Private Practice Star Kate Walsh and Paul Sparks to Star in Dusk Rings a Bell at the Atlantic

Private Practice star Kate Walsh will make her off-Broadway debut opposite Paul Sparks in Atlantic Theater Company’s world premiere of Stephen Belber’s Dusk Rings a Bell. Directed by Sam Gold, the new play begins previews on May 19 and opens May 27 at Atlantic Stage 2.

In Dusk Rings a Bell, Molly and Ray unexpectedly meet 25 years after a one-afternoon adolescent fling. She has a successful media career; he owns a small landscaping business. Both begin to romanticize their chance reunion, but a renewed connection is disrupted when Ray discloses the details of a crime that left him incarcerated for 10 years. Their encounter reveals vastly different paths taken and two lonely souls attempting to reclaim a moment of possibility, when they were young—and perhaps at their very best.

Walsh makes her off-Broadway debut after a long theater career in Chicago, which included roles in Happy Birthday Wanda June, The Danube, Moon Under Miami and Troilus and Cressida. In New York, Walsh was a member of the improvisational comedy troupe Burn Manhattan and the New York City Players theater ensemble. She is currently starring as Dr. Addison Montgomery on the ABC drama Private Practice, a spin-off of the hit series Grey’s Anantomy. Her other TV credits include The Mike O’Malley Show, Mind of a Married Man and The Drew Carey Show. On the big screen, Walsh was most recently seen in the thriller Legion.

Sparks most recently appeared on Broadway in Hedda Gabler, where he also appeared in the Tony Award-winning drama Take Me Out. His off-Broadway credits include Lady, Pumpgirl, American Sligo, Landscape of the Body, Bug and Blackbird. This fall, he will appear in the new HBO series Boardwalk Empire. His additional TV credits include Trinity, Guiding Light, Brotherhood and Law & Order. His film work includes Blackbird, Deception, First Person Singular, The Treatment, Headspace and Synecdoche.

The limited engagement will play through June 20.