Sam Breslin Wright to Star in Washburn & Malloy's LITTLE BUNNY FOO FOO Premiere in Louisville

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Kevin E. Moore have announced the cast and creative team for the world premiere of Little Bunny Foo Foo.

Directed by Actors Theatre Artistic Director Les Waters, Little Bunny Foo Foo will begin preview performances January 9, open January 11 and run through February 4 in the Bingham Theatre as part of the Brown-Forman Series, with the production underwritten by D. D. Williamson.

Tickets are available at 502.584.1205, online at ActorsTheatre.org or in person by visiting The Actors Theatre Box Office at 316 West Main Street, Louisville, KY 40202.

In this fun-filled play with music, butterflies are fluttering and breezes are blowing in the enchanted forest, and one saucy bunny just can't stop boppin' all the field mice on the head. Will The Blue Fairy be forced to curb his mischief and turn him into a Goon?

Renowned playwright Anne Washburn (Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play) and Tony-nominated composer Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) - joined by a sensible Skink, a carnivorous Catmonster, and a band of Gentlemen Toads - spin an effervescently delightful entertainment.

Little Bunny Foo Foo marries heart and humor that kids and adults can enjoy side-by-side. Director Les Waters shares, "Our process has been to reach for the most playful ideas-asking what would be most fun for the performers to perform and for the audience to watch. We aim to charm the socks off people."

Hopping into the titular role is Sam Breslin Wright (We're Gonna Be Okay at Actors Theatre, Madam Secretary), who has collaborated with Washburn before, most notably in the playwright's 2013 hit Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play.

April Matthis (Yale Repertory Theatre, Public Theater, company member of Elevator Repair Service) will play the all-powerful Blue Fairy. She is accompanied by her Fairy Chorus: Andrea Abello, Alaina Kai and Emily Kaplan - all Acting Apprentices in the Theatre's 2017-2018 Professional Training Company.

Eliza Bent (award-winning performer and playwright at Abrons Arts Center, JACK, the New Ohio) will play the lizard-like Skink. Bear Brummel (Acting Apprentice, 2017-2018 Professional Training Company) will play the Catmonster, a true enemy of the Field Mice.

Appearing as the band of Gentlemen Toads are Daniel Arthur Johnson (Professional Training Company alumnus), Luis Ramos, Troy Valjean Rucker and Andy Strain, who serves double-duty as the production's music director.

A corps of young local actors play the Field Mice: Hadley Bauer, Belle Blevins, Brylee Deuser, Cadence Diggs, Abigail Hughes, Ella Jenkins, Brendan Miller, Molly Peters, Austin Ramirez and Vaughn Ramirez.

The creative team for Little Bunny Foo Foo includes scenic design by Laura Jellinek (Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Design, Marvin's Room, The Wolves), costume design by Tony Award winner Paloma Young (Peter and the Starcatcher, Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Bandstand), lighting design by Mark Barton (Macbeth and The Glory of the World at Actors Theatre, Amelie) and sound design by Bray Poor (Latin History for Morons, The Glass Menagerie, In the Next Room...). Actors Theatre veteran Barney O'Hanlon (The Glory of the World, Wellesley Girl, Steel Hammer with Siti Company) returns as the production's movement director.

Anne Washburn's (playwright) plays have been produced nationally and internationally and include 10 Out of 12, Mr. Burns, The Internationalist, A Devil At Noon (2011 Humana Festival), Apparition, The Communist Dracula Pageant, I Have Loved Strangers, The Ladies, The Small, Sleep Rock Thy Brain (2013 Humana Festival) and Antlia Pneumatica. They have premiered at 13P, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Almeida Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Cherry Lane Theatre, Classic Stage Company, Clubbed Thumb, The Civilians, Dixon Place, Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Folger, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep., Two River Theater Company, Vineyard Theatre and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Awards include a Whiting, a Guggenheim, an Alpert, a PEN/Laura Pels Award, a NYFA Fellowship and a Time Warner Fellowship.

Composer Dave Malloy's Broadway credits include Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, which garnered 12 Tony nominations, including Best Musical, Score, Book and Orchestrations last year. His Off-Broadway credits include Ghost Quartet, Preludes and Three Pianos. Malloy is the winner of two Obie Awards, a Theater World Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, an ASCAP New Horizons Award and a Jonathan Larson Grant.

Learn more about the cast and creative team by visiting ActorsTheatre.org.

Actors Theatre is committed to providing an accessible theatergoing experience and offers an open-captioned performance on January 20 and an audio-described performance on January 21 during the run of Little Bunny Foo Foo. For more information about our facilities and all services offered, visit ActorsTheatre.org. Tickets are on sale to the public with seats starting at $25. Tickets can be purchased by calling The Actors Theatre Box Office at 502.584.1205 or online at ActorsTheatre.org. Special rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling 502.585.1210.

Important Dates:
Press Opening: Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
Open-Captioned Performance: Saturday, January 20 at 2:30 p.m.
Audio-Described Performance: Sunday, December 21 at 2:30 p.m.

Family Night @ Little Bunny Foo Foo: January 14 and 21 at 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Join us before the performance of Little Bunny Foo Foo for a boppin' good time. Kids and kids at heart will have a great time with a variety of activities including face painting and the unique opportunity to take your picture with The Actors Theatre Tony Award! Use the Promo code FAMILY to purchase a $30 ticket at ActorsTheatre.org.

Teen Night @ Little Bunny Foo Foo: January 19 at 8 p.m.
Calling all teens, grades 8-12! Bring your friends, see a great show, meet the cast and connect with other teens passionate about theatre! Use the Promo Code TEEN to purchase a $10 ticket at ActorsTheatre.org.

Trivia Night @ Actors Theatre: January 26 at 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Sara Shallenberger Brown Lobby
Test your theatre, magic and fairy tale knowledge at Actors Theatre Trivia Night. Join us before the performances of Little Bunny Foo Foo and The Magic Play for an exciting trivia challenge. To qualify for prizes, individuals or teams must register onsite for $5 per person.

Sensory Friendly Performance: February 4 at 1 p.m.
This performance affords a relaxed atmosphere with lower volume sounds and slightly raised houselights. Audience members may move about or exit the theatre as needed. Use the promo code TWENTY to purchase a $20 ticket. For more information, please visit ActorsTheatre.org.

Little Bunny Foo Foo is made possible in part by production sponsor Brown-Forman, production underwriter D.D. Williamson, the Kentucky Arts Council and Fund for the Arts. Additionally, Actors Theatre's educational outreach for Little Bunny Foo Foo is made possible by Yum! Brands Foundation and their sponsorship of Actors' Student Matinee Series.

Now in its 54th Season, Actors Theatre of Louisville, the State Theatre of Kentucky, is the flagship arts organization in the Louisville community. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Kevin E. Moore, Actors Theatre serves to unlock human potential, build community, and enrich quality of life by engaging people in theatre that reflects the wonder and complexity of our time.

Actors Theatre presents almost 350 performances annually and delivers a broad range of programming, including classics and contemporary work through the Brown-Forman Series, holiday plays, a series of free theatrical events produced by the Professional Training Company, and the Humana Festival of New American Plays-the premier new play festival in the nation, which has introduced more than 450 plays into the American theatre repertoire over the past 41 years. In addition, Actors Theatre provides over 15,000 arts experiences each year to students across the region through its Education Department, and boasts one of the nation's most prestigious continuing pre-professional resident training companies, now in its 46th year.

Over the past half-century, Actors Theatre has also emerged as one of America's most consistently innovative professional theatre companies, with an annual attendance of 140,000. Actors Theatre has been the recipient of some of the most prestigious awards bestowed on a regional theatre, including a Tony Award for Distinguished Achievement, the James N. Vaughan Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement and Contribution to the Development of Professional Theatre, and the Margo Jones Award for the Encouragement of New Plays. Actors Theatre has toured to 29 cities and 15 countries worldwide, totaling more than 1,400 appearances internationally.

Currently, there are more than 50 published books of plays and criticism from Actors Theatre in circulation-including anthologies of Humana Festival plays, volumes of ten-minute plays and monologues, and essays, scripts and lectures from the Brown-Forman Classics in Context Festival. Numerous plays first produced at Actors Theatre have also been published as individual acting editions, and have been printed in many other anthologies, magazines and journals-making an enduring contribution to American dramatic literature.