Roundabout's THE LAST MATCH Begins Previews Tonight

Roundabout Theatre Company presents the New York premiere of Anna Ziegler's new play The Last Match, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch. The cast includes Wilson Bethel as "Tim," Alex Mickiewicz as "Sergei," Natalia Payne as "Galina" and Zoe Winters as "Mallory."

The Last Match begins preview performances tonight, September 28, 2017, and opens officially on October 24, 2017 at the Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 W 46th Street). This is a limited engagement Off-Broadway through December 24, 2017.

It's the semifinals of the U.S. Open, and two tennis greats are facing off in the match of their lives. Tim Porter, the aging all-American favorite, wants to prove to the world, his wife and himself that he's still a champion. Hot- headed rising star Sergei Sergeyev struggles to believe he truly deserves to beat his lifelong hero. Set against the high-stakes backdrop of professional sports, this New York premiere, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch, serves up a richly theatrical look at what keeps us striving and why.

The creative team includes Tim Mackabee (Scenic Design), Montana Blanco (Costume Design), Bradley King (Lighting Design) and Bray Poor (Sound Design).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Wilson Bethel (Tim) has been in countless film and television projects throughout his career. He is most notably known for playing Wade Kinsella in the CW's "Hart of Dixie," starring Rachel Bilson. In 2014 Wilson debuted his second webisode series for the CWtv.com as writer/creator/producer of "L.A. Rangers." In 2013 he starred/wrote/created "Stupid Hype," for CWtv.com as well. The new show, premiered on CW's digital channel is a live-action series that chronicles the (mis)adventures of a pair of LA Park Rangers trying to make it in Hollywood. In early 2012, Bethel created and starred in "Call me Doctor" a spoof video for Funny or Die with Rachel Bilson. The video was an instant viral sensation, becoming 'immortal status' within 48 hours. Additionally, Bethel had two films the past few years: The First Ride of Wyatt Earp opposite Val Kilmer and Stealing Summers opposite James Jagger, son of Sir Mick. In 2010 he starred in over 80 episodes of "The Young and the Restless," playing the terminally embattled heartthrob, Ryder Callahan. Bethel landed his big break in the Emmy-nominated HBO mini-series "Generation Kill" in 2008, playing a young recon Marine alongside Alexander Skarsgard and Stark Sands. Wilson had a small supporting role in Inherent Vice, opposite Joaquin Phoenix and Martin Short for acclaimed director, Paul Thomas Anderson. A longtime DJ and record collector, Bethel is a self-proclaimed vinyl nerd. In addition to his years of DJing in LA & NY, Bethel has kept a long-running music blog with his older brother, Charlie. (Check out good music at mixtaperiot.com). In his spare time he enjoys playing guitar, reading, riding his bicycle and getting busy on the dance floor. A lifelong tennis player, Bethel's first gig upon moving to Los Angeles -before an acting career was even a hope of a dream-was teaching tennis lessons at the Oakwood Apartments in Burbank. It is a job he still hopes to return to someday.

Alex Mickiewicz (Sergei). Broadway: Long Day's Journey into Night, Therese Raquin (Roundabout). Regional: Death of a Salesman (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), The Last Match (Old Globe), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Robin Hood, The Comedy of Errors (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Upcoming TV: "High Maintenance" (Season 2). Upcoming Film: The Chaparone. Training: Graduate of the William Esper Studio, BFA in Acting (Boston University).

Natalia Payne (Galina). Roundabout debut. New York stage credits include Me, Myself & I (Playwrights Horizons), New Jerusalem (Classic Stage Company),Jailbait (Cherry Lane), Aliens with Extraordinary Skills (Women's Project), deathvariations (59E59 Theaters), Novel (SPF). Regional credits include the world premiere of Last Match (The Old Globe), Watch On The Rhine (Arena Stage), Three Sisters (Berkeley Repertory & Yale Repertory Theatres), Dirt (Studio Theatre, Helen Hayes nomination), Memory House (Vineyard Playhouse). TV/film: "Law & Order: S.V.U," "Workin' Moms," "Ransom," "Murdoch Mysteries," "Dark Matter," "Reign," "Sensitive Skin," "Cardinal," The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The Word, Crazy Love. Originally from Toronto, Natalia studied acting at Yale University. For Baba.

Zoë Winters (Mallory). Off-Broadway: The Harvest, Shows for Days, 4000 Miles (LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater); Small Mouth Sounds (Signature: Ars Nova Production); Red Speedo, Love and Information (NYTW); Much Ado About Nothing (Public's Shakespeare in the Park); An Octoroon (Soho Rep); Love Song (59E59); Hater (Ohio Theatre). Regional includes Westport Country Playhouse, The Old Globe, Paper Mill Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Seattle Rep, Merrimack Rep and Magic Theatre. Film: Gray Dog, In the Family, Under, Giant. TV: "Madam Secretary," "Elementary," "Law & Order," "Ugly Betty," "Gossip Girl," "Army Wives." Training: B.F.A., SUNY Purchase. Member: NYTW Usual Suspects, LCT3 Young Angels Artists Committee, The Actors Center.

Anna Ziegler (Playwright). Anna's play Photograph 51, produced on the West End starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Michael Grandage, won London's 2016 WhatsOnStage award for Best New Play. It has been produced around the country and the world, most recently in Hamburg, Rome, and Stockholm. Her play The Last Match premiered at The Old Globe Theatre and was nominated for the 2016 San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Outstanding New Play award. Another new play,Actually, will be produced this year at The Geffen Playhouse, The Williamstown Theatre Festival and The Manhattan Theatre Club. Boy, which premiered off-Broadway in a Keen Company/Ensemble Studio Theatre co-production, was nominated for the 2016 Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award and will be produced at TimeLine Theatre in Chicago next season. The Wanderers, commissioned by The Old Globe Theatre, will premiere there in 2018. A Delicate Ship was produced at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and The Playwrights Realm and was a New York Times and Time Out Critic's Pick. Anna holds commissions from Second Stage Theatre, The Geffen Playhouse and Seattle Rep. She is developing a television series for HBO based on her play Actually, another for AMC/Sundance, and is at work on a screenplay for Scott Free Productions. Oberon Books has published a collection of her work entitled Anna Ziegler: Plays One. Other of her plays are published by Dramatists Play Service. She holds a BA from Yale and an MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Gaye Taylor Upchurch (Director). World premieres: Nick Gandiello's The Blameless (The Old Globe); Clare Lizzimore's Animal (Studio Theatre, Helen Hayes nomination); Laura Marks's Bethany (Women's Project); Anna Ziegler's The Last Match (The Old Globe); Melissa Ross's Of Good Stock (South Coast Repertory). Other recent directing: Simon Stephens's Harper Regan and Bluebird (with Simon Russell Beale at The Atlantic); Nancy Harris's Our New Girl (The Atlantic); The Year of Magical Thinking (with Kathleen Turner at Arena Stage); Lucy Thurber's Stay (Rattlestick); and at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival An Iliad (also at West Point) and As You Like It (also at Folger Theater), winner of the international Falstaff Award for Best Production, nominated for Falstaff Award for Best Director. Upchurch has developed new work at New Dramatists, NYTW, The Public, Roundabout, MTC, NY Stage & Film, The Kennedy Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Playwrights' Center, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. Alum of The Drama League, WP Theater Directors Lab, LCT Directors Lab, and the UNC School of the Arts.