Gabby Beans, Samuel Henry Levine & More to Star in JONAH at Roundabout Theatre Company

Roundabout Theatre Company has revealed the complete cast for the world premiere of Jonah by Rachel Bonds, directed by Danya Taymor.

The cast of Jonah includes: Gabby Beans as “Ana,” Hagan Oliveras as “Jonah,” Samuel Henry Levine as “Danny,” and John Zdrojeski as “Steven.”

Jonah begins preview performances on Thursday, January 11, 2024, and opens officially on Thursday, February 1, 2024, at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street). This is a limited engagement through Sunday, March 10, 2024.

What’s your fantasy? Ana knows that everybody has one—her especially, and she’d do anything to make it come true. And when she meets Jonah, a sweet and caring student at her boarding school, everything she’s ever wanted is finally falling into place. Except Jonah, like everything else in this moving world-premiere play from Rachel Bonds, is not all that he seems. A singularly haunting and heart-racing coming-of-age tale that will keep you guessing until its final twisting moments, Jonah is about the true cost of survival, and the lengths some will travel to feel just a little less alone in the world.

The creative team for Jonah includes: Wilson Chin (Sets), Kaye Voyce (Costumes), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting), Kate Marvin (Sound), Tommy Kurzman (Hair and Wig), Gigi Buffington (Voice and Text Coach), Morgan Auld (Illusions), Tilly Evans-Krueger (Movement), and Ann James (Intimacy).

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Jonah plays Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30PM with Wednesday & Saturday matinees at 2:00PM, and Sunday matinees at 3:00PM.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Gabby Beans

(Ana) is a Tony Award nominated actress. Some of her recent TV credits include Apple's "Presumed Innocent",  HBO’s “Succession,” CBS’ “Blue Bloods”, CBS’s “The Good Fight”, Netflix’s “House of Cards”, and Showtime’s “Ray Donovan”. Some past theater credits include The Skin of Our Teethat Lincoln Center (Tony Award Nomination for Best Lead Actress), I’m Revolting at the Atlantic Theater Company, Anatomy of a Suicide at the Atlantic Theater Company, and Mary Seacole at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater. 

HAGAN OLIVERAS

(Jonah) is excited up to be making their Roundabout debut. From the tepid lands of South Florida, where they ascended the ranks of High School drama club from Homeschooled Kid-In-The-Corner, to CMU graduate. They were seen at Creede Repertory, Adirondacks Theatre festival, Off-Bway at The Players Theatre, on Hulus American Horror Stories, and David Iacono's and Third Chance Production’s debut A Good Old Day. Shout out to the parents and the friends and all the things in between. @haganeatsolives @Wearethefricks

SAMUEL HENRY LEVINE

(Danny). Originated the role of Adam/Leo in Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance, directed by Stephen Daldry & Justin Martin, at the Barrymore Theatre on Broadway at The Young Vic Theatre, and at the Noël Coward Theatre in London’s West End. Off-Broadway:  Kill Floor by Abe Koogler, dir. Lila Neugebauer at LCT3.  Alligator by Hilary Bettis dir. Elena Araoz at New Georges.  Regional: A Guide for The Homesick by Ken Urban dir. Colman Domingo at The Huntington Theatre. Film: Minyan dir. Eric Steel, She Came to Me dir. Rebbeca Miller, Turning dir. Marco Baratta. Television: “Bull,” “Instinct,” “Elementary,” “Evil.”

John Zdrojeski

(Steven). Pronunciation: “struh-JE(H)-ski.” Broadway: Good Night, Oscar. Off-Broadway: Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Special Citation); Before We’re Gone (13th Street Theatre); Monster (Potomac Theatre Project). Regional: The Great Gatsby (Paper Mill Playhouse); Good Night, Oscar (Goodman); Romeo and Juliet (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and Huntington Theatre Company); 10x10 (Barrington Stage Company). Film and TV: The Breakdown Parables, “Evil,” “Billions,” “The Code,” and “Madam Secretary.” A singer/songwriter as well as an actor, his music is available on all streaming services. Education: BU (BFA) and NYU (MFA). Instagram: @johnzdrojeski. 

Rachel Bonds

(Playwright) is a playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and writer for scripted podcasts. Her plays have been developed or produced by Ars Nova, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company, McCarter Theatre Center, Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse, Studio Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, and Williamstown Theatre Festival, among others. She is the recipient of the Weissberger Award, the Sky Cooper Prize, and the Heideman Award, as well as a Tow Foundation Fellowship. Her plays have been twice-named a New York Times Critic's Pick. She recently finished writing The Boars’ Nest scripted series about Sue Brewer and the beginnings of the Outlaw Country movement with Dub Cornett and Holly Gleason for Fresh Produce/Audible, is currently developing an original scripted series The Heart of It All, also for Audible, developing her play Jonah with director Danya Taymor, and co-raising a family amidst a global pandemic. Her original musical The Lonely Few, with music and lyrics by Zoe Sarnak, will premiere at The Geffen in 2023. Originally from the mountains of Tennessee, Bonds is based in Brooklyn.

Danya Taymor

(Director) is an Obie-award winning New York based director, writer and translator. Recent direction includes the World Premiere musical adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s seminal novel The Outsiders (La Jolla Playhouse) Broadway: Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu's Pass Over at the August Wilson Theater. Off Broadway/International/Regional: Will Arbery's Heroes Of The Fourth Turning (Playwrights Horizons, Callaway Award for Direction, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Lortel Outstanding Play) and Evanston Salt Costs Climbing (New Group), Samuel Beckett's ENDGAME (Gate, Dublin), Jeremy O. Harris' Daddy(Almeida, London + New Group/Vineyard), Korde Arrington Tuttle's Graveyard Shift (Goodman Theater), Pass Over (Lincoln Center + Steppenwolf, Lortel Outstanding Play), Danai Gurira's Familiar (Steppenwolf), Martyna Majok's Queens (Lincoln Center Theater), Justin Kuritzkes’ The Sensuality Party (The New Group), Susan Soon-He Stanton’s Cygnus (Women’s Project), Brian Watkins’ Wyoming (Lesser America) and My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer (The Flea), and Sarah Gancher’s The Place We Built (The Flea). Translations include Alejandro Ricaño's We Are Getting Better at Saying Goodbye, Luis Enrique Guitierrez Ortiz Monasterio's I Hate f-ing Mexicans, and Ettore Scola's Working on a Special Day. Her production Antoinette Nwandu's Pass Over was filmed in collaboration with Spike Lee and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Now streaming on Amazon Prime. Awards and fellowships include the Cullman Award for Extraordinary Creativity from Lincoln Center, Time Warner Directing Fellowship at Women's Project, 2050 fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop, Van Lier Directing Fellowship; Gates Foundation Grant, Rough Draft Residency at the Drama League and the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. She has taught theater in Ecuador and Slovakia. BA: Duke University.

Jonah receives funding from the Laura Pels Play Production Fund, established by a grant from The Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater.

We gratefully acknowledge the Roundabout Leaders for New Works: Alec Baldwin, James Costa and John Archibald, Linda L. D’Onofrio, Peggy and Mark Ellis, Joele Frank and Larry Klurfeld, Carson Gleberman,  

Sylvia Golden, Jeanne Hagerty, Angelina Lippert, K. Myers, Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, Mary Solomon, and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

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. 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 celebrates the power of theatre by spotlighting classics from the past, cultivating new works of the present, and educating minds for the future. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills that mission by producing familiar and lesser-known plays and musicals; discovering and supporting talented playwrights; reducing the barriers that can inhibit theatergoing; collaborating with a diverse team of artists; building educational experiences; and archiving over five decades of production history.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays and musicals on its five stages: Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre, Studio 54 and Stephen Sondheim Theatre, and Off-Broadway’s Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre.

Roundabout Theatre Company has been working to prioritize and actively incorporate anti-racism, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accountability throughout the institution. Read more about the company’s progress and timeline at edi.roundabouttheatre.org.