Frances McDormand to Lead GOOD PEOPLE at MTC in 2011; Sullivan Directs

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) are pleased to announce that Academy Award winner Frances McDormand will return to Broadway in Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere production of GOOD PEOPLE, the new play by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire to be directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

GOOD PEOPLE will play at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Previews for the limited engagement will begin on Tuesday, February 8, 2011 with an opening night of Thursday, March 3.

McDormand is an acclaimed actress having received an Oscar for her portrayal of ‘Marge Gunderson' in the beloved Coen Brothers' film Fargo. On Broadway, she received a Tony nomination for portrayal of ‘Stella' in the 1988 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. She most recently appeared in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of North Atlantic.

Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, along with Rabbit Hole director and Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, return to MTC to premiere his newest work, the timely and powerful GOOD PEOPLE.

Welcome to Southie, a Boston neighborhood where a night on the town means a few rounds of bingo... where this month's paycheck covers last month's bills... and where Margie Walsh (McDormand) has just been let go from yet another job. Facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break, Margie thinks an old fling who has made it out of Southie might be her ticket to a fresh new start. But is this apparently self-made man secure enough to face his humble beginnings? Margie is about to risk what little she has left to find out.

With his signature humorous glow, Lindsay-Abaire explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakeable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America.

Together, playwright David Lindsay-Abaire and MTC have brought four outstanding new plays to the New York stage. Their most recent collaboration, Rabbit Hole, earned a Tony Award and garnered Lindsay-Abaire the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

GOOD PEOPLE was commissioned through MTC's Bank of America Commissioning Program.

Special funding for GOOD PEOPLE was provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

Additional casting and creative team for GOOD PEOPLE as well as other listings information will be announced in the coming weeks.

Subscriptions to MTC's 2010-2011 season are available online at www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

Single tickets to all of MTC's 2010-2011 productions will be available at a later date.

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. Over the past three decades, MTC productions have earned a total of 17 Tony Awards and six Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. MTC has a Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and an Off-Broadway theatre at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). Renowned MTC productions include Time Stands Still; The Royal Family; Ruined; The American Plan; Come Back, Little Sheba; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Love! Valour! Compassion!; A Small Family Business; Sylvia; Putting It Together; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain't Misbehavin.'

For more information on MTC, visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

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Frances McDormand (Margie Walsh) studied at the Yale School of Drama. Stage appearances include The Country Girl directed by Mike Nichols on Broadway, Caryl Churchill's Far Away directed by Stephen Daldry at New York Theatre Workshop, her Tony-nominated performance as ‘Stella' in A Streetcar Named Desire, The Sisters Rosenzweig directed by Daniel Sullivan at Lincoln Center Theatre, The Swan at The Public Theatre, A Streetcar Named Desire (this time as ‘Blanche') at the Gate Theater in Dublin, and Dare Clubb's Oedipus at the Blue Light Theater Company opposite Billy Crudup. With The Wooster Group, she performed in To You, The Birdie! and North Atlantic.

Films include Burn After Reading, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Friends With Money, Laurel Canyon, Something's Gotta Give, Wonder Boys, City By The Sea, Madeline, Primal Fear, Lone Star, Palookaville, Chattahoochee, Darkman, Hidden Agenda, Short Cuts, Beyond Rangoon, Paradise Road, The Man Who Wasn't There, Raising Arizona, and Blood Simple. She can next be seen in Transformers 3 and opposite Sean Penn in This Must Be the Place.

She is the recipient of four Academy Award nominations: Mississippi Burning, Almost Famous, North Country, and Fargo, for which she received the award for her performance as ‘Marge Gunderson.

Photo Credit: Richard Phibbs