New Faces, New Flubs! THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG to Welcome New Company This Fall

A new school year is beginning at Cornley University this fall as the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Mischief Theatre's The Play That Goes Wrong, which has inexplicably become longest-running play currently on Broadway, welcomes a new company beginning Tuesday, September 19th.

The original Olivier Award-winning West End company will play their final performance on Sunday, September 17.

Joining the new company of The Play That Goes Wrong are Ashley Bryant (Emotional Creature) as Annie, Clifton Duncan (City Center Encores! Assassins) as Robert, Mark Evans (Paper Mill Playhouse's Mary Poppins) as Chris, Alex Mandell (Hand to God) as Max, Harrison Unger (Broadway debut) as Dennis and Akron Watson (The Color Purple) as Trevor. Current Broadway cast members Jonathan Fielding and Amelia McClain will assume the roles of Jonathan and Sandra respectively.

The cast will also feature Preston Truman Boyd (Sunset Boulevard), Ned Noyes (You Can't Take It With You), Ashley Reyes (Broadway debut) and Katie Sexton (Broadway debut).

The Play That Goes Wrong began performances March 9 and officially opened on Broadway on April 2 at The Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street).

Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong is a riotous comedy about the theatre. The play introduces The 'Cornley University Drama Society' who are attempting to put on a 1920s' murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong...does, as the accident prone thespians battle on against all odds to get to their final curtain call.

The Play That Goes Wrong stars the original West End cast featuring Matthew Cavendish, Bryony Corrigan, Rob Falconer, Dave Hearn, Henry Lewis, Charlie Russell, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields, Greg Tannahill and Nancy Zamit. The cast also includes Jonathan Fielding and Amelia McClain.

The Broadway production of The Play That Goes Wrong received a Tony Award for Best Set Design, Broadway.com's Audience Choice Award for Best Play and the Theater Fans Award Choice Award for Best Play.

Awarded 2015 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, 2014Whatsonstage Best New Comedy and 2015 UK BroadwayWorld Best New Play Awards, The Play That Goes Wrong is now in its third year in the West End, is currently on a 30 week UK tour and is currently playing on six continents. The Producers have avoided Antarctica for fear of a frosty reception.

It is a remarkable rags-to-riches story for a play which started its life at a London fringe venue with only four paying members of the public at the first performance, and has gone on to play to an audience of over half a million around the world.

Mischief Theatre, led by Artistic Director Henry Lewis and Company Director Jonathan Sayer, was founded in 2008 by a group of graduates of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and began as an improvised comedy group. Mischief Theatre performs across the UK and internationally with improvised and original scripted work.

In addition to the current hit London production of The Play That Goes Wrong at The Duchess Theatre, Mischief Theatre's The Comedy About A Bank Robbery plays The Criterion Theatre and in January 2017 their production of Peter Pan Goes Wrong completed a limited holiday run at The Apollo Theatre to rave reviews, making Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields the youngest ever writers to have three shows playing simultaneously in the West End. On New Year's Eve, a specially filmed studio version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong was broadcast by the BBC and has been viewed by six million people in the UK.

The Play That Goes Wrong is directed by Mark Bell, featuring set design by Tony Award Winner Nigel Hook, lighting design by Ric Mountjoy, sound design by Andy Johnson and costume design by Roberto Surace.

The Play That Goes Wrong is produced on Broadway by Kevin McCollum, J.J. Abrams, Kenny Wax, Stage Presence Ltd., Catherine Schreiber, Ken Davenport, Double Gemini Productions / deRoy-Brunish, Damian Arnold / TC Beech, Greenleaf Productions / Bard-Roth, Martian Entertainment / Jack Lane / John Yonover, and Lucas McMahon.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Ashley Bryant (Annie). Broadway: A Free Man of Color. Other New York credits include: Emotional Creature (Signature Theatre); Learning to Swim (EST); Cornbury: The Queen's Governor (Theatre Askew). Regional: ART, Berkeley Rep, Crossroads Theatre, Hartford Stage, Florida Studio Theatre, Market Theatre (South Africa), Shakespeare & Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Film/TV includes: "Blue Bloods," "Gossip Girl," "Elementary," Youth, "Nurse Jackie," "The Knick," "Show Me a Hero." BFA: University of Utah. MFA: Yale School of Drama. Ashley thanks her family for their love and support! ashleybryant.net

Clifton Duncan (Robert). Broadway debut. OFF-BROADWAY: Assassins, Lost in the Stars (City Center Encores!); Good Person of Szechwan (LaMama/Public Theatre); Kung-Fu (Signature Theatre); 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (Red Bull Theatre). REGIONAL: Favorites include Williamstown, New York Stage & Film, Yale Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, American Conservatory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, and Shakespeare Theatre Company, among many others. TELEVISION: "Elementary," "The Onion Sports Dome," "Flesh and Bone." TRAINING: NYU Graduate Acting Program. As always, many thanks to Messrs. Kopel and Mason, and Misses Kittrell and Olshan! @SpeakWithDistinction.

Mark Evans (Chris). Broadway Debut! New York/US: The Dreyfus Affair (BAM), Finian's Rainbow (Irish Rep), The Fix (Signature, DC), The Book Of Mormon (US tour), Aida (PCLO), Singin' In The Rain (North Shore). West End: Ghost: The Musical (Piccadilly), Wicked (Apollo Victoria), Spamalot (Palace), High School Musical (Hammersmith Apollo). UK Regional: Oklahoma! (tour), The Rocky Horror Show (tour), Seven Brides.... (tour). TV/Film: Instinct (CBS), Tower Of Silence, Lake Placid 3, Marcaroni, Dead Hungry. Love & thanks to friends, family, Justin, Dio & all involved in TPTGW. www.markevans.actor

Jonathan Fielding (Jonathan). Broadway: Noises Off, Pygmalion (Roundabout), The Seagull (Walter Kerr). NYC: 59E59, Dixon Place. Regional: The Old Globe, Ford's Theatre, Penguin Rep, Amphibian Stage Productions. He is a founder of the Harbor Stage Company in Wellfleet, MA. TV: "Gotham" (FOX), "American Odyssey" (NBC), "The Devil You Know" (HBO Pilot). MFA: Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts. BFA: TCU, Fort Worth, TX (his home town). Jonathan thanks the Harbor Crew for operating without him and the company of The Play That Goes Wrong for operating with him.

Alex Mandell (Max). Broadway: Hand To God. Off-Broadway: Hand to God (MCC), Sleep No More. Other NY: Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love, Restoration Comedy (The Flea). Regional: Bad Jews (Studio Theatre, Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor); Awake and Sing (Olney Theatre Center); Never the Sinner (1st Stage). Readings/Workshops: Powerhouse/NYSAF, EST, The Lark, Primary Stages. Training: Boston University; LAMDA. Proud brother and son to six awe-inspiring women.

Amelia McClain (Sandra). Broadway: Noises Off, Fool for Love, The Heidi Chronicles, Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike, and The House of Blues Leaves. Other New York: Lone Star Spirits (Crowded Outlet), October/November (E.S.T.), and Dance Dance Revolution (Les Freres Corbusier). Regional: Arena Stage, The Old Globe, St. Louis Repertory, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pioneer Theatre, Merrimack Repertory, TheatreSquared, and others. Education: B.F.A.- The University of Evansville, M.F.A.- New York University's Graduate Acting Program.

Harrison Unger (Dennis). Broadway debut! Other NYC appearances at: 59E59, Joe's Pub, Park Avenue Armory, HERE Arts Center, Dixon Place, The Wild Project, The Brick Theater, NY International Fringe Fest/Fringe Encore Series; Associate Artist with UglyRhino Productions. Web includes: I Love You (NPR's This American Life), web-series Good Cop Great Cop. TV: "Hack My Life" (truTV). Trained at London's British American Drama Academy and NYC's Atlantic Acting School; improv training at UCB and Second City. BA: University of Pennsylvania

Akron Watson (Trevor). Broadway: The Color Purple Revival. Off-Broadway: The Fortress of Solitude (The Public Theater). Regional: Dreamgirls (North Shore Music Theater); Stagger Lee (Dallas Theater Center); Smokey Joes' Café (WaterTower Theatre); Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Theatre Three Dallas); The Shipment (Undermain Theatre); Kismet (Lyric Stage); The Royale(Repertory Theatre of St Louis.) Film/TV: NBC's "Friday Night Lights"; NBC's "Chase"; Seasons of Gray; and Spilt Milk. Voiceover: Dunks Watson- "Borderland the Presequel", Chris Brian- "Walking Dead the video game", Satoshi-Toonami's "Michiko & Hatchin". Featured on American Idol, Season 7.

Preston Truman Boyd (Understudy) is thrilled to join the Mischief Theatre Family! He was most recently seen on Broadway as Artie Green in the revival of Sunset Boulevard. Broadway: She Loves Me, On The Twentieth Century, Bullets Over Broadway,Big Fish. 1st National: Jersey Boys (Bob Gaudio), Young Frankenstein (The Monster). Regional: Of Mice and Men (Lennie), The Scarlet Letter (Beadle), at Bay Street Theatre. Including multiple shows at The Muny in St. Louis and Kansas City Starlight. TV/Film: Going in Style, Alex Inc. and The Guiding Light. Love to my fam, BRS/Gage and my #1, Sydney.

Ned Noyes (Understudy). Broadway: You Can't Take It With You. National Tour: Roundabout Theatre's production of Cabaret. Off-Broadway: The New Morality, Love Goes to Press, So Help Me God!, The Fifth Column (Mint Theatre), The Picture of DorIan Gray (Sonnet Rep). Regional credits include Steppenwolf Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre DC, Court Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, Geva Theatre. Film: The Post (directed by Steven Spielberg). Television: "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO), "Alpha House" (Amazon). Training: Northwestern University.

ASHLEY REYES (Understudy). Broadway Debut! Regional theater includes: Spring Awakening The Musical, The Seagull, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, Urinetown the Musical. Various TV and Film. Special thanks to Ken Washington and the SPAC family. Endless love and thanks to Mom, Dad, and Justin. LAMDA graduate 2016. Shout out to her first TV cred: Noodleheads forever.

KATIE SEXTON (Understudy). Broadway debut! Recent credits include Sarah in The Toxic Avenger (Pittsburgh CLO), Nellie in South Pacific (Allenberry Playhouse), Suzie in The Marvelous Wonderettes (Allenberry Playhouse). Other regional: Oklahoma!,Evil Dead the Musical, Company, Mame. BFA Point Park University. For my big, funny, beautiful family. www.KatieNSexton.com

Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel