Act II Playhouse Presents Art, Previews 5/10-12

Act II Playhouse concludes its 2010-2011 season with Art (May 10-June 5) by Yasmina Reza (author of the recent Broadway hit God of Carnage), translated by Christopher Hampton. Producing Artistic Director Bud Martin directs this riotous comedy about male friendship starring three of Philadelphia's finest actors: Tony Braithwaite, Ian Merrill Peakes and Pete Pryor.

Three preview performances of Art will be held May 10-12 at 8 p.m., with tickets discounted to $22. Opening night (press opening) is Friday, May 13 at 8 p.m., and the show runs through June 5. Tickets are $27 for all regular Wednesday-Thursday performances, and $33 for Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees. Discounts are available for students, seniors and groups of 10 or more. For more information, visit www.act2.org or call the Act II Box Office at (215) 654-0200.

How would you feel if your best friend did something so colossally unfathomable that it made you doubt the very basis of the friendship? When Serge (Peakes) buys a nearly all-white painting for a very expensive sum, his best friend Marc (Braithwaite) goes ballistic. A third friend, Yvan (Pryor), is pulled into their wrangling, and battle lines are drawn. By turns funny and explosive, Art is a sly, revealing portrait of what men expect from their friends - and themselves.

"Art is really about male friendship and how over time - as new people, jobs, and experiences come into our lives - those friendships get challenged," Martin said.

The three actors in Art have been nominated for an astonishing 35 Barrymore Awards, winning 11. Last season at Act II, Martin directed Braithwaite in the musical The Story of My Life, which won the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical. All three performers have been on the Act II stage in past seasons, but never together.

"It is very exciting being the bus driver when I have those three guys in the right seats on the bus," Martin said. "These guys will play off each other, feed each other, find a lot of nuance, and tell me how and where to drive."

The script has a personal resonance for Martin. "My two best friends today were my best friends 45 years ago when we were in high school," he said. "While wives, kids, jobs and distance change our priorities and diminish our contact, we try very hard to maintain the relationships."

When it premiered on Broadway in 1998, Art won the Tony Award for best play. Newsweek calls this international smash hit "a nonstop cross-fire of crackling language, serious issues of life and art expressed in outbursts that sound like Don Rickles with a degree from the Sorbonne."

The design team is comprised of scenic designer Dirk Durossette, costume designer Wade Laboissonniere, Sound Designer David O'Connor, and lighting designer James Leitner.

SPECIAL DRESS REHEARSAL FUNDRAISER
The final dress rehearsal of Art will be open to the public on Sunday, May 8 at 7 p.m. Suggested donation is $10, and all contributions go to the Abington Art Center. According to its description, "At Abington Art Center, we believe art should be engaging, approachable and, above all else, fun. Here you won't just observe art. You'll touch it, feel it, create it and be a part of it. In its historic, 27-acre campus in suburban Philadelphia, Abington Art Center is dedicated to providing opportunities for its many audiences to experience, appreciate and participate in the arts at whatever level they choose. From preschool to lifelong learners, casual observers to art enthusiasts, AAC engages visitors, artists and students with its sculpture park and gallery exhibitions of today's artists, studio art classes, and public programs."

ABOUT ACT II PLAYHOUSE
Act II Playhouse, now in its 12th season of professional theatre in the Philadelphia suburb of Ambler, PA, is committed to creating world-class theatre in a venue whose intimacy draws audiences and actors into dynamic interaction. Act II produces new, classic, and contemporary plays and musicals under the direction of Bud Martin (Producing Artistic Director) and Harriet Power (Associate Artistic Director). In July 2010, Howard Shapiro of The Philadelphia Inquirer declared that "Act II Playhouse is arguably the most up-and-coming of the region's small professional theaters outside Center City."

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
BUD MARTIN (Director) is in his third season as Producing Artistic Director for Act II Playhouse. Since joining Act II in April 2008, he has directed the new musical Married Alive!, Magnetic North, the record-breaking Respect: A Musical Journey of Women, On Golden Pond, and The Story of My Life (Barrymore Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical). At Society Hill Playhouse: Respect (and national tour) and My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish and I'm In Therapy. He graduated from DeSales University and received his M.A. in Theatre from Villanova University. Just prior to Act II, Martin produced and directed Michael Friel's The Children of Fatima for Theatre Catalyst. His Broadway producing credits include: Dolly Parton's new musical 9 to 5, The Story of My Life, Burn the Floor, the Tony nominated Time Stands Still with Laura Linney and La Béte with Mark Rylance, David Hyde Pierce and Joanna Lumley. On London's West End: the multiple Olivier Award winner Legally Blonde, the Musical, La Bete and George Stiles' new musical adventure The Three Musketeers at the Rose Theatre, Kingston-Upon-Thames. He will also be producing the West End production of Time Stands Still next year.

ABOUT THE CAST
TONY BRAITHWAITE (MARC) has been with Act 2 Playhouse for many shows over the years, including Heeere's Tony!, Say Goodnight Gracie, Good Evening, Stones in His Pockets, Boeing-Boeing, and The Story of My Life. Tony also works regularly with 1812 Productions, The Arden Theatre Company and Montgomery Theatre, among others. In July, Tony will be at Montgomery Theatre for Neil Simon's Prisoner of 2nd Avenue and Look Mom, I'm Swell! back to back, and in the fall, Tony and Ben Dibble will return to The Kimmel Center with The Big Bang. Tony is a 12-time Barrymore nominee, a 4-time Barrymore M.C., and a 3-time Barrymore winner. For 17 years, Tony has also been the Director of Dramatics at his beloved alma mater St. Joe's Prep where he is currently directing his 34th show, The Producers. www.tonybraithwaite.com.

IAN MERRILL PEAKES (SERGE) Philadelphia: Act II: Lonesome West, Taking Sides; Arden Theatre Co.: World premieres of Something Intangible and Molly's Delicious, R and G Are Dead, All My Sons, Prayer for Owen Meany, Three Days of Rain; Walnut Street Theater: Of Mice and Men, Enchanted April, Speaking in Tongues; Philly Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet; Wilma: Invention of Love; Philadelphia Theatre Company: Sideman; People's Light: Flea in Her Ear, Book of Days; Theater Exile: Red Light Winter. Regional: Denver Center: Glengarry Glen Ross, When Tang Met Laika, The Catch; Actors Theatre of Louisville: Twelfth Night, Crucible; Shakespeare Santa Cruz: Much Ado, Tempest; Folger Shakespeare Theatre: Macbeth, Henry VIII, Two Gents, Measure for Measure, Melissa Arctic, Game of Love and Chance; Shakespeare Theatre, DC: Taming of the Shrew; Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre: The False Servant; Boarshead Theatre: Hamlet; Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival: Othello, Henry IV, As You Like It. International: Derby Playhouse, UK, Great Expectations. Film:Lebanon, PA, Gentleman's Game. TV: Still Standing, Hack, Homicide. Awards: Helen Hayes Nominations for Macbeth, Henry VIII and Game of Love and Chance; Ovation and Henry Award Nominations for Glengarry in Denver; Barrymore Nominations for Red Light Winter, Romeo and Juliet; Barrymore Awards for Something Intangible, All My Sons and Sideman; 2003 F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Artist in Philadelphia.

PETE PRYOR (YVAN) is thrilled to be back at Act II Playhouse. He was last seen here as Mick in Bruce Graham's Barrymore Award winning, Any Given Monday. He has been directing, acting and teaching in the Philadelphia area for the last 21 years. He is a proud company member of People's Light and Theater and this September, he will become their new Associate Artistic Director. He is the co-founder of 1812 Productions and the resident artist at the Pathway School in Norristown. Last season, through the Wilma Theater's nomination, he was chosen and honored as a Lunt-Fontanne fellow, one of nine professional regional actors chosen annually across the United states to receive this honor. He is a two time Independence Foundation Fellowship Artist and last season was the recipient of a professional development grant from the Philadelphia Theater Initiative. Over many seasons has been nominated for a total of 17 Barrymore Awards for acting and directing, taking home 3; Road ( Joey/Eddie - Best Supporting Actor - Wilma Theater) Richard III (King Richard - Best Actor - Lantern Theater), Cinderella, an American Panto ( Best Direction of a musical - People's Light and Theater Company). His new play, Beautiful Boy will be part of a reading series for People's Light next season. He is eternally thankful for his very patient, and beautiful wife Juliette, and our crew of Irish gangsters: Colin, Shane and Finn.