Brooks Ashmanskas, Vincent D'Onofrio and Zoe Kazan Join Ethan Hawke in New Group's CLIVE, Now thru 3/9

The New Group has announced that Brooks Ashmanskas, Vincent D'Onofrio and Zoe Kazan have joined the cast of Clive, up next in the company's 2012-2013 season. Written by Jonathan Marc Sherman and directed by and featuring Ethan Hawke in the title role, Clive's official Opening Night is set for tonight, February 7 at 7:00pm. This production is slated through March 9 at The New Group at Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street).

Inspired by Bertolt Brecht's inflammatory play Baal, Clive tracks a dissipated songwriter in 1990s New York City from the hedonistic heights of seduction and consumption into an ecstasy of self-destruction. This production reunites playwright Jonathan Marc Sherman and director Ethan Hawke, who teamed previously at The New Group on Things We Want (written by Sherman, directed by Hawke, 2007 extended run). At once a celebration and a nightmare vision of life lived for pleasure, Clive boasts an eclectic selection of classic American songs performed live. Ethan Hawke appears as in the title role, joined by Brooks Ashmanskas, Vincent D'Onofrio and Zoe Kazan in this world premiere production.

Jonathan Marc Sherman's plays include Things We Want (The New Group, 2007 extended run), Knickerbocker, Sophistry, Evolution, Sons & Fathers, Jesus on the Oil Tank, Serendipity & Serenity, Wonderful Time, Veins & Thumbtacks (the basis for the movie The Jimmy Show) and Women & Wallace (which he adapted for American Playhouse).

Ethan Hawke's credits at The New Group include Blood From A Stone (OBIE Award) and Hurlyburly (Drama League nomination) as an actor; and as a director, A Lie of the Mind (Drama Desk nomination) and Jonathan Marc Sherman's Things We Want. Broadway: The Coast of Utopia (Tony nom.), Henry IV, The Seagull. Off-B'way: Ivanov (Classic Stage Company), Sophistry, The Late Henry Moss, The Bridge Project (Drama Desk nom.). Films include: Training Day (Academy Award nom.) and Before Sunset (Academy Award nom. as a writer, Best Adapted Screenplay). Hawke directed the films Chelsea Walls, Straight to One (also wrote) and The Hottest State (also wrote & appeared). He has written two novels.

Brooks Ashmanskas' Broadway credits include Promises, Promises; Present Laughter, The Ritz, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (Tony nomination), The Producers, Gypsy, Little Me, Dream and How to Succeed.... His Off-Broadway credits include Wise Guys, Labor Day, Songs for a New World, London Suite, It Changes Every Year and The Holy Terror. He has appeared in the films Julie & Julia (Dir. Nora Ephron) and Little Children (Dir. Todd Field). His television credits include "The Good Wife" and "All My Children," among numerous others.

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