ALL THE FINE BOYS, Starring Abigail Breslin, Opens Tonight Off-Broadway

The New Group presents the world premiere of All the Fine Boys, a new play from writer and director Erica Schmidt, featuring Abigail Breslin, Isabelle Fuhrman, Joe Tippett and Alex Wolff. The show opens tonight, March 1, for a limited Off-Broadway engagement playing through March 26 at The Pershing Square Signature Center (Ford Foundation Studio Theatre, 480 West 42nd Street).

14-year-old best friends Jenny (Abigail Breslin) and Emily (Isabelle Fuhrman) are hungry for knowledge and experience, and in suburban South Carolina in the late '80s, experience is readily found with older boys. Emily chooses her senior crush from the high school play (Alex Wolff), and Jenny, a man she's seen at her family's church (Joe Tippett). With parallel stories that take tricky and terrifying turns, Erica Schmidt's All the Fine Boys dives deep into the fascinations and complications of sexual awakening and the first painful gasps of adulthood.

This production features Scenic Design by Amy Rubin, Costume Design by Tom Broecker, Lighting Design by Jeff Croiter and Sound Design by Bart Fasbender. Production Stage Manager is Jillian M. Oliver. Casting is by Judy Henderson, CSA.

The New Group's 2016-2017 season launched with Sweet Charity, choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, directed by Leigh Silverman and starring Sutton Foster, which enjoyed three extensions, playing its final performance January 8. The season continues with the U.S. premiere of Wallace Shawn's Evening at the Talk House, directed by Scott Elliott, featuring Matthew Broderick, Jill Eikenberry, John Epperson, Larry Pine, Wallace Shawn, Claudia Shear, Annapurna Sriram and Michael Tucker (January 31 - March 12; Opening Night: February 16). Following the world premiere production of All the Fine Boys, The New Group proudly presents the world premiere of The Whirligig, by Hamish Linklater, directed by Scott Elliott, featuring Norbert Leo Butz, Zosia Mamet and Maura Tierney (begins May 2, Opening Night: May 21; additional casting to be announced).

All the Fine Boys by Erica Schmidt and The Whirligig by Hamish Linklater were developed through The New Group/New Works play development program.

The New Group (Scott Elliott, Artistic Director; Adam Bernstein, Executive Director) is an award-winning, artist-driven company with a commitment to developing and producing powerful, contemporary theater. While constantly evolving, the company strives to maintain an ensemble approach to all its work and an articulated style of emotional immediacy in its productions. In this way, The New Group seeks a theater that is adventurous, stimulating and most importantly "now," a true forum for the present culture.

In summer 2016, The New Group was represented in London by the acclaimed production of Jesse Eisenberg's The Spoils, directed by Scott Elliott, at Trafalgar Studios. The New Group is presently represented in London, again at Trafalgar Studios, by the company's hit production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan, directed by Scott Elliott.

The New Group's 2015-2016 Season featured the Off-Broadway premiere of Philip Ridley's Mercury Fur, directed by Scott Elliott, a Critics' Pick in The New York Times; Steve, the critically-acclaimed world premiere of a new play by Mark Gerrard, directed by Cynthia Nixon, which enjoyed an extended run; the twice-extended hit production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, directed by Scott Elliott, with Taissa Farmiga, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Larry Pine, Rich Sommer, Paul Sparks and Nat Wolff; and the New York premiere of Justin Kuritzkes' The Sensuality Party, developed through The New Group's New Group/New Works play development program and performed at college campuses across all five boroughs of New York City.

The New Group celebrated its 20th Anniversary during the 2014-2015 Season, which included David Rabe's Sticks and Bones, directed by Scott Elliott, with Holly Hunter, and Bill Pullman; Joel Drake Johnson's Rasheeda Speaking, with Tonya Pinkins and Dianne Wiest, helmed by Cynthia Nixon; and the world premiere of Jesse Eisenberg's The Spoils, directed by Scott Elliott, with Jesse Eisenberg and Kunal Nayyar.

Other notable productions include Ecstasy, This is Our Youth, Aunt Dan and Lemon, Hurlyburly, Abigail's Party, Rafta, Rafta..., The Starry Messenger, A Lie of the Mind, Blood From a Stone, Marie and Bruce, The Jacksonian, Intimacy and many more. The company has received nearly 100 awards and nominations for excellence. The New Group is a recipient of the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical (Avenue Q). In 2011, The Kid received five Drama Desk nominations and the Outer Critics Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. That year, The New Group and Scott Elliott were honored with a Drama Desk Special Award "for presenting contemporary new voices, and for uncompromisingly raw and powerful productions."

The Pershing Square Signature Center, the permanent home of Signature Theatre, is a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects to host Signature's three distinct playwrights' residencies and foster a cultural community. The Center is a major contribution to New York City's cultural landscape and provides a venue for cultural organizations that supports and encourages collaboration among artists throughout the space. In addition to its three intimate theatres, the Center features a Studio Theatre, rehearsal studio, a bookstore, and Signature Café and Bar, open to public from noon-midnight Tuesdays-Sundays. For more information on renting the Center, visit www.signaturetheatre.org/rentals.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Abigail Breslin (Jenny): Academy Award-nominated actress Abigail Breslin currently stars in the FOX horror-comedy series "Scream Queens" opposite Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts and Lea Michele. Next May, Breslin will star in the coveted role of "Baby" in ABC/Lionsgate's recreation of the pop-culture classic, Dirty Dancing. She is most widely recognized for her role as 'Olive' in the critically-acclaimed Little Miss Sunshine, which created a sensation at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance. In addition, she received a Best Actress Award from the Tokyo International Film Festival and was nominated for SAG and BAFTA Best Supporting Actress awards, and was honored as ShoWest's "Female Star of Tomorrow" in 2008. Breslin was recently seen in the Lionsgate film Maggie opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in New York and was released on May 8, 2015. She will be featured in the independent film Fear, Inc. In October of 2015, Harper Collins published Breslin's first book This May Sound Crazy, based on her popular Tumblr "Mixtapes & Winter Coats." Breslin was seen in The Weinstein Company film August: Osage County opposite Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Sam Shepard and Dermot Mulroney. Other film credits include Enders Game, Haunter, The Call, Rango, Zombieland, My Sister's Keeper, New Year's Eve, Raising Helen, The Ultimate Gift, Santa Claus 3, No Reservations, Definitely Maybe, Nim's Island, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl and M. Night Shyamalan's 2002 film Signs opposite Mel Gibson. In 2010 she made her Broadway debut in The Miracle Worker.
Isabelle Fuhrman (Emily) was seen in Showtime's acclaimed series "Masters of Sex," as Tessa. Upcoming, she will star in the film Cell and Dear Eleanor, alongside Jessica Alba and Patrick Schwarzenegger. She recently wrapped production on Hellbent and One Night. Fuhrman starred as "Clove" in Lionsgate's The Hunger Games, the first installment of the big screen adaptation of SuzAnne Collins' novel trilogy, directed by Gary Ross. Fuhrman appeared in The Wilderness of James opposite Virginia Madsen and Kodi-Smit McPhee and Giorgio Serfini's The Between opposite Joel Courtney. She has also signed on to star in David Gordon Green's Suspiria. In 2011, she appeared in an all-star ensemble cast with Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Marisa Tomei and Greg Kinnear in Salvation Boulevard. Fuhrman's 2009 starring role in Orphan earned rave reviews internationally. Beginning her acting career at age seven, she appeared on Cartoon Network's "Cartoon Fridays", and made her big screen debut in Hounddog. She has guest starred on the CBS hit series "Ghost Whisperer" which earned her a Young Artist Award nomination and the ABC drama "The Whole Truth." Fuhrman has lent her voice to a number of projects including the 3D animated feature Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage and Nickelodeon's "WINX".

Erica Schmidt (Playwright/Director) has directing credits including: Turgenev's A Month In The Country with Peter Dinklage and Taylor Schilling (Classic Stage Company); Dennis Kelly's Taking Care Of Baby (Manhattan Theatre Club); Jonas Hassen Khemiri's I Call My Brothers and the Obie Award- winning Invasion! (The Play Company); Humor Abuse (co-creator/writer with performer Lorenzo Pisoni, at Manhattan Theatre Club, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics, Drama Desk and Obie Awards. Also played Philadelphia Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theatre, Seattle Rep and The Taper); Rent (Tokyo); Moliere's Imaginary Invalid, Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer and Copland's The Tender Land (Bard Summer Scape); Carnival (The Paper Mill Playhouse); Quincy Long's People Be Heard (Playwrights Horizons); Gary Mitchell's Trust (The Play Company, Callaway Award nominee); As You Like It (The Public Theater/NYSF, chashama; New York International Fringe Festival Winner for Best Direction); Debbie Does Dallas (wrote the adaptation and directed Off-Broadway for The Araca Group); Spanish Girl (Second Stage Uptown). College and University work: Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, TopDog/UnderDog, R&J and Buried Child (The Juilliard School); Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards (The McCarter's Berlind Theater, Princeton University); Titus Andronicus and The Desire Project (Vassar College); Top Girls (Fordham University). Princess Grace Award recipient 2001.

Joe Tippett (Joseph): New York Theater credits include Airline Highway (Broadway), This Day Forward (Vineyard Theatre) Indian Summer and Familiar (Playwrights Horizons), Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (AEG Tour), Ashville (Rattlestick Playwrights), Happy Birthday (Actors Company Theater), A Thick Description of Harry Smith, Unanswered We Ride, Fish Eye, Seven Minutes in Heaven, and The Young Left (Cherry Lane). Regional and international theater credits include Waitress (World Premiere, A.R.T.), Familiar (World Premiere, Yale Repertory Theatre), The May Queen (Chautauqua Theater Company), Bull Durham (World Premiere, ALLIANCE THEATRE), Unanswered We Ride (Edinburgh), Picnic (Triad Stage), Three Sisters, The Corn is Green and Romeo and Juliet (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Film and television credits include "Bull," "The Blacklist," License Plates and "Boardwalk Empire." He is an Artistic Associate of Colt Coeur.

Alex Wolff (Adam): Actor/musician Alex Wolff gained international recognition from an early age when he co-starred with his older brother, Nat Wolff, in 2005's musical comedy The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie. The film garnered the Audience Award for Family Feature Film at the Hamptons International Film Festival, and led to the spin-off television series "The Naked Brothers Band" (2007-2009). At age six, he earned the Broadcast Music Incorporated Cable Award for writing the series' music, two Young Artist Award nominations and one Best Band nomination at The Australian Kids Choice Awards. His musical talents contributed to the show's two soundtrack albums and the single "Crazy Car," which reached #23 on the Top 200 Billboard Charts. He continues to establish a successful acting career with more than five upcoming films. Wolff will join J.K. Simmons and Mark Wahlberg in the cast of Patriots Day, the CBS Films and Lionsgate picture that chronicles the events surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing. Peter Berg is directing the script from Oscar-nominated Bridge Of Spies co-scribe Matt Charman, with the film slated for December 2016. Currently, he co-stars with Chris Cooper in Coming Through the Rye, produced by Emmy-winner Jim Sadwith. The film is based on Sadwith's attempt to track down JD Salinger and his encounters with the author of The Catcher in the Rye. Coming Through the Rye garnered praise at the Heartland, Savannah and Austin film festivals, with Wolff receiving the Rising Star award at the Denver and Coronado Film festivals. Wolff was recently seen in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, written by Nia Vardalos. Wolff recently wrapped production on two films, Dude and The Standoff. Additionally, Wolff plays a supporting role in Sarah Jessica Parker's comedy series "Divorce" on HBO. Wolff directed, wrote and starred in the short film, Boots (debut November 2015) which was seen at the Long Island Film Festival. His past credits include HairBrained for which he received the Certificate of Outstanding Achievement for Best Actor at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. Wolff jumped into another starring role in A Birder's Guide to Everything, which premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Other credits include The Sitter starring Jonah Hill (2011), HBO's "In Treatment" (2010), USA's "Monk" (2009) and the Nickelodeon TV movie Mr. Troop Mom (2009). Wolff and his brother formed a duo, Nat & Alex Wolff, and released their first studio album, Black Sheep, (2011). Wolff continues to release new music with his brother, Nat Wolff (Paper Towns, Fault in Our Stars, Buried Child at The New Group), under Nat & Alex Wolff. Their latest songs are available on iTunes and can be found on the soundtracks to many of their films. Wolff resides in New York City with his actress-mother Polly Draper and jazz pianist-father Michael Wolff.