Brown, Dixon, and Swallow Added to 'Romantic Poetry' Cast

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) is pleased to announce full casting for the upcoming world premiere of ROMANTIC POETRY, a new musical by John Patrick Shanley and Henry Krieger.

The show will star Jeb Brown (Grease, Ring of Fire), Jerry Dixon (tick, tick… BOOM!; Once On This Island), Ivan Hernandez (Zhivago, The Fantasticks), Mark Linn-Baker (Almost An Evening, "Perfect Strangers"), Patina Renea Miller (Hair, "All My Children"), and Emily Swallow (High Fidelity, The Black Eyed).

ROMANTIC POETRY will feature book and lyrics by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck), music by Henry Krieger (Dreamgirls), and direction by Shanley.

ROMANTIC POETRY will begin performances at MTC at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street) on Tuesday, September 30. The limited engagement will open Tuesday, October 28.

From the Tony Awardâ and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Doubt and the two-time Tonyâ-nominated composer of Dreamgirls comes this crackpot musical romance.

Connie of Woodmere has just married Fred of Newark, but her exes are back in the picture and not sure they approve of the union. Mary of Greenpoint climbs Frankie of Little Italy's fire escape with amorous erotic intent - but things go awry as she reaches for her dream.

They are all mad and they are all sane and they are all creating ROMANTIC POETRY. Genuine emotion and the excitement of living an ideal crisscross like a night of shooting stars. When you have the Academy Awardâ-winning author of Moonstruck writing the book and lyrics, and the two-time Grammyâ-winning composer of Dreamgirls collaborating, you know something delicious is coming from the kitchen.

The creative team for ROMANTIC POETRY will include: David Korins (scenic design), Laura Bauer (costume design), Donald Holder (lighting design), Brian Ronan (sound design), Devanand Janki (musical staging), Sam Davis (music director / vocal arrangements), August Eriksmoen (orchestrations), Howard Joines (Music Coordinator), and David Caparelliotis (casting).

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. MTC productions have earned a total of 16 Tony Awards and five Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. Renowned MTC productions include Top Girls; From Up Here; Come Back, Little Sheba; The Receptionist; LoveMusik; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Kimberly Akimbo; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Sylvia; Four Dogs and a Bone; Putting It Together; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain't Misbehavin'.

This season, MTC's Broadway stage will be renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). The landmarked theatre has been the institution's home on Broadway since 2003 and was rehabilitated by MTC following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign. In addition, MTC operates two theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street), its Off-Broadway home since 1984.

During Meadow's sabbatical this season, Daniel Sullivan, a close associate of MTC and director of several Manhattan Theatre Club productions (Rabbit Hole, Brooklyn Boy, Sight Unseen, Proof, Psychopathia Sexualis), has been serving as Acting Artistic Director. Meadow will resume her full duties as artistic director in September and is consulting on the planning of the 2008-2009 season.

Jeb Brown has appeared on Broadway in Grease ("You're the One That I Want" Revival), High Fidelity, Ring of Fire, Aida, I'm Not Rappaport, Bring Back Birdie, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Regional credits include Steppenwolf, McCarter, Paper Mill, Old Globe, Actors Theatre of Louisville, MUNY (8 seasons). Off-Broadway: Game Show. TV: Crazy for You "Great Performances," "Law & Order: CI," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Film: The Namesake (dir. Mira Nair), Renaissance Man (dir. Penny Marshall), I'll Do Anything (dir. James L. Brooks). Award-winning Evidence Room Theatre Project, L.A (founder); Yale University (Whiffenpoof); Happiness Boys (upcoming).

Jerry Dixon has appeared in the Broadway and Off-Broadway original casts of Once on This Island (Daniel); Five Guys Named Moe (Nomax); Bright Lights, Big City (Tad Allagash); newyorkers (at MTC); The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (Lucas); and  tick, tick… BOOM! (Michael - Drama Desk Nomination). Television and film: "Law & Order," "Everwood," The Peacemaker. Regional: Ragtime (Coalhouse at White Plains Performing Arts Center), Dreamgirls (Curtis at Long Beach Civic Light Opera), and Thunder Knocking On The Door (Jaguar at Yale Rep). Jerry has been a soloist with the Belgian National, Kalamazoo, Tawain, and Singapore Symphonies. Directing: Crowns, tick, tick… BOOM!, Ain't Misbehavin, LaChanze in Concert (at Lincoln Center), and Laugh Whore, (assistant director under the direction of Joe Mantello). Developing direction: Barnstormer (musical adventure) and It's Just Sex (sketch musical comedy). Writing: CBS, VH1, Comedy Central, "Guess Who's Coming for Chitlins?" and original music for Laugh Whore on Broadway & Showtime.

Ivan Hernandez previously appeared in the New York Stage and Film developmental production of Romantic Poetry. Off-Broadway credits include: The Fantasticks (El Gallo), The Most Happy Fella (Joey/NYCO), Yank (Mitch/NYMTF). Regional: The title role in Zhivago at La Jolla Playhouse, Sweeney Todd (Anthony/Fifth Ave Theatre), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Proteus/Baltimore Centre Stage), Señor Discretion Himself (Mark/Arena Stage). Film/TV: "As The World Turns," "One Life To Live," "Guiding Light," "Chapelle's Show," "Watching and Waiting." Developmental: Mambo Kings, Zorro. Hernandez received his B.A. from San Diego State University.

Mark Linn-Baker appeared in the developmental production of Romantic Poetry at New York Stage and Film. He most recently appeared in Ethan Coen's Almost An Evening which transferred to 45 Bleeker following a sold-out run at the Atlantic. Broadway: Losing Louie (MTC), A Year with Frog and Toad, Hysterium in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Face Value, Doonesbury. Encores!: Pajama Game. New York Shakespeare Festival: All's Well That Ends Well, Othello, Von Richthofen, Laundry Hour, Alice in Concert. Off-Broadway: Chesapeake (Drama Desk and Outer Critic's Circle nominations), A Flea in Her Ear, The Miss Firecracker Contest (MTC). Regional: Yale Rep, ART Cambridge, Arena, Center Stage. Film: Manhattan, My Favorite Year, Noises Off, Laughter on the 23rd Floor. He starred as "Larry Appleton" for seven seasons on the ABC series "Perfect Strangers" and for one season as "Alan Arnold" on the WB series "Twins." Other television includes: "Ally McBeal," "Law & Order," "Spin City," "Sesame Street," "Miami Vice," "Moonlighting." Linn-Baker is one of the co-founders and co-directors of the New York Stage and Film Company. As a director, credits include Christopher Durang's Baby with the Bathwater at ART in Boston, and John Patrick Shanley's Savage in Limbo at Vassar and Off-Broadway, Lewis Black's LA Freewheeling, two seasons of ABC's "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper," as well as numerous series episodes for Lorimar and Warner Bros Television.

Patina Renea Miller appeared in the developmental production of Romantic Poetry at Vassar and is currently appearing as Dionne in Hair at the Delacorte. Theater: Kay-T in Sister Act: The Musical at Pasadena Playhouse/ALLIANCE THEATRE; Mixed Company (at New York Stage and Film at Vassar); Pennywise in Urinetown (CMU); and Billy Porter's upcoming Being Alive (Philadelphia Theatre Company). Patina plays 'Pam' on "All My Children" and received a BFA in Acting and Musical Theater from Carnegie Mellon University.

Emily Swallow will make her MTC debut in Romantic Poetry. Broadway: High Fidelity.  New York: The Black Eyed (New York Theatre Workshop); Measure for Pleasure, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear (workshop with Kevin Kline, Public Theater/NYSF); Orange Lemon Egg Canary (P.S. 122); Like Love (NYMF). Regional: Midsummer Night's Dream (Guthrie); Enchanted April (San Jose Rep); Metamorphoses (Pioneer Theatre); Measure for Pleasure (Sundance Theatre Institute).  Film/TV: The Lucky Ones (upcoming); "Flight of the Conchords," "Journeyman," "Jericho," and "The Guiding Light."

For more information including ticket purchase and performance schedule please visit www.mtc-nyc.org.