Annette O'Toole Joins MAN FROM NEBRASKA at Second Stage Theatre This Winter

Just announced, Annette O'Toole will assume the role of Nancy Carpenter in the upcoming New York premiere production of Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tracy Letts' play, MAN FROM NEBRASKA, directed by David Cromer. Ms. O'Toole is replacing the previously announced J. Smith-Cameron, who has withdrawn due to scheduling conflicts.

O'Toole received the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, as well as Drama Desk and Drama League award nominations, for her performance in Southern Comfort. Her Off-Broadway and regional credits include Hamlet in Bed (Rattlestick Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe), Southern Comfort(Barrington Stage, Cap21), Third (Two River Theatre), Heresy (Flea Theater), Kindness (Playwrights Horizons), The Seagull (CSC), The Quality of Life (Arena Stage), and Magnolia (Goodman Theatre). O'Toole's film and TV credits include A Stupid and Futile Gesture, Women Who Kill, We Go On, 48 Hours, Superman III, Cat People, Smile, One on One, "Smallville," and "The Kennedys of Massachusetts" (Emmy, Golden Globe nominations). O'Toole also received an Academy Award Best Song nomination with Michael McKean for "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow."

MAN FROM NEBRASKA also features Heidi Armbruster (Time Stands Still), Reed Birney (The Humans, Tony Award), Tom Bloom (Henry IV), Annika Boras (The Prodigal Son), Nana Mensah ("An African City"), Max Gordon MOORE (Relatively Speaking), Kathleen Peirce (Cromer's Our Town), and William Ragsdale (Biloxi Blues and Getting Away With Murder). MAN FROM NEBRASKA was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2004.

MAN FROM NEBRASKA will begin previews on Thursday, January 26, 2017 at the Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd Street). Opening night is Wednesday, February 15.

Sometimes even the most devout can lose their faith. When Ken, a middle aged man from Nebraska, suddenly finds he's lost his, along with his sense of purpose, he goes on a wild adventure to find it. Along the way he encounters a world vastly different from his own, filled with chance meetings and romantic encounters that shake him to the core. From the playwright of August: Osage County, comes a fascinating exploration into what happens when we lose our belief system and the characters that come into our lives on the path to a meaningful existence.

MAN FROM NEBRASKA will feature scenic design by Takeshi Kata, costume design by Sarah Laux, lighting design by Keith Parham, and original music and sound design by Daniel Kluger.

Second Stage Theatre's 2016-2017 Season kicked off with the New York premiere production of NOTES FROM THE FIELD, written and performed by groundbreaking theater artist Anna Deavere Smith, with music composed and performed by Marcus Shelby and directed by Leonard Foglia. The production opened to great acclaim on November 2 and has been extended through December 18.

The season also includes the New York premiere of Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Bruce Norris' A PARALLELOGRAM, directed by Tony nominee Michael Greif. The play will be staged in the summer of 2017.

All productions are staged at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre, 305 West 43rd Street (just west of Eighth Avenue). Single tickets for MAN FROM NEBRASKA will go on sale Monday, December 19, 2016.

Under the artistic direction of Carole Rothman, Second Stage Theatre produces a diverse range of premieres and new interpretations of America's best Contemporary Theatre, including 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis; 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner Next to Normal by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey; 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes; Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson; The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown; Dogfight by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Peter Duchan; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage; Trust and Lonely, I'm Not by Paul Weitz; The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz; Everyday Rapture by Dick Scanlan and Sherie Rene Scott; Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deavere Smith; Becky Shaw by Gina Gionfriddo; Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl; The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane; Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman; The25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin; Jitney by August Wilson; Jar the Floor by Cheryl L. West; Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein; Crowns by ReGina Taylor; Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim; Afterbirth: Kathy & Mo's Greatest Hits by Mo Gaffney and Kathy Najimy; This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan; Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants by Ricky Jay; Coastal Disturbances by Tina Howe; A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller;Little Murders by Jules Feiffer; The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry; and Tiny Alice by Edward Albee.

The company's more than 130 citations include the 2009 Tony Awards for Best Lead Actress in a Musical (Alice Ripley, Next to Normal) and Best Score (Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal); the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed); the 2005 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical (Rachel Sheinkin, ...Spelling Bee) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Dan Fogler, ...Spelling Bee); the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play (Mary Zimmerman for Metamorphoses); the 2002 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work, 29 Obie Awards, eight Outer Critics Circle Awards, three Clarence Derwent Awards, 13 Drama Desk Awards, nine Theatre World Awards, 17 Lucille Lortel Awards, the Drama Critics Circle Award and 23 AUDELCO Awards.

In 1999, Second Stage Theatre opened The Tony Kiser Theatre, 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.

In 2015 Second Stage Theatre purchased 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. The company will continue to lease and operate their original theatres on the city's Upper West Side and in Midtown Manhattan. Second Stage Theatre has enlisted David Rockwell and The Rockwell Group to make renovations and updates to the 103 year old landmark building. They will begin renovations on the theatre in 2016 and plans for its first Broadway production to be staged in the Hayes during the 2017-18 season.

For more information, visit www.2ST.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride