Michael Bodeen News

Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced that the critically acclaimed production of RUINED by playwright Lynn Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey has been extended by popular demand through Sunday, April 19.

Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009.

Lynn Nottage, whose critically acclaimed new play RUINED is playing an extended engagement at MTC, will be this week's featured guest on NY1's 'On Stage.' 'On Stage' will air on NY1 (Time Warner Cable Channel 1) Saturday, February 21 and Sunday, February 22 at 9:30 AM and 7:30 PM, and Monday, February 23 (early Tuesday) at 12:30 AM.

Marin Ireland, Steven Pasquale, Piper Perabo and Thomas Sadoski comprise the four-person cast of this season's production of Neil LaBute's new play, reasons to be pretty, under the direction of Terry Kinney. On the first day of rehearsals, Tuesday, February 17th, the production held a meet-and-greet reception with the cast and creative team of MCC Theater's reasons to be pretty, which will mark LaBute's Broadway debut. BroadwayWorld's cameras were there to mingle with the starry cast.

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced that the critically acclaimed production of RUINED by playwright Lynn Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey has been extended by popular demand through Sunday, April 12.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, has announced additional casting and complete details for the World Premiere of INKED BABY, a new play by 2007 Susan Smith Blackburn nominee Christina Anderson in her Off-Broadway playwriting debut. Directed by Kate Whoriskey (Fabulation at Playwrights Horizons, the current Ruined at MTC), the production will begin previews on Thursday, March 5, 2009 with an Opening Night set for Monday, March 23 at 7PM. The limited engagement will run through Sunday, April 5 at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

Lynn Nottage, whose new play RUINED is currently in previews at Manhattan Theatre Club at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street), is currently featured on The Huffington Post.

Manhattan Theatre Club is pleased to announce that After Words, the popular discussion series which has been a success at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre will come to MTC at New York City Center for the world premiere of Lynn Nottage's RUINED, the haunting, probing work about the resilience of the human spirit during times of war. The series will make its debut at New York City Center on Saturday, January 31 following the matinee performance of RUNED. The panel will feature RUINED playwright Lynn Nottage and Jessica Neuwirth, a founder and current president of Equality Now. The discussion will be moderated by MTC Artistic Associate Lisa McNulty. After Words is part of MTC's continuing effort to deepen and enrich the play-going experience for its audiences. Held after selected Saturday matinees, this exciting series of talks with writers, cultural critics, journalists, and members of the RUINED cast and creative team provides provocative and illuminating insights into the political, cultural, and artistic contexts of the work MTC produces.

RUINED, currently in previews at Manhattan Theatre Club, is featured on today's edition of NPR's 'Tell Me More.' To hear playwright Lynn Nottage and actress Saidah Arrika Ekulona discuss the play and the timely issues it explores, CLICK HERE. In the interview which also features clips from the play, Nottage and Ekulona discuss the ongoing violence against women that takes place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where RUINED is set, and bringing the play to the stage. The Manhattan Theatre Club's (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) and Goodman Theatre's (Robert Falls, Artistic Director; Roche Schulfer, Executive Director) co-production of RUINED, written by Lynn Nottage and directed by Kate Whoriskey, will open Tuesday, February 10 at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). In addition to Ekulona, RUINED also features Quincy Tyler Bernstine (The Misanthrope at NYTW), Cherise Boothe (King Hedley II at Signature), Chris Chalk (MTC's Defiance), William Jackson Harper (Queens Boulevard), Chik? Johnson (The Crucible at Steppenwolf), Russell Gebert Jones (Our Lady of 121st Street), Simon Shabantu Kashama (Ruined at the Goodman), two-time Emmy? Award winner Kevin Mambo ('The Guiding Light'), Tom Mardirosian (Wonderful Town, HBO's 'Oz'), Ron McBee (The Colored Museum) and Condola Rashad (Pearl at The Kennedy Center).

The Manhattan Theatre Club's (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) and Goodman Theatre's (Robert Falls, Artistic Director; Roche Schulfer, Executive Director) acclaimed co-production of RUINED, written by Lynn Nottage and directed by Kate Whoriskey begins previews tonight at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). The limited engagement will open Tuesday, February 10. RUINED features Quincy Tyler Bernstine (The Misanthrope at NYTW), Cherise Boothe (King Hedley II at Signature), Chris Chalk (MTC's Defiance), Saidah Arrika Ekulona (Well, Nottage's Fabulation) William Jackson Harper (Queens Boulevard), Chik? Johnson (The Crucible at Steppenwolf), Russell Gebert Jones (Our Lady of 121st Street), Simon Shabantu Kashama (Ruined at the Goodman), two-time Emmy? Award winner Kevin Mambo ('The Guiding Light'), Tom Mardirosian (Wonderful Town, HBO's 'Oz'), Ron McBee (The Colored Museum) and Condola Rashad (Pearl at The Kennedy Center). RUINED played an extended engagement at the Goodman's Owen Theatre where it opened to rave reviews for Nottage's play, the ensemble cast, and director Kate Whoriskey.

Tickets went on sale this past Sunday for the Broadway production of 'reasons to be pretty' by Neil LaBute, directed by Terry Kinney. Online and phone transactions can be made via www.telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. Preview performances begin Friday, March 13, at the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street) with an official opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2nd.

Tickets will go on sale this Sunday for the Broadway production of ?reasons to be pretty' by Neil LaBute, directed by Terry Kinney. Online and phone transactions can be made via www.telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

Due to encouraging business on Broadway this fall with four dramatic hits, it was announced today that this season?s production of Neil LaBute's new play reasons to be pretty will play the Lyceum Theatre (149 West 45th Street). Terry Kinney will direct Mr. LaBute's Broadway debut. The show will go into rehearsals on Friday, February 16, 2009 with preview performances slated to begin Friday, March 6 2009 and an opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 2, 2009. Casting announcements will be forthcoming.

Due to popular demand, Steppenwolf Theatre Company is adding an additional and final week of performances to its special engagement of Dublin Carol by Conor McPherson, directed by ensemble member Amy Morton. A new block of tickets for performances December 31, 2008 ? January 4, 2009 goes on sale Thursday, November 20 at 11 a.m.

Set in the present-day DRC, Ruined is the captivating story of Mama Nadi (Ekulona), the owner of a canteen who serves up everything from a cold beer and a warm meal-to the company of a woman. Through the eyes of this savvy businesswoman who both protects and profits from the women whose bodies have become battlegrounds, Nottage captures the constantly shifting allegiances and tragic absurdity that marks the civil war in the DRC. Ruined, rendered with Nottage's trademark humanity, clarity and surprising humor, gives a glimpse of a country that has suffered immeasurable losses since the beginning of this war that has raged for more than a decade.

Goodman Theatre opens its "Strong Women, Strong Voices" Owen Theatre Series with the world premiere of Lynn Nottage's Ruined, directed by Kate Whoriskey and co-produced with Manhattan Theatre Club. Commissioned by the Goodman and first seen in the 2007 New Stages Series, Ruined was developed through Nottage and Whoriskey's pilgrimage to Uganda-where countless interviews and interactions resulted in a portrait of the lives of the women and girls caught in the devastating armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Leading the Goodman's cast in the role of Mama Nadi is Saidah Arrika Ekulona (Well on Broadway; Righteous Kill), who previously collaborated with Nottage and Whoriskey on the world premiere of Fabulation at Playwrights Horizons. Ruined begins performances on November 8 (opening night is November 17) and runs through December 7. Tickets are $10 - $39. Ruined begins performances at Manhattan Theatre Club on January 21, 2009.

Chicago's Goodman Theatre opens its 'Strong Women, Strong Voices' Owen Theatre Series with the world premiere of Lynn Nottage's RUINED, directed by Kate Whoriskey and co-produced with Manhattan Theatre Club.

Due to popular demand, Steppenwolf Theatre Company is adding five additional performances to its special engagement of Dublin Carol by Conor McPherson, directed by ensemble member Amy Morton. A new block of tickets for performances December 26 - December 28 goes on sale Thursday, October 23 at 11 a.m.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company continues its 2008-2009 season, an exploration of the imagination, with a special engagement of Dublin Carol, by Conor McPherson, directed by ensemble member Amy Morton. The production, featuring Stephen Louis Grush, William Petersen and Nicole Wiesner, runs November 6 - December 21, 2008 in Steppenwolf's Upstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St