LCT's Platform Series To Feature A FREE MAN OF COLOR Creators & More

Lincoln Center Theater's Platform Series, a forum for public discussion between Lincoln Center Theater artists and interested theatergoers, opens its 12th season with two pre-performance talks with the creators of its two new productions - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and A Free Man of Color.

Platform Series events take place in the early evening in the lobby of the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65th Street). Admission is free and open to all; however, seating in the lobby is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis only, beginning at a half hour before the talk. (Speakers and schedules are subject to change. Call 212-362-7600 to confirm on the day of the event.)

The first Platform of the season will be on Thursday, October 28, at 6 pm with Jeffrey Lane (book), David Yazbek (music) and Bartlett Sher (director), the co-creators of the new musical, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Based on Pedro Almodóvar's internationally acclaimed 1988 film, the musical is set in late 20th-century Madrid and tells the story of the intertwining lives of a group of women (Sherie Rene Scott, De'Adre Aziza, Laura Benanti, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Patti LuPone) whose relationships with men lead to a tumultuous 48 hours of love, confusion and passion. Book writer Jeffrey Lane collaborated with David Yazbek on the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The winner of five Emmy Awards, three Writers Guild Awards , two Peabody Awards and a Golden Globe Award, he is best known for his work on such television programs as Mad About You, Ryan's Hope, Lou Grant and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Composer-lyricist David Yazbek made his Broadway and musical theater debuts with The Full Monty, for which he earned Tony and Grammy nominations and a Drama Desk Award. Director Bartlett Sher, Resident Director of Lincoln Center Theater, won the Tony Award for his direction of LCT's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC. He was nominated for Tony Awards for the LCT productions of The Light in the Piazza, Awake and Sing! and Joe Turner's Come and Gone. His other recent New York credits include A Prayer for My Enemy at Playwrights Horizons and the Metropolitan Opera productions of The Barber of Seville and The Tales of Hoffman.

On Wednesday, November 10, at 6 pm, the playwright John Guare and the director George C. Wolfe will discuss their work on the new play, A Free Man of Color. A Free Man of Color is a freewheeling epic set in 1801 New Orleans. Jacques Cornet, the title character (to be played by Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Jeffrey Wright), is a new world Don Juan and the wealthiest inhabitant of this sexually charged and racially progressive city. Jacques thinks all is well in his paradise until history intervenes, setting off a chain of events which no one, much less this free man of color, realizes is about to splinter the world. A Free Man of Color marks John Guare's return to Lincoln Center Theater where his plays The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, Four Baboons Adoring the Sun (all three nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play) and Chaucer in Rome, were produced. His other plays include Rich and Famous, Landscape of the Body, Marco Polo Sings A Solo, Bosoms and Neglect, Lydie Breeze, Women and Water, A Few Stout Individuals and His Girl Friday. He won a Tony Award for the book of the musical Two Gentlemen of Verona and also wrote the book for the musical Sweet Smell of Success. Director George C. Wolfe will make his LCT debut with this production. Former Producer of The Public Theater, his Broadway directorial credits include Caroline or Change, Topdog/Underdog, Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, The Tempest, On the Town, The Wild Party, Jelly's Last Jam and Angels in America. His film credits include Lackawanna Blues and Nights in Rodanthe.

Upcoming Platforms are scheduled for Thursday, December 2 at 5:30 pm with several cast members of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and on the following Thursday, December 9, at 6:00 pm with several cast members of A Free Man of Color. (Participants for both will be announced at a later date.)

Lincoln Center Theater's Platform series was introduced in the summer of 1998. Transcripts of the previous talks are available on-line at www.lct.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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