Second Stage Concludes Season With 'Some Americans'

 Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will conclude its current mainstage season with Richard Nelson's comedy, SOME AMERICANS ABROAD, directed by Gordon Edelstein.  The production will begin previews on Thursday, June 26 at Second Stage Theatre (307 West 43rd Street, just west of Eighth Avenue).  Tickets are available by calling the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422 or online at www.2ST.com.

In SOME AMERICANS ABROAD, a group of partying American college students, accompanied by their pretentious professors, embarks on a literary tour of England.  With a crammed itinerary and barely enough time to digest the sites, their behavior devolves from appreciative to appalling in this hilarious comedy.

SOME AMERICANS ABROAD will feature Emily Bergl, Tom Cavanagh, John Cunningham, Fiona Dourif, Halley Feiffer, Enid Graham, Cristin Milioti, Pamela Payton-Wright, Anthony Rapp, Corey Stoll, and Todd Weeks.

The production will have scenic design by Michael Yeargan, costume design by Jennifer von Mayrhauser, lighting design by Donald Holder, and original music/sound design by John Gromada.

This production is sponsored by American Express and the Axe-Houghton Foundation.                                      

RICHARD NELSON's many plays include Two Shakespearean Actors (Tony nomination for Best Play), New England, Goodnight Children Everywhere (Olivier Award for Best Play), Madame Melville, Frank's Home, Franny's Way (Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), The General from America, The Vienna Notes (Obie Award), Rodney's Wife, Left, Principia Scriptoriae (London Time Out Award), Between East and West, Life Sentences, and Jungle Coup, as well as the books for the musical James Joyce's The Dead (Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical), My Life with Albertine, and the Broadway version of Chess, among others.

GORDON EDELSTEIN is currently the Artistic Director at the Long Wharf Theatre and was formerly the Artistic Director of A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) in Seattle. His directorial credits include Mourning Becomes Electra starring Jane Alexander, the Broadway revival of The Homecoming, the American premiere of Martin McDonagh's A Skull in Connemara and such off-Broadway productions as The Day the Bronx Died, The Last Yankee and Tales of the Lost Formicans, among many others.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Emily Bergl just finished two seasons playing Annie on the ABC series "Men in Trees."  She has appeared on Broadway in A Touch of the Poet, The Rivals, and The Lion in Winter (FANY Award). Her Off-Broadway credits include Fiction, Where Do We Live, and Old Money and regionally, Proof, The School for Wives, and The Country, among many others.  Films include Fur, The Hard Easy, Chasing Sleep, Happy Campers, The Rage: Carrie 2.

TOM CAVANAGH is best known for playing the title character on the NBC series "Ed," for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.  He has appeared on Broadway in Urinetown and Shenandoah and has also performed the roles of Danny Zuko in Grease, and Eugene in Brighton Beach Memoirs.  Tom has played recurring roles on many popular television shows, including "Eli Stone" and "Scrubs," and was the lead on the short-lived series, "Love Monkey."  Among his film credits are How To Eat Fried Worms, Gray Matters opposite Heather Graham and Bridget Moynahan, Two Weeks with Sally Field and Ben Chaplin, and Showtime's multiple Emmy Award winning movie, Bang, Bang You're Dead, for which Tom was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award.  This fall, he will co-star with Eric McCormack on the TNT series "Truth in Advertising."

JOHN CUNNINGHAM's many Broadway credits include Six Degrees of Separation, Design for Living, Titanic, Company, 1776, The Good Doctor, California Suite, Father's Day, Rose, Anna Karenina, The Devil's Disciple, The Sisters Rosensweig. Off-Broadway includes Camping with Henry and Tom, Sylvia, Quartermaine's Terms (Obie Award), The Perfect Party, The Naked Truth, The Fantasticks, Love Letters, A Cheever Evening. Films include Mystic Pizza, Dead Poets Society, Nixon, In and Out, Jackal, and Two Weeks Notice.

FIONA DOURIF has appeared in recurring roles on the series "Deadwood" and "Thief" and in the films The Lucky One and Little Chenier, among others.

Halley Feiffer returns to Second Stage Theatre, where she appeared in Eric Bogosian's subUrbia, as well as Josh Tobiessen's Election Day in last summer's Second Stage Uptown Series.  Other credits include Third (Huntington Theatre) and None of the Above (Lion Theatre).  She also appeared in the films Margot at the Wedding, Stephanie Daley, and The Squid and the Whale.

Enid Graham returns to Second Stage Theatre where she appeared in Garry Hynes' production of Crimes of the Heart opposite Amy Ryan and Mary Catherine Garrison.   Broadway credits include The Constant Wife, Dinner at Eight, Fortune's Fool, and Honour (Tony Award nomination, Theatre World Award). Off-Broadway work includes The Long Christmas Ride Home, Psych, Look Back in Anger, among many others.

CRISTIN MILIOTI has appeared on Broadway in Coram Boy and The Lieutenant of Inishmore and Off-Broadway in CROOKED (Women's Project) and The Devil's Disciple (Irish Rep).  Other New York theater includes History of Tears. Film/TV: "The Sopranos" (recurring role), "3 Lbs.," various commercials.

Pamela Payton-Wright's many credits include the Broadway productions of The Show-Off, Exit the King, Jimmy Shine, The Crucible, All Over Town, The Glass Menagerie, Romeo and Juliet, M. Butterfly, Night of the Iguana, A Streetcar Named Desire, Something Unspoken, Mourning Becomes Electra (Drama Desk Award). Off-Broadway credits include The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (Obie, Clarence Derwent Award, Variety Critics' Poll Citation), Jesse and the Bandit Queen (Obie), The Seagull, Hamlet, The Replacement, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Richard III, Til the Rapture Comes.

Anthony Rapp is best known for creating the role of Mark Cohen in Rent, a role he also played in the film version. Other Broadway credits include Precious Sons (Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk nomination), Six Degrees of Separation, and the revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  Off-Broadway credits include: Raised in Captivity (Vineyard); Trafficking in Broken Hearts (Atlantic Theatre Co.); Sophistry (Playwrights Horizons); The Destiny of Me; Private Jokes, Public Places; and Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell.

Corey Stoll has appeared on Broadway in Old Acquaintance and Henry IV.   Off-Broadway credits include Intimate Apparel, The Hologram Theory, A Tale of Two Cities. Regional credits include Intimate Apparel at the Mark Taper Forum (L.A. Critics Circle Award, L.A. Ovation nom.) and work at the Guthrie, A.C.T. and NY Stage and Film.

Todd Weeks' Broadway credits include The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Summer and Smoke, and Our Town.  National tour credits include Angels in America and How to Succeed...  Many Off-Broadway credits include The Cider House Rules and other plays with Atlantic Theatre Company.

Founded in 1979 under the leadership of Artistic Director Carole Rothman, Second Stage Theatre produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America's best contemporary theatre, including Tiny Alice by Edward Albee; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller; Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem by Ricky Jay; Living Out by Lisa Loomer; This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo's Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Crowns by Regina Taylor; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Spoils of War by Michael Weller; Before It Hits Home, Jar the Floor and Birdie Blue by Cheryl L. West; Jitney by August Wilson; Lemon Sky, Serenading Louie and Sympathetic Magic by Lanford Wilson; Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci by Mary Zimmerman; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Some Men by Terrence McNally; and eurydice by Sarah Ruhl.  The company's more than 125 citations include the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed), 2005 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, ...Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, ...Spelling Bee), 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 23 Obie Awards, five Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, five Theatre World Awards, 11 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 15 AUDELCO Awards.

In 1999, Second Stage Theatre opened its state-of-the art 296-seat theatre at 43rd Street, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

The Second Stage Theatre Uptown series was inaugurated in 2002 to showcase the work of emerging artists at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre at 76th Street, including The Mystery Plays by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Spanish Girl by Hunt Holman, The Triple Happiness by Brooke Berman and Swimming in the Shallows by Adam Bock. The Theatre supports artists through several programs that include residencies, fellowships and commissions, and engages students and community members through education and outreach programs.   Its current production, Carly Mensch's Len, Asleep in Vinyl, directed by Jackson Gay, is being performed through June 22.


SOME AMERICANS ABROAD will be performed through Sunday, August 3, 2008 at Second Stage Theatre (307 West 43rd Street, just west of 8th Avenue) on the following schedule: Tuesday at 7:00pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 8:00pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00pm, and Sunday at 3:00pm.

NOTE: All weekday evening performances the week of July 21 will begin at 7:00pm.  Weekend curtain times remain the same.

NOTE: There will be no 2pm performance on Wednesday, June 25.  There will be no performance on Friday, July 4 or Thursday, July 17.  There will be an added performance on Monday, July 14 at 8pm.  The performance times for Sunday, June 29 and Sunday, July 6 are 2pm and 7pm.

Tickets are $70 and may be purchased by phoning 212-246-4422 or 800-766-6048 or online at www.2ST.com.  Patrons under age 25 may purchase a limited number of specially-priced $25 tickets in advance. A limited number of student rush tickets are $15 and are available 30 minutes prior to curtain.

Group tickets are available by phoning 212-889-4300 or (800) 331-0472.  Box-office hours are Monday, 10:00am - 6:00pm, Tuesday 10:00am - 7:00pm, Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00am to 8:00pm, and Sunday, 10:00am to 3:00pm.

For more information, please visit
www.2ST.com

More Articles by This Author...