George Street Playhouse Announces Casting For A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2

The hit comedy A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath, nominated for eight Tony Awards during its 2017 Broadway run, will premiere at George Street Playhouse's current venue, 103 College Farm Road in New Brunswick, NJ, featuring Kellie Overbey (Broadway's The Coast of Utopia) in the leading role of Nora Helmer.

She is joined by Andrew Garman (Broadway's Salome, alongside Al Pacino), Ann McDonough (known for the 1987 film Moonstruck and Broadway's Dinner at Eight), and Lily Santiago (The Public Theater's Othello). Performances run Nov. 27 thru Dec. 23 with Opening Night set for Nov. 30-kicking off the holiday season.

"No prior knowledge of Ibsen's play is necessary to enjoy and appreciate this show," George Street Playhouse's Artistic Director, David Saint, said. "This is a contemporary sequel and stands on its own as a fantastic comedy."

During its original Broadway run, A Doll's House, Part 2 was called "the best play of the year" by The New York Times.

When we last saw Nora Helmer, she was slamming the door on life as she knew it, and embarking on a brave, bold and shocking new world as a woman on her own. Fifteen years later, she has returned to that same door, with a high-stakes game of unfinished business on her mind.

The New York Times also lauded this Tony Award-nominated play as "smart, funny and utterly engrossing," and Time Out New York said it is "modern in its language...and suspenseful in its plotting."

George Street's production will take the stage under the direction of veteran actress and George Street Playhouse alum Betsy Aidem (Broadway's All The Way opposite Bryan Cranston and the hit 2017 musical film The Greatest Showman, opposite Hugh Jackman).

The creative team will also feature Deb O (Set Designer), Olivera Gajic (Costume Designer), Troy Beard (Hair and Wig Designer), Tony Award winner-Rick Fisher (Lighting Designer), Mark Bennett (Original Music and Sound Design), Rick Sordelet (Fight Direction), Kristin Pfeifer (Stage Manager), and Christina Woolard (Assistant Stage Manager), with casting by McCorkle Casting, Ltd.

Multi-play subscription packages, offering the very best seats at the best prices, are still available for George Street Playhouse's exciting 2018-2019 season. Tickets begin as low as $25.

To purchase a subscription, find tickets, or for more information, visit the George Street Playhouse website at www.GeorgeStreetPlayhouse.org, or call the box office at 732-246-7717.

About George Street Playhouse

Originally located in an abandoned supermarket on the corner of George and Albany Streets, George Street Playhouse was the first professional theatre in New Brunswick and played a major role in the revitalization of the downtown area. In 1984, the Playhouse moved to a renovated YMCA on Livingston Avenue, and in 2017 took temporary residence in the former Agricultural Museum during construction of its new home.

Beginning with the 2019-20 Season, George Street Playhouse will move to the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center in downtown New Brunswick. Featuring two state-of-the-art theatres and myriad amenities, the NBPAC will mark a new era in the esteemed history of George Street Playhouse.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Saint since 1998, and Kelly Ryman -- Managing Director since 2013, the Playhouse produces groundbreaking new works, inspiring productions of the classics, and hit Broadway plays and musicals that speak to the heart and mind, with an unwavering commitment to producing new work. As New Brunswick's first producing theatre, George Street Playhouse became the cornerstone of the City's arts and cultural landscape. With its 45-year history of producing nationally renowned theatre, the Playhouse continues to fill a unique theatre and arts education role in the city, state and greater metropolitan region.

The Playhouse has been well represented by numerous productions both on and off-Broadway, including the Outer Critics' Circle Best Musical Award-winner The Toxic Avenger; the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Drama League nominated production of The Spitfire Grill; and the Broadway hit and Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play Proof by David Auburn, which was developed at the Playhouse during the 1999 Next Stage Series of new plays. In 2015, It Shoulda Been You opened on Broadway and Joe DiPietro's Clever Little Lies opened off-Broadway. Both shows received their premieres at the Playhouse. In 2018, George Street Playhouse was represented on Broadway with Gettin' the Band Back Together which premiered on the Playhouse mainstage in 2013.

In addition to the mainstage season, the Playhouse's education department provides extensive programming for children, youth and adults. Partnering with administrators and educators throughout New Jersey, the Playhouse provides unique education experiences that both reinforce classroom curriculum and investigate issues such as bullying, diversity, immigration, health and wellness, and the rising epidemic of opioid addiction.

George Street Playhouse programming is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

THE ARTISTIC TEAM

Betsy Aidem (Director) This is Ms. Aidem's professional directorial debut. She directed a premiere production of Caroline McGraw's Ultimate Beauty Bible (Experimental Theater Wing/NYU). Acting: At GSP: Mama's Boy, God of Carnage and Jolson Sings Again directed by David Saint and most recently at the Cherry Lane theater in Final Follies. Thank you to so many directors: David Kennedy, David Cromer, Sir David Jones, Michael Gracey, Kenneth Lonergan, Neil Pepe, Tina Landau, Carolyn Cantor, Maria Mileaf, Bartlett Sher, Bill Rauch, John Malkovich, Simon Curtis, Julie Taymor, Daniella Topol, Brian Mertes, Woody Allen, Christopher Ashley, Melia Bensussan, Pamela Berlin, Adam Rapp, Sara Wolkowitz, Danya Taymor, Michael Apted, Daniel Aukin, Carey Perloff, Phil Gelatt , Pamela Berlin, R. Stuart White, Phillip Glass, Richard Hamburger, Liz Diamond, Ain Gordon, Alex Timbers, Jo Bonney, Michael Greif, Mark Nelson, Paul Mullins. Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Performance.

Lucas Hnath's (Playwright) plays include Hillary and Clinton, Red Speedo, The Christians, A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney, Isaac's Eye, and Death Tax. His work has been produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival of New Plays, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Gate Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Royal Court Theatre, Soho Rep, Traverse Theatre, and Victory Gardens. He has been a resident playwright at New Dramatists since 2011. He is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. He has received the Kesselring Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Whiting Award, two Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award Citations, an Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, and an Obie. His work is published by Dramatists Play Service and Overlook Press.

THE CAST:

Andrew Garman (Torvald Helmer) received critically acclaimed reviews for his performance in The Christians by Lucas Hnath at Playwrights Horizons. He has also appeared in The Moors, Salome, Rothschild's Fiddle, Three Sisters, The Merchant Of Venice, The Best Man, and American Buffalo. Andrew's television and film credits include "Madam Secretary," Mercy, "Conviction," and Ode To Elaina.

Ann McDonough (Anne Marie) LCT: Admissions, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Dinner at Eight. Off-Broadway includes The Dining Room, What I Did Last Summer, Uncommon Women and Others, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, The Middle Ages, The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket and Trelawney of the Wells. Regional includes John (ACT San Francisco); The City of Conversation (Arena Stage); Time of My Life (Pittsburgh Public Theater); and Our Town, Absurd Person Singular, Painting Churches, All in the Timing, The Voysey Inheritance, Paris Bound (Long Wharf Theatre). Film: Moonstruck, The Mothman Prophecies, Six Degrees of Separation. TV: "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "All My Children," "The Good Wife."

Kellie Overbey (Nora Helmer) Broadway: The Coast of Utopia, Twentieth Century, "Q.E.D.", Judgment at Nuremberg, Present Laughter, Buried Child. Drama Desk nominations for Women Without Men (The Mint) and Sleeping Rough (Page 73.) Lortel nomination for The Savannah Disputation (Playwrights Horizons.) Most recent Off-Broadway: Mary Page Marlowe

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