offoffBway.com

Well, that was fast. John C. Reilly was going to be in a show at PS 122, but now he is not. Bummer. Reason given is “scheduling conflict”. If it were someone else, we might not buy it, but John seems like a good guy, so we do. Not that we know the guy, it’s just our impression that he’s not a tool.
Aside #1: isn’t it interesting how we form opinions of actors based on their on and off-screen demeanors? For example, Meryl Streep seems like a very cool lady. Hugh Grant seems like a prick. Having never met either of them for even a nanosecond, what the hell do we know? But there you are.
New press release for the show John’s leaving (boo-hoo), which is called TALE OF 2CITIES and is written by Heather Woodbury, is below.
Aside #2: This might actually be a good thing for the author of the play. Granted, it’s nice to have a big star in your play, but then everything becomes about the star. With a new play, that’s not necessarily what you want, especially if you happen to be the author of that new play.

JOHN C. REILLY WITHDRAWS FROM

HEATHER WOODBURY’S TALE OF 2CITIES

SCHEDULED TO BEGIN PERFORMANCES AT PERFORMANCE SPACE 122

OCTOBER 12 THROUGH 29

REPLACEMENT TO BE ANNOUNCED

Due to a project scheduling conflict, John C. Reilly has withdrawn from Heather Woodbury’s production of Tale of 2Cities: An American Joyride on Multiple Tracks, directed by Dudley Saunders. The play will begin performances at P.S. 122 on October 12 and run through October 29. A replacement will soon be announced.

Tale of 2Cities is a timely and sweeping story of urban displacement – a meta-mix of music, memory and overlapping histories that form a living elegy to both vanished and vanishing communities.

Jointly commissioned by Performance Space 122 and UCLA Live, Tale of 2Cities is presented as two full-length parts, Part I: “Grifters, Drifters and Dodgers” and Part II: “Mega Mixicana Waltz.” The schedule permits back-to-back viewing on Saturdays and Sundays, or consecutive viewing Tuesday through Friday evenings.

Winner of the Inaugural Spalding Gray Award and once described by Laurie Anderson as “a one-woman Dickens,” Woodbury makes the leap from her acclaimed trademark solo performances to craft her first ensemble play. The inter-racial ensemble cast consists of actors from New York and Los Angeles, including Winsome Brown, Michael Ray Escamilla, Tracey Leigh, Diane Rodriguez, Ed Vassallo and Ms. Woodbury herself, all of whom play multiple roles ranging from 1940s Jewish leftists to contemporary Latino hipsters, as this tale of historic and contemporary uprooting and urban erasure unfolds.

Ms. Woodbury’s inspiration hit while walking in the hills near Dodger Stadium after moving back to L.A. from NYC. She sensed a vanished community and so learned more about Chavez Ravine.

Tale of 2Cities won both a National Endowment for the Arts’ Fellowship and a Kennedy Award while in development at the New York Public Theater, where the first draft received a staged reading. The piece progressed serially and continued to garner accolades through several drafts and solo, work-in-progress presentations at venues around the world including Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s TRAFFIC series, Ireland’s Galway Arts Festival, The Portland Institute for Contemporary Arts’ Time-Based Arts Festival and the Baseball Reliquary’s “Legacies: From Flatbush to East L.A.” at the Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

SCHEDULE

October 12 – 29

Opens Thursday, October 12

Tale of 2Cities is one play presented in two parts:

Part I “Grifters, Drifters and Dodgers”

Part II “Mega Mixicana Waltz”

Tuesdays and Thursdays: Part I at 8 p.m.

Wednesdays and Fridays: Part II at 8 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays: Part I at 2 p.m., Part II at 7 p.m.

Note: On weekends, Parts I and II are separated by an extended dinner break.

TICKETING

Note: Parts I and II may be purchased as a package (recommended), or may be purchased separately.

Play Package (Parts I and II): $30, $15 (P.S. 122 Members)

Tickets to either part: $20, $15 (students/seniors), $10 (P.S. 122 Members)

Tickets are available by phone at 212-352-3101, on-line at www.ps122.org, or in person at the Performance Space 122 Box Office, 150 First Avenue @ 9th Street.

For more information, please visit www.ps122.org