Second Stage Theatre to Present NY Premiere of THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director) will present the New York premiere of THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY, a new play written by Kristoffer Diaz and directed by Edward Torres. THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY will begin preview performances on Tuesday, April 27 with an opening night set for Thursday, May 20 at 6:45pm. For subscription or ticket information, please call the Second Stage Box Office at 212-246-4422 or visit the company's website, www.2ST.com.

A comic powerslam of a play, THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY is a theatrical event that dares to throw political correctness out of the ring. Macedonio "The Mace" Guerra is a middle rank pro-wrestler who may have discovered his ticket to the big time: a charismatic, trash-talking Indian kid from Brooklyn whom he recruits as the perfect foil to the All-American champion, Chad Deity. But when their rivalry is used to exploit racial stereotypes in the name of ratings, all three men find themselves fighting for much more than the championship title.

Complete casting and design team for THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY will be announced at a later date.

THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY received its world premiere production at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater, in association with Teatro Vista, in the fall of 2009. A winner of Victory Gardens' new play festival competition, Ignition: Emerging Playwrights of Color, the play was selected from more than 120 scripts submitted from playwrights of color, under 40 years of age, from around the U.S. The play is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays award, to support its mainstage debut at Victory Gardens Theater, a recipient of the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

KRISTOFFER DIAZ's other plays include Welcome to Arroyo's and Guernica, which have been produced and developed at Victory Gardens Theater, American Theatre Company, The Orchard Project, Hip-Hop Theater Festival, The Lark, Summer Play Festival, Donmar Warehouse, and South Coast Rep. Diaz also was one of the creators of Brink!, the apprentice anthology show at the 2009 Humana Festival of New American Plays. He is a 2009-2010 Jerome Fellow, and a new playwright-in-residence at Teatro Vista.

EDWARD TORRES recently directed the world premiere production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity for Victory Gardens Bio-graph Theatre (mainstage) in association with Teatro Vista. As an actor he was mostly seen in El Grito Del Bronx, a co-production with Collaboraction Theatre in association with the Goodman Theatre; The Goodman Theatre's production of The Cook; and Teatro Vista's productions of Massacre Sing to Your Children (with the Goodman) and Elliot, A Soldier Fuge (with Rivendell Theatre as part of the Visiting Company Initiative at Steppenwolf). He has a BA in Theatre from Roosevelt University in Chicago and an MFA in Film from Columbia College (Chicago). Mr. Torres currently serves on the Illinois Arts Council. He has served on the National Endowment for the Arts-Theatre Panel (2005-2007) and on the MAP Fund-Theatre Panel (2008). Other Chicago acting credits include roles at the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, Latino Chicago Theatre Company, Court, Apple Tree Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and Teatro Vista. Directorial credits include: for Teatro Vista, The Show Host, Aurora's Motive (Jaime Pachino); Ambrosio (Romulus Linney), Icarus (Edwin Sanchez), The Boiler Room (Rubin Gonzales), The Sins of Sor Juana (Karen Zacarias); for Latino Chicago: Do Cocks Have Claws and Wings to Fly (Amparo Garcia) and Lolita De Lares (Migdalia Cruz). Mr. Torres has produced over 25 plays as Artistic Director of Teatro Vista over the last 12 years.

Founded in 1979 under the leadership of Artistic Director Carole Rothman, SECOND STAGE THEATRE produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America's best contemporary theatre, including Tiny Alice and Peter and Jerry by Edward Albee; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo's Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo; Painting Churches and Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants and On the Stem by Ricky Jay; Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; Living Out by Lisa Loomer; This Is Our Youth and The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan; Some Men by Terrence McNally; eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; Everyday Rapture by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Crowns by Regina Taylor; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Spoils of War by Michael Weller; Before It Hits Home, Jar the Floor and Birdie Blue by Cheryl L. West; Jitney by August Wilson; Lemon Sky, Serenading Louie and Sympathetic Magic by Lanford Wilson; and Metamorphoses and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci by Mary Zimmerman. The company's more than 125 citations include the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Orchestrations, and Best Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley) for Next to Normal, the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed), 2005 Tony Awards for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, ...Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, ...Spelling Bee), 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses), the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 23 Obie Awards, four Outer Critics Circle Awards, two Clarence Derwent Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, five Theatre World Awards, 11 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 15 AUDELCO Awards.

In 1999, Second Stage Theatre opened its state-of-the-art, 296-seat theatre, designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. In 2002, Second Stage launched "Second Stage Theatre Uptown" series to showcase the work of up and coming artists at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre. The Theatre supports artists through several programs that include residencies, fellowships and commissions, and engages students and community members through education and outreach programs.

Second Stage Theatre has acquired the right to purchase the historic Helen Hayes Theatre, located at 240 W. 44th Street. With this new home, Second Stage will be the only theatre company on Broadway dedicated exclusively to the development and presentation of contemporary American theatrical productions. Second Stage will also become one of only four non-profit theatre companies that own and operate theatres on Broadway. The company will continue to lease and operate their original theatres on the city's Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan.

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