First Floor Theater to Stage MATT & BEN, 11/16-12/13

First Floor Theater (FFT) announces the casting of FFT Marketing Director Nora Bingham, with Kate Healy in their season opener MATT & BEN, playing November 16 - December 13 at Collaboraction's Pentagon Theatre in The Flat Iron Arts Building. Tickets forMATT & BEN will be available at http://firstfloortheater.com/.

In the pre-production phase, FFT was denied permission to move ahead with the unique casting of male actors (Associate Artistic Director Andrew Cutler with Brandon Moorhead) in the roles of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, traditionally played by women. FFT remains committed to the vision behind the original casting, and is beyond pleased to welcome two extremely talented actresses into that vision - Marketing Director Nora Bingham as Matt and regular FFT collaborator Kate Healy as Ben.

"Underneath Matt & Ben's punchlines and celebrity, there is a genuine exploration of what it means to be life-long friends and the particular kinds of love - and repulsion - that live in that relationship. While we originally chose to cast male actors in the two roles to place focus on this relationship, we are more than confident that our new cast will nail both the outrageous comedy of their gender-bending performance, and the genuine connection between Matt and Ben," director Amanda Fink says of the casting shift.

The production team for MATT & BEN includes: Bobby Huggins (scenic design), Sarah Ingraham (lighting design), Graham Carlson (sound design),Alexis Chaney (costume design), Claire Stone (dramaturg), Andrew Rovner (production manager), and Helen Behnke-Hanson (stage manager).