Starry Night Entertainment has announced that performances of the New York premiere of White People, written by J. T. Rogers and directed by Gus Reyes, will begin Wednesday, January 28, at 8pm, at the Atlantic Stage 2, 330 West 16 Street. The opening night is Tuesday, February 3, at 8pm.
What does it mean to be a white American? What does it mean for any American to live in a country that is not the one you were promised? A brutally honest and surprisingly funny examination of race and language in our culture, White People follows the lives of three ordinary Americans placed under the spotlight: Martin, a Brooklyn-born high powered attorney for a white-shoe law firm in St. Louis; Mara Lynn, a housewife and former homecoming queen in Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Alan, a young professor struggling to find his way in New York. Through heart-wrenching confessions, they wrestle with guilt, prejudice, and the price they and their children must pay for their actions.
The cast of White People is Rebecca Brooksher, John Dossett, and Michael Shulman.
White People received its world premiere at the Philadelphia Theatre Company. The Philadelphia Enquirer called the play "a revelation. White People is remarkable. The play seems less written than merely transcribed; there's not one false turn of phrase in it." The Los Angeles Times wrote of the play: "In brutally honest confessions that eat through protective layers like acid from a battery...the piece never strikes a false note... rare plays like this one help lift the veil." And the Salt Lake Tribune wrote, "This play is a sobering, unsettling but deeply rewarding look at a combustible issue many of us prefer to sidestep. White People raises questions as it challenges our assumptions about race."
Rebecca Brooksher received a 2008 Lucille Lortel Award nomination for her performance in Christopher Shinn's Dying City at Lincoln Center Theater The performance was called "the discovery of the season" by Ben Brantley of The New York Times. The Julliard graduate has also appeared on stage in The Scariest at the Bleecker Street Theatre, American Occupation (directed by Trip Cullman) and in Darwin in Hell at the Falcon Theatre in Los Angeles. On screen, Brooksher has appeared in Cold Souls, Canterbury's Law, Love Monkey, and One Live to Live.
John Dossett received a Tony Award nomination for Gypsy in which he co-starred opposite Bernadette Peters. A full-fledged leading man in musical theater; with well-received turns in shows like Ragtime, Mamma Mia! and Gypsy, Dossett has been a regular fixture on the New York theater scene since the early 1980s. He starred in the Roundabout Company's revival of The Constant Wife, Lincoln Center Theater's production of Dinner at Eight. On screen, Dossett has been seen in Nick and Jane, Longtime Companion, Law & Order, Sex and the City, The Cracker Man, and Big Eden among others.
Michael Shulman is the youngest Emmy and CableACE Nominee in award history. He is best known as Claudia Salinger's boyfriend on Fox TV's hit Party of Five. Shulman's career started on stage in John Guare's Gardenia and Four Baboons Adoring the Sun (Lincoln Center; directed by Sir Peter Hall), Stephen Sondheim's Assassins (Playwrights Horizons; directed by Jerry Zaks), and most notably two years on Broadway as Gavroche in Les Miserables. Shulman's screen credits include Someone Had to Be Benny (HBO, Emmy nominee), Law and Order (NBC), Chicago Hope (CBS), Can of Worms (Disney), The Perfect Daughter (USA), Whose Daughter Is She? (CBS), and the feature films Wide Awake (directed by M. Night Shyamalan), The Pickle (directed by Paul Mazursky) and Rhapsody in Bloom (directed by Craig Saavedra). Shulman is a Yale graduate, can be heard as Francis "Hustler" Kid in Disney's animated "Recess" (ABC), and can next be seen opposite James Le Gros and Donna Murphy as Sherman in the upcoming feature film Sherman's Way to be released in March by International Film Circuit.
J. T. Rogers's last play, The Overwhelming, debuted at the National Theatre in London, toured the UK, and was heard on BBC radio, before having its American debut last season at the Roundabout (Top Ten Play of the Year, Time and Time Out New York). His play Madagascar was seen Off Broadway at the SPF Festival and continues to be done throughout the country; Murmuring in a Dead Tongue was seen last season at the Source Theater in DC. Rogers is a resident playwright at New Dramatists. His play Blood and Gifts debuts at the Tricycle Theater, London, in April.
Gus Reyes is co-founder/Producing Artistic Director, Next Stage, a NYC-based performing arts company, where he has produced and or directed over 200 shows. In NYC he's also directed plays, staged reading and or workshops at the Roundabout, MTC, MCC, SPF, the Underwood Theatre and Epic Rep. Regionally, he's worked at the Harford Stage, Eugene O'Neill, ATF (NY), SLAC (UT), Onyx (NC), and PTC (PA). Gus is the president and owner of Stolen Car Productions, specializing in production, post production and music for film and television, where he directs and or executive produces commercials, documentaries and film projects.
Starry Night Entertainment LLC is a privately-financed bi-coastal production company dedicated to bridging the worlds of stage and screen. Founded in 2004 by Craig Saavedra in the Los Angeles office and Michael Shulman in the New York office, Starry Night Entertainment is dedicated to developing character-driven dramas and comedies both on film and stage. Current projects include Ponzi's Scheme (based on Mitchell Zuckoff's acclaimed Random House book), Gary Sunshine's Moscows (loosely based on Chekhov's Three Sisters) and the upcoming theatrical feature film Sherman's Way.
White People plays Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - Saturday at 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 3pm, at Atlantic Stage 2, 330 West 16th Street. Tickets are $45 and may be purchased through Ticket Central by visiting www.ticketcentral.com or by phoning 212 279-4200. For more information visit www.whitepeopletheplay.com.
