For Immediate Release, Please: April 10, 2003
Contact: Bridget Klapinski (212) 505-2900
bklapinski@thekarpelgroup.com

“KIKI & HERB: COUP DE THÉATRE”
BOOK BY JUSTIN BOND (“KIKI”) &
MUSICAL DIRECTION BY KENNY MELLMAN (“HERB”)
DIRECTED BY SCOTT ELLIOTT

SET FOR UNLIMITED OFF-BROADWAY RUN
AT THE CHERRY LANE THEATRE
(38 COMMERCE STREET)

PREVIEWS BEGIN FRIDAY, APRIL 25TH

OFFICIAL OPENING NIGHT SET FOR
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7TH AT 8:00 PM

Look out New York, Kiki & Herb: Coup de Théatre is set for an
open-ended Off-Broadway run at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38
Commerce Street between Bedford and Hudson). Written and
performed by Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman, Kiki & Herb:
Coup de Théatre is directed by Scott Elliott. Previews begin
on Friday, April 25th. Official Opening Night: Wednesday,
May 7th at 8:00 PM.

Presented by WestBeth Entertainment, Arnold Engelman
producer, in association with Steven M. Levy, Kiki & Herb:
Coup de Théatre lands on the New York stage as the
definitive work by song stylers Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman
(‘Kiki’ and ‘Herb,’ respectively). Audiences around the world
know and love this duo from previous installments such as
the Obie Award-winning Kiki & Herb: Jesus Wept and the
critically-acclaimed Kiki & Herb: There’s a Stranger in the
Manger, which played at the Westbeth Theater in Winter,
2001. Most recently, they hit the road with Pardon Our
Appearance, which enjoyed successful engagements at
Philadelphia’s Wilma Theater (March 2002) and Washington D.C.’s

Woolly Mammoth Theatre (October 2002), where both Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman
were nominated for 2003 Helen Hayes Awards (Lead Actor/Supporting Actor, respectively)
and Where Are We Now?, which won raves at London’s Soho Theatre (August 2002).

They returned to London for the holidays 2002 as an encore to the sold-out, extended summer run, with festive favorite
Kiki & Herb: There’s a Stranger in the Manger.

Kiki & Herb: Coup de Théatre presents the story of the fictitious yet famed duo Kiki and Herb in all of its glory. After a
career spanning 50 some-odd years, Kiki and Herb, a politically charged act known for their reinvention of modern pop
songs, are thrilled to bring their spectacle to the Cherry Lane Theatre. Kiki, a seasoned drinker, is a brash and boozy
septuagenarian with the ability to tell a story as few can, with a bruising vocal style and willingness to do just about
anything in the name of ‘showbiz.’ Herb is Kiki’s shy, stalwart, long-time accompanist, who shows that still waters really
do run deep as he periodically pounds the keys with a passion and vengeance all his own. In Kiki & Herb: Coup de Théatre,
they reveal the trials and tribulations and oft-suspected secrets of a long semi-illustrious career and ever-intense yet oddly
symbiotic personal relationship. Over the course of this theatrical evening, Kiki and Herb share a cathartic journey, as some
simple reminiscing turns into some serious reckoning.

In a performance that includes the best of the underground music scene, vintage torch lounge standards and surprise pop
and rock favorites, Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman as “Kiki and Herb” turn tunes inside out with unexpected orchestrations,
tooled and twisted medleys and a delivery all their own. From Styx’ “Come Sail Away” to Suede’s “Big Time,” songs from
artists as varied as Radiohead, Eminem, Gil Scott Heron and The Association all serve to drive the story told onstage.
London’s Evening Standard hails, “What makes the show so special is the music, so eclectic it feels as if the dysfunctional
duo have ingested musical encyclopedias.” The Stage (London) observes, “There is a wild and startling originality at work here.”

Kiki and Herb are the creation of Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman, respectively. Obie-winning performer Justin Bond received
a BFA in Theatre Arts from Adelphi University and trained classically at the London Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has
appeared in New York with Hidden: A Gender (P.S. 122), Theatre Couture, the Tiny Mythic Theatre Co., Big Art and Tweed.
He was nominated for a Bay Area Critics Circle Award (San Francisco) for Dixie McCall’s Patterns for Living, and has received
numerous honors and accolades for work on Kiki and Herb around the world over the past five years. Kenny Mellman studied
music composition at UC Berkeley and poetry at San Francisco State University. In addition to his longtime collaboration with
Justin Bond, Mellman has performed with artist John Kelly on the West Coast and in England. He has appeared in New York in
Underground Goddess (HERE) and at the Nuyorican Poets Theatre. He has shared the stage or recorded with artists including
Bob Mould (Husker Du, Sugar) and The Magnetic Fields side project The Three Tenors, among others.

Director Scott Elliott’s Broadway credits include The Women, Three Sisters (Roundabout Theatre Company, where he is an
Artistic Associate) and Present Laughter. He is Founding Artistic Director of The New Group, where he has directed Mike Leigh’s
Smelling A Rat, Goose-Pimples, Ecstasy, Curtains, Hazelwood Jr. High, East is East, Cranes, What The Butler Saw, Betwixt
and Andrew after Dark in addition to The Women of Lockerbie starring Judith Ivey and Trevor Griffith’s Comedians this season.
Other credits: The Monogamist, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, The End of the Day (Williamstown). Film: A Map of the World.

This production includes Set Design by Derek McLane (B’way: The Women; Off-B’way: The New Group’s The Women of
Lockerbie, Comedians, What The Butler Saw, Servicemen, Cranes), Lighting Design by Jason Lyons (Off’B’way:The New Group’s
The Women of Lockerbie, Comedians, Smelling A Rat), Sound Design by Ken Travis (Off-B’way: Endpapers, Passion Play, The
Women of Lockerbie, Comedians, What The Butler Saw) and Costumes by Marc Happel.

WestBeth Entertainment, Arnold Engelman producer, is a theatrical producing organization that for 25 years has successfully
and consistently produced critically acclaimed work in theater and other performing arts. Helping artists expand both their
audience and their work, WestBeth develops and produces innovative theatrical pieces, musicals, unique performance acts
and solo performers for the commercial transfer to Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional Theaters and National Tours.
Steven M. Levy’s producing and management credits include Broadway’s Our Town, I’m Not Rappaport, Dame Edna: The
Royal Tour (Tony Award), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (4 Tony Awards), The Lonesome West (4 Tony Nominations),
Waiting in the Wings, the West End’s Tom Stoppard’s The Invention of Love, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of
Oscar Wilde, Nixon’s Nixon, The Boys in the Band and Off-B’way: As Bees in Honey Drown, Gross Indecency,
Molly Sweeney, The Syringa Tree (OBIE Award). In 1999 Mr. Levy was named one of Crain’s New York Business’
“40 Under 40.” He is an owner of the Gramercy Theatre and Playhouse 91, two prominent Off-Broadway theatres.

Kiki & Herb: Coup de Théatre plays at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street, West Village) as follows: Tuesday
through Thursday at 8:00 PM, Friday and Saturday at 7:00 & 10:00 PM. Previews begin April 24th. All preview tickets are
$35.00. Post-Opening, tickets are $50.00 for performances Tuesday-Thursday, and $55.00 for Friday & Saturday
performances. A limited number of $20 RUSH tickets available at Box Office 2 hours before show.
Tickets may be arranged through Telecharge at (212) 239-6200 or www.telecharge.com.

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