Shows & Tickets
REHEARSALS BEGIN FOR WEST COAST PREMIERE OF “TINY FATHER” AT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
FEATURING TIFFANY VILLARIN AND MAURICE WILLIAMS
WRITTEN BY MIKE LEW AND DIRECTED BY MORITZ VON STUELPNAGEL
PREVIEWS BEGIN JUNE 12 - OPENING NIGHT IS JUNE 20
LOS ANGELES (May 14, 2024) – Rehearsals begin today for Geffen Playhouse’s West Coast premiere of tiny father, written by Mike Lew (Teenage Dick, Tiger Style!) and directed by Tony Award-nominated Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Ava: The Secret Conversations, I Need That).
The cast includes Tiffany Villarin (…what the end will be, Do You Feel Anger?) as Caroline and Maurice Williams(The Vince Staples Show, Entergalactic) as Daniel.
Previews for tiny father begin Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in the Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse. Opening night is Thursday, June 20, 2024.
When a “friends with benefits” relationship unexpectedly results in the early arrival of a baby girl, Daniel must choose between being a biological parent or becoming a father. With the help of a no-nonsense night nurse, the new dad learns to navigate the protocols and frustrations of NICU life on his uncertain path to parenthood in this funny and heartfelt new play where growth is measured in more than grams.
TINY FATHERWritten by Mike LewDirected by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Previews: June 12, 2024 – June 19, 2024Opening Night: June 20, 2024Closing Night: July 14, 2024
CASTTiffany Villarin as CarolineMaurice Williams as Daniel
PRODUCTION TEAMScenic Designer David MeyerCostume Designer Tilly GrimesLighting Designer Pablo SantiagoSound Design & Original Music by UptownWorks—Noel Nichols, Bailey Trierweiler & Daniela HartAssociate Director Rosalind BevanProduction Stage Manager Darlene MiyakawaAssistant Stage Manager Lauren BuanganCasting Director Phyllis Schuringa, CSA
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULEMonday, Tuesday No performanceWednesday – Friday 8:00 p.m.Saturday 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.Sunday 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.
LOCATIONGil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024
TICKET INFORMATIONTickets currently priced at $30.00 - $129.00. Available by phone at 310.208.2028 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.
All Geffen Playhouse productions are intended for an adult audience; children under 10 years of age will not be admitted.
Rush tickets for each day’s performance are made available to the general public one hour before showtime at the box office. $35.00 General/$15.00 Student.
COLLEGE AUDIENCESThrough a variety of events and other opportunities, Geffen Playhouse welcomes college students to experience the live storytelling presented on our stages. We are proud of our association with UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television, and open our doors to all college students throughout Los Angeles. More information is available at www.geffenplayhouse.org/college.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Mike Lew (Playwright)Mike Lew’s plays include tiny father (Geffen Playhouse, Barrington Stage Company/Chautauqua Theater Company, Audible; Cape Cod Theatre Project and Ojai Playwrights Conference workshops); Teenage Dick (Donmar Warehouse, Ma-Yi Theatre Company/The Public Theater, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, The Huntington, Pasadena Playhouse, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center); Tiger Style! (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, South Coast Repertory, Olney Theatre Center, The Huntington, La Jolla Playhouse, Alliance Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center); Bike America (Ma-Yi Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre); and microcrisis (Ma-Yi Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company). Alongside composer Sam Willmott he and Rehana Lew Mirza co-wrote the book to Bhangra Nation (La Jolla Playhouse, Birmingham Rep; Project Springboard and Rhinebeck workshops). Awards/Fellowships: Guggenheim, Dramatists Guild Council, New Dramatists, Mellon/HowlRound, Lark Venturous, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Foundation for the Arts, PEN America, Richard Rodgers, Lanford Wilson, Helen Merrill, Weissberger, Heideman, and Kendeda. Education: Juilliard, Yale.
Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Director)Previously at Geffen Playhouse: Ava: The Secret Conversations written by and starring Elizabeth McGovern. Broadway: Theresa Rebeck’s I Need That starring Danny DeVito, Theresa Rebeck’s Bernhardt/Hamlet starring Janet McTeer, Noël Coward’s Present Laughter starring Kevin Kline (Tony nomination for Best Revival), Rob Askins’ Hand to God (Tony nominations for Best Play and Best Director). London’s West End: Theresa Rebeck’s Mad House starring David Harbour and Bill Pullman, Hand to God (Olivier nomination for Best New Comedy). Off-Broadway: Theresa Rebeck’s Seared (MCC Theater); Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons); Mike Lew’s Teenage Dick (Ma-Yi Theater Company/The Public Theater); Nick Jones’ Important Hats of the Twentieth Century (Manhattan Theatre Club); Nick Jones’ Verité (LCT3); Mike Lew’s Bike America (Ma-Yi Theater Company); Nick Jones’ Trevor (Lesser America); Rob Askins’ Love Song of the Albanian Sous Chef(Ensemble Studio Theatre); Mel & El: Show and Tell (Ars Nova); Michael Mitnick’s Spacebar: A Broadway Play by Kyle Sugarman and Adam Szymkowicz’s My Base and Scurvy Heart (Studio 42). Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Huntington, Alliance Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Olney Theatre Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, South Coast Repertory, Barrington Stage Company, Chautauqua Theater Company, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and more. Upcoming: a nationwide tour of Westwood’s own Michael Shayan in his smash hit play avaaz. Moritz is the former artistic director of Studio 42, NYC’s producer of “unproducible” plays. www.moritzvs.com
Tiffany Villarin (Caroline)Tiffany is delighted to be making her Geffen Playhouse debut and to be in collaboration again with Mike and Moritz. Select theater credits include originating roles in …what the end will be (Roundabout Theatre Company), Do You Feel Anger? (Vineyard Theatre and Actors Theatre of Louisville), Teenage Dick (The Public Theater co-production with Ma-Yi Theater Company), The Grown-Up (Actors Theatre of Louisville), peerless (Cherry Lane Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Marin Theatre Company—recipient of a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award), House Rules (Ma-Yi Theater Company). Film/TV credits include The Surrogate, Certainty, Shadow, New Amsterdam, The Good Fight, Law & Order: SVU, Elementary, Instinct, Bull, The Blacklist, Gotham. She has a B.F.A. from The Theatre School at DePaul University and is a member of The Actors Center.
Maurice Williams (Daniel)Williams is making his return to the Geffen Playhouse. He previously appeared as “Casey” in the 2015 production of Stephen Belber’s The Power of Duff. Other theatre credits include American Buffalo (L.A. Theatre Works), When January Feels Like Summer (Ensemble Studio Theatre), and Pitbulls (Rattlestick Theater). In Hollywood, Williams is co-writer and executive producer of Emmy Award–winning Entergalactic, and co-creator and executive producer of The Vince Staples Show, both viewable on Netflix. He is repped by WME, 3 Arts Entertainment, and Ginsburg Daniels Kallis.
PRODUCTION SPONSORUCLA Health
OPENING NIGHT SPONSORSSTK | The ONE GroupW Los Angeles – West Beverly Hills
ABOUT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSEGeffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company was founded by Gilbert Cates and is currently helmed by Executive Director/CEO Gil Cates, Jr., Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney and Board Chair Adi Greenberg. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts. www.geffenplayhouse.org
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Zenon DmytrykGeffen Playhouse
Isaak BerlinerGeffen Playhouse
