New York City Center Stage II
(131 W 55th St, Manhattan)
Set in New York City during the early 1980s, Love + Science centers on two gay medical students who connect while working in a retrovirology lab. When HIV erupts, the fallout upends their relationship as their response to the rising epidemic pushes them along different paths, raising questions about their values as scientists and doctors and their responsibilities as gay men. A sprawling drama spanning the decade, Love + Science explores the difficulties of love during a crisis, the realities of scientific progress, and how to maintain hope in the midst of an epic struggle.
MEET THE CAST
MATT WALKER (Matt) is an actor and scientist from Toronto, Canada. He trained at Juilliard for a year before enrolling at Harvard for neurobiology. Matt made his NYC debut in “The Play that Goes Wrong,” where he was nominated for a 2019 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Featured Actor. As a scientist, Matt co-founded the genetics startup Can9 Bioengineering and is currently pursuing a PhD in genetics at Columbia University as a National Science Foundation fellow. @mattwalkerfromcanada
JONATHAN BURKE (Jeff) Broadway: The Inheritance (Tony Award - Best Play); Choir Boy; Tuck Everlasting. Off-Broadway: Patience (Second Stage); Toni Stone (Roundabout); Joan of Arc: Into the Fire (Public); Langston in Harlem (Urban Stages). Tours: Mary Poppins; A Christmas Story; Joseph...; Cats. TV: “Harlem” (Prime Video); “New Amsterdam” (NBC); “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu); “Bridge and Tunnel” (EPIX). Co-creator of @notlookingtheseries. BFA, Ithaca College. Instagram: @itsjonathanburke.
THURSDAY FARRAR (Prof. Gold, Hannah, Stella) Broadway: Aida, Parade, Once Upon a Mattress. Off-Broadway: The Bandaged Place (Roundabout), Regrets (MTC), St. Louis Woman, Golden Boy (City Center), National tours: Flashdance, Les Miserables, Carousel. Regional: First Wives Club (Old Globe), Merrily We Roll Along (Kennedy Center), Harmony (La Jolla Playhouse), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Cincinnati Shakespeare). TV: Poker Face, That Damn Michael Che, Manifest, Modern Love, FBI, Bull. Film: The Brian Banks Story, Across the Tracks, Holiday in Harlem.
ADRIAN GREENSMITH (Gary, Joe) This production is Adrian’s stage debut, so do forgive him if he breaks the fourth wall to tell you about how exciting this all is. He recently graduated from the Acting CDT course (Collaborative and Devised Theatre) at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, but is originally from Brooklyn. He can be seen in the movie Metal Lords on Netflix, and the upcoming Amazon Prime Video show, Harlan Coben’s Shelter.
RYAN KNOWLES (Nicky, Technician) originated the roles of Chiron, Poseidon, Medusa, Hades, and others in the 2019 Broadway production of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. He also created the role of Buddy in the world tour of We Will Rock You, the Queen musical. Tours: How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Todrick Hall's OZ: The Musical. Off-B’way: Bulldozer, NEWSical, Caligula Maximus, Radio City. Regional: FTR: The Brat Pack, Disney’s Hunchback, Disney’s Aladdin. TV: Host of Nickelodeon’s Me:TV.
TALLY SESSIONS (Steve Rubell, James, Dr. Stern) Broadway: Company, Anastasia, War Paint, Falsettos, Paramour, School of Rock, Big Fish, The House of Blue Leaves. Off-Broadway: Giant (Public), Queen of the Mist (Transport Group), Anyone Can Whistle (Encores!), Yank!, Godspell and Hallelujah, Baby! (York). Tour: Legally Blonde, South Pacific, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Regional: Paper Mill, Goodspeed, Old Globe, Signature, KC Rep, Asolo Rep, Westport Playhouse, Olney Theatre, Studio Theatre, Kennedy Center, Milwaukee Rep. TV/Film: Maisel, Falling Water, Elementary, Burning Man. @tallysessions
IMANI PEARL WILLIAMS (Melissa, Nadia, Jane, Nurse Helen) is very excited to be performing in a straight play for the first time in NYC! She was recently in the 1776 Musical Revival as a Standby. Other credits include co-starring on Law and Order, Fleishman is in Trouble, and Extrapolations, as well as numerous tours and regional musical theater productions. They hope that you come out to see this great piece! @imanipearlz
CARSON MCCALLEY (Off-Stage Cover) Original Broadway Cast: The Inheritance (Tony Award winner, Best Play.) Other: Men From the Boys (Rattlestick,) The Odyssey (Old Globe,) This Ain’t No Disco (NYSAF) Hamlet (Santa Cruz Shakespeare,) Human Capital, Outsiders, Alternatino (Comedy Central,) Princess Cut (HBO.) Carson holds a BFA in Acting from Carnegie Mellon and studied with the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and the Suzuki Company in Japan. Hold on tightly, let go lightly. @carsonmcalley
DASH PERRY (Off-Stage Cover) is honored to join the cast of Love + Science. Off-Broadway: Patience (Second Stage) Regional: The Cher Show (Ogunquit Playhouse) Film: Not Okay (Hulu). TV: Girls5eva (Peacock). 2021 Met Gala (Ensemble). Endless thanks to Ball State University, Whole Artist Management, friends and family.
GABRIELLE REID (Female Standby) Favorite credits include Broadway: Beautiful: The Carol King Musical, Hairspray. National tours: The Color Purple Revival, Hairspray, Mamma Mia (LV) Hercules: A Mythical Adventure (Papermill). Film/TV: L&O-OC, FBI, Bull, Manifest, Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, Private Life (Netflix). 12 national commercials. Thanks to my reps at Bloc. And to Nathan and Dash, Always in all ways! @GabzReid
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM
David J. Glass (Playwright) trained with Peter Hedges at the Manhattan Class Company in the 1980s, and had work staged at Playwrights Horizons including five plays performed off-off-Broadway, most notably Beach Scenes, which was performed at Intar Stage II in 1989. He then took time away from theater to focus on science. Glass is currently a Vice President of Research at a local biotech company, a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Medical School, where he teaches classes on how best to perform experiments, and the history and philosophy of experimentation, and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. He is the author of Experimental Design for Biologists (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2014) and over 150 scientific manuscripts.
Allen MacLeod (Director) is a New York-based director of new plays and musicals. Recent credits include Light Switch (Spectrum Theatre Ensemble), The Trade Federation: or, Let’s Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels (IRT Theater); and Prophesy (The Wild Project; best direction award, Fresh Fruit Festival). Select associate/assisting credits: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (The Kennedy Center); Frozen: A Musical Spectacular (Disney Cruise Lines); Presto Change-o, A Little More Alive, and Man of La Mancha (Barrington Stage); I Hate Hamlet (Bucks County Playhouse); We Are the Tigers (Gallery Players); Cory and Smin’s Love Conquers the Universe (Smiling Hogshead Ranch).
Zoë Hurwitz (Scenic Design) is a designer working in New York and London. She has designed for venues such as Hampstead Theatre, The National Theatre (Connections/New Views Festival 2022), The Orange Tree, The Park, Jermyn Street Theatre, Mercury Theatre, The New Diorama, The Royal Court, and the Director’s Programme at the Young Vic. US venues include Here Arts Centre, Ars Nova (AntFest), The Wild Project, The Sheen Center and Brown/Trinity Rep. Hurwitz was a winner of the 2019 Linbury Prize for Stage Design at the National Theatre and won the 2022 JMK development award with director Emerald Crankson. She has twice been a finalist in the Off West End Awards for Best Set Design and two of her designs were selected for World Stage Design 2022, one of which taking first place in the Emerging Set Design category. She has a BA in Fine Art from Chelsea School of Art and an MFA in Set Design from NYU Tisch. www.zoehurwitz.com
Camilla Dely (Costume Design) is a South African costume designer and visual artist working in theater, opera, and dance. Recent credits: A Christmas Carol (Trinity Repertory Theatre), La Traviata (City Lyric Opera), Theater for One (Signature Theater Residency), The Ding Dongs (Kitchen Theater Company). Upcoming: Mary Gets Hers (Off-Broadway), Sense & Sensibility(Northern Stage), The Little Comedies (Alley Theatre, co-design with Susan Hilferty), Hurricane Diane (People’s Light). MFA: NYU/Tisch. camilladely.com
Samuel J. Biondolillo (Lighting & Projection Designer) is an award-winning New York City based lighting designer for theatre, dance, and television. Recent credits include Off-Broadway/Off-Off Broadway: God of Carnage (Lighting & Projections), How To Live, Brilliance, Brecht on Brecht (Projections), Geek! The Musical, New York Dance & Music Festival. Regional: Cabaret, The Rocky Horror Show, For the Fish (Moonbox Productions); Blood at the Root, Shakespeare in Love (Connecticut Repertory Theatre); Annapurna, The Pitman Painters (Vermont Stage). Website: SJBLightingDesign.com
Jane Shaw (Original Music & Sound Design). Credits include The Wanderers (Roundabout), The Art of Burning (Hartford Stage, The Huntington), A Christmas Carol (Guthrie), Amerikin (The Alley), The Railway Children (Northern Stage). New York: Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, TFANA, National Black Theatre, Repertorio Español, New York Theatre Workshop. Regional: ART, Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, Asolo, ACT, Cleveland Play House. Awards: Drama Desk, Connecticut Critics Circle, Henry, Bessie. Member: USA 829, TSDCA. Training: Harvard University, Yale School of Drama. www.janeshaw.com
Dave Anzuelo (Intimacy & Movement Director) is the founder of UnkleDave’s Fight-House, a team of LGBTQ fight/intimacy directors. Broadway credits: Room; Bad Cinderella; Ain’t No Mo; Kimberly Akimbo; Girl From The North Country; The Great Society; Escape To Margaritaville; Tuck Everlasting; An American In Paris; Disgraced. Off-broadway: Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven (Labyrinth/Atlantic Theaters; Drama Desk Nom.); Oedipus El Rey (The Public Theater; Drama Desk Nom). TV: AnnieLive!