Photo Flash: Atlantic Theater Company's CQ/CX in Rehearsal

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) will present the world premiere production of Gabe McKinley's play CQ/CX, directed by Tony Award® nominee David Leveaux and featuring Larry Bryggman, Peter Jay Fernandez, Tim Hopper, Arliss Howard, Kobi Libii, David Pittu, Steve Rosen and Sheila Tapia.

Previews will begin Wednesday, January 25 toward an official opening Wednesday, February 15, and a limited engagement through Sunday, March 4, 2012 Off-Broadway at Signature Theatre Company's Peter Norton Space (555 West 42nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenue) while Atlantic's main stage continues its renovation.

In the world premiere of Gabe McKinley's CQ/CX, Jay, an up and coming black reporter at The New York Times, finds his dreams of becoming a famous journalist come crashing down as he becomes the center of a plagiarism scandal. Drawing on his own experience as a newsman, McKinley weaves a revealing and complex story about the collateral damage of unchecked ambition and compounded lies. In this new play inspired by real events, truth becomes slippery and racial tensions reach a boiling point. CQ/CX raises difficult questions about the state of our media culture, and the meaning and price of journalistic integrity.

Gabe McKinley makes his Atlantic debut with the world premiere of CQ/CX. His critically acclaimed play Extinction was produced Off-Broadway last season, and his other plays include The Kitchen Sink Play, Welcome Home Rock Rogers, Funny and Floodplains. He is the recipient of the 2011 Samuel French/New School for Drama Award for Excellence in Playwriting, and his play The Grave was the winner of the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival.

Five-time Tony Award® nominated director David Leveaux returns to Atlantic following staging the U.S. premiere of Through A Glass Darkly at Atlantic last season and the recent acclaimed revival of Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia on Broadway. He received Tony Award® nominations for the Tony Award® winning revival of The Real Thing, the Tony Award® nominated revival of Jumpers and the Broadway productions of Nine, Anna Christie and A Moon for the Misbegotten. He recently staged Backbeat, the story of the Beatles, in Hamburg and the West End.

Atlantic company member Larry Bryggman recently starred in Atlantic's critically acclaimed production of Harold Pinter's The Collection & A Kind of Alaska. A two-time Tony Award® nominee (Proof, Picnic), he also starred on Broadway in Twelve Angry Men and Festen. Peter Jay Fernandez has appeared on Broadway in Cyrano De Bergerac, Julius Caesar and Henry IV and Off Broadway in Macbeth last season. Tim Hopper returns to Atlantic where he was last seen in Ethan Coen's Almost an Evening. He received an Obie Award for his performance in More Stately Mansions Off Broadway and appeared on Broadway in Present Laughter. Stage and screen star Arliss Howard's feature film credits include Moneyball, The Time Traveler's Wife and Full Metal Jacket. He appeared on Broadway in the revival of Joe Turner's Come and Gone and Off Broadway in A Number and The Late Henry Moss. Kobi Libii has appeared Off Broadway in Perfect Harmony and Ohio State Murders and in the Fringe First award-winning European premiere of Rolin Jones' The Jammer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Atlantic company member David Pittu received Tony Award® nominations for both his recent starring roles in Love Musik and Is He Dead? on Broadway. He returns to Atlantic where he was last seen in the critically acclaimed comedy What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling. Steve Rosen recently starred in the hit musical Peter and the Starcatcher Off Broadway and has appeared in the original Broadway casts of The Farnsworth Invention and Spamalot and the revival of Guys and Dolls. Sheila Tapia's Off Broadway credits include ReEntry and Elliot, A Soldiers Fugue and has appeared in the television series "Rubicon" and "Law & Order."

The design team for CQ/CX will feature scenic design by David Rockwell, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting design by Ben Stanton, original music and sound design by David Van Tieghem and projection design by Peter Nigrini and C. Andrew Bauer.

Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia

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