La Jolla Playhouse Announces Cast For SURF REPORT, Runs 6/15-7/11

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast for the world premiere of Annie Weisman's Surf Report, the first production of The Playhouse's 2010/2011 season, running June 15 - July 11, 2010 in the Mandell Weiss Forum.

The cast features Linda Gehringer as "Judith" whose credits include Ally McBeal, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Evening Shade; Gregory Harrison as "Bruce" who has been seen in the television series Trapper John, M.D. along with several other television and film projects; Matthew Arkin as "Hal" who portrayed Gabe in the original Broadway cast of Dinner with Friends; Liv Rooth as "Jena" who performed in Broadway's Is He Dead? and Zoë Chao a UC San Diego M.F.A. graduate as "Bethany."

The creative team includes Lisa Peterson, director; Rachel Hauck, scenic designer; David Zinn, costume designer; Ben Stanton, lighting designer and John Gromada, composer/sound designer.

Surf Report was written by San Diego-bred playwright Annie Weisman, author of The Playhouse's 2001 world premiere Be Aggressive. She now returns with another world premiere comic drama that centers on Judith, who spends her days serving as assistant and caretaker for her demanding venture capitalist boss in a coastal southern California town. Judith's husband Hal spends his nights trying not to pick a fight with her, and her daughter Bethany, a struggling artist in New York, spends every waking moment trying to stay as far away from home as possible. But when Bethany returns to California for a family emergency, The Shadows of the past and the specter of an uncertain future threaten the very core of this turbulent threesome. This funny and poignant play examines the sacrifices we make - or avoid - for our families.

"La Jolla Playhouse is thrilled to be staging another world premiere of a play by Annie Weisman," said Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director for La Jolla Playhouse. "This new work is Annie's artistic voice at its very best."

Performance times for Surf Report are Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 pm; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 7:00 pm. Matinees are held on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 pm. Single tickets go on sale Sunday, May 16, 2010. Prices range from $31 - $66.

BIOGRAPHIES

Linda Gehringer (Judith) returns to La Jolla Playhouse, where she previously appeared in the world premiere of Annie Weisman's Be Aggressive and in Light Up the Sky. At South Coast Repertory she appeared in the world premiere of Ms. Weisman's Hold Please along with the premieres of The Language Archive, The Piano Teacher, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way,
Getting Frankie Married-And Afterwards, But Not for Me and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, a role she repeated in its New York premiere at the Atlantic Theatre Company. She was also recently seen at The Goodman Theater in The Crowd You're With (Jeff nomination) and at The Old Globe in The Women and Since Africa. She has played leading roles in theatres across the country including Arena Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Ojai Playwrights Festival and seven seasons with the Dallas Theater Center. She holds an M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota which she attended on a Guthrie Fellowship and has won numerous critical awards. She is currently recurring on the new FX series Justified. Her other television credits include four seasons on Evening Shade and many guest star roles including Weeds, Gilmore Girls, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The West Wing, Frasier, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Ally McBeal, The Practice, The Division and Dallas among others. She also appeared in the film As Good As It Gets.

Gregory Harrison (Bruce) is widely recognized for his role as "Gonzo Gates", the cocky young surgeon in the hit television series Trapper John, M.D. Harrison has appeared in over 60 plays, 20 films and in numerous performances for television. His Broadway credits include Steel Pier, Follies and Chicago (including the national tour). Harrison's regional theatre credits include The Hasty Heart (LADC Award), Picnic (LADC nomination), Carnal Knowledge (world premiere), Paper Moon: The Musical, Guys And Dolls, The Music Man and Top Secret: The Battle For The Pentagon Papers. Mr. Harrison lives and surfs on the Oregon Coast.

Matthew Arkin (Hal) garnered a Drama Desk nomination for his portrayal of "Gabe" in the original cast of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize winning Dinner with Friends. His Broadway credits include The Sunshine Boys and Laughter on the 23rd Floor, among others. Arkin's Off Broadway credits, in addition to Dinner with Friends, include Indian Blood and Moonlight and Magnolias. His regional theatre credits include Our Mother's Brief Affair; The Scene, Talley's Folly, Guys and Dolls, A Thousand Clowns, Lost in Yonkers and Sight Unseen. Arkin has appeared in the films Death to Smoochy, Liar Liar, North, An Unmarried Woman and Second Best, and his television credits include Law & Order; Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU; 100 Centre Street; The Education of Max Bickford and Kojak.

Liv Rooth (Jena) has appeared on Broadway in Is He Dead? Her Off Broadway credits include The Acting Company's critically acclaimed productions of Jane Eyre and Love, Shakespeare, Women Beware Women (Red Bull Theater); A Doll's House (Studio Tisch); Chuck Mee's A Perfect Wedding (NY Premiere, NYU Grad Acting); The Obstruction Plays (Slant Theater Project) and Still Life (Abingdon). Rooth's regional theatre credits Boeing-Boeing (The Old Globe); Noises Off (Hartford Stage); Pride and Prejudice (Geva Theater) and Much Ado About Nothing (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival). Her upcoming performances include Wife to James Whelan (The Mint) and The Good Wife; The Wrong Girl for ichannel. Rooth earned her M.F.A. at New York University's Graduate Acting program, where she was the recipient of the Marcia Gay Harden Scholarship.

Zoë Chao (Bethany) has created the roles of "Raylene" in Phantom Band and "Salvia" in Obscura as part of the Baldwin New Play Festival. She has also performed in The Seagull, Camino Real, 1001 and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead while pursuing her M.F.A. in Acting at UC San Diego. She has performed in new play workshops including Naomi Iizuka's play Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West directed by Les Waters. She debuted her solo show, The Kitchen Painting, at Trinity Repertory in Providence, Rhode Island. She holds a B.A. in the History of Art and Architecture from Brown University.

Lisa Peterson (Director) has previously directed nine productions at La Jolla Playhouse over the past two decades including the world premiere of Be Aggressive, written by Annie Weisman (2001), Mother Courage and her Children, a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre (2006), The Country (2003), Wonderland (1999), Valley Song (1996), The Triumph of Love
(1994), The Good Person of Setzuan (1994), Arms and the Man (1993) and Marisol (1992). Her New York credits include Tight Embrace at Intar Theatre; Birdy and Chemistry of Change at the Women's Project; Bexley Oh (!), Trestle At Pope Lick Creek, Slavs! and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire at NYTW; Sueño at MCC Theater; Tongue of a Bird and The Square at The Public Theater and Collected Stories at Manhattan Theatre Club. She has directed many world premieres and classics regionally at theatres including La Jolla Playhouse, the Guthrie Theater, the Mark Taper Forum, Intiman Theatre, Actors Theatre Of Louisville, Long Wharf, Cal Shakes, Arena Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, New York Stage & Film and Sundance Theatre Lab. Lisa has received an Obie Award, Drama Desk and Drama-Logue nominations and a Theatre Communications Group / National Endowment for the Arts grant. She is a member of Ensemble Studio Theater and the Drama Dept.

A native San Diegan, award winning playwright Annie Weisman's (Playwright: Surf Report) plays include Be Aggressive, which had its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse and was subsequently produced in Dallas, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Portland and elsewhere. Additional credits include Hold Please and A Totally Meaningful Ritual. She has received an NEA/TCG Playwrights Grant, a Patté Award for Best New Play and was a Susan Smith Blackburn Award Finalist. Ms. Weisman's works have been published by Dramatists Play Service, Vintage's Under Thirty: Plays for a New Generation and Smith and Kraus' Best New Plays. Her television credits include Dead Like Me (Showtime), Inconceivable (NBC) and Heartland (TNT). A graduate of Williams College, she is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Writers Guild.

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