It's Official: Rock, Cannavale to Lead THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT on Broadway in 2011

THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT by Stephen Adly Guirgis will make its world premiere on Broadway starring Bobby Cannavale, Chris Rock, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Annabella Sciorra and Yul Vázquez. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, the production will open on Monday, April 11, 2011 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street, New York City). The strictly limited 14-week engagement will begin previews on Tuesday, March 22, 2011.

THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT will be produced on Broadway by Scott Rudin, The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson), LAByrinth Theater Company (Co-Artistic Directors Stephen Adly Guirgis, Mimi O'Donnell & Yul Vázquez; Managing Director Danny Feldman) and Stuart Thompson.

THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT is a new high-octane, verbal cage match about love, fidelity, and misplaced haberdashery from playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis. Jackie and Veronica have been in love since the 8th grade. But now, Jackie is on parole and living clean and sober under the guidance of his sponsor, Ralph D, while still living and loving with his volatile soul mate Veronica who is fiercely loving, but far from sober. Still, their love is pure. And true. Nothing can come between them - except a hat.

The creative team includes scenic design by Todd Rosenthal, costume design by Mimi O'Donnell and lighting design by Donald Holder.

Bobby Cannavale (Jackie) most recently appeared in the world premiere of Trust by Paul Weitz at Second Stage Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck's Mauritius and was nominated for a Tony Award in 2008. He also received rave reviews in the off-Broadway revival of Hurlyburly. On television Bobby won an Emmy for his performance as Will's boyfriend on "Will & Grace." He has appeared in many series including a recurring role in HBO's "Six Feet Under," as well as the starring role in the comedy series "Cupid." Bobby's film credits include The Station Agent, for which he and his co-stars were nominated for a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Other film credits include The Other Guys, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, The Take, Merry Gentleman, Diminished Capacity, Fast Food Nation, The Night Listener, Snakes On A Plane, Haven, Shall We Dance, Happy Endings, Romance and Cigarettes, The Postman, Night Falls On Manhattan, Gloria, The Bone Collector and Washington Heights. Upcoming film: Win Win for director Tom McCarthy.

Chris Rock (Ralph D.). This is the Broadway debut for the Brooklyn-raised comedian, who has garnered four Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards and is listed as number five on Comedy Central's "100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time." Rock made his feature film debut in Beverly Hills Cop II in 1987. His critically acclaimed HBO stand-up specials include "Chris Rock: Big Ass Jokes" (CableAce Award), "Bring the Pain" (Emmy & Grammy Awards), "Bigger & Blacker" (Emmy Award & Grammy Nom.), "Never Scared" (Emmy Award & Grammy Nom.) and "Kill the Messenger" (Emmy Award). His film credits include Boomerang, CB4 (created, wrote, starred in & produced), New Jack City, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!, Lethal Weapon 4, Dogma, Nurse Betty, Head of State (directorial debut), Bad Company, Down to Earth (also co-wrote), I Think I Love My Wife (also wrote & directed), The Longest Yard, Madagascar films, Grown Ups, Death at a Funeral, and the upcoming, 2 Days in New York. His first documentary Good Hair won the 2009 Sundance "Special Jury Prize," the NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Documentary" and was named one of the "Top Five Documentaries" in 2009 by the National Board of Review. His TV credits include NBC's "Saturday Night Live," HBO's "The Chris Rock Show" (Emmy Award) and "Everybody Hates Chris," which he co-created and narrates. He is a Guinness Book World Record holder for the largest audience ever at a comedy show in the UK. His debut book, "Rock This," spent time on both The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

Elizabeth Rodriguez (Veronica) is a member of LAByrinth Theater Company. She has previously appeared in three plays by Stephen Adly Guirgis: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Public Theater/LAByrinth, dir. Philip Seymour Hoffman), Our Lady of 121st Street (Union Square Theater, dir. Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Den of Thieves (Black Dahlia, L.A., dir. Matt Shakman). Other theater includes: Bob Glaudini's A View From 151st Street (Public/LAB, dir. Peter DuBois), Brett C. Leonard's Unconditional (Public/LAB, dir. MarK Wing-Davey) and Roger and Vanessa (Actors' Gang, L.A.), Nilo Cruz's Beauty of the Father (Manhattan Theatre Club, dir. Michael Greif) and Lyle Kessler's Robbers (American Place Theater, dir. Marshall Mason). Rodriguez's film and TV credits include the role of Detective Gina Calabrese in Michael Mann's feature film Miami Vice, Jack Goes Boating, Acts of Worship, Return to Paradise, Dead Presidents, I Think I Do, Fresh, Four Lane Highway, "All My Children" (series regular), "The Shield" (recurring), "ER" (recurring), "OZ" (recurring), "NY Undercover" (recurring), "NYPD Blue" (multiple), "Law and Order" (multiple), "Just Shoot Me", "Third Watch", "Six Feet Under", "Cold Case" and "Flash Forward". Upcoming films: Tonight at Noon, Pound of Flesh and Things Fall Apart.

Annabella Sciorra (Victoria). Broadway debut. Sciorra received an Emmy nomination for her performance as Gloria Trillo on HBO's "The Sopranos." Her first film role was in Nancy Savoca's True Love, for which she earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination. She broke into the mainstream starring opposite Wesley Snipes in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever and went on to star in Curtis Hanson's The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Anthony Minghella's Mr. Wonderful and Peter Medak's Romeo Is Bleeding. She collaborated with director Abel Ferrara on The Addiction, New Rose Hotel and as actress and Associate Producer on The Funeral. Additional film roles include Copland, Mr. Jealousy, What Dreams May Come, the Italian film Domenica which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, Underworld, Internal Affairs, The Night We Never Met, King of the Jungle, Once in the Life directed by Laurence Fishburne, Chasing Liberty and Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty. Her TV credits include "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Mental" and "Queens Supreme." Her theater credits include work at The Nuyorican Poets Cafe with writer/ director Reinoldo Povod and producer Joseph Papp, the off-Broadway play Roar (The New Group), Spain (MCC Theater), Bryan Goluboff's Shyster (Naked Angels), Under the Blue Sky (Williamstown) and David Rabe's Those The River Keeps.

YUL VÁZQUEZ (Cousin Julio) is co-artistic director and a founding member of the LAByrinth Theatre Company. He has appeared in over 30 films and was last seen in The A-Team (Fox) opposite Bradley Cooper and Liam Neeson. Vázquez has three films forthcoming: Little Fockers (Universal) with Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, Salvation Boulevard (Mandalay) opposite Jennifer Connolly, Pierce Brosnan, and Marisa Tomei, and John Sayles' Amigo opposite Chris Cooper. Other film credits include Ridley Scott's American Gangster (Universal) alongside Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington (SAG nominee, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture), Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (Dreamworks) opposite Tom Cruise, Bad Boys II (Columbia) opposite Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, and Runaway Bride (Paramount) opposite Julia Roberts. Steven Soderbergh cast him in Traffic (SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture) and again in Che (IFC) opposite Benicio Del Toro. Television credits include his re-occurring character Bob, the "angry gay Puerto Rican," on "Seinfeld" to Rueben the Cuban on HBO's "The Sopranos." Theater credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (The Public Theater) opposite Sam Rockwell, directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Stendhal Syndrome (Primary Stages) with Isabella Rossellini, and The Floating Island Plays (Mark Taper Forum).

Stephen Adly Guirgis (Playwright) is co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States. They include Our Lady of 121st Street (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle Best Play Nominations, 10 best plays of 2003), Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train (Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award, Barrymore Award, Olivier Nomination for London's Best New Play), In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings (2007 LA Drama Critics Best Play, Best Writing Award), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (10 best Time Magazine & Entertainment Weekly), and The Little Flower of East Orange (starring Ellen Burstyn & Michael Shannon) at The Public Theater. All five plays were originally produced by LAByrinth and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Motherf**cker with the Hat marks his third consecutive world premiere co-production with The Public Theater. In London, his plays have premiered at The Donmar Warehouse, The Almeida (dir: Rupert Goold), The Hampstead (Robert Delamere), and at The Arts in the West End. Other plays include Den of Thieves (HERE, HAI Theater Festival), and Dominica The Fat Ugly Ho (dir: Adam Rapp) for the 2006 E.S.T. Marathon. He has received a 2006 PEN/Laura Pels Award, a 2006 Whiting Award, and a 2004 TCG fellowship, new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Center Theater Group, and South Coast Repertory, and is a member of LAByrinth Theater Company, New Dramatists, MCC's Playwright's Coalition, Ojai Playwrights Festival, and New River Dramatists. Television writing credits include "NYPD Blue," "The Sopranos," David Milch's CBS drama "Big Apple," and Shane Salerno's NBC series "UC: Undercover." As an actor, Stephen has had leading film roles in Todd Solondz's Palindromes, Brett C. Leonard's Jailbait (opposite Michael Pitt), and in Kenneth Lonergan's upcoming Margaret. Other film credits include Philip Seymour Hoffman's Jack Goes Boating, Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche New York, Adam Rapp's Blackbird, Noah Buschel's Neal Cassady, as well as Meet Joe Black (dir: Martin Brest), Noise (dir: Henry Bean), Trainwreck: My Life as an Idiot (dir: Todd Harrsion Williams), and TV's "Law and Order." He directed Liza Colon-Zayas' Sistah Supreme for Danny Hoch's Hip Hop Theater Festival, Marco Greco's award-winning Behind the Counter with Mussolini in New York and Los Angeles, and Melanie Maras's Kiss Me on the Mouth (InViolet Rep/CSNY. A former HIV Educator/Violence Prevention Specialist, he lives in New York City.

Anna D. Shapiro (Director) is an ensemble member at Steppenwolf, where her directing credits include the Tony Award-winning Best Play August: Osage County (for which she received Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Awards as Best Director), Three Days of Rain, Drawer Boy, I Never Sang for my Father, Man from Nebraska, The Pain and the Itch and most recently, A Parallelogram and Up. Outside of Steppenwolf, she has directed at the Atlantic Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, Goodman Theatre, Looking Glass, ACT, Huntington Theatre Company and Paper Mill Playhouse, among others. Shapiro is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and Columbia College. She joined the faculty of Northwestern University as head of the Graduate Directing Program in 2002.