THE BREAK OF NOON Begins Previews, 10/28

The Break of Noon begins performances at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on October 28, 2010 and continue through December 12, 2010. An official opening night is set for Monday, November 22, 2010. The Break of Noon is a co-production with the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles (Gil Cates, Producing Director; Randall Arney, Artistic Director; Ken Novice, Managing Director). Individual tickets for this hotly anticipated production are on-sale today at noon through TicketCentral by visiting www.ticketcentral.com or calling 212-279-4200.

The Break of Noon is Neil LaBute's seventh collaboration with MCC Theater as Playwright-in-Residence, following the 2009 Tony Award-nominated Best Play, Reasons to be Pretty. Renowned for his darkly-comic morality plays (The Shape of Things, In a Dark Dark House), he teams up again with longtime collaborator, director Jo Bonney (Some Girl(s), Fat Pig), for this exploration of the daunting, sometimes harrowing process of "finding religion." David Duchovny ("Californication," "The X-Files") will star as John Smith, a man who, amidst the chaos and horror of the worst office shooting in American history, sees the face of God. His modern-day revelation creates a maelstrom of disbelief among everyone he knows. A newcomer to faith, John urgently searches for a modern response to the age-old question: at what cost salvation?

Subscriptions for the 2010-2011 season are on-sale now and are priced as low as $99 for the 3-play season. For more information visit www.mcctheater.org or to purchase packages, contact TicketCentral directly at www.ticketcentral.com or call 212-279-4200.

MCC Theater is one of New York City's leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season. When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences. MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through presentation of its mainstage works; its Literary Program, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers and its Education & Outreach Program, allowing more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices in the arts. Notable MCC Theater highlights include: the 2008 Tony Award-nominated Reasons to be Pretty by Neil LaBute, last season's Fifty Words, the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery's Frozen; Neil LaBute's Fat Pig; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne's Beirut. Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards. For a complete production history, visit www.mcctheater.org.

The Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and musicals, the Geffen Playhouse continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company is helmed by Producing Director and President of the Board Gilbert Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney, Managing Director Ken Novice and Chairman of the Board Frank Mancuso. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains an extensive education and outreach program, designed to engage young people and the community at large in the arts. For more information, visit www.geffenplayhouse.com.

Tracee Chimo was last seen as Regan in The Bachelorette. Broadway: Irena's Vow. Off Broadway: Circle Mirror Transformation (Lucille Lortel nom, Drama Desk award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance), Vendetta Chrome, Guilty, Bushwhackin', Vamp. Regional: Sundance '08, Humana Festival/Actor's Theatre of Louisville, The Cleveland Playhouse and Philadelphia Theatre Company. TV: Guest-star in the FX series "Louie," "Guiding Light." Film: Evening, What Would Jesus Do?, Daughters of Liberty and Wasted Time. Last year Tracee was honored by actress Marian Seldes and The O'Neill Studio, where she studied, with the Eugene O'Neill Award for her work in Irena's Vow.

John Earl Jelks was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as "Sterling" in August Wilson's Radio Golf, which he also toured to the McCarter, Goodman, Center Stage, Seattle Rep., Mark Taper and Yale Repertory theaters. Jelks also appeared with Phylicia Rashad on Broadway in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean as "Citizen" (after runs at the Goodman, Huntington, and Mark Taper theaters, where he won an NAACP Theater Award and an L.A. Ovation Award). In 2008, Jelks won an AUDELCO Award for his work in the Off Broadway revival of The First Breeze of Summer. Regional theater credits include Fetch Clay, Make Man at the McCarter Theatre, the world stage premiere of the Shawshank Redemption at the Gaiety Theatre in Ireland, Magnolia at the Goodman Theater, Joe Turner's Come and Gone at the Penumbra Theatre Company and the Missouri Repertory Theatre, The Piano Lesson at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and Diary of a Black Man at the Union Square Theatre and the Shaw Theatre in London, England. Recently, Jelks appeared in Spike Lee's film Miracle at St. Anna.

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