Lobby Hero Newsletter

BEGINS MARCH 1

LOBBY HERO

BY KENNETH LONERGAN

DIRECTED BY TRIP CULLMAN

HAYES THEATER 240 W 44TH ST T.212-246-4422 2ST.COM

BY KENNETH LONERGAN DIRECTED BY TRIP CULLMAN

What happens when emotions come in conflict with principles, and how do choices under pressure define who we really are? The lobby of a Manhattan apartment building is much more than a waiting area for four New Yorkers involved in a murder investigation. It’s a testing ground for what happens when personal and professional personas find themselves at odds. A young security guard with big ambitions clashes with his stern boss, an intense rookie cop and her unpredictable partner in a play from the 2017 Oscar-winning writer of Manchester by the Sea.

LOBBY TALK

SECOND STAGE ARRIVES ON BROADWAY IN MARCH OF 2018 WITH ITS INAUGURAL PRODUCTION AT THE HAYES THEATER, LOBBY HERO. PLAYWRIGHT KENNETH LONERGAN AND DIRECTOR TRIP CULLMAN SAT DOWN WITH RYAN MCGLONE, 2ST’S DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT, TO DISCUSS THE PLAY AND ITS UPCOMING BROADWAY BOW. KENNY, CAN YOU TELL ME THE FIRST THING YOU REMEMBER ABOUT WRITING THE PLAY, WHAT THAT GENERATIVE NOTION WAS? KL: First thing I remember is an image of a man and a woman standing in a lobby, both dressed in blue uniforms. The woman had a gun and the man did not. First it was a very short one act play and it was just those two characters, and then the other characters emerged. That was a long time ago.

WHEN YOU RETURN TO THE PLAY TODAY, WHAT’S INTERESTING ABOUT IT FOR YOU? KL: I still like all the uniforms.

TRIP, TELL ME WHAT YOUR IMPRESSIONS WERE WHEN YOU FIRST ENCOUNTERED THE PLAY. TC: Well, I think there is something about Kenny’s style of writing that I am obsessively drawn to in that in some ways in all of his pieces, you never feel like these are characters. Or if you are watching his movies or watching his plays, they are not just actors acting, they are people living their lives. Lobby Hero is the most humble kind of dramatic construction possible. It’s just people in this horrific circumstance conversing with each other and struggling to make the right decision.

And I thought that the ways that manifested, the sort of brilliance of the construct of the plot, feels like a contemporary take on a George Bernard Shaw argument play. A play about ethical dilemmas. So I thought all of those things were an argument for its greatness.

THIS IS YOUR FIRST TIME WORKING TOGETHER. WHY DID YOU WANT TO COLLABORATE ON THIS PLAY? KL: Trip is a great director. He’s really enthusiastic about the material. Sometimes when you’re talking to the director you just get the distinct impression that you’re not speaking the same language and so when you find someone with whom you seem to be speaking the same language, it’s very much a wake-up call that this is the right person to be working with.

Pictured on cover: Michael Cera, Chris Evans, Brian Tyree Henry

Hayes Theater

ON STAGE AND OFF SEASON 39: 2017/2018 LOBBY HERO

TC: I would also add that as a director the play presents a kind of exquisite challenge that it’s in a space that is transitory. How do you stage something interestingly with literally the most limitations you possibly could have in terms of, there aren’t a lot of places to sit down. Jeff’s post is not meant for two people to relax and talk to each other in a comfortable way. Just kind of on a formal level, the play is a delicious challenge for a director.

AND THE SETTING IS SUCH A HUGE PART OF THE STORY, EVERYTHING BEING SET IN THIS LOBBY. KENNY, WAS THAT A CHALLENGE YOU GAVE YOURSELF INTENTIONALLY? KL: No, except that it seemed like a theatrical place to start. Something about a lobby at three in the morning in New York City automatically seems to come with a certain amount of atmosphere and theatricality to it. Usually creepy and scary-quiet.

They’re there to go through and be used. In a big city there is always something a little lonesome about them.

TC: And also for the character of Jeff who is in a kind of existential way, desperate to take action in his own life, the lobby represents a kind of Sartrean prison. Life goes on through and around it, but he’s stuck sort of observing and not participating.

I LOVE THE TITLE LOBBY HERO. IT REFERS MOST DIRECTLY TO JEFF BUT COULD APPLY TO ANY OF THE CHARACTERS, REALLY, WHO ARE EACH TRYING TO BE THEIR OWN SORT OF HERO. KL: I think so. I think they are trying to live up to their own ideas and figure out what the best thing to do is under very difficult circumstances. I like the title too. It took forever. First it was called The Lobby, which I thought was so boring but I couldn’t think of what else to call it. But at the last minute I thought of calling it Lobby Hero which was very pleasing. A little more interesting.

IN THE FIRST SCENE OF THE PLAY, A CHARACTER SAYS, “IF YOU STICK TO THE RULES THEN YOU NEVER HAVE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU WERE JUSTIFIED NOT STICKING TO THE RULES.” THE PEOPLE IN THIS PLAY END UP HAVING A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS ABOUT BEING JUSTIFIED IN BREAKING THE RULES. WHAT INTERESTS YOU ABOUT RULES AND WHEN AND WHY WE BREAK THEM? KL: I find that people tend to be a little selective about which rules they follow and which they don’t and why. But that’s not true of everybody. Some people really do try to stick to the moral codes; if the law is wrong, you change the law, you don’t break it.

I think the play is mostly concerned with what happens when your idea of what rules you’re supposed to follow comes into conflict with all of your other feelings about what you’d like to do, what you feel like you need to do, and how you reconcile your idea of what you’re supposed to be doing with what your emotions are telling you to do under duress.

MICHAEL CERA, WHO WAS IN THE REVIVAL OF YOUR PLAY THIS IS OUR YOUTH, WILL ALSO BE IN THIS PRODUCTION. WHAT QUALITIES DOES HE HAVE THAT FIT SO NICELY INTO THE LONERGAN UNIVERSE? KL: Oh, I just think he’s a wonderful actor. I don’t know if there is a Lonergan universe.

TC: Well I do think he fits into what I said before about the people in Kenny’s movies and plays. I don’t think of them as characters, I think of them as actual human beings. I think that Cera is affectless and very understated. And yet his work is also very specific and really thought through and intelligent.

TRIP, THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR SEVENTH SHOW AT SECOND STAGE. KENNY, THIS IS OUR YOUTH WAS PRODUCED HERE IN 1998 AND WE DID THE WAVERLY GALLERY IN 2000. WHAT HAS HAVING AN ARTISTIC HOME HERE MEANT FOR YOU BOTH? KL: Well it’s been immensely important for me. I had two great experiences here and it’s a very supportive place to work. It’s such a friendly, creative, and productive atmosphere. And it’s wonderful to see how it has grown up over the years.

As I’ve become less mature.

TC: For me, Second Stage has always been my home of firsts. In so many ways, my first really big hit in New York was Bachelorette and my first revival in New York was A Small Fire, my first time working with a grown-up playwright was Terrence McNally on his play Some Men. I feel like every experience I’ve had here has been incredibly positive. It feels like a great honor and responsibility to be helming the first production of Second Stage’s first, which is taking over a Broadway theater.

Our programs are made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

UP NEXT AT THE TONY KISER THEATER: BEGINS JANUARY 2018

CARDINAL

BY GREG PIERCE DIRECTED BY KATE WHORISKEY BOOKING FOR CARDINAL STARTS MID-NOVEMBER. NEWSLETTER & MORE INFO TO COME.

Hayes Theater

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

KENNETH LONERGAN

TRIP CULLMAN

MICHAEL CERA

CHRIS EVANS

(Playwright) returns to Second Stage Theater where his plays, This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery, were produced in 1996 and 2000 respectively. This Is Our Youth was nominated for the 1996 Drama Desk Award for Best Play and a 2015 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play (Steppenwolf); The Waverly Gallery was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Lobby Hero premiered in 2001 and was a Drama Desk, Outer Critics, and Olivier Best Play nominee. His other plays include The Starry Messenger (2009) and Medieval Play (2012). His most recent play, Hold On To Me Darling, was an Outer Critics Circle Best Play nominee. His first film, You Can Count On Me (2000), which he wrote and directed, was an Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee for Best Screenplay, among numerous other accolades. He also co-wrote the screenplays for Analyze This and Gangs Of New York (2002 WGA and Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay). He recently completed writing a four-part television adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel Howard’s End for the BBC. Mr. Lonergan won the 2017 Academy Award for Best Screenplay for Manchester by The Sea.

(Director) returns to Second Stage where he directed Leslye Headland’s The Layover and Bachelorette, Jon Robin Baitz’s The Substance of Fire, Paul Weitz’s Lonely, I’m Not, Adam Bock’s Swimming In The Shallows and Terrence McNally’s Some Men. Other select NYC plays: John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation (Barrymore), Joshua Harmon’s Significant Other (Booth and Roundabout), Anna Jordan’s Yen (MCC), Halley Feiffer’s A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Of New York City (MCC), Feiffer’s I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic), Simon Stephens’ Punk Rock (MCC, Obie Award), Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy (MTC), Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash’s Murder Ballad (MTC and Union Square Theatre), Headland’s Assistance (Playwrights Horizons), Adam Bock’s A Small Fire (Playwrights Horizons, Drama Desk nomination.), Adam Rapp’s The Hallway Trilogy: Nursing (Rattlestick), Bert V. Royal’s Dog Sees God (Century Center), Bock’s The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons), Weitz’ Roulette (EST), Jonathan Tolins’ The Last Sunday In June (Rattlestick and Century Center). Williams’ The Rose Tattoo (WTF).

(Jeff) Work includes the role of George-Michael Bluth in the Emmy Award®-winning Fox series “Arrested Development”, as well as lead roles in the feature blockbusters Superbad and Juno.

Other film roles include Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Youth in Revolt, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and the comedy hit This is the End. Most recently, Michael Cera was heard in animated blockbusters Sausage Party and Lego Batman.

Cera made his Broadway debut in Kenneth Lonergan’s award-winning play This Is Our Youth following a sold-out and critically acclaimed run at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater.

(Bill) is an American actor and filmmaker. Evans is known for his superhero roles as the Marvel Comics characters Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the Human Torch in Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel. He began his career on the 2000 television series “Opposite Sex”, and has since appeared in a number of films, including Not Another Teen Movie, Sunshine, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Snowpiercer and Gifted. In 2014, Evans made his directorial debut with the drama film Before We Go, in which he also starred. Lobby Hero will mark his Broadway debut.

BRIAN TYREE HENRY (William) Emmy nominee Brian Tyree Henry’s career spans film, television and theater. Henry originated the role of The General in The Book of Mormon. He currently stars alongside Donald Glover in the Emmy-winning FX series “Atlanta”. He received an MTV Movie & TV Award nomination for the role.

This spring, he guest-starred as Ricky on NBC’s Golden Globe and Emmy nominated drama “This Is Us,” for which he received an Emmy nomination.

Henry’s wide range of theater credits include The Fortress of Solitude and The Brother/Sister Plays/The Brothers Size (Helen Hayes Best Actor Nomination) at The Public Theater, as well as Romeo and Juliet and Talk About Race at New York Stage and Film and The Public. A graduate of Atlanta’s Morehouse College, Henry received his MFA from Yale’s School of Drama.

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Hayes Theater

SHOW CALENDAR AND EVENTS MARCH 1 - MAY 13

2PM 8PM 2PM 8PM 2PM 8PM 2PM 8PM

• Audio Described

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April

WELCOME TO THE HAYES THEATER. MEZZANINE

DONOR LOUNGE

CAFE

RESTROOMS

ORCHESTRA STAGE

THE HAYES THEATER

With just under 600 seats The Hayes Theater is the perfect Broadway venue to complement the intimate experience at The Kiser Theater. Our subscriber policies will stay the same and, as always, we reserve the best seats for subscribers, both in the orchestra and in the front mezzanine.

ACCESSIBILITY

The Hayes Theater is accessible, with an elevator reaching from the lower level café to the mezzanine. The orchestra has a ramp aisle, while the mezzanine utilizes stairs.

SPECIAL SEATING NEEDS

Please call Subscriber Services directly to arrange your tickets. Our House Management needs advance notice to accommodate patrons who remain in a wheelchair during the performance or those who need to attend with a service dog.

ASSISTED LISTENING The Hayes Theater will have access to the Loop Assistive Listening System – a wireless technology that transmits speech or music on stage directly to theatergoers’ cochlear implants and hearing aids with T-coils as well as handheld listening devices.

DOORS OPEN The Hayes Theater opens one hour prior to the performance. Arrive early and enjoy the café, located on our lower level. Seating in the theater begins 30 minutes before performances begin.

FOUR WAYS TO RESERVE YOUR TICKETS Online 2st.com Phone Call Subscriber Services at 212-541-4516 Sunday-Friday 12pm-6pm / Saturday 12pm-7pm Visit Subscriber Services at The Tony Kiser Theater Sunday-Friday 12pm-6pm / Saturday 12pm-7pm 305 West 43rd Street Mail or Fax Fill out the enclosed and mail to: Second Stage Theater 305 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036 To exchange your tickets, call 212-541-4516 at least 24 hours prior to your ticketed performance and we will exchange your tickets, based on availability. Subscribers may purchase up to six specially priced guest tickets. If you’d like to sit with your guests or with other subscribers, please contact Subscriber Services.