Reed Birney, Josh Caras & More Lead THE DREAM OF THE BURNING BOY

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) is pleased to announce the full cast for The Dream of the Burning Boy, a new play by David West Read directed by Evan Cabnet. The Dream of the Burning Boy will feature Reed Birney (Larry), Josh Caras (Dane), Matt Dellapina (Steve), Jake O'Connor (Kyle), Jessica Rothenberg (Chelsea), Kristie Dale Sanders (Andrea), Alexandra Socha (Rachel).

This play marks the first time a two-production season has been produced at Roundabout Underground since the program premiered in 2007. The Dream of the Burning Boy follows the critically acclaimed & sold out hit Tigers Be Still from fall 2010.

The Dream of the Burning Boy will begin preview performances on Friday, February 25th, 2011 and officially open on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011. This will be a limited engagement through Sunday, May 8th, 2011. All tickets for Roundabout Underground productions are $20.

The Dream of the Burning Boy creative team includes Lee Savage (Sets), Jessica Wegener Shay (Costumes), Ben Stanton (Lighting) & Jill BC DuBoff (Sound).

In The Dream of the Burning Boy the sudden death of a high school overachiever exposes a secret that could destroy those left behind, or bring them closer together. A bittersweet story of choices made, opportunities lost, and finding the strength to move on.

Roundabout is thrilled to welcome back Reed Birney who appeared in Tigers Be Still this fall.

The Dream of the Burning Boy is the fifth production of Roundabout Underground, an initiative launched in 2007 to introduce and cultivate artists in Roundabout's 62-seat Black Box Theatre, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street, NYC, NY, 10036). Prior productions include Speech & Debate (2007), The Language of Trees (2008), Ordinary Days (2009) & Tigers Be Still (2010).

Roundabout Underground is an initiative to showcase new plays that will either allow an experienced director to go back to his/her creative roots or give a debut production to an emerging writer or director. Robyn Goodman (Artistic Consultant to the Roundabout), who has significant artistic development experience, is curating the initiative that continues to be a creative breeding ground for nurturing new talent.
The 62-seat Black Box Theatre, below the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, allows Roundabout to take artistic risks that are better suited for a more intimate space.
The Dream of the Burning Boy is made possible with major support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and Jodi Glucksman.

The Dream of the Burning Boy benefits from Roundabout's New Play Production Fund with a gift provided by Laura S. Rodgers/The Honorable Ann W. Brown & Donald A. Brown.

The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre reflects Roundabout's commitment to produce new works by established and emerging writers as well as revivals of classic plays. This state-of-the-art off-Broadway theatre and education complex is made possible by a major gift from The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. The Trust was created in 1986 by Harold Steinberg to promote and advance American Theatre as a vital part of our culture by supporting playwrights, encouraging the development and production of new work, and providing financial assistance to theatre companies across the country. Since its inception, the Trust has awarded over $45 million to more than 100 not-for-profit theatre organizations.

TICKET INFORMATION:

Tickets are available by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212)719-1300, online at www.roundaboutunderground.org or at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre box office (111 West 46 Street). The ticket price is $20.00 for all seats. All tickets for The Dream of the Burning Boy will be issued as General Admission passes for first-come, first-served seating on the show date.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

The Dream of the Burning Boy will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:30PM & Sunday evening at 7:00PM.

BIOGRAPHIES:

Reed Birney (Larry) just finished Adam Bock's A Small Fire at Playwrights Horizons where he last year he appeared in Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation. Last Fall at The Roundabout Underground he was in Kim Rosenstock's Tigers Be Still. Other notable NY roles include Sarah Kane's Blasted at Soho Rep (Drama Desk nomination), Tony Blair in Stuff Happens at The Public Theater, and Homebody/Kabul at BAM. He has three Obies and a Drama Desk Award.

JOSH CARAS (Dane) was born in Guam. He was raised in Connecticut. His first theater appearance was at the age of 12 in a production of On Golden Pond at the Ivoryton Playhouse. At the age of 15 he began to audition for film and television. Since then he has appeared in a number of independent films, including Bugcrush, Assassination of a High School President and Gracie. He attended New School University and lives in New York.

Matt Dellapina (Steve). Off-Broadway: In The Footprint (Irondale), underneathmybed (Rattlestick), Telephone (Foundry), Tender (Public Theater, SPF), #9 (Waterwell), Gone Missing (Barrow Street), I Am Nobody's Lunch (59E59), The Parrot (Flea), The Angel Project (Lincoln Center Festival). Regional: Humana Festival, Cleveland Playhouse, City Theatre, Studio Theatre (Helen Hayes nom.), Sundance Institute, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Chautauqua. Associate Artist, The Civilians. Original member, Senator at The PIT. Film/TV: Safe, Proud Iza, "Onion SportsDome" (Comedy Central), "Law & Order".

Jake O'Connor (Kyle). Off-Broadway- Randolph in Wildflower at Second Stage. Regional Theater- The Merry Wives of Windsor, Pride and Prejudice, Measure for Measure, The Tempest and The Comedy of Errors with the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey. Television- "Gossip Girl", "Fringe", "Rescue Me", "The Big C", "Lights Out", and "Body of Proof". Film- Margaret and Return to Sleepaway Camp. Training-Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute Certificate of Merit.

Jessica Rothenberg (Chelsea) Jessica is a proud Colorado native; thrilled to be making her Roundabout debut! Regional credits include the Nicholas Martin and Kate Burton production of The Cherry Orchard (Huntington Theatre), as well as Kevin Moriarty's HAIR (Hangar Theatre). She can soon be seen in the upcoming feature film The Art Of Love, starring Olympia Dukakis and Zosia Mamet. Training: BFA Boston University, LAMDA. Thank you to The Mine, Russell, my friends and family, and CB for your love, support, and making all of this possible.

Kristie Dale Sanders (Andrea). Broadway: Next Fall, Phantom, Urinetown & The Sound of Music. Off-Broadway: Johnny Guitar, A Class Act, Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh. Favorites: Sweeney Todd, King Lear, Trust, Cover of Life, Intimate Apparel, Flight of the Lawnchair Man, Three Penny Opera, Private Lives, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Anna Karenina, Dark of the Moon, The Rivals, My Favorite Broadway Diva (Carnegie Hall), Broadway Pops Series (New Haven Symphony). TV: "All My Children", "The Wire".

Alexandra Socha (Rachel). Broadway: Spring Awakening (Wendla), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Nora), Roundabout Theatre Company's Benefit of A Little Night Music (Fredrika) with Vanessa Redgrave. Regional: We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Merricat) at Yale Repertory Theatre and the reading of Cuba Libre at La Jolla Playhouse. Television: The Big C, White Collar. Love and thanks to her parents, amazing family and friends, Lindsay and The Gersh Agency, and of course Carrie Gardner and Roundabout Theatre Company.

David West READ (Playwright) is currently a Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at The Juilliard School, and a recent graduate of the MFA program in Dramatic Writing at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. His play The Dream of the Burning Boy was developed at the 2010 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. His work has been featured in the Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Repertory, the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival, NYU's Festival of New Works, the Toronto Fringe, and the SummerWorks Festival, and he is currently working on a commission for South Coast Repertory. Selected honors include the Robertson Davies Playwriting Award, the Alta Lind Cook Prize for Drama, and NYU's John Golden Prize for Graduate Playwriting. David is a native of Toronto, Canada.

Evan Cabnet (Director). Credits include: David West Read's The Dream of the Burning Boy at the O'Neill National Playwrights' Conference and the World Premiere of Michele Lowe's Map of Heaven at Denver Center Theatre, Elizabeth Meriwether's Oliver Parker! (Cherry Lane, world premiere), Bekah Brunstetter's Oohrah! (Atlantic Theatre Company, world premiere), Mark Schultz's The Gingerbread House (stageFARM at the Rattlestick, world premiere), Donald Margulies' Shipwrecked! An Entertainment (Long Wharf Theater, East Coast premiere), Elizabeth Meriwether's The Mistakes Madeline Made (Naked Angels, world premiere), new plays by Adam Rapp, Schultz, and Meriwether as part of SPIN (Cherry Lane), Lewis Black and Rusty Magee's The Czar of Rock and Roll (Joe's Pub), his own adaptations of Ubu Roi and Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Williamstown), and the 2009 TFI Sloan staged readings for the Tribeca Film Festival. He has developed new works by: Carly Mensch (Playwrights Horizons), Rajiv Joseph (Vineyard), Lucy Thurber (MCC), Molly Smith Metzler (MTC), Steven Levenson (LCT3), Zayd Dorn (Naked Angels), David West Read (Roundabout), Annie Baker, Beau Willimon, Liz Flahive (all at Ars Nova) and many others. Five seasons at the Williamstown Theater Festival, including the 2003 Boris Sagal and 2002 Bill Foeller Fellowships. Recipient of the 2008 Claire Tow Award for Emerging Artists.

The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre opened on March 17th, 2004 allowing Roundabout to continue its mission to produce new plays by established writers and lesser-known classic plays in the 425-seat Laura Pels Theatre. The inaugural production at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre was Intimate Apparel, a new play by Lynn Nottage, directed by Daniel Sullivan (2004 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Award Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Award John Gassner Award Best Play, PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award for Lynn Nottage, American Theatre Critic's Association's Francesca Primus Award Best Play, Steinberg New Play Award, Audelco Dramatic Production of the Year). Prior to the launch of Roundabout Underground in October 2007, the 62-seat Black Box Theatre has been used by Roundabout's education department for its activities including student productions and professional development workshops.
Roundabout Theatre Company is a not-for-profit theatre dedicated to providing a nurturing artistic home for theatre artists at all stages of their careers where the widest possible audience can experience their work at affordable prices. Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the revival of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established playwrights and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate loyal audiences.
Roundabout Theatre Company currently produces at three permanent homes each of which is designed specifically to enhance the needs of the Roundabout's mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. Together these three distinctive venues serve to enhance the work on each of its stages.

American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State's 62 counties; and the City of New York Theater Subdistrict Council, LDC and the City of New York.

Roundabout Theatre Company's 2010-2011 season features Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, starring and directed by Brian Bedford; Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore starring Olympia Dukakis, directed by Michael Wilson; Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster & Joel Grey, directed & choreographed by Kathleen Marshall; David West Read's The Dream of the Burning Boy, directed by Evan Cabnet; Stoller, Butler & Dart's The People in the Picture, starring Donna Murphy, directed by Leonard Foglia; Stone, Meehan & Yeston's Death Takes a Holiday, directed by Doug Hughes.

www.roundaboutunderground.com

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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