Columbia Theatremakers Bring 'Dog Day Afternoon' to Broadway
Dog Day Afternoon, a new play on Broadway written by Stephen Adly Guirgis and adapted from the 1975 film of the same name, includes multiple Columbia connections. Featured in the cast is playwriting alumna Paola Lázaro '13 in the role of Guadalpe; Playwriting student Tim Lucey serves as the script assistant to Mr. Guirgis, and Directing alum Rory McGregor '17 is the Associate Director under Director Rupert Goold. Actor and Columbia College alum Ebon Moss-Bachrach (CC '99) plays one of leading roles alongside actor Jon Bernthal.
Dog Day Afternoon is a story based on a news story from the summer of 1972 and follows the attempted bank robbery of the First Brooklyn Savings Bank by two friends, Sonny and Sal, and the hijinks that ensue. First-time criminals, Sonny and Sal watch their operation go terribly wrong when the they arrive at the bank only to realize the daily cash pickup has already occurred. As the story unfolds, it’s discovered the motivation of this heist was personal: Sonny’s lover Leon is seeking gender reassignment surgery and the money procured from the robbery was meant to go towards the treatment. In this production, Sonny is played by Bernthal, and Sal by Moss-Bachrach.
The story of the botched bank heist was first shared in an issue of LIFE Magazine published in September 1972, as a piece of investigative reporting by P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore. The movie, written by Frank Pierson (A Star Is Born, 1976) and directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Serpico) featured Al Pacino as Sonny and John Cazale as Sal.
Paola Lázaro is a Puerto Rican actress and playwright. As an actress, she’s starred in shows like AMC’s The Walking Dead and Netflix’s Obliterated. After graduating from Columbia, she was the playwright in residence at The Atlantic Theatre company from 2016 to 2017. Lázaro also participated in the Emerging Young Writer’s Group at The Public Theatre, and was a recipient of the Arts Entertainment Scholarship Award from the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. Lázaro’s performance in Lisa Ramirez’s To The Bone at The Cherry Lane Theatre earned her a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a play. Lázaro considers Adly Guirgis a close mentor.
Tim Lucey is a playwright from Massachusetts. His plays include The Orchard, an adaptation of Chekov’s play created with Directing student Dennis Oliveira, and The Bog Man. Lucey’s thesis play, titled Quarryman, directed by Oliveira, will premiere this April. The play, set in a Coös County stone quarry in New Hampshire in 1975, follows town residents as they try to solve the mystery of missing quarry worker, John Burton. Rory Mcgregor is a British theatre director currently based in New York. He has served as an Associate Director for directors including Sam Mendes, Patrick Marber, Julie Taymor, Ruper Goold, and Carrie Cracknell. Most recently he worked on Patrick Marber’s Broadway revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross. Mcgregor directed the world premiere of Christina Masciotti’s No Good Things Dwell in the Flesh, which was selected as a New York Times Critic Pick. He also directed the US premieres of Josh Azouz’s Buggy Baby and the world premiere of Nick Payne’s Interior. Most recently, Mcgregor directed The Wasp by Morgan Lloyd Malcom, and Tender Napalm by Philip Ridley.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach is an actor from New York City. Raised in Massachusetts, Moss-Bachrach attended Columbia as an English major. After college, he went on to study acting with William Esper at the William Esper Studio in New York, and apprentice at The Williamstown Theatre Festival. Moss-Bachrach has starred in miniseries like HBO’s John Adams and Hulu’s The Dropout. He is well known for his character Desi in Lena Dunham’s series Girls, and his work on The Bear in the role of Richie Jerimovich. Moss-Bachrach has won two Emmy awards for The Bear, a show his Dog Day castmate Jon Bernthal also stars in. Moss-Bachrach has also worked in film, starring in movies like No Hard Feelings, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and will be in two forthcoming movies, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Dog Day Afternoon is Moss-Bachrach’s Broadway debut.
Tickets for Dog Day Afternoon can be purchased here.