Jon Bernthal, Christopher Fitzgerald Depart MCC's SMALL ENGINE REPAIR; James Badge Dale, James Ransone Join Cast

MCC Theater today announced that James Badge Dale (World War Z, HBO's The Pacific), James Ransone (HBO's "The Wire") will replace Jon Bernthal and Christopher Fitzgerald in the New York Premiere of John Pollono's celebrated Small Engine Repair. Keegan Allen ("Pretty Little Liars") has also joined the cast. Small Engine Repair is the comic thriller that premiered to rave reviews and sold-out audiences at L.A.'s Rogue Machine Theatre, where it won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Playwriting, among many other honors. The New York production of Small Engine Repair will be directed by longtime MCC collaborator Jo Bonney (MCC's The Break of Noon, Some Girl(s), Fat Pig) and begins at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on October 30, 2013. An official opening night is set for November 18, 2013.

In Small Engine Repair, former high school buddies Frank, Swaino and Packie meet off-hours in Frank's out-of-the-way repair shop under cloudy circumstances that only Frank has a handle on. Enter Chad, a plugged-in, privileged college jock, whose arrival sets off an explosion of long-simmering resentment in this taut, twisty, comic thriller.

James Badge Dale (Swaino) is currently starring in three major summer films: Shane Black's Ironman 3 opposite Robert Downey Jr.; Marc Forster's World War Zopposite Brad Pitt; and Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger opposite Johnny Depp. His extensive film credits also include: Flight, opposite Denzel Washington; Shame,opposite Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan; The Grey, opposite Liam Neeson; and the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, The Departed, by Martin Scorsese. For television, James memorably starred in HBO's Emmy Award-winning 10-hour miniseries The Pacific. He also led the cast of the AMC original series "Rubicon," and appeared on the hit FOX series "24." He made his Off Broadway debut in 2003 with The Flea Theatre Company's Getting Into Heaven. Since then, he has returned to the New York stage to work with The New Group and New World Stages. He also recently completed the film Parkland, set for release in Fall 2013, which recounts the dramatic true story of the chaotic events that occurred at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. James is the son of late Broadway, film and television star Anita Morris and two-time Tony Award-winning Director/Choreographer, Grover Dale.

James Ransone (Packie) is currently shooting the AMC series "Low Winter Sun" playing the lead role of 'Damon Callis'. James recently wrapped Spike Lee's feature film Old Boy, opposite Josh Brolin, along with Tristan Patterson's independent feature Electric Slide, opposite Jim Sturgess and Chloe Sevigny. Ransone is best known for his work on HBO's critically acclaimed shows, "Generation Kill," "Treme" and his tour de force performance in "The Wire." He recently wrapped Dito Montiel's independent feature The Empire State and was last seen on the big screen in Scott Derrickson's thriller Sinister, opposite Ethan Hawke. James will next be seen in the independent feature The Timber, opposite Josh Peck. Ransone's other credits include Broken City, opposite Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg; The Son of No One, opposite Channing Tatum and Al Pacino and The Next Three Days, opposite Russell Crowe.

Keegan Allen (Chad) portrays Toby Cavanaugh on ABC Family's # 1 rated series "Pretty Little Liars," for which he received a 2011 Teen Choice Award nomination. For television, he has also appeared on the hit shows "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation," "I Hate My Teenage Daughter," and Nickelodeon's "Big Time Rush," among others. Keegan recently completed filming on two major motion pictures: Palo Alto, based on the best-selling collection of short stories by James Franco; andBukowski, which is directed and co-written by Franco. He attended AMDA (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) and was signed to his management company, Creative Talent Group, at his graduation showcase.

John Pollono (Frank), who wrote and will co-star in Small Engine Repair, is an actor and playwright based in Los Angeles. He won the LA Ovation and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) Awards for Best Play the 2011 LA production of Small Engine Repair, for which he also received the LADCC Award for Best Writing. As an actor, John has appeared in "Grey's Anatomy," "How I Met Your Mother," HBO's "Lucky," and has been cast in the new series "Lost Angels," written and directed by Frank Darabont, that will premiere on TNT in late 2013. He is a founding member of Rogue Machine Theatre in Los Angeles, which produced Small Engine Repair as well as his plays Lost and Found and Razorback.

Please note: The previously announced cast members Jon Bernthal (AMC's "The Walking Dead") and Christopher Fitzgerald (Finian's Rainbow) are no longer available due to scheduling conflicts.

Small Engine Repair is part of the previously announced MCC Theater 2013-14 Season which also includes: the Broadway premiere of the Mary-Louise Parker-starrer The Snow Geese by MCC alum Sharr White, which is a co-production with Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) set for October 1 through December 15, 2013 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre; the Off-Broadway premiere of Robert Askins' Hand to God, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and starring Steven Boyer(Modern Terrorism, The Wolf of Wall Street), at Lucille Lortel Theatre, beginning on February 20, 2014 with an official opening on March 11, 2014; and the North American premiere of Penelope Skinner's The Village Bike, directed by Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation), starring Academy Award nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart, The Dark Knight) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre beginning May 21, 2014 with an official opening on June 9, 2014.

MCC Theater will offer subscribers the opportunity to book 3-Play (all 3 Off-Broadway productions at the Lortel) or 4-Play (all Lortel productions plus Broadway's The Snow Geese) Subscriptions, as well as a First-Look Subscription (access to one of the first 10 performances of each production), Under 30 Tickets, and Flex Tickets. Regular ticket prices are $69 and $89.

MCC Theater - founded in 1986 as Manhattan Class Company - is committed to developing and producing new work that challenges artists and rewards audiences. Our mission is carried out through an annual season of world, American, and New York premieres, literary development programs for emerging writers, and ground-breaking education programs that enable more than 1,000 New York City high school students to find - and use - their own unique voice each year through the creation and performance of original theater pieces. Notable MCC Theater highlights include: the 2008 Tony Award-nominated Reasons to Be Pretty by Neil LaBute, The Other Place (which transferred to Broadway in a celebrated production), The Pride, Fifty Words, the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery's Frozen, Neil LaBute'sFat Pig, Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living, Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue, Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit, Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone, Alan Bowne's Beirut, The Submission, winner of the inaugural Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award for new American plays, and a fully re-imagined production of Carrie, the musical. Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards.

Photo Courtesty of Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.

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