Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director;Barry Grove, Executive Producer) proudly announces complete casting for the upcoming production of MOONLIGHT & MAGNOLIAS byRon Hutchinson, directed byLynne Meadow.
The cast featuresMatthew Arkin,David Rasche,Douglas Sills andMargo Skinner.MOONLIGHT & MAGNOLIAS will begin previews on Thursday, March 3 with a Tuesday, March 29 opening night at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). Set in Hollywood in 1939 and inspired by real events, MOONLIGHT & MAGNOLIAS is a behind-the-scenes account of the frenetic collaboration between film producer David O. Selznick (Douglas Sills), director Victor Fleming (David Rasche) and screenwriter Ben Hecht (Matthew Arkin) as they struggle to create the screenplay for Gone With the Wind. Completing the cast,Margo Skinner plays the role of Miss Poppenghul, Selznick's long-suffering assistant. The creative team for MOONLIGHT & MAGNOLIAS will includeSanto Loquasto (set),Jane Greenwood (costumes),Rui Rita (lighting) andObadiah Eaves (sound). The performance schedule for MOONLIGHT & MAGNOLIAS is: Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 PM, and Sunday evening performances at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $60 and can be reserved by calling CityTix at (212) 581-1212. Group and student rates are available. For group ticket information, call (212) 399-3000 x 134. Student tickets are $25 and are on sale for all performances based on availability on the day of the performance, up to one hour before showtime. Call (212) 581-1212 for further information. MTC at New York City Center is accessible to people with disabilities and is equipped with a hearing augmentation system.
BIOGRAPHIES: Matthew Arkin (Ben Hecht) Broadway: Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor and The Sunshine Boys (with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall). Off-Broadway: Dinner with Friends (Drama Desk nomination), You Should Be So Lucky, OY!, The King of Carpets, Rounding Third and The Roadblock. Regional theatre: Rounding Third at Chicago's Northlight Theatre, Talley's Folly, Guys and Dolls, Sheer Boredom, A Thousand Clowns, Lost in Yonkers, Little Footsteps, Two Rooms, True West, Self Defense, Joan of Lorraine, and Sight Unseen. Film: Death to Smoochy; Liar, Liar; North; An Unmarried Woman; and Chu Chu and the Philly Flash. Upcoming film: Second Best, Counting Sheep and The Curse. TV: Legal Aid Attorney Paul Bernard on A&E's "100 Centre Street," "The Education of Max Bickford," "Ed," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "The Street," "Simple Justice," "Law & Order: SVU," "Kojak," "The Defection of Simas Kudirka" and "All My Children."
David Rasche (Victor Fleming) returns to New York from San Francisco, where he appeared at the Magic Theater in the title role in David Mamet's Dr. Faustus. Broadway credits: The Shadow Box, Loose Ends, Lunch Hour, Getting and Spending, and Speed-the-Plow. Off-Broadway: Five by Tenn (MTC), Last Dance (MTC), Reynold's Geniuses, Mamet's No One Will Be Immune, and a highly acclaimed performance of Mamet's Edmond at the Atlantic Theater Company. He was Sledge Hammer in the TV series of that name, and has appeared in episodics from "Miami Vice" to "Monk." Film credits: The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, An Innocent Man, and The Big Tease. Douglas Sills (David O. Selznick) Broadway, national and L.A.: The Scarlet Pimpernel (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations; L.A. Ovation, Theatre World and Drama League Awards). NY: Carnival (City Center Encores!), When You Wish (Disney workshop), Gondoliers (Roundabout). Other: A Little Night Music (Carl Magnus/Kennedy Center), Mack & Mabel (Mack Sennett/Reprise!), Show Boat (Hollywood Bowl), Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick/South Coast Rep), The Philadelphia Story (Dexter/SCR), Mrs. Warren's Profession (Frank/Taper), Chess (Freddie). National: The Secret Garden (Neville/Carbonell Award), Into the Woods (Cinderella's Prince/Drama-Logue Award). Calif. Shakespeare Festival: Leading roles in Othello, Cymbeline, Winter's Tale, Major Barbara, The Seagull. TV (select): "Will & Grace," "Any Day Now," "Party of Five," "Sisters," "Sabrina...," "Coach," "Empty Nest," "Murphy Brown." Film: Funny About Love. Training: A.C.T., Univ. of Michigan.
Margo Skinner (Miss Poppenghul) Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off Broadway credits include: the first National Tour of the musical, Titanic; pre-Broadway tour of I Never Sang for My Father; Power Plays at the Promenade; Mrs. Warren's Profession at the Pearl; The Perfect Party, The Dining Room and Blue Window. Regionally: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the ALLIANCE THEATRE, Virginia Stage Company, Ah, Wilderness! at the Guthrie Theater; Geffen Playhouse, Kennedy Center, Meadow Brook, Walnut Street, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theatre Center, Pittsburgh Public Theatre. She was an eight-year company member of Trinity Square in Providence, Rhode Island. Television; ABC After-School Special, "I Never Sang for My Father," "Blue Window". Film; Quick Change, Longtime Companion and Night School. Training; BA, Boston University, Awards; Outstanding Achievement in the Arts from Rhode Island.
Ron Hutchinson (Playwright) is the author of Rat in the Skull, which appeared at Chicago's Wisdom Bridge Theatre with Brian Dennehy, and at The Royal Court Theatre, The Public Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and was revived in London's West End. He adapted Mikhail Bulgokov's Flight for the Royal National Theatre and wrote Burning Issues which appeared at The Hampstead Theatre, Beau! at the Haymarket Leicester Square and on a United Kingdom tour, Lags at the Theatre Royal Bristol and on a United Kingdom tour. His play Head/Case will be produced by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Belgrade Theatre in fall of 2004. Mr. Hutchinson has lived in Los Angeles for the past 20 years, where he works in TV and feature films. He won an Emmy in 1989 for Murderers Among Us - The Simon Wiesenthal Story. His latest feature work includes rewrites on Fox Pictures Flight of the Phoenix, to be released in 2005 and in television, USA Networks Traffic.
Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director, Manhattan Theatre Club, Inc.) has been responsible for directing and producing more than 400 New York and world premieres for MTC since 1972. Her directing credits include Charles Busch's The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (Broadway, MTC, U.S. national tour), Leslie Ayvazian's Nine Armenians (Drama Desk nomination, Best Director), Donald Margulies' The Loman Family Picnic,Alan Ayckbourn's Woman in Mind (Drama Desk nomination, Best Director) the Broadway production of A Small Family Business,David Rudkin's Ashes (Obie Award) and NY premieres of plays by Marsha Norman, Simon Gray, Lee Blessing, Sybille Pearson and Israel Horowitz as well as productions for the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Spoletto Festival and the O'Neill Theatre Center. Under her artistic leadership, MTC has been honored with every prestigious theatre award, including multiple Tony Awards®, Drama Desk Awards and Pulitzer Prizes. She attended the Yale School of Drama and Bryn Mawr College, where she served on the Board of Trustees. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Lee Reynolds Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women, the Manhattan Award from Manhattan magazine, the Person of the Year from The National Theatre Conference and the Margo Jones Award. She has taught at Circle in the Square Theatre School, Yale University and New York University. In 2003, Ms. Meadow received the "Mr. Abbott" Award for lifetime achievement. www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com