Izzard, Haysbert, Williamson & Thomas Begin Limited Engagement at RACE Today, 6/21

Eddie Izzard, Dennis Haysbert, Afton C. Williamson, and Richard Thomas begin their run in RACE, written and directed by David Mamet, on Monday June 21st for a nine-week limited engagement through Saturday, August 21st.

RACE also announces its altered summer schedule. Beginning on June 21st, the show will play on Monday nights and not on Sunday matinees. The schedule is as follows: Mondays at 8 pm, Tuesdays at 7 pm, Wednesday at 8 pm, Thursdays at 8 pm, Fridays at 8 pm and Saturdays at 2 pm and 8 pm.

RACE made its world premiere at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (located at 243 West 47th St.). The show began performances on Monday, November 16, 2009 and officially opened on Sunday, December 6, 2009.

RACE features sets by Santo Loquasto, lighting design by Brian MacDevitt and costumes by Tom Broecker.

RACE is produced by: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, JAM Theatricals, JK Productions, Peggy Hill & Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Scott M. Delman, Terry Allen Kramer/James L. Nederlander, Swinsky Deitch, Bat-Barry Productions, Ronald Frankel, James Fuld Jr., Kathleen K. Johnson, Terry Schnuck, The Weinstein Company, Jay & Cindy Gutterman/Stewart Mercer and Marc Frankel.

Bios
David Mamet, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Glengarry Glen Ross, has also written Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Lakeboat, The Water Engine, The Duck Variations, Reunion, The Blue Hour, The Shawl, Bobby Gould in Hell, Edmond, Romance, The Old Neighborhood and the recent adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance. A two-time Academy Award nominee for The Verdict and Wag the Dog, Mamet's additional film credits include The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Untouchables, Hoffa, Ronin, The Edge, and We're No Angels. His nonfiction work includes The Wicked Son, True and False, and Bambi vs. Godzilla. He is a member of New York's Atlantic Theater Company, which he founded in 1985 with William H. Macy.

Eddie Izzard has been hailed as one of the foremost Stand-Ups of his generation. He takes ideas and situations and extrapolates them into bizarre tangential, absurd, and surreal comic narratives. He is the first to admit that he gets well paid for talking total bollocks. (The good pay is because unlike the bollocks most of us talk, it's funny). Eddie's musings have earned him countless awards including two Emmys.

Since his first stage appearance on London's West End in 1993 in the one-man show ‘LIVE AT THE AMBASSADORS' there have been a succession of sell-out and critically-acclaimed International tours including ‘UNREPEATABLE' in ‘94, ‘96's ‘DEFINITE ARTICLE', ‘GLORIOUS' in '97 and ‘DRESS TO KILL' in ‘98. 2000 was the year of ‘CIRCLE' and SEXIE followed in 2003. Eddie's latest stand up show STRIPPED completed a 34 city tour of the US in 2008 before breaking box office records with a UK, US and European Arena tour which culminated in Madison Square Garden Arena in New York, Jan 2010, making Eddie only the fourth comedian ever to play that venue. This year Eddie performed a series of South African dates in support of Nelson Mandela's 46664 Charity.

Whilst initially renowned as a comic, Eddie is also now equally respected as a film, theatre and TV actor. His hugely successful FX drama THE RICHES has been critically acclaimed across the world.
Eddie's stage appearances include Mamet's ‘THE CRYPTOGRAM', ‘900 ONEONTA', the title role in Marlowe's ‘EDWARD II', and ‘A DAY IN THE DEATH OF JOE EGG' in London and on Broadway, which won him several prestigious awards including a Tony Nomination for Best Actor. His big screen debut was alongside Bob Hoskins and Robin Williams in the 1996 movie ‘SECRET AGENT'. Other highlights in his movie career include ‘THE AVENGERS' with Sean Connery, ‘VELVET GOLDMINE' with Ewan McGregor, ‘MY SUPER X GIRLFRIEND' with Uma Thurman, ‘OCEANS TWELVE' and OCEANS THIRTEEN with George Clooney and Brad Pitt. ‘ACROSS THE UNIVERSE' alongside Bono, RAGE with Judi Dench and Jude Law and ‘VALKYRIE' starring opposite Tom Cruise. Eddie was recently seen in the BBC remake of THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS.

BELIEVE: THE Eddie Izzard STORY had its International theatrical release last year. This moving documentary directed by film maker SARAH TOWNSEND documents Eddie's struggle from a young street performer in London's Covent Garden during the 1980's to The Comedian, Actor, Political Activist and Athlete he is now recognized as ... In August 2009 Eddie took a month off and ran 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief. To date that run has raised in excess of £1.85 million.

Dennis Haysbert who has captured the attention of audiences and critics alike with his ground breaking role as President David Palmer on FOX's hit series "24" for which he received his first Golden Globe Nomination. Haysbert returned to television starring in his own series "The Unit" for CBS which premiered with record breaking ratings. Haysbert was most recently seen on the big screen in the Universal film "Breach" opposite Ryan Phillppe, Chris Cooper and Laura Linney, and in the Sam Mendes' film "Jarhead" for Universal Pictures. He just completed shooting the feature film "The Details," once again teamed up with Oscar-nominated actress Laura Linney, along with Tobey McGuire, and Elizabeth Banks.

In addition, he starred opposite JuliAnne Moore in Todd Haynes' critically acclaimed "FAR FROM HEAVEN." His other film credits include Spike Lee's "LOVE AND BASKETBALL" opposite Omar Epps, "ABSOLUTE POWER," opposite Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman, "LOVE FIELD," opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, "MAJOR LEAGUE," as Pedro Cerrano, "HEAT," with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, "RANDOM HEARTS," "WHAT'S COOKING," "WAITING TO EXHALE," "THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR," "NAVY SEALS," "SUTURE" and opposite Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta Jones and Michelle Pfeiffer in DreamWorks' animated film "SINBAD LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS." Haysbert also appeared on the small screen in the critically acclaimed CBS series "NOW AND AGAIN."

Born and raised in Northern California, Haysbert's acting began when he won his first television role on the Emmy-winning episode of "LOU GRANT," which co-starred Jesse Jackson. He is very active in the fight against AIDS and in the year 2000, he was the spokesperson for the Harlem Health Expo "Break the Silence." He is also the spokesperson for the National Leadership Commission on AIDS as well as The Western Center on Law and Poverty. Dennis is also very proud to serve as the Global Ambassador for the Discovery Channel's Global Educational Partnership.

He currently resides in Los Angeles.

Richard Thomas Race marks Mr. Thomas' 51st year on Broadway which began at the age of seven in Sunrise at Campobello. Other Broadway credits include: Strange Interlude, The Playroom, Everything in the Garden, Fifth Of July, The Front Page, Democracy, and A Naked Girl On The Appian Way. Additional NY and US credits include: The Seagull, Richard II, Richard III, Hamlet, Peer Gynt, Tiny Alice, Love Letters, Measure For Measure, Midsummer Night's Dream, Saint Joan, Merton of the Movies, Square One, The Count of Monte Cristo, Citizen Tom Paine, Streamers, Danton's Death, Arms and the Man, The Barbarians, La Ronde, Vieux Carre, The Devil's Disciple, The Lisbon Traviata, The Stendhal Syndrome, and Art (London). His most recent performances include: As You Like It (NYSF), Twelve Angry Men (National Tour), and Terrence McNally's Unusual Acts Of Devotion. He regularly performs around the country, A Distant Country Called Youth and Blanche and Beyond from the letters of Tennessee Williams. His over 50 films for television include: "The Red Badge of Courage," "Roots: The Next Generations," "All Quiet on the Western Front," "Living Proof: The Hank Williams Jr. Story," "Common Ground" and "Andre's Mother." TV series include: "It's a Miracle," "Just Cause" and "The Walton's," for which he received the Emmy Award. Films include: Winning, Last Summer, Red Sky at Morning, You'll Like My Mother, 9/30/55, Battle Beyond the Stars Wonder Boys, Taking Woodstock and The Beaver.

Afton C. Williamson is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and the University of Alabama/Alabama Shakespeare Festival M.F.A. program, and her theatrical credits, in resident theatres, include I Have Before Me A Remarkable Document Given To Me By A Young Lady From Rwanda (Vermont Stage Company) Crowns, The Beaux Strategem, Cymbeline, Romeo and Juliet, The Count of Monte Cristo, Dr. Faustus, Death of a Salesman, James and the Giant Peach, Richard III (Alabama Shakespeare Festival) and Lincoln Center Theater's Workshop Production: