YEAR ZERO and BACHELORETTE Set for Second Stage Theatre's Summer Season

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced the two plays which will be presented as part of the company's eighth annual Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series this summer: the New York premiere of Michael Golamco's Year Zero, directed by Will Frears, and the world premiere of Leslye Headland's Bachelorette, directed by Trip Cullman.

Michael Golamco is the recipient of the 2009 Helen Merrill Award and is a member of New Dramatists. His work has been produced by the National Asian American Theatre Company in New York City and Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, among others. Leslye Headland holds a B.F.A. in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and studied directing at Playwrights Horizons Theater School where she was awarded the Robert Moss Prize. She is the artist-in-residence at the IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles.

Both plays will be presented at Second Stage Theatre's uptown home, the McGinn/Cazale Theatre on Broadway at 76th Street. Year Zero will run May 18 - June 13. Bachelorette will run July 12 - August 7. Tickets for both shows can be purchased by calling the Second Stage Theatre Box Office at 212-246-4422.

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 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 (Animals Out of Paper), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Good Boys and True, HBO's "Big Love"), Adam Bock (The Receptionist, The Drunken City), and Brooke Berman (Hunting and Gathering).

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.

Last season's Uptown Series featured 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.

Play #1:
Year Zero
New York premiere
Written by Michael Golamco
Directed by Will Frears
May 18 - June 13
Opening Night is Wednesday, May 26

Vuthy Vichea is a 16-year-old Cambodian American who wears thick glasses, loves hip hop, and plays Dungeons and Dragons. After his mother's death, Vuthy and his sister Ra struggle to reinvent themselves in Long Beach, California where being different can be deadly. Year Zero is a moving comedic drama about a young generation paving a new future by remembering its past.
Michael Golamco is a Los Angeles-based playwright and screenwriter. His play, Cowboy versus Samurai, has had several productions since its premiere in NYC, including in Canada and Hong Kong. Michael is the recipient of the 2009 Helen Merrill Award and is a member of New Dramatists. He is currently working on a new play commission for South Coast Repertory. As a screenwriter, Michael's film, Please Stand By, was presented at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival's On Track film development program. His short film, Dragon of Love, was awarded Best Short Film at the Hawaii International Film Festival and ran in regular rotation on the Sundance Channel. Year Zero premiered at the Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago and was the Grand Prize Winner of Chicago Dramatists' Many Voices Project.

Will Frears returns to Second Stage Theatre where he directed the mainstage production of Theresa Rebeck's The Water's Edge. Other Off Broadway directing credits include Still Life (MCC); Rainbow Kiss (The Play Company); Pen (Playwrights Horizons); Terrorism (The New Group/The Play Company); Omnium Gatherum (Variety Arts); Where We're Born and God Hates the Irish (both at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre); Get What You Need (Atlantic 453); and Kid-Simple (Summer Play Festival). Regional: Romeo & Juliet, Bus Stop, The Water's Edge and A Servant of Two Masters at the Williamstown Theatre Festival; The Pillowman at George Street Playhouse; Hay Fever and The Price at Baltimore CenterStage; Sleuth at the Bay Street Theatre; Our Lady of 121st Street (Steppenwolf Theatre); Omnium Gatherum (Actor's Theatre of Louisville). He has also directed the films Coach and All Saints Day (Winner, Best Narrative Short, Savannah Film Festival). Artistic Director, Yale Cabaret, 1999-2000 season. Recipient of Boris Sagal and Bill Foeller directing fellowships. MFA in directing, Yale School of Drama.
* * * * * * * *

Play #2:
BACHELORETTE
World premiere
Written by Leslye Headland
Directed by Trip Cullman
July 12- August 7
Opening Night is Wednesday, July 21
On the eve of her wedding, Becky has arranged the perfect bachelorette celebration -but after two party crashers, one manipulative maid of honor, and a bathtub of booze, things don't go according to plan. This world premiere play is a brutally comic look at friendship and betrayal on the way to the altar.

Leslye Headland's holds a B.F.A. in Drama from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She studied directing at Playwrights Horizons Theater School where she was awarded the Robert Moss Prize. She is the artist-in-residence at the IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Her playwriting credits include the Seven Deadly Plays, a series that explore ancient vices in an unfortunately modern generation. The series includes Cinephilia (lust), Bachelorette (gluttony), Assistance (greed), Surfer Girl (sloth) and Reverb (wrath). She is currently writing for the new FX series Terriers created by screenwriter Ted Griffin (Ocean's 11) and produced by Shawn Ryan (The Shield).

Trip Cullman returns to Second Stage Uptown where he staged the acclaimed play Swimming in the Shallows by Adam Bock, as well as Second Stage Theatre's mainstage production of Terrence McNally's Some Men. Other directing credits include The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons), Dog Sees God (Century Center for the Performing Arts), Roulette (EST), Smashing (The Play Company), The Last Sunday in June (Century Center for the Performing Arts and Rattlestick Theater), The Vortex (Innocent Theatre), The Propaganda Plays (Dixon Place), and Atom & Devorah (Lincoln Center Directors Lab).

SCHEDULE AND TICKET INFORMATION

Year Zero will be performed at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre (Broadway & 76th Street, 3rd floor) from Tuesday, May 18 - Sunday, June 13 on the following schedule: Tuesday-Saturday at 7:30pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00pm, and Sunday at 3:00pm. There will be no matinee performance on May 19th and May 26th.

Bachelorette will be performed at the McGinn/Cazale Theater (Broadway & 76th Street, 3rd floor) from Monday, July 12 - Saturday, August 7 on the following schedule: Monday-Saturday at 7:30pm, and Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00pm. There will be no matinee performances on July 14 and July 21.

Tickets for performances of both plays can be purchased at the Second Stage Theatre Box Office (305 West 43rd Street) or by calling (212) 246-4422. Advance tickets are not available at the McGinn/Cazale Theater. Single tickets are $50; advance youth tickets (age 30 and under) are $20; and student RUSH tickets are $10 (available 30 minutes prior to curtain). A 2-play subscription is available for $60.

ABOUT Second Stage Theatre

Founded in 1979 under the leadership of Artistic Director Carole Rothman, Second Stage Theatre produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America's best contemporary theatre, including Tiny Alice and Peter and Jerry by Edward Albee; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo's Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem by Ricky Jay; Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; Living Out by Lisa Loomer; This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Some Men by Terrence McNally; eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; Everyday Rapture by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott; Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deavere Smith; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Crowns by ReGina Taylor; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Spoils of War by Michael Weller; Before It Hits Home, Jar the Floor and Birdie Blue by Cheryl L. West; Jitney by August Wilson; Lemon Sky, Serenading Louie and Sympathetic Magic by Lanford Wilson; and Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci by Mary Zimmerman. The company's more than 130 citations include the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley for Next to Normal), Best Score (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal) and Best Orchestrations (Tom Kitt and Michael Starobin, Next to Normal), the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed), 2005 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, ...Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, ...Spelling Bee), 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 23 Obie Awards, four Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, five Theatre World Awards, 11 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 15 AUDELCO Awards.

Second Stage Theatre has announced that it has acquired the right to purchase the historic Helen Hayes Theatre, located at 240 W. 44th Street. With this new home, Second Stage will be the only theater company on Broadway dedicated exclusively to the development and presentation of contemporary American theatrical productions. Second Stage will also become one of only four non-profit theater companies that own and operate theaters on Broadway. The company will continue to lease and operate their original theaters on the city's Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan.

Second Stage Theatre is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony-winning musical Next to Normal, which is playing at the Booth Theatre.

For more information, please visit www.2ST.com

 

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