BEAUTY OF THE FATHER Announces Full Casting

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, artistic director; Barry Grove, executive producer) is pleased to announce the full cast for the upcoming New York premiere of BEAUTY OF THE FATHER by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics) with direction by Michael Greif (Rent).

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order): Ritchie Coster (Emiliano), Oscar Isaac (Federico Garcia Lorca), Priscilla Lopez (Paquita), Pedro Pascal (Karim), and Elizabeth Rodriguez (Marina).

The creative team for the production will feature: Mark Wendland (Set Design), Miranda Hoffman (Costume Design), Jim Ingalls (Lighting Design), Darron L. West (Sound Design), Deborah Hecht (Dialect Coach), Rick Sordelet (Fight Director).

BEAUTY OF THE FATHER will begin previews December 15, 2005 and open January 10, 2006 at New York City Center – Stage II (131 West 55th Street).

A young woman (Rodriguez) travels to Spain to visit her estranged father (Coster) and quickly becomes immersed in his vibrant, artistic world. But will a charming young Moroccan suitor (Pascal) stand in the way of their reconciliation?

The performance schedule for BEAUTY OF THE FATHER is: Tuesday through Sunday at 7:30 PM, with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 PM.

Tickets are $48 and can be reserved by calling CityTix at (212) 581-1212. Group and student rates are available. For group ticket information, call (212) 399-3000 x 134. Student tickets are $25 and are on sale for all performances based on availability on the day of the performance, up to one hour before showtime. Call (212) 581-1212 for further information. MTC at New York City Center is accessible to people with disabilities and is equipped with a hearing augmentation system.

For more information please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com

BIOGRAPHIES

Nilo Cruz (Playwright) received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his Broadway debut Anna in the Tropics. His other works include Lorca in a Green Dress, Night Train to Bolina, A Bicycle Country, Dancing on Her Knees, A Park in Our House, Two Sisters and a Piano and Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams. Cruz is one of this country's most produced Cuban-American writers; his work has been developed and performed at McCarter Theatre Center, NYSF/Public Theater, NY Theatre Workshop, New Theatre (Coral Gables), South Coast Repertory (Costa Mesa), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Florida Stage, the Alliance (Atlanta), the Studio Theatre (Washington D.C.), Magic Theatre (San Francisco), Victory Gardens (Chicago), Coconut Grove Playhouse (Miami), the Children's Theatre of Minneapolis, Lee Strasberg Theatre (L.A.) and Salt Lake Acting Company. He has held residencies at McCarter, the Public and New Theatre in Miami. An alumnus of New Dramatists, Cruz has taught playwriting at Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. Other awards: the 2003 American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award, TCG Artist in Residence Grant, the Alton Jones Award, AT&T Award, Barrie Stavis Award, Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild. Beauty of the Father received its world premiere at Miami's New Theatre and had a subsequent production at Seattle's New Theatre.

Michael Greif (Director). Most recent works include Noah Haidle's Mr. Marmalade at Roundabout Theatre Company, Neal Bell's Spatter Pattern at Playwrights Horizons and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard at The Williamstown Theatre Festival. Broadway: Jonathan Larson's Rent (Obie Award, Tony Nomination) and Never Gonna Dance. New York Shakespeare Festival credits include: Suzan Lori-Parks' f-ing A; Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters (Obie Award); Jose Rivera's Marisol; Pericles; Connie Congdon's Casanova; Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day; and Sophie Treadwell's Machinal (Obie Award). At New York Theatre Workshop (current artistic associate), he directed Cavedweller; Bright Lights, Big City and the original production of Rent. Other Off Broadway credits include Neil Labute's The Distance From Here at Manhattan Class Company; Betty Rules at The Zipper Theater; A Few Stout Individuals by John Guare at Signature Theatre and Monster at Classic Stage Company. Regional credits include work at La Jolla (Artistic Director 1995-1999): Our Town; Sweet Bird Of Youth; Diana Son's Boy; Randy Newman's Faust (also at Goodman); Kushner's Slavs (also at Mark Taper); Bell's Therese Raquin. At Williamstown Theater Festival: Guare's Landscape Of The Body; Once In A Lifetime; Street Scene; Tonight at 8:30 and The Seagull.

RITCHIE COSTER (Emiliano) has appeared in The Libertine at Theatre Row Theatre and Dealer's Choice for both The Long Wharf Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club. On television, he has portrayed a mildly varied array of villains on "Dellaventura," "New York Undercover," "F/X: The Series" and "One Life to Live."

Priscilla Lopez (Paquita) previously appeared on Broadway in Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics. She previously appeared Off-Broadway in Class Mothers '68, a six-character, one-woman play, receiving a Drama Desk nomination. In A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine on Broadway, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her performance as Harpo Marx. She received a Tony nomination and an Obie Award as Diana Morales in A Chorus Line, where she introduced the song "What I Did for Love." Broadway: The Sisters Rosensweig; Nine the Musical; Lysistrata; Pippin; Company; Her First Roman; Henry, Sweet Henry; Breakfast at Tiffany's. Off-Broadway: newyorkers (MTC), The Passion of Frida Kahlo, Antigone in New York, Other People's Money, Extremities, Key Exchange, Buck, Your Own Thing. Television: "The Annisa Ayala Story," "All in the Family," "Cosby," "Family," "Law & Order." Film: Center Stage, Revenge of the Nerds II, Cheaper to Keep Her, Maid in Manhattan. She is a recipient of the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence.

Oscar Isaac (Federico Garcia Lorca) most recently starred as Proteus in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Two Gentleman of Verona at Central Park's Delacorte Theatre. He recently graduated from The Juilliard School's Drama Division where he played the role of Macbeth. Other Juilliard productions include American Occupation, The Marriage of Figaro, In The Blood, The Birds, The Odyssey, and Three Sisters. Prior to attending Juilliard, he appeared in When It's Cocktail Time in Cuba at the Cherry Lane Theatre and Spinning into Butter at the Hangar Theatre. His film credits include All About The Benjamins and Blood in the Sand. He recently completed filming Scott Burns's directorial debut PU-239 for producers Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney.

Pedro Pascal (Karim) received the LA Drama Critics Circle Award and Garland Award for his portrayal of Phillip in the International City Theater production of Orphans. He appeared in a production of Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics at Portland Center Stage Other theatrical credits include: Lorenzaccio (Shakespeare Theater); Gizmo Love, Lobby Hero (WHAT); American Buffalo (American Voices); and Floating Weeds (Mark Taper Forum). His television appearances include "NYPD Blue," HBO's "Earth vs. The Spider," "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," "Touched By An Angel," " Good vs. Evil," and MTV's "Undressed." He attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

ELIZABETH RODRIGUEZ (Marina). Theater: Our Lady of 121st Street, Lyle Kessler's Robbers (American Place Theatre), Stephen Adly Guirgis's Den of Thieves (Black Dahlia, L.A.). Television: "Six Feet Under," "The Shield," "E.R.," "NYPD Blue," "Law & Order," etc. Film: Return to Paradise, Dead Presidents, City Hall, Fresh and Blow. Elizabeth is a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company.

www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com