Maggie Siff, Julie Halston & More to Star in BREAKING THE STORY at Second Stage

Second Stage Theater has revealed the complete cast for the world premiere production of a new play by Alexis Scheer, BREAKING THE STORY. The production, which will be directed by Jo Bonney, will begin previews May 15th at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theater.  BREAKING THE STORY will officially open on Tuesday, June 4th.

The company features Tala Ashe (English), Geneva Carr (“Bull”), Julie Halston (Hairspray, Gypsy), Louis Ozawa (“Jack Ryan”), Gabrielle Policano (Baby Girl), Matthew Saldívar (Bernhardt/Hamlet), and Maggie Siff (“Billions”). 

Alexis Scheer returns to Second Stage where her play, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, premiered in 2019 in a co-production with WP Theater. Jo Bonney returns to Second Stage where she has directed four acclaimed productions: Lynn Nottage’s By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Eric Bogosian’s subUrbia; Charles Fuller’s A Soldier’s Play; and Lisa Loomer’s Living Out. 

As a foreign war correspondent, Marina (Siff) has put her life on the line to illuminate the darkest corners of humanity. Having just returned from a particularly bloody conflict, she flirts with staying home for good—alongside her cameraman turned lover. With her closest friends and family gathered on the eve of her lifetime achievement award ceremony, she decides to cap this glorious moment with an elopement. But as Marina tries to take hold of her life, she’s forced to reckon with the hold war has on her. 

BREAKING THE STORY is a darkly funny and fiery drama about the cost of war and the audacity of those frontliners armed with only a press badge. 

Alexis Scheer’s breakout play was the Off Broadway hit Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (NYT Critics Pick, John Gassner Award), and she recently made her Broadway debut adapting the book for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Bad Cinderella. Her other plays include Laughs in Spanish (Kennedy Center’s Harold & Mimi Steinberg Award) and Christina (Roe Green Award; O’Neill Finalist). Her plays have been produced by Second Stage, WP Theater, Center Theatre Group, Denver Center, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and more. Alexis is currently under commission by Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, Miami New Drama, and Seaview. Television/Film: “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” (HBO Max), and projects developed for HBO Max/Salma Hayek’s Ventanarosa and Sony/Netflix. Alexis is a proud alum of New World School of the Arts and holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory and MFA in Playwriting from Boston University. www.alexisscheer.com

Jo Bonney has directed premieres of plays by: Alan Ball, Hilary Bettis, Eric Bogosian, Eleanor Burgess, Hammaad Chaudry, Culture Clash, Anna Deavere Smith, Eve Ensler, Jessica Goldberg, Isaac Gomez, Danny Hoch, Neil LaBute, Ione Patricia Lloyd, Warren Leight, Lisa Loomer, Martyna Majok, Lynn Nottage, Dan O'Brien, Dael Orlandersmith, Suzan-Lori Parks, Darci Picoult, John Pollono, Will Power, David Rabe, Jose Rivera, Seth Zvi Rosenfeld, Diana Son, John Turturro and Ariel Levy, Universes, Naomi Wallace, and Michael Weller. She has received a Tony Award nomination (Cost of Living), Obie Awards for Sustained Excellence of Direction, Lucille Lortel Best Musical and Lucille Lortel Best Revival awards, Drama Desk nomination (By the Way, Meet Vera Stark), Audelco Award (Father Comes Home from the Wars), Drama League and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, an Alliance Award and a Lilly Award. She is the editor of Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth Century (TCG).

BREAKING THE STORY will feature scenic design by Myung Hee Cho, costume design by Emilio Sosa, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, sound design by Darron L West, projection design by Elaine J. McCarthy, and original music by Dan Ryan. Casting is by The Telsey Office.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Tala Ashe

(Nikki) received a Best Actress Drama Desk nomination for her performance in English, Sanaz Toosi’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama at the Atlantic Theatre Company and will reprise her role for the Broadway transfer in 2024. Soon to be seen in the upcoming “Girls on the Bus” for HBO Max, she was notably a series regular on DC'S “Legends of Tomorrow”. Ashe has worked at numerous off- Broadway theaters including: The Atlantic Theater, The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons & LCT3.

Geneva Carr

(Sonia) is best known for her portrayal of Marissa Morgan on six seasons of the CBS television series “Bull.” She's recurred on “Law and Order: SVU,” “Rescue Me,” and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.” Additional TV & Film credits include “Deadbeat,” “Younger,” “The Mysteries of Laura,” “Royal Pains,” “Elementary,” “Blue Bloods,” “Person of Interest,” “The Good Wife,” “Hope & Faith,” “Sex and the City,” “Wonder Wheel,” “It’s Complicated,” and “College Road Trip.” Geneva earned a 2015 Tony Nomination for Lead Actress in a Play for her performance as ‘Margery’ in Broadway’s Hand To God. Additional NY theatre credits include: Trevor, Incognito, Just Sex, I Wanna Destroy You, Finding Claire, Twelve Angry Men, Rose’s Dilemma, Clash by Night, Betty’s Summer Vacation andBoise. Upcoming she can be seen in the independent film Asian Persuasion.

Julie Halston

(Gummy) is one of New York's busiest actresses and was the recipient of the 2021 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for her advocacy on behalf of The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. Her Broadway credits are numerous, including Tootsie, Hairspray, Gypsy, Anything Goes, and On The Twentieth Century. She received the Richard Seff Award for her acclaimed performance in You Can't Take It With You and has garnered four Drama Desk nominations for her Broadway and off- Broadway work.  Miss Halston was a founding member of Charles Busch's legendary theatre company and co-starred with Mr. Busch in many productions including The Divine Sister, Red Scare on Sunset and The Lady in Question.  They starred together in the independent feature film, The Sixth Reel. In addition, Miss Halston recently completed the independent feature films, Intermedium, Simchas and Sorrows, and Chosen Family with Heather Graham. Television credits include a recurring role on the latest “Gossip Girl.” guest roles on “The Good Fight,” “Almost Family and Divorce.” In addition, she has reprised her role of the popular character, Bitsy Von Muffling, on the “Sex and The City” reboot, “And Just Like That” on MAX. Miss Halston's web series, Virtual Halston, was a pandemic hit with over 40 YouTube episodes. 

LOUIS OZAWA

(Bear) is excited to be making his return to the New York stage after ten years. Second Stage: The Tutors, Warrior Class, Year Zero; NY theater: Caught (PlayCo, Obie Award), Crane Story (Playwrights Realm), and The Dumb Waiter (NAATCO). Regional: Caught (Firefly, Ovation Nomination), Eurydice (Williamstown) and Hamlet (Trinity Rep). Ozawa earned his MFA in acting from Brown University. Television: “Jack Ryan” (Amazon), “Hunters” (Amazon), “Pachinko” (AppleTV+), “Kidding” (Showtime). Features:Predators (20th C. Fox); The Bourne Legacy (Universal).

GABRIELLE POLICANO

(she/they) (Cruz) is a New York based actor. A recent graduate of Boston University's BFA Acting program, her theatre credits include Let the Right One In (Berkeley Rep) and Richard II (Luna-Stage/">Luna Stage), as well as workshops with NYSAF and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She will next appear opposite Nicole Kidman and Antonio Banderas in the A24 film Baby Girl.  She is also an award-winning spoken word poet, having performed regularly with the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

MATTHEW SALDÍVAR

(Fed) has originated and appeared in principal roles on Broadway in Berhardt/Hamlet, Junk, Peter and the Starcatcher, Act One, A Streetcar Named Desire, Saint Joan, The Wedding Singer, Honeymoon in Vegas and Grease. He has performed in dozens of Off-Broadway and regional productions including Alexis Scheer’s Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, Sam Gold’s Hamlet, Sarna Lapine’s Annie Get Your Gun, Kate Hamill’s Dracula as well as various performances in film and television. BA/MA- Middlebury College. MFA- NYU Grad Acting.

Maggie Siff

(Marina) recently completed a seven season run as ‘Wendy’ on Showtime’s “Billions”, for which she has received three Satellite Award nominations. She is also known for the FX series “Sons of Anarchy” (two Critics’ Choice Award nominations,) and for playing “Rachel Menken” on the first season of AMC’s “Mad Men” (Screen Actors Guild Award nomination).  Recent films include The Short History of the Long Road, A Woman/A Part, The Sweet Life, The Fifth Wave, One Percent More Humid, and Concussion. Siff is also an established theater actress, starring most recently in TFANA’s production of Orpheus Descending, directed by Erica Schmidt. She also starred in Signature Theatre’s production of Curse of the Starving Class, as well as in A Lie of the Mind at The New Group (directed by Ethan Hawke) and in Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew at TFANA. 

TICKET INFORMATION

Single tickets for BREAKING THE STORY are on sale now. To purchase, please visit 2ST.com or call 212-541-4516.