MTC Announces Lenox to Star in 'Ruined'

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) is pleased to announce that Tony Award winner Adriane Lenox will return to MTC next spring to head the cast of the world premiere production of Lynn Nottage's RUINED.

RUINED is a co-production with the Goodman (Robert Falls, Artistic Director; Roche Schulfer, Executive Director).

Prior to coming to MTC, Lenox will appear in the Goodman run of RUINED which will open in Chicago on Monday, November 17 in the Goodman's Owen Theatre. After the Chicago run, the production will come to MTC at New York City Center – Stage I (131 West 55th Street) where it will begin previews on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 and open Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

In RUINED, Lenox will play the role of 'Mama Nadi,' a businesswoman living in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lenox previously appeared in the MTC world premiere production of the Pulitzer and Tony Awardâ-winning Doubt which subsequently transferred to Broadway and garnered Lenox the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

From Lynn Nottage, the Obie Award-winning author of such plays as Fabulation and Intimate Apparel, 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 (Lenox), 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? Directing is Kate Whoriskey, who staged Nottage's Fabulation.

Additional casting for RUINED will be announced at a later date.

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 five Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. Renowned MTC productions include Top Girls; From Up Here; Come Back, Little Sheba; The Receptionist; LoveMusik; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Kimberly Akimbo; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Sylvia; Four Dogs and a Bone; Putting It Together; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain't Misbehavin'.

In 2003, MTC reopened Broadway's landmark, long-neglected Biltmore Theatre, soon to be renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign. In addition, MTC operates two theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street), its Off-Broadway home since 1984.

During Meadow's sabbatical this season, Daniel Sullivan, a close associate of MTC and director of several Manhattan Theatre Club productions (Rabbit Hole, Brooklyn Boy, Sight Unseen, Proof, Psychopathia Sexualis), has been serving as Acting Artistic Director. Meadow will resume her full duties as artistic director in September and is consulting on the planning of the 2008-2009 season.

You can subscribe to MTC by calling (212) 399-3030, Monday - Friday, noon - 8 PM with a major credit card. Subscriptions will also be available online at www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

Single tickets to RUINED will be available at a later date. Other listings information will be released in the coming weeks.

Adriane Lenox  has been seen on Broadway in Ain't Misbehavin', Dreamgirls, Kiss Me Kate, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Caroline or Change, Chicago as well as DOUBT for which she received the Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk and Tony Awards as Best Featured Actress in a Play. She received the Obie and Audelco awards for her performance in Dinah Was... She is also the recipient of a Helen Hayes Award and a Bay Area Theater Critics award nomination. Other Off -Broadway/Regional credits include Cavedweller; Miss Evers Boys; Spunk; The America Play; Blithe Spirit and The Color Purple. Her TV appearances include "Law and Order" and "Law and Order SVU;" "Third Watch;" "Shark;" and a recurring role ('Marva') on the recently renewed NBC show "Lipstick Jungle" starring Brooke Shields. Her film credits include Black Snake Moan opposite Samuel L. Jackson; Where God Left his Shoes with John Leguizamo; Alvin and the Chipmunks; and My Blueberry Nights with Grammy Winner NOra Jones. She has truly been blessed to have thrived and survived in an extremely competitive industry and thanks God for His Grace.

Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.