Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke (“Training Day”) will star in and direct a new Off Broadway play next winter about the self-destruction of a hedonistic musician in 1990s New York, the New Group theater company announced Tuesday. The play, “Clive,”was written by Jonathan Marc Sherman and inspired by Brecht’s early work “Baal.” Mr. Hawke also directed Mr. Sherman’s 2007 play “Things We Want” for the New Group.
The company’s 2012-13 season will begin in the fall with a new suspense drama, “The Good Mother,” starring Gretchen Mol (HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” “Rounders”) as a single mother who is left badly shaken by a strange accident involving her 4-year-old daughter. The play is by Francine Volpe (“The Given”); New Group artistic director Scott Elliott will direct.
After “Clive,” the company will mount its final offering in spring 2013, a new musical comedy titled “Bunty Berman Presents…,” also directed by Mr. Elliott. Set in 1950s Bollywood, the show revolves around the movie mogul of the title and his escapades trying to save his studio when his leading man, Raj, falls out of favor with audiences. The book and lyrics are by Ayub Khan Din (“Rafta, Rafta…”), who collaborated on the music with Paul Bogaev, a veteran Broadway musical orchestrator and supervisor. Mr. Bogaev was nominated for a Tony Award in 2004 for the orchestrations for “Bombay Dreams.”
Performance dates and full casting for the shows will be announced later.