Dolly Wells Replaces Maura Tierney in Hamish Linklater's THE WHIRLIGIG Off-Broadway

The New Group has announced that Dolly Wells will join Noah Bean, Norbert Leo Butz, Jon DeVries, Alex Hurt, Zosia Mamet, Jonny Orsini and Grace Van Patten in Hamish Linklater's The Whirligig. Dolly Wells will appear in the role of Kristina, as Maura Tierney, previously announced, is unable to appear due to a shooting schedule conflict.

This world premiere production directed by Scott Elliott begins previews begin May 4 in advance of an Official Opening Night on Sunday, May 21. A limited Off-Broadway engagement plays through June 11 at The Pershing Square Signature Center (The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre, 480 West 42nd Street).

When, after much time away, Kristina is back in Berkshire County, word spreads fast that she and her ex-husband Michael are caring for their estranged, ailing daughter Julie. Broken-hearted and giddy with love and confusion, surprising visitors from Julie's complicated past practically trip over each other to reach the young woman they thought they'd lost years before but still feel so deeply connected to. Heartfelt and compassionate, Hamish Linklater's The Whirligig spins a tale of a fractured community weaving a circuitous route back to one another.

The Whirligig features Noah Bean (Patrick), Norbert Leo Butz (Michael), Jon DeVries (Mr. Biacco), Alex Hurt (Greg), Zosia Mamet (Trish), Jonny Orsini (Derrick), Grace Van Patten (Julie) and Dolly Wells (Kristina).

This production features Scenic Design by Derek McLane, Costume Design by Clint Ramos, Lighting Design by Jeff Croiter, Sound Design by ML Dogg, Original Music by Duncan Sheik and Special Effects Design by Jeremy Chernick. Production Stage Manager is Valerie A. Peterson. Casting is by Judy Henderson, CSA. The Whirligig is presented by The New Group in association with Lisa Matlin.

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; and continued with the recent 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; and the recent world premiere production of All the Fine Boys, written and directed by Erica Schmidt, with Abigail Breslin, Isabelle Fuhrman, Joe Tippett and Alex Wolff. This world premiere of Hamish Linklater's The Whirligig concludes the company's 2016-2017 season.

Tickets for The Whirligig start at $75. General schedule: Tuesday - Friday at 7:30pm, Saturday at 2:00 & 8:00pm, and Sunday at 2:00pm, with Wednesday matinee performances at 2:00pm on May 24, May 31, June 7. For tickets & info, please visit www.thenewgroup.org. Tickets can also be purchased by calling Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200, or in person at 416 West 42nd Street (12-8pm daily).

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

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Lisa Matlin (Producer) has credits including: Broadway: Pippin (four Tony awards/Best Musical Revival, five Drama Desk Awards) and currently Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; The West End: Buried Child, The Spoils; Off-Broadway: The Jacksonian, Sticks and Bones, Buried Child, The Spoils, The Great Comet of 1812; Documentaries: (Director/Producer) Living with Tourette's, (Associate Producer) For the Love of Art. She also serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of The New Group.

Noah Bean (Patrick) returns to The New Group after previously appearing in Moises Kaufman's adaptation of Tennessee Williams' One Arm. He most recently starred in JorDan Harrison's Pulitzer Prize nominated Marjorie Prime at Playwrights Horizons opposite Lois Smith. In New York he has appeared in productions at The Vineyard Theater, SOHO Playhouse, Theatre Row, HERE Arts Center and in David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face at The Public Theater. He has worked regionally at The Old Globe, Williamstown, Mark Taper Forum, Bay Street Theater and The Huntington where he was nominated for both the Elliot Norton and IRNE Award. On television he is perhaps most known from the series "Nikita," "12 Monkeys" and "Damages." He has made numerous guest appearances in many other series, most recently in HBO's "Vinyl" as David Bowie. His film credits include The Pill, Curvature, Little Murder, Morning Glory, Hysterical Psycho and Stay.

Norbert Leo Butz (Michael) can currently be seen in the Netflix series "Bloodline," the second season was released in Spring 2016. He can also be seen on the PBS series "Mercy Street," which debuted in January 2016. On Broadway, he won Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical for Catch Me If You Can (also Drama Desk Award, Best Actor in a Musical) and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (also Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Astaire Awards, Drama League Award winner, Best Actor in a Musical). Other Broadway credits: Big Fish, Dead Accounts, Enron, Speed-The-Plow, Is He Dead?, Wicked, Thou Shalt Not (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics nominations), RENT. Off-Broadway credits include: How I Learned to Drive, Fifty Words, Buicks (Drama Desk nomination), The Last Five Years (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations, Drama League Award), Juno and the Paycock, Saved. National Tour: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Cabaret (Helen Hayes Award, Jefferson, Dora and Ovation Awards). Regional credits include Catch Me If You Can (5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle), Four Seasons at The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. His film credits include Better Living Through Chemistry, Greetings from Tim Buckley, Disconnect, The English Teacher, Higher Ground, Fair Game, and Dan In Real Life. Television work includes his starring role in the series "The Deep End" (ABC); the pilots "The Miraculous Year" (HBO) and "Playing Chicken" (FOX); the mini-series "Comanche Moon" (CBS). Norbert participated in the producing, writing and recording of The Angel Band Project's album Take You with Me (now available on iTunes), for which all proceeds benefit the Voices and Faces Project. He received a BFA from Webster University and an MFA from Alabama Shakespeare Theatre.

Jon DeVries (Mr. Biacco) last appeared at The New Group in Accomplices. His other recent Off-Broadway appearances include: The Apple Family Plays: That Hopey Changey Thing, Sweet and Sad (Drama Desk Award), Sorry, Regular Singing (Lortel Award nomination); As You Like It; The Wayside Motor Inn (Drama Desk Award); One Flea Spare; Titus Andronicus; Hamlet; Agamemnon; Galileo; Goodnight Children Everywhere; General From America; Sight Unseen; Richard II; Oedipus; and The Ballad of Soapy Smith. His Broadway credits include Devour the Snow, Execution of Justice, Major Barbara, Loose Ends, The Inspector General and The Cherry Orchard. He performed in the National Tour of August: Osage County, and the international tours of The Apple Family Plays, and Forbidden Christmas, Doctor and Patient (w/ Mikhail Baryshnikov). Select Film and TV credits include Kill Your Darlings, American Gangster, The International, Evening, The Baxter, Sarah: Plain and Tall, Skylark, "Law & Order," "Law and Order CI," "Blue Bloods" and "Boardwalk Empire."

Scott Elliott (Director) is an award-winning stage director, filmmaker and the founding Artistic Director of The New Group, where he most recently directed the U.S. premiere of Wallace Shawn's Evening at the Talk House. Other recent New Group credits include the twice-extended hit production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, with Taissa Farmiga, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Larry Pine, Rich Sommer, Paul Sparks and Nat Wolff; the critically-acclaimed Mercury Fur by Philip Ridley and the world premiere of The Spoils by Jesse Eisenberg. Also at The New Group, he has directed works by Thomas Bradshaw, Ayub Khan Din, Francine Volpe, Erika Sheffer, Tommy Nohilly, Joe Orton, Mike Leigh, David Rabe and Wallace Shawn. Most recently, he directed the acclaimed production of Jesse Eisenberg's The Spoils at London's Trafalgar Studios (summer 2016). He recently helmed the European premiere of The New Group production of Buried Child, featuring Jack Fortune, Ed Harris, Charlotte Hope, Jeremy Irvine, Barnaby Kay, Amy Madigan and Gary Shelford; presented Lisa Matlin and Adam Speers for Ambassador Theatre Group (November 14, 2016 - March 4, 2017; Trafalgar Studios).

Alex Hurt (Greg) has appeared on Broadway in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. His Off-Broadway credits include Love, Love, Love (Roundabout), Placebo (Playwrights Horizons), Scenes from a Marriage (NYTW), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (CSC) and Unrequited (The Public, Shakespeare Lab). His regional credits include Other Desert Cities (Alley), A Behanding in Spokane (SF Playhouse), No Man's Land, Who Am I This Time (A.R.T.) and The Lion in Winter, Othello (Hedgerow). Film credits include The River Why, A Better Man. TV: "Grimm," "Law & Order: SVU." Education: M.F.A., NYU Tisch Graduate Acting. Hamish Linklater (Playwright): Hamish Linklater's plays include The Vandal, produced by the Flea Theater in 2013 and subsequently filmed for the PBS series "Theatre Close-Up", and The Cheats, produced by Steep Theatre in Chicago. Both plays have been published by DPS. He has had plays workshopped and read at New York Stage & Film, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwright's Horizons, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Atlantic and Shakespeare & Co in Lenox, MA. He also co-created and wrote a show for ABC, "The Prince of Motor City," which was the story of Hamlet set in the Ford Family. It featured Andie MacDowell, Aidan Quinn, John Caroll Lynch, Morris Chestnut, Piper Perabo and Rutger Hauer as the ghost. As an actor, his credits include Broadway: Seminar; Off-Broadway: Cymbeline, Much Ado About Nothing, Comedy of Errors (Drama Desk nom), The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale, and Twelfth Night (Drama Desk nom) (Shakespeare in the Park); The School for Lies (Classic Stage Company, Obie, Lortel, and Outer Critics noms); Hamlet, The Square (NYSF/Public); The Busy World Is Hushed (Drama League nomination), Recent Tragic Events (Playwrights Horizons); Good Thing (The New Group); Cyclone (Studio Dante); Romeo and Juliet, Love's Fire (Acting Company). Regional: Hamlet, The Violet Hour (South Coast Rep.); Hamlet (CT Critics Circle Award), Singing Forest (Long Wharf); A Midsummer Nights' Dream, Measure for Measure (Ahmanson, Paul Green Foundation Award). Television work includes "The Crazy Ones," "The Newsroom," "The Big C," "The Good Wife," "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and the upcoming Noah Hawley series "Legion." Films include The Big Short, Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight, Miranda July's The Future (Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals), 42, Fantastic 4, Lola Versus, Battleship and Groove (Sundance Film Festival).

Zosia Mamet (Trish): In film and television, Zosia Mamet is establishing herself as one of the industry's most exciting talents. Since spring 2012, Mamet has starred as 'Shoshanna' in the Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning HBO series "Girls." Dunham, Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner executive produce the show, which is in its sixth and final season. Mamet was seen starring in the short film Mildred & the Dying Parlor, which premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. The film, directed by Alex Gayner from a script by Ilan Ulmer, is based on the short story Red by Andrea Heimer and follows Mildred (Mamet), a young woman who lives with her parents in an old house from which they run a Dying Parlor, a unique business where people facing terminal illness or advanced old age live with the family during their last days. The film co-stars Steve Buscemi, Jane Krakowski and Evan Jonigkeit, and was produced by Mamet and Jonigkeit's Production Company Rooster Films, along with Blood Orange Pictures. Next, Mamet was seen in Todd Solondz's independent film Weiner-Dog, a follow-up to Solondz's 1996 drama Welcome to the Dollhouse. Mamet co-starred in the film opposite Greta Gerwig, Julie Delpy, Kieran Culkin and Brie Larson. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, where it was picked up by Amazon Studios for distribution. Megan Ellison is producing the film through Annapurna Pictures alongside Christine Vachon of Killer Films. While at Sundance this year, it was announced that Mamet has been cast to play living legend Patti Smith in writer-director Ondi Timoner's Robert Mapplethrope biopic titled Mapplethorpe. Mamet will play Patti Smith opposite Matt Smith, who has been cast as the avant-garde photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Mamet recently completed production on the independent comedic film The Boy Downstairs, written and directed by Sophie Brooks. Mamet also starred alongside Jessica Biel in the indie thriller Bleeding Heart, from writer and director Diane Bell, which premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.

Jonny Orsini (Derrick) made his Broadway debut in a multiple award-winning performance opposite Nathan Lane in The Nance, followed by MacBeth with Ethan Hawke, and Fish in the Dark with Larry David and Jason Alexander. His film work includes Generation Um opposite Keanu Reeves, upcoming Cortex opposite Josh Lucas, and Cigarette Candy, which won several awards on the festival circuit including South by Southwest, Palm Springs, and for which Jonny won the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance at the Florida Film Festival for his portrayal of a young Marine suffering from PTSD.

Grace Van Patten (Julie) recently finished shooting David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake opposite Andrew Garfield for A24. She will next be seen as one of the starring roles in Noah Baumbach's soon-to-be-released feature, The Meyerowitz Stories opposite Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Adam Sandler and Emma Thompson. Previously, Grace shot the independent feature Wilde Wedding, opposite Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Before that, Grace starred in the critically lauded film Tramps, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Her performance was universally acclaimed. Last year, Grace shot the independent film Central Park, directed by Justin Reinsilber. She appeared in a recurring role on "The Sopranos" and as a guest star on "Boardwalk Empire" and "Law & Order SVU." Born and raised in New York, Grace graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of the Arts with a major in Drama.

Dolly Wells (Kristina) is a UK writer/performer who starred in the six-part comedy Doll & Em, which she co-created with Emily Mortimer for HBO, and Andrew Haigh's film, 45 Years, opposite Charlotte Rampling. Dolly can also be seen on screen in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Boundaries as well as two seasons of the Starz series, Blunt Talk, created by Jonathan Ames. Dolly previously starred in the U.K. Series: Some Girls, Spy (BSkyB) & Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy (E4) among many others. Dolly recently wrapped the independent feature Home Again opposite Reese Witherspoon as well as FOX's Can You Ever Forgive Me? opposite Melissa McCarthy.

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 the West End by the acclaimed production of Jesse Eisenberg's The Spoils, and more recently, by the company's hit production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child, starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan (November 14, 2016 - March 4, 2017). For his performance, Ed Harris received a 2017 Olivier Award nomination in the Best Actor category. Director Scott Elliott helmed both productions at London's Trafalgar Studios, presented by Lisa Matlin and Adam Speers for Ambassador Theatre Group.

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 the Signature Café + Bar, open to the public from noon-midnight Tuesdays-Sundays. For more information on renting the Center, visit www.signaturetheatre.org/rentals.

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