New American Theatre Premieres 63 TRILLION at Odyssey Theatre Tonight

Award winning Broadway director Steve Zuckerman and noted playwright, screen and television writer John Bunzel are tapped by The New American Theatre Artistic Director Jack Stehlin to offer Los Angeles a "first look" at the new comedy 63 TRILLION, opening at the Odyssey Theatre tonight, April 25, 2015.

Money. Sex. Bad behavior....just another day in the markets. When global financial markets go radioactive, predators stand poised for a fight to the finish. Partnerships prove to be perilous and laws are meaningless in the jungle of scheming money managers, where the cleverly crafted characters of John Bunzel's dark comedy dwell.

"Money makes the world go around and dark comedy seems an appropriate genre to tackle the business of finance. The financial history of this country, and the world, is a litany of booms and busts, tragedy and comedy, heroes and sharks." -- John Bunzel; Playwright

The New American Theatre is a company of professional actors and theatre artists who work in theatre, film, television and new media. The New American Theatre (formerly Circus Theatricals) is celebrating twenty years in Los Angeles and has enjoyed critical acclaim, awards and nominations from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, LA Drama Critics Circle, Back Stage, LA Weekly, LA Stage Alliance Ovations and more. CBS Los Angeles named The New American Theatre as one of the top five 99-seat theatre companies in Los Angeles.

John Bunzel (Playwright) is a multi-award winning playwright known also for his talent as a screenwriter Born To Be Wild (Warner Brothers) and television writer, STAT and The Wonder Years (ABC-Emmy and Golden Globe Awards). Selected plays include Delirious (LA Weekly Playwriting Award), Death of a Buick (Manhattan Theatre Club, Pasadena Playhouse), Gravity Shoes (LA Weekly Playwriting Award), Expecting Bobby (Odyssey Theatre) and Complexity (New American Theatre). Film Executive: The Convent, The Spreading Ground. Since 2004, Mr. Bunzel has helped entertainment industry clients with wealth management needs and is a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner. John is a graduate of The Juilliard School.

63 TRILLION opens at 8pm on April 25th and runs 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 2pm Sunday April 26th and June 7th (only two matinees), closing on June 7, 2015. Previews are 8pm April 18th 19th and 24th. A guest production at the Odyssey Theatre, located at 2055 South Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025. Tickets are $30-$34.99. Tickets at NewAmericanTheatre.com/tickets.html or call 310-477-2055. $3 parking available at the theater, or free street parking.

Steve Zuckerman (Director) started his career in New York where his work includes the Tony nominated and Drama Desk Award winning play Nuts by Tom Topor. At WPA Theater he directed over 20 productions including the premieres of Israel Horovitz's Unexpected Tenderness, North Shore Fish, and Shem Bitterman's Ten Below. His revival of Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carre at the WPA, and Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken, starring Kim Hunter, received Drama Desk Awards. Subsequently, Steve has directed over 400 episodes of prime time television, which include Anger Management with Charlie Sheen, Bleep My Dad Says (Warner Brothers) with William Shatner, Undateable (NBC), The Jaimie Foxx Show (WB Network), Golden Girls (NBC), Murphy Brown (CBS-Humanitas Award), The Drew Carey Show (ABC), Friends (NBC), Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS), Hanna Montana (Disney Channel), and his work as a series director with NBC on Empty Nest for six seasons. He directed the premiere of Garry Marshall's Everybody Say Cheese at the Falcon Theatre, Shem Bitterman's Man.gov and Harms Way (LA Pen Award Winner) at Circus Theatricals and more recently productions of Influence (3 LA Weekly Award nominations including Best Production) and Open House (10 Best Plays of 2013-LA Weekly) at the Skylight Theater.

Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin (Producer/Managing Director-The New American Theatre) has produced over 80 plays for The New American Theatre, including the recent productions of Creditors directed by David Trainer (New American Theatre / Odyssey Theatre co-production)Julius Caesar, Bedfellows, As Is, Five Beauties by Tennessee Williams, I Never Sang for My Father, Titus Redux (with Not Man Apart-at the Kirk Douglas Theatre and RADAR-LA), Davey Holmes' More Lies About Jerzy (dir. David Trainer), Man.gov (LA/Off-Broadway) Harm's Way (LA/Off-Broadway/2008 Pen USA Award), The Job (LA/Off-Broadway) as well as co-producing many productions with The Odyssey Theatre. She produced the short Game 7, a 2013 finalist in the Naperville Independent Film Festival.

THE CAST:

Robert Cicchini (Frank) appeared Off-Bway Woycek (Papp/Public Theatre), The Racket (Soho Rep), Antigone (Int'l tour). Selected credits actor and/or director with New American theatre Twelfth Night, Hedda Gabler, Tartuffe, The Job (Garland Award-Acting), The Heiress, Man.Gov. He appeared in Open House (10 Best Plays of 2013-LA Weekly) at the Skylight Theatre. Selected Film credits include War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg), Path to War (John Frankenheimer), The Godfather III (Francis Ford Coppola), and Primary Colors (Mike Nichols). TV credits include over 50 roles in series such as Desperate Housewives, Without a Trace, Cold Case, CSI/NY, The Closer, 24 (recurring); Six Feet Under (recurring), The Practice, NYPD Blue, and The Sopranos.

Chris Curry (Mr. Black) appeared as George in the first Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons and as Jonathan Small in The Crucifier of Blood by Paul Giovanni. Selected Off-Broadway credits include the original production of The Foreigner, Kennedy at Colonus, Strange Snow, and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? He has been seen on local stages such as the Ahmanson, Pasadena Playhouse, Skylight Theatre, Blank Theatre, and Evidence Room. Chris worked on new plays at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference for eight years and regionally throughout the country, most recently at the George Street Playhouse in God Of Carnage and Sight Unseen. Selected TV and film credits include the most recent recurring role in Hart of Dixie (forth season as Crazy Earl), and in Flags For Our Fathers, Starship Troopers, Red Dragon, and Home Alone III.

Megan Gallagher (Nancy) appeared on Broadway in A Few Good Men, (Theatre World Award, Outer Critic's Circle Award) and in Angels In America. Selected Off Broadway credits include Tartuffe, Miss Julie, and the National tours of Cyrano. She was seen in Man and Superman and Major Barbara at Baltimore's Center Stage, Oliver! Oliver at The Long Wharf, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at Arena Stage, The Constant Wife at both The Guthrie and at Pasadena Playhouse and seasons at The Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference and The Williamstown Theatre Festival. On TV, she has been a regular on six television series including The Larry Sanders Show, China Beach, Hill Street Blues, Millenium, and has guest starred or recurred on numerous shows including, Scandal, Grey's Anatomy, Suits, and Boston Legal. Meagan plays Abbey in the CBS Film Get A Job, which is scheduled for 2015. She is a graduate of Juilliard.

Noah James (Jonah) appeared in Jason Alexander's production of Broadway Bound, and in The Blank Theater's Knockout Mouse. Recently he was seen in Boys' Life and A Midsummer Night's Dream with the New American Theatre. Television/Film credits include 90210, Dog it Down, In Development, and Letters.

Jeffrey Jones (Dick) garnered the Guthrie Award from Sir Tyrone Guthrie and was hired by the "Stratford National Theater of Canada" for three seasons when he returned from studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He worked extensively in Canada until appearing at Joe Papp's NY Public Theater and NY Shakespeare Festival for numerous productions. Selected credits include Cloud 9 (NY and LA), The Elephant Man (Broadway and National tour), Long Wharf Theater, Yale Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, Actors Theater of Louisville, Seattle Rep, Seattle, WA, Vancouver Playhouse, Williamstown Theater Festival. TV and film appearances include the series Deadwood (HBO), Fresno (CBS), The People Next Door (CBS), Amadeus (Golden Globe nomination), Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Valmont, Beetlejuice, The Hunt For Red October, Devil's Advocate and numerous others.

Ken Lerner (Tom) has numerous theater credits including the West Coast Premiere of The Waverly Gallery at Pasadena Playhouse and in Arsenic and Old Lace at Gary Marshall?s Falcon Theatre. He has more than 165 television and movie credits which include The Big Bang Theory and notable roles on such shows as Friends, ER, Chicago Hope, and Desperate Housewives. Ken played Principal Flutie in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and lately has had several roles portraying Rabbi's and judges. He currently teaches for the New York Film Academy.

Jack Stehlin (Kenny) is an award-winning actor/director best known on television as DEA captain Roy Till on the Showtime series Weeds (SAG award nomination). New York/Regional stage credits include Salome (with Al Pacino), numerous productions at New York's Public Theatre including Richard II (with Steven Berkoff), Henry V (with Kevin Kline), Casanova (with Ethan Hawke), Henry IV, (with Mandy Patinkin), and Julius Caesar (with Al Pacino and Martin Sheen). Los Angeles stage roles include New American Theatre productions of Creditors (LA Weekly Award nomination-Best Actor), More Lies About Jerzy, Julius Caesar, Harm's Way (LA/Off Broadway), Titus Redux (Not Man Apart co-production at Kirk Douglas Theatre and RadarLA,) and Odyssey/New American Theatre co-productions of Taming of the Shrew, The Misanthrope, Macbeth, Richard III, Tartuffe, and True West. Selected guest starring TV credits include NCIS Los Angeles, Without a Trace, Monk, The Practice, Crossing Jordan, ER, NYPD Blue and more. Jack can be seen on the big screen in Wilde Salome with Al Pacino.

DESIGNERS:

Jeff McLaughlin (Set/Lighting Design) is a multi-award winning designer whose selected credits include Lady Gaga's Judas video, TV credits such as CeReality and Interior Motives. Theatre work at the Fountain such as The Blue Iris, Cyrano, Bakersfield Mist (Ovation nominee), A House Not Meant To Stand (Ovation and LA Weekly Award nominee), and the Ovation Award winning Grace and Glory at the Colony, A Death In Colombia at the Skylight Theatre, Tragic Events (LADCC Award nominee), A Skull In Connemara (Ovation and LADCC winner), and all at Theatre Tribe.

Florence Kemper (Costume Design) designed costumes for HBO's Tales from the Crypt and Unscripted, ABC's Camp Wilder, Nickelodeon's All That, Drake and Josh, Carsey-Werner's Grounded For Life, The Tracy Morgan Show, NBC's Teachers through films like Highway to Hell, The Perfect Game, and Movie 43. Selected LA theater credits are The Rug Merchants of Chaos (Pasadena Playhouse), Expecting Bobby (Odyssey Theater), Gravity Shoes (Hudson Avenue Theater), Complexity (New American Theatre). She garnered an Ace Cable Award nomination for best costume design on HBO's Tales From The Crypt.

Roger Bellon (Original Music) received an Emmy Nomination for his score to the CBS television movie Frankenstein. His latest feature, "186 DOLLARS TO FREEDOM," premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won BEST PICTURE at the Hollywood Independent Film Festival. He conducted the London Symphony Orchestra at famed Abbey Road Studios for his score to, Iron Cross, actor Roy Scheider's last movie. Roger has scored over three hundred television episodes and numerous award winning television movies and mini-series.

63 TRILLION opens at 8pm on April 25th and runs 8pm Fridays and Saturdays, 2pm Sunday April 26th and June 7th (only two matinees), closing on June 7, 2015. Previews are 8pm April 18th 19th and 24th. A guest production at the Odyssey Theatre, located at 2055 South Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025. Tickets are $30-$34.99. Tickets at NewAmericanTheatre.com/tickets.html or call 310-477-2055. $3 parking available at the theater, or free street parking. For more, follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/newamericantheatre; Twitter: #NewAmericanThtr; and www.NewAmericanTheatre.com.

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