Photo Flash: Chris Bauer, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and More Rehearse for Atlantic Theater's WHAT RHYMES WITH AMERICA

Atlantic Theater Company presents the World Premiere of What Rhymes With America, written by Melissa James Gibson and directed by Daniel Aukin, beginning November 19 at the Linda Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street (between 8th & 9th Avenues). Get a first look at the all-star cast in rehearsal in the photos below!

The show stars Atlantic Ensemble Member Chris Bauer (“True Blood,” “The Wire,” Atlantic’s Parlour Song), Aimee Carrero (Cartoon Network’s “Level Up”), Seana Kofoed (Broadway’s Proof, Atlantic’s The Night Heron) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Broadway’s Ghost).

Playwright Melissa James Gibson makes her Atlantic Theater Company debut following her acclaimed Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist play This playing Off-Broadway. She received an Obie Award for her play [sic], and the prestigious 2011 Steinberg Playwright Award for her body of work. Gibson wrote the screenplay for the Untitled Christmas Tree Project, starring Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd, and is currently a staff writer on the new FX show “The Americans.”

Director Daniel Aukin recently staged Joshua Harmon’s play Bad Jews at Roundabout Theatre Company and Sam Shepard’s Heartless at Signature Theatre, as well as 4000 Miles by Amy Herzog at Lincoln Center. This production marks his fifth collaboration with Gibson, after staging her plays This, Current Nobody, [sic] and Suitcase.

A father (Bauer) and his teenage daughter (Carrero) stand on either side of a closed door. Life is unraveling for him, and is entirely uncertain for her. So begins Melissa James Gibson’s poignant, funny new play about estrangement and the partially examined life.

Previews begin: Monday, November 19, 2012. Opening night: Wednesday, December 12, 2012. Limited engagement through: Sunday, December 30, 2012. What Rhymes With America plays Tuesday-Saturday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm, Sunday at 3pm and Sunday at 7pm. Wednesday matinees at 2pm on December 19 and December 26. No Sunday 7pm performances on December 9 and December 23.

All non-member tickets are $70.00 and available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200, visiting ticketcentral.com, in person at the Ticket Central box office located at 416 West 42nd Street, or downtown at Atlantic Stage 2’s box office, located at 330 West 16th Street. For membership information, wheelchair seating, and/or group sales for both the main productions and Atlantic Stage 2, call 212-645-1242 or visit www.atlantictheater.org.

Photo Credit: Kevin Thomas Garcia