Ten years out of high school, three unhappy friends show up not-quite-invited to their classmate’s luxe hotel room the night before her wedding. Half a bathtub of champagne later, the former prom queen is melting down, the nice-girl cokehead is on a mission to mend the mauled wedding dress, and the mastermind behind the carnage is a lacerating maid of honor whose picture-perfect life is less stable than she’d have it seem.
A smash hit Off Broadway, Leslye Headland’s savage and insightful play is an aria to the anxiety and self-loathing of a generation.
Studio’s Subscription Season is the core of our programming, offering an uncommonly rich repertoire of provocative contemporary writing from around the world and inventive stagings of contemporary classics.
Studio Theatre’s 2011-2012 Season was generously underwritten by Robert and Arlene Kogod.
This production of Bachelorette was underwritten by Gerry and Laura Rosberg.
Leslye Headland is a Los Angeles-based playwright and screenwriter. She is the writer/director of the Seven Deadly Plays series, which was developed by and premiered at the IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles. The series includes Cinephilia (lust), Bachelorette (gluttony), Assistance (greed), Surfer Girl (sloth), Reverb (wrath), and The Accidental Blonde (envy). Bachelorette also enjoyed a sold-out, extended run at Second Stage Theatre Uptown in July 2010, in a production the New York Times called “vivid, entertaining, and witheringly funny.” Other New York credits include Cinephilia at Theatre Row and Assistance, which recently premiered Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons. Ms. Headland is currently working on her final play for the series (pride), as well as commissions for Second Stage Theatre and South Coast Repertory Theatre.
Ms. Headland directed her feature adaptation of Bachelorette with Gary Sanchez Productions (Adam McKay and Will Ferrell), starring Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden, and Adam Scott. The film made its world premiere as a selected feature at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Ms. Headland is currently writing a remake of About Last Night for Screen Gems with Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends with Benefits) attached to direct. She served as a writer on Terriers on FX and is currently developing two projects with HBO—a pilot based on Julie Klausner's memoir I Don’t Care About Your Band, and a web series called Thin But Poor.
Ms. Headland holds a BFA in Drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she studied at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School and was awarded the Robert Moss Prize.
(As of May 2012)
David Muse is in his twelfth season as Artistic Director of Studio Theatre, where he has directed Cock (the in-person and digital productions), The Children, The Remains, The Effect, The Father, Constellations, Chimerica, Murder Ballad, Belleville, Tribes, The Real Thing, An Iliad, Dirt, Bachelorette, The Habit of Art, Venus in Fur, Circle Mirror Transformation, reasons to be pretty, Blackbird, Frozen, and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. As Studio’s Artistic Director, he has produced 105 productions; established Studio R&D, its new work incubator; significantly increased artist compensation; created The Cabinet, an artist advisory board; and overseen Open Studio, a $20M expansion and upgrade of Studio’s four-theatre complex. Previously, he was Associate Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he has directed nine productions, including Richard III, Henry V, Coriolanus, and King Charles III (a co-production with American Conservatory Theater and Seattle Rep). Other directing projects include Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at Arena Stage, The Bluest Eye at Theatre Alliance, and Patrick Page's Swansong at the New York Summer Play Festival. He has helped to develop new work at numerous theatres, including New York Theatre Workshop, Geva Theatre Center, Arena Stage, New Dramatists, and The Kennedy Center. David has taught acting and directing at Georgetown, Yale, and the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy of Classical Acting. A nine-time Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Direction, he is a recipient of the DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist and the National Theatre Conference Emerging Artist Award. David is a graduate of Yale University and the Yale School of Drama.
(As of July 2021)
Jessica Love studied Printmaking at UC Santa Cruz before attending The Juilliard School for acting, graduating in 2009. Regionally, she has worked on two world premieres at The Denver Center—When Tang Met Laika and Map of Heaven (Westword Award for Best Supporting Actress). In New York, she has performed in Lucy Thurber’s Bottom of the World at Atlantic Theater Company and in Kay Matchsullat’s Don’t Fuck WithLove at the Red Bull Theater’s In the Raw reading series. Most recently, Ms. Love starred in Anna Christie at The Old Globe. When she isn’t acting, Ms. Love works as an artist and illustrator.
(As of May 2012)
Laura C. Harris returns to Studio Theatre after appearances as Lauren in the stage version of Kings, Edward/Victoria in Cloud 9, Mandy in Time Stands Still, Gena in Bachelorette, and Lydia in Red Speedo. Other Washington, DC credits include The Heiress at Arena Stage; Silent Sky at Ford’s Theatre; Fairview at Woolly Mammoth; Curious Incident…, NSFW, Seminar, Amadeus, Young Robin Hood, and 26 Miles at Round House Theatre; The Flick and Tender Napalm at Signature Theatre; Vicuña at Mosaic Theater; Awake and Sing! at Olney Theatre Center; Love and Information, Passion Play, and World Builders at Forum Theatre; Our Class at Theater J; and The Winter’s Tale and The School for Scandal at Folger Theatre. She is a graduate of Middlebury College.
(As of October 2020)
Dylan Moore recently had a recurring role on the hit CBS show Blue Bloods with Tom Selleck. She made her Off Broadway debut as Cressida in The Age of Iron at Classic Stage Company and was most recently seen in In Memory of Julie Simmons at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Ms. Moore can be heard on the radio in many Coca-Cola spots. A recent graduate of The Juilliard School, Ms. Moore performed there as Helen of Troy in The Greeks: Part 3, Molly in Farragut North, Lady Anne in Richard III, and Phoebe in As You Like It. She is a member of The Mechanicals Theater Group in Los Angeles.
(As of May 2012)
Eric Bryant appeared in the Off Broadway revival of Angels in America at the Signature Theatre, understudying the roles of Prior, Louis, and Joe, each of which he performed. Other credits include Even Maybe Tammy at The Flea directed by Christopher Bayes, One Slight Hitch at New York Stage and Film, The Pillow Book at 59E59, and The Mousetrap at Walnut Street Theatre. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Yale School of Drama.
(As of May 2012)
JD Taylor was most recently seen in Red at Asolo Repertory Theatre and Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Other recent work includes She Stoops To Conquer and F***BOOK, a new comedy by Jon Bass, both at Williamstown Theatre Festival. He has appeared in many developmental workshops and readings with the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Sundance Theatre Lab, Classic Stage Company, Soho Rep, Clubbed Thumb, and The Civilians. His New York credits include Letter From Algeria; Once in a Lifetime; Burn This; and Wolves, a predatory fairy tale by Steve Yockey. Film credits include Lewis Black Drama Queen and Constellations. Mr. Taylor can also be heard on Nicktoons in the animated series Rush Zone: Guardians of the Core. He received an MFA from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program.
(As of May 2012)
Tracy Lynn Olivera makes her Studio Theatre debut with Bachelorette. She appeared on Broadway in the 2009 revival of Ragtime, and has been seen most recently as Zoya in the world premiere of Brother Russia at Signature Theatre. Other recent appearances include Candide at the Shakespeare Theatre Company; Liberty Smith at Ford’s Theatre; Les Miserables (Fantine), The Boy Detective Fails/The Hollow at Signature Theatre; The Sound of Music at Olney Theatre Center; and Ragtime at the Kennedy Center, as well as in numerous concerts and a sold-out solo cabaret at Signature Theatre. She has also performed at MetroStage, Folger Theatre, Rorschach Theatre (company member), and regionally at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Ms. Olivera is a teaching artist at Signature Theatre, Adventure Theater/Musical Theater Center, and The Theatre Lab, and has been Adjunct Faculty at Catholic University. She is a five-time Helen Hayes Award nominee.
(As of May 2012)
Debra Booth has a long history with Studio, where she has designed White Pearl, Translations, The Wolves, The Father, The Hard Problem, Constellations, The Apple Family Cycle, Jumpers for Goalposts, Belleville, Cock, Edgar & Annabel, Bachelorette, Moonlight, Blackbird, My Children! My Africa!, The Pillowman, and many others. Her international work includes premiere opera Marco Polo (Tan Dun/Martha Clarke) in Munich, Hong Kong, and New York. Regionally, her credits include Sooner/Later and Vicuna at Mosaic Theater Company; Small Mouth Sounds at Round House Theatre; Richard III, The Collection, and The Lover at the Shakespeare Theatre Company; Marisol at Hartford Stage and The Public Theater; Trying, The Illusion, and Happy Days at Portland Stage; the New York premiere of Angels in America at The Juilliard School; Broken Glass at Philadelphia Theatre Company (Barrymore Award nomination); and A Moon for the Misbegotten at Yale Rep. Debra is the recipient of a DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Artist Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts design grant. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
(As of February 2020)
Michael Lincoln has designed Constellations, The Night Watcher, The Adding Machine: A Musical, Bachelorette, Venus in Fur, The History Boys, Grey Gardens, Privates on Parade, Take Me Out, and Topdog/Underdog, among many productions for Studio since 2000. He was also the lighting consultant for Studio Theatre’s building expansion and renovation in 2002. His work in New York City includes Copenhagen, Skylight, and More to Love on Broadway and Off Broadway productions of Mr. Goldwyn, The Bubbly Black Girl…, If Love Were All, Defying Gravity, and Bunny Bunny. Mr. Lincoln was the Associate Designer for Broadway’s Guys and Dolls, Six Degrees of Separation, and City of Angels. He has designed over 300 productions with other long associations at Indiana Repertory Theatre, Alley Theatre, and Cleveland Play House. He is currently serving as the Artistic Director of the Theater Division at Ohio University.
(As of February 2016)
Jennifer Moeller has designed costumes for Venus in Fur at The Studio Theatre; The Merchant of Venice, Richard II, Romeo & Juliet, Antony & Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Tamburlaine, and Richard III at Shakespeare Theatre Company; The How and The Why at McCarter Theatre Center; Six Degrees of Separation at Williamstown Theatre Festival; Happy Now? at Primary Stages; Crooked (sets) and Aliens with Extraordinary Skills at Women's Project; Circle Mirror Transformation and The Seafarer at George Street Playhouse; The Sacrifices at Summer Play Festival; Dance of the Holy Ghost at Yale Repertory Theatre; Sweeney Todd at Barrington Stage Company; Waiting for Godot at Berkshire Theatre Festival; and The Winter's Tale at Chautauqua Theatre Company. Ms. Moeller holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
(As of May 2012)
Neil McFadden has designed many shows at The Studio Theatre, including Circle Mirror Transformation, reasons to be pretty, Adding Machine: A Musical, Radio Golf, The Seafarer, Blackbird, The Internationalist, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, This Is How It Goes, Red Light Winter, Fat Pig, Take Me Out, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Topdog/Underdog, and Betty’s Summer Vacation. He was the Resident Sound Designer at Round House Theatre for eleven years. His work has also been heard at Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, The Folger Theatre, Longacre Lea, Olney Theatre Center, Theatre J, WSC-Avant Bard, The Washington Savoyards, and numerous others. A ten-time nominee, he was the recipient of the 1990 Helen Hayes Award for Sound Design for his work on Heathen Valley at Round House Theatre. Neil is also a musician and composer: he has written music and played for many area shows; he also performs regularly with his rock/blues band Mike’s Garage and as a solo acoustic performer.
(As of May 2012)
Lauren Halvorsen is in her ninth season as Studio’s Associate Literary Director. Her dramaturgy credits here include Doubt, P.Y.G. or the Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle, Admissions, Kings, If I Forget, Vietgone, The Wolves, Skeleton Crew, The Father, Three Sisters, The Hard Problem, Hand to God, Moment, Between Riverside and Crazy, Chimerica, The Wolfe Twins, Belleville, Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, The Real Thing, The Motherfucker with the Hat, The Aliens, Bachelorette, The Big Meal, and Time Stands Still. Previously, Lauren spent three seasons as Literary Manager of The Alley Theatre. She was the Artistic Associate of the WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory for six years and has worked in various artistic capacities for The Kennedy Center, City Theatre Company, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, First Person Arts Festival, and The Wilma Theater. Lauren is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College.
John Keith Hall's DC credits include many productions at Studio Theatre including Bad Jews, Choir Boy, Water by the Spoonful, Tribes, Torch Song Trilogy, 4000 Miles, Sucker Punch, In The Red And Brown Water, The History Boys, Adding Machine: A Musical, and The Road To Mecca; Hir, The Nether, and An Octoroon at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Soon, SCKBSTD, and West Side Story at Signature Theatre; Sweeney Todd, Mary Poppins, and The Producers at Olney Theatre Center. Regional credits include several seasons as a Resident Stage Manager at The Barter Theatre in Virginia where he supervised over 40 productions, Shadowland Stages in New York, and Virginia Musical Theatre in Virginia Beach. A graduate of Virginia’s Longwood University, Mr. Hall is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association.
(As of September 2017)
Jamila Reddy is the Artistic Apprentice at The Studio Theatre, and is thrilled to be working on Bachelorette. At The Studio Theatre, she served as assistant director on Sucker Punch, Time Stands Still, The Golden Dragon, and The Habit of Art. She is an alumna of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received a BA in both Dramatic Art and Sociology. She directed several productions at the undergraduate level, including the premiere of Kind of Blue, an original play by Kuamel Winston Stewart, and Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. For her contributions to the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC, Jamila received the Richard and Christopher Edward Adler Award for Excellence in Dramatic Art (2010) and the Louise Lamont Award for Excellence (2011).
(As of May 2012)
