LAYOVER to Receive Its World Premiere at Second Stage Theatre in Summer 2016

From the writer and director of the

Second Stage Uptown hit comedy BACHELORETTE…

LAYOVER

To Receive Its World Premiere at

Second Stage Theatre in Summer 2016

Previews begin August 2, 2016

By Leslye Headland

Directed by Trip Cullman

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December 1, 2015 – Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Casey Reitz, Executive Director) has announced that playwright Leslye Headland and director Trip Cullman, who collaborated on Second Stage Uptown’s hit comedy Bachelorette, will return to Second Stage Theatre next summer with the world premiere of LAYOVER.

The play, commissioned by Second Stage as part of the Time Warner Commissioning Program, will be the final production of the 2015-16 mainstage season. Previews will begin on August 2 at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd Street). Opening will be mid-August. Casting and complete creative team will be announced at a later date.

Ever wonder who that stranger is sitting next to you? What is their story? What are they hiding? Shellie and Dex dare to answer these questions after their flight is delayed on a snowy Thanksgiving night. What they discover about themselves, and each other, sends both of their lives into upheaval. From the darkly funny writer of Bachelorette, Layover asks the question: Can you ever really get to know somebody when you're hiding so much yourself?

Second Stage Theatre’s 2015-2016 season is currently presenting the New York premiere production of INVISIBLE THREAD, a new musical by Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews, in association with American Repertory Theater, directed by Tony® Award winner Diane Paulus. The production officially opens on December 2.

The New York premiere of SMART PEOPLE, the new play by Lydia R. Diamond, directed by Tony® Award winner Kenny Leon, will continue the season, beginning previews January 26, 2016.

The new musical, DEAR EVAN HANSEN, featuring music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, book by Steven Levenson, and directed by Tony® nominee Michael Greif, will be the third New York premiere in the 2015-2016 season, beginning previews March 25, 2016.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

LESLYE HEADLAND (Playwright) is an established playwright, screenwriter, and director, and holds a BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Headland started her writing for the theatre, with such plays as Bachelorette (Second Stage), Assistance (Playwrights Horizons), and the rest of the Seven Deadly Plays series (IAMA Theatre Company). Several of these plays would later serve as the basis for her film and television projects. In 2010, Headland became a staff writer for FX’s television series “Terriers,” created by Ted Griffin and Shawn Ryan, starring Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James. Two years later, her play Assistance was acquired by NBC for television. The pilot was executive produced by Headland, Will Ferrell, and Adam McKay for Gary Sanchez Productions, and starred Krysten Ritter. In 2012, Headland broke out in features, when she made her directorial debut with another of her plays, Bachelorette, starring Kirsten Dunst, Rebel Wilson, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden, and Adam Scott. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, was subsequently sold to the Weinstein Company, and went on to become one of the most successful VOD releases to date. Off of that feat, Headland set up her next script, About Last Night, at Screen Gems. Kevin Hart and Michael Ealy starred in the film directed by Steve Pink, which was released in February 2014, grossing over $50 million domestically. Most recently, Headland wrote and directed the romantic-comedy, titled Sleeping with Other People, and produced by Gloria Sanchez Productions. The project stars Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie, and had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was sold to IFC for summer 2015 distribution, and will be released on DVD and VOD platforms on December 22nd, 2015.

TRIP CULLMAN (Director). Select NYC: Joshua Harmon's Significant Other (Roundabout), Halley Feiffer's I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic), Simon Stephens's Punk Rock (MCC, Obie Award), Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire (Second Stage), Tarrell Alvin McCraney's Choir Boy (Manhattan Theatre Club), Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash's Murder Ballad (Manhattan Theatre Club and Union Square Theatre), Paul Weitz's Lonely, I'm Not (Second Stage), Leslye Headland's Assistance (Playwrights Horizons), Adam Bock's A Small Fire (Playwrights Horizons, Drama Desk nom.), Adam Rapp's The Hallway Trilogy: Nursing (Rattlestick), Headland's Bachelorette (Second Stage), Terrence McNally's Some Men (Second Stage), Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God (Century Center), Bock's The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons), Weitz's Roulette (EST), Jonathan Tolins's The Last Sunday In June (Rattlestick and Century Center), Bock's Swimming In The Shallows (Second Stage), 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 (Geffen and Alliance, Suzi Bass award), John 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), Bess Wohl's Touched (Williamstown Theater Festival). Upcoming: Michael Friedman and Danny Goldstein's Unknown Soldier (Williamstown Theater Festival), Wohl's Barcelona (Geffen), 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).

ABOUT SECOND STAGE THEATRE

Under the artistic direction of Carole Rothman, SECOND STAGE THEATRE produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America’s best contemporary theatre, including 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis; 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes; The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown; Dogfight by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Peter Duchan; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage; Trust and Lonely, I’m Not by Paul Weitz; The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz; Everyday Rapture by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott; Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deavere Smith; Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo; Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; Jitney by August Wilson; Jar the Floor by Cheryl L. West; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Crowns by Regina Taylor; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo’s Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants by Ricky Jay; Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller; Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; and Tiny Alice by Edward Albee.

The company’s more than 130 citations include the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley, Next to Normal) and Best Score (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal); the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed); the 2005 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, …Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, …Spelling Bee); the 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, seven Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, 12 Drama Desk Awards, nine Theatre World Awards, 17 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 23 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

In 2015 Second Stage Theatre purchased 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. The company will continue to lease and operate their original theatres on the city’s Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan. Second Stage Theatre has enlisted David Rockwell and The Rockwell Group to make renovations and updates to the 103 year old landmark building. They will begin renovations on the theatre in 2016 and plans for its first Broadway production to be staged in the Hayes during the 2017-18 season.

Season subscriptions are currently available through 2ST.com or by calling the box office at 212-246-4422.

For more information, please visit www.2ST.com

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