Cast Announced for Stage Kiss

SARAH RUHL’S STAGE KISS
DIRECTED BY BART DeLORENZO

CAST FEATURES TIM BAGLEY, MELODY BUTIU, STEPHEN CAFFREY,
BARRY DEL SHERMAN, GLENNE HEADLY, EMILY JAMES,
AND MATTHEW SCOTT MONTGOMERY

APRIL 5 TO MAY 15 (OPENING NIGHT IS APRIL 13, 2016)
IN THE GIL CATES THEATER AT THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE


Sarah Ruhl
(Photo Credit: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)


LOS ANGELES (March 21, 2016)—Geffen Playhouse announces the cast for its production of Stage Kiss written by Sarah Ruhl (Susan Smith Blackburn Award Winner, two time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tony Award nominee). Bart DeLorenzo directs production starring Tim Bagley, Melody Butiu, Stephen Caffrey, Barry Del Sherman, Glenne Headly, Emily James and Matthew Scott Montgomery.

When long-lost loves are cast as long-lost lovers, two squabbling actors are slow to learn their lines but quick to ignite an old flame. MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient Sarah Ruhl leads us on-stage, back-stage and out the stage door as reality collides with fiction in this raucous and revealing play within a play.

"Suffused with warmth and humor. Ruhl frothily whips together a romantic comedy and backstage farce." – The New York Times

"Sarah Ruhl delivers a brilliant comedy that aims for big laughs and hits its target.” – New York Post

Tickets currently priced from $32 to $76 are available in-person at the Geffen Playhouse box office, via phone at 310.208.5454 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.

STAGE KISS
Written by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Bart DeLorenzo
Previews: Tuesday, April 5—Tuesday, April 12
Opening Night: Wednesday, April 13
Closing Night: Sunday, May 15

CAST
Tim Bagley as The Director
Melody Butiu as Millicent/Laurie
Stephen Caffrey as Husband
Barry Del Sherman as He
Glenne Headly as She
Emily James as Angela and others
Matthew Scott Montgomery as Kevin and others

PRODUCTION TEAM
Scenic Design by Keith Mitchell
Costume Design by David Kay Mickelsen
Lighting Design by Lap Chi Chu
Sound Design by John Ballinger
Fight Director Peter Katona
Production Stage Manager Jennifer Brienen
Assistant Stage Manager Cate Cundiff
Casting by Phyllis Schuringa

OPENING NIGHT SPONSORS
Audi of America
Napa Valley Grille
Hint Water
Kind

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Monday No Performance
Tuesday—Friday 8:00 pm
Saturday 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm
Sunday 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets currently priced from $32 to $76 are available in-person at the Geffen Playhouse box office, via phone at 310.208.5454 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.

LOCATION
Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024



SIGNATURE SERIES
In addition to the opening night, the run of Stage Kiss will feature pre-show and post-show Signature Series events. Ranging from the cerebral to the celebratory these include TGIF at the Geffen, Talk Back Tuesdays (Audience Q+A with artists), Girls Night Out, Lounge Fridays, and Wine Down Sundays. Thanks to the support of Geffen Playhouse partners and sponsors, all elements of Signature Series evenings are complimentary as part of the ticket price. Signature Series events include:
• TGIF at the Geffen takes place on the Friday following opening night and is the ideal cultural meet up and hot-spot on the west side. Enjoy classic to contemporary tunes from DJ Mike pre-show on the Simms Courtyard patio, photo ops with friends in the TGIF photo booth plus drink specials at the concessions bar.
• Talk Back Tuesdays give theater lovers a chance for a deeper conversation to discuss plot, character, themes or any other questions directly with the artists with a post-show Q+A from the stage. Complimentary coffee and tea provided pre-show at the concessions bar.
• Geared towards the ladies, with enticements for the guys, Girls Night Out at the Geffen is the ultimate night out in LA. For this Spring celebration, a Suja Juice Bar will be featured along with a Time Machine photo booth, hosted bar, food buffets, DJ spun tunes plus a gorgeous take away Reka Lena Silk and Pixi Beauty gift. Sponsored by Los Angeles Magazine.
• Happy hour Lounge Fridays turns the Geffen Playhouse into a haven to help fast-paced Angelenos ease into their weekend and unwind at this cultural happy hour. Complimentary sparkling joins other enticing beverages starting at 7:00 pm. Sponsored by LAArtsOnline.com
• Wine Down Sundays provides the perfect pairing – pre-performance wine sampling followed by a 7pm curtain time to close out the week.
For Signature Series dates associated with the run of Stage Kiss visit http://geffenplayhouse.org/kissevents

BIOGRAPHIES

TIM BAGLEY (as The Director)
Tim Bagley makes his Geffen Playhouse debut with Stage Kiss. Theater highlights: Under My Skin (Pasadena Playhouse), Underneath The Lintel (Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara), Four Places (Ovation, LA Drama Critics Circle and Garland awards, Rogue Machine Theatre), The Receptionist (Odyssey Theatre), Beverly Winwood Presents… (Groundlings Theatre), The Groundlings main company (two LA Weekly awards). Tim wrote and performed three one person shows, No Actors Allowed (Groundlings Theatre), Clean Boy Dirty Stories (U.S. Comedy Arts Festival), Happy Hour (Jury award, best one person show, U.S. Comedy Arts Festival). Currently recurs on Teachers and Grace and Frankie. Other television highlights: Transparent, Mr. Robinson, The Comeback, Web Therapy, Shameless, Southland, Grimm, Monk and Will & Grace. Film highlights: Imperfect Sky, Blind Malice, This Is 40, Knocked Up, Finding Bliss, Employee of the Month, The Day After Tomorrow, Happy Texas and The Mask.


MELODY BUTIU (Millicent/Laurie)
Melody is delighted to return to the Geffen, after a few years in New York and time recently in San Francisco. Geffen Playhouse: Shipwrecked! An Entertainment — The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself) (also at South Coast Repertory/Actors Theatre of Louisville), Nightmare Alley. She made her Broadway debut in Doctor Zhivago, and earned critical acclaim for her role as Estrella Cumpas in David Byrne’s Here Lies Love at the Public Theater (Lucille Lortel Nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical). Regional Theater includes: Monstress (American Conservatory Theater), Land of Smiles (Thailand), Helen and Hippolytos (Getty Villa), The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (South Coast Repertory/Actors Theatre of Phoenix), A Perfect Wedding (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Long Story Short (San Diego Repertory), A Little Night Music, Theory of Everything and Golden Child (East West Players), Calligraphy (Playwrights’ Arena), 36 Views (Laguna Playhouse/Portland Center Stage), Dogeaters and Boy (La Jolla Playhouse). Film/Television includes: Rizzoli & Isles, Major Crimes, Modern Family, Gotham, NCIS, Untold and Blood Ransom, to name a few.

STEPHEN CAFFREY (The Husband)
Last seen at the Geffen in Yes, Prime Minister. Some others include: Red (Geva Theatre and PlayMakers Repertory); Galileo (Cleveland Playhouse); One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (Portland Centre Stage); Victoria Musica (Cincinnati Playhouse); The Constant Wife (Pasadena Playhouse); Bach at Leipzig (South Coast Repertory); Heartbreak House (Berkeley Rep); The Voysey Inheritance, The Real Thing, A Doll’s House (American Conservatory Theater); Thirty Six Views (Laguna Playhouse); The Body Of Bourne (Mark Taper Forum); All’s Well That Ends Well (Santa Cruz Shakespeare); Bargains (The Old Globe); The Miser (Hartford Stage); I Hate Hamlet (The Royal George); What You Get & Expect (New York Theatre Workshop); King Lear, Henry IV, Autumn Garden (Anteaus); Scarlet Letter (Classic Stage Company); The Cost Of Doing Business (Met Theatre); and Restoration Comedy (Seattle Repertory Theatre), among others. Film & Television: American Odyssey (NBC, recurring); Cinema Verite (HBO); CSI: Miami, Columbo, Tour Of Duty (CBS, series regular); Longtime Companion; Chicago Hope; All My Children (series regular); Buried Alive; The Profiler; The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles; Nothing Lasts Forever; Blowback; Showtime; Murder of Innocence; Seinfeld (yada, yada).

BARRY DEL SHERMAN (He)
Barry is just really great. Last at the Geffen with Merton of the Movies and last with Bart at the Odyssey as Trivlan in The False Servant where he also played “Ivanov.” Appeared Off-Broadway at theaters such as Circle Rep, Second Stage Theatre, the Public Theater, Naked Angels, as well as Ensemble Studio Theatre, Playwrights Horizons and Women’s Project Theater. Won an Obie for Marlane Meyer’s The Mystery of Attraction at the Tribeca Playhouse. He has also appeared at Portland Center Stage for The Imaginary Invalid; Magic Theatre in San Francisco for Why Things Burn, Light Up The Sky at the La Jolla Playhouse, The Projectionist by Michael Sargent at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, directed by Bart Delorenzo, as well as The Old Globe, The Met, Actor’s Gang, and let’s not forget “Nestor” in Wilfredo by Wes Walker for Padua Playwrights. Television credits: Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: NY, 10-8: Officers on Duty, Cracker and The Bridge. Film credits include American Beauty, There Will Be Blood, On The Road, Night Moves and Yosemite. Born in Fontana, though knows no one there.

GLENNE HEADLY (She)
Glenne Headly was raised in NYC but began her professional theatrical career as an ensemble member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where she appeared as an actress as well as costumed several of their productions. She received four Joseph Jefferson awards for her acting work while there. Her theater work elsewhere includes Balm in Gilead, The Philanthropist, The Jacksonian (Off-Broadway), Arms & The Man and Fish in The Dark (Broadway), Aunt Dan & Lemon (London), Detachments (L.A.) and My Brilliant Divorce (Galway). Her film work includes Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dick Tracy, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Mortal Thoughts, Breakfast of Champions, What’s The Worst That Could Happen, Comeback Season, The Amateurs, ‘The Joneses and Don Jon, among others. Television credits include Pronto, And The Band Played On, On Golden Pond, Lonesome Dove (Emmy Nomination) and Bastard Out of Carolina (Emmy Nomination). She will next be seen in the HBO’s Criminal Justice and the film The Circle. She is delighted to return to the Geffen, where she last appeared in The Jacksonian.

EMILY JAMES (Angela/Mille/Maid)
Emily is overjoyed to be making her debut at the Geffen Playhouse. A Kentucky native, Emily studied at the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville and then moved on to get a BFA in Acting from California State University, Fullerton. Since graduation in 2015, she has had the privilege to perform on a few amazing L.A. stages. Last spring she was seen at South Coast Repertory in the world premiere of Mr. Wolf (directed by David Emmes). Her most recent endeavors include the title role in Antigone at A Noise Within (directed by Robertson Dean) and the world premiere of Colony Collapse by Stefanie Zadravec (directed by Jessica Kubzansky).

MATTHEW SCOTT MONTGOMERY (Kevin/Butler/Doctor/Pimp)
Theater: L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Performance by an Actor, Back Stage West Garland Award for Best Actor, and Ovation Nomination for Best Actor for his performance as Kendall Parker in Yellow (LA Weekly Awards’ Best Ensemble, Back Stage Garland Awards’ Best Production/Ensemble) written and directed by Del Shores (Coast Playhouse), The Young Playwrights Festival (The Blank Theatre, 2014 & 2015), Spring Awakening (The Production Company), Revolver (Celebration Theatre) and Friends Like These (Theatre Unleashed). Film/Television: Del Shores’s Southern Baptist Sissies opposite Dale Dickey and Leslie Jordan; Sonny With a Chance/So Random, Austin & Ally and Shake It Up! (Disney Channel); Night of the Living Fred (Nickelodeon); and Expecting a Miracle (Hallmark Movie Channel). Web: AwesomenessTV, Go90’s Betch and the upcoming second season of the critically-acclaimed webseries Nasty Habits. Also cohost of the iTunes podcast Welcome to DeadCast: The Goosebumps Podcast with over 29K subscribers.

SARAH RUHL (Playwright)
Sarah Ruhl’s plays include For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday; The Oldest Boy; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; The Clean House; Passion Play; Dead Man’s Cell Phone; Melancholy Play; Eurydice; Orlando; Late: a cowboy song; Dear Elizabeth and Stage Kiss. She has been a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and a Tony Award nominee. Her plays have been produced on Broadway at the Lyceum, by Lincoln Center Theater, Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage Theatre and at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Her plays have been produced regionally all over the country, often with premieres at Yale Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, the Goodman Theatre and the Piven Theatre Workshop in Chicago. In 2014 she was the second most produced playwright in the country. Her plays have also been produced internationally and have been translated into over twelve languages. Originally from Chicago, Ms. Ruhl received her M.F.A. from Brown University where she studied with Paula Vogel. She has received the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Whiting Award, the Lily Award, a PEN award for mid-career playwrights and the MacArthur “genius” award. You can read more about her work on www.SarahRuhlplaywright.com. Her book of essays 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write was published by Faber and Faber last fall. She teaches at the Yale School of Drama, and she lives in Brooklyn with her family.

BART DeLORENZO (Director)
Founding Artistic Director of the Evidence Room Theater in Los Angeles. At the Geffen, he directed the premieres of Death of the Author, Coney Island Christmas, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment — The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as Told by Himself), and Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress. His recent productions with Evidence Room include Sarah Ruhl’s Passion Play, The False Servant, Annapurna, Ivanov, Margo Veil and The Receptionist, produced with the Odyssey Theater. Other recent directing includes Annapurna with The New Group (Off-Broadway); tokyo fish story, Fast Company, Doctor Cerberus, and Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone at South Coast Repertory; Women in Jeopardy at the Ensemble Theater of Santa Barbara; Need to Know at Rogue Machine; Cymbeline at A Noise Within; and The Night Watcher at Washington’s Studio Theatre. He is on the faculty at CalArts. For his work, he has received LA Drama Critics Circle Awards including the Milton Katselas Award for career achievement, LA Weekly awards, Back Stage Garlands and TCG’s Alan Schneider Director Award.

ABOUT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company was founded by Gilbert Cates, and is currently helmed by Artistic Director Randall Arney, Executive Director Gil Cates, Jr., and Co-Chairs of the Board Martha Henderson and Pamela Robinson. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts. Following a strong 2014/2015 season during which five productions extended, the company’s 20th anniversary season features eight productions (two world and three West Coast premieres) featuring some of the nation’s leading playwrights and directors. www.geffenplayhouse.org.

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