Wolly Mammoth Presents SPOILER ALERT: EVERYBODY DIES

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is set to welcome back Chicago's legendary comedy troupe The Second City in a hilarious and provocative new work entitled Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies. Following their previous record-breaking shows at Woolly Mammoth-Barack Stars and A Girl's Guide to Washington Politics-this new Second City work deepens the collaboration between Chicago and DC artists, with a cast that includes Woolly Company Member Jessica Frances Dukes (Bootycandy, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, Full Circle) and DC actor Aaron Bliden, with set and lighting design by Woolly Company Member Colin K. Bills (A Bright New Boise, Bootycandy, Oedipus el Rey). Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies runs December 6, 2011-January 8, 2012, with performances Tuesday-Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 3pm & 8pm, Sunday at 2pm & 7pm.

"Both Woolly and Second City have been energized by this new step in our collaboration," says Woolly Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz. "I asked Second City producers Kelly Leonard and Jenna Deja how they might respond to Woolly's season theme-‘Does our civilization have an expiration date?'-which led to a fevered exploration of both classic and new Second City material, and eventually to auditions in both Chicago and Washington. The result will be The Second City's edgiest work in Washington to date."

Description: Laugh while you can 'cause things ain't gettin' better. This season, Woolly artists fly to Chicago to work with The Second City's classic comedy wizards in an unprecedented collaboration. Their mission? Bring back to Washington the most gleeful anti-holiday celebration of doom ever: a mind-bending and hilarious new show exploring the twists of fate that propel our universe.

Many of the sketches in Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies have been adapted from The Second City's recent South Side of Heaven, a show The Chicago Tribune called "Groundbreaking, richly textured and deliciously dark...far more theatrical than any of its predecessors."

ABOUT THE SECOND CITY:
Beginning as a small cabaret theatre on Chicago's north side in 1959, The Second City has grown to become a comedy empire-building a robust business based on its core improvisational methodologies. Resident theatres in Chicago and Toronto create topical sketch comedy revues that satirize politics, culture, and news of the day. Beyond its stages, The Second City created the foremost school of improvisation-based arts in the world-with training facilities in Chicago, Toronto, and Los Angeles that enroll over 3,000 students; a corporate division works with hundreds of Fortune 500 companies in areas of training, marketing, entertainment, and brand services; and The Second City's forays into television and new media include the classic, Emmy-award winning comedy series "SCTV," as well as a number of new productions originating from The Second City Entertainment's offices in Los Angeles.

Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies
Written and performed by Chicago's The Second City

CAST
James T. Alfred
Aaron Bliden
Jessica Frances Dukes*
Maribeth Monroe
Scott Montgomery
Travis Turner

*denotes Woolly Mammoth Company Member

CREATIVE TEAM

Director...........................................................................................................................................Billy Bungeroth
Musical Director............................................................................................Matthew Loren Cohen
Set/Lighting Designer.........................................................................................................................Colin K. Bills*
Properties.......................................................................................................................................Jennifer Sheetz
Dramaturg............................................................................................................John M. Baker

*denotes Woolly Mammoth Company Member

This production of Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies is supported in part by a generous gift from Don and Nancy Bliss and Corporate Apartment Specialists, Inc.

Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies catering sponsor: Ridgewells Catering.

ONLINE ENGAGEMENT:

Blogs and Podcasts
Beginning Tuesday, November 22nd, Woolly will produce a series of blogs and podcasts exploring the themes inherent in Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies, such as Second City and Woolly history, stories of fate, and sports team rivalries. Blogs will be posted every Tuesday and Friday and can be found at woollymammothblog.com. Radio Woolly podcasts will be posted every Wednesday and can be downloaded for free on iTunes.

CONNECTIVITY:

Lobby Design- "Know the Facts"
Fact: In this world, humans will live and then die. Fact: How to live in it is up to you. During the run of Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies Woolly audiences will be treated (or tortured?) to an illumination of facts about the world we live in. What causes stair-falling accidents? How dangerous is a bottle of water? What's the relationship between Woolly's glass doors and our age-recommendation for shows? We'll present you the facts...you decide what to do with them.

Post-Show Discussions
Woolly and The Second City team invite you to explore the content and style of Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies. At Inside The Second City discussions, we'll be sitting down, getting up-close and personal with members of the artistic team to talk more about one of the world's premier comedy theatres. Our Race & Comedy series will feature members of the cast as well as members of the DC community talking about how volatile topics are safe in the hands of comedians.

Wednesday, December 7 following the 8pm performance:
Inside The Second City featuring members of the cast.

Sunday, December 11 following the 2pm performance:
Race & Comedy dialogue with guests to be announced.

Thursday, December 15 following the 8pm performance:
Inside The Second City featuring members of the cast.

Saturday, December 17 following the 3pm performance:
Inside The Second City featuring members of the cast.

Thursday, January 5 following the 8pm performance:
Race & Comedy dialogue with guests to be announced.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies runs December 6, 2011-January 8, 2012, Tuesday-Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 3pm & 8pm, Sunday at 2pm & 7pm. There are no performances on December 24th & 25th. There will be a New Years Eve performance and special event on December 31st at 10pm. Details to come at a later date. Tuesday, December 6th will be a Pay-What-You-Can performance and will begin at 8pm.

TICKETS
Tickets for Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies start at $30 and can be purchased through the Woolly Mammoth Box Office at 202-393-3939, online at www.woollymammoth.net, or in person at the Box Office located at 641 D Street, NW (7th & D). For directions and parking information, please visit www.woollymammoth.net.

ABOUT WOOLLY
Now in its 32nd Season, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company continues to hold its place at the leading edge of American theatre. Acknowledged as "the hottest theatre company in town" (The Washington Post), "known for its productions of innovative new plays" (The New York Times), Woolly Mammoth is a national leader in the development of new plays, and one of the best known and most influential mid-sized theatres in America.

Woolly's 32nd Season features five works that relate to the question, "Does our civilization have an expiration date?" They include Samuel D. Hunter's A Bright New Boise (Oct 10-Nov 13), The Second City's Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies (Dec 6-Jan 8), Jason Grote's Civilization (all you can eat) (Feb 13-Mar 11), Joey Arias and Basil Twist's Arias with a Twist* (Apr 4-May 6), and Anne Washburn's Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (May 28-July 1).

*This tour of Basil Twist is made possible by a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

www.woollymammoth.net

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