HAPPINESS' Stroman, Weidman, Frankel, Korie Appear In LCT's Platform Series 5/6

Lincoln Center Theater's Platform Series, a forum for public discussion between Lincoln Center Theater artists and interested theatergoers, continues its 2008-2009 season with two upcoming events. On Wednesday, May 6, Susan Stroman, John Weidman, Scott Frankel and Michael Korie will discuss their new musical HAPPINESS which is currently playing at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.

And on Thursday, May 28 at 5:30pm there will be a pre-performance talk with Chad L. Coleman, Ernie Hudson, LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Roger Robinson, the stars of August Wilson's JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE directed by Bartlett Sher which recently opened at the Belasco Theater on Broadway (111 West 44 Street.).

Platform Series events take place in the lobby of the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65th Street). Admission is free and open to all; however, seating in the lobby is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis only, beginning a half hour before the scheduled starting time. (Speakers and schedules are subject to change. Call 212-362-7600 to confirm on the day of the event.).

Commissioned and developed by Lincoln Center Theater, HAPPINESS, tells the story of a disparate group of New Yorkers caught on a subway train under unusual circumstances. The production reunites director-choreographer Susan Stroman and book writer John Weidman, whose last LCT collaboration was the Tony Award-winning Best Musical Contact, and marks the LCT debuts of composer Scott Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie, who were nominated for a Tony Award for their score for the musical Grey Gardens.

JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE, part of Mr. Wilson's ten-play Century Cycle, which depicts the African American experience in each decade of the twentieth century, is set in 1911 and tells the story of Herald Loomis who, after serving seven years hard labor, has journeyed North with his young daughter and arrives at a Pittsburgh boarding house filled with memorable characters who aid him in his search for his inner freedom. Chad L. Coleman appeared Off-Broadway in August Wilson's Two Trains Running (Signature Theatre Co.) and Joe Turner's Come and Gone (New Federal Theater). Ernie Hudson, best know for his film roles, appeared in The Great White Hope, The Emperor Jones, and Ceremonies in Dark Old Men. LaTanya Richardson Jackson appeared off Broadway in For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide With the Rainbow is Enuf & Spell #7 (Public Theater); and The Talented Tenth (MTC). Roger Robinson appeared on Broadway in August Wilson's Seven Guitars (Tony nomination), Drowning Crow, Amen Corner, Ain't Supposed To Die A Natural Death, and The Iceman Cometh.

Lincoln Center Theater's Platform Series was introduced in the summer of 1998. Transcripts of the previous talks are available on-line at www.lct.org.