Elizabeth Marvel To Star In 'Fifty Words' At MCC

 MCC THEATER (Robert LuPone, Bernard Telsey, Artistic Directors; William Cantler, Associate Artistic Director; Blake West, Executive Director) today announced that Elizabeth Marvel will star in the World Premiere Production of Michael Weller's new play Fifty Words, which will begin performances at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on September 10 and continue through October 25, with an opening night set for Sunday, September 28 at 6:30 p.m.  Fifty Words marks Ms. Marvel's first appearance on the New York stage following her critically acclaimed turn in Manhattan Theatre Club's 2008 revival of Top Girls.  As previously announced, Austin Pendleton will direct the 2-character piece, the first entry in MCC's 2008-09 season.  Casting for the other role will be forthcoming.

In Fifty Words, something's gone very wrong behind the idyllic façade of Jan (Marvel) and Adam's Brooklyn brownstone.  At 9:10 p.m., they're reveling in the freedom of having waved off their young son, Greg, to a neighborhood sleepover.  By 9:15 p.m., they're both in tears.  By 9:25 p.m., things are way past tears.  Alternately funny and frightening, Fifty Words is an expansive look at modern marriage, as seen through the looking glass of one couple's long night's journey into day.

Playwright Michael Weller shot to stardom with his powerful anti-war drama, Moonchildren.  Weller's unique voice, at once moving and revelatory, has garnered acclaim throughout three decades of productions at distinguished theatres such as Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company and New York's Circle-in-the-Square and Second Stage.  Renowned actor and director Austin Pendleton will helm this brutal and insightful new work by one of America's most perceptive playwrights.

Elizabeth Marvel's Broadway credits include Top Girls, Seascape, An American Daughter, Taking Sides and The Seagull.  Off Broadway credits include Almost an Evening (Atlantic Theatre Company), Dark Matters (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre), Hedda Gabler (OBIE Award), A Streetcar Named Desire (OBIE Award), Shopping and f-ing  (NYTW), Therese Raquin (OBIE Award, CSC), Misalliance (OBIE Award, Roundabout), Troilus and Cressida, King Lear and Silence, Cunning, Exile (New York Shakespeare Festival).  Regional Theatre appearances include the McCarter, Guthrie, American Repertory, Stratford Theatre Festival and Williamstown Theater Festival.  Film and television appearances include Pretty Bird, Burn After Reading, The Dying Gaul, Ten Hundred Kings, "A Dog Year" (HBO), "The District" (series regular), "Kidnapped," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Homicide."  Ms. Marvel was trained at Juilliard.

Individual tickets to Fifty Words as well as all MCC productions are available through TicketCentral.com or by calling 212-279-4200 once on-sale dates are announced to the general public.  Subscriptions are available now and are priced as low as $79 for the entire season.  For more information and to purchase packages, visit www.mcctheater.org or contact TicketCentral directly at www.ticketcentral.com or call 212-279-4200.

Photo Credit Walter McBride/ Retna.