RUINED Begins Final 8 Performances Tonight at MTC, Closes 9/6

Manhattan Theatre Club's record-breaking production of Lynn Nottage's RUINED begins its final eight performances tonight at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). RUINED will play its final performance on Sunday, September 6 after being extended an astonishing eight times.

Last week, RUINED, which is a co-production between Manhattan Theatre Club and the Goodman Theatre, was honored with six Jeff Award nominations, celebrating excellence in Chicago theatre. RUINED was honored with nominations for the production in the Large Play category, Lynn Nottage in the New Work in a Play category, Kate Whoriskey in the Director of a Play category, current cast member's Russell G. Jones performance, and for Dominic Kanza in the Original Incidental Music category.

On September 6, RUINED will have played a total of 260 performances (22 preview performances and 238 regular performances). Previously, the theatre's longest running production at City Center was the 1991 production of Terrence McNally's Lips Together, Teeth Apart which ran 255 performances (including previews).

From Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, the author of such plays as Fabulation and Intimate Apparel and director Kate Whoriskey (The Piano Teacher, Fabulation), comes this haunting, probing work about the resilience of the human spirit during times of war. Set in a small mining town in Democratic Republic of Congo, this powerful play follows Mama Nadi, a shrewd businesswoman in a land torn apart by civil war. But is she protecting or profiting by the women she shelters? How far will she go to survive? Can a price be placed on a human life?

RUINED features Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Cherise Boothe, Chris Chalk, Raymond Graham, William Jackson Harper, Chiké Johnson, Russell G. Jones, Simon Shabantu Kashama, Kevin Mambo, Tom Mardirosian, Portia, and Condola Rashad.

The creative team for RUINED includes: Derek McLane (scenic design), Paul Tazewell (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound design and music direction), Dominic Kanza (original music), Lynn Nottage (lyrics), Randy Duncan (movement director).

RUINED is the most acclaimed new play of 2009, having received the following awards:

-2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

-RUINED is the first Off-Broadway play to receive the Pulitzer since 2000.

-New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play

-Two Drama Desk Awards: Outstanding Play and Outstanding Music for a Play

-RUINED is the first Off-Broadway play to receive the Outstanding Play Award in 10 years.

-The Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play

-Two Lucille Lortel Awards including Outstanding Play

-Four OBIE Awards including Best New American Play

-Current cast members Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Russell G. Jones also received OBIE awards for their performances in RUINED

-A Theatre World Award for cast member Condola Rashad

-The Clarence Derwent Award for cast member Quincy Tyler Bernstine.

-RUINED recently received eight nominations from Chicago's Black Theatre Alliance including: Best Writing of a Play (Lynn Nottage), Best Costume Design of a Play (Paul Tazewell), and Best Choreography (Randy Duncan). In addition, current cast members Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Cherise Boothe, Russell G. Jones, and Condola Rashad all received nominations in their respective acting categories.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country's most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. MTC productions have earned a total of 16 Tony Awards and six Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. MTC has their Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and an Off-Broadway theatre at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). Renowned MTC productions include Ruined; The American Plan; Top Girls; Come Back, Little Sheba; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Love! Valour! Compassion!; A Small Family Business; Sylvia; Putting It Together; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain't Misbehavin'.

For more information on MTC, please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

TICKETING INFORMATION FOR RUINED

* Tickets for RUINED are available via New York City Center Box Office (131 West 55th Street), CityTix® (212-581-1212) and www.nycitycenter.org.
* Tickets for RUINED are $75.