ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY
at
ROUNDABOUT UNDERGROUND
ANNOUNCES DIRECTOR, FULL CASTING & DATES
For The World Premiere Of
KINGDOM COME
A new play by JENNY RACHEL WEINER
Directed by KIP FAGAN
Featuring
BROOKE BLOOM, CARMEN M. HERLIHY, ALEX HERNANDEZ,
SOCORRO SANTIAGO, STEPHANIE STYLES
Previews begin October 7, 2016
Official opening November 2, 2016
Limited engagement through December 18, 2016
Off-Broadway at the Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre
This production launches the newly expanded two-play tenth season of Roundabout Underground following nine critically acclaimed seasons of world-premiere productions since its premiere in 2007. All tickets $25.
Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) is pleased to announce the cast for the first new play of Roundabout Underground’s newly expanded 2016-2017 season. The world-premiere production of Kingdom Come by Jenny Rachel Weiner will be directed by Kip Fagan, as part of Roundabout’s 50th Anniversary Season, and will feature Brooke Bloom (Layne), Carmen M. Herlihy (Samantha Carlin), Alex Hernandez (Dominick Aquendo), Socorro Santiago (Delores Aquendo) and Stephanie Styles (Suz).
The world premiere of Kingdom Come begins preview performances Off-Broadway on Friday, October 7, 2016 and opens officially on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at the Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street). This is a limited engagement through Sunday, December 18, 2016. All tickets for Roundabout Underground productions are $25.
Samantha (Herlihy) is lonely and confined to her bed. Layne (Bloom) is shy and too afraid of the world to journey into it. When both women decide that online dating might be the outlet they need, they venture into the wilds of the Internet and find deep connection in each other. The only problem: they’re each pretending to be someone else. What happens when the feelings are real but the people are not?
Kingdom Come launches the tenth season of Roundabout Underground, an initiative to introduce and cultivate artists in Roundabout’s 62-seat Black Box Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Kingdom Come was presented as part of last year’s Underground Reading Series at Roundabout, and is the first production in the Roundabout Underground’s newly expanded two-play 2016-2017 season. Prior productions include the acclaimed world premieres of Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate (2007), Steven Levenson’s The Language of Trees (2008), Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days (2009), Kim Rosenstock’s Tigers Be Still (2010), David West Read’s The Dream of the Burning Boy (2011), Andrew Hinderaker’s Suicide, Incorporated (2011), Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews (2012), Meghan Kennedy’s Too Much, Too Much, Too Many (2013), Jeff Augustin’s Little Children Dream of God (2015), and Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies the Bone (2015).
Roundabout Underground is an initiative to showcase new plays that will either give a debut production to an emerging writer or director or allow an experienced director to go back to his/her creative roots. Robyn Goodman (Artistic Consultant to the Roundabout) serves as Artistic Producer, with Associate Producers Jill Rafson and Josh Fiedler, for this 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 creative team for Kingdom Come includes: Arnulfo Maldonado (Sets), Tilly Grimes (Costumes), Thom Weaver (Lighting), Daniel Perelstein (Sound) and Darrel Maloney (Projections).
Ticket Information
All tickets for Kingdom Come are $25 General Admission tickets and will be available to purchase on Monday, August 22. For first access to tickets and insider news, sign up for Roundabout’s email club at www.roundabouttheatre.org or by calling Roundabout Audience Services at 212.719.1300.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Kingdom Come will play Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:00PM with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 1:30PM.
The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre opened in March 2004 with an acclaimed premiere of Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel starring Viola Davis, directed by Dan Sullivan. In the ten years since that landmark production, the center has expanded beyond the Laura Pels Theatre to include the Black Box Theatre and now a new education center. The Steinberg Center continues to reflect 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 not-for-profit theatre companies across the country. Since its inception, the Trust has awarded over $70 million to more than 125 theatre organizations.
Roundabout Underground’s home is a 62-seat Black Box Theatre, which is also used year-round by Roundabout’s education department for its activities including student productions and professional development workshops.
Major support for Kingdom Come is provided by Jodi and Dan Glucksman.
Jenny Rachel Weiner is the 2016-17 Tow Foundation Playwright in Residence.
Roundabout’s work with new and emerging playwrights and directors, as well as development of new work, is made possible by Katheryn Patterson and Tom Kempner.
We gratefully acknowledge the Roundabout Leaders for New Works: Alec Baldwin, Linda L. D’Onofrio, Peggy and Mark Ellis, Jodi Glucksman, Sylvia Golden, Judith and Douglas Krupp, K. Myers, Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater, Lauren and Danny Stein, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Yolanda R. Turocy, Lori Uddenberg, and Xerox Foundation.
BIOGRAPHIES:
BROOKE BLOOM (Layne). Theatre credits: Cloud Nine at Atlantic Theatre Company (2016 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play) You Got Older with Page 73 (Obie Award Winner & 2015 Drama Desk nomination for Best Actress in a Play), I’m Looking For Helen Twelvetrees at the Abron Arts Center, Somewhere Fun at Vineyard Theatre, Lungs at the Studio Theatre in D.C. and Barrington Stage, Becky Shaw at the Wilma, The Grown-Up at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Marie Antoinette at ART, as well as A Feminine Ending, Completeness and Hamlet all at South Coast Rep. Film: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Ceremony, He’s Just Not That Into You, Gabbi on the Roof in July, Swim Little Fish Swim (SXSW 2013), and She’s Lost Control (Berlinale 2014). Television: Series Regular on Amazon’s Alpha House, guest appearances on the forthcoming USA series Falling Water, Louie, The New Normal, Person of Interest, Law & Order, The Good Wife, a recurring role on CSI: Miami, and various pilots for NBC. The recipient of the 2012 Barrymore and 2013 IRNE awards for Best Actress, Brooke also received a 2013 Elliot Norton nomination.
CARMEN M. HERLIHY (Samantha Carlin). NYC Theater credits include: The Tomb of King Tot (Clubbed Thumb), Doctor Faustus (Classic Stage), Bachelorette (Second Stage), Five Genocides (Clubbed Thumb), Buffalo Gal (Primary Stages), crooked (Women’s Project; Lucille Lortel Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress), The Piano Teacher (Vineyard Theatre), The Thugs (Soho Rep), columbinus (NYTW, Drama League Nomination for Ensemble), The House of Bernarda Alba (NAATCO). Regional: Centerstage, Hartford Stage, Berkshire Theater Festival, McCarter, RMT, Mark Taper Forum. TV: “The Unusuals” (ABC), “Cold Case” (CBS), “Six Degrees” (ABC), Film: The Trouble with Cali, The Switch, The Rebound, Two Lovers, Burn After Reading, Morning Glory, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, My First Kiss and the People Involved, M. Training: BFA NYU Tisch, ETW Amsterdam, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, The Public Theater Shakespeare Lab.
ALEX HERNANDEZ (Dominick Aquendo) is a Brooklyn-based professional actor and amateur hooligan. Some favorite theatrical projects include The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Actors Theater of Louisville/Dallas Theater Center), Peter and the Starcatcher (New World Stages) and Richard III (the Public’s Mobile Unit). You can catch him on reruns of eight different TV shows or use him to steal cars (and hearts) as the protagonist of 2K’s upcoming video game, Mafia III.
SOCORRO SANTIAGO (Delores Aquendo). Broadway: The Bacchae (Circle in the Square). Off-Broadway: numerous productions at 59E59 Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, Naked Angels, Ars Nova, HERE, Ohio Theatre, and INTAR. Just completed New York Stage and Film workshop of Another Word For Beauty by Jose Rivera and Rancho Viejo by Dan LeFranc. Regional: Another Word For Beauty (Goodman Theatre), MOJADA (Victory Gardens Theatre), The Crucible (Cleveland Playhouse), Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike (Denver Center), Boleros for the Disenchanted (Huntington Theatre), Yerma (Huntington Theatre), Eric Ting’s adaptation of MacBeth 1969, and John Patrick Shanley’s Italian American Reconciliation (Long Wharf Theatre), So Go the Ghosts Part II, The Good Book Workshop, Like Water for Chocolate (Sundance Theatre Lab) and Trojan Women (Shakespeare Theatre). Film credits: iCreep by Adrian Martinez, What Came After, Order of Redemption, All Good Things, Devil’s Advocate, Night Falls on Manhattan, The Other Woman and Freedomland, among many. TV: “Blue Bloods,” “Kings,” “The Third Watch,” “Unforgettable,” “Bored To Death,” “The Good Wife” and all the “Law & Orders.” She received an American Latina Media Arts (ALMA) Award for her work as Isabella Santos on “All My Children.”
STEPHANIE STYLES (Suz) most recently starred in Disney’s first National Tour of the Tony award-winning Musical Newsies. Stephanie landed the coveted role of ‘Katherine Plumber’ while studying for finals during her senior year at the University of Michigan. She subsequently graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre. Stephanie embarked on her first national tour at age 12, playing the role of Louisa von Trapp in the Broadway tour of The Sound of Music, alongside Tony Award-nominated actor Jonathan Groff. Stephanie’s New York debut was the following year in the principal role of The Rose at Lincoln Center in the New York City Opera’s production of The Little Prince directed by Francesca Zambello. During Stephanie’s high school career, she won a Tommy Tune award for Best Leading Actress in her role as Janet van de Graaff in The Drowsy Chaperone. This led to a nomination for the Jimmy Award in New York City, where Stephanie was a top-three finalist. That same year, Stephanie won the regional English-Speaking Union Shakespeare Competition, and advanced to National Finals at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. In addition to her many theatre credits, Stephanie recently made her feature film debut in The Submarine Kid produced by Coronet Films and starring Finn Wittrock and Emilie de Ravin. Stephanie has performed in concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
JENNY RACHEL WEINER (Playwright) is a playwright and actress based in New York City, and is currently the 2016/2017 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at the Roundabout Theatre Company. Select plays include: diventare (The Harold & Mimi Steinberg National Student Playwriting Award), Horse Girls (Fordham/Primary Stages, the cell, Ars Nova; New York, Collaboraction; Chicago, Annex Theatre; Seattle, published by Samuel French), Nina (Roundabout Theatre Company Underground Reading, O’Neill Semi-Finalist 2016, Fordham/Primary Stages), Jason&Julia (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Stagedream (co-written with Lee Overtree, developed at the O’Neill Theatre Center), Aunt Sylvia Is Dead (The Collective; published in The Collective Anthology 2014), Kingdom Come (Roundabout Underground Reading Series 2015, Roundabout Underground Production Fall 2016 directed by Kip Fagan). Jenny has developed plays with and/or been commissioned by the O’Neill Theatre Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Primary Stages, Ars Nova, Northlight Theatre, Piven Theatre Workshop, and Roundabout Theatre Company. BFA: Boston University, MFA: Fordham University/Primary Stages. Jenny has the distinct honor of being a part of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at Juilliard, beginning September 2016. When Jenny isn’t writing plays, you can catch her directing and performing with NYC/LA based theatre company Story Pirates. jennyrachelweiner.com
KIP FAGAN (Director) mostly recently directed Sheila Callaghan’s Women Laughing Alone With Salad at Woolly Mammoth and Erin Courtney’s I Will Be Gone at the Humana Festival in Louisville. Recent NYC credits: Ike Holter’s Exit Strategy (Primary Stages and Philadelphia Theatre Company); Heidi Schreck’s Grand Concourse (Playwrights Horizons); Ariel Stess’s I’m Pretty Fucked Up, Sheila Callaghan’s Roadkill Confidential, and Rachel Hoeffel’s Quail (Clubbed Thumb); Jesse Eisenberg’s The Revisionist (starring Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave), Halley Feiffer’s How to Make Friends and Then Kill Them, Eisenberg’s Asuncion, Heidi Schreck’s There Are No More Big Secrets, and Sheila Callaghan’s That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play (Rattlestick); Carlos Murillo’s A Thick Description of Harry Smith and Samuel D. Hunter’s Jack’s Precious Moment (Page 73); Reggie Watts and Tommy Smith’s Radio Play (P.S. 122); Zayd Dohrn’s Reborning and Cory Hinkle’s Cipher (SPF); Sheila Callaghan’s Recess and Christopher Durang’s Not a Creature Was Stirring (The Flea); Greg Keller’s The Young Left (Cherry Lane); Sam Marks’s Nelson (Partial Comfort). Regional credits include: Alliance Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Humana Festival, Sundance Theatre Lab, George Street Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Portland Center Stage, Marin Theatre Company, and City Theatre, among others. Taught and/or directed at Juilliard, NYU, SUNY Purchase, NTI, Strasberg Institute. 2003-2004 NEA/TCG directing fellow; 2007 Bill Foeller directing fellow at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Co-founder of Printer’s Devil in Seattle; affiliated artist at Clubbed Thumb.
Roundabout Theatre Company is committed to producing the highest quality theatre with the finest artists, sharing stories that endure, and providing accessibility to all audiences. A not-for-profit company, Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the production of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate and engage all audiences.
Roundabout Theatre Company presents a variety of plays, musicals, and new works on its five stages, each of which is specifically designed to enhance the needs of 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. The Stephen Sondheim Theatre offers a state of the art LEED certified Broadway theatre in which to stage major large-scale musical revivals. Together these distinctive homes serve to enhance Roundabout’s work on each of its stages.
Roundabout Theatre Company’s 50th Anniversary Season celebrates the company’s numerous accomplishments and vision for the future with bold new productions of classic plays, a revival of the Roundabout’s first musical, and new work by some of the country’s most exciting young talent. Founded in 1965, Roundabout Theatre Company has grown from a small 150-seat theatre in a converted Chelsea supermarket basement to become one of the nation’s most influential not-for-profit theatre companies, as well as one of New York City’s leading cultural institutions. Roundabout has been recognized with 36 Tonys, 50 Drama Desks, 59 Outer Critics Circle, 12 Obie and 18 Lucille Lortel Awards for its work on five stages, reaching more than 700,000 theatergoers and employing hundreds of artists each year.
Bank of America is a proud 50th Anniversary Season sponsor—a partnership that makes possible Roundabout’s many productions and not-for-profit initiatives during this landmark year. Roundabout’s 50th Anniversary Season media partners include WNBC, Clear Channel Spectacolor, and the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Roundabout’s 50th anniversary season in 2015-2016 includes the national tour of Sam Mendes & Rob Marshall’s Tony Award-winning production of Cabaret.
Roundabout’s 2016-2017 season will include Holiday Inn: The New Irving Berlin Musical by Gordon Greenberg and Chad Hodge, directed by Gordon Greenberg with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin; Diane Lane, Chuck Cooper, Tavi Gevinson, John Glover, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Harold Perrineau and Joel Grey in The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov with a new version by Stephen Karam, directed by Simon Godwin; Arthur Miller’s The Price directed by Terry Kinney; Love, Love, Love by Mike Bartlett, directed by Michael Mayer; If I Forget by Steven Levenson and Napoli, Brooklyn by Meghan Kennedy. The 2016-2017 Roundabout Underground season includes Kingdom Come, a new play by Jenny Rachel Weiner, directed by Kip Fagan.
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