American Repertory Theater of WNY Presents THE GUYS, 9/14-29

Each year in September, media professionals, reporters and editors alike, in both electronic and print formats, are challenged when preparing memorial coverage for the September 11 Terrorist Attacks. This event is perhaps the most significant episode in recent American history and deserves the annual review scheduled by news, feature and public interest programming. The question is how to present provocative conversation while maintaining respect for the 911 legacy. With the utmost respect for this tragic event, the American Repertory Theater of WNY, Inc is proud to be presenting the powerful and compelling The Guys, written by Anne Nelson, to start the 2012-13 season.

In The Guys, playwright Anne Nelson explores the human aftereffects of this fateful date in American history. In the play, an NYC editor, helps Nick Flannigan, a captain in New York City’s fire department, prepare 8 eulogies for firefighters who died under his command that day.

Already earning critical and popular acclaim as well as regional awards, The American Repertory Theatre Of Western New York (ART/WNY) is a vibrant, mission driven company now about to start it sixth-season of production at their new home located at the historical Episcopal Church of the Ascension, 16 Linwood Avenue, Buffalo NY.

Featuring the acting talents of Victor Morales and Andrea Andolina, The Guys features a number of topics for conversation that will engage and provoke audiences.

Victor Morales is a well known face on Buffalo stages having appeared with many different local companies. Previously with ART/WNY, Morales appeared in the musical Floyd Collins. Morales plays Nick Flannigan, a by-the-book fire captain coming to terms with his sense of duty in a changing world and the task of delivering 8 eulogies for men he lost in the Twin Tower attacks.

Andrea Andolina, in just a short time, has made a home in Buffalo theaters playing engaging roles in comedy, including ART/WNY roles in the award-winning RED CLAY and Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and leads in drama. In The Guys, Andrea plays Joan, a literary editor, who volunteers her writing "tools" to aid Nick in his solemn duty.

Matthew LaChiusa is the founder and executive producer of ART/WNY. As director of The Guys, he orchestrates the written word to an emotionally provocative event. LaChiusa is an award winning playwright (RED CLAY) and directed last season's intense Killer Joe.

The Guys explores the humanity behind the fateful attacks on 9/11 with numerous question arising from such a moving and viseral production. Topics including how the public's response to 9/11 progressed from disbelief to a mourning period when citizens of the United States bonded in mourning, the subsequent alienation of different factions of American… by politics, class and geography, when service providers and first responders are victims of the tragedy they are assigned to, and/or how the play’s characters find common ground with each other represents hope in the post-9/11 world, all make the The Guys a relevant and compelling piece 11 years after the event.

The Guys debuted off-Broadway at The Flea Theater on December 4, 2001, just weeks after the event and only a mile away Ground Zero. The production starred Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray. Over the course of the production’s one year run, actors who played Nick include Dan Laura, Tim Robbins, Terrence Mann, Stephen Lang, Anthony LaPaglia. Actresses who played Joan include Swoosie Kurtz, Carol Kane, Peggy Lipton, Marlo Thomas and Susan Sarandon. LaPaglia and Weaver starred in a 2002 film adaptation. The Guys has been presented throughout the United States and in the Czech Republic, Argentina, Japan, Italy and Poland.