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, which featured older actors in the roles of Emily and George and a twelve-year-old girl as the Stage Manager.  Transport Group’s second production, Requiem for William, an evening of seven seldom produced plays by William Inge, that featured a cast of 26 as well as original songs, premiered in 2003.  In 2004 Transport Group presented the first New York revival of Michael John LaChiusa’s First Lady Suite, which received rave reviews, played to sold-out houses, and earned two Drama Desk Award nominations including outstanding revival of a musical.  Last year’s productions included the world premiere of the musical The Audience, which featured a cast of 46 actors and earned three Drama Desk Award nominations, including outstanding musical, and Normal, a new musical concerning a mother’s battle to save her daughter from anorexia.  Transport Group, is a not-for-profit theatre company that develops and produces work by American playwrights and composers with the aim of exploring the human experience in America in the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

cul-de-sac plays Tuesday through Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm, and Sunday at 3pm through May 13 at the Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street, between Avenues A & B (6 to Astor Place, W/N to 8th Street or F/V to Second Avenue).  Tickets are $19 and are available at www.theatremania.com or by phoning (212) 352-3101.  There is no performance on Tuesday, April 25 and no matinee on Saturday, April 22.  There is a special performance on Monday, April 24 at 8pm.  For more information about Transport Group and cul-de-sac, visit www.transport-group.org.