Michael T. Weiss & More to Star in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity at Second Stage

Michael T. Weiss (TV’s The Pretender, Broadway’s Impressionism, off-Broadway’s Scarcity) is among the complete cast of Second Stage’s forthcoming off-Broadway production of Kristoffer Diaz’s The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. The play will begin previews on April 27, with opening night set for May 20, directed by Edward Torres.

Joining Weiss (who will play Everett K. Olson, a.k.a. “E.K.O.”) in the cast will be Usman Ally (Vigneshwar Paduar, a.k.a. “VP”), Terence Archie (Chad Deity), Desmin Borges (Macedonio Guerra, a.k.a. “The Mace”) and Christian Litke (Billy Heartland).

Described as a comic power-slam of a play, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is set in the world of pro wrestling. Macedonio “The Mace” Guerra is a middle rank wrestler who may have discovered his ticket to the big time: a charismatic, trash-talking Indian kid from Brooklyn whom he recruits as the perfect foil to the all-American champion, Chad Deity. But when their rivalry is used to exploit racial stereotypes in the name of ratings, all three men find themselves fighting for much more than the championship title.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity was first produced at Chicago’s Victory Garden Theatre in October 2009 with a cast that included Ally, Borges and Litke and featured a wrestling ring designed by Brian Sidney Bembridge, who will also design the Second Stage production. The off-Broadway creative team also includes Christine Pascual (costumes), Jesse Klug (lighting), Mikhail Fiskel (sound) and Peter Nigrini (projections).