Lehr, Sullivan, et al. Join MTC's AFTER WORDS
By: BWW
News Desk Feb. 12, 2011
Manhattan Theatre Club is pleased to announce guests for the upcoming sessions of After Words, the popular discussion panels held after selected Saturday matinees at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). The latest offering will focus on GOOD PEOPLE, the world premiere play by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, which begins previews tomorrow, Tuesday, February 8.
On Saturday, February 12, After Words will feature Dick Lehr, author of The Fence: a Police Cover-up Along Boston's Racial Divide and the New York Times bestseller Black Mass: The Irish Mob, The FBI, and a Devil's Deal, and GOOD PEOPLE director Daniel Sullivan.
On Saturday, February 19 After Words will feature Michael Patrick MacDonald, an activist for social change and national bestselling author of All Souls and Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion, and GOOD PEOPLE playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.
After Words is part of MTC's continuing effort to deepen and enrich the play-going experience for its audiences. Held after selected Saturday matinees, these panels, featuring writers, cultural critics and journalists, provide provocative and illuminating insights into the political, cultural, and artistic contexts of the work MTC produces.
For more information on After Words, or to download a podcast of past After Words, please visit: www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.
BIOGRAPHIES
DICK LEHR is the author of several non-fiction books set in Boston and a professor of journalism at Boston University, where he is co-director of an investigative reporting clinic. As a reporter for nearly two decades at the Boston Globe, Lehr was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting and won numerous national and regional journalism awards. His most recent book, The Fence: a Police Cover-up Along Boston's Racial Divide, was a finalist for the 2010 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. He is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Black Mass: The Irish Mob, The FBI, and a Devil's Deal, which won the Edgar. Both books are in feature film development.
Michael Patrick MacDONALD grew up in the Old Colony housing project in South Boston's "Lower End," an area that held the highest concentration of White poverty in America. After losing four siblings and seeing his generation decimated by poverty, crime, and addiction, he became a leading Boston activist, helping launch many antiviolence initiatives, including gun-buyback programs. He continues to work for social change nationally, collaborating with survivor families and young people.
MacDonald won the American Book Award in 2000. His national bestseller, All Souls, and his follow-up, Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion have been adopted by university curriculums across the country. MacDonald has been a contributor to the Boston Globe's Op-Ed Page. He is currently writing the screenplay for All Souls and writing his third book. MacDonald is Author-in-Residence at Northeastern University, and speaks nationally on the topics of race, class, organizing for social justice, and healing. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
INFORMATION ON GOOD PEOPLE
The Manhattan Theatre Club world premiere production of GOOD PEOPLE, a new American play by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, begins performances tomorrow, February 8 and will open Thursday, March 3 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street).
The production will star Becky Ann Baker (All My Sons, Assassins), Patrick Carroll (Broadway debut), Tate Donovan ("Damages," Amy's View), Emmy Award nominee Renée Elise Goldsberry ("One Life to Live," Rent), Academy Award winner Frances McDormand (Fargo, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Almost Famous), and Oscar winner Estelle Parsons (August: Osage County, "Roseanne").
Welcome to Southie, a Boston neighborhood where a night on the town means a few rounds of bingo... where this month's paycheck covers last month's bills... and where Margie Walsh (McDormand) has just been let go from yet another job. Facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break, Margie thinks an old fling (Donovan) who has made it out of Southie might be her ticket to a fresh new start. But is this apparently self-made man secure enough to face his humble beginnings? Margie is about to risk what little she has left to find out.
With his signature humorous glow, Lindsay-Abaire explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakeable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America.
Together, David Lindsay-Abaire and MTC have brought four outstanding new plays to the New York stage. Their most recent collaboration with director Daniel Sullivan, Rabbit Hole, earned a Tony Award and garnered Lindsay-Abaire the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The creative team for GOOD PEOPLE includes: John Lee Beatty (scenic design), David Zinn (costume design), Pat Collins (lighting design), Jill BC DuBoff (sound design), Charlotte Fleck (dialect coach), and David Caparelliotis (casting).
GOOD PEOPLE was commissioned through MTC's Bank of America Commissioning Program.
Special funding for GOOD PEOPLE was provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.
GOOD PEOPLE is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award.
Special thanks to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for supporting new American plays at Manhattan Theatre Club.
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