Cherise Boothe, Sara Botsford, Marylouise Burke And Brad Fleischer Join Jane Kaczmarek And Jon Tenney In Good People

Matt Shakman Helms David Lindsay-Abaire's West Coast Premiere. End Quote

Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (1888PressRelease) March 14, 2012 - Opens April 11, 2012

Geffen alums Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) and Jon Tenney (The Closer) are joined by acclaimed stage and screen actors Cherise Boothe (original cast of Ruined),Sara Botsford (Broadway's The Real Thing), Marylouise Burke (Broadway'sInto the Woods and Is He Dead?) andBrad Fleischer (Broadway's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) in David Lindsay-Abaire's West Coast premiere. Helmed by Matt Shakman, the artistic director of L.A.'s Black Dahlia Theatre,Good People, presented by OneWest Bank, starts in previews on April 3, 2012 and officially opens in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse on April 11, 2012.

Kaczmarek takes on the role of Margie, while Tenney plays her old flame, Mike, who has moved on and married Kate, played by Boothe. Botsford, Burke and Fleischer bring the South Boston community to life as Margie's friends Jean and Dottie and her former boss, Stevie.

Margie Walsh can't catch a break. Laid off from her job at the dollar store, Margie is faced with the reality that South Boston is providing her the same level of opportunity it always has: none. Wry, rough around the edges and ready to make a change, she goes to seek out the one who got away - both from "Southie" and from her. Instead, she finds herself in the burbs and out of her element, facing the question - is opportunity granted or earned? Nominated for a 2010 Tony Award for Best Play, Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People takes an affectionate look at the 'haves' and 'have nots' through the eyes of characters who won't be ignored.

Good People, a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, was commissioned by Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) in New York where it had its world premiere in the spring of 2011. In addition to being nominated for a Tony Award, Good Peoplewas named Best Play of the 2010-11 season by the New York Drama Critics Circle, as well as featured on the 2011 "Top Ten" theater lists of New York Magazine, Newsday, Time Out New York and the Associated Press.

Special events during the run of Good People include the theater's special Signature Series performances for no additional cost. These evenings include an intellectual, thought-provoking post show Q&A at Talk Back Tuesdays; a scintillating, one-of-a kind after-party at Girls Night Out; a cultural happy hour with Lounge Fridays and complimentary wine tastings during Wine Down Sundays. For more information, please view www.geffenplayhouse.com/goodevents.

Good People

Written by David Lindsay-Abaire

Directed by Matt Shakman

Preview Performances: Tuesday, April 3 - Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Opening Night: Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Closing Night: Sunday, May 13, 2012

Cast

Cherise Boothe Kate

Sara Botsford Jean

Marylouise Burke Dottie

Brad Fleischer Stevie

Jane Kaczmarek Margie

Jon Tenney Mike

Production Credits

Set Designer Craig Siebels

Costume Designer E.B. Brooks

Lighting Designer Elizabeth Harper

Sound Designer Jonathan Snipes

Production Stage Manager Jill Gold

Assistant Stage Manager Kyra Hansen

Performance Schedule

Monday No performances

Tuesday - Friday 8:00pm

Saturday 3:00pm; 8:00pm

Sunday 2:00pm; 7:00pm

Ticket Info

Ticket prices currently range from $37 - $57 for preview performances and from $47 - $77 for the regular run. Contact the Geffen Playhouse box office in-person, via phone at 310-208-5454 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.com for updated pricing and seating availability.

Biographies

CHERISE BOOTHE (Kate)

Ms. Boothe is thrilled to be returning to the Geffen Playhouse after having performed as an original cast member in Lynn Nottage's Pulizter Prize winning play, Ruined. Most recently, her voice can be heard in the new FX animated series, Unsupervised. Theater credits include: Milk Like Sugar (original cast: La Jolla Playhouse / Playwrights Horizons), Ruined (Goodman / Manhattan Theatre Club, Intiman / Geffen Playhouse; 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama); August Wilson's 20th Century (Kennedy Center); Ohio State Murders (TFANA; Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival); King Hedley II (Signature); A Christmas Carol (McCarter); The Blacks (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Huck & Holden (original cast: Cherry Lane); The Book Club Play, Insurrection: Holding History (BTF); Blues for an Alabama Sky (BTF/Actors Theatre). Film/TV: Inside Man (dir. Spike Lee), Then She Found Me (dir. Helen Hunt), The Wool Cap (withKeke Palmer and William H. Macy), Everyone's Hero (animation), The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU, Gossip Girl. Training: NYU Graduate Acting Program.

SARA BOTSFORD (Jean)

Theater highlights: Hamlet, (Ophelia then Gertrude); Glass Menagerie, Ensemble Theatre; The Real Thing, (Broadway and National Tour, dir. Mike Nichols); Romeo and Juliet, Ahmanson Theatre, dir. Sir Peter Hall; Blithe Spirit, Pasadena Playhouse; Top Girls, (Obie award Public Theatre, NY); Private Lives and Present Laughter opposite Brian Bedford; three seasons at the Stratford Festival of Canada; The Royal Family, dir. Susan Stroman. Television highlights: the long running Canadian series E.N.G, (Gemini Award best actress), The Lot, (AMC), The Arrow, with Dan Akyroyd, (best supporting actress nomination); Sophie, a half hour comedy for CBC, Body of Proof, the Mentalist, NCIS, Medium, Raising the Bar, E.R., West Wing, The L Word, NYPD Blue, Law and Order, Crossing Jordan, Ally McBeal. Film highlights: Still of the Night with Meryl Streep, Legal Eagles with Robert Redford, Jumping Jack Flash, The Fixer, Tremors 4(best actress nomination DVD Exclusive Awards). Sara is artistic director of 49thParallel Theatre in Los Angeles.

MARYLOUISE BURKE (Dottie)

Theater: Into the Woods and Is He Dead? (Broadway) She originated roles in the Off-Broadway productions of Lindsay-Abaire's Fuddy Meers(Drama Desk Award -- Outstanding Featured Actress), Wonder of the World, and Kimberly Akimbo (Drama Desk Nomination -- Outstanding Leading Actress), and in the premiere of Kimberly Akimbo at South Coast Rep (Back Stage West Garland Award). Other recent theater credits include, in New York: Rx (Primary Stages), American Sligo (Rattlestick),The Savannah Disputation (Playwrights Horizons), and Love, Loss, and What I Wore; in Chicago: the premiere of Bruce Norris' A Parallelogram at Steppenwolf Theatre. Television: 30 Rock, Fringe, Law & Order (and SVU),Delocated, and recurring as Lotte on Hung. Film: Sideways, A Prairie Home Companion, Series 7, Must Love Dogs, Mona Lisa Smile, Meet Joe Black, One True Thing, Ira and Abby, The Baxter, An Invisible Sign, I Love You Phillip Morris, Doubt, Rabbit Hole and Mike Birbiglia's Sleepwalk with Me.

BRAD FLEISCHER (Stevie)

Broadway: Rajiv Joseph's Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Coram Boy (Drama League nomination). Off Broadway: David Rabe's Streamers (Roundabout), Regional: Gruesome Playground Injuries (Alley), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theater), Pig Farm (South Coast Repertory). Film: The Good Shepherd. TV: Nurse Jackie, 24, The Unit, Prison Break, Jericho, Law and Order, Over There. Shorts: Seany B vs. Sketchy McSwains (dir. Vasarian Revelipotty), Queenan fights Drewzilla (dir. Ken Choi). Representing UCSD MFA/ Kyle Donnelly, Game night and Threshold 33.

JANE KACZMAREK (Margie)

Jane Kaczmarek has appeared on Broadway in Lost in Yonkers and in plays at the Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public, Second Stage, Long Wharf, New York Stage and Film, and the Berkshire and Williamstown Theatre Festivals. In Los Angeles, she has appeared in Awake and Sing and Death of a Salesman at LA Theatre Works; Kindertransport (Ovation Award - Best Actress), Dinner With Friends and Raised in Captivity (LA Drama Critics Award - Featured Performance) at South Coast Repertory; and In Mother Words at the Geffen Playhouse. Kaczmarek starred for seven years in the Emmy Award winning TV series Malcolm in the Middle (Emmy Award nominations, Golden Globe Award nominations, SAG Award nominations, American Comedy Award - Funniest Female Performer - TV Series, TCA Award - Individual Achievement in Comedy, AFI Actor of the Year Award - Female - Series). Other TV credits include: Raising the Bar, The Simpsons, Felicity, Party of Five, Frasier, Whitney and Wilfred. Kaczmarek is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and Yale School of Drama.

JON TENNEY (Mike)

Jon Tenney's professional career includes extensive work on stage, as well as in feature films and television. He launched his TV career with a guest-starring role on Murphy Brown and has been a series regular on several shows. He has had recurring roles on CSI and Will & Grace, and recently wrapped eight years on The Closer, starring opposite Kyra Sedgewick. Other television credits include: co-starring in the Showtime films Twilight of the Golds (co-starring Jennifer Beals and Faye Dunaway) and Homecoming, and appearing in Crime & Punishment, Equal Justice and The Division. Tenney has been successful on the big screen as well, beginning with his debut in Watch It opposite Tom Sizemore, John C. McGinley and Peter Gallagher. He went on to appear in Fools Rush In (co-starring Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek), Albert Brooks' Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, the Western drama Tombstone and Oliver Stone's Nixon. Tenney recently co-starred in Legion, opposite Dennis Quaid; the thriller The Stepfather, with Penn Badgley and Dylan Walsh; and Rabbit Hole, with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. He was recently seen in the comic-book action flick Green Lantern with Ryan Reynolds and will be seen this year in Max Mayer's As Cool as I am."

DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE (Playwright)

David Lindsay-Abaire premiered his play Good People on Broadway last season, and was awarded the 2011 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play of the Year, as well as two Tony Award nominations. His previous play, Rabbit Hole received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as five Tony Award nominations, and the Spirit of America Award. David, along with composer Jeanine Tesori, was nominated for a Grammy and two Tony Awards for their work on Shrek The Musical: Best Score, and Best Book of a Musical. Prior to that David was awarded the Kleban Award as America's most promising musical theatre lyricist. His other shows include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly Akimbo, Wonder of the World and A Devil Inside, among others. In addition to his work in theatre, David's screen credits include his film adaptation of Rabbit Hole (starring Nicole Kidman - Oscar Nomination), as well as the upcoming features Rise of the Guardians (Dreamworks), and Oz: The Great and Powerful (Disney.) David is a proud New Dramatists alum, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Juilliard School, as well as a member of the WGA and the Dramatists Guild Council.

Good People Cast Announcement 3/3

MATT SHAKMAN (Director)

Matt Shakman is the founder and artistic director of the Black Dahlia Theatre in Los Angeles, which was named "one of a dozen young American companies you need to know" by American Theatre Magazine and "Best Small Theatre" by Los Angeles Magazine. His work at the Dahlia includes the hit world premiere musical Hey, Morgan! (now in its fourth month); David Schulner's Forgiveness (LA Drama Critics Circle nomination, Direction); Jonathan Tolins' Secrets of the Trade starring John Glover (Ovation and Garland Award, Direction; GLAAD Award, LA Production); Austin Pendleton's Orson's Shadow (LADCC nomination and Garland Award, Direction), Richard Kramer's Theater District (LADCC and Garland Award, Direction); and Adam Rapp's Nocturne (Ovation Award nomination, Direction). He has directed several plays by Stephen Adly Guirgis, including the premiere of Den of Thieves and the West Coast Premiere of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Matt recently directed the Off-Broadway production of Secrets of the Trade at Primary Stages. Other credits include the NY premiere of Jamie Pachino's Splitting Infinity (SPF), Better Angels by Wayne Liebman (inaugural production at the Broad Performing Arts Center) with Dustin Hoffman, James Cromwell, and Amy Ryan, and the Live Nation tour of The Nightman Cometh featuring the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Beacon, NYC; Palladium, Troubadour, & Universal Amphitheater, Los Angeles, etc). Matt's television directing credits include Mad Men, Six Feet Under, The Riches, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, House, Hung and Weeds.

ABOUT THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
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 second productions, 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 was founded by Gilbert Cates, and is currently helmed by 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, please visit geffenplayhouse.com.

Director of Communications
Alison Rawlings 310.966-2412
alison ( @ ) geffenplayhouse dot com
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