Arts News
Is He Dead? sets closing date
By Amy Somensky
Feb 27, 2008, 16:07 GMT

New York: Is He Dead? will play its final performance at the Lyceum Theater on March 9th. The production will have played 105 performances since opening on December 9th.

Headlining the play is Norbert Leo Butz. Starring alongside is Jeremy Bobb, Marylouise Burke, Patricia Conolly, Jenn Gambatese, Byron Jennings, Michael McGrath, John McMartin, David Pittu, Bridget Regan, and Tom Alan Robbins.

Michael Blakemore, Tony winner for Copenhagen and Kiss Me Kate, directs. The creative team includes set design by Peter J. Davison, costume design by Martin Pakledinaz, and lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski.

Is He Dead? was written 110 years ago by Twain, but was only just discovered in 2002 by Shelley Fisher Fiskin, a Twain scholar. David Ives has adapted the writing for Broadway.

Inspired by the posthumous bidding war that broke out between the United States and France over Jean-Francois Millet's painting 'The Angelus,' Is He Dead? is a fast-paced comedy about a group of poor artists who stage the death of their mentor to drive up the price of his paintings. In order for the scheme to succeed, the artists hatch various hilarious plots involving cross-dressing, a full-scale fake funeral, lovers' deceptions, and much more.

For Is He Dead? tickets visit www.ishedead.com.