Sean Dugan Set for West Coast Premiere of George C. Wolfe’s Tony Award-Winning Production of The Normal Heart at A.C.T., September 13 – October 7, 2012

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is presenting the West Coast premiere of The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s landmark play focusing on the early years of the AIDS crisis in New York City in the 1980s, September 13 – October 7, 2012.

George Wolfe, Tonya Pinkins and S. Epatha Merkerson at 54 Below in New York on August 27, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

Directed by five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart unfolds like a real-life political thriller as a tight-knit group of friends refuse to let doctors, politicians, and the press bury the truth about an epidemic ravaging the gay community behind a wall of silence. The Normal Heart has performances at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Press night is Wednesday, September 19, at 8 p.m. The Normal Heart is presented in association with Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, D.C., by special arrangement with Daryl Roth.

Sean Dugan

The Normal Heart will feature original Broadway cast member Patrick Breen in the role of Ned Weeks, the fiery writer and activist at the center of the play. He is joined by noted film and television actress (and fellow original Broadway cast member) Jordan Baker as Dr. Emma Brookner, a passionate physician determined to stop the spread of the mysterious disease. The production also features Tom Berklund (Broadway’s The Addams Family) as Craig Donner/Grady, Matt McGrath (Broadway’s Cabaret, A.C.T.’s The Black Rider) as Felix Turner, Tony Award nominee Michael Berresse (Broadway’s Kiss Me, Kate, A Chorus Line, and The Light in the Piazza) as Mickey Marcus, Sean Dugan (NBC’s “Smash”) as Tommy Boatwright, Jon Levenson (Broadway’s The Normal Heart) as Hiram Keebler/Examining Doctor, Nick Mennell (Broadway’s A Free Man of Color) as Bruce Niles, and Bruce Altman (HBO’s “Game Change”) as Ben Weeks.

Fueled by love, anger, hope, and pride, The Normal Heart centers around a circle of friends struggling to contain the mysterious disease ravaging New York’s gay community. First produced in 1985 by Joseph Papp at New York’s Public Theater, the show immediately became a critical sensation and a seminal moment in theater history. Kramer’s unapologetic tackling of the AIDS epidemic, gay marriage, and our national healthcare system casts theatrical light on issues that are as present in today’s national discourse as they were when the play first premiered a quarter of a century ago.

Wolfe’s 2011 Broadway staging received universal acclaim and was the recipient of three Tony Awards, three Drama Desk Awards, and the Outer Circle Critics Circle Award, all naming it Best Revival of a Play. The show was also awarded the Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle.

Mo Rocca (left), Rachel Dratch in Tail! Spin!. Photo by Thom Kaine

Dugan just completed a sold-out run of the wildly popular political comedy TAIL! SPIN! opposite Rachel Dratch and Mo Rocca at the Kraine Theater, as part of the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival. He last appeared on Broadway in Next Fall, for which he received a Drama Desk Nomination. His Off-Broadway credits include The Illusion, Next Fall, The English Channel, Perfect Harmony, BFF, Nerds, Valhalla, Corpus Christi, Flesh & Blood, Shakespeare’s R & J. He has worked regionally at Two River Theater Company, Roundhouse Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, The Old Globe, American Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Festival, Theatre J. Film/TV: On The Slope, Gigantic, Trust the Man, Company Man, Overnight Sensation, “Smash,” “I Just Want My Pants Back,” “Eden,” “The Good Wife,” “Fringe,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “The Beat,” “Oz.”

The Normal Heart reunites members of the Broadway revival’s design team, including scenic designer David Rockwell, costume designer Martin Pakledinaz, lighting designer David Weiner, sound designer and original music composer David Van Tieghem, and projection designer Batwin & Robin. Joining the team is restaging director Leah C. Gardiner.

Tickets for the limited engagement of The Normal Heart are now available online at www.act-sf.org and by phone at 415.749.2228. Subscribers to A.C.T.’s 2012–13 season will receive priority seating to this highly anticipated production. To order a subscription, visit www.act-sf.org/subscribe or call 415.749.2250.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Photos: Laila Robins, Sean Dugan, C.J. Wilson, Peter Francis James, Bill Irwin and Tricia Paoluccio at Signature Theatre Company’s revival of Edward Albee’s The Lady From Dubuque
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
LA Premiere of $upercapitalist on August 31st with Derek Ting, Kathy Uyen, Rachel Tan, Paul Sheehan and Joyce Yung at LAEMMLE Noho 7; Photos of NY Premiere
Signature Theatre’s World Premiere of Sam Shepard’s Heartless Starring Lois Smith, Gary Cole, Jenny Bacon, Betty Gilpin, and Julianne Nicholson Extends through September 30, 2012
West Coast Premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish at Berkeley Rep stars Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge, August 24-October 7, 2012
Theater of the Stars Presents The King and I Starring Ronobir Lahiri, Victoria Mallory, Raul Aranas, Ali Ewoldt, Josh Dela Cruz, Jee Hyun Lim and Raphael Aranas, Helmed by Baayork Lee on Tour through September 11, 2012
Tony Award – winning Playwright Terrence McNally to be Honored at Westport Country Playhouse Annual Gala, September 24, 2012
Manhattan Theatre Club’s 2012-2013 Season: Richard Thomas and Boyd Gaines to star in An Enemy of the People at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
George Takei, Lea Salonga, Telly Leung and Paolo Montalban star in the World Premiere of Allegiance – A New American Musical at The Old Globe, September 7 – October 21, 2012
World Premiere Screening of Lil Tokyo Reporter Starring Chris Tashima at Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, September 14-16, 2012
10 minutes with Sullivan & Son’s Jodi Long, Award Winning Actor and Filmmaker
Illeana Douglas, Kimberly-Rose Wolter and Michael Kang Set for 4 Wedding Planners Screening in Screen Actors Guild Foundation Conversations Series in NY
David Henry Hwang to Receive the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award at the 5th Annual Steinberg Playwright “Mimi” Awards on October 29, 2012
Multimedia: Screen Actors Guild Foundation’s Conversations with Derek Ting, Linus Roache and Michael Park of $upercapitalist
Lily Mariye’s Model Minority, Jayshree Janu Kharpade’s Fire in Our Hearts, Eliaichi Kimaro’s A Lot Like You, Vincent Sandoval’s Señorita, and Liang Cheng’s My Spiritual Medicine among AAIFF’12 Award Winners
C.J. Wilson navigates armor and swordplay in Signature Theatre Company’s World Premiere of Kenneth Lonergan’s Medieval Play
Athol Fugard’s Blood Knot, starring Colman Domingo & Scott Shepherd in The Alice Griffith Jewel Box at The Pershing Square Signature Center through March 11, 2012
Three Year Swim Club, Encounter, TEA, Christmas in Hanoi and Chess set for East West Players 47th Anniversary Season
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2012 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

Lia Chang Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet and Tracee Chimo celebrate opening in Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon

Tracee Chimo, David Duchovny, Amanda Peet and John Earl Jelks at the opening night curtain call of MCC Theater's world premiere of Neil LaBute's The Break of Noon at the Lucille Lortel in New York on November 22, 2010. Photo by Lia Chang

At the Lucille Lortel in New York on Monday, November 22, David Duchovny (“Californication,” “X-Files”) made his New York stage debut in the MCC Theater’s world premiere of Tony Award nominee Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon, as an average Joe turned modern-day prophet, alongside Tony Award nominee John Earl Jelks (Radio Golf, Gem of the Ocean), Amanda Peet (Barefoot in the Park, “Studio Sixty”) and Tracee Chimo (Bachelorette, Circle Mirror Transformation).

Gillian Anderson flew in from London to surprise her X-Files co-star as he made his New York stage debut in Neil LaBute's The Break of Noon, currently playing at The Lucille Lortel. Photo by Lia Chang

Gillian Anderson, who flew in from London to surprise her “X-Files” co-star, and Duchovny’s wife Tea Leoni were in the audience and at the afterparty at 49 Grove, along with Stafford Arima, Eric Bogosian, YaYa DaCosta, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Ben Stiller and his wife Christine Taylor, Patrick Breen, Tovah Feldshuh, Ed Harris, Jessica Hecht, Tina Louise, Lynn Nottage, Jose Rivera, Sara Paulson, Steven Pasquale, Thomas Sadowski, Garry Shandling, Jeremy Sisto and his wife Addie Lane.

The Break of Noon is Neil LaBute’s seventh collaboration with MCC Theater as Playwright-in-Residence, following the 2009 Tony Award-nominated Best Play, Reasons to be Pretty. Renowned for his darkly-comic morality plays (The Shape of Things, In a Dark Dark House), teamed up again with longtime collaborator, director Jo Bonney (Some Girl(s), Fat Pig), to helm his exploration of the daunting, sometimes harrowing process of “finding religion.”

Tracee Chimo, Amanda Peet, David Duchovny and John Earl Jelks Photo by Lia Chang

The Break of Noon has been extended through December 22, 2010 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC). A co-production with the Geffen Playhouse, The Break of Noon will arrive in Los Angeles in January 2011.

John Earl Jelks and David Duchovny Photo by Lia Chang

Performances are Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 & 7:30 p.m. through December 12, 2010.

The show will play the following schedule for the extension due to the holiday:
Tuesday, December 14 at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 15 at 2:00 & 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, December 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Friday, December 17 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, December 18 at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m.
Sunday. December 19 at 3:00 p.m.
Monday, December 20 at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 21 at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 22 at 2:00 & 7:00 p.m.
Subscriptions for MCC’s 2010-2011 season are on-sale now and priced as low as $99 for the 3-play season. For more information visit www.mcctheater.org or to purchase packages, contact TicketCentral directly at www.ticketcentral.com or call 212-279-4200.

John Earl Jelks and YaYa DaCosta walk the red carpet at 49 Grove, the afterparty for Neil LaBute's The Break of Noon on November 22, 2010. Photo by Lia Chang

Thanks to The Break of Noon castmember John Earl Jelks who plays a lawyer and a detective in the show, and who provided me with an all-access pass, you can check out the slideshow below of the curtain call, arrivals and afterparty fun and festivities.

Related John Earl Jelks Clips:
Marilyn Stasio of Variety writes“John Earl Jelks (“Radio Golf”) raises a scornful eyebrow as the lawyer John consults before taking his conversion public. This ultra-poised performer also walks away with the scene in which he plays a detective who suspects that John was somehow behind the attack.”

Dan Bacalzo of theatermania.com writes,
“The always-on-target John Earl Jelks rounds out the cast in the dual roles of John’s lawyer and a police detective who finds some of the details in John’s story rather suspicious.”

Michael Sommers of newjerseynewsroom.com writes, “John Earl Jelks is especially striking as a lawyer who counsels John about his options in the media minefield while licking his own lips over their likely profitability.”
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter writes, “John Earl Jelks appears as a cynical lawyer who stands to make a fat fee, and a skeptical cop whose own religious convictions are offended.”

David Cote of Timeoutny.com for ny1.com reports, “John’s lawyer, played with humor and grit by John Earl Jelks, doesn’t seem to believe his client’s conversion story, but is happy to peddle John’s gruesome photos of the crime scene for big bucks.”

MCC Theater artistic director Bernie Telsey, The Break of Noon director Jo Bonney, castmember John Earl Jelks and MCC Theater associate artistic director William Cantler Photo by Lia Chang

MCC Theater is one of New York City’s leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season. When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences. MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through presentation of its mainstage works; its Literary Program, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers and its Education & Outreach Program, allowing more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices in the arts.

John Earl Jelks and Yaya DaCosta who played love interests in the Signature Theatre Company's production of Leslie Lee's The First Breeze of Summer, with their director Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Photo by Lia Chang

Notable MCC Theater highlights include: the 2008 Tony Award-nominated Reasons to be Pretty by Neil LaBute, last season’s Fifty Words, the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery’s Frozen; Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig; Rebecca Gilman’s The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman’s Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson’s The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne’s Beirut. Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards. For a complete production history, visit www.mcctheater.org.

Yaya DaCosta, Tea Leoni, John Earl Jelks, David Duchovny and Jessica Hecht Photo by Lia Chang

The 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 musicals, the Geffen Playhouse 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 is helmed by Producing Director and President of the Board Gilbert Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney, Managing Director Ken Novice and Chairman of the Board Frank Mancuso. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains an extensive education and outreach program, designed to engage young people and the community at large in the arts. For more information, visit www.geffenplayhouse.com.

Selected Photo Coverage of Opening Night of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon:
broadway.com
broadwayworld.com
daylife.com
slantmagazine.com
AP

Other Articles by Lia Chang
John Earl Jelks is featured in MCC Theater’s world premiere of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon at the Lucille Lortel
Denise Burse, Rocky Carroll, Anthony Chisholm, John Earl Jelks and James A. Williams in Radio Golf by August Wilson at The Pearlstone Theater in Baltimore
Costume Designer Karen Perry- Audelco Nod for The Public Theatre’s Brother/Sister Trilogy by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Photos: Rick Shiomi Checks out Performing Arts Playwrights Series in the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection of Library of Congress; Attends “Asian American Plays for a New Generation” Book Signing in NY
Lia Chang Theater Portfolio at Library of Congress Features Photos of Thom Sesma’s Makeup Transformation as Scar in Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas, Robert Lee and Leon Ko’s Heading East Starring BD Wong, David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, and Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s Bakwas Bumbug!
Photos & Video Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas-In the Makeup Chair with Thom Sesma
Photo Call: BD Wong and the Cast of Heading East at the Asia Society
Multimedia: Promises, Promises’ Stars Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes at Lord & Taylor Fifth Ave
Derek Walcott’s White Egrets Due Out March 2010
Yellow Face Reading & Book Signing w/ David Henry Hwang, Kathryn Layng, Francis Jue, w/ guest Edward Albee
Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Archbishop Supreme Tartuffe, MTC’s Ruined are Top Winners at 2009 Audelcos
Photo Call: Derek Walcott’s Marie Laveau
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2010 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachang@hotmail.com.

John Earl Jelks, Lia Chang and Ruben Santiago-Hudson Photo by Charles Richard Barboza

Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, an award-winning multimedia journalist.

As a photographer and videographer, Lia collaborates with artists, organizations and companies in establishing their documentary photo archive and social media presence. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden.

This year, selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space will become part of newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.

Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, VIBE, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, thelmagazine.com, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.