Maggie Gyllenhaal to Play Marie Curie at World Science Festival, 6/1

Award-winning screen and stage actress Maggie Gyllenhaal steps into the role of history's most famous woman scientist for a special reading of Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, a new play by actor/writer Alan Alda. Gyllenhaal replaces the previously announced Meryl Streep, who had to bow out due to a sudden and unforeseen scheduling conflict. Through a spokesperson, Streep says she regrets the conflict and that she is "very disappointed to miss this important and inspiring event."

Gyllenhaal joins the all-star cast of Radiance, which also includes Amy Adams, Bill Camp, Allison Janney, David Morse, Liev Schreiber and Brent Sexton. Directed by acclaimed actor/director Bob Balaban, the special reading anchors the 2011 World Science Festival Opening Night Gala Celebration on June 1 at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

Radiance tells the emotional story of one of the most accomplished and revered scientists in history. It explores the intellectual passions of the physicist/chemist most famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity, as well as her tumultuous private life marked by a strong determination to pursue both love and knowledge.

Gyllenhaal most recently was seen on stage in Three Sisters at the Classic Stage Company in New York. Her other stage credits include Uncle Vanya at CSC, Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul at BAM and the Mark Taper Forum, and Patrick Marber's award-winning Closer at the Mark Taper Forum and Berkeley Repertory. Her film credits include Crazy Heart (Academy Award nomination), Secretary (Golden Globe and Spirit Award nominations), The Dark Knight, Adaptation, Stranger Than Fiction, World Trade Center, Happy Endings, Sherrybaby (Golden Globe nomination), and more. She will be seen in the upcoming film Hysteria. Gyllenhaal is a graduate of Columbia University, where she studied literature.

The Opening Night Gala Celebration kicks off the fourth annual World Science Festival, which has grown into one of the nation's most anticipated science happenings - 50 programs over five days that bring together great minds in science and the arts to make science exciting and accessible to everyone.

This special reading of Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The 2011 World Science Festival Opening Night Gala Celebration is produced in collaboration with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

The 2011 World Science Festival Gala Celebration Co-Chairs are Jim and Marilyn Simons, and Ann Ziff.

TICKETS
Tickets to the 2011 World Science Festival Opening Night Gala Celebration are on sale now. Visit www.worldsciencefestival.com/gala, call 646-200-8817 or email gala@worldsciencefest.org.

ABOUT WSF
The World Science Festival is an annual celebration of science that brings together great minds in its mission to cultivate and sustain a general public informed by the content of science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future. The World Science Festival is a production of the Science Festival Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York City.

The World Science Festival has been made possible with the generous support of its Founding Benefactors - the Simons Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation.

The World Science Festival gratefully acknowledges the generous support of its major sponsors, Ann Ziff, Con Edison and The Kavli Prize, its media partners, ABC News, Scientific American, The Week, Time Warner Cable, National Geographic, WNYC Radio, WABC-TV and Time Out New York Kids, and its university partners New York University, The City University of New York, Columbia University, The Rockefeller University, The New School and The Cooper Union.

To learn more about the World Science Festival, visit www.worldsciencefestival.com, or follow the World Science Festival on Facebook and Twitter.

Tickets and information on all 2011 World Science Festival programs is available at www.worldsciencefestival.com.

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