Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Casey Reitz Executive Director) will present the Atlantic Theater Company’s (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director, Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) sold out production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ acclaimed play, Between Riverside and Crazy, for a limited engagement this winter.
Stephen McKinley Henderson as Pops, Elizabeth Canavan as Detective Audrey O’Connor & Michael Rispoli as Lieutenant Caro in Between Riverside and Crazy. Photo by Kevin Thomas Garcia
Recently featured on New York Times Theater Critic Ben Brantley’s Best Theater of 2014 List:
“Between Riverside and Crazy: The triumphant return of Stephen Adly Guirgis, who startled Broadway in 2011 by snatching a Tony nomination for best play for a work with an unprintable title. This gleefully agnostic account of the things we do for real estate (at least when you’re poor and in unlikely possession of prime Manhattan property) blithely crossed the lines between good and bad, comedy and tragedy, faith and skepticism without missing a step. Austin Pendleton directed a wonderful cast led by Stephen McKinley Henderson.”
Click here to see the complete list.
The production will begin previews on Friday, January 16, 2015 and will officially open on Wednesday, February 11, 2015 at Second Stage Theatre’s Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd street).
Stephen McKinley Henderson as Pops, Rosal Colon as Lulu & Victor Almanzar as Oswaldo in Between Riverside and Crazy. Photo by Kevin Thomas Garcia
Stephen McKinley Henderson, who received rave reviews for his lead performance as Walter “Pops” Washington, will return with the production. He was previously seen at Second Stage in August Wilson’s Jitney. Ron Cephas Jones joins other original cast members returning with the production include Victor Almanzar (Repertorio Espanol, LAByrinth Theater), Elizabeth Canavan (The Little Flower of East Orange), Rosal Colón (The Motherf*cker with the Hat) and Liza Colón-Zayas (Second Stage Theatre’s Water by the Spoonful and Living Out) and Michael Rispoli.
City Hall is demanding more than his signature, the Landlord wants him out, the liquor store is closed – and the Church won’t leave him alone. For ex-cop and recent widower Walter “Pops” Washington and his recently paroled son Junior, the struggle to hold on to one of the last great rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive collides with old wounds, sketchy new houseguests, and a final ultimatum in this dark comedy. For Pops and Junior, it seems the Old Days are dead and gone – after a lifetime living Between Riverside and Crazy.
“Part of Second Stage’s founding mission is to give deserving American plays a second chance to reach a wider audience. I was lucky enough to see Stephen’s remarkable play this summer and now I’m thrilled to bring it back and share it with theatregoers who couldn’t get a ticket during its sold out run,” says Artistic Director Carole Rothman. “An extraordinary combination of events have occurred to make this production a part of our season: an unexpected immediate opening in our line up and a brilliant play that was ready to be – and deserved to be – remounted for a larger audience. I couldn’t be happier bringing Stephen’s brilliant characters to life again and I know our audiences will be as knocked out by this play as I was.”
Between Riverside and Crazy features scenic design by Walt Spangler; costume design byAlexis Forte; lighting design by Keith Parham; and sound design and original music by Ryan Rumery.
Tickets are $75 (orchestra), $60 (Balcony), $67.50 (Senior), $125 premium*, $55 (subscription). Save 35% on $75 tickets with code BRACDM on performances, January 16- February 11, 2015. Rush tickets are available one hour prior to curtain to full time high school or college students. $30 Under 30 tickets available in advance for patrons ages 30 and under. One valid ID required for each ticket purchased, based on availability. For tickets: call the box office at 212-246-4422 or 2ST.com. *A limited number of Premium Seats are available. Please call the box office at 212-246-4422 to reserve.
2014 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright recipient Stephen Adly Guirgis at the 2014 Steinberg Playwright Awards hosted by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust on November 17, 2014 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
STEPHEN ADLY GUIRGIS (Playwright) is a member and former co-artistic director of LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States. They include Our Lady of 121st Street (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle Best Play Nominations), Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award, Barrymore Award, Olivier Nomination for London’s Best New Play), In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings (2007 LA Drama Critics Best Play, Best Writing Award), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (10 best Time Magazine & Entertainment Weekly), and The Little Flower of East Orange (with Ellen Burstyn & Michael Shannon). All five plays were directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and were originally produced by LAByrinth. His most recent play, The Motherf***er with the Hat (6 Tony nominations, including Best Play), was directed by Anna D. Shapiro and marked his third consecutive world premiere co-production with The Public Theater and LAByrinth. In London, his plays have premiered at The Donmar Warehouse, The Almeida (dir: Rupert Goold), The Hampstead (Robert Delamere), and at The Arts Theater in the West End. Other plays include Den of Thieves (Labyrinth, HERE, HAI, Black Dahlia) and Dominica The Fat Ugly Ho (dir: Adam Rapp) for the 2006 E.S.T. Marathon. He has received the Yale Wyndham-Campbell Prize, a PEN/Laura Pels Award, a Whiting Award, a TCG fellowship and the prestigious 2014 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award. He is also a New Dramatists Alumnae and a member of MCC’s Playwright’s Coalition, The Ojai Playwrights Festival, New River Dramatists, and Labyrinth Theater Company. As an actor, he has appeared in theater, film and television, including roles in Kenneth Lonergan’s film Margaret, Todd Solondz’s Palindromes, and Brett C Leonard’s Jailbait opposite Michael Pitt. A former violence prevention specialist and H.I.V. educator, he lives in New York City.
AUSTIN PENDLETON (Director) returns to Second Stage Theatre where he staged the critically acclaimed production of Spoils of War. He has been most recently represented as a director by his productions in New York, of Gidion’s Knot (by Johnna Adams) at 59E59; Seagull69 (adapted from The Sea Gull) at Mississippi Mud; Ivanov, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya (all at CSC); and Look Homeward, Angel for Mother of Invention, among many other productions. Other credits include: in Chicago, works at Steppenwolf (where he is a member of the Ensemble) most recently by Tribes; in London at the National Theatre by Detroit by Lisa D’Amour; and in Little Rock by A Loss of Roses by William Inge, at Arkansas Rep. He is also an actor (Broadway, off- and off-off-Broadway, regional theatre, and many movies and TV appearances), playwright (his plays include Orson’s Shadow, Uncle Bob, and Booth), and (at HB Studio in New York) teacher of acting.
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Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. Lia starred as Carole Barbara in Lorey Hayes’ Power Play at the 2013 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C., with Pauletta Pearson Washington, Roscoe Orman, and made her jazz vocalist debut in Rome Neal’s Banana Puddin’ Jazz “LADY” at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York. She is profiled in Jade Magazine.
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