TICKETS GO ON SALE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC TODAY, DECEMBER 7 REHEARSALS BEGIN MONDAY, DECEMBER 11 S

A New Play Written by Greg Pierce

Directed by Kate Whoriskey

With BECKY ANN BAKER, ANNA CHLUMSKY,

ALEX HURT, ADAM PALLY, STEPHEN PARK,

EUGENE YOUNG

Previews begin January 9, 2018

Opening night is January 30, 2018

* * * * * * * *

December 6, 2017 – Tickets go on sale to the general public today, Thursday, December 7, for the world premiere production of GREG PIERCE’s play, CARDINAL, directed by KATE WHORISKEY.

CARDINAL will feature BECKY ANN BAKER (“Girls”) as Nancy Prenchel, ANNA CHLUMSKY (“Veep”) as Lydia Lensky, ALEX HURT (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) as Nat Prenchel, ADAM PALLY (“Happy Endings”) as Jeff Torm, STEPHEN PARK (Aubergine) as Li-Wei Chen, and EUGENE YOUNG (Geek!) as Jason Chen.

CARDINAL will begin previews Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at the Tony Kiser Theater (305 West 43rd Street) and will officially open on Tuesday, January 30, 2018. Tickets are available at 2ST.com or by calling the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422.

Paint it red. So begins Lydia’s wild idea to invigorate her Rust Belt town. But when a whip-smart entrepreneur co-opts her scheme, a precarious rivalry is born. A battle for the town’s soul ensues, causing its obsessive mayor, its defiant matriarch, and the rest of its residents to question who they are and where they're headed.

CARDINAL is the Benjamin Maurice Rosen Commission for Second Stage Theater.

CARDINAL will feature scenic design by Derek McLane; costume design by Jennifer Moeller; lighting design by Amith Chandrashaker; sound design by Leah Gelpe; and casting by Telsey + Company.

Second Stage Theater’s 2017-18 season at the Tony Kiser Theater kicked off with the acclaimed production of HARVEY FIERSTEIN’s TORCH SONG, directed by MOISÉS KAUFMAN and starring MICHAEL URIE and MERCEDES RUEHL, and will also feature the New York Premiere of TRACY LETTS’S acclaimed play, MARY PAGE MARLOWE, directed by LILA NEUGEBAUER in June 2018.

On Broadway at The Hayes Theater, Second Stage will present KENNETH LONERGAN’s LOBBY HERO, directed by TRIP CULLMAN and starring MICHAEL CERA, CHRIS EVANS, BRIAN TYREE HENRY, and BEL POWLEY, as well as the Broadway Premiere of YOUNG JEAN LEE’s STRAIGHT WHITE MEN, directed by ANNA D. SHAPIRO and featuring ARMIE HAMMER and TOM SKERRITT.

A select number of 30 under 30 tickets for CARDINAL are available for people ages 30 and under, as well as $23 student rush tickets, available one hour prior to curtain and based on availability. Subscriptions are currently available beginning at $295, including the company’s inaugural productions on Broadway. For subscription and ticket information, please visit 2ST.com or call the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422.

ABOUT SECOND STAGE THEATER

Under the artistic direction of Carole Rothman, SECOND STAGE THEATER produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America’s best contemporary theater by living American playwrights, 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; Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson; 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 and Whorl Inside a Loop 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 six 2017 Tony Awards for Dear Evan Hansen (Best Musical, Best Lead Actor in a Musical, Ben Platt; Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Rachel Bay Jones; Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations), three 2009 Tony Awards for Next to Normal (Best Lead Actress in a Musical, Alice Ripley; Best Score, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; Best Orchestrations, Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt); 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, 30 Obie Awards, eight Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, 13 Drama Desk Awards, nine Theatre World Awards, 19 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 23 AUDELCO Awards.

In 1999, Second Stage Theater opened The Tony Kiser Theater, its state-of-the-art, 296-seat theater, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. In 2002, Second Stage launched “Second Stage Theater Uptown” series to showcase the work of up and coming artists at the McGinn/Cazale Theater. The Theater supports artists through several programs that include residencies, fellowships and commissions, and engages students and community members through education and outreach programs.

SECOND STAGE THEATER ON BROADWAY

Second Stage Theater purchased the historic Helen Hayes Theater, located at 240 W. 44th Street, in 2015 and has enlisted David Rockwell and The Rockwell Group to make renovations and updates to the 104 year old landmark building. The company will continue to lease and operate the McGinn/Cazale Theater on the city’s Upper West Side and The Tony Kiser Theater in Midtown Manhattan.

Second Stage Theater is investing in its future on Broadway by co-commissioning established playwrights through its STAGE-2-STAGE program, launching with Los Angeles’s Center Theatre Group. This ongoing program will provide a pathway to Broadway, with each play receiving an initial production in Los Angeles at one of CTG’s three theaters before moving to New York. The commissioned playwrights are Jon Robin Baitz, Will Eno, Lisa Kron, Young Jean Lee, Lynn Nottage, and Paula Vogel.

Second Stage Theater is also co-commissioning a new work from Bess Wohl for Broadway, through a partnership with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and new works for Broadway from Lydia R. Diamond and Dominique Morisseau, which will be developed in association with Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theater.

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

# # #