DENIS ARNDT JOINS THE COMPANY OF Second Stage Theater’s Broadway production of STRAIGHT WHITE MEN

Written by YOUNG JEAN LEE

Directed by ANNA D. SHAPIRO

June 25, 2018 – Tony Award nominee DENIS ARNDT (Heisenberg) has joined the company of the Broadway production of Young Jean Lee’s dark comedy, STRAIGHT WHITE MEN directed by Anna D. Shapiro. Mr. Arndt will perform the role of Ed, replacing Tom Skerritt, who has departed the production for personal reasons.

The production also features Kate Bornstein, Josh Charles, Ty Defoe, Armie Hammer, and Paul Schneider. Ms. Bornstein, Mr. Charles, Mr. Defoe, Mr. Hammer and Mr. Schneider are all making their Broadway debuts with this production.

With STRAIGHT WHITE MEN, playwright Young Jean Lee will become the first Asian-American female playwright to be produced on Broadway. Anna D. Shapiro will be making her Second Stage directorial debut with this production. The Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre, Ms. Shapiro won a Tony Award for her direction of August: Osage County in 2008.

STRAIGHT WHITE MEN will begin previews at the Helen Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street) on Friday, June 29, 2018. Opening night for STRAIGHT WHITE MEN is Monday, July 23.

DENIS ARNDT received a 2017 Tony nomination for Best Lead Actor in Play for his portrayal of Alex Priest in Simon Stephen’s Heisenberg (MTC). New York: The Ballad of Soapy Smith, Richard II (Public Theatre). His many regional credits include productions at the Geffen Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, Alley Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, The Studio Theatre, Artists Repertory, Kansas City Rep, Mark Taper Forum, Intiman, Arena Stage, Goodman Theatre. At Oregon Shakespeare Festival he performed title roles in King Lear, Titus Andronicus, Brand, The Father, and Coriolanus as well as leading roles in The Tempest, The Dance of Death, The Devil’s Disciple, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Wild Oats, Othello, The Entertainer. TV and film credits include Basic Instinct, Distant Thunder, Metro, Dolphin Tale 2, Bandidas, Sniper 3, Anacondas, S.W.A.T., Undisputed, How To Make An American Quilt, Firebeetle, Serious Money, “Mr. Mercedes,” “The Good Fight,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Supernatural,” Boston Legal,” “24,” “The Practice,” “CSI.”

ABOUT STRAIGHT WHITE MEN

It’s Christmas Eve, and Ed has gathered his three adult sons to celebrate with matching pajamas, trash talking, and Chinese takeout. But when a question they can’t answer interrupts their holiday cheer, they are forced to confront their own identities. Obie Award-winning playwright Young Jean Lee takes a hilariously ruthless look at the classic American father-son drama. This is one white Christmas like you’ve never seen before.

STRAIGHT WHITE MEN will feature scenic design by Todd Rosenthal, costume design by Suttirat Larlarb, lighting design by Donald Holder, sound design by M.L. Dogg, choreography by Faye Driscoll and casting by Telsey + Company.

STRAIGHT WHITE MEN is currently available as part of a 6-show package for $395. To purchase or for more information, visit 2ST.com or call Second Stage Subscriber Services at 212-246-4422.

Single tickets for STRAIGHT WHITE MEN are available via Telecharge at 212-239-6200 or Telecharge.com.

A limited number of 30 under 30 tickets are also available via telechargeoffers.com using code 30UNDER30 for people ages 30 and under with proper identification.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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, three 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.

In addition to Straight White Men, Second Stage Theater’s inaugural Broadway season included the Broadway Premiere of Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero, directed by Trip Cullman and featuring Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Brian Tyree Henry, and Bel Powley, which recently completed its limited engagement run on May 13, 2018.

This inaugural season kicks off Second Stage’s mission of creating and building a permanent home on Broadway dedicated exclusively to American plays and living American playwrights.

Second Stage Theater is investing in its future on Broadway by co-commissioning established playwrights through its STAGE-2-STAGE program, launched 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, Lisa D’Amour, 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.

SECOND STAGE THEATER OFF-BROADWAY

Second Stage Theater’s current season at The Tony Kiser Theater includes the New York premiere of Tracy Letts’ Mary Page Marlowe, directed by Lila Neugebauer currently in previews.

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

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