Amber Tamblyn to Lead THE MISS FIRECRACKER CONTEST on Broadway This Spring; Judith Ivey to Direct

Beth Henley (Playwright) was born in Jackson, Mississippi. Her plays have been produced internationally and translated into over ten languages. Crimes Of The Heart (The Golden Theatre) and The Wake Of Jamey Foster (Eugene O'Neill Theatre) were performed on Broadway. Off-Broadway productions include: The Miss Firecracker Contest, Am I Blue, The Lucky Spot, The Debutante Ball, Abundance, Impossible Marriage and Family Week. Her play Ridiculous Fraud was produced at McCarter Theatre as well as South Coast Repertory Theatre. Ms. Henley's newest work The Jacksonian premiered at the Geffen Theatre in January 2012 to great acclaim. Robert Falls directed and the cast included Ed Harris, Bill Pullman, Amy Madigan and Glenne Headly. Beth Henley was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play for Crimes Of The Heart. Other awards include: American Theatre Wing 1998 Award for Distinguished Achievement in Playwrighting; Susan Smith Blackburn Finalist for Crimes Of The Heart and Ridiculous Fraud; Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award, 2000; New York Stage and Film Honoree, 2007; ATHE Career Achievement Award, 2010. Ms. Henley wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed film version of Crimes Of The Heart for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. The film starred Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard. Bruce Beresford directed. She also wrote the screenplay for Miss Firecracker starring Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen and Tim Robbins. She wrote the screenplay for Nobody's Fool, and co-wrote David Byrne's True Stories. Her television credits include "Surviving Love" a film for CBS starring Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen as well as a teleplay for the PBS series, "Trying Times", directed by Jonathan Demme. Ms. Henley has the honor of serving as Theatre Arts Presidential Professor at LMU, Los Angeles. She is a member of The Fellowship of Southern Writers, the Dramatist Guild and the Academy of Arts and Science.

HOP Theatricals (Producer) and lead producer Larry Kaye have been nominated for two Tony Awards for How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying with Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette, and for Green Day's American Idiot. Other productions with which HOP and Mr. Kaye have been involved include Broadway's Oleanna with Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, and Blithe Spirit with Angela Lansbury, as well as Rooms Off-Broadway, and Pippin at London's Menier Chocolate Factory. Upcoming projects include The Velocity Of Autumn, a new play by Eric Coble starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella coming to Broadway this spring, and the new Broadway-bound musical The Tapioca Miracle.