Meet the Cast of THE NAP- Now in Previews!

Manhattan Theatre Club's 2018-2019 season has kicked off with the American premiere of The Nap, written by Olivier Award nominee Richard Bean and directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

The cast of The Nap features Alexandra Billings ("Transparent," "Goliath," recipient of the HRC Visibility Award), Tony Award nominee John Ellison Conlee (Murder Ballad, The Full Monty, "Boardwalk Empire"), two-time Tony Award nominee Johanna Day (Proof, Sweat, "Madam Secretary"), four-time and 2018 United States National Snooker Champion Ahmed Aly Elsayed, Ethan Hova (Metrocards, "The Blacklist"), Heather Lind (Incognito, Othello, "Turn"), Max Gordon Moore (Saint Joan, Indecent), Bhavesh Patel (Present Laughter, War Horse), Thomas Jay Ryan (The Crucible, In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and Ben Schnetzer (Sticks and Bones, Pride, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan).

The Nap is a very funny look at the world of snooker - the British version of pool. Dylan Spokes, a fast-rising young star arrives for a championship tournament only to be confronted by the authorities warning him of the repercussions of match fixing. Before he knows it, Dylan's forced into underhanded dealings with a cast of wildly colorful characters that include his ex-convict dad, saucy mum, quick-tongued manager and a renowned gangster, to boot. It's a fast-paced comedy thriller where, in an exciting twist, the tournament unfolds live on stage. In its British premiere, The Guardian raved, "Ingenious," The Observer cheered, "Outrageously funny," and The Daily Mail called The Nap "brilliant and terrifically inventive."

Get to know the cast below as they begin Broadway performances!

Alexandra Billings (Waxy Bush): Television: "Transparent," "Goliath," "How to Get Away With Murder," "Grey's Anatomy," "From Schoolboy to Showgirl: The Alexandra Billings Story." Film: Paddleton, Valley of Bones. Theatre: S/He & Me, Seussical, Berlin Circle, A Doll's House, Trojan Women, Gypsy, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. Awards: HRC Visibility Award, TPA Award, the Rainbow Spirit Award, Chicago Gay & Lesbian Hall of Fame, After Dark Award, Joseph Jefferson Award. Moderator, Transgender Awareness Month panel, the Obama White House, Washington, D.C. Professor of Theater Arts, USC. Viewpoints Associate, Steppenwolf Theatre. Married to high school sweetheart Chrisanne Blankenship-Billings.

John Ellison Conlee (Bobby Spokes): MTC: Murder Ballad, The Madrid, The Green Heart. Recent theatre: Venus, Tumacho and The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence (2014 Obie Award). Recent film/TV: LBJ, My America, Ned Rifle, "Billions," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" and "Boardwalk Empire" (SAG Award nomination). Broadway: The Full Monty (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics nominations), The Constant Wife and 1776. Off-Broadway: Pig Farm (Roundabout), Ethan Lipton's Luther (Clubbed Thumb), The Butter and Egg Man and The Bald Soprano (Atlantic). Encores! versions of Assassins and Anyone Can Whistle. He received his MFA from NYU.

Johanna Day (Stella Spokes): Broadway: Sweat (Tony nom.), You Can't Take It With You, August: Osage County, Lombardi, Proof (Tony nomination). Theatre: Peace for Mary Frances (New Group), Peter and Jerry (Second Stage, Drama Desk nomination), Appropriate (Signature, Obie Award, The Lilly Award), Poor Behavior (Mark Taper), The Realistic Joneses (Yale), Choice (Huntington), The Rainmaker (Arena Stage, Helen Hayes Award), How I Learned to Drive (Vineyard). Television: "Madam Secretary" (five years), "The Blacklist," "Escape at Dannemora," "The Knick," "The Americans," "Masters of Sex," "Royal Pains." Film: The Post, Great Gilley Hopkins, How Far She Went.

Ahmed Aly Elsayed (Abdul Fattah/Baghawi Quereshi): Child actor and snooker champion returns to the stage on Broadway. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Elsayed taught himself snooker and went on to win the Egyptian Championship in three consecutive years. In 2005, a vacation trip to New York City and a serious romance with a young American lady were the catalysts for a major transformation to U.S. residence and citizenship. Elsayed continued his pursuit of snooker and succeeded in winning his first of four U.S. National Snooker Championships in 2009. He then made history as the first player to win three consecutive U.S. National Snooker Championships.

Ethan Hova (Referee/Seth): Broadway and MTC debut! Theatre: The Humans (national tour), Intelligence (Arena Stage), Guards at the Taj (Woolly Mammoth), (Not) Water (New Georges), The Wong Kids (Ma-Yi). Readings/workshops: The Lark, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Public Theater, McCarter, Signature Theatre, Long Wharf and The New Group. TV: "The Blacklist." Training: Carnegie Mellon. Member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and Founding Member of Exit, Pursued by a Bear.

Heather Lind (Eleanor Lavery): Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club: Incognito and Of Good Stock. The Public: Othello (Desdemona), The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale. Broadway: The Merchant of Venice (Theatre World Award). Williamstown Theatre Festival: Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion. Film: Demolition, Mistress America. TV: "TURN: Washington's Spies," "Boardwalk Empire" (SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series). MFA: NYU Grad Acting.

Max Gordon Moore (Tony Danlino/MC): Max is pleased to return to MTC where he last appeared in Saint Joan. Other Broadway credits: Indecent, Relatively Speaking. Off-Broadway: Describe the Night (Atlantic Theater), Man From Nebraska (Second Stage), Indecent (Vineyard), Man and Superman (Irish Rep). Recent: The Master Builder (BAM); Arcadia, The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Yale Rep); Time and the Conways (Old Globe); Constellations (Seattle Rep); Tragedy: A Tragedy (Berkeley Rep). Film/TV: "Instinct," "Madam Secretary," "The Good Wife." MFA, Yale School of Drama, Hershel Williams Prize in Acting.

Bhavesh Patel (Mohammad Butt): Broadway: Present Laughter, War Horse. Off-Broadway: Indian Ink (Roundabout), RadioLoveFest (BAM). Other: Second Stage, CSC, Red Bull, Shakespeare in the Park, Guthrie, St. Louis Rep. TV: "Madam Secretary," "The Mysteries of Laura," "The Good Wife," "Elementary," "Blue Bloods," "White Collar", "John Glaser Loves Fear" (premiering this fall). Film: Gold, Wildling, James White, 2 Days in New York. MFA: NYU Grad Acting. Thanks to my team and incredible wife!

Thomas Jay Ryan (Danny Killeen): MTC debut. Broadway: The Crucible, In the Next Room.... Off-Broadway: Dance Nation, The Amateurs, Measure for Measure, 10 Out of 12 (Drama League nomination), Travels With My Aunt, A Month in the Country (Callaway Award), The Lady From Dubuque, The Correspondent, The Temperamentals (Ensemble Drama Desk Award), Juno and the Paycock, Venus. Film: Daddy, Burn Country, The Missing Girl, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Teknolust, the title role in Hal Hartley's Henry Fool trilogy. Television: guest starring roles on many network series, the title role in HBO's "Degas and the Dancer" (Gemini Award nomination).

Ben Schnetzer (Dylan Spokes): Ben is thrilled to be making his Broadway debut in The Nap. He will soon be seen in Xavier Dolan's feature film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan opposite Natalie Portman. Recent film credits include Jose Padilha's 7 Days in Entebbe, Andrew Neel's Goat, Lone Scherfig's The Riot Club, Brian Percival's The Book Thief and Matthew Warchus' Pride, which was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy, in 2015. Schnetzer made his New York stage debut in the play Stick and Bones by David Rabe at The New Group.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski