Douglas Carter Beane’s 2013 drama The Nance, produced by Lincoln Center Theater and headlined by two-time Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane, comes to more than 300 movie theatres in the U.S. and Canada for a limited run beginning June 23 during Gay Pride Week in many cities. This presentation is made possible by Screenvision and Lincoln Center.
In The Nance, celebrated playwright Douglas Carter Beane tells the story of Chauncey Miles (Nathan Lane), a headline nance performer in the twilight of New York burlesque’s era. Integrating burlesque sketches into his drama, Beane paints the portrait of a homosexual man living and working in the secretive and dangerous gay world of 1930’s New York, whose outrageous antics on the burlesque stage stand in marked contrast to his messy offstage life.
“Through this partnership with Lincoln Center, we are thrilled to offer moviegoers nationwide the chance to see one of the most original plays with a stellar cast of complex and enthralling characters,” said Darryl Schaffer, executive vice president, operations and exhibitor relations, Screenvision. “We are pleased that we can offer it to our exhibitor partners and take part in extending the reach of such a great work of art.”
The Nance, which received three Tony Awards, played on Broadway at New York’s Lyceum Theater in 2013. The New York Daily News called the play “refreshingly original” and USA Today praised Nathan Lane’s standout performance “as heartbreaking as he is hilarious.” In addition to Lane, Beane’s play, produced by Lincoln Center Theater and directed for the stage by celebrated Broadway veteran Jack O’Brien, features an outstanding ensemble cast in Jenni Barber, Andréa Burns, Cady Huffman, Mylinda Hull, Geoffrey Allen Murphy, Jonny Orsini and Lewis J. Stadlen. Sets for the stage were designed by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Ann Roth, lighting by Japhy Weideman, sound by Leon Rothenberg, original music by Glen Kelly, orchestrations by Larry Blank, hair/wig design by David Brian Brown, and choreography by Joey Pizzi. Music was conducted by David Gursky. This presentation of The Nance was filmed last year, and is directed for the screen by Matthew Diamond, and with Andrew C. Wilk as Executive Producer.
The production was nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Actor – Nathan Lane and two Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Play - Nathan Lane and Outstanding Music in a Play – Glen Kelly. The Nance won three Tony Awards (Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Costume Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Play), two Outer Critics Circle Awards (Outstanding Actor in a Play – Nathan Lane, and Outstanding Director of a Play – Jack O’Brien), one Drama Desk Award (Outstanding Music in a Play – Glen Kelly), and Nathan Lane won the 2013 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance of the Season.
Nathan Lane’s many credits include roles on stage, on television and on film. Most recently, he appeared on Broadway in The Nance, for which he received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama League Distinguished Performance Award, and at the Goodman Theater in Chicago as Hickey in the Robert Falls production of The Iceman Cometh. He made his Broadway debut opposite George C. Scott inPresent Laughter (Drama Desk nomination), followed by Merlin, The Wind in the Willows, Some Americans Abroad, On Borrowed Time, Guys and Dolls(Tony nomination, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards), Love! Valour! Compassion! (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle awards), The Man Who Came To Dinner, The Producers (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Ciricle awards and the Olivier Award), The Frogs, The Odd Couple, Butley, November, Waiting for Godot (Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Addams Family (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), in addition to several Off-Broadway productions. His television credits include recent, recurring roles on The Good Wife and Modern Family, in addition to other credits which have garnered him five Primetime Emmy nominations, two daytime Emmy Awards, and a People’s Choice Award. He has appeared in over 35 films including The Birdcage (Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild and American Comedy Awards), Ironweed, Frankie and Johnny, Mousehunt, Jeffrey, The Lion King, Stuart Little, Nicholas Nickleby (National Board of Review Ensemble Acting Award), and The Producers (Golden Globe nomination). In 2006 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2008 he was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.
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