Bunty Berman Presents...: Ayub Khan Din joins cast

Ayub Khan Din has stepped into the title role in the new musical Bunty Berman Presents..., replacing actor Erick Avari who withdrew from the production last week on doctor's orders following an injury.

Bunty Berman Presents... began previews at Theatre Row's Acorn Theater on 12 Apr 2013, but due to Avari's injury cancelled performances for the 19th, 20th, 22nd and 23rd Apr 2013. Performances resume 24 Apr 2013, and the show will still open on 09 May 2013, and run through to 01 Jun 2013 as originally scheduled.

The world premiere of this musical comedy, with book & lyrics by Ayub Khan Din and music by Ayub Khan Din and Paul Bogaev, is directed by Scott Elliott.

Scott Elliott, The New Group's Artistic Director and director of Bunty Berman Presents... said,

I've always loved Ayub as a playwright but it was as an actor that he first caught my eye - I'll never forget his brilliant and sexy performance as Sammy in the Stephen Frears' film Sammy And Rosie Get Laid. For the past 15 years that we've been collaborators, I've tried to get him on stage. That it's happening at this moment, in the first musical he's written, is thrilling to me. We're in rehearsal and I can't wait for audiences to see him as Bunty Berman; I truly think he's written himself the perfect part.

Bunty Berman Presents... is a musical comedy set in a failing 1950s Bollywood studio, with songs in the style of Hollywood's Golden Age, Movie producer Bunty Berman's studio has long been the toast of Bombay, but now Raj, his biggest star and best friend, is beginning to lose his lustre. When their new movie bombs, Bunty must navigate through divas, mobsters and ambitious tea-boys to keep his studio alive.

The creative team features sets by Derek McLane, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by David Lander and sound by ACME Sound Partners.