Cast of GRACE to Appear at Apple Store Soho, Host Guest Talkbacks, Beginning October 8

Grace, the acclaimed dark comedy written by award-winning writer Craig Wright (Mistakes Were Made, Recent Tragic Events, "Six Feet Under") and directed by Dexter Bullard (Tracy Letts' BUG), today announced a series of special events throughout the month of October in support of the the show's Broadway premiere.

Things kicks off on Monday, October 8th when The Cast of Grace will appear at the Apple Store Soho, and the remainder of the month will see a series of compelling Wednesday evening post-show talkbacks with a distinguished lineup of guests including best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert, Reverend Stephen Phelps of the Riverside Church of New York, Dr. Michael Brown of Marble Collegiate Church, and journalist Patrick Pacheco. Grace is a strictly limited engagement at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street), and began performances on Thursday, September 13th, with its official opening night upcoming on Thursday, October 4, 2012.

The Cast of Broadway's Grace-Paul Rudd, Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington, and Ed Asner-will appear at the intimate theatre inside the Apple Store Soho (103 Prince Street) on Monday, October 8th from 7 PM – 8 PM for a conversation about the play with Shanon Cook of CNN, an entertainment journalist, who will moderate the event. Similar events at the Apple Store Soho, aimed at bringing awareness of uptown events to the downtown crowd, have included conversations with Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Jon Hamm, Clint Eastwood and many other entertainment luminaries. The event, which will be recorded for future podcast, is open to the public and will include an opportunity for audience questions.

Also, a Talkback Series is set to coincide with three Wednesday evening performances of the show throughout October. Talkbacks of Grace, which through its very subject matter and daring approach lends itself to thought-provoking commentary and discussion, will begin on October 10th when Patrick Pacheco (Los Angeles Times journalist and NY1 "On Stage" correspondent) Times will be joined by the entire cast of Grace for a post show conversation about the play. On October 17th, best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love) and Reverend Stephen Phelps of the Riverside Church of New York will engage in a compelling discussion of faith as it relates to the themes of the play. On October 24th, Dr. Michael Brown of the Marble Collegiate Church NYC, who consulted on Grace during the rehearsal process, will similarly discuss the issues of faith and religion that are explored in the play. All talkbacks will take place directly after the 7pm performance. See below for biographical information on the distinguished panel of guests.

In alternating scenes of hilarity and poignancy, life turns surreal for an eclectic foursome whose destinies collide in the Sunshine State. A wide-eyed young couple (Rudd & Arrington) head south with big plans to open a chain of Gospel-themed motels. When an agitated rocket scientist (Shannon) and a prickly pest-control man (Asner) enter the picture, the couple's ordered world is thrown into utter chaos. Grace examines those illusive paradoxes: Believing vs. Knowing and Coincidence vs. Fate.

Grace features an all-star cast including Paul Rudd (Knocked Up, "Friends") and Academy Award® nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, "Boardwalk Empire"), with Steppenwolf's Kate Arrington and seven-time Emmy Award®-winner Ed Asner ("Lou Grant", "The Mary Tyler Moore Show").

Grace first premiered to critical acclaim at The Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, DC in 2004, and was subsequently seen in a celebrated production at Northlight Theater in Chicago, and at the Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles (where it received 3 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards including Best Play).

Paul Rudd made his Broadway debut in Tony Award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo in 1997 and has since starred in Twelfth Night (1998), Three Days of Rain (2006) and Off Broadway in The Shape of Things (2001), among many other stage productions. Michael Shannon's numerous NY stage credits include Uncle Vanya at Soho Rep and Craig Wright's Mistakes Were Made. He received an Academy Award nomination for Revolutionary Road, is a series regular on "Boardwalk Empire," and stars in upcoming feature films: Premium Rush, Iceman and Man of Steel. Kate Arrington, who was critically praised for her recent performance at the Goodman Theatre in Iceman Cometh opposite Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy, is a Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member, whose productions there include The Hot L Baltimore, The Well-Appointed Room, The Pain and the Itch and The Violet Hour. Ed Asner last appeared on Broadway in 1989, opposite Madeline Kahn in Born Yesterday. This production of Grace marks its New York Premiere (in an updated script) and the Broadway debuts of playwright Craig Wright, director Dexter Bullard, and Michael Shannon, who have a fifteen-plus year history of collaboration in the theater, including the recent production of Mistakes Were Made.

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