The Public Welcomes Mandy Patinkin In Concert Series 12/8

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) welcomes Tony Award-winning actor and singer Mandy Patinkin back to The Public for a two-week concert series in the Anspacher Theater in honor of the 20th Anniversary of his first concert at The Public. For the first time, Patinkin will present three of his most popular concerts, Mamaloshen, Celebrating Sondheim, and Dress Casual, in repertory with Paul Ford on piano, December 8 through December 21. All profits from Patinkin's concerts go to The Public Theater just as they did 20 years ago when he first performed here. Tickets for this limited engagement are available by calling (212) 967-7555 or visiting www.publictheater.org.

The December concert series marks the 20th anniversary of Patinkin's first Anspacher concert, where, at the behest of Joseph Papp, he performed Dress Casual on dark nights during the run of The Winter's Tale, in which he starred as Leontes. Patinkin first made his Public Theater debut in 1976 in Thomas Babe's Rebel Women; he went on to star in Public productions of Henry IV Part 1, The Knife, and The Wild Party in addition to The Winter's Tale.

"Mandy Patinkin is an artist whose art and career are intertwined with the history of The Public Theater," said Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "We are thrilled to welcome Mandy home and give our audience the chance to see him in the intimate confines of the Anspacher Theater."

"I long to sing again in the house that Joe built," said Mandy Patinkin about his upcoming engagement.

Dress Casual, which includes music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondeim, and Harry Chapin, among others, debuted at the Anspacher and later transferred to Broadway. Mamaloshen, which translates as "Mother Tongue," played on Broadway in 1998 and is a collection of traditional, classic and contemporary songs sung entirely in Yiddish. Celebrating Sondheim, which played Broadway in 2002, is a figurative journey through the music and lyrics of the legendary composer, whose new musical Road Show is playing at The Public through December 28.

Mandy Patinkin won a Tony Award® for his role as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita and was nominated in 1984 for his starring role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Sunday in the Park with George. In 1991 he returned to Broadway in the Tony Award®-winning musical The Secret Garden and in 1997 played a sold-out engagement of his one-man concert, Mandy Patinkin in Concert, with all profits benefiting five charitable organizations. Mandy's other solo concerts, Celebrating Sondheim and Mamaloshen have been presented both on Broadway and Off. Other stage credits include The Tempest with Classic Stage Company, The Wild Party, Falsettos, The Winter's Tale, The Knife, Leave It to Beaver is Dead, Rebel Women, Hamlet, Trelawney of the ‘Wells', The Shadow Box, The Split, Savages, and Henry IV, Part I. Feature film credits include: The Choking Man, Piñero, Elmo In Grouchland, Men with Guns, The Princess Bride, Yentl, The Music of Chance, Daniel, Ragtime, Impromptu, The Doctor, Alien Nation, Dick Tracy, The House on Carroll Street, True Colors, Maxie, and Squanto: Indian Warrior. He won a 1995 Emmy® Award for his critically acclaimed performance in the CBS series, "Chicago Hope", recently starred in the CBS series "Criminal Minds" as FBI profiler Jason Gideon and in the Showtime Original Series "Dead Like Me." His other television appearances include the role of Kenneth Duberstein in the Showtime film "Strange Justice," playing Quasimodo opposite Richard Harris in the TNT film presentation of "The Hunchback," and a film version of Arthur Miller's "Broken Glass" for BBC/WGBH-Boston. In 1989, Mandy began his concert career at Joseph Papp's Public Theater. This coincided with the release of his first solo album entitled Mandy Patinkin. Since then he has toured extensively, appearing to sold-out audiences across the United States, Canada and in London, performing songs from writers including Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Randy Newman, Adam Guettel and Harry Chapin, among others. In October 2007, Mandy debuted his newest concert with his dear friend Patti LuPone and they will begin touring their show An Evening With Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin beginning March 2009. In 1990 he released his second solo album entitled Mandy Patinkin In Concert: Dress Casual on CBS Records. His 1994 recording, Experiment, on the Nonesuch label, features songs from nine decades of popular music from Irving Berlin to Alan Menken. Also recorded on the Nonesuch label is Oscar & Steve and Leonard Bernstein's New York. In 1998 he debuted his most personal project, Mamaloshen, a collection of traditional, classic and contemporary songs sung entirely in Yiddish. The stage production of Mamaloshen was performed on and off-Broadway and has toured throughout the country. The recording of Mamaloshen won the Deutschen Schallplattenpreis (Germany's equivalent of the Grammy® Award). In 2001, Nonesuch Records released Kidults, a collection of beloved songs, designed - as the title suggests - for the kid in every adult. And, in 2002, Nonesuch Records released Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim, a figurative journey through Sondheim's music and lyrics.

 

THE PUBLIC THEATER (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 as the Shakespeare Workshop and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, productions of Shakespeare, and other classics at its headquarters on Lafayette Street and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through its extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 41 Tony Awards, 145 Obies, 39 Drama Desk Awards, 24 Lucille Lortel Awards and 4 Pulitzer Prizes.

SCHEDULE AND TICKET INFORMATION

Dress Casual will be performed on Monday, December 8 at 8 p.m., Tuesday, December 9 at 7 p.m., Saturday, December 13 at 8 p.m., Tuesday, December 16 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, December 20 at 8 p.m.

Celebrating Sondheim will be performed on Thursday, December 11 at 8 p.m., Monday, December 15 at 8 p.m., and Friday, December 19 at 8 p.m.

Mamaloshen will be performed on Friday, December 12 at 8 p.m., Wednesday, December 17 at 8 p.m., and Sunday December 21 at 3 p.m.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street. Tickets are $60 for Tuesday-Friday and Sunday performances; and $70 for Saturday evening performances. A limited number of $100.00 Premium Seats are available in the first two rows of the center orchestra. Student tickets are available in advance, at the box office only, for $25 (1 per ID). There are a limited number of Rush Tickets sold an hour before curtain at every performance available to the general public (Two per person, $20 each, cash only).

To purchase tickets, please call (212) 967-7555 or visit www.publictheater.org.

The LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust provides leadership support for

The Public Theater's year-round activities.

The Public's 2008-2009 downtown season is made possible with the generous support of both

The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation and The Ian Madover and Arielle Tepper Madover Family Foundation. Time Warner is the Supporting Sponsor of The Public's 2008-2009 season.

Bank of America is the proud Season Sponsor of Shakespeare in the Park.

Major support for The Public Theater is provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, the Booth

Ferris Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Susan Stein Shiva Foundation,

the George T. Delacorte Fund at the New York Community Trust-Fund for Performances at the

Delacorte Theater in Central Park, and by Warren Spector and Margaret Whitton.

Pepsi is the official beverage sponsor of The Public Theater.

Additional generous support is provided by Debra and Leon Black, the Horace W.

Goldsmith Foundation, New York Magazine, The Laura Pels Foundation, the Starr Foundation,

and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

Public support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York

State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency.

Special thanks to the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, our longstanding cultural partner; and to Continental Airlines, the official airline of The Public Theater.