Billie Joe Armstrong's THESE PAPER BULLETS Opens Tonight Off-Broadway

The New York premiere of Pulitzer Prize finalist and Emmy Award nominated writer Rolin Jones and Tony Award nominee and Grammy Award winning Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong's new play with music THESE PAPER BULLETS!, directed by Jackson Gay, opens tonight, December 15, at Atlantic Theater Company. THESE PAPER BULLETS! plays a limited engagement through Sunday, January 10, 2016 Off Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company's Linda Gross Theater (336 West 20 Street).

THESE PAPER BULLETS! features James Barry (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Stephen DeRosa (On the Town), Bryan Fenkart (Memphis), Christopher Geary (Off Broadway debut), Brad Heberlee (Small Mouth Sounds), Justin Kirk (Other Desert Cities, "Weeds"), Tony Manna (Timon of Athens), Andrew Musselman (Off Broadway debut), Keira Naughton (The Rivals), Adam O'Byrne (Off Broadway debut), Lucas Papaelias (Once), Nicole Parker (Wicked), Greg Stuhr (Fish in the Dark), Ariana Venturi (Dance Dance Revolution) and Liz Wisan (Other Desert Cities).

Meet the Quartos: Ben, Claude, Balth, and Pedro. Can these fab four from Liverpool find true love in London and cut an album in seven nights? A modish rip-off of Much Ado About Nothing with a serious backbeat.

THESE PAPER BULLETS! was commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre where this production premiered in 2014 and is presented in association with Geffen Playhouse, which produced a hit engagement this fall. THESE PAPER BULLETS! is presented in association with New Neighborhood.

Playwright Rolin Jones returns to Atlantic Theater Company following his critically acclaimed comedy The Jammer and the Obie Award winning and Pulitzer Prize finalist play The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. He has written for the hit television series "Weeds," "Friday Night Lights" and "Boardwalk Empire."

Grammy Award winning Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong, wrote the Grammy and Tony Award winning musical American Idiot. Film and television credits include "Nurse Jackie" and the feature films This is 40; Like Sunday, Like Rain and the upcoming Geezer.

Director Jackson Gay reunites with Rolin Jones at Atlantic, where she staged both The Jammer and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow as well as Lucy Thurber's hit play Scarcity. She directed Rachel Crothers' play A Little Journey Off Broadway, which received the 2012 Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Play.

James Barry appeared in the Broadway and Off Broadway productions of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and first national tour of Million Dollar Quartet. Stephen DeRosa's Broadway credits include the musicals On the Town, Hairspray and Into the Woods and the plays Twentieth Century, Henry IV, The Man Who Came To Dinner, Betrayal and The Nance. Bryan Fenkart appeared in Memphis on Broadway and the world premiere musicals Diner and Piece of My Heart at Signature. Christopher Geary is a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where he was seen in the world premiere production of THESE PAPER BULLETS! at Yale Repertory Theatre. Brad Heberlee recently appeared Off Broadway in Bess Wohl's Small Mouth Sounds. Justin Kirk has appeared on Broadway in Other Desert Cities; Love! Valour! Compassion! and Any Given Day and starred in the hit Showtime series "Weeds." Tony Manna has appeared Off Broadway in Timon of Athens, The Hasty Heart and Girls Just Wanna Have Fund$. Andrew Musselman appeared in the world premiere production of THESE PAPER BULLETS! at Yale Repertory Theatre. Keira Naughton returns to Atlantic following Rolin Jones' The Jammer and has appeared on Broadway in The Rivals, Dance of Death and Three Sisters. Adam O'Byrne is a founding member of New Neighborhood where he recently starred in the world premiere of I Saw My Neighbor On the Train and I Didn't Even Smile. Lucas Papaelias most recently appeared on Broadway in the original cast of Once. Nicole Parker starred as Elphaba in Wicked and appeared in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me and The People in the Picture on Broadway. Greg Stuhr's Broadway credits include Larry David's Fish in the Dark, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, November and Taller Than a Dwarf. Ariana Venturi's New York credits include Alex Timbers' Dance Dance Revolution, Vendetta Chrome and The Great Recession. Liz Wisan appeared in the Broadway and Lincoln Center Theater productions of Other Desert Cities.

THESE PAPER BULLETS! features choreography by Kevin Williamson, orchestrations by Tom Kitt, music direction by Julie McBride, scenic design by Michael Yeargan, costume design by Jessica Ford, lighting design by Paul Whitaker, sound design and incidental music by Broken Chord, projection design by Nicholas Hussong, dialect coaching by Stephen Gabis, fight direction by Mike Rossmy and casting by Telsey + Company.

BIOGRAPHIES:

ROLIN JONES (Playwright). THESE PAPER BULLETS! received its 2014 world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre and won 4 Connecticut Critics Circle Awards, including Best Production of the Year. His plays The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow and The Jammer were both previously produced at Atlantic Theater Company. Jenny Chow received the Obie Award for Excellence in Playwriting and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. He has written for the television shows "Weeds," "Friday Night Lights" and "Boardwalk Empire." His "Friday Night Lights" episode, The Son, received an Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Dramatic Writing and was named by Time magazine as the best episode of television for the year 2010. He recently wrote the film adaptation of American Idiot for the Playtone Company and is currently writing an adaptation of the "This American Life" episode, 129 Cars for the fine folks at Fox Television Studios. Yale School of Drama '04. Grossing Guard for the theater and TV-producing company, New Neighborhood.

BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG (Music and Lyrics) is the front man of the Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum band Green Day. Green Day's albums include 1039/Smooth Out Slappy Hours; Kerplunk; 1994's Dookie, which sold 15 million copies and garnered their first Grammy (and inspired a raft of imitators); Insomniac; Nimrod; Warning; 2004's landmark American Idiot, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart, spawned five hit singles, and won two Grammys, including Best Rock Album; 21st Century Breakdown (Grammy Award, Best Rock Album); and 2012's consecutively released ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! (as well as the behind the scenes DVD,¡Cuatro!). Armstrong and Norah Jones released Foreverly, a tribute to the Everly Brothers' 1958 album, Songs Our Daddy Taught Us. The Tony and Grammy winning musical American Idiot, featuring lyrics by Armstrong, music by Green Day, and a book written by Armstrong and director Michael Mayer, debuted at Berkeley Rep in 2009 and opened on Broadway the next year. Throughout its run, he made cameo appearances in the role of St. Jimmy. The documentary, Broadway Idiot, chronicled his road to the Great White Way. Other film and television credits include "Nurse Jackie" and the feature films This is 40; Like Sunday, Like Rain and the upcoming Geezer. greenday.com

JACKSON GAY (Director). Upcoming projects: Jen Silverman's The Moors (Yale Rep); Grounded by George Brant (Alley Theatre). Recent projects: THESE PAPER BULLETS! (Geffen Playhouse); I Saw My Neighbor On The Train And I Didn't Even Smile by Suzanne Healthcote (co-production New Neighborhood/ Berkshire Theatre Festival); Elevada by Sheila Callaghan (Yale Rep); The Insurgents by Lucy Thurber (Labyrinth Theater Company); THESE PAPER BULLETS!, 2014 Connecticut Critics Circle Award Best Production and Best Director- (Yale Rep); 3C by David Adjmi (Rattlestick/piece by piece/Rising Phoenix); Kingdom City by Sheri Wilner (La Jolla Playhouse); Arlington by Victor Lodato with music by Polly Pen (San Francisco's Magic Theatre); Lucy Thurber's Where We're Born - 2014 Obie Award winning The Hilltown Plays (Rattlestick); Rolin Jones's The Jammer (Atlantic Theater Company) and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Atlantic; Yale Rep, Connecticut Critics Circle Award - Outstanding Production of a Play); A Little Journey (Mint Theater Company; Drama Desk nomination - Outstanding Revival of a Play). Jackson is a founding member of New Neighborhood. She is the Director of Artistic Programming for Fuller Road Artist Residency in Vermont and teaches directing at Columbia University School of the Arts and Yale College. BFA University of the Arts. MFA Yale School of Drama.

JAMES BARRY (Pedro) appeared in Yale Repertory Theatre and The Geffen's THESE PAPER BULLETS!. Other credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Broadway, The Public), Million Dollar Quartet (First National Tour), The Buddy Holly Story (North Carolina Theatre), Here's Hoover! (Abrons Arts Center), Wittenberg and the premiere of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's Arms On Fire (Chester Theatre Company), Next To Normal (The Arden), Pump Boys & Dinettes (New Theatre), Sive (Irish Repertory Theatre) and several productions over the years with The Berkshire Theatre Group, where favorites include The Caretaker, A Thousand Clowns, The Misanthrope and The Who's Tommy. James is a rock and roll songwriter and his debut solo album is coming out later this year, as well as an album he co-wrote with the band Secret Pint. Proud Yell Leader of New Neighborhood. @jamesbarrystuff

STEPHEN DEROSA (Leo Messina). Broadway: On the Town, Betrayal, The Nance, Hairspray, Twentieth Century, Henry IV, Into the Woods (2002), The Man Who Came To Dinner. National Tour: West Side Story. Off-Broadway: Do Re Mi, Wonderful Town, Irma La Douce (all Encores!), Love's Fire (The Acting Company/RSC), The Mystery of Irma Vep. Regional Credits include: Yale Rep, Westport Country Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Berkshire Theater Group, McCarter Theater, ACT, Williamstown and many others. Selected Film/TV: Show Me a Hero (HBO), "The Good Wife," "Ugly Betty," "Rescue Me," "Law & Order," HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" (Eddie Cantor). MFA: Yale

BRYAN FENKART (Claude). Broadway/First National Tour: Memphis. Off-Broadway/Regional: Diner (World Premiere, Signature), Piece of My Heart (World Premiere, Signature), THESE PAPER BULLETS! (World Premiere, Yale Rep), Nobody Loves You (World Premiere, Second Stage). Film/TV: "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," Red Hook, You Tell Me. Albums: Simple & Grey, Imperfect Man.

CHRISTOPHER GEARY (Mr. Crumpet, Anton, Queen) is a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where he was seen in THESE PAPER BULLETS! (Yale Repertory Theatre), The Seagull, The Master and Margarita, Thunderbodies, Peter Pan, The Winter's Tale and Sagittarius Ponderosa. His other credits include Losing Tom Pecinka (Ice Factory/New Ohio, HERE Arts) The Small Things, We Know Edie La Minx Had a Gun (Yale Cabaret) and Elephant in the Room (New York International Fringe Festival). Christopher received his BA in theatre performance from Fordham College at Lincoln Center and has also studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. He is a proud member of New Neighborhood.

BRAD HEBERLEE (Mr. Urges, Reverend) most recently appeared in the acclaimed off-Broadway production of Bess Wohl's Small Mouth Sounds at Ars Nova. Other theater includes The Vineyard, SoHo Rep, Atlantic Theater Company, The Civilians, The Pearl, Yale Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Huntington Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group, The Denver Center, Center Stage Baltimore and The Weston Playhouse. Recent film and television: Codes Of Conduct written and directed by Steve McQueen for HBO; A Woman, A Part written and directed by Elisabeth Subrin; and Loitering With Intent directed by Adam Rapp. Brad is an associate artist of The Civilians, a resident actor with The Pearl, a neighbor in the New Neighborhood and a graduate of Yale School of Drama.

JUSTIN KIRK (Ben). Atlantic Theater Company debut. Broadway: Other Desert Cities; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Any Given Day. Off-Broadway: The Invisible Hand (New York Theatre Workshop), The Understudy (Roundabout), The World Over (Playwrights Horizons), Ten Unknowns (Lincoln Center Theater), June Moon (Drama Dept), Old Wicked Songs (Promenade Theatre). Television: "Manhattan," "You're the Worst," "Tyrant," "Modern Family," "Animal Practice," "Weeds," "Angels in America," "Jack & Jill." Film: Four Boxes, Ghostbusters (upcoming).

TONY MANNA (Mr. Cake). New York: Timon of Athens (Public Theater), The Hasty Heart (Keen Company), Girls Just Wanna Have Fund$ (Women's Project), Mangella (Project: Theater), Othello (NY Shakespeare Exchange), Mickey Mouse is Dead (59E59 Theater), Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare NYC). Regional: THESE PAPER BULLETS!, Black Snow, The Taming of the Shrew, You Never Can Tell (all at Yale Repertory Theatre). New Neighborhood company member. Training: MFA Yale School of Drama.

ANDREW MUSSELMAN (Boris).Theater: Butcher (ATP/Theatre Centre), THESE PAPER BULLETS! (Yale Repertory Theatre), Catalpa (TPM Backspace/West Cork FitUP, Ireland), Under Milk Wood (West Cork FitUP), The Melville Boys (Port Stanley Theatre Festival), Stones in His Pockets, Miss Julie, Woman in Black, Automatic Pilot (Festival Antigonish), Stones in His Pockets (Globe Theatre). Film/TV: "Reign" (CW), "Hemlock Grove" (Netflix), "Copper" (BBC America), "Murdoch Mysteries" (City/CBC), "Being Erica" (CBC), "The Listener" (CTV), La Femme Musketeer (Hallmark). Awards: Beinecke Fellowship (Yale University), Dora nomination (Catalpa), Merritt nomination (Stones in His Pockets).

KEIRA NAUGHTON (Ulcie, Belinda Bailey) appeared as Ulcie in THESE PAPER BULLETS! at Yale Repertory Theatre and Geffen Playhouse. Broadway: The Rivals (Lincoln Center Theater), Dance of Death and Three Sisters. Off-Broadway: The Jammer, Hunting and Gathering, Indoor/Outdoor, All My Sons, Lucy, The American Clock, Tesla's Letters, Roses in December and Hotel Universe, among others. Regional: world premieres of Elevada (Yale Rep) and I Saw My Neighbor On The Train and I Didn't Even Smile (New Neighborhood/Berkshire Theatre Group); The Dining Room (Westport Country Playhouse); Becky Shaw (Huntington Theatre); A Delicate Balance (Yale Rep), Proof (Arena Stage, Helen Hayes Award nomination); Company (Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration); Faith Healer, Macbeth, The Book Club Play (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Uncle Vanya, Wonder of the World (Barrington Stage). TV/Film: Body of Proof, 3 Lbs., "Law & Order: SVU," "Sex and the City," "All My Children," Blair Witch 2, Cradle Will Rock. She is a singer/songwriter in the band The Petersons. She is a founding member of New Neighborhood and received her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

ADAM O'BYRNE (Don Best) is a Los Angeles-based actor and founding member of New Neighborhood. Recent credits include the world premiere of I Saw My Neighbor On the Train and I Didn't Even Smile (BTG/New Neighborhood) and the world premiere of THESE PAPER BULLETS! (Yale Repertory Theatre). Other theater includes The Stratford Festival of Canada, ACT in San Francisco, CTG in LA, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Yale Repertory Theatre and The International Festival of Arts and Ideas among others. For television, he played Leroux in Rolin Jones's AMC pilot "Knifeman." He has recurred on "Bosch" (Amazon), "Extant" (CBS), "Murder in the First" (TNT) and "Hell on Wheels" (AMC). Guest appearances include "Cold Case" (CBS), "Vegas" (CBS), "NCIS" (CBS) and "The United States of Tara" (Showtime). He can be seen in the critically acclaimed indie Western Dead Man's Burden and the upcoming thriller Sleepwalker. He has a BA from Yale College and an MFA from Yale School of Drama.

LUCAS PAPAELIAS (Balth) originated his role in THESE PAPER BULLETS at Yale Repertory Theatre and the Geffen Playhouse. He most recently appeared on Broadway as an original cast member of the Tony Award-winning musical Once. He composed music for Kevin Kline's Cyrano de Bergerac and received a Drama Desk nomination for his music in Essential Self-Defense at Playwrights Horizons. Lucas has a recurring role on the Cinemax series The Knick, and appears in the upcoming feature film Geezer alongside Billie Joe Armstrong. www.roadporn.net

NICOLE PARKER (Bea) won an Ovation Award for her portrayal of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at 3-D Theatricals. On Broadway she played Elphaba in Wicked as well as appearing in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me and The People in the Picture. Last year, she created the role of Mags in Dog and Pony, directed by Roger Rees at the Old Globe. For six years, Nicole was a regular and a contributing writer on Fox's MADtv. Regional credits include Rosemary in How to Succeed (Reprise) and Juliet in The People vs. Friar Laurence: The Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare, Jeff Nomination). She has appeared on "Key and Peele" and in the film Funny People, directed by Judd Apatow. Nicole has been a guest vocalist with The Philly Pops, Toronto Symphony, Phoenix Symphony and many more.

GREG STUHR (Mr. Berry) most recently appeared in the Broadway production of Larry David's Fish in the Dark. Other Broadway includes The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; David Mamet's November, directed by Joe Mantello; and Elaine May's Taller Than a Dwarf, directed by Alan Arkin. Off-Broadway and regional work include world premieres by Ethan Coen, Keith Reddin, Rolin Jones and Bruce Norris for Atlantic Theater Company, South Coast Rep, Yale Rep and Steppenwolf Theater Company, respectively. His upcoming film, The American Side, shot in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, co-written with Jenna Ricker and co- starring Alicja Bachleda, Camilla Belle, Matthew Broderick and Robert Forster, was touted by The Hollywood Reporter as an "adrenaline charged, pop-noir mystery" and a festival "highlight." He was a regular on the Onion SportsDome for Comedy Central, is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon Drama and considered by many the most breathtaking member of the New Neighborhood.

ARIANA VENTURI (Higgy). New York: Alex Timbers' Dance Dance Revolution (Les Freres Corbusier), Vendetta Chrome (Clubbed Thumb), The Great Recession (The Flea). Regional: THESE PAPER BULLETS! (Geffen, Yale Repertory Theatre), Robert Woodruff's In A Year with 13 Moons (Yale Repertory Theatre); Michael von Siebenburg Melts Through The Floorboards (Actors Theatre of Louisville, Humana Festival); Design for Living, The Cat and the Canary and most recently, the world premiere of Suzanne Heathcote's I Saw My Neighbor On the Train and I Didn't Even Smile directed by Jackson Gay (Berkshire Theatre Group). BA in English from Vassar College and recently received her MFA from Yale School of Drama. Proud member of New Neighborhood.

LIZ WISAN (Paulina, Noble, Frida).New York Theater: Other Desert Cities (Broadway and LCT), The Tempest (La MaMa), Bill W. & Dr. Bob (Soho Playhouse), Billy Witch (APAC), Miss Lily Gets Boned, My Base and Scurvy Heart, and The Sporting Life (Studio 42, Resident Artist). Regional: THESE PAPER BULLETS! and Caucasian Chalk Circle (Yale Rep), Baskerville (The Old Globe), Absurd Person Singular (Two River Theater), Intelligent Homosexual's Guide... (Berkeley Rep), and Christopher Bayes' The Servant of Two Masters (Yale Rep, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Seattle Rep, and ArtsEmerson). TV and film: "Elementary," "This is Hot 97," Ready or Knot, and Bitches. Liz performs improv, stand-up, and sketch comedy in New York City. She co-wrote and performed two shows at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre: The Goods Are Odd and Seriously Extremely Important. M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama. www.lizwisan.com.

ATLANTIC THEATER COMPANY (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) is the award winning Off-Broadway theater that produces great plays simply and truthfully, utilizing an artistic ensemble. Atlantic believes that the story of a play and the intent of its playwright are at the core of the creative process. The plays in the Atlantic repertory, from both new and established playwrights, are boldly interpreted by today's finest theater artists and resonate with contemporary audiences. Now in its 30th Anniversary Season, Atlantic has produced more than 150 plays including Tony Award winning productions of Spring Awakening and The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Martin McDonagh); New York Drama Critics Circle winner for Best New Play, The Night Alive (Conor McPherson) world premieres of Almost an Evening, Offices, Happy Hour and Women or Nothing (Ethan Coen); the musical revival of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera directed by Martha Clarke; Our New Girl (Nancy Harris) Bluebird and Harper Regan (Simon Stephens); What Rhymes With America (Melissa James Gibson); 3 Kinds of Exile (John Guare); Storefront Church (John Patrick Shanley); The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Cripple of Inishmaan (Martin McDonagh); Body Awareness (Annie Baker); Romance (David Mamet); Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman, adapted by Jenny Worton); Farragut North (Beau Willimon); Blue/Orange (Joe Penhall); Port Authority and Dublin Carol (Conor McPherson); Writer's Block (Woody Allen); American Buffalo and Edmond (David Mamet); The Cider House Rules(adapted by Peter Parnell); Good Television (Rod McLachlan); Celebration & The Room, The Collection & A Kind of Alaska and The Hothouse (Harold Pinter); Dying For It, Gabriel (Moira Buffini); Oohrah! (Bekah Brunstetter); Mojo, Parlour Song (Jez Butterworth); Boys' Life and The Lights (Howard Korder); Distant Fires (Kevin Heelan); The Lying Lesson, Missing Persons (Craig Lucas).

Atlantic has garnered 12 Tony Awards, 15 Lucille Lortel Awards, 16 Obie Awards, 7 Drama Desk Awards, 6 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 3 Drama League Awards, 3 New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Atlantic also operates The Atlantic Theater Company Acting School, which has an undergraduate program in conjunction with NYU, as well as a two-year professional acting program and a six-week intensive workshop every summer. Atlantic for Kids and the Educational Outreach Program partners with schools and teachers throughout the greater metropolitan area coordinating in-school visits of teaching artists and post-theater talkbacks.

Atlantic Theater Company's Linda Gross Theater is located at 336 West 20 Street (between 8 and 9 Avenues).

Photo Credit: Ahron Foster