'True Blood' Regular Chris Bauer Heads Off Broadway in 'What Rhymes With America'

NEW YORK -- Chris Bauer, best known for his role as Sheriff Andy Bellefleur on HBO's True Blood, will head the cast of Melissa James Gibson's play What Rhymes With America, world-premiering at Off Broadway's Atlantic Theater Company.

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Directed by Daniel Aukin, the production begins previews Nov. 19 for a Dec. 12 opening at the Atlantic's Linda Gross Theater mainstage in Chelsea.

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Bauer plays a man whose life is unraveling as he struggles to reconnect with his teenage daughter in what is described as a "poignant, funny new play about estrangement and the partially examined life."

Gibson's previous plays have included This, [sic] and Current Nobody. She is a staff writer on the new FX series The Americans, and also penned the screenplay for Untitled Christmas Tree Project (originally announced as Lucky Dog), a Phil Morrison-directed feature set to star Paul Rudd and Paul Giamatti.

Aimee Carrero (Cartoon Network's live-action series Level Up), Seana Kofoed and Da'Vine Joy Randolph complete the cast of the limited engagement, which runs through Dec. 30.

Prior to wrangling vamps, faeries and other supernaturals on True Blood, Bauer was also a regular on HBO's The Wire. An Atlantic ensemble member, he previously appeared for the company in Jez Butterworth's plays The Night Heron, Parlor Song and Mojo.

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Bauer made his Broadway debut in the 2005 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, co-starring with Natasha Richardson, John C. Reilly and Amy Ryan.