GILMORE GIRLS Star Alexis Bledel Joins Next Week's SIN CYCLE PLAYS Reading

Animus Theatre Company is pleased to announce that acclaimed film, television and stage star Alexis Bledel has joined the lineup for Leslye Headland's Sin Cycle Plays (Assistance; Bachelorette; Cinephilia; Reverb; Surfer Girl; and The Accidental Blonde), their 2014 Reading Festival series in association with Circle in the Square Professional Workshop, on Monday, November 17, at Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre. Bledel will read the role of Veronica in The Accidental Blonde.

The readings will span the entire day (11AM-11PM) and are offered by Animus as "An affordable day of art combining the linked works of one of the industry's finest writers with many of the brightest young stars of stage and screen, all read in a Broadway theatre." Headland, who will be reading her one-woman play Surfer Girl, will also be hosting a talkback following the presentation.

Alexis Bledel is best known for her role as Rory Gilmore in the TV hit "Gilmore Girls", as well as films such as: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sin City, and Tuck Everlasting and starred Off-Broadway in Nora Ephron's Love, Loss, and What I Wore. This festival will mark the first time that all of Ms. Headland's currently completed Sin Cycle Plays will be presented in sequence, while Reverb, Surfer Girl, and The Accidental Blonde will be receiving their New York City premieres. Previously, Bachelorette made its New York debut at the Second Stage Theatre, Assistance premiered in New York at Playwright's Horizons and Cinephelia premiered at New York's Theater Row. Following these productions, Bachelorette was adapted into the 2012 film which Ms. Headland directed starring Kirsten Dunst and Rebel Wilson. Headland's TV and film writing credits include About Last Night, adapted from David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago and Assistance adapted from her stage play for NBC. Currently, Headland is working on her 2nd comedy project for NBC and has just completed a feature film she wrote and directed titled Sleeping with Other People starring Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Natasha Lyonne and Adam Scott. All Sin Cycle plays originally premiered at IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles, CA.

Joining Bledel and Headland, are the previously announced William DeMeritt (The Normal Heart - HBO, Hamlet), Rebecca Faulkenberry (Broadway's Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, Rock of Ages), Meredith Hagner ("As the World Turns", "Royal Pains"), Jonathan Judge-Russo* (Falling, "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), Virginia Kull ("Gracepoint", Assistance) Eric William Morris* (Mamma Mia, "Blue Bloods"), Keith Nobbs ("The Pacific", Phone Booth), Jonny Orsini (Fish in the Dark, The Nance) Elena Ricardo (Mamma Mia, Bring it On), Margo Seibert (Rocky, Candide), Christiane Seidel ("Boardwalk Empire"), Wrenn Schmidt* (The Master Builder, "Boardwalk Empire"), Zachary Spicer* (Wit, Macbeth), and Sarah Steele (The Country House, "Girls"). Directors will include Leslye Headland, Noah Himmelstein, Sara Lyons, Mike Swift, and Taphat Tawil. Haley Bond, Rory Hammond, Trevor Kluckman, Amy Northup, Erin Leigh Schmoyer, and Courtney Shaw are included in the cast. The Production Stage Manager will be Liz Elise Richards.

Animus Theatre Company (Jonathan Judge-Russo, Artistic Director; Amy Northup & Jeff Todesco, Managing Directors; Michael Neithardt, Producing Assistant Managing Dir.) was founded in 2011. Previous productions include the critically lauded Dutch Heart of Man by Bob Glaudini, Where's My Money? by John Patrick Shanley (both at the Cherry Lane Theatre) and William Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre. To quote their mission statement: "Animus is an ensemble of artists that seeks to develop new work and realize the full potential of infrequently produced plays that explore the fragility and resilience of the human spirit. Our work will challenge our artists and audiences to face problems on both interpersonal and global levels in new ways through a deeper sense of mutuality with those characters and circumstances witnessed and experienced on stage." For more information and details, visit www.animustheatre.org.

DETAILS:

Animus Theatre Company presents:

Leslye Headland's

Sin Cycle

When: Monday, November 17, 2014; 11:00AM-11:00PM

Cinephilia - 11AM-12PM (Wrenn Schmidt* and Amy Northup* - Directed by Taphat Tawil)

Assistance - 12:15-1:45PM (William DeMeritt, Meredith Hagner, Trevor Kluckman*, Virginia Kull, Jonny Orsini, Sarah Steele - Directed by Sara Lyons)

Reverb - 2PM-4PM (George West Carruth, Jonathan Judge-Russo*, Sarah Lemp, Emma Tracy Moore, Keith Nobbs, Margo Seibert, Christiane Seidel)

The Accidental Blonde - 6PM-8PM (Alexis Bledel, Rebecca Faulkenberry, Courtney Shaw*, Zachary Spicer*, Jeff Todesco* - Directed by Zachary Spicer*)

Bachelorette - 8:10PM-10PM (Haley Bond*, Rory Hammond*, Eric William Morris*, Elena Ricardo, Erin Leigh Schmoyer* - Directed by Noah Himmelstein

Surfer Girl (and Talkback to Follow) - 10:15PM-11PM (Read by Leslye Headland)

Where: Circle in the Square Theatre - 1633 Broadway (at 50th Street)

General Admission: $10 All-Day Pass; $5 Single Reading (Suggested Donation)

For tickets and more information, visit www.animustheatre.org.