Paulson, Hoffman, Cannavale, & More Star in stageFARM's THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE Starting 4/11

the stageFARM (Carrie Shaltz, Founder/Executive Director and Alex Kilgore, Artistic Director) has announced the complete cast for the upcoming World Premiere The Gingerbread House by Mark Schultz, directed by Alex Kilgore. Performances begin Friday, April 11th as a visiting production at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (224 Waverly Place), with Opening Night set for Saturday evening, April 18th at 8 p.m.

The complete cast for The Gingerbread House includes Bobby Cannavale, Jason Butler Harner, Jackie Hoffman, Sarah Paulson and Ben Rappaport.

In The Gingerbread House, Brian and Stacey want a better life, The Life they deserve. But what they're willing to do to get it will destroy their family, rip them apart...and finally get them into the Club.

Alex Kilgore, the stageFARM's Artistic Director, commented, "The Gingerbread House is timely, particularly in this economic climate, as a dark fairy tale of upward mobility and inverted priorities. It's as terrifying as it is hilarious. Mark's voice is revolutionary, his rhythm cut-throat, and his language sharp, spare, and deadly accurate."

the stageFARM is an Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to producing relevant new work by emerging playwrights for a new generation of theater patrons. the stageFARM's previous acclaimed productions include: Drug Buddy by David Folwell, VENGEANCE (a series of 5 commissioned plays by Neena Beber, Ron Fitzgerald, Gina Gionfriddo Julian Sheppard, and Francine Volpe), U. S. Drag by Gina Gionfriddo and, most recently, Spin (a series of 5 commissioned plays by Gina Gionfriddo, Elizabeth Meriwether, Judith Thompson, Mark Schultz and Adam Rapp).

The creative team for The Gingerbread House includes John McDermott (sets), Ben Stanton (lighting), Jessica Wegener (costumes), Zane Birdwell (sound) and Richard DiBella (video/projections).

The Gingerbread House will play the following schedule: Tuesday-Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 5 pm. Tickets are $40 and are available by visiting www.smarttix.com.

For more information, visit www.thestagefarm.org.

Bobby Cannavale

Bobby made his Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck's Mauritius and was nominated for a Tony Award last year for his performance. He also received rave reviews in the recent Off-Broadway revival of Hurly Burly. On television, Bobby won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Star in a Comedy for his performance as Will's boyfriend in "Will and Grace." He has appeared in many series including a recurring role on HBO's "Six Feet Under." On television, Bobby will next be seen starring in his own series for ABC, in which he plays the title character "Cupid," premiering on Tuesday, March 31. 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 Dimished Capacity, Dedication, The Ten, 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. Cannavale can now be seen in the feature comedy, Mall Cop, opposite Kevin James.

Jason Butler Harner

Jason Butler Harner was last seen on Broadway as Ivan Turgenev in the multi-Tony award winning The Coast of Utopia. A frequent presence on and off-Broadway, noteworthy performances include The Paris Letter (Roundabout Theatre, Drama Desk nomination), the award winning Orange Flower Water (EDGE Theatre), Observe the Sons of Ulster (Lincoln Center), Five Flights (Rattlestick), The Ruby Sunrise (The Public), Juno and the Paycock (Roundabout), An Experiment with an Air Pump (MTC), Crimes of the Heart (2nd Stage), Macbeth (The Public with Angela Bassett and Alec Baldwin) and in the controversial production of Hedda Gabler at New York Theatre Workshop for which both he and Elizabeth Marvel earned Obie Awards. Regionally, he garnered attention in The Glass Menagerie at the Kennedy Center (opposite Sally Field), the American premiere of The Invention of Love at ACT (opposite James Cromwell), The Cherry Orchard at Mark Taper Forum (opposite Annette Bening, Alfred Molina, and Sarah Paulson), Hamlet at Dallas Theatre Center, as well as in productions at Seattle Rep, Yale Rep, the Huntington, Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, American Conservatory Theatre, and others. He was recently seen in the Oscar nominated Clint Eastwood film Changeling opposite Angeline Jolie, as well as in the HBO mini-series "John Adams," The Good Shepherd, Next, and in episodes of "The Closer," "Fringe," "Hope and Faith" and all things "Law and Order." He can be seen in the upcoming releases of The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 opening in June 2009, in New Orleans Mon Amour with Elizabeth Moss and Chris Eccleston, in The Extra Man with Kevin Kline and Paul Dano, as well as in the forthcoming Showtime series "Possible Side Effects," written and directed by Tim Robbins.

Jackie Hoffman

Broadway: Xanadu, Hairspray (Theatre World Award). Solo shows; Jackie with a Z, Chanukah at Joe's Pub (Bistro Award), The Kvetching Continues; Time Out New York's outstanding achievement award, Broadway. Off Broadway: Regrets Only (Manhattan Theatre Club, Tribeca theatre festival, The Book of Liz (Obie award), Straightjacket, Incident at Cobbler's Knob, (Lincoln Center Theatre festival) and One Woman Shoe. Second City Chicago: Jeff Award. Regional: The Sisters Rosensweig (Olde Globe, San Diego). Films: A Dirty Shame, Garden State, Legally Blonde II, Kissing Jessica Stein, Mo' Money. Television: "30 Rock," "Starved," "Hope and Faith," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Strangers with Candy," "TV Funhouse," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "Soulman," "Cosby." Animation: "Dilbert," "PB & J Otter," Robots, Queer Duck: The Movie.

Sarah Paulson

Golden Globe nominated actress Sarah Paulson, has built an impressive list of credits in film, television and on stage, challenging herself with each new role. On television, Paulson will next be seen in Rob Thomas' ABC comedy, "Cupid," opposite Bobby Cannavale, premiering on Tuesday, March 31. Paulson stars as Claire Allen, a psychiatrist who's assigned to keep tabs on Trevor Hale (Cannavale), who believes he's the titular god of love, after he's released from a mental institution. In film, Paulson was most recently seen in Lionsgate's Christmas Day 2008 release, The Spirit, opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, and Scarlett Johansson. Adapted from the legendary comic strip, The Spirit is a classic action-adventure-romance, told by genre-twister Frank Miller (creator of Sin City). Paulson plays Dr. Ellen Dolan, a top surgeon and the Police Commissioner's daughter. Paulson's Golden Globe nominated role was in Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," where she starred opposite Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Bradley Whitford, and Steven Weber. In this NBC dramedy, Paulson played Harriet Hayes, the most gifted cast member of a controversial late-night sketch comedy series, who's also in a complicated relationship with the show's executive producer. Paulson's major television credits also include the lead role on the drama "Leap of Faith," the role of Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa Patterson in "The D.A.," "Deadwood," "Path to War" (opposite Alec Baldwin and Donald Sutherland), "Jack and Jill," the television movies "The Long Way Home" (opposite Jack Lemmon) and "Shaughnessy," the series "American Gothic" with Gary Cole, and the two-part special "Cracker." In addition to television, Paulson is also a veteran of screen and stage. Paulson made her film debut in Levitation, an independent project released by Strong Pictures and directed by Scott Goldstein. Her other film credits include Marry Harron's The Notorious Bettie Page, Paramount's Down with Love (with Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor and David Hyde Pierce), What Women Want (opposite Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt), The Other Sister, directed by Gary Marshall (starring Diane Keaton and Juliette Lewis), Swimmers directed by Doug Sadler, and Diggers directed by Katherine Dieckmann. On stage, Paulson starred opposite Alfred Molina and Annette Bening in the critically acclaimed The Cherry Orchard for the Mark Taper Forum, playing Varya. She has appeared on Broadway as Laura Wingfield in the revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, alongside Jessica Lange as well as Wendy Wasserstein's Tony Award-winning, The Sisters Rosensweig at the Barrymore Theatre. Her other stage credits include Tracy Lett's off-Broadway production of Killer Joe (opposite Scott Glenn and Amanda Plummer) and Horton Foote's Talking Pictures at the Signature Theatre. Paulson currently resides in New York City.

Ben Rappaport

Ben Rappaport is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School's Drama Division where he recieved the Drama Division's highest honor: the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize. Regional credits include: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Paradise Now (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Twelfth Night (The Actor Factory), Best of Shakespearean Romance (New Jersey Symphony Orchestra). Ben has also worked with Red Bull Theater, Ars Nova, and New Dramatists. Favorite credits at Juilliard include: Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale, conducted by James Conlon (Narrator), The Three Sisters (Andrey), Fifth of July (Weston Hurley), and Twelfth Night (Sir Toby Belch).

Mark Schultz (Playwright)

Plays include: Deathbed (Apparition Productions); Everything Will Be Different: A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Soho Rep/True Love Productions) for which he won the 2005 Oppenheimer Award and the 2006 Kesselring Prize; Polar Bear (commissioned and produced by Birmingham Rep, UK) Gift (Rising Phoenix Rep / NY Fringe Festival); and various one-acts including, most recently Fun (commissioned and produced by the StageFARM). Everything Will Be Different was produced by the Actors Touring Company with Theatre Royal Plymouth under the title A Brief History of Helen of Troy at the Soho Theatre in London after a UK tour. Other plays include Magic Kingdom; Brightness. He has received a Sloan Commission from MTC, as well as commissions from Playwrights Horizons and The Exchange. Readings and workshops: MCC Theater; The Vineyard; Rattlestick; MTC; New York Theater Workshop; The Public; Studio Dante; Woolly Mammoth. He was selected for a 2006 Royal Court Residency. He is a member of Rising Phoenix Rep, and is coordinator of MCC Theater's Playwrights' Coalition. He holds an MFA in playwriting from Columbia University.

Alex Kilgore (Director; Artistic Director, the stageFARM)

As the stageFARM's artistic director he commissioned and directed both this season's SPIN series (with Evan Cabnet), as well as last season's VENGEANCE series (with Ari Edelson) and produced the stageFARM's off broadway premiere of Gina Gionfriddo's U.S. Drag. Alex also directed the premiere of David Folwell's Drug Buddy for the stageFARM at the Cherry Lane. As an actor off-Broadway credits include the US premieres of David Folwell's Boise (Rattlestick- 2004 Outer Critics Circle Nomination), Philip Ridley's The Pitchfork Disney (Blue Light Theater Co.), and Lost Highway (as Hank Williams), Refuge, Henry V, Gin and Bitters, My Crummy Job (EST), and the posthumous premiere of Clifford Odets' Night Music (Actors Studio). Many regional plays. Film/TV: If I Didn't Care, Cowboy Jesus, Fever, "Wonder Showzen," "The City," "Swift Justice"...etc. His third screenplay Unveiled directed by Bill Bannerman is in preproduction, and next December he will direct his second screenplay Texasstyle starring Henry Thomas and Bill Sage produced by Lillian LaSalle. He is a graduate of NYU's Gallatin School, the President of The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and plays in the band CLAW.

Carrie Shaltz (Founder/Executive Director, the stageFARM)

Carrie founded the stageFARM in the Spring of 2006 after completing her graduate work in architecture at the University of Michigan. Her acting credits include - Off-Broadway: the stageFARM's VENGEANCE and Drug Buddy. Other NY Theater: Mixed Tape, Project 30 (AUR). Regional: Fat Pig, The House of Yes, and Top Girls. Television: "Gossip Girl", "Law & Order", "Law & Order: Criminal Intent". Film: BED (Dir. Chris Bradford), Warm Blooded (Dir. Cassandra Evanisko). Hosting: DIGS (Attached), Applebox.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.