Harvey Fierstein’s ‘Casa Valentina’ Set to Debut at Samuel Friedman in Spring

Artistic director Lynne Meadow and executive producer Barry Grove revealed that the Manhattan Theatre Club will produce the world premiere of Casa Valentina. The limited engagement production will begin previews April 1, 2014 and will officially open on Broadway April 23, 2014 at the Samuel Friedman Theatre.

The production is written by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein and is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello. The play marks Fierstein’s first work in almost 30 years and his first collaboration with the Manhattan Theatre Club.

Casa Valentina is based on true events chronicled in 1962. It unfolds the unique story of a group of men who went to the Catskill Mountain to enjoy their favorite pastime; dressing and acting as women. The trip was their ticket to escape their jobs and families in order to embrace who they really were as individuals, leaving behind the fear of judgment. Eventually, the are offered the opportunity to become an official organization and must decide whether the public recognition would be beneficial or detrimental to them as a group.

Casa Valentina is being presented as a part of Manhattan Theatre Club’s 2013-2014 season. It joins previously announced productions including Sharr White’s The Snow Geese as directed by Daniel Sullivan and starring Mary-Lousie Parker; Amanda Peet’s The Commons of Pensacola, directed by Lynne Meadow and Starring Blythe Danner and Sarah Jessica Parker; John Patrick Shanley’s Outside Mullingar, directed by Doug Hughes and starring Brian F. O’Byrne and Debra Messing; Dennis Kelly’s Taking Care of Baby, which is directed by Erica Schmidt and stars Reed Birney and Margaret Colin; Sarah Treem’s When We Were Young and Unafraid, directed by Pam MacKinnon and starring Cherry Jones; and David Grimm’s world premiere of Tales From Red Vienna.

Further information regarding the cast and creative team for Casa Valentina will be announced at a later date.