Mike Birbiglia's 'The New One' Opens at the Ahmanson
MIKE BIRBIGLIA’S “THE NEW ONE” OPENS AT THE AHMANSON THEATRE ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25
Written & Performed by Mike Birbiglia and Directed by Seth Barrish,
“The New One” Will Run Through November 24, 2019
Currently in previews, Mike Birbiglia’s one-man comedy “The New One” opens October 25 at Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre. Following its Drama Desk Award-winning Broadway debut, “The New One” will play the Ahmanson through November 24.
Written by Mike Birbiglia, with additional writing by Jennifer Hope Stein, “The New One” is directed by Seth Barrish (“Sleepwalk with Me”) with set design by Beowulf Boritt (“Act One,” “Come From Away”), lighting design by Aaron Copp (“Red State Blue State”) and sound design by Leon Rothenberg (“The Nance,” “The Boys in the Band”). “The New One” is produced by Kevin McCollum, Iris Smith, Triptyk Studios, Chris and Crystal Sacca, Sing Out, Louise! Productions, Jam Theatricals, Ashley Desimone, Jamie Deroy and Caroline Hirsch and Lucas McMahon.
Birbiglia’s previous plays “Sleepwalk with Me,” “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” and “Thank God for Jokes” all earned Lortel Award nominations for “Best Solo Show” with “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” winning the 2011 award. “The New One” won the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards for “Outstanding Solo Performance.” In “The New One,” Birbiglia delves back into his own life to tell a new story in a new way with the same heart and humor his fans have come to expect.
Birbiglia brings his award-winning Broadway show “Mike Birbiglia: The New One” to a global audience for his newest and most highly anticipated Netflix comedy special. Filmed at the Cort Theatre in Manhattan, the special will launch globally on Netflix on November 26.
When she included “The New One” in her list of the best stage shows of 2018, Entertainment Weekly’s Jessica Derschowitz said “hilarious and poignant observations about becoming a parent and the ways his life changed after the birth of his daughter — the ‘new one’ in this scenario — make for some of his best and most heartfelt work yet.”
Bob Verini of Variety called “The New One” “a brimmingly warm, entertaining [play] on a universally relatable topic. Birbiglia goes through a life-changing journey; there are surprises and one coup de theatre along the way; and he is most certainly a singular character.”
Mike Birbiglia is a comedian, storyteller, director and actor who has performed in front of audiences worldwide, from the Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall. His shows, “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” and “Thank God for Jokes,” were both filmed for Netflix. In addition to performing live, Birbiglia is an author and filmmaker who wrote, directed and starred in the films “Sleepwalk with Me” and “Don’t Think Twice.” His book “Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories” was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. As an actor, Birbiglia has appeared on “Inside Amy Schumer,” HBO’s “Girls” and “Broad City,” as well as in the films “Trainwreck,” “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Popstar.” He plays the role of Danny Pearson on “Orange Is the New Black” and Oscar Langstraat on Showtime’s “Billions.” He is a contributor to “This American Life” on public radio and was honored with the 2017 Kurt Vonnegut Award for humor.
Seth Barrish is co-artistic director of The Barrow Group. For the Netflix presentations, Barrish was the director of “Mike Birbiglia: My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” and co-director of “Thank God for Jokes.” Theatre directing credits include “Thank God for Jokes” (Lucille Lortel nomination), “All the Rage” (Lortel Award, Outer Critics Circle nomination), “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” (Lortel Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations – final performance at Carnegie Hall), “Sleepwalk with Me” (Nightlife Award), “The Tricky Part” (Obie Award, two Drama Desk nominations), “Pentecost” (Drama Desk nomination), “Old Wicked Songs” (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and Garland Award), “Good” (Straw Hat Award) and many more. Barrish is co-director and co-screenplay writer for “Sleepwalk with Me.” As a playwright, he is co-adaptor of “Enemy of the People” (an adaptation of Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People”). Barrish is consulting producer for “Don’t Think Twice.”
Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, Managing Director Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1600 to 2100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.
Tickets are available online at CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles). Tickets range from $35 – $145 (ticket prices are subject to change). The Ahmanson Theatre is located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.
# # #
October 24, 2019