Zachary Quinto, Shailene Woodley & More Will Star in CULT OF LOVE on Broadway

Second Stage Theater has just announced initial casting for its upcoming Broadway production of Leslye Headland’s CULT OF LOVE, directed by Trip Cullman. The New York Premiere production of CULT OF LOVE will begin previews on November 20th and will officially open on December 12th at the Helen Hayes Theater. This production will mark Ms. Headland’s Broadway debut.

The CULT OF LOVE company will include Molly Bernard (TV Land’s “Younger”), Roberta Colindrez (Broadway’s Fun Home, 2ST’s Mala Hierba), Barbie Ferreira (HBO’s “Euphoria”), Rebecca Henderson (“Star Wars: Acolyte”), Christopher Lowell (Netflix’s “Glow,” Hulu’s “How I Met Your Father”), Zachary Quinto (Broadway’s The Boys in the Band and The Glass Menagerie), Christopher Sears (Off-Broadway’s The Harvest and Gently Down the Stream), and Emmy, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Award nominee Shailene Woodley (The Divergent Series, Ferrari, HBO’s “Big Little Lies”), who will be making her Broadway debut.

The roles of Bill Dahl and Ginny Dahl remain to be cast.

ABOUT CULT OF LOVE

It’s the holiday season for the Dahl family! The four adult children return to their childhood home with partners in tow. The Dahl traditions include singing carols in harmony at the drop of a hat, but the gathering is anything but harmonious. Old conflicts resurface, new issues battled, and dinner is taking absolutely forever to be served. Will the love the Dahls have for each other be enough to get them through, or will this be their last Christmas together?

Emmy® Award nominee Leslye Headland (Bachelorette, “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” “Russian Doll”) has written an equally heartwarming and heartbreaking new play about the things that bind families together... or tear them apart.

CULT OF LOVE will feature scenic design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Sophia Choi, lighting design by Heather Gilbert, and sound design by Darron L West. The Music Supervisor is Jacinth Greywoode. Casting is by Jim Carnahan, CSA and Liz Fraser, CSA.CULT OF LOVE had its World Premiere at IAMA in January 2018.

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

Molly Bernard is most recognizable for her role as Lauren Heller on Younger. Additionally, she starred in and executive produced the indie films Milkwater, and the upcoming Best Man Dead Man. Bernard has been featured on “Chicago Med” (NBC), as well as “Transparent,” “Alpha House,” “High Maintenance,” Blindspot, Otherhood, Sully, Pay it Forward, The Intern, and The Black List. Select theater credits include Revolt She Said, Revolt Again at SoHo Rep, House Plant at NYTW Next Door, Cult of Love at Berkeley Rep. Bernard can currently be seen in the feature film, Hit Man, written and directed by Richard Linklater.

Roberta Colindrez. Film: Cassandro (Amazon; Astra nomination for Best Actress), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Ms. White Light, Unidentified Objects. Select Television: “A League of Their Own” (Amazon), “Eric” (Netflix), “Vida” (Starz), “I Love Dick” (Amazon), “Girls” (HBO), “The Deuce” (HBO), “Monsterland” (Hulu), “The Harper House” (CBS All Access), “Mrs. America” (Hulu), “Mr. Robot” (USA). Broadway/Off-Broadway: Fun Home (Original Cast; also at The Public Theater), Hamlet (Public Theater), Mala Hierba (Second Stage).

BARBIE FERREIRA first captivated audiences with her compelling performance as 'Kat' in HBO's Euphoria. Following her appearance in Jordan Peele's Nope, she is set to appear in several notable films, including Legendary's reimagining of Faces of Death, with Dacre Montgomery, and the indie film Bob Trevino Likes It, alongside John Leguizamo. Ferreira also shares the screen with Ariana DeBose in House of Spoils and appears in HBO Max's UNpregnant.

Rebecca Henderson is best known for the Emmy nominated Netflix shows “Inventing Anna” and “Russian Doll.” Recent work includes “Single Drunk Female” and the latest Star Wars series “The Acolyte.” Henderson's films include The Good House and Call Jane (and upcoming Dust Bunny), all opposite Sigourney Weaver; Werewolves Within; and Appropriate Behavior, among others. Rebecca has appeared in many theatre roles including Moscowx6 (MCC, Williamstown), The Wayside Motor Inn (Signature) and Bright Half Life (Women's Project), among others.

CHRISTOPHER LOWELL is making his Broadway Debut. Theatre credits include “James” in Cult of Love (Berkeley Rep), “Bo” in Jacuzzi (Ars Nova), “Paul Bratter” in Barefoot in the Park (Old Globe). Film work includes Oscar-winners Promising Young Woman (“Al Monroe”) and The Help (“Stuart Whitworth” SAG Award, Critics Choice Award), “Piz” in Veronica Mars, Up In The Air, Perpetrator, Complete Unknown. TV includes “Bash” on GLOW (SAG nominations, Netflix), “Jesse” on How I Met Your Father (Hulu), “Dell” on Private Practice (ABC), Inventing Anna (Netflix), ROAR (Apple TV), Graves (Epix), and Enlisted (Fox).

Zachary Quinto can currently be seen in Rightor Doyle’s feature film Down Low opposite Lukas Gage and He Went That Way opposite Jacob Elordi. The films had their respective world premieres at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival and 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. Previously, Quinto completed his critically acclaimed West End Debut as ‘Gore Vidal’ in James Graham’s play Best of Enemies. Other stage credits include the Broadway revivals of The Boys in the Band and The Glass Menagerie. This fall, Quinto will be seen starring as Dr. Oliver Wolf in the highly anticipated series “Brilliant Minds” for NBC. Quinto starred as ‘Spock’ in JJ Abram’s reboot of the Star Trek franchise and in Margin Call, which he also produced through his production company, Before the Door Pictures. Other TV credits include “NOS4A2,” “Heroes,” and his Emmy nominated turn on “American Horror Story.”Christopher Sears: Favorite credits include Gently Down the Stream (The Public Theater), The Harvest (LCT3), Stupid f-ing Bird (The Pearl) and Cult of Love at Berkeley Rep. Film/Television: “Law & Order: SVU,” The Wisdom Tooth. Christopher is also a composer and musician. He’s currently recording an album with his sister Sienna and collaborating with Peter Hedges and Bandits on the Run to adapt What’s Eating Gilbert Grape for the stage. Proud member of Edie’s Fairytale Theatre. BFA from Rutgers. @christophersearsart.

Shailene Woodley currently stars in the STARZ television series “Three Women,” based on author Lisa Taddeo’s international best-selling novel. Woodley was solidified as a household name from the Divergent film series in addition to her acclaimed roles in The Fault in Our Stars, The Spectacular Now and The Descendants, for which she earned individual nominations for two Critics Choice Awards and a Golden Globe. Woodley most recently co-starred in Michael Mann’s film Ferrari and just wrapped production on the film Motor City. Other film credits include Dumb Money, The Last Letter from Your Lover, Adrift, and Snowden. On the small screen, Woodley notably starred as Jane in the critically acclaimed television series “Big Little Lies,” for which she earned an individual Emmy and Golden Globe nomination. Cult of Love will be her Broadway debut.

Playwright Leslye Headland is an Emmy®-nominated writer, producer and director. She returns to Second Stage Theater, which produced her play, Bachelorette, in its Uptown Series, and her play, The Layover, Off- Broadway at the Kiser Theater. Headland began her career writing and directing the “Seven Deadly Plays” series for IAMA Theatre Company. Most recently, Headland served as writer, director, showrunner and executive producer of “Star Wars: The Acolyte” for the Disney+ streaming platform. The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-Jae and Manny Jacinto. Headland currently has a multi-year, overall deal with Fox 21 Television Studios to create, develop and direct series for network, cable and streaming platforms. Headland served as writer, director, showrunner and executive producer of Netflix’s acclaimed series “Russian Doll” (co-created by Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler), which was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and nine Creative Arts Emmy Awards. Headland made her directorial film debut with Bachelorette, which she adapted from her critically acclaimed play, starring Kirsten Dunst and Rebel Wilson. Bachelorette is currently streaming on HBOMax. She wrote and directed Sleeping With Other People, starring Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie. Sleeping with Other People is currently streaming on Hulu. Both films premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Additional TV writing/directing credits include: “Single Drunk Female” (Freeform), "Terriers”(FX), “Blunt Talk” (Starz), “Smilf” and “Black Monday” (both Showtime), and "Heathers” (Paramount), as well as pilots for HBO, ABC and NBC.

Trip Cullman (Director). Broadway: The Rose Tattoo, Choir Boy, Lobby Hero (Tony nom., Best Revival), Six Degrees of Separation (Tony nom., Best Revival), Significant Other. Select Off Broadway: I Can Get It For You Wholesale (Best Revival, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle) (CSC); The Lonely Few, Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow, YEN, Punk Rock (Obie Award), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Of New York City (MCC); Days Of Rage, The Layover, The Substance of Fire, Lonely I’m Not, Bachelorette, Some Men, Swimming In The Shallows (Second Stage); Unknown Soldier, The Pain Of My Belligerence, Assistance, A Small Fire (Drama Desk nomination, Best Direction), The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons); Choir Boy (MTC); Murder Ballad (MTC and Union Square Theatre); The Mother, I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic); Roulette (EST); The Hallway Trilogy: Nursing (Rattlestick); The Last Sunday In June (Rattlestick and Century Center); Dog Sees God (Century Center); US Drag (stageFARM); and several productions with The Play Company. London: The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, PA (Tricycle). Select regional: Berkeley Rep, Geffen, Arena, Alliance, Old Globe, La Jolla, South Coast Rep, Bay Street, McCarter, Williamstown Theater Festival.