TheaterWorks Opens 32nd Season with THE WOLVES

TheaterWorks (Rob Ruggiero, Producing Artistic Director) announced today that THE WOLVES by Sarah DeLappe will run October 5 through November 5, 2017 (please note date change). THE WOLVES is the 1st show of TheaterWorks 32nd Season,

Directed by TheaterWorks Artistic Associate Eric Ort, THE WOLVES won rave reviews last season and was a 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist. The production was also nominated for Lucille Lortel and Drama League awards for Best Play, as well as for the Outer Critics' Circle John Gassner Award for Outstanding New American Play.

Deceptively simple, but formidable, THE WOLVES follows the ebb and flow of power and affection within a girls' soccer team, as they navigate the game and their lives. This is an incandescent portrait of female warriors fighting to find their place in a complicated world. It is a timely play about the fierceness of adolescence that rings brave and true with humor and profound insight.

Originally produced by The Playwrights Realm, THE WOLVES took New York by storm last season. The New York production returns again this fall to Lincoln Center but Connecticut audiences can see it first in Hartford. Director Eric Ort (TheaterWorks assistant director Next To Normal, Midsummer, Dancing Lessons, and Time Stands Still) said "Sarah DeLappe has written a funny and gutsy play about young fighters grappling with concerns both mundane and global. I love this play because it brings us into an intimate and unfiltered world where young women are forging with spirit and strength the way they will move through the world."

TheaterWorks Producing Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero said " I'm proud to open our 32nd season with this powerful piece by an important new playwright. Our audience will appreciate that this production is very special. With a cast of ten strong women on stage, I can promise you've never seen theater quite like this before."

THE WOLVES features a talented and spirited cast of 9 formidable young women including Rachel Caplan (#14), Carolyn Cutillo (#2), Karla Gallegos (#00), Déa Julien (#13), Shannon Mary Keegan (#11), Emily Juliette Murphy (#25), Claire Saunders (#8) and Caitlin Zoz (#46) making their TheaterWorks debut. Olivia Hoffman (#7) was previously scene at TheaterWorks in Wendy Wasserstein's Third. Megan Byrne, previously seen at TheaterWorks in Good People, joins the cast as Soccer Mom.

The creative team includes Mariana Sanchez (Set Design), Blair Gulledge (Costume Design), Rob Denton (Lighting Design), Karin Graybash (Sound Design) and Leah Loukas (Wig Design).

For tickets call 860.527.7838 or purchase online at www.theaterworkshartford.org

Megan Byrne (Soccer Mom) Megan Byrne is thrilled to return to TheaterWorks after previously appearing in Good People (CT Critics Circle Nomination). NY credits include: Arcadia (PTP), Ripcord (u/s - MTC), Serious Money (PTP), The Hatmaker's Wife (The Playwright's Realm), The Netflix Plays (ArsNova), Speak Truth to Power (Culture Project), No End of Blame (NYIT Award, Best Featured Actress), The Voice of the Turtle (Keen Company). Regional includes: Sex with Strangers, Outside Mullingar (City Theatre); Dot (world premiere - Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival); Other Desert Cities (Theatre Aspen); Proof (Merrimack Rep); Noises Off!, Absurd Person Singular, When Tang Met Laika (Ovation Award Nomination),The Sweetest Swing in Baseball (Denver Center). Film: Landline, Julie & Julia, The Rebound, Ghost Town, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead. TV includes: "Elementary", "The Path", "Younger," "The Following", "Madam Secretary", "Black Box", "Person of Interest", "The Good Wife", "Made in Jersey", "Nurse Jackie", "Blue Bloods", and a recurring role on "Law & Order". MFA: University of California, Irvine. BA: Middlebury College.

RACHEL CAPLAN (#14) is making her TheaterWorks debut. She is a NY-based actor and is excited to be joining the wolf pack at TheaterWorks. NY credits include: Hissifit (Cradle Theatre Co.), A Name for a Ghost to Mutter (Theatre East), Icons/Idols (New Ohio Ice Factory), Cadence: Home (TE'A), and None of the Above (Pegasus 51 Performance Project). Thanks to Eric, the entire cast and crew, Erica Jensen, and Calleri Casting. Special thanks to Miloosh, Kev, and Maria Aladren for being such MVPs. For Tati and Mom.

CAROLYN CUTILLO (#2) is making her TheaterWorks debut. A NYC-based actor, she received her BFA from NYU, where she currently assistant-teaches a class called The Science of Happiness. Favorite credits include Safe at 59E59/Edinburgh Fringe, The Whaleship Essex at Hudson Guild, 100 Saints You Should Know at Urban Stages, two shows on the Investigation Discovery Channel, and an upcoming horror feature film shot in India, Fear the Fear. She would like to thank 9MUSE, Calleri Casting, everyone at TheaterWorks, and all her wonderfully supportive friends and family. Look for her original series on YouTube, How Happiness Happens, coming soon! www.carolyncutillo.com

KARLA GALLEGOS (#00) is thrilled to be making her regional debut in TheaterWorks production of THE WOLVES. Past credits include Mad Forest (Flavia/House Painter), The Dining Room (Various) and You Can't Take it With You (Olga Katrina) at The Hartt School Theater Division at the University of Hartford where she is in her junior year pursuing her BFA.

OLIVIA HOFFMAN (#7) is over the moon to be a part of this empowering pack of women. She was last seen on the TheaterWorks stage as Emily in Wendy Wasserstein's Third. She just finished up Oklahoma! at the Goodspeed Opera House. Other credits include: Romeo and Juliet (Hartford Stage), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.), Black Footnotes (Rebel Theater Co.), and Wholly, Joan's! (Powerhouse Theater Lab). BFA acting from Emerson College. Love and thanks to Eric, the TheaterWorks team, and my family.

DÉA JULIEN (#13) is making her TheaterWorks debut. West Side Story 1st Nat'l Tour (Rosalia / dir. Arthur Laurents & David Saint). New York: STET (Abingdon Theatre / Tony Speciale), Intimacy (The New Group / Scott Elliott), Blueprint Specials (Public Theater UTR & Waterwell / Tom Ridgely), Lawnpeople (Cherry Lane / Elena Araoz), Julius Caesar (Access Theatre), Abraham's Daughters, The Seven Little Foys (Fringe NYC), Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 Days / 365 Plays (Public Theater). Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus. Film: Cut in Half (dir. Susan Seidelman), Public Speaking, Fan Girl. www.deajulien.com

SHANNON MARY KEEGAN (#11) is making her TheaterWorks debut. She is a junior at The Hartt School at the University of Hartford where she is pursuing both a BFA in Music Theatre and a degree in Political science. She is originally from Atlanta, GA. This past year at Hartt she was seen in The Dining Room, played Lucia in Mad Forest, and finished the year off with Quilters the musical. Shannon couldn't be more excited to share this wonderful project with her teammates.

EMILY JULIETTE MURPHY (#25) is making her TheaterWorks debut. Off Broadway - Classic Stage Co.: The Comedy of Errors (Dromio of Ephesus), Origin Theater Co.: Overshadowed. Regional - Baltimore Center Stage: That Face (Mia), Guthrie: Intersections. International - Chocolate Moose Theatre: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Doctor Faustus. MFA Columbia University, BA McGill University. Thanks to Erica and Calleri Casting for making this possible. Love and everything else to MB and Dids. emilymurphyactor.com

Claire Saunders (#8) is making her TheaterWorks debut. A Seattle-native, she is thrilled to be part of this stunning piece. Off-Broadway: Marry Harry (York Theatre), Errol and Fidel (NYMF, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre), Taming of the Shrew (NY Classical Theatre); Regional: Pirates of Penzance (Daughter), In the Heights (Vanessa), The Wild Party (Queenie); Film: The Intern (Warner Bros), That Night The Night (Goocher Prod). Proud Carnegie Mellon alum. Love to her amazing team at Nani/Saperstein. Love to the entire THE WOLVES team. And special shout out to batch, mom, and my people (you know who you are) for their unending love and support. Matthew 5:15

CAITLIN ZOZ (#43) is very excited to be making her TheaterWorks debut. New York: All of My Blood (Corkscrew Theater Festival) The Witch of St. Elmora Street (Wolfpack Productions) Pretty Theft (Dark Matter Productions), Inside, Broken City (PopUP), Dance Dance Revolution (Ohio Theater Dir. Alex Timbers). Regional: Our Town (Long Wharf Theatre), The Seven Year Itch (Ivoryton Playhouse), Riding The Turnpike, GDP (Hartbeat Ensemble). Film: Roommate Wanted, Dark Haul, Straight Outta Tompkins. BFA: NYU Tisch Many thanks to Eric, Rob and and the entire TheaterWorks team. www.caitlinzoz.com

Sarah DeLappe's play THE WOLVES premiered off-Broadway at The Playwrights Realm at The Duke on 42nd St, following an engagement with New York Stage and Film, and development with Clubbed Thumb and The Great Plains Theater Conference. THE WOLVES was a 2017 Pulitzer Prize Finalist and won both the American Playwriting Foundation's inaugural Relentless Award and Marin Theater Company's Sky Cooper New American Play Prize; it was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the Yale Prize. She is currently a Page One Writer at The Playwrights Realm, a Resident Writer at LCT3, and a member of Ars Nova Play Group. She is an alumnae of Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writers Group, the New Georges Audrey Residency, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and Sitka Fellows Program. She teaches at NYU Tisch's Playwrights Horizons Theater School. MFA, Brooklyn College.

ERIC ORT (Director) is making his TheaterWorks debut. Eric joined the TheaterWorks staff in 2016, but has been affiliated with the theater for four seasons as assistant director for seven shows including Next To Normal, Midsummer, Dancing Lessons, and Time Stands Still. A theater educator, Eric was director of theater at Miss Porter's School for six years where favorite productions included: The Children's Hour, The House of Bernarda, Alba, Metamorphoses, The Secret Garden and Working. Other directing projects have included work at Brooklyn College, the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Eric has taught at Brooklyn College and is currently an adjunct faculty member at The Hartt School, University of Hartford. [Eric is a graduate of Brooklyn College, The University of Chicago and Vassar College]. www.ericort.com

Rob Ruggiero (Producing Artistic Director) has been a part of TheaterWorks artistic leadership for nearly 25 years. He has directed over 50 shows, including Next to Normal, Relativity, Sex with Strangers, THIRD, Good People, Christmas on the Rocks, Annapurna, The Other Place and Time Stands Still. Rob has earned national recognition for his work on plays and musicals. His Broadway credits include Looped (starring Valerie Harper in a Tony-nominated performance) and High (starring Kathleen Turner). Off-Broadway, he conceived and directed the original musical revue entitled Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn (Nominated for the Drama Desk and the Outer Critics Circle Awards). Rob conceived and directed the world premiere musical portrait of Ella Fitzgerald entitled Ella, which was seen on more than 24 regional theater stages from 2005-2010 before beginning a National Tour.

His work has received multiple awards and recognition here in Connecticut, as well as in other cities around the United States. Rob most recently directed La Cage aux Folles, his ninth collaboration with Goodspeed Musicals where he also directed highly successful productions of Fiddler on the Roof (Connecticut Critic's Circle Award for Best Direction), The Most Happy Fella (Connecticut Critic's Circle Award for Best Direction), Carousel (Broadway World Award), Annie Get Your Gun, Camelot, Big River, 1776 and a new adaptation of Show Boat (Connecticut Critic's Circle Award for Best Direction). This new version is now being licensed by the Rogers & Hammerstein Organization. www.robruggiero.com Street, known as City Arts on Pearl. City Arts also provides an affordable home and services to a diverse family of non-profit arts organizations.