MCC THEATER ANNOUNCES CASTING AND CREATIVE TEAM FOR “MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW”
Press Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Michael Jorgensen / Pete Sanders
rick@omdkc.com / michael@omdkc.com / pete@omdkc.com
212 695 7400
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
MCC THEATER
ANNOUNCES CASTING AND CREATIVE TEAM FOR
NEW YORK PREMIERE OF
“MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW”
BY HALLEY FEIFFER
DIRECTED BY TRIP CULLMAN
PREVIEWS BEGIN JUNE 26
OPENING NIGHT SET FOR JULY 18
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW
New York, NY (May 21, 2019) – MCC Theater (Bob LuPone, Bernie Telsey, Will Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) announced today casting and creative team for the New York premiere of Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow by Halley Feiffer (MCC’s A Funny Thing…), with direction by Trip Cullman (MCC’s A Funny Thing… and MCC’s YEN).
The cast will feature Lucille Lortel Award nominee Ako (God Said This), Tony Award nominee Steven Boyer (MCC’s Hand to God), Tavi Gevinson (This Is Our Youth), Sas Goldberg (Significant Other), Drama Desk Award winner Rebecca Henderson (“Russian Doll”), Lucille Lortel Award nominee Greg Hildreth (Frozen), Matthew Jeffers (Light Shining in Buckinghamshire), Gene Jones, Alfredo Narciso (“Manifest”), Theatre World Award winner Chris Perfetti (Sons of the Prophet), Ryan Spahn (Summer and Smoke), and Ray Anthony Thomas (Jitney).
The creative team for Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow includes scenic design by Mark Wendland, costume design by Paloma Young, lighting design by Ben Stanton, sound design by Darron L West, and casting by Telsey + Company/Adam Caldwell, CSA, Will Cantler, CSA, Karyn Casl, CSA. The Production Stage Manager is Lori Ann Zepp.
Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow begins performances on Wednesday, June 26, 2019 in the Susan & Ronald Frankel Theater at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space (511 West 52nd Street), with an official opening night set for Thursday, July 18, 2019. To celebrate its new home on 52nd and 10th, MCC is offering specially-priced $52 tickets for all performances of BLKS and Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow. The offer is only valid today in person at the box office. Additional restrictions may apply.
The struggle is real for Olga, Masha, and Irina: siblings who are NOT super thrilled to be stuck in rural Russia circa 1900 (laaame). In Halley Feiffer’s contemporary reimagining of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, we follow the joys and heartbreaks of one lovably dysfunctional family over the course of several pivotal years in a world that proves to be eerily similar to the one we live in today. Directed by Trip Cullman, this new comedy tackles the absurdity of the privileged class and the power of love in a fresh twist on a classic tale that reveals itself to be far more relevant, than like, ever before.
Tickets are on sale now at mcctheater.org.
Presented in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival.
B I O G R A P H I E S
Halley Feiffer is a writer and actress. Plays include How To Make Friends And Then Kill Them (World Premiere Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre – 2014), I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard, (World Premiere Atlantic Theater Company – January 2015, Outer Critics Circle Nomination), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (World Premiere MCC Theater – May 2016), Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow (World Premiere Williamstown Theatre Festival – July 2017), and The Pain of My Belligerence (World Premiere Playwrights Horizons — April 2019). She is a producer on the upcoming Showtime series “Kidding,” starring Jim Carrey and directed by Michel Gondry. Other television writing credits include “Mozart in the Jungle” (Amazon), “Purity” (Showtime) and “The One Percent” (Starz). She has developed original series with FX and Scott Rudin productions, currently has a pilot in development at TNT and is developing an original series with Mark Duplass. Her plays have been produced around the country and in Europe, and are published by Dramatists Play Service and Overlook Press. Her work has been commissioned by Atlantic Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons, Williamstown Theater Festival and three times by Manhattan Theater Club. Acting credits include the Broadway revivals of The Front Page and The House of Blue Leaves (Theater World Award), Tigers Be Still (Roundabout, Drama League Nom.), and numerous TV shows and films, including HBO’s “Bored To Death,” The Squid and the Whale and He’s Way More Famous Than You, which she also co-wrote. She recently starred in the West Coast premiere of her play A Funny Thing Happened… at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and teaches Playwriting at NYU.
Trip Cullman. Broadway: Lobby Hero (Second Stage at the Helen Hayes), John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation (Barrymore), Joshua Harmon’s Significant Other (Booth). Select Off Broadway: Anna Jordan’s YEN, Simon Stephens’ Punk Rock (Obie award), Halley Feiffer’s A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Of New York City (MCC); Leslye Headland’s The Layover, Jon Robin Baitz’s The Substance of Fire, Paul Weitz’ Lonely I’m Not, Headland’s Bachelorette, Terrence McNally’s Some Men, Adam Bock’s Swimming In The Shallows (Second Stage); Headland’s Assistance, Bock’s A Small Fire (Drama Desk nomination), Bock’s The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons); Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy (MTC); Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash’s Murder Ballad (MTC and Union Square Theatre); Feiffer’s I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic); Weitz’ Roulette (EST); Adam Rapp’s The Hallway Trilogy: Nursing (Rattlestick); Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God (Century Center); Jonathan Tolins’ The Last Sunday In June (Rattlestick and Century Center); Gina Gionfriddo’s US Drag (stageFARM); and several productions with The Play Company. London: Bock’s The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, PA (Tricycle). Select regional: McCraney’s Choir Boy (Ovation nomination), Bess Wohl’s Barcelona (Ovation nomination), Feiffer’s A Funny Thing Happened… (Geffen Playhouse); McCraney’s Choir Boy (NAACP and Suzi Bass awards) (Alliance); Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation (Old Globe); Richard Greenberg’s The Injured Party (South Coast Rep); McNally’s Unusual Acts of Devotion (La Jolla Playhouse); Christopher Durang’s Betty’s Summer Vacation (Bay Street); Wohl’s Touched, Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein’s Unknown Soldier, Tennessee Williams’ The Rose Tattoo, Feiffer’s Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow (Williamstown Theater Festival).
Ako. MCC debut. Ako created the role of Anfisa at Williamstown Festival 2017. Ako is the founding artistic director of English-Japanese bi-lingual theater Amaterasu Za www.amaterasuza.org. Ako is a former member of the world-famous Takarazuka Theatre Company in Japan. Her works include God Said This (Lucille Lortel Award nomination), Kentucky, Sayonara, Tamar of the River, Tea With the Haiku Geisha, Tea House of the August Moon, A Majority of One, Shogun Macbeth, Tea and Kokoro. Films/TV: Snow Falling on Cedars, BBC’s “Prisoners In Time,” I Origins, Too Tired to Die, Shadowplay, Daitoryo No Christmas Tree, No Reservations, Twelve, “30 Rock”, “Mercy”. Oregon Shakespeare Festival 2010-2012 season; Throne of Blood, Julius Caesar, White Snack. www.ako-actress.com
Steven Boyer recently starred as Dwayne Reed, lead investigator and former cop, who joins the defense team in NBC’s comedy “Trial and Error.” Boyer was nominated for a Tony Award for the Broadway run of Hand to God. Time Out NY named Boyer as “one of the Future Legends of the NY Theatre.” He also earned an Obie Award and a Lucille Lortel Award for his work in Hand to God at The Ensemble Studio Theatre and MCC. Most recently Steven starred in Assassins which was a part of the Encores Off Center series. He has also appeared in MTC’s The Explorer’s Club as well as in Second Stage’s production of Modern Terrorism. He also played the title role of Trevor in Nick Jones’ darkly funny Trevor, performed with Lesser America. In addition to his work in the theatre, Boyer has appeared in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies and in Martin Scorsese’s film The Wolf of Wall Street. He can be seen in the upcoming feature, Hustlers starring Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu. Boyer recently recurred on the NBC series “Chicago Fire” and has appeared in such beloved TV series as “Blacklist”, “Orange is the New Black,” “The Good Wife,” “The Crazy Ones,” “Louie,” “Mom,” “Person of Interest,” “Law & Order,” and “Ed.” He starred in and produced “The Share,” an independent web sitcom pilot from Emily Chadick Weiss. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and is also a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre. Boyer lives in South Slope, Brooklyn.
Tavi Gevinson is an actress and writer, most recently seen in Steven Levenson’s Off-Broadway production of Days of Rage. Last year, she starred in the revival of Carson McCullers’ The Member of the Wedding at Williamstown Theater Festival. Broadway credits include Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth, Mary Warren in Ivo van Hove’s production of The Crucible, and Anya in The Cherry Orchard. Film credits include Enough Said, Person to Person, and the upcoming Halston. TV credits include NBC’s “Parenthood” and Ryan Murphy’s “Scream Queens.”
Sas Goldberg made her Broadway debut in 2017, playing Kiki in Joshua Harmon’s Significant Other, a role she had originated in the Off-Broadway production (Roundabout). Her other stage credits include Stunning (LCT). Sas co-wrote, produced and starred in the film Are You Joking?. She also appeared in the films Ocean’s Eight, Hearts Beat Loud and Becks, and on television in “You’re the Worst” (FX), “Search Party” (TBS), “Odd Mom Out” (Bravo), and “Happyish” (Showtime). She can currently be seen recurring on the Jenji Kohan produced series “American Princess” (Lifetime). Sas is co-writing the book for Mystic Pizza with music by Melissa Etheridge. She has sold and written Television scripts and pilots at HBO, NBC, Fox, Sony, Warner Brothers and Bravo. She most recently developed a pilot for NBC with Jeffrey Seller (Hamilton, Rent) producing.
Rebecca Henderson. Select theatre: Moscowx6 (Williamstown); Bright Half Life (Women’s Project); The Wayside Motor Inn (Signature); Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra, The Whale, and The Retributionists (Playwrights Horizons); Too Much Too Much Too Many (Roundabout Theatre Company); The Collection and A Kind of Alaska (Atlantic Theater Company); La Brea and Roadkill Confidential (Clubbed Thumb); Red-Handed Otter (Playwright’s Realm); Icebergs (The Geffen); Autumn Sonata (Yale Rep); bobrauschenbergamerica (American Repertory Theater). Select Film and Television: “Russian Doll”, “Westworld”, “Manhunt: Unibomber”, “Rectify”, “Orange is the New Black”, “I’m Sorry”, “The First”, Mickey and the Bear, Mistress America, Appropriate Behavior, Lady Liberty, Actresses, The Mend, Simple Wedding, They Remain, and Grand Theft Auto IV & V. MFA, Columbia University. Rebecca is originally from Vancouver, Canada.
Greg Hildreth. Broadway: Frozen, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Peter and the Starcatcher, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Off-Broadway: The Robber Bridegroom (The Roundabout; Lortel Nomination), Peter and the Starcatcher (New York Theatre Workshop), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (The Public). Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Old Globe, Goodspeed Opera House, The Papermill Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO. Film/Television: Half Shell: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, “The Americans,” “The Good Wife,” “Royal Pains,” “Kings,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” Education: Boston University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
Matthew Jeffers is thrilled to be making his MCC debut! Theater: Light Shining In Buckinghamshire (NYTW), Thunderbodies (Soho Rep), The Mysteries (The Flea). TV: Recurring role on “New Amsterdam” (NBC), “The Blacklist” (NBC). Love and deep gratitude for Gail Williamson, Telsey, and MCC. Instagram: @TheLittleCulprit. For Mom.
Gene Jones. Broadway: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (w/Delroy Lindo), Big River. Off-Broadway: The Trip to Bountiful (Signature), The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks (Signature), Fables in Slang (Melting Pot), The Fantasticks (Sullivan Street and uptown productions). Regional: LaJolla Playhouse, St. Louis Rep, Missouri Rep, Virginia Stage, Florida Studio. Film: No Country for Old Men, The Hateful Eight, The Old Man and the Old Gun, The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, Texas Cotton, Bug, Dementia, The Sacrament (Blood/Guts UK Horror Award—Best Supporting Actor), The Great Santini. TV: “Boardwalk Empire”, “Louie”, “Inside Amy Schumer”,”Chappelle’s Show”, “House of Cards”, “The American Guest”(HBO upcoming), “Living With Yourself” (Netflix upcoming), nine Ken Burns documentaries. Thanks to Halley and Trip, love to Annie.
Alfredo Narciso was most recently seen on stage in Roundabout’s Broadway revival of Time and the Conways directed by Rebecca Taichman. Prior to that, he appeared in the initial run of Tiny Beautiful Things, based on the Cheryl Strayed book, adapted by Nia Vardalos and directed by Thomas Kail, at The Public Theatre. Some of his film & tv credits include: The Dark Tower, Demolition, “Homeland”, “House of Cards”, “Jessica Jones” and a recurring role as Captain Riojas on NBC’s “Manifest”, among others. He is a company member of LAByrinth, EST, Partial Comfort, New Neighborhood & The Actor’s Studio. (www.alfredonarciso.com)
Chris Perfetti most recently starred in Bruce Norris’ play The Low Road at the Public Theater directed by Michael Greif. Broadway: Six Degrees of Separation (Trip Cullman, dir.); Picnic (Sam Gold, dir.). Off-Broadway: Everybody (Signature Theater); Cloud Nine (Atlantic Theater Company); The Tempest (Shakespeare in the Park); Sons of the Prophet (Roundabout Theatre Company; Theater World Award Winner); and The Tutors (Second Stage Theater). Regular or recurring TV credits include: “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX), “The Night Of” (HBO), “Crossbones” (NBC), “Looking” (HBO), and “Next Caller” (NBC). Upcoming Film: The Surrogate; God the Worm; The Virtuoso; and Sound of Metal. Education: BFA, SUNY Purchase.
Ryan Spahn. Off-Broadway: Daniel’s Husband (Westside Theatre/Primary Stages/Penguin Rep), Summer and Smoke (Classic Stage/Transport Group), Still At Risk (TFANC), Exit Strategy (Primary Stages), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre). Regional: Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow, Moscow (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Hamlet (Shakespeare Theatre Company), Gloria (Goodman Theatre), Tribes (Actors Theatre Of Louisville). Film: Woven (co-writer), He’s Way More Famous Than You (co-writer with Halley Feiffer), Grantham & Rose (writer), Polish Wedding, Shirley (upcoming). TV: “The Blacklist”, “Half Life”, “Ugly Betty”, “Tanner on Tanner”, “Star Trek: Voyager”. Digital: “What’s Your Emergency” (co-creator). Training: Interlochen Arts Academy and The Juilliard School.
Ray Anthony Thomas. Broadway: Jitney (Tony-Best Revival; NY Drama Critics Award-Best Ensemble), The Crucible (Ivo van Hove, director), Race (David Mamet, writer/director). Ray has created roles in two Pulitzer Prize winning plays: Water By The Spoonful (by Quiara Algeria Hudes) and Between Riverside and Crazy (by Stephen Adly Guirgis), and has received an Obie for his performance in Volunteer Man at The Rattlestick Theater. Recently: Two Trains Running (Cincy/Milwaukee), The Year to Come (La Jolla), Artney Jackson (Williamstown). Also Fences and Jitney For August Wilson’s Century Cycle for NPR Radio). Recent Film and Television: Isn’t It Romantic, Trouble With the Curve, Shutter Island, “The Last O.G.,” “Blue Bloods,” “High Maintenance,” and “Law&Order.”
ABOUT MCC THEATER
MCC is one of New York’s leading nonprofit Off-Broadway companies, driven by a mission to provoke conversations that have never happened and otherwise never would. Founded in 1986 as a collective of artists leading peer-based classes to support their own development as actors, writers and directors, the tenets of collaboration, education, and community are at the core of MCC Theater’s programming. One of the only theaters in the country led continuously by its founders, Artistic Directors Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, and William Cantler, MCC fulfills its mission through the production of world, American, and New York premiere plays and musicals that challenge artists and audiences to confront contemporary personal and social issues, and robust playwright development and education initiatives that foster the next generation of theater artists and students.
MCC Theater’s celebrated productions include Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play; Penelope Skinner’s The Village Bike; Robert Askins’ Hand to God (Broadway transfer; five 2015 Tony Award® nominations including Best Play); John Pollono’s Small Engine Repair; Paul Downs Colaizzo’s Really Really; Sharr White’s The Other Place (Broadway transfer); Jeff Talbott’s The Submission (Laurents/Hatcher Award); Neil LaBute’s Reasons to Be Happy, reasons to be pretty (Broadway transfer, three 2009 Tony Award® nominations, including Best Play), Some Girl(s), Fat Pig, The Mercy Seat, and All The Ways To Say I Love You; Michael Weller’s Fifty Words; Alexi Kaye Campbell’s The Pride; Bryony Lavery’s Frozen (Broadway transfer; four 2004 Tony Award® nominations including Best Play, Tony Award® for Best Featured Actor); Tim Blake Nelson’s The Grey Zone; Rebecca Gilman’s The Glory of Living (2002 Pulitzer Prize finalist); Margaret Edson’s Wit (1999 Pulitzer Prize); and the musicals Coraline, Carrie, and Ride the Cyclone. Many plays developed and produced by MCC have gone on to productions throughout the country and around the world.
Blake West joined the company in 2006 as Executive Director. MCC will begin production in January, 2019 in its new home in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, the Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space, unifying the company’s activities under one roof for the first time and expanding its producing, artist development, and education programming.
ABOUT THE ROBERT W. WILSON CHARITABLE TRUST
A successful investor from the 1960s through the 1980s, Robert W. Wilson devoted his life to philanthropy after his retirement, focusing on supporting organizations on preservation and conservation initiatives worldwide. An avid New Yorker, Wilson was also deeply engaged with a number of New York’s cultural institutions. He was a major supporter of, and held leadership roles with, the Whitney Museum and the Metropolitan Opera, where he was a board member for many years. In addition, the Trust continues to support the New York Public Library, Central Park Conservancy, BAM, Wildlife Conservation Society, EDF, Nature Conservancy, WMF, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, organizations he championed during his lifetime. He played a leading role in transforming many of these institutions. The matching gift to MCC was the Trust’s first grant to a theater company. The trust is now managed by three trustees: Richard Schneidman, Robert Feidelson, and Ron Zimmerman.
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