Faith Healer, with Fiennes and McDiarmid, Opens in Dublin Be

Prior to its May 4th Broadway opening at the Booth Theatre (222 W. 45th Street), Faith Healer will open at Dublin's Gate Theatre for a limited engagement beginning February 2th and opening on February 7th. The Dublin run will feature Ralph Fiennes and Ian McDiarmid (who will star on Broadway) as well as Ingrid Craigie, who will play the role that Cherry Jones will assume for the Broadway run, which begins on April 18th for an opening on May 4th.

Holders of an American Express card can now (through February 17th) order tickets for the Broadway run of Faith Healer, while tickets to the general public will go on sale on February 18th.Directed by Jonathan Kent, Faith Healer's Broadway run will be produced by Sonia Friedman Productions Ltd and Michael Colgan, Bob Bartner, Roger Berlind, Scott Rudin and Spring Sirkin.

The show is a "spellbinding play in which each new revelation upends all that has come before it. Faith Healer tells the moving tale of dissolute, charismatic Frank Hardy (Fiennes), his long-time lover (Craigie and Jones) and his devoted manager (McDiarmid) as they travel the back roads of Scotland and Wales peddling miracles. As the three wrestle with Hardy's genuine but elusive gift for healing, they ask potent questions about who we trust, what we know and why we believe. Faith Healer offers the unique opportunity to see three of our finest actors on one stage and delights those with faith in the enduring power of live theatre," state press notes.

Ralph Fiennes will return to Broadway for the first time since his acclaimed performance as Hamlet over a decade ago. That performance, also directed by Jonathan Kent, won him the 1995 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Actor. He received Oscar nominations for Schindler's List and The English Patient. Other notable films include Quiz Show, Strange Days, The End of the Affair, Red Dragon and last year's Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire and The Constant Gardener. British stage credits include Brand, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Fathers and Sons, King John, The Talking Cure, the title roles in Coriolanus and Richard II and 2005's Julius Caesar.

Best known to moviegoers for his role as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in Star Wars Episodes I, II and III, McDiarmid is a former joint artistic director of the Almeida Theatre in London. He appeared at the Almeida in Faith Healer in 2001. Other UK stage credits include Ivanov, Tartuffe, School For Wives and Creditors at the Almeida Theatre; Henry V, The Merchant of Venice, The Party, The War Plays, Crimes In Hot Countries and The Castle for the RSC and acclaimed work at the Royal Court and in the West End.

Jones won her second Tony Award in 2005 for her shattering performance as Sister Aloysius in Doubt, previously winning for 1995's The Heiress. She was Tony-nominated for A Moon for the Misbegotten and her Broadway debut performance in Our Country's Good. Film credits include Ocean's Twelve, The Village, Signs, Swimmers, Cradle Will Rock, Erin Brockovich, The Horse Whisperer, The Perfect Storm, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and the Lifetime movie "What Makes a Family."

Faith Healer features set and costume design by Jonathan Fensom and lighting design by Mark Henderson.

Faith Healer was mounted on Broadway in May 1979, starring James Mason and directed by Jose Quintero. "In the quarter century since, several high profile productions have established its critical standing as equal that of Friel's other masterworks Philadelphia, Here I Come and the Tony-winning Best Play Dancing at Lughnasa."

Tickets for Faith Healer will be on general sale through Telecharge, (212) 239-6200 or www.telecharge.com. American Express Cardmembers can purchase tickets through Broadway.Yahoo.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. American Express Gold Card Events seating is also available through Broadway.Yahoo.com, or by calling 800-292-9465.

For tickets and information visit faithhealeronbroadway.com