Theater News

Second Stage Theatre’s 35th Anniversary Season to Feature The Happiest Song Plays Last, the Final Installment of Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Elliot Trilogy

Laura Eason’s Sex With Strangers and Little Miss Sunshine the musical round out the year.

New York City

David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
(© David Gordon)

2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes will present the New York premiere of The Happiest Song Plays Last at Second Stage Theatre as part of their 25th anniversary season. Hudes’ play is scheduled to begin performances in January 2014. Laura Eason’s Sex with Strangers will end the season in a production directed by David Schwimmer (Detroit, Friends). Opening nights and casting will be announced at a later date.

The final installment of the Elliot trilogy, The Happiest Song Plays Last, is about Puerto Rican Iraq War veteran Elliot and his burgeoning film career as an action hero. Meanwhile, his cousin Yaz becomes the heart and soul of her decaying North Philadelphia neighborhood when she opens up her home to the needy. Obie Award-winning director Ruben Santiago-Hudson (The Piano Lesson) helms the production. Elliot and Yaz were at the center of last season’s Water by the Spoonful, which won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Sex With Strangers, which made its world premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf in 2011, follows popular sex blogger Ethan and his idol, obscure novelist Olivia. They hook up and things get complicated. Will Ethan blog about it? Tune in to find out. Performances are set to begin in June 2014.

As previously announced, the musical adaptation of Little Miss Sunshine will open the season. It is set to begin performances October 15.