Michael Braun, Roe Hartrampf et al. to Star in Second Stage Theatre's THE BAD GUYS, 6/4; Full Cast Announced

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) kicks off the 10th anniversary of its Uptown Series with the world premiere of The Bad Guys, written by Alena Smith and directed by Hal Brooks. The Bad Guys will feature Michael Braun (War Horse), Roe Hartrampf (Unnatural Acts), James McMenamin (Suicide, Incorporated), Tobias Segal (The Miracle Worker) and Raviv Ullman (Russian Transport). Previews begin on May 22nd and opening night is Monday, June 4th.

The Bad Guys is presented at Second Stage Theatre's uptown home, the McGinn/Cazale Theatre on Broadway at 76th Street. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased by calling the Second Stage Theatre Box Office at 212-246-4422 or online at www.2ST.com.

Five childhood buddies reunite on a late summer afternoon for some beer, grilling and weed, but deep within their friendship lurk ghosts that rock the patio beneath them. Bitingly comic and ruthlessly recognizable, this is the story of a generation at war with itself over what it means to "man up."

The Bad Guys features scenic design by Jason Simms, costume design by Jessica Pabst, lighting design by Seth Reiser, and sound design by Ryan Rummery.

Created as a program to help develop and provide exposure for the voices of a new generation of theatre artists, the Second Stage Theatre Uptown Series (Christopher Burney, Associate ArtisticDirector and Curator) seeks to develop the skills of emerging playwrights, to provide early-career artists with the support of a major artistic institution, and to create new plays for the American Theatre. Each show has a limited rehearsal period, as well as a streamlined budget.

The series has helped launch and advance the careers of several up-and-coming playwrights, including Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo), Leslye Headland (Bachelorette), Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Good Boys and True, HBO's "Big Love"), Adam Bock (A Small Fire, The Drunken City), and Brooke Berman (Hunting and Gathering).

Alena Smith (Playwright) Alena Smith's plays have been seen/developed at The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Joe's Pub, the Summer Play Festival, A.R.T. Institute, the Ohio Theatre, P.S. 122, Chashama, the Foundry, and the Yale Cabaret. Outside of the U.S., her work has been seen at the Southwark Playhouse in London, and at Theater Bielefeld in Bielefeld, Germany. She was a member of the Public's 2009 Emerging Writers Group, and was a 2008-09 Artist Fellow in Playwriting with the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA). MFA, Yale School of Drama; ASCAP Cole Porter Prize in Playwriting.

Hal Brooks (Director) Recent: Colin Quinn's Long Story Short, directed by Jerry Seinfeld (Creative Consultant); The Whale (Denver Center), Tigers Be Still (Dallas Theater Center). Clybourne Park, Juilliard; Urge for Going (The Public Theater); The Bald Soprano (Pearl Theatre); (Humana Festival), Back Back Back (Dallas Theater Center), Lady (Asolo Rep), the premiere of Lee Blessing's Lonesome Hollow (Contemporary American Theater Festival), and Steve Martin's Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Two River Theater Company). Hal is the Artistic Director of the Cape Cod Theatre Project and the Associate Artistic Director of the Ojal Playwrights Conference. He is a proud member of the Lincoln center Theatre Directors' Lab and SSDC.