Alec Baldwin to Star as Jonathan Penner in Staged Reading of HORROR: A LOVE STORY

Alec Baldwin stars as Jonathan Penner in the November 18 staged reading of the new autobiographical play Horror: A Love Story.

Penned by actor, filmmaker, and Survivor contestant Jonathan Penner, Horror: A Love Story is described as ‘part TED Talk, part family drama, part blood-soaked Grand Guignol.’

When Penner’s wife, film director Stacy Title, receives a life-changing diagnosis, the couple finds themselves lost in a sudden and profound darkness. Searching for a path forward and a way to make sense of their terrifying situation, they find wisdom and solace in the most unlikely places: the horror movies they both adore.

Alec Baldwin, a three-time Emmy Award winner and record-holding seven time individual SAG Award winner, co-stars with Hannah Heller as Title, alongside Jason O’Connell as Grandpa Robert. The reading is directed by Obie Award winner Meghan Finn and produced by Tony Award winner Aimee Howard.

The reading aims to introduce the play to potential backers and theaters interested in mounting new works for adventurous audiences. It will take place Wednesday, November 18, in the late afternoon in Midtown Manhattan.

Seating is limited and attendance is by invitation only. Industry professionals interested in attending may inquire at HalstheExperience@gmail.com. Press inquiries may also be directed to this address.

CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

Alec Baldwin (as Jonathan Penner): Since 1980, Alec Baldwin has appeared in numerous productions on stage, in films and on television. He received a Tony nomination (A Streetcar Named Desire, 1992) an Oscar nomination (The Cooler, 2004) and has won three Emmy awards, three Golden Globes and seven consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on NBC-TV’s 30 Rock, making him the actor with the most SAG Awards of all time. His films include Miami Blues, The Hunt for Red October, Glengarry Glen Ross, Malice, The Edge, It’s Complicated, Blue Jasmine, Still Alice, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, and The Boss Baby among many others. Alec Baldwin first appeared on Broadway as Dennis in Joe Orton’s Loot in 1986, and later played Ed in Entertaining Mr. Sloane (Roundabout Theatre).

Jonathan Penner (Playwright): Jonathan Penner is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and the writer or co-writer of over thirty screen and teleplays. A three-time Survivor contestant and an actor best known for The Last Supper, The Naked Truth, and Rude Awakening, he co-authored Taschen’s reference book, Horror Cinema, and programs and produces the genre-focused ‘Escape From Tribeca’ program at The Tribeca Festival. He is the proud father of Ellis and Cooper.

Hannah Heller (as Stacy Title): Hannah Heller is an actor, writer, and dancer. Selected credits include A Woman Among Women (Lincoln Center Theater and Bushwick Starr), Co-creator of The Nutcracker Suite (City Center, The Joyce, national tour, upcoming Skirball Center), Strange Window (BAM NextWave Festival), The Reception (HERE Arts Center). Film: Lemon (dir. Janicza Bravo), The Bride (dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal), upcoming Love Is Not the Answer (dir. Michael Cera).

Jason O’Connell (as Grandpa Robert): Jason O’Connell is an actor, writer, and director whose Off-Broadway credits include Taylor Mac’s Prosperous Fools at Theatre for a New Audience, Judgment Day at Park Avenue Armory, the 2018 revival of Happy Birthday, Wanda June, a trio of World Premieres by his wife Kate Hamill (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and The Light and the Dark), and Jason’s own solo show The Dork Knight (Joe’s Pub, Abingdon Theatre Company, Primary Stages, etc). Jason’s adaptation of Cyrano was recently produced by The Old Globe, and he directed a 1980s-infused Tartuffe for Cleveland Play House this past spring. TV credits include the final season of HBO Max’s ‘Search Party’, and multiple appearances in the ‘Law & Order’ franchise.

Meghan Finn (Director): Meghan Finn is the OBIE award winning Artistic Director at The Tank, a New York City-based nonprofit theater. Meghan’s focus is contemporary playwriting and hybrid collaborations with visual artists and experimental writers. She has directed over 60 fully-staged theatrical productions since moving to New York in 2003. Critically-acclaimed and frequently featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vulture, The Wall Street Journal and others, TimeOut NY recently called Meghan, ‘the tiger in The Tank.’

Aimee Howard (Producer): Aimee Howard follows her gut when choosing which stories to help tell and finds herself drawn to those exploring our desire to matter and the marks we leave on one another, sometimes long after we’re gone. Her producing credits include Stereophonic (Tony Award winner for Best Play; Broadway, West End, and national tour), as well as Dead Outlaw and The Lost Boys: The Musical (both Tony-nominated for Best Musical). The Lost Boys is currently running at the Palace Theatre on Broadway.