Performances are underway for the Off-Broadway production of Are You Now or Have You Ever Been at New York City Center Stage I. Anna D. Shapiro (August: Osage County) directs the new staging of Eric Bentley’s 1972 play, which continues through September 11.
Leading the company are Brooks Ashmanskas (Smash, The Prom), Jason Babinsky (Network), Tony nominee Steven Boyer (Hand to God), Adam Kantor (The Band’s Visit), Frederick Weller (In Plain Sight), and Michael McKean (This is Spinal Tap). Melvin Abston, Noah Pyzik, and Bill Timoney serve as understudies.
The docudrama explores the 1940s House Committee hearings on “Un-American
Activities,” where even fame offered those who were scapegoated no
protection. Using only original
transcripts, the play features the words of Arthur Miller,
Jerome Robbins, Paul Robeson, Elia Kazan, Lillian Hellman, Abe Burrows,
and Lionel Stander as they stood at the crossroads of defending their
integrity, or protecting their careers and betraying their peers.
A star-studded rotating cast has also been assembled for the limited engagement. Guest starring through June 21 are David Krumholtz (Leopoldstadt), Billy Eugene Jones (Purlie Victorious), Andrew McCarthy (Pretty in Pink), Sally Murphy (August: Osage County), and Jay O. Sanders (Purlie Victorious).
Joining Murphy and Jones as guest stars June 23–July 12 will be Scott Adsit (30 Rock), Ben Rappaport (Good Night Oscar), and Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom). Upcoming guest stars will include Norbert Leo Butz, Santino Fontana, T.R. Knight, Harry Lennix, Bob Odenkirk, Steven Pasquale, and Molly Ringwald, with more artists to be announced.