Norbert Leo Butz is set to join Zosia Mamet and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney in the world premiere of Hamish Linklater’s The Whirligig, the New Group announced. The Off-Broadway company has revealed casting for three of its upcoming productions tapped for 2017 at The Pershing Square Signature Center.
In the new year, the New Group will present the U.S. premiere of Wallace Shawn’s Evening at the Talk House, about a group of artists grasping to find their place in the world. The production reunites the playwright with artistic director Scott Elliott, who will helm the play, set to begin January 31, 2017. The cast will feature Jill Eikenberry, John Epperson, Larry Pine, Wallace Shawn, Claudia Shear, Annapurna Sriram, and Michael Tucker. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. Performances will take place in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre with an opening night slated for February 16.
The company also announced complete casting for the world-premiere staging of Erica Schmidt’s All The Fine Boys. Abigail Breslin, Isabelle Fuhrman, Joe Tippett, and Alex Wolff will make up the cast, with direction by Schmidt. All the Fine Boys is billed as a play that “dives deep into the fascinations and fears of sexual awakening and the first painful gasps of maturity.” Set in suburban South Carolina in the late ‘80’s, it follows two 14-year-old best friends attempting to make their first serious attempts with boys. Performances are scheduled for February 14–March 26, with a March 1 opening, in the Ford Foundation Studio Theatre.
In Linklater’s The Whirligig, set to begin previews May 2, Butz and Tierney will play a couple caring for their estranged, ailing daughter in Berkshire County. “Broken-hearted and giddy with love and confusion, surprising visitors from Julie's complicated past, including her childhood best friend Trish (Mamet) and her former drug dealer, practically trip over each other to reach the young woman they thought they'd lost years before but still feel so deeply connected to,” read production notes. Directed by Elliott, performances will be in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre with an official opening night set for May 21. Further casting will be announced at a later date.
The New Group’s 2016-17 season launched with the current production Sweet Charity, choreographed by Joshua Bergasse, directed by Leigh Silverman, and starring Sutton Foster. Following an extension announcement and high ticket demand, the revival is now playing through January 8. Scroll through photos below.
