AMERICAN HORROR STORY's Jamie Brewer to Play Title Role in AMY AND THE ORPHANS Off-Broadway

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced Jamie Brewer ("American Horror Story") as "Amy" in the world-premiere production of Amy and the Orphans, by Roundabout Underground alumna Lindsey Ferrentino (Ugly Lies the Bone), with direction by seven-time Tony Award nominee Scott Ellis (She Loves Me, On the Twentieth Century).

Amy and the Orphans is Ferrentino's Roundabout Underground commission. As part of Roundabout's commitment to foster the talent of emerging writers, each Underground playwright is commissioned to write a new play before their Underground play is produced.

Amy and the Orphans began preview performances Off-Broadway on February 1, 2018, and will open officially on March 1, 2018 at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street). This will be a limited engagement through April 22, 2018.

Roundabout welcomes Jamie Brewer as she takes on the title role of "Amy," a woman with Down syndrome who helps her family deal with their father's death. Together, they careen down the Great American Long Island Expressway, navigating strip malls, traffic jams and some serious (and not-so-serious) family drama. An unexpected turn reveals the moment that changed their lives...and the fact that Amy may be the only one who knows her own mind.

Brewer made her television debut as Adelaide "Addie" Langdon in "American Horror Story: Murder House" and continued with the series in "American Horror Story: Coven" as Nan. In 2015, Brewer became the first woman with Down syndrome to walk at New York Fashion Week.

Through Roundabout's New Play Initiative and staged readings, Ellis, Ferrentino and Brewer have been developing the play and the character together since 2015, ahead of the Off-Broadway premiere.

Playwright Lindsey Ferrentino returns to the Steinberg Center following Ugly Lies the Bone, her critically acclaimed New York debut as part of Roundabout Underground starring Mamie Gummer. Ugly Lies the Bone will be produced by the National Theatre in London in February 2017 and is the recipient of The Laurents/Hatcher Foundation's Special Citation of Excellence and the Joseph Kesselring Prize.

Through the New Play Initiative, Roundabout proves its devotion to the development and production of new works by significant writers and artists. The Roundabout Underground program in particular, provides substantial artistic and financial resources to emerging playwrights to stage their debut productions in New York and on Roundabout's stages. In addition to producing their first play, writers receive a commission for a future play, showing a level of commitment to writers' careers and the future of theatre in New York that is unparalleled. The New Play Initiative has discovered and brought audiences some of the most important new voices in theatre and is dedicated to creating a diverse canon for the future of theatre. To learn more about Roundabout's commitment to the development of new work, visit New Play Initiative.

Roundabout's work with new and emerging playwrights and directors, as well as development of new work, is made possible by Katheryn Patterson and Tom Kempner.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

JAMIE BREWER (Amy) grew up loving all forms of the arts, especially movies and theatre productions. Jamie started acting in a theatre group when she was in junior high school. She has been in theatre groups and theatre productions ever since and recently received her Musical Theater Certificate studying theatre arts in college while working towards her Bachelors of Fine Arts with a theatre emphasis.

Jamie was mainstreamed (fully inclusive) in the Southern California and Texas public school system from Kindergarten thru High School. She took a theatre class (College for Kids) at the local college during Junior High School and performed in Godspell and Dr. Doolittle. Jamie was also involved with her High School Drama Club. After graduating she joined a fully inclusive theatre group named Dionysus and became involved with the local Fort Bend Arc Chapter.

At the age of 18, Jamie became the youngest President of the Arc Fort Bend Chapter. She held this office for three years, while performing in That's What Friends Are For..., Yada, Yada, Yada, That's What I'm Sayin' and Return to Love Is A Disability. When 19, she was appointed to the State of Texas Arc Board. Jamie was 1 of 17 people to represent all individuals with a handicap for the entire state of Texas and served for four years on this board. While being on the Texas Arc Board, Jamie was elected to the Executive Board as Treasurer and served for three years. While being on both of these boards, Jamie was asked to serve on the Governmental Affairs

Committee for the State of Texas where she was the only person with a disability and served for two years. The Committee spoke and advocated for the disabled at the Texas State Capitol with state lawmakers to change the state's wording to "intellectually disabled." Jamie was continually involved with the theatre group during this time and performed in Hanu-Rama-Kwanza-Mas and HAIKU playing the dramatic lead.

Jamie became a resident troupe member of Dionysus and performed in many original musicals and plays including Violet and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, as Sally. She also had the honor of being in the touring theatre portion of the group where they performed at schools, churches and the Houston Children's Museum for the Arts and Accessibility campaign. Jamie was lucky enough to get cast for two consecutive years in a Public Service Announcement that aired on NBC, ABC and CBS for the "Super Bowl of Caring Houston Food Drive," a campaign for food banks.

Her family moved back to Southern California and it is there where she started attending a local college with an emphasis on theatre arts. Jamie continues develop her acting from all types of mediums. Jamie has also attended classes at The Groundlings and The Ruskin School of Acting, Meisner Technique.

Through the affiliation of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles, Jamie was fortunate to get an audition, then cast for "American Horror Story: Murder House" playing Adelaide. She also appeared in the final season of "SouthLand." Jamie returned to Season 3 of "American Horror Story: Coven" playing Nan as well as season 4, "Freakshow" opposite Neil Patrick Harris. Jamie is the ambassador for Changing the Face of Beauty. She was also the first person with Down syndrome to walk New York Fashion Week in Carrie Hammer's show. She plans to work in this exciting industry for a very long time, while continuing to be an advocate and role model for people with disabilities in all aspects of her life.

Lindsey Ferrentino (Playwright) is a New York-based playwright originally from Florida. Lindsey's critically acclaimed Ugly Lies the Bone premiered at Roundabout Theatre Company in the Underground and is about to open on the Main Stage at The National Theatre in London (Lyttleton Stage) and has been produced at theaters across the country. Lindsey's full length plays include Ugly Lies the Bone, Amy and the Orphans, Kokomo, Moonlight on the Bayou, Magic Man and Paradise Bar and Grill. They have been developed at Atlantic Theater Company, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, MCC, The O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Premiere Stages, Florida Studio Theater, The Great Plains Theater Conference, 3LD Art and Technology Center, Manhattan Repertory Theater, and The Marilyn Monroe Theater in New York. Her work has been seen regionally at The Kennedy Center in DC, The Alliance Theater in Georgia, The Blank Theater in LA, and The Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. Ferrentino is a recipient of the Edward Albee Playwriting Fellowship and Residency as well as Blue Ridge Playwriting Fellowship. Her short stories have been published in New York Magazine and Aaduna Literary Magazine. She is the recipient of the National Art Club's Kesserling Prize, Laurents/Hatcher Citation of Excellence, ASCAP Cole Porter Playwriting Prize, Holland New Voices Playwriting Award, Paul Newman Drama Award, made the 2015 Kilroys List, finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn, nominated for the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award, and is the only two time finalist for the Kendeda Playwriting Prize. Lindsey is currently under commission for new plays from: Roundabout Theatre Company, The Public, The Tricycle, The Geffen, South Coast Repertory, The National Theatre, and a television series for Big Beach Films/TV. She holds a BFA from New York University and two MFA's in playwriting from Hunter College and the Yale School of Drama.

Scott Ellis (Director). Recent Broadway credits include, Elephant Man, You Can't Take It with You (Tony nomination), On the Twentieth Century (Tony nomination), She Loves Me (Tony nomination), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Tony nomination), the critically acclaimed production of Harvey, the Kander and Ebb musical Curtains (Tony nomination), The Little Dog Laughed (Lucille Lortel Award nomination), Twelve Angry Men (Tony and Drama Desk nominations), Arthur Miller's The Man Who Had All The Luck, The Rainmaker, 1776 (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), Company, Steel Pier (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations), She Loves Me (Tony and Drama Desk nominations; Outer Critics Circle Award; Olivier Award for London production), Picnic and A Month In The Country. Off-Broadway credits include Gruesome Playground Injuries, The Understudy, The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, Streamers, Mr. And Mrs. Fitch, Good Boys And True, The Waverly Gallery, The Dog Problem, Flora, The Red Menace, Dark Rapture, That Championship Season and The World Goes 'Round...The Songs Of Kander And Ebb (Drama Desk Award; Outer Critics Circle nomination). For television, the Executive Producer on Showtime's "Weeds" for the three years. Other credits include "The Michael J. Fox Show," "30 Rock" (Emmy nomination), "Modern Family," "Nurse Jackie," and "The Closer". A graduate of Chicago Goodman School of Drama and is the Associate Artistic Director of the Roundabout Theatre Company.

The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre opened in March 2004 with an acclaimed premiere of Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel starring Viola Davis, directed by Dan Sullivan. In the ten years since that landmark production, the center has expanded beyond the Laura Pels Theatre to include the Black Box Theatre and now a new education center. The Steinberg Center continues to reflect Roundabout's commitment to produce new works by established and emerging writers as well as revivals of classic plays. This state-of-the-art off-Broadway theatre and education complex is made possible by a major gift from The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. The Trust was created in 1986 by Harold Steinberg to promote and advance American Theatre as a vital part of our culture by supporting playwrights, encouraging the development and production of new work, and providing financial assistance to not-for-profit theatre companies across the country. Since its inception, the Trust has awarded over $70 million to more than 125 theatre organizations.

Roundabout Theatre Company is committed to producing the highest quality theatre with the finest artists, sharing stories that endure, and providing accessibility to all audiences. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the production of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate and engage all audiences.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays, musicals, and new works on its five stages, each of which is specifically designed to enhance the needs of Roundabout's mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design, is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. The Stephen Sondheim Theatre offers a state of the art LEED certified Broadway theatre in which to stage major large-scale musical revivals. Together these distinctive homes serve to enhance Roundabout's work on each of its stages.

Roundabout's season in 2017 includes Arthur Miller's The Price, directed by Terry Kinney; If I Forget by Steven Levenson, directed by Daniel Sullivan; Marvin's Room by Scott McPherson, directed by Anne Kauffman; Napoli, Brooklyn by Meghan Kennedy, directed by Gordon Edelstein.

The spring 2017 Roundabout Underground production is On the Exhale, a new play by Martín Zimmerman, directed by Leigh Silverman.

Roundabout's new off-Broadway season dedicated to new work at the Harold & Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre in 2017-2018 will include The Last Match, by Anna Ziegler, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch; Amy and the Orphans, by Lindsey Ferrentino, directed by Scott Ellis; Skintight, by Joshua Harmon, directed by Daniel Aukin.

Roundabout Underground's 2017-2018 season will include Too Heavy for your Pocket, by Jiréh Breon Holder.