Marc Kudisch to Join Steven Boyer in MCC's HAND TO GOD; Full Cast Announced

MCC Theater today announced that Steven Boyer, previously announced to reprise his celebrated, Obie Award-winning performance in MCC's upcoming Off-Broadway premiere of Robert Askins' Hand to God, will be joined in that production by Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch as well as Geneva Carr, Michael Oberholtzer, and Sarah Stiles. Hand to God, which first appeared in New York to great acclaim at the Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) in 2011, will be directed once again by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and begins at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on February 20, 2014. An official opening night is set for March 10, 2014.

In Hand to God, the good children of Cypress, Texas are taught to obey the Bible in order to evade Satan's hand. But when students at the Christian Puppet Ministry put those teachings into practice, one devout young man's puppet takes on a shocking personality that no one could have expected. In this hilarious and lightning-paced comedy, a foul-mouthed sock puppet named Tyrone soon teaches those around him that the urges that can drive a person to give in to their darkest desires fit like a glove.

Actor Steven Boyer (Jason/Tyrone) will next be seen in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street and has appeared on Broadway in I'm Not Rappaport and Off-Broadway's The Explorers Club (MTC), Modern Terrorism (Second Stage), Hand to God (OBIE Award, Ensemble Studio Theatre), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Encores), Motel Cherry (Clubbed Thumb), The Ugly One (Soho Rep), School for Lies (Classic Stage Co), The Coward (LCT3), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (The Public). TV/Film: "Louie," "Person of Interest," "Law & Order," "Ed", Did You Hear About The Morgans?, The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best.

Boyer is joined in Hand to God by Geneva Carr (Margery), reprising her acclaimed work from the Ensemble Studio Theatre production of Hand to God, has appeared in Trevor at Lesser America and Betty's Summer Vacation at Playwrights Horizons; Broadway veteran Marc Kudisch(Pastor Greg), who received Tony Award nominations for 9 to 5: The Musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Thoroughly Modern Millie, and has also been seen on "Sex and the City," "All My Children," and "Smash"; Michael Oberholtzer (Timmy), who appeared in The Talls at Second Stage and will soon to be seen in the major motion picture Delivery Man starring Vince Vaughn; and Sarah Stiles (Jessica), who recently appeared in The Public's Shakespeare in the Park production of Into the Woods as well as the Tony Award winning Avenue Q.

Playwright Robert Askins was born in Cypress, Texas in 1980. He moved to New York in 2005. In 2009 his play Princes of Waco was produced by EST/Youngblood. His one act play Matthew and the Pastor's Wife was a part of Marathon 2010 at EST and The Love Song of the Albanian Sous Chef won a Dallas Outer Circle Critics award in 2011. Most recently Rob's Obie Award-winning play Hand to God enjoyed three sold out runs at EST in 2011-12. Mr. Askins is proud to be an alumnus of I-73, Youngblood, and a member of The Ensemble Studio Theatre. He has received two E.S.T./Sloan grants, an Arch and Bruce Davis Award and is one of the 2012 recipients of the Helen Merrill Award for emerging playwrights.

Director Moritz von Stuelpnagel previously directed the EST production of Hand to God. He is the Artistic Director of Studio 42. New York directing credits include Ensemble Studio Theatre, Ars Nova, Rising Phoenix Rep, poortom, Red Fern, FringeNYC, Vital, Drama League, Culture Project, Chashama, HERE, and others. Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Kennedy Center, Millbrook Playhouse, American Stage Festival, Red Barn, Allentown Shakespeare, and Boston Playwrights. Moritz has also helped develop new plays at the Lark, NYTW, Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theatre, Dramatists Guild, Ma-Yi, the Kennedy Center, New River Dramatists, Partial Comfort, 2G, TBTB, Williamstown, Astoria Performing Arts Center and Young Playwrights. He is a frequent collaborator with the Youngblood writers' collective at EST. He was the associate director for Broadway's Tony-nominated Cry-Baby. He has been a Resident Director at Playwrights Horizons, The Acting Company, and the Huntington Theatre Company. 2005: Drama League's Fall Directing Fellowship; 2007: Boris Sagal Fellowship at Williamstown. Moritz is an adjunct instructor at Fordham University, and has been a guest director at over a dozen universities, including Juilliard, NYU, Boston University, Fordham, University of Rochester, and Connecticut College.

The 2013-14 Main Stage Season of MCC Theater is underway: the Broadway premiere of the Mary-Louise Parker-starrer The Snow Geese by MCC alum Sharr White, which is a co-production with Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) now through December 15, 2013 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre; the New York Premiere of John Pollono's celebrated Small Engine Repair, the comic thriller that premiered to rave reviews and sold-out audiences at L.A.'s Rogue Machine Theatre, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre now through December 8th; the Off-Broadway premiere of Robert Askins' Hand to God, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel and starring Steven Boyer (Modern Terrorism, The Wolf of Wall Street), at Lucille Lortel Theatre, beginning on February 20, 2014 with an official opening on March 10, 2014; and the North American premiere of Penelope Skinner's The Village Bike, directed by Sam Gold (Fun Home), starring Academy Award nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart, The Dark Knight) at the Lucille Lortel Theatre beginning May 21, 2014 with an official opening on June 9, 2014.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

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