David Duchovny Makes Stage Debut In MCC's THE BREAK OF NOON

MCC Theater (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that David Duchovny ("The X-Files," "Californication") will make his New York stage debut in the world premiere production of Neil LaBute's The Break of Noon, directed by Jo Bonney, a co-production with the Geffen Playhouse (Gil Cates, Producing Director; Randall Arney, Artistic Director; Ken Novice, Managing Director) Rehearsals begin September 28, and performances in New York will begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on October 28; performances in Los Angeles will begin in previews on January 25 with an official opening on February 2, 2011. Mr. Duchovny will be performing in the New York portion of the run; casting for Los Angeles will be announced at a later date.

In LaBute's newest play, Mr. Duchovny will star as John Smith, a man who, amidst the chaos and horror of the worst office shooting in American history, sees the face of God. His modern-day revelation creates a maelstrom of disbelief among everyone he knows. A newcomer to faith, John urgently searches for a modern response to the age-old question: at what cost salvation?

The Break of Noon marks Neil LaBute's seventh collaboration with MCC Theater as Playwright-in-Residence, following the 2009 Tony Award-nominated Best Play, Reasons to be Pretty, and is his fourth collaboration with the Geffen Playhouse. Renowned for his darkly-comic morality plays (The Shape of Things, In a Dark Dark House), he teams up again with longtime collaborator, director Jo Bonney (Some Girl(s), Fat Pig), for this exploration of the daunting, sometimes harrowing process of "finding religion."

Later in the season, MCC Theater will present the world premieres of Sharr White's The Other Place and Michael Weller's Side Effects. Casting announcements and specific dates for each production will be forthcoming.

Subscriptions for the 2010-2011 season are on-sale now and are priced as low as $99 for the 3-play season. For more information visit www.mcctheater.org or to purchase packages, contact TicketCentral directly at www.ticketcentral.com or call 212-279-4200.

MCC Theater is one of New York City's leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season. When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences. MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through presentation of its mainstage works; its Literary Program, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers and its Education & Outreach Program, allowing more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices in the arts. Notable MCC Theater highlights include: the 2008 Tony Award-nominated reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute, last season's Fifty Words, the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery's Frozen; Neil LaBute's Fat Pig; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne's Beirut. Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards. For a complete production history, visit www.mcctheater.org.

The Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and musicals, the Geffen Playhouse continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company is helmed by Producing Director and President of the Board Gilbert Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney, Managing Director Ken Novice and Chairman of the Board Frank Mancuso. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains an extensive education and outreach program, designed to engage young people and the community at large in the arts. For more information, please visit www.geffenplayhouse.com.

David Duchovny was born and raised in New York City. He attended Princeton University, where he played one season as shooting guard on the school's basketball team, received his Masters Degree in English Literature from Yale, and was on the road to earning his Ph.D. when he caught the acting bug.

Subsequently, Duchovny emerged to become one of the most highly acclaimed actors in Hollywood. Duchovny recently starred alongside Demi Moore in the April release of the film The Joneses, which premiered at last year's Toronto Film Festival. He is currently filming the fourth season of Showtime's hit "Californication," for which he won the Golden Globe in January 2008 for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. With this win, Duchovny became the only actor in Globe history to win for both a drama and comedy series. He also received Golden Globe nominations for the second and third seasons of series and a SAG nomination for season two. In addition to starring in the show, Duchovny serves as one of the show's executive producers.

From 1993-2002, Duchovny starred in Fox Television's monster hit "The X-Files," which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series and two nominations for an Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series. He was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his highly acclaimed appearances on "Life With Bonnie" and "The Larry Sanders Show." Additionally, he has been nominated for a total of three Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series, five Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and a TV Critic's Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series. The press and the public agree that Duchovny brings a fierce intellect, a quiet intensity and an acerbic wit to his roles on both the small screen and the silver screen.

After "The X-Files" debuted, millions and millions of self-proclaimed "X-Philes" spent their Sunday nights wide-eyed in anticipation as their hero, the brilliant and sullen FBI agent Fox Mulder (Duchovny), explored cases deemed unbelievable or unsolvable by the Bureau. Duchovny's remarkable performance on "The X-Files" earned him the title of "Zeitgeist Icon" by Laura Jacobs of The New Republic and "the first Internet sex symbol with hair" by Maureen Dowd of The New York Times.

Duchovny added the role of director to his already extensive list of accomplishments when he wrote, directed and starred in two critically acclaimed episodes of "The X-Files," titled "The Unnatural," which starred Jesse L. Martin, and "Hollywood A.D.," starring Garry Shandling and Téa Leoni.

Duchovny's passion for renegade films brought him critical acclaim for his performances in the feature films Kalifornia, in which he costarred with Brad Pitt and Juliette Lewis; the controversial film The Rapture, directed by Michael Tolkin, in which Duchovny starred opposite Mimi Rogers; and Julia Has Two Lovers, in which he turned in a much heralded performance as a telephone hustler.

Duchovny played Roland "Rollie" Totheroh, Charlie Chaplin's longtime confidante and cameraman, in the Sir Richard Attenborough directed Chaplin, with Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role; and starred in the smash hit Beethoven, opposite Charles Grodin, as the evil yuppie determined to take over Grodin's company.

His feature credits include the action-comedy Evolution, opposite JuliAnne Moore, directed by Ivan Reitman, of Ghostbuster fame, the romantic-comedy Return To Me, opposite Minnie Driver, directed by Bonnie Hunt, The X-Files: Fight The Future, directed by Rob Bowman, and the Touchstone film, Playing God, with Timothy Hutton and Angelina Jolie, an action thriller, directed by Andy Wilson (winner of a Cable Ace Award for Cracker). Duchovny appeared in Ben Stiller's film Zoolander (a hilariously funny unbilled cameo performance).

Still recognized for his role as Dennis/Denise Bryson, the transvestite detective in David Lynch's breakthrough television series "Twin Peaks," Duchovny also spent four seasons as the impassioned narrator of Zalman King's erotic anthology series "Red Shoe Diaries," which began as a feature length telefilm for Showtime.

In 2002, he starred in the Miramax ensemble comedy Full Frontal, for director Steven Soderbergh, co-starring Julia Roberts, George Clooney and David Hyde Pierce. Duchovny has made brief returns to television, first appearing in good friend Bonnie Hunt's show, "Life With Bonnie," in which he guest starred as over-the-top weatherman Johnny Volcano, (for which he was nominated for an Emmy in 2003). Following that, he made a memorable appearance on "Sex in the City," as an ex-flame of Sarah Jessica Parkers' Carrie Bradshaw.

Duchovny made his feature directorial debut in 2005 with House of D, which he also wrote and appeared in. The film, which starred Robin Williams and Anton Yelchin, vividly captured the spirit of youth in all its joy and heartbreak.

He also starred in Trust the Man, a romantic comedy in which he starred with JuliAnne Moore, and The TV Set, directed by Jake Kasdan. Never one to slow down, he was still active behind the camera directing an episode of the Fox television series "Bones" starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel.

Duchovny appeared in the feature films Things We Lost in the Fire, opposite Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro; and The Secret, directed by Vincent Perez and produced by Luc Besson.

In the summer of 2008, he appeared in The X-Files: I Want to Believe, the follow up to the X-Files Movie, in which he reprises his role as agent Fox Mulder.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.