Dane Cook & Josh Hamilton Bring FAT PIG to Broadway in 2011; LaBute Directs

Comedy superstar and actor Dane Cook will make his Broadway debut this spring in the first Broadway production of Neil LaBute's FAT PIG at a theatre TBD. Cook will be joined by stage, film, and television actor Josh Hamilton (The Coast of Utopia, Away We Go). LaBute will make his Broadway directorial debut with the play, which he also directed in 2008 in the play's acclaimed London premiere, receiving an Olivier Award nomination for Best New Comedy. Further casting, design team, theatre and dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

"Since the original production, the text of the play has been seasoned over the past five years by both my experience and the continuing struggle for acceptance of people in the world around me who fall outside of mainstream, classic definitions" said playwright and director Neil LaBute. "I've been approached by people who've seen FAT PIG and need to talk to me about it more than any other play I've written and I recognize the universal nerve that gets pinched by this story. I'm also extremely eager to get into rehearsal with Dane and Josh. The ability to cater to your actors is a luxury that comes with being both writer and director. I'm planning on writing new material for this production to enhance the already considerable gifts that these men bring to the characters. I'm very much looking forward to this opportunity to see FAT PIG through fresh eyes."

LaBute's razor-sharp comedy tells the story of Tom (Hamilton), a very eligible bachelor who falls for the beautiful, bright and plus-sized Helen. Tom is overjoyed with his new relationship but his shallow co-workers are less enthusiastic. Tom shrugs off their objections but eventually the cruel jabs of his acerbic friend Carter (Cook) and Jeannie, a former flame, force him to question his own values and the importance of conventional good looks. The bitingly funny FAT PIG is Neil LaBute's candid and unapologetic depiction of our obsession with image and cookie cutter beauty.

FAT PIG had its world premiere at MCC Theater in 2004, where it won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play. It has enjoyed several successful productions in major cities including Los Angeles, Boston and, as noted above, in London's West End.
FAT PIG will be produced on Broadway by Heather Provost and Aldo Scrofani.

BIOS

DANE COOK (Carter). Named a "comedian phenom and icon" by Entertainment Weekly, Dane Cook has maintained his reputation as one of today's most prolific stand-up comedians while simultaneously distinguishing himself as a charismatic and versatile actor in a variety of film and television projects. Cook has starred in several films in the past few years: My Best Friends Girl, Dan in Real Life, Good Luck Chuck, Mr. Brooks, and Employee of the Month. Other feature films include Waiting, London, Torque, and Mystery Men. On television, Cook has hosted "Saturday Night Live" twice, including the season premiere, helping the program earn the highest non-sports ratings of any network that year. Cook created, directed and starred in HBO's nine-part comedy documentary series, "Tourgasm" and wrote, executive produced and starred in "Vicious Circle," a feature-length stand-up event, which was filmed in front of 40,000 people during 2 sold out shows at Boston Garden. His sophomore comedy CD/DVD, Retaliation, bucked industry trends by debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200. The album, which has hit double platinum, marked him as the highest charting comedian in 27 years, earning him a place alongside best-selling comedy vets Bill Cosby, George Carlin and Steve Martin. Additionally, his debut CD/DVD release, Harmful If Swallowed, as well as Rough Around the Edges, filmed in front of 40,000 fans during 2 shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City, have appeared on eight different Billboard charts. Last year, his last album, ISolated INcident, was the highest rated special on Comedy Central, and became his second album to debut at number #4 on the Billboard charts, making him the only comedian in history to achieve that feat. Cook has been named Rolling Stone Magazine's "Hot Comic," Stuff Magazine's "Coolest Comic of the Year," and the winner of Comedy Central's Stand-up Showdown more times than any other comedian. His arrival on the cultural stage was confirmed when Time Magazine listed him as one of the world's 100 "Most Influential People." As a result of his efforts, his social network fan base has grown to an unprecedented community of over 7 million followers. Cook will release his 6th album in seven years, entitled DANE COOK-I DID MY BEST-GREATEST HITS which will feature his biggest bits along with never before released material. With the large scale success of his ‘ISolated INcident - Global Thermo Comedy World Tour', which was attended by close to a million people coupled with the success of his #1 rated Comedy Central special and comedy album of the same name, Dane Cook has begun his newest tour, DANE COOK LIVE!, which started this fall and will culminate with his third annual Super Bowl concert, the night before in Dallas where the game will be played.

JOSH HAMILTON's (Tom) films include Away We Go, Outsourced, Diggers, Broken English, The Last New Yorker, The F Word, Alive, Kicking and Screaming, With Honors, The House of Yes, Freak Talks, About Sex, The Wait, and Online. He has appeared on television in "Louie," "Mercy," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," and "Absolutely Fabulous." New York theatre credits include A Lie of the Mind, The Bridge Project directed by Sam Mendes, Things We Want, The Coast of Utopia, Hurlyburly, Proof, This is our Youth, The Waverly Gallery, The Cider House Rules, As Bees in Honey Drown, Gone Home, The Violet Hour, Suburbia, and Women and Wallace.

NEIL LaBUTE (Playwright/Director) received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre. Films include In the Company of Men (New York Critics Circle Award for Best First Feature, Filmmakers' Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival), Your Friends and Neighbors, Nurse Betty, Possession, The Shape of Things - a film adaptation of his play by the same title - The Wicker Man, Lakeview Terrace and Death at a Funeral. Plays include bash: reasons to be pretty, latter-day plays, The Shape of Things, The Distance From Here, The Mercy Seat, Autobahn, This Is How It Goes, Some Girl(s), Wrecks, In a Dark Dark House, Helter Skelter, The Furies and The War on Terror. LaBute is the author of several fictional pieces that have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper's Bazaar and Playboy, among others. A collection of his short stories was published by Grove/Atlantic.