MTC's American Premiere of Benjamin Scheuer's THE LION Opens Off-Broadway

Manhattan Theatre Club's American premiere of The Lion, the new musical written and performed by 2013 ASCAP Cole Porter Songwriting Award winner Benjamin Scheuer, and directed by Sean Daniels, runs at The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center - Stage II (131 West 55th Street). The five-week limited engagement for The Lion will open tonight, June 26.

THE LION is a true story of love, loss, family loyalty, and the redemptive power of music. Following an award-winning run at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, writer/performer Benjamin Scheuer (winner of the ASCAP Cole Porter Award for songwriting) shares his gripping coming-of-age tale. Directed by Sean Daniels, whose work has been seen at The Kennedy Center and Actor's Theatre of Louisville, The Lion is a candid, poignant, and charming new solo musical from a next-generation troubadour.

Following evening performances of The Lion, audiences are invited to stay after the performance for a "Meet the Artist" reception in the theatre with writer/performer Benjamin Scheuer. For additional details on The Lion and offers to all MTC shows, please sign up for MTC's "30 Under 30" program for theatregoers age 30 and under https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/30under30/.

The creative team for The Lion includes Neil Patel (scenic design), Jennifer Caprio (costume consultant), Ben Stanton (lighting design), and Leon Rothenberg (sound design).

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. Over the past four and a half decades, MTC productions have earned numerous awards including 6 Pulitzer Prizes and 19 Tony Awards. MTC has a 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). Since January 2011, Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer) has taken the lead in programming and execution at MTC's Off-Broadway home. Renowned MTC productions include The Assembled Parties; Venus in Fur; Master Class; Good People; The Whipping Man; Time Stands Still; The Royal Family; Ruined; The American Plan; 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.'

The Studio at Stage II is Manhattan Theatre Club's new initiative, under the leadership of Mandy Greenfield, at New York City Center - Stage II (131 West 55th Street). The initiative launched last season with the sold out, critically acclaimed world premiere of MURDER BALLAD the new rock musical by Julia Jordan and Juliana Nash and has continued with the critically acclaimed American premieres of CHOIR BOY by Tarell Alvin McCraney and TAKING CARE OF BABY by Dennis Kelly. As part of The Studio at Stage II, MTC and Ars Nova (Jason Eagan, Artistic Director; Renee Blinkwolt, Managing Director) have partnered to launch The Writer's Room a program to commission, develop, and support playwrights in the process of creating new work for the stage. Commissioned writers for The Writer's Room include Adam Bock and Justin Levine collaborating on the creation of a new musical; Rachel Bonds; Thomas Bradshaw; Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig; Jackie Sibblies Drury; Samuel D. Hunter; the band of actors, musicians, and storytellers known as PigPen Theatre Co.; and Sharyn Rothstein.

The Studio at Stage II has been partially underwritten with a major grant from The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.