Molly Ringwald, Bob Odenkirk, Michael McKean, more cast in ‘Are You Now or Have You Ever Been’ off Broadway

Initial casting has been set for the revival of Eric Bentley's docudrama, with various guest stars rotating in and out of the production throughout its run.

Summary

• Molly Ringwald; Bob Odenkirk; and more will guest star in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been off Broadway
• They and numerous other stars will rotate in and out of the cast alongside six actors performing for the entire run
• Eric Bentley’s play is assembled from transcripts of HUAC hearings from the 1940s

UPDATE: The below article has been updated with three additional cast members and their newly announced performance dates in Are You Now or Have You Ever Been off Broadway, plus the full slate of post-show talkbacks.

Initial casting has been set for Are You Now or Have You Ever Been off Broadway at New York City Center, running from June 2 to September 11 only.

Eric Bentley's docudrama depicts various showbiz figures testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1940s, dramatizing actual verbatim transcripts from the hearings. Six actors will perform for the entirety of Are You Now's run: Three-time Tony Award nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Smash, The Prom), Jason Babinsky (Network, Billy Elliot), Tony nominee Steven Boyer (Hand to God), Emmy and Grammy winner Adam Kantor (The Band’s Visit), Drama Desk Award winner Frederick Weller (In Plain Sight), and Emmy and Oscar nominee Michael McKean (Laverne & Shirley, This is Spinal Tap).

Guest starring in the production from June 2-21 are David Krumholtz, Obie winner Billy Eugene Jones, Andrew McCarthy, Sally Murphy, and Jay O. Sanders.

Jones and Murphy will continue from June 23 to July 12, and Scott Adsit (30 Rock), Ben Rappaport (Good Night Oscar), and Thomas Sadoski (The Newsroom) will also join the cast during this time.

Guest starring at future dates to be announced are Santino Fontana, T. R. Knight, Harry Lennix, Bob Odenkirk, Steven Pasquale, Molly Ringwald, and Thomas Sadoski. Additional guest stars have yet to be announced.

As previously announced, the creative team includes director Anna D. Shapiro, set designer Andrew Boyce, costume designer Johanna Pan, lighting designer Donald Holder, sound designer Milbo Music, and projection designer Brittany Bland.

Additionally, there will be a series of post-show talkbacks following select performances throughout the run, moderated by theatre critic Michael Riedel. The schedule includes:

• Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award–winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (June 5)
• Playwright, screenwriter, and NYU Tisch professor Gordon Farrell (June 9)
• Journalist and political commentator John Podhoretz (June 10)
• Tony-nominated actress Judy Kuhn and Tony Award–winning playwright John Weidman (June 11 evening)
• New Yorker staff writer, essayist, and bestselling author Adam Gopnik (June 12)
• Tony-nominated director, actor, and writer Lonny Price (June 13 matinee)
• Tony–winning director Christopher Ashley (June 16)
• Tony-nominated stage and screen actor Arian Moayed (June 17 matinee, moderated by New Yorker theater critic and author Michael Schulman)
• CEO of Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan Rabbi Joanna Samuels (June 17 evening)
• Tony–winning playwright and actor Heidi Schreck (June 18, moderated by Michael Schulman)
• Tony–winning director Scott Ellis (June 19)
• Kate Draper, daughter of blacklist performer Paul Draper (June 20 matinee)
• Playwright, director, and founder of Tectonic Theater Project Moisés Kaufman (June 23)
• Actress Julie Garfield, daughter of blacklisted actor John Garfield (June 24 evening)
• Tony–winning playwright David Henry Hwang (June 25, moderated by Michael Schulman)
• Tony-nominated director Trip Cullman (June 26)
• Playwright and television writer Matthew Libby (June 30 evening)
• Playwright and screenwriter Mario Correa (July 2)
• Writer and educator Hasna Muhammad (July 5)
• Tony-nominated director and artistic director of PAC NYC Bill Rauch (July 14)
• Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Beverly Gage (July 19)
• Tony-nominated director Leigh Silverman (July 21)
• Artistic director of The Public Theater Oskar Eustis (July 23, moderated by Robert Krulwich)
• Tony-nominated playwright and director Robert O'Hara (August 29 matinee)
• Tony–winning director Pam MacKinnon (September 2 evening)
• President of Wesleyan University and author Michael Roth (September 9 evening)
• Kate Lardner, daughter of blacklisted screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr. (September 10)

Get Are You Now or Have You Ever Been tickets now.

Photo credit: Molly Ringwald, Bob Odenkirk, and Michael McKean. (Photos courtesy of production; Ringwald photo by Shervin Lainez; Odenkirk photo by Erin Odenkirk)