Chris Noth and Dan Bittner Join Cast of Atlantic's 'Farragut North'

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Managing Director) is proud to present the world premiere production of Beau Willimon’s play FARRAGUT NORTH, directed by Tony Award® winner Doug Hughes (Doubt), and featuring Dan Bittner (The Vertical Hour) Kate Blumberg (Atlantic’s Celebration and The Room), Tony Award® winner John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening), Golden Globe Award® nominee Chris Noth (“Sex and the City”), Otto Sanchez (HBO’s “Oz”), Olivia Thirlby (Juno) and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (HBO’s “The Wire”).

FARRAGUT NORTH will begin previews Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008; officially open Wednesday, November 12th, 2008; and will play a limited engagement through Saturday, November 29th only. Off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company at the Linda Gross Theater (336 West 20th Street).

In FARRAGUT NORTH, Stephen Bellamy (Gallagher,Jr.) is a wunderkind press secretary who has built a career that men twice his age would envy.  During a tight presidential primary race, Stephen's meteoric rise falls prey to the backroom politics of more seasoned operatives. Farragut North is a timely story about the lust for power and the costs one will endure to achieve it.

FARRAGUT NORTH marks the Atlantic Theater Company debuts of both young playwright Beau Willimon and Tony Award® winning director Doug Hughes.

Willimon makes his Off-Broadway debut with Atlantic’s world premiere production of Farragut North. His play Lower Ninth received its world premiere at The Flea Theater earlier this year after being part of the 2007 Summer Play Festival. His full length plays include Baby Blue, Nobody’s Child and Breathing Time. He is the recipient of the Lila Acheson Wallace Juilliard Playwriting Fellowship and the Lincoln Center Le Compte du Nuoy Award among other awards and grants. Willimon has also worked extensively in the world of politics, having served on the staff of campaigns for Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bill Bradley and most recently, Governor Howard Dean.

Hughes is currently directing a new Broadway production of Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons starring Frank Langella at Roundabout Theatre Company. He is a Resident Director at Roundabout, where he recently staged Patrick Marber’s Howard Katz, Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch of the Poet, Richard Greenberg’s comedy A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, Jon Robin Baitz’s The Paris Letter and Stephen Belber’s McReele.  Hughes was awarded the 2005 Tony®, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards for Best Direction of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt.

Dan Bittner makes his Atlantic debut, he made his Broadway bow in David Hare’s The Vertical Hour, directed by Sam Mendes. Atlantic Theater Company member Kate Blumberg returns to Atlantic after appearing in the world premieres of Ethan Coen’s Almost an Evening and Jez Butterworth’s Parlour Song last season. John Gallagher, Jr. returns following last season’s acclaimed Atlantic New York premiere of Conor McPherson’s Port Authority. He originated the role of “Moritz” in Atlantic’s world premiere of the musical Spring Awakening, and won a Tony Award® for his performance when the hit musical transferred to Broadway. Chris Noth makes his Atlantic debut and returns to the New York stage following his Broadway debut in Gore Vidal's Best Man. This year he reprised his Golden Globe Award® nominated role as “Mr. Big” in the blockbuster film adaptation of the hit HBO series “Sex and the City,” and also returned to star as “Detective Mike Logan” on the series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” after originating the role during the first five seasons of “Law & Order.” Otto Sanchez makes his Atlantic debut following starring in the hit Off-Broadway play Ponies for Michael Imperioli’s Studio Dante. Rising young film star Olivia Thirlby makes her New York Stage debut. She was recently seen in the Sony Classics film The Wackness opposite Sir Ben Kingsley, and in Fox Searchlight's Academy Award® nominated film Juno opposite Ellen Page. Atlantic Theater Company member Isiah Whitlock, Jr. was last seen at Atlantic in The Cherry Orchard and Edmond. On television, he has played “Senator Clay Davis” on the last six seasons of the HBO series “The Wire.”

The award-winning design team for FARRAGUT NORTH will feature scenic design by David Korins (Passing Strange), costume design by Tony Award® winner Catherine Zuber (South Pacific), lighting design by Tony Award® nominee Paul Gallo (Three Days of Rain) and sound design by David Van Tieghem (Inherit the Wind).

Atlantic’s world premiere production of Tony Award® nominee David Pittu’s comedy with music What’s That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling, starring Pittu and Peter Bartlett, co-directed by Pittu and Atlantic artistic director Neil Pepe, and featuring music by Randy Redd, is now playing an extended engagement at Atlantic Stage 2 (330 West 16th Street) through October 5th, 2008.

 Kate Blumberg (Ida Horowicz) is a member of Atlantic Theater Company.   Off-Broadway: The Syringa Tree directed by Larry Moss.  At Atlantic: Ethan Coen’s Almost an Evening, Parlour Song,  Birth And After Birth,  Harold Pinter’s  Celebration and The Room, A Second Hand Memory and Writer’s Block by Woody Allen; The Hiding Place; Sexual Perversity in Chicago; The Hothouse; Wolf Lullaby; Once in a Lifetime; Dangerous Corner; Blithe Spirit; The Women.   The Annex Theater Company: Two Gentlemen of Verona, Family Life, Mad Forest, Reckless.  Playwrights Horizons: Other People.  Incoact:  Marie and Bruce.  Film: The Deal dir. Steven Schachter, Choke dir. Clark Gregg, Raving (independent short directed by Julia Stiles), We Pedal Uphill, The Cry, Seaside Trilogy; Serendipity; Picture This; Heartbreak Hospital.  Television: “Medium” (CBS), “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC), “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (NBC), “Whoopi” (NBC); “All My Children” (ABC), “One Life to Live” (ABC), “Loving” (ABC), “The Jetsons” (industrial as Judy Jetson).  Various voice-overs including books on tape for the Andrew Heiskell Library for the Blind.   Graduate of NYU, Tisch School of the Arts.

Dan Bittner (Ben) makes his Atlantic debut. He made his Broadway debut in David Hare’s play The Vertical Hour, directed by Sam Mendes. Off-Broadway he has appeared in The House in Town at Lincoln Center Theater. Regional credits include Macbeth, Sherlock Holmes: Murder in Edinburgh (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Film: The Producers: The Movie Musical, Coda, upcoming Greg Mottola’s Adventureland and the short film The Last Girl on Earth (Tribeca Film Festival).TV: “Late Show with David Letterman.”

John Gallagher, Jr. (Stephen Bellamy) returns to Atlantic where he starred in last season’s New York premiere of Conor McPherson’s Port Authority. He originated the role of “Moritz” in Atlantic’s world premiere of Spring Awakening and received a 2007 Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor and a Drama Desk Award nomination when the musical transferred to Broadway. He also appeared in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama Rabbit Hole on Broadway. Off-Broadway: Kimberly Akimbo, Current Events.  Other theater: London premiere Fuddy Meers. TV: "The West Wing,"  "Law & Order," "Law & Order: CI," "NYPD Blue," "Ed," "Love Monkey."  Film: Pieces of April, Kenneth Lonergan's upcoming Margaret, Woody Allen's upcoming Whatever Works.  John also performs as a singer/songwriter and his music can be found at www.myspace.com/johnnygallagher.

Chris Noth (Paul Zara) returns to the New York stage following his Broadway debut in Gore Vidal's Best Man, for which he received a Theatre World Award. He reprised his Golden Globe Award® nominated role as “Mr. Big” in this summer’s blockbuster film adaptation of the hit HBO series “Sex and the City,” and also returned to star as “Detective Mike Logan” on the series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” after originating the role during the first five seasons of “Law & Order.” Noth recently received critical acclaim for his performance as "Teach" in American Buffalo at Berkshire Theatre Festival. Off-Broadway credits include What Didn’t Happen at Playwrights Horizons, Patronage ­at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Just a Little Bit Less Than Normal ­at MTC, Arms and the Man ­(dir. by Frank Hauser) at Roundabout Theatre Company and Innocent Thoughts Harmless Intentions ­at Circle Rep. Regional theatre includes the title role in Hamlet (dir. by Zoe Caldwell); Kentucky Cycle at Mark Taper Forum; The Torch at Milwaukee Rep; Oh, Pioneers at Seattle Rep; A Play of Giants and Rum & Coke at Yale Repertory Theatre. Movies for television: “Bad Apple” (TNT, also executive producer), TNT’s epic miniseries “Julius Caesar,” "Exiled," "Rough Riders" (TNT), "Abducted: A Father's Love," and "Where Are My Children." Film: The Perfect Man, Castaway, Double Whammy, Searching for Paradise, Cold Around the Heart, Getting to Know You, A Texas Funeral. Training: Yale School of Drama.

Otto Sanchez (Frank/Waiter) is best known to television audiences as “Chico Guerra” on the HBO series "Oz." He has appeared on the New York stage in the acclaimed three man Off-Broadway play Ponies, produced by Michael Imperioli for “The Sopranos” star’s theater company Studio Dante. Other stage credits include the HB Playwrights production of Short Eyes directed by William Carden. Otto studied acting under Jeanne Kaplan and Austin Pendleton. Film credits range from independent to commercial features including “Carlos” in Bad Boys II, “Negrito” in Kill the Poor, “Ping Pong” in Double Whammy and “Paul Diaz” in Push. Other television credits include the Fox series "Fringe", Fox's “Canterbury’s Law,” CBS’s “Criminal Minds” and NBC’s “Kidnapped.” He is a native New Yorker, born and bred in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Olivia Thirlby (Molly) makes her New York stage debut. She has trained in classical Shakespearian acting at the American Globe Theatre in New York and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She was last seen in Sony Classics’ The Wackness opposite Sir Ben Kingsley, and in Fox Searchlight's Academy Award® nominated film Juno opposite Ellen Page, and David Gordon Green's Snow Angels opposite Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. She made her feature film debut in The Secret, opposite David Duchovny and Lili Taylor. In 2006, she gained national attention in Paul Greengrass' award-winning film United 93. Upcoming films include Safety Glass with Molly Shannon and Hilary Duff, The Dream of the Romans opposite Jeff Daniels, Kenneth Lonnergan's Margaret with Anna Paquin, Matthew Broderick, Mark Ruffalo, Allison Janney and Matt Damon, Uncertainty with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and an Untitled Short Film directed by Brett Ratner for the anthology New York, I Love You co-starring James Caan and Blake Lively.

Isiah Whitlock, Jr. (Tom Duffy) is a member of Atlantic Theater Company where he was last seen in The Cherry Orchard and Edmond.  Broadway: The Iceman Cometh, Merchant of Venice, Mastergate.  Off-Broadway, he most recently appeared in Unconditional and A Small, Melodramatic Story, both LAByrinth Theater Company at The Public Theater. Other Off-Broadway includes Four (2002 Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Featured Actor), A Lesson Before Dying.  National Tour:  ‘Boy Willie’ in The Piano Lesson.  Film:  She Hate Me and the 25th Hour, Pieces of April (Sundance 2003 Film Festival), David Mamet’s The Spanish Prisoner, Goodfellas, Jump Tomorrow, Duane Hopwood.  1408, Enchanted and Clark Gregg's upcoming film Choke. Television:  “Senator Clay Davis” on HBO’s “The Wire,” “Law & Order,” “Ed,” “Third Watch,” “The Chapelle Show.”

Beau Willimon (Playwright) has written eight full-length plays and numerous one-acts.  His work has been developed or performed at MCC, Cherry Lane, HERE Arts Center, New Dramatists, Daryl Roth 2,  Dayton Playhouse (Ohio), Donmar Warehouse (London) and Battersea Arts Center (London).  He is the recipient of the Lila Acheson Wallace Juilliard Playwriting Fellowship, Donmar Warehouse playwriting residency, Seymour Brick Memorial Playwriting Prize, Yale/Norfolk Arts Fellowship, Mortimer Hays-Brandeis Traveling Fellowship, winner of the 2005 Dayton Playhouse FutureFest, and two-time winner of the Lincoln Center Le Compte du Nouy Award.  His play, Lower Ninth, received its world premiere at The Flea Theater earlier this year after first being staged as part of Arielle Tepper's 2007 Summer Play Festival.  He is currently working on commissions for MTC and for The National Theatre in London.  In addition to his stage work, he is working on two films for Warner Brothers: the feature film adaptation of Farragut North and an adaptation of Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities.  He is also writing a film adaptation of Peter Morgan's mini-series The Jury for Fox 2000.  He holds an M.F.A. in playwriting from Columbia University's School of the Arts.
Doug Hughes (Director) is currently directing a new Broadway production of Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons at Roundabout Theatre Company. He recently directed Theresa Rebeck’s Mauritius for MTC.  He also directed John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Doubt (2005 Tony®, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics and Drama Desk Awards for Best Direction of a Play) and Shanley’s Defiance.  Hughes is the Resident Director at Roundabout Theatre Company, where he has directEd Howard Katz, A Touch of the Poet, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, The Paris Letter and McReele.  Other work in New York includes Inherit The Wind at the Lyceum Theatre (Drama Desk Nomination, Best Director; Tony Award® Nomination, Best Revival), The House in Town at Lincoln Center, Frozen (Tony Award®, Outer Critics Circle and Lortel nominations) and The Grey Zone (1996 Obie Award, Direction) at MCC; Engaged at TFANA; Flesh and Blood (Callaway Award, Best Direction) at NYTW; Othello at the Public and Lake Hollywood at Signature. In May 2005, Hughes received an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence.

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Managing Director) is the award winning Off-Broadway theater dedicated to producing great plays simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble. Atlantic believes that the story of the play and the intent of the playwright are at the core of the creative process. Atlantic’s acclaimed world premiere production of its first musical Spring Awakening, with music by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Steven Sater and direction by Michael Mayer, won 8 Tony Awards®, including Best Musical. In 2006, Atlantic was awarded the Lucille Lortel Prize for Outstanding Body of Work and its lauded production of Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant Of Inishmore, directed by Wilson Milam, transferred to the Lyceum Theatre, where it was nominated for five 2006 Tony Awards® including Best Play.

Atlantic has produced five world premiere productions last season: Academy Award® winning film maker Ethan Coen’s comedy Almost an Evening, directed by Neil Pepe and featuring Academy Award® winner F. Murray Abraham and Mark Linn-Baker; Peter Parnell’s Trumpery, directed by David Esbjornson and featuring Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® winner Michael Cristofer and Tony Award® nominee Manoel Felciano; Lucy Thurber’s Scarcity, directed by Jackson Gay and featuring Emmy Award® winner Kristen Johnston, Jesse Eisenberg and Michael T. Weiss, Jez Butterworth’s Parlour Song, directed by Neil Pepe and featuring Chris Bauer, Jonathan Cake and Emily Mortimer and Annie Baker’s Body Awareness, directed by Karen Kohlhaas and featuring Academy Award® nominee JoBeth Williams, Peter Friedman and Mary McCann.

The critically acclaimed New York premiere production of Oliver Award® winning and Tony Award® nominated playwright Conor McPherson’s play Port Authority, directed by Henry Wishcamper and featuring Tony Award® nominee Brian d’Arcy James (Sweet Smell of Success), Tony Award® winner John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening) and Tony Award® winner Jim Norton (The Seafarer) concluded an extended engagement in June.

 

During he 2006-2007 season , founder David Mamet’s smash hit adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance, directed by David Warren and starring Michael Stuhlbarg and Fritz Weaver, was extended an unprecedented three times, the first time in Atlantic’s history. The world premiere production of Atlantic’s second musical 10 Million Miles, featuring music and lyrics by Grammy Award® nominated singer/songwriter Patty Griffin, a book by Keith Bunin and direction by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer also played an extended limited engagement.

Since it’s inception in 1985, Atlantic has produced more than 100 plays including the Tony Award® winning production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, the world premieres of Woody Allen’s A Second Hand Memory and Writer’s Block, the acclaimed world premiere of David Mamet’s Romance, Jez Butterworth’s Mojo, Tom Donaghy’s Minutes From The Blue Route, Edwin Sanchez’ Trafficking in Broken Hearts and the American premieres of Blue/Orange, Dublin Carol and The Night Heron, the New York premieres of The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow and The Cider House Rules, the revivals of American Buffalo, Edmond, The Hothouse and Hobson’s Choice.  Atlantic maintains an ensemble of acclaimed actors, writers and directors including David Mamet (playwright and director) and William H. Macy (Academy Award® nominee for Fargo), who founded Atlantic over twenty years ago in 1985.

FARRAGUT NORTH will play Tuesday through Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm and Sundays at 3:00 and 7:00 p.m.  Opening night curtain on Wednesday, May 21st is at 7:00pm.

Atlantic Theater Company AT THE LINDA GROSS THEATER is located at 336 West 20th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues).  Tickets for main stage productions are $65.00 and available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 (ticketcentral.com).

Purchase an “All -In-One Membership” and see every main stage and Atlantic Stage 2 production for $182 (plus an $8 service charge).  For membership information, wheelchair seating, and/or group sales for both theaters call 212-691-5919, extension 1092.

www.atlantictheater.org

Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

To post a comment, you must register and login.