Lee Tannen's I Loved Lucy Will Get One-Night-Only NYC Presentation in August

The Transport Group will present a one-night-only performance of the Laguna Playhouse production of I Loved Lucy, Lee Tannen's valentine to late comedian Lucille Ball, Aug. 8 at the Duke on 42nd Street.

Diane Findlay and Jeffry Denman

Tannen authored the play, based on his memoir, which reveals his decade-long friendship with Ball in her later years. The two-actor play will reunite Diane J. Findlay as Lucille Ball and Jeffry Denman as Lee, who appeared in the Laguna run last fall.

Todd Weeks will again direct. I Loved Lucy will be presented at 8 PM. A Q&A session with Tannen and the cast will follow.

According to the Transport Group, "Comedienne Lucille Ball left an indelible imprint on fans throughout the world, but most saw only the public persona. Now, go behind the scenes and get a glimpse of the personal side of Lucy. Few people knew America’s comic sweetheart the way Lee Tannen did. Though distantly related by marriage and forty years apart in age, Lucy and Lee became the nearest and dearest of friends during the last decade of Lucy’s life. It was a time Lucy spent out of the spotlight and around a backgammon table, and Lee was lucky enough to be sitting across from her for much of that time."

Denman appeared in Off-Broadway's Yank! (for which he was a 2010 Drama Desk nominee) and Broadway's White Christmas, The Producers, Cats, Dream and 1995's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Findlay appeared in Off-Broadway's Flamingo Court, Paper Mill Playhouse's Funny Girl and Goodspeed Musicals' Dear World and They All Laughed.

Tickets are available at www.Dukeon42.org or by phoning The Duke on 42nd Street box office at (646) 223-3010.

For more information visit www.transportgroup.org.