Bob Dishy, Zach Grenier, Tonya Pinkins to Star in STOREFRONT CHURCH

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) presents the world premiere of STOREFRONT CHURCH, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® winner John Patrick Shanley and starring Bob Dishy, Giancarlo Esposito, Zach Grenier, Ron Cephas Jones and Tonya Pinkins.

STOREFRONT CHURCH will begin previews Wednesday, May 16; officially open Monday, June 11; and play a limited engagement through Sunday, June 24 Off-Broadway as the first production to return to Atlantic's main stage Linda Gross Theater in Chelsea following completion of a historic $8.3M renovation.

STOREFRONT CHURCH is the final installment of the trilogy called Church and State, which began with Doubt. The story concerns a Bronx borough President (Esposito) who is forced, by the mortgage crisis into a confrontation with a local minister (Cephas Jones). The question they confront is one that faces us all. What is the relationship between spiritual experience and social action?

Tony Award® nominated stage veteran Bob Dishy has appeared in 17 Broadway productions and most recently starred Off Broadway in Knickerbocker and Enter Laughing. Atlantic Theater Company member Giancarlo Esposito returns to the New York stage following starring on Broadway in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He recently received critical acclaim starring in AMC's award-winning television series "Breaking Bad." Zach Grenier returns to Atlantic following starring in Gabriel. He appeared on Broadway last season in Man and Boy and received a Tony Award® nomination for his performance in 33 Variations. Ron Cephas Jones is currently appearing in Katori Hall's play Hurt Village Off-Broadway. Tonya Pinkins received Tony® and Olivier award nominations and Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Obie, Lortel, Audelco, Garland and Los Angeles Drama Critics awards for her starring title role performance in the musical Caroline, or Change. She is currently starring Off Broadway in Katori Hall's play Hurt Village.

The design team for STOREFRONT CHURCH will feature scenic design by Takeshi Kata, costume design by Alejo Vietti, lighting design by Matthew Richards and sound design by Bart Fasbender.

BIOGRAPHIES

Bob Dishy (Ethan Goldklang) Broadway: Damn Yankees; Flora, the Red Menace; The Unknown Soldier and His Wife; Something Different; The Goodbye People; An American Millionaire; The Creation of the World and Other Business; Sly Fox; Murder at the Howard Johnson's; Grown Ups; Café Crown; The Tenth Man; The Price; Morning's at Seven. Off-Broadway: Enter Laughing The Musical, Knickerbocker, By Jupiter, The Shawl, NY Second City Co. (actor/director). Film: Lovers and Other Strangers, The Tiger Makes Out, The Big Bus, The Last Married Couple in America, First Family, Stay Tuned, Author! Author!, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Critical Condition, Used People, Don Juan DeMarco, Jungle 2 Jungle, A Fish in the Bathtub, Judy Berlin, Along Came Polly. TV: "Blue Bloods," "Story Theatre" (actor/director), "TW3," "Law & Order," "Frasier," "Columbo," "Barney Miller," "All in the Family," "Mary Tyler Moore," "The Good Doctor," "The Cafeteria." First major role: the boy in Six Who Pass While the Lentils Boil at P.S. 205. Tony Award® nomination, Drama Desk, Chancellor's Medal from Syracuse.

Giancarlo Esposito (Donaldo Calderon) Atlantic Theater Company member Giancarlo Esposito returns to the New York stage following starring on Broadway in the recent revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. His Broadway credits include Sacrilege, Seesaw, Merrily We Roll Along and Lost in the Stars. He has received two Obie Awards for Zooman and the Sign at the Negro Ensemble Company and Distant Fires at Atlantic, where he continues to perform and teach as a company member. Esposito most recently received critical acclaim starring in AMC's award-winning television series "Breaking Bad" opposite Brian Cranston and AaRon Paul. He next appears opposite Tyler Perry in the Lionsgate feature film I, Alex Cross and is also appearing as "Magic Mirror/Sidney" on ABC's new hit fantasy series "Once Upon a Time." He will also co-star in J.J. Abrams' upcoming drama pilot for NBC, "Unt. JJ Abrams/Eric Kripke Project." Esposito's notable film credits include Rabbit Hole, The Usual Suspects, Smoke and The Last Holiday. His roles in the Spike Lee films Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues, School Daze and Malcolm X are among his most memorable performances. Esposito's other film credits include Sherrybaby, Ali, Nothing to Lose, Waiting to Exhale, Bob Roberts, King of New York and The Cotton Club. In 1995, Esposito was recognized for his work in Fresh with a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award. In 2007 through his Production Company, Quiet Hand Productions, he made his feature directorial debut with the film Gospel Hill in which he also co-starred with Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, Julia Stiles, Taylor Kitsch and Samuel L. Jackson. Quiet Hand Productions aspires to make "conscious content" films that focus on the inspirational. The company currently has four other projects in development, in which Esposito plans to direct, produce and co-star. One of these projects This is Your Death, is an unflinching look at reality TV. Esposito's many television credits include "Community," "The 2-2," "Homicide: Life on The Streets," "Law & Order," "Bakersfield PD," "Touched by an Angel" and "Kidnapped."

Zach Grenier (Reed Van Druyten) returns to Atlantic following the critically acclaimed production of Gabriel, in which he starred opposite Lisa Emery. Last fall, he made his second appearance opposite Frank Langella in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Man and Boy, his first being A Man for All Seasons, also at the Roundabout. He was nominated for a Tony Award® for his portrayal of Ludwig van Beethoven in Moisés Kaufman's 33 Variations, starring Jane Fonda. On television, he can regularly be seen playing David Lee, the Machiavellian head of Family Law, on the hit CBS show The Good Wife. Other critically acclaimed series include 24, on which he played the Iago-like Carl Webb, and David Milch's Deadwood, on which he appeared as Andy Cramed, the man who brought the plague to town. On Showtime's production of Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor, directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Nathan Lane, he played a maniacally chain-smoking comedy writer. He was also a regular on the highly praised series C16:FBI and Touching Evil, rising from FBI agent in the former to special unit squad captain in the latter. His film credits include Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, in which he played Condon, the private detective hired by Charles Lindbergh; David Fincher's Zodiac and Fight Club, appearing in the pivotal role of Boss to Ed Norton's Jack; Ang Lee's Ride with the Devil, and Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn. While he numbers among his films such independent releases as Liebestraum, A Shock to the System, Chasing Sleep and Earthwork, he has also appeared in his fair share of major motion pictures, including Tommy Boy, Twister, and Swordfish. Zach's roots are in theatre, and he has performed on stages from Maine to Alaska. He was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award for his performance as Yvan in the Chicago production of Yasmina Reza's Art at the Royal George Theatre. He was honored to play the title roles in Uncle Vanya and Tartuffe at Yale Rep, the latter a co-production with Princeton's McCarter Theatre. In New York, he has appeared in productions ranging from the experimental plays of Richard Foreman and Mac Wellman to more naturalistic fare at The Circle Repertory Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Ensemble Studio Theatre, of which he is a member. At Circle Rep, he was privileged to work with Julie Harris in The Fiery Furnace. He originated the role of Dr. Chapman in David Rabe's A Question of Mercy at New York Theatre Workshop, a performance that earned him an Outstanding Artist honor from the Drama League. His performance as Dick Cheney in David Hare's Stuff Happens at the New York Shakespeare Festival was recognized with Ensemble Awards by both the Drama League and the Drama Desk.

Ron Cephas Jones (Chester Kimmich) is currently appearing the production of Katori Hall's play Hurt Village at Signature Theatre Off-Broadway. New York credits: Titus Andronicus, Satellites, Richard III, Everybody's Ruby, Massacre: Sing to Your Children (The Public); AJAY (A.R.T.); As You Like It/The Tempest (Bridge Project), The Last Days of Judas Escariot (Almieda London); Noon Day Sun (Diversity); Wildflower (Second Stage); The Overwhelming (Roundabout); Two Trains Running (Signature); LAByrinth's Our Lady of 121st St. and Jesus Hopped the A-Train (Donmar, the ArtsTheatre; London); Othello (Royal Theatre), The Exonerated, Holiday Heart (MTC), Thunder Knocking on the Door (Yale Rep; Conn. OCC Award), House Arrest: First Edition and Don't Explain (AUDELCO Best Actor Award). Film: He Got Game, Sweet and Lowdown, Half Nelson, Across the Universe. TV: "Law & Order," "Law & Order: CI," "NYPD Blue," "NY Undercover," "Word of Honor," "Raisin in the Sun".

Tonya Pinkins (Jessie Cortez) is currently starring in Katori Hall's play Hurt Village at Signature Theatre Off-Broadway. Playwrights Horizons: Milk Like Sugar. The Public: Caroline, or Change (OBIE Award, Audelco Award, Lortel Award); Caucasian Chalk Circle; All's Well That Ends Well; Measure for Measure. New York Shakespeare Festival: The Merry Wives of Windsor. West Side Arts: The Vagina Monologues. WPA: Just Say No. Young Playwrights Festival: Believin'. Broadway: Radio Golf; Caroline, or Change (Olivier, Tony, NAACP noms, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Garland, LA Drama Critics Award); The Wild Party; Play On (Tony nom.); Chronicle of a Death Foretold; Jelly's Last Jam (Tony, Drama Desk, Out Critics Circle and Clarence Dewwent Awards); Merrily We Roll Along. Founder of The Actorprenuer Attitude, author of "Get Over Yourself: How to Drop the Drama and Claim the Life You Deserve." www.tonyapinkins.com

John Patrick Shanley (Director and Playwright) is from The Bronx. His plays include Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Savage in Limbo, Italian American Reconciliation, Welcome to the Moon, Four Dogs and a Bone, Cellini, Dirty Story, Defiance and Pirate. His theatrical work is performed extensively across the United States and around the world. For his play Doubt, he received both the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize. In the arena of screenwriting, he has nine films to his credit, most recently Doubt, with Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, which was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay. The film of Doubt was also directed by Mr. Shanley. Other films include Five Corners (Special Jury Prize, Barcelona Film Festival), Alive, Joe Versus the Volcano, which he also directed, and Live from Baghdad for HBO (Emmy nomination). For his script of Moonstruck he received both the Writers Guild of America Award and an Academy Award for best original screenplay. The Writers Guild of America awarded Mr. Shanley the 2009 Lifetime Achievement in Writing.

Atlantic Theater Company AT THE LINDA GROSS THEATER is located at 336 West 20th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues).

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

STOREFRONT CHURCH will play Tuesday – Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm, Sunday at 3pm.

There will be Sunday evening performances at 7pm on May 20 and June 3. There is no Wednesday matinee on May 23 or May 30 and no evening performance on June 12.

TICKET INFORMATION:

All tickets are $65.00 and available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 (www.ticketcentral.com) or at the Atlantic Stage 2 box office at 330 West 16th Street.

Atlantic Members pay $35 per ticket and can book by contacting Ticket Central or visiting the Atlantic Stage 2 box office.

For information on Atlantic Theater Company membership, group sales or other inquiries, please contact the Membership Department: 212.645.1242 or membership@atlantictheater.org

www.atlantictheater.org