Catch 22 Update

Playbill News: Lavelle Will Star in Aquila's Catch 22 Off-Broadway: "John Lavelle will star in the world premiere stage adaptation of Joseph Heller's American classic Catch 22 for the Aquila Theatre Company.

Aquila artistic director Peter Meineck penned the stage adaptation of the novel. Performances will begin Nov. 14 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre Off-Broadway and will continue through Dec. 20. Opening night is Nov. 23.

Lavelle, who has appeared in The Graduate and Burleigh Grimes, will star as B-25 bombardier Yossarian, who is 'based on a small island off the coast of Italy in 1944,' according to press notes. 'He starts to question the futile and ridiculous administration of his air base and seeks a way to preserve his life when the whole world around him seems to be going mad. Like a modern-day Achilles, Yossarian protests with powerful and often hilarious results. Catch 22 tackles huge things with rich metaphors, boldly drawn characters and near-impossible situations. It is a work of great theatricality with superb language and a sense of dark surrealism. Heller dares to examine the very philosophy of war and what it does to the humans that fight them.'"

Thanks to Jeff Meyerson for the tip.