All That Chat - Emmy Award-Winner Anna Gunn and Tony Nominee Billy Magnussen to Star in SEX WITH STRANGERS at Second Stage

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Emmy Award-Winner Anna Gunn and Tony Nominee Billy Magnussen to Star in SEX WITH STRANGERS at Second Stage

Posted by:	Official_Press_Release 03:07 pm EDT 04/01/14

SECOND STAGE THEATRE ANNOUNCES CASTING FOR SEX WITH STRANGERS Written by Laura Eason Directed by David Schwimmer Starring Emmy Award Winner ANNA GUNN & Tony Award Nominee BILLY MAGNUSSEN Previews Begin Tuesday, July 8 Opening Wednesday, July 30 Currently celebrating its 35th Anniversary Season, Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) has announced complete casting for its upcoming production of LAURA EASON’s drama, SEX WITH STRANGERS, directed by DAVID SCHWIMMER. The company will feature Emmy Award-Winner ANNA GUNN (Breaking Bad) as Olivia and Tony Award-Nominee BILLY MAGNUSSEN (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike) as Ethan. How far will you go to get what you want? Will you be the same person if you finally do? When star sex blogger and memoirist Ethan tracks down his idol, the gifted but obscure novelist Olivia, he finds they both crave what the other possesses. As attraction turns to sex, and they inch closer to getting what they want, both must confront the dark side of ambition and the near impossibility of reinventing oneself when the past is only a click away. SEX WITH STRANGERS will feature set design by Andromache Chalfant (2ST’s Bachelorette), costume design by ESOSA (2ST’s By The Way, Meet Vera Stark), lighting design by Japhy Weideman (The Nance), and sound design by Fitz Patton (I’ll Eat You Last). The production stage manager will be Scott Taylor Rollison. For subscription, group, or single ticket information, please call the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422 or visit the company’s website, www.2ST.com. All performances are staged at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theatre, 305 West 43rd Street (just west of Eighth Avenue). ABOUT THE COMPANY ANNA GUNN (Olivia) is the recipient of the 2013 Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Skyler White in the Emmy Award Winning television series “Breaking Bad.” The role also garnered her a 2012 Best Supporting Actress Emmy nomination. Other television credits include her breakout role playing Martha Bullock on HBO’s “Deadwood,” Jean Ward on “The Practice,” and guest starring appearances on “Six Feet Under,” “ER,” “Boston Legal,” “Law & Order,” and “Seinfeld.” Highlights of her film work include Nobody’s Baby opposite Gary Oldman, Enemy of the State, Red State, Little Red Wagon, and Sassy Pants for which she received a 2012 Milan Film Festival nomination for best supporting actress. Anna has created leading roles on the stage in Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still and Alan Alda’s Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie (Geffen Playhouse). Other notable stage credits include The Rehearsal (Roundabout Theatre) opposite Roger Rees, Isabella in Measure for Measure (Ahmanson Theatre), Hysteria (Mark Taper Forum), Uncommon Ground (Northlight Theatre), Peacekeeper (American Blues Theatre) opposite Jeremy Piven, and Lucy Lockit in the critically acclaimed production of The Beggar’s Opera at the Court Theatre. Currently, Gunn is workshopping an indie film which will premiere this June at the Director’s Lab at the Sundance Institute. She is also shooting the highly-anticipated event series, “Gracepoint,” set to premiere during the 2014-2015 season on FOX. BILLY MAGNUSSEN (Ethan) recently wrapped the feature film, Into the Woods, starring as Rapunzel’s Prince, directed by Rob Marshall, to be released this Christmas. He was nominated for a 2013 Tony Award for his performance as Spike in the Tony Award-winning play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. His other theatre credits include The Ritz and Paper Dolls. Other feature film credits include starring roles in the films Twelve, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts and Curtis (50 Cent) Jackson; Happy Tears, starring Demi Moore, Parker Posey and Rip Torn; and most recently, Damsels in Distress, directed by Whit Stillman and starring Greta Gerwig. His television credits include guest starring roles on “In Plain Sight,” “Law and Order,” “Law and Order CI,” “The Unusuals,” “NCIS LA,” “CSI,” “Boardwalk Empire,” and a recurring role on the new series, “The Divide.” He is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and is a member of the rock band, Reserved for Rondee. LAURA EASON is the author of twenty plays, both original work and adaptation, a musical book writer and screenwriter. Recent productions include Sex with Strangers (Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago; Sydney Theatre, AU; published by Overlook Press); The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Hartford Stage, CT; New Victory, NYC; People’s Light, PA; Actor’s Theatre, KY; KC Rep; St. Louis Rep; Denver Center, published by DPS), and Around the World in 80 Days (New Vic and Royal Exchange, UK; Lookingglass Theatre; Baltimore Centerstage; KC Rep; published by Broadway Play Publishing). Additional plays include Rewind (Side Project, Chicago), The Vast In-Between (Denver Center commission), Remarkable Invisible (Ambassador Theatre Group, UK, commission), Every Reason To Hope and Believe (Repertory of St. Louis Commission) and The Undeniable Sound of Right Now (developed by Rattlestick Theatre and Rising Phoenix Rep, NYC), among others. Additional adaptations include: When The Messenger Is Hot (59E59, NYC; Steppenwolf; Theatre Schmeater, Seattle), Ethan Frome (Lookingglass Theatre), A Tale of Two Cities and Huck Finn (Steppenwolf), among others. Musicals include Days Like Today, with music and lyrics by Alan Schmuckler, commissioned and produced by Writers’ Theatre, Chicago and Summerland, music by Jenny Giering, Lyrics by Sean Barry (commission for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.) She was a staff writer on season two and is currently a story editor on season three of the Netflix show “House of Cards.” Laura is an Ensemble Member of Lookingglass Theatre (2011 Regional Tony Award) and served as Artistic Director for six years. In New York, she is a member of Rising Phoenix Rep, New Georges, and a Women’s Project Playwright’s Lab alumna. A longtime Chicagoan, she lives in Brooklyn with her family. DAVID SCHWIMMER (Director) is co-founder of the Lookingglass Theatre Company of Chicago, where he most recently directed the world premiere of Keith Huff's Big Lake Big City. He has acted in and directed many productions for Lookingglass, including Trust, Our Town, West, The Master and Margarita, The Jungle, Eye of the Beholder, The Odyssey, The Idiot, Of One Blood and his adaptation of Studs Terkel's book, Race. He starred in the premieres of D Girl and Turnaround in Los Angeles, Glimmer Brothers in Williamstown, Some Girls in London, the revival of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial on Broadway, and Detroit at Playwrights Horizons. Schwimmer's notable television and film credits include The Iceman, Nothing But The Truth, Madagascar I, II, & III, Duane Hopwood, Big Nothing, Band of Brothers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Days Seven Nights, Apt Pupil, The Pallbearer and the hit comedy series “Friends,” for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. Television directing includes “Friends,” the HBO series “Little Britain USA,” and the pilot for the NBC comedy, “Growing Up Fisher.” Film directing includes Since You've Been Gone, Run Fat Boy Run and Trust starring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener and Viola Davis. SEX WITH STRANGERS will be performed from July 8 through August 24 on the following schedule: Tuesday – Friday at 7:00pm, and Saturday at 8:00pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00pm and Sunday at 3:00pm. The following exceptions will be made to the regular performance schedule: There are no Wednesday matinee performances on July 9 and 16. The performances on Sunday, July 13 are at 2pm and 7pm. The performances on Sunday, July 20 are at 2pm and 7pm. There is a performance on Monday, July 28 at 7pm. There will be no performance on Thursday, July 31. Tickets are $75 and may be purchased by phoning 212-246-4422 or online at www.2ST.com. $30 UNDER 30 YOUTH ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE - patrons age 30 and under may purchase a limited number of specially-priced $30 tickets in advance. Proof of age must be shown at the box office. Group tickets are available at a discount by phoning 212-246-4422. Box-office hours are Monday, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Tuesday 10:00am – 7:00pm, Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00am to 8:00pm, and Sunday, 10:00am to 3:00pm. ABOUT SECOND STAGE THEATRE Founded in 1979 under the leadership of Artistic Director Carole Rothman, SECOND STAGE THEATRE produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America’s best contemporary theatre, including Tiny Alice and Peter and Jerry by Edward Albee; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo’s Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo; Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem by Ricky Jay; Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; Living Out by Lisa Loomer; This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Some Men by Terrence McNally; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage; eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; Everyday Rapture by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott; Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deavere Smith; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Crowns by Regina Taylor; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Spoils of War by Michael Weller; Before It Hits Home, Jar the Floor and Birdie Blue by Cheryl L. West; Jitney by August Wilson; Lemon Sky, Serenading Louie and Sympathetic Magic by Lanford Wilson; and Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci by Mary Zimmerman. The company’s more than 130 citations include the 2010 Pulitzer prize for Next to Normal, the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Orchestrations, and Best Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley) for Next to Normal, the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed), 2005 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, ...Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, ...Spelling Bee), 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 27 Obie Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, 12 Drama Desk Awards, nine Theatre World Awards, 14 Lucille Lortel Awards, the NY Drama Critics Circle Award and 15 AUDELCO Awards. In 1999, Second Stage Theatre opened The Tony Kiser Theatre, its state-of-the-art, 296-seat theatre, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. In 2002, Second Stage launched “Second Stage Theatre Uptown” series to showcase the work of up and coming artists at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre. The Theatre supports artists through several programs that include residencies, fellowships and commissions, and engages students and community members through education and outreach programs. SECOND STAGE THEATRE AT THE HELEN HAYES Second Stage Theatre has acquired the right to purchase the historic Helen Hayes Theatre, located at 240 W. 44th Street. With this new home, Second Stage will be the only theatre company on Broadway dedicated exclusively to the development and presentation of contemporary American theatrical productions. Second Stage will also become one of only four non-profit theatre companies that own and operate theatres on Broadway. The company will continue to lease and operate their original theatres on the city’s Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan. For more information, please visit www.2ST.com
Link	www.2ST.com

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Lookingglass ...

Posted by:	enoch10 05:20 pm EDT 04/02/14
In reply to:	Emmy Award-Winner Anna Gunn and Tony Nominee Billy Magnussen to Star in SEX WITH STRANGERS at Sec ... - Official_Press_Release 03:07 pm EDT 04/01/14

this could be really good. lookingglass is one of my favorite theaters in chicago and for my money chicago is the best theater scene outside new york. i don't to go as much as i'd like and it's possible i've just been really lucky with what i've caught but i've seen five or six things at lookingglass and they've all been really good. not a bad one in the bunch. the last thing i saw was a production of PETER PAN i almost skipped because i wasn't that interested in seeing another PETER PAN but i went solely on the strength of what i'd seen before there and it ended up being terrific.

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