Kate Blumberg, Todd Weeks & More Lead La Jolla Playhouse's KINGDOM CITY, Beginning Tonight

La Jolla Playhouse presents the world-premiere production of Kingdom City, by Sheri Wilner, directed by Jackson Gay. The production runs tonight, September 4, through October 5 (press opening on Friday, September 12 at 8pm) in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, and tickets are available at LaJollaPlayhouse.org or by calling (858) 550-1010.

The cast for Kingdom City features the real life husband-and-wife team Kate Blumberg (Off-Broadway's The Syringa Tree) and Todd Weeks (Broadway's The Full Monty) playing on- stage partners "Miriam" and "Daniel," along with Cristina Gerla (TV's Glee) as "Katie," Ian Littleworth (Playhouse's The Lonely Boy's Guide to Survival (and Werewolves)) as "Luke," as well as local actors Austyn Myers (Old Globe's Lost in Yonkers, Brighton Beach Memoirs) as "Matt" and Katie Sapper (Diversionary Theater's bare: a Pop Opera) as "Crystal."

The creative team for Kingdom City includes Playhouse Artist-in-Residence Robert Brill (Playhouse's Chasing the Song, Sideways, His Girl Friday, among many others), Scenic Designer; David Reynoso, Costume Designer; Paul Whitaker, Lighting Designer; Nick Drashner (Playhouse's POP Tour production Suzette Who Set to Sea), Sound Designer; and Gabriel Greene, Dramaturg.

"I am in awe of how playwright Sheri Wilner explores both sides of a culture war between artistic freedom and religious values with such honesty, humor and intelligence. I look forward to watching this tremendous cast and creative team bring her vibrant new work to life," said Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley.

When displaced New York director Miriam finds herself in Kingdom City, Missouri, she reluctantly agrees to direct a high school production of The Crucible. As the students fall deeper into their roles, the play unlocks their own unspoken desires, creating a firestorm in this small, predominantly Christian town. Kingdom City is a comic and smart world premiere in which a 20th Century classic inspires a 21st Century showdown.

The nationally-acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is known for its tradition of creating some of the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. The Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and is considered one of the most well-respected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Twenty-five Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, earning 35 Tony Awards, including the currently-running hit Jersey Boys, as well as Big River, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Walk in the Woods, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Farnsworth Invention, 33 Variations, Memphis, Bonnie & Clyde, Chaplin, Peter and the Starcatcher and Hands on a Hardbody. Located on the UC San Diego campus, La Jolla Playhouse is made up of three primary performance spaces: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for La Jolla Playhouse, a state-of-the-art theatre complex which features the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. La Jolla Playhouse is led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg.

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