By Jordan Heller
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GREENWICH VILLAGE — Moscow and Hollywood will come to Greenwich Village Wednesday night when a production of Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters," starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, begins its run.
Academy Award-nominee Gyllenhaal was spotted walking through the Everyman Café, situated in the same building as the Classic Stage Company Theater at 136 East 13th St., for the last rehearsal before Wednesday night's debut public performance.
Actor Josh Hamilton soon followed and, 20 minutes later, Gyllenhaal's husband, Sarsgaard, who also stars in the production, walked through the door sporting a beard and mustache appropriate for the Russian play.
When asked if he preferred acting in the intimate, Off-Broadway Greenwich Village theater to big Hollywood productions, Sarsgaard grimaced.
"Oh, definitely," he told DNAinfo. "No question!"
Sarsgaard said performing in the Village held particular significance for him because when he first came to New York, he lived in a sublet on East 4th Street.
"Right around the corner from this theater there's a post office on Lafayette Street," said Sarsgaard. "That's where I first dropped off like 400 headshots."
"Three Sisters" is the classic Chekhov play from 1901 about three sisters longing to live in Moscow.
The CSC production also stars Jessica Hecht and Juliet Rylance and is directed by Austin Pendleton, who directed Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard in CSC's 2009 production of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya."
"It's nice that people can just walk by and grab a ticket," said Sarsgaard, of the cozy space on East 13th Street.
"I like the random theatergoing that a neighborhood theater affords. At least that's the way I like to discover theater. But [with this production,] it might be hard to just walk in and get a seat."
"Three Sisters" runs at the CSC Theater from Jan. 12 through Mar. 6. For more info, visit www.classicstage.com or call 212.352.3101.
