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Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE

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Wheelhouse Theater Company presents a special return engagement of Kurt Vonnegut's rarely produced play HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE at The Duke on 42nd Street, a NEW 42ND STREET project, 229 West 42nd Street in Manhattan.

The New York Times Critics' Pick production, which garnered unanimous rave reviews this past Spring at the Gene Frankel Theatre, takes a searing look at toxic masculinity, gun violence, the relationship between men and women and cultural change. Jeffrey Wise directs the production that will run through Thursday, November 29th. The official opening is set for Tuesday, October 23rd. For more information, visit http://www.wheelhousetheater.org

Wheelhouse Theater Company's original HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE cast returns for this special engagement and features Craig Wesley Divino (Founder Faultline Theater, Hound of the Baskervilles - Arrow Rock Lyceum), Finn Faulconer (Finding Neverland - 1st National Tour), Matt Harrington(Matilda - Broadway, 1st National Tour, Twelfth Night, Richard III - Shakespeare's Globe, Harvey - Roundabout Theatre Company), Kareem Lucas (Sole Variations, Walden: Life in the Woods), Kate MacCluggage (Ironbound - Kitchen Theatre Company), Jason O'Connell (Sense & Sensibility - Bedlam), and Charlotte Wise as Wanda June.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE takes a searing and darkly comedic look at American culture through the brilliantly perverse lens of Kurt Vonnegut. After being presumed dead for eight years, respected war veteran and big game hunter, Harold Ryan, returns home and brings with him an old way of thinking, celebrating a Hemingway-esque machismo and American exceptionalism. Harold soon discovers that the society he returns to has made attempts to progress into a more modern, enlightened cultural narrative. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE is a dynamic and often hilarious meditation on toxic masculinity and a capitalistic America's failed attempts at progress cloaked in honor and morality. Simply put, and as the first few lines of the play state, this is a play about men who enjoy killing, and those who don't.

Check out photos from opening night below!

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of Wheelhouse Theater Company's HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE Image

Theater Fans' Choice Awards
2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats
Best Scenic Design - Top 3
1. Dane Laffrey - The Lost Boys
36% of votes
2. Soutra Gilmour - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
12.4% of votes
3. Scott Pask - Schmigadoon!
10.8% of votes

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