ANNA DEAVERE SMITH'S OFF-BROADWAY PLAY EXTENDED: Let Me Down Easy to run through Jan. 3, 2010.

       Originally scheduled to run through Nov. 8, the production was first stretched through Dec. 6. It was just announced that the critically acclaimed work will now end Jan. 3, 2010.       

       Due to the actress' prior commitment with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at City Center, there will be no Let Me Down Easy performances Dec. 14-20.      

       "Channeling a dramatic range of interview subjects, from artists and athletes to doctors and those they treat," Smith, according to a Let Me Down Easy synopsis, explores "the power of the body and the resilience of the human spirit, featuring first person accounts from a wide variety of sources, including Lance Armstrong and former Texas Governor Ann Richards."       

       Smith, as she did in her acclaimed Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, channels all her subjects on stage.       

       For tickets to Let Me Down Easy at Second Stage, 305 West 43rd Street (off Eighth Avenue), call (212) 246-4422 or visit 2ST.com.