Donna Murphy to Return to Broadway in THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director), in association with
Tracy Aron, announced that two time Tony® Award-winner Donna Murphy will star in the new Broadway musical THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE, directed by Leonard Foglia. THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE features book & lyrics by Iris Rainer Dart and music by Mike Stoller and Artie Butler.

Performances of THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE will begin on Friday, April 1st, 2011 on Broadway at the American Airlines Theatre (227 West 42nd Street) with the official opening set for Thursday, April 28th, 2011. The limited engagement is scheduled to run through June 19th, 2011.
This New York premiere production comes from the author of the international best seller Beaches, Iris Rainer Dart, with a glorious score by Mike Stoller (Smokey Joe's Café) and Artie Butler (Louis Amstrong's "What a Wonderful World").

Once the darling of the Yiddish Theatre in pre-war Poland, now a grandmother in New York City, Bubbie has had quite a life. But what will it all mean if she can't pass on her stories to the next generation? Though her granddaughter is enchanted by her tales, her daughter Red will do anything to keep from looking back. A fiercely funny and deeply moving new musical that spans three generations, THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE celebrates the importance of learning from our past, and the power of laughter.

The creative team includes Paul Gemignani (Musical Direction), Andy Blankenbuehler (Musical Staging), Riccardo Hernandez (Sets), Ann Hould-Ward (Costumes), Howell Binkley (Lights), Dan Moses Schreier (Sound), Elaine J. McCarthy (Projections) & Paul Huntley (Hair & Wigs).

Additional creative team members and the full company will be announced shortly.

Ticket Information:
Only Roundabout subscribers have first access to tickets! To join Roundabout visit www.roundabouttheatre.org or call Roundabout Ticket Services (212) 719-9393.

Tickets go on sale to the general public January 2011. Tickets range from $72.00 - $122.00.

Performance Schedule Information:
THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM with a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:00PM.

Biographies

Donna Murphy (Raisel/Bubbie). Award winning actress-singer Donna Murphy has been building a career of striking range and diversity in the theater and on the large and small screens. This "seductive actress of major transformative powers" (New York Times) has impressed both critics and audiences with her depth and skill. This year she treads new ground in her first animated film, voicing one of the leading characters, Mother Gothel, in Disney's Tangled, also starring MAndy Moore and Zachary Levi, with a score by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. The film opens on Nov. 24, 2010. Currently filming a leading role in award winning filmmaker Todd Solondz' Dark Horse, also starring Christopher Walken, Mia Farrow and Selma Blair, she recently completed work in the highly anticipated directorial debut of Academy Award nominee Vera Farmiga, Higher Ground. Ms. Murphy received the first of two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical, along with the Drama Desk and Drama League Awards, for her spellbinding creation of Fosca in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion, garnering critical acclaim when it was broadcast on PBS's American Playhouse. She was awarded her second Tony and Drama League Awards, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for her elegant and distinctive performance as Anna Leonowans in the 1996 Tony Award winning revival of The King and I. In 2004, she was honored with the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Astaire Awards, the Drama League Outstanding Achievement Award for her work in Musical Theater, as well as another Tony nomination, for her hilarious tour de force as Ruth Sherwood in the Broadway Revival of Wonderful Town, a role she originated at City Center's Encores! Series. In 2007 she returned to Broadway at Manhattan Theater Club's Biltmore Theater as the legendary actress singer Lotte Lenya, in the world premiere of LoveMusik, directed by Harold Prince. She received her third Drama Desk Award, and second Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical, as well as a Drama League Award and a Tony nomination for this mesmerizing performance. Earlier that season Murphy received raves for her portrayal of Phyllis Stone in City Center's Encores!' production of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's Follies. That summer, Variety named her one of three "Legit Luminaries" in their Women's Impact Issue. This past April, she lit up the stage at City Center Encores again, with her performance as Mayoress Cora Hooper in Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents' Anyone Can Whistle, once again thrilling theatergoers and critics, prompting Ben Brantley of the NY Times to call her "perhaps the most sophisticated practitioner of musical comedy alive today." Ms. Murphy studied with the legendary Stella Adler, and at the Lee Strasberg Institute, and attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She made her professional debut, after being cast from an open call, in Neil Simon's hit They're Playing Our Song, and went on to create memorable characters in comedies, dramas and musicals on and off Broadway, and in theaters across the country. These credits include Edwin Drood in the Broadway production of Rupert Holmes Drood, James Lapine's Twelve Dreams, and Michael John LaChiusa's Hello Again at Lincoln Center Theater (Drama Desk nominations), Song of Singapore (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), Peter Nichol's Privates of Parade at the Roundabout Theater Co., Strindberg's Miss Julie (McCarter Theater), and the title character of Tony Kushner's production of Ellen MacLaughlin's Helen, for the New York Shakespeare Festival (Drama League Award). She also starred in the World Premiere of Pamela's First Musical, by Wendy Wasserstein, Cy Coleman and David Zippel, at Town Hall, benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids and Theater Development Fund's OPEN DOORS Program. Ms. Murphy's film credits include: The Nanny Diaries, World Trade Center, The Fountain, Spiderman 2, The Door in the Floor, Center Stage, Star Trek: Insurrection, The Astronaut's Wife, and Jade . Ms. Murphy's first television film, HBO's Someone Had to be Benny, earned her a Cable Ace Award as Best Actress in a Drama Special or Series, as well as a Daytime Emmy. Other TV work includes : TNT's Trust Me, ABC's What About Joan, Showtime's political drama The Last Debate , Mary Todd Lincoln in The Day Lincoln Was Shot (TNT), Francesca Cross on Stephen Bochco's Murder One (ABC), Leonard Bernstein's New York and AbiGail Adams in Liberty! for PBS, the 2000 and 2002 Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) and guest appearances on Ugly Betty ,Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order SVU, Damages, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, CSI, Law & Order, The Practice, Ally McBeal, This November, she is featured in the PBS Broadcast of Sondheim: The Birthday Concert, filmed live this past March. A versatile singer, she can be heard on a number of recordings including Lovemusik (Ghostlight), Wall to Wall Sondheim (Symphony Space), Wonderful Town (DRG), Leonard Bernstein's New York (Nonesuch), Hello Again (RCA Victor), The King and I (Varese Sarabande) and the Grammy Award winning Passion (Angel). For her contribution to the Arts, Culture and Public life, she's received special honors from New York Magazine, Symphony Space, Greenwich Village's Caring Community, the Women's Project, The Little Orchestra Society, Irish America Magazine, the Breukelein Institute and Emerson College. Ms. Murphy donates her time and efforts to a number of organizations, including the Worldwide Orphan's Foundation, the All Stars Project providing Arts education and programs for inner city youth, Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, and The Actors Fund.