offoffBway.com

Years ago Steppenwolf (the theater company, not the band) used to bring a show to Broadway every year. No longer. This is a shame, since the shows were often quite good.
Now we have them back, and at least the tickets won’t be as expensive. This time they’re at the tremendously snazzy theater complex 59E59 (really, the place is a sight to behold – if you’ve never been there, go; if you have, go again). The play is called THE SUNSET LIMITED, and it stars Austin Pendleton and Freeman Coffey. Pendleton’s a nutcase (or so we’ve heard), but he’s a terrific actor, and while we aren’t very familiar with Freeman Coffey, with a name like that, how can you not at least be sort of curious? Coffey is a Steppenwolf company member, so odds are he can act. Perfs start Tuesday, October 24, details are below or check the calendar.

Chicago’s acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater to premiere
Cormac McCarthy’s THE SUNSET LIMITED, featuring Austin Pendleton, at
59E59 Theaters in October

New York, New York August 31, 2006—59E59 Theaters (Elysabeth
Kleinhans, Artistic Director; Peter Tear, Executive Producer) is
proud to present their very first collaboration with Chicago’s world-
renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company, THE SUNSET LIMITED a new play
by acclaimed fiction writer Cormac McCarthy, directed by Sheldon
Patinkin and starring Austin Pendleton and Freeman Coffey.
Performances begin on Tuesday, October 24 for a limited engagement
through Sunday, November 19. Press Opening is Sunday, October 29 at
3:15PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday through Friday at 8:15PM,
Saturday at 2:15PM and 8:15PM and Sunday at 3:15PM. Single tickets
are $40 ($28 for 59E59 members) and are available by calling Ticket
Central at 212-279-4200 or online at www.ticketcentral.com. For more
information visit www.59E59.org.

On a subway platform in New York City, an ex-con from the South saves
the life of an intellectual atheist who wasn’t looking for
salvation. Now, the reformed murderer-turned- savior ventures to
offer salvation of another kind, bringing the failed suicide victim
back to his Harlem apartment for an articulate and moving debate
about truth, fiction and belief that only Cormac McCarthy (novelist,
All the Pretty Horses) could pen. Described by the Chicago Tribune
as “astonishingly effecting, so powerful, so stimulating,” this
commanding two-hander features the dynamic performances of Austin
Pendleton and Freeman Coffey.

“Steppenwolf is thrilled to present THE SUNSET LIMITED, in what we
expect is a continued creative relationship with the 59E59 Theaters,“
stated Steppenwolf artistic director Martha Lavey. “We believe the
audiences this thriving theater center has attracted are a great fit
for the kind of work we present at Steppenwolf, particularly our
commitment to challenging new work.”

“Steppenwolf is a company we greatly admire, and they are a perfect
fit for our mission to bring vital, daring and exciting theater to
NYC audiences,” said Elysabeth Kleinhans and Peter Tear of 59E59
Theaters in a joint statement. “We hope THE SUNSET LIMITED will be
the first in a long and fruitful collaboration.”

Cormac McCarthy (Playwright) is the author of nine novels including
All the Pretty Horses, Cities of the Plain, No Country for Old Men
and The Border Trilogy. Among his honors are the National Book Award
and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Sheldon Patinkin (Director) is the chair of the Theater Department of
Columbia College Chicago, Artistic Director of the Getz Theater of
Columbia College, Artistic Consultant of The Second City and of
Steppenwolf Theatre and Co-Director of The School at Steppenwolf.
Among recent directing projects outside of the College have been The
Glass Menagerie (Gift Theatre Company), South Pacific (Metropolis Art
Center), Uncle Vanya (Steppenwolf), and Long Day’s Journey into Night
(Irish Rep and the Galway Festival in Ireland) and Krapp’s Last Tape
for the Buckets of Beckett Festival, both starring John Mahoney, as
well as concert stagings of opera scenes and excerpts for the Lyric
Opera Center at the Grant Park and Ravinia Festival Concerts. He
received a Jeff Award for directing his Irving Berlin revue Puttin’
on the Ritz and a special Jeff for his contribution to Chicago
theater. His translation of Brecht’s The Good Person of Setzuan was
directed by Frank Galati at the Goodman Theatre. His book The Second
City: Backstage at the World’s Greatest Comedy Theater was published
by SourceBooks in 2000 and Keeping Up with the Times, his text book
on the history of the American musical, will soon be published by
Northwestern University Press.

Steppenwolf Theatre is an award-winning company committed to the
principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a
company of actors, directors and playwrights. The company’s mission
is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by
nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships, and
contributing new works to the national canon. The company, formed in
1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic
of mutual respect and the development of artists through on-going
group work. Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned
company of thirty-five artists whose talents include acting,
directing, playwriting, filmmaking, and textual adaptation.