Emmy Winner Larroquette Leads Meriwether's OLIVER! Off-Broadway; Opens 5/17

Five-time Emmy Award-winner John Larroquette will make a stage appearance this spring, joining JohAnna Day, Monica Raymund, and Michael Zegen in the cast of Elizabeth Meriwether's new play OLIVER!, in its world-premiere by the Off-Broadway theatre company the stageFARM, with previews starting May 9 prior to its official opening night May 17 at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38
Commerce St.) in Manhattan.

Directed by Evan Cabnet, OLIVER! is a jet black comedy about hurting the ones you love, and loving the ones that hurt:  Oliver (Michael Zegen) is 17 and Jasper (John Laroquette) is 60. They are best friends. Oliver wants to get laid, and Jasper wants to help. Jasper wants to drink himself to death, and Oliver wants to save him. And they share a secret that could ruin them both... if it hasn't already.

Elizabeth Meriwether is the author of the plays "The Mistakes Madeline Made" (Naked Angels), "Heddatron" (Les Freres Corbusier), "Nicky Goes Goth" (NY Fringe) and "90 Days" (stageFARM).

This production of OLIVER! brings Ms. Meriwether back to New York after four years in Hollywood, where she has four major projects in development, including "F**kbuddies aka Friends with Benefits" which begins shooting next month starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, directed by Ivan Reitman. Liz was one of Variety's 10 screenwriters to watch and one of four female
screenwriters in Hollywood featured in the New York Times last year.

JohAnna Day has appeared on Broadway in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, and PROOF (Tony nomination), and Off-Broadway in Ethan Coen's ALMOST AN EVENING, Edward Albee's PETER AND JERRY, and Paula Vogel's Pulitzer Prize-winning HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE.

John Larroquette is a five-time Emmy Award-winning actor, best known as 'Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding' on NBC-TV's "Night Court," which earned him four Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.  He also starred in the NBC comedy series "The John Larroquette Show," was a series regular on "Boston Legal" and won his fifth Emmy Award for a
guest-starring role on "The Practice." He played the title role in Hallmark's acclaimed
crime series "McBride," and starred on NBC's sitcom "Happy Family."  Film credits include "Big Paw: Beethoven 5," "Richie Rich," "Tune in Tomorrow," "Second Sight" and "Madhouse."  Mr. Larroquette's stage appearances include Neil Simon's OSCAR AND FELIX: A NEW LOOK AT THE ODD COUPLE in Los Angeles and HAPPY JACK by John Godber.

Monica Raymund can currently be seen opposite Tim Roth on Fox-TV's "Lie to Me."  Her stage credits include Jose Rivera's BOLEROS FOR THE DISENCHANTED at the Huntington Theater and Nilo Cruz's THE COLOR OF DESIRE at Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.

Michael Zegen is best-known as Damian Keefe, Denis Leary's godson on the FX television series "Rescue Me."  He began his career playing "Dwight the Troubled Teen" on "The Late Show with David Letterman" (50 episodes).  He made his NY stage debut last year in Gregory Moss' PUNKPLAY at the Ohio Theatre. Film credits include "Adventureland," "The Box" and "Taking Woodstock."

The stageFARM is an Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to producing relevant new work by emerging playwrights for a new generation of theater patrons.  the stageFARM's previous acclaimed productions include: VENGEANCE (a series of 5 commissioned plays by Neena Beber, Ron Fitzgerald, Gina Gionfriddo, Julian Sheppard, and Francine Volpe), SPIN (a series of 5 commissioned plays by Gina Gionfriddo, Elizabeth Meriwether, Adam Rapp, Mark Schultz, and Judith Thompson,), U.S. DRAG by Gina Gionfriddo, DRUG BUDDY by David Folwell, and most recently THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE by Mark Schultz starring Bobby Cannavale, Jason Butler Harner, Jackie Hoffman, Sarah Paulson, and Ben Rappaport.

The creative team for OLIVER! includes Lauren Helpern (sets), Ben Stanton (lighting), Jessica Shay (costumes),  Zane Birdwell (sound), and Faye Armon (props).

The production team includes Carrie Shaltz (Founder/Executive Director), Alex Kilgore (Artistic Director), Anthony Francavilla (Producer), Jen Driscoll (Company Manager), and Charles Turner (Production Stage Manager).

Scheduled through June 6, OLIVER! will play the following schedule: Tuesday-Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 5 pm. Tickets are $37.50 and are available by visiting telecharge at 212 239-6200 or www.telecharge.com.

For more informtion, visit: www.thestagefarm.org.

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