‘Extinction,’ starring James Roday of ‘Psych,’ travels from L.A. to off-Broadway

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A critically acclaimed new play that opened in Los Angeles last fall is set to transfer to a prominent off- Broadway theater.

Gabe McKinley’s ‘Extinction’ opened in November at Hollywood’s Elephant Space, where it starred James Roday (from the USA Network series ‘Psych’) and Michael Weston as two womanizing buddies who find themselves at odds with each other during a trip to Atlantic City.

Producers of the show, which include Roday’s ‘Psych’ co-star Dule Hill, have announced that the play is set to open at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York on Feb. 17.

Roday and Weston will reprise their roles for the play’s off-Broadway run. The cast also includes Amanda Detmer and Stefanie E. Frame. Wayne Kasserman, who directed the L.A. run, will stage the production for the Cherry Lane Theatre.

McKinley’s other plays include ‘Welcome Home Rock Rogers,’ ‘The Kitchen Sink Play,’ ‘Funny’ and ‘Floodplains.’ The playwright is the brother of James McKinley and Jesse McKinley, who are writers for the New York Times.

A reviewer for the Los Angeles Times wrote that ‘Extinction’ covers much of the same territory as Neil LaBute and other playwrights ‘who treat the darker side of the masculine psyche,’ but added that the drama ‘enters a few unexplored and very murky corners en route to a shattering denouement.’

Located in the West Village, the Cherry Lane Theatre is considered one of New York’s most prominent off-Broadway houses. In the past, it has worked with theater artists including Sam Shepard, Edward Albee and David Mamet.

-- David Ng