Second Stage Premieres SEX LIVES OF OUR PARENTS

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) kicks off this summer's Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series with the world premiere of Sex Lives of Our Parents, written by Michael Mitnick. Directed by Davis McCallum, Sex Lives of Our Parents will feature Teddy Bergmann (Peter and the Starcatcher), Lisa Emery (Far East), Daniel Jenkins (Mary Poppins), Virginia Kull (Dividing the Estate), Ben Rappaport (NBC's "Outsourced") and Mark Zeisler (Second Stage Theatre's Eurydice). Previews began on June 7th and opening night is tonight, June 22.

Sex Lives of Our Parents will be presented at Second Stage Theatre's uptown home, the McGinn/Cazale Theatre on Broadway at 76th Street. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by calling the Second Stage Theatre Box Office at 212-246-4422 or online at www.2ST.com.

Virginia is getting married. As her wedding day approaches, unwanted ghosts of her mother's past appear, unearthing a shocking past she never knew - nor wanted to. A provocative comic nightmare about the mysterious hollows between parents and children and things that may be better left unsaid.

Sex Lives of Our Parents will feature scenic design by Andromache Chalfant, costume design by Jessica Ford, lighting design by Tyler Micoleau and sound design by Jill DuBoff.

Created as a program to help develop and provide exposure for the voices of a new generation of theatre artists the Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series (Christopher Burney, Associate Artistic Director and Curator), the series seeks to develop the skills of emerging playwrights, to provide early-career artists with the support of a major artistic institution, and to create new plays for the American Theatre. Each show has a limited rehearsal period, as well as a streamlined budget.

The series has helped launch and advance the careers of several up-and-coming playwrights, including Rajiv Joseph ( Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), Leslye Headland (Bachelorette), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Good Boys and True, HBO's "Big Love"), Adam Bock (A Small Fire, The Drunken City), and Brooke Berman (Hunting and Gathering).

The Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series will also present the world premiere of Anna Kerrigan's The Talls, directed by Carolyn Cantor, later this summer. The Talls will be performed August 1 - August 27, with an official opening scheduled for August 15.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Michael Mitnick is a playwright and songwriter. His plays and musicals have been developed around the country at theaters including Manhattan Theatre Club, Ars Nova, The McCarter, The Denver Center Theatre Company, TheatreWorks, The Lark, Studio 42, Washington Ensemble Theatre, and The Kennedy Center. He has an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama and lives in Brooklyn.

Davis McCallum recently directed the world premiere of Molly Smith Metzler's Elemeno Pea at the 2011 Humana Festival of New American Plays. New York: Sam Hunter's A Bright New Boise (Partial Comfort), Greg Moss's punkplay (Clubbed Thumb), Chuck Mee's Queens Boulevard (Signature Theater), Quiara Hudes' Elliot: A Soldier's Fugue (P73; Pulitzer Prize Finalist), and Henry V (Acting Company/New Victory). Regional: Guthrie, Old Globe, Ashland, the O'Neill, Williamstown, Playmakers Rep, New York Stage & Film, others. Other: NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors (2007).

ABOUT THE CAST

Teddy Bergman (Elliot/ Nurse). Recent theater credits include Peter and the Starcatcher (NYTW), Seven Minutes in Heaven by Steven Levenson (Huntington Theater Co, Ars Nova, HERE, dir. Adrienne Campbell-Holt), Peter and the Starcatcher (La Jolla Playhouse/Disney, dirs. Roger Rees, Alex Timbers), Dreyfus in Rehearsal (PEMThree Productions/Theater Row), I.E., In Other Words by Mark Greenfield (The Flea Theater, dir. Kip Fagan), Cherubina by Paul Cohen (PL115, dir. Alexis Poledouris), Daniella Uses Dirty Words (Abingdon Theatre Company, dir. Kim T. Sharp), Blackout (Cell Theatre Co./Theater Row), Nobody Likes The Mormons (Ars Nova, dir. Kerry Whigham), I Was Tom Cruise (FringeNYC - Outstanding Play Award, dirs. Alexander Poe, Joseph Varca), and work regionally at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He is an Artistic Associate at Les Freres Corbusier and has worked with Obie winning writer/director Alex Timbers on many projects, including Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Joe's Pub), Incompetent Scumbags (Abrons/Les Freres), Dance Dance Revolution (OHIO, Les Freres Corbusier), and Hell House (St. Ann's Warehouse/Les Freres Corbusier). He has participated in readings and workshops at companies including New York Theatre Workshop, MTC, Atlantic Theater Company, Clubbed Thumb, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and the LArk Theatre Company. His TV credits include "Law and Order: SVU" and "As the World Turns." His film credits include Nora Ephron's Julie and Julia, Little Big League, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Striptease. He is the Artistic Co-Director of the NYC theater company, WOODSHED COLLECTIVE (12 Ophelias, The Confidence Man, Upcoming: The Tenant).

Lisa Emery (Charlotte) has just returned from the Sundance Theater Lab in Banff where she worked on new plays by Janine Nabers and Jennifer Haley. Broadway credits include The Women, Present Laughter, The Smell Of The Kill, Jackie, Rumors and Burn This. Off-Broadway: A Kind of Alaska and Gabriel at Atlantic Theater Co., Distracted (Lortel nomination) at Roundabout, Mouth to Mouth, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Abigail's Party (Drama Desk and Lortel nominations), What The Butler Saw and Curtains (ensemble Obie) all at The New Group, Iron (Obie Award, Lortel nomination) at MTC Lucy at EST, The Maddening Truth at Keen Co., Dinner With Friends, Far East at LCT, The Monogamist and Marvin's Room (Drama Desk nomination) at Playwright's Horizons, Talley and Sons and Dalton's Back at Circle Rep Co. Film: Cold Souls, The Night Listener, People I Know, Roger Dodger, A Map Of The World, Unfaithful. Television: "Louie," "Law & Order" (incl. SVU and CI), "The Fringe," "Damages," "Sex and the City," "Ed," " Third Watch," "Far East" and "The Women" on PBS.

Daniel Jenkins (Christopher). Broadway: Mary Poppins, Wrong Mountain, Big, (Drama Desk nomination), Angels in America, Big River (1985/2003 Tony and Drama Desk nominations). Off-Broadway: Benefactors, Love Child (co-written w/with Robert Stanton), Bye Bye Birdie, The Pajama Game (Encores!), Spinning Into Butter, Dream True, The Maiden's Prayer, Feast Here Tonight (composer), Triumph of Love, Johnny Pye, Five Visits from Mr. Whitcomb. Regional: ART, Arts Emerson, ACT/Seattle, Hangar Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company/Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville (two years), O'Neill Playwrights Center, Sundance Playwrights Lab. Film - for Robert Altman: O.C. and Stiggs, Tanner '88, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. Joshua, Cradle Will Rock, Glory, In Country, What Comes Around, Infested, The Perfect You and Five Corners. Television - "Law & Order"(s), "Cracker," "The Knife and Gun Club," "Florida Straits" and "Going to Extremes" (Alex).

Virginia Kull (Virginia). Broadway: Horton Foote's Dividing the Estate (Lincoln Center), Old Acquaintance (Roundabout). Off-Broadway: The Orphan's Home Cycle (Signature Theatre), Dividing the Estate (Primary Stages), Theophilus North, The Breadwinner (Keen Company). Regional: Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Geva Theatre, Dorset Theatre Festival, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, North Carolina Stage Company, Shakespeare Festival of Dallas. TV/Film: "Boardwalk Empire," "Nurse Jackie," "Law & Order: SVU," "A NY Thing." Training: BFA - Meadows School of the Arts at SMU.

Ben Rappaport (Jeff/Rodney) stars in the new NBC comedy "Outsourced" as Todd Dempsy. He is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School's Drama Division where he received the Drama Division's highest honor: the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize. Rappaport starred in the off-Broadway production of The Gingerbread House (stageFARM at Rattlestick). His regional credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Paradise Now (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Twelfth Night (The Actor Factory) and Best of Shakespearean Romance (New Jersey Symphony Orchestra). Rappaport has also worked with Red Bull Theater, Ars Nova, Naked Angels, The Actors Studio and New Dramatists. His credits at Juilliard include: Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale, conducted by James Conlon (Narrator), The Three Sisters (Andrey), Fifth of July (Weston Hurley), and Twelfth Night (Sir Toby Belch).

Mark Zeisler (Henry/Lucas). Broadway: A View from the Bridge, Brooklyn Boy. Off-Broadway: Eurydice, Second Stage; The Accomplices, The New Group; Self-Defense, New Georges; Acts of Faith, Mosaic Theatre/92 St Y. New England: Major Barbara, Road to Nirvana, The King Stag, The Homecoming, Once in a Lifetime, The Caretaker, American Repertory Theatre; Big Love, Long Wharf Theatre; Hamlet, The Matchmaker, Elm Shakespeare Company. Regional: Yankee Tavern, Florida Stage (World Premiere); The Tempest, The Seagull, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Actors Theatre of Louisville; Big Love, Louisville, Berkeley Repertory Theatre; BAM Next Wave Festival; Measure for Measure (Helen Hayes nomination), Folger Theatre; A Picasso, City Theatre; A Doll House, McCarter Theatre; ART, Hangar Theatre; Othello, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Arcadia, Alabama Shakespeare; Julius Caesar, Philadelphia Drama Guild; Romeo and Juliet, Baltimore Center Stage. Film: Random Hearts, Torch Song Trilogy, Shaft, The Thomas Crown Affair, Two Week Notice, Head of State, Revolution #9, After School (2008 NY Film Festival entry). Television: "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Third Watch," "New York Undercover," "Rescue Me," many soaps. Education: BFA, SUNY-Purchase.

The series premiered in 2002 with three new American plays: ...in the absence of spring..., written and directed by Joe Calarco; The Notebook, written by Wendy Kesselman and directed by Evan Yionoulis; and Hunt Holman's Spanish Girl, directed by Erica Schmidt. Second Stage Theatre Uptown was on hiatus in 2003 due to theatre repairs. The 2004 season saw the New York premiere of Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's The Mystery Plays, as well as Brooke Berman's The Triple Happiness, starring Ally Sheedy. In 2005, the series presented the New York premiere of the critically acclaimed comedy Swimming in the Shallows, written by Adam Bock and starring Logan Marshall-Green, as well as the world premiere of Dan O'Brien's The Dear Boy. The 2006 series featured two world premiere comedies: Getting Home, written by Anton Dudley and directed by David Schweizer, and Rajiv Joseph's All This Intimacy, directed by Giovanna Sardelli. The 2007 series featured Marisa Wegrzyn's The Butcher of Baraboo, directed by Judith Ivey, and Joshua Tobiessen's Election Day, directed by Jeremy Dobrish. The 2008 series featured Carly Mensch's Len, Asleep in Vinyl, directed by Jackson Gay, and Rajiv Joseph's Animals Out of Paper, directed by Giovanna Sardelli. The 2009 series presented two world premiere plays: Zakiyyah Alexander's 10 Things To Do Before I Die, directed by Jackson Gay, and Lila Rose Kaplan's Wildflower, directed by Giovanna Sardelli.

Last season's series featured the New York premiere of Michael Golamco's Year Zero, directed by Will Frears and the New York premiere production of Leslye Headland's critically acclaimed hit comedy Bachelorette, directed by Trip Cullman.

 

To post a comment, you must register and login.