Theater News

Joe’s Pub to Host Reading of Bunin-Griffin Tuner, Starring Foster and Borle

Christian Borle and Sutton Foster(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)
Christian Borle and Sutton Foster
(Photo © Joseph Marzullo)

Joe’s Pub will present the first developmental reading of an as-yet untitled musical with a book by Keith Bunin on Mondays, January 30 through February 13, at 7pm. The tuner, which follows the lead characters on a road trip in a beat-up Chevrolet, features songs written by Grammy-nominee Patty Griffin. Sutton Foster and Christian Borle will star in the reading, under the direction of Michael Mayer.


Griffin has released five albums to date, including the most recent Impossible Dream and 1000 Kisses. Her songs have been recorded by such artists as The Dixie Chicks (“Truth #2,” “Top of the World”), Bette Midler, Emmy Lou Harris, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Playwright Bunin’s works include The Credeaux Canvas, The World Over, The Principality Of Sorrows, and The King Of Clocks. His new play The Busy World Is Hushed is scheduled to premiere this spring on the mainstage at Playwrights Horizons. Bunin has also written screenplays for Disney Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Radical Media/Open City.


Foster won a Best Actress Tony Award for Thoroughly Modern Millie, was Tony-nominated for Little Women, and is currently receiving raves for her performance in the pre-Broadway run of The Drowsy Chaperone at the Ahmanson Theater in L.A. Borle, who received a Clarence Derwent Award for his chameleonic performance in multiple-roles in Spamalot, appeared opposite Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in William Finn’s Elegies at Lincoln Center Theater. Mayer’s numerous directorial credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie and Side Man.

Joe’s Pub is located at 425 Lafayette Street. Tickets to the reading are priced at $20 and can be reserved by calling 212-539-8778.