Julia Stiles and Heather Burns Cast Alongside Mia Farrow in Fran's Bed

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced additional casting and details for the season opener of its 2005/2006 35th Anniversary Season, the New York premiere of FRAN'S BED, a new play written and directed by Pulitzer Prize and three-time Tony Award winner James Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George, March of the Falsettos, Falsettoland, Table Settings and The Moment When at Playwrights Horizons, Twelve Dreams, Into the Woods, Passion. Mr. Lapine is currently represented on Broadway as the director of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee).

Previews for FRAN'S BED will begin Tuesday, August 30 with an official opening on Sunday, September 25. Performances will continue through Sunday, October 9 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

As previously announced, FRAN'S BED will feature Mia Farrow in the role she originated at The Long Wharf Theatre in 2003. Last on stage in the hit play The Exonerated (both Off-Broadway and across the U.S. in several engagements from 2002-2004), Ms. Farrow is well known for her screen performances in such classic films as Rosemary's Baby, Hannah and Her Sisters and Alice (Golden Globe Award).

Joining Ms. Farrow as her on-stage husband and daughters will be Broadway veteran Harris Yulin (Hedda Gabler, The Price, The Diary of Anne Frank) and film and stage stars Heather Burns (Lobby Hero at Playwrights Horizons, London's This Is Our Youth, the films Bewitched and Miss Congeniality) and Julia Stiles (Twelfth Night in Central Park, London's Oleanna, the films Mona Lisa Smile, The Bourne Identity, Hamlet). The cast will also include Brenda Pressley (Dreamgirls, Marvin's Room, And the World Goes 'Round) and Marcia DeBonis (Blue Window at MCC, founding company member of The Barrow Group).

What constitutes a life? Incapacitated, surrounded by her family, Fran (Mia Farrow) guides us on an unpredictable journey into her past in an effort to help understand her present situation. An offbeat, colorful tale of a woman at a midlife crossroads, FRAN'S BED is a delicate portrait of a family in crisis, told with ironic humor and unexpected feeling.

The production features scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by David Lander, sound design by Fitz Patton and projections by Elaine J. McCarthy.

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, is a writer's theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. In its 35 years, Playwrights Horizons has presented the work of more than 350 writers and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Notable productions include four Pulitzer Prize winners: Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife (2004 Tony Award, Best Play), Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George, as well as Lynn Nottage's Fabulation (2005 Obie Award for Playwriting), Craig Lucas's Small Tragedy (2004 Obie Award, Best American Play), Kenneth Lonergan's Lobby Hero, Kirsten Childs's The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey's James Joyce's The Dead, William Finn's March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You and Betty's Summer Vacation, Richard Nelson's Goodnight Children Everywhere and Franny's Way, Jon Robin Baitz's The Substance of Fire, Scott McPherson's Marvin's Room, A.R. Gurney's Later Life, Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's Floyd Collins and Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet.

Playwrights Horizons' production of FRAN'S BED has received generous support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Playwrights Horizons is also supported in part by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Council, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. In addition, Playwrights Horizons receives major support from the Ford Motor Company Fund, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation, The Shubert Foundation and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust.

The performance schedule for FRAN'S BED will be Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 2:30 & 8 PM and Sundays at 2:30 & 7:30 PM. Tickets are $60. There will be an added matinee performance on Wednesday, September 7 at 2:30 PM. There will be no performances on either Saturday, September 10 or Sunday, September 11. Tickets will go on sale to the public on Wednesday, August 3.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN NIGHT for FRAN'S BED will be the first preview on Tuesday, August 30 at 8PM. A limited number of tickets will be offered on a walk-up, cash-only, first-come, first-served basis, starting one hour before showtime. Audience members are asked to "pay what they can" at the time of admission. Seating is subject to availability. Tickets, limited to 2 per person, will go on sale at 7pm for the 8pm curtain.

Reflecting PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS' ongoing commitment to making its productions more affordable to younger audiences, the theater company will offer HOTtix, $20 rush tickets, subject to availability, starting one hour before showtime to patrons aged 30 and under. Proof of age required. One ticket per person, per purchase. Student Rush tickets will be available for $15 (cash only, day of performance, one hour before curtain, subject to availability, valid ID required).

Both PAY WHAT YOU CAN NIGHT and HOTtix, popular Playwrights Horizons initiatives made possible by the Ford Motor Company Fund, allow the theater company to reach out to those who may not be able to afford the cost of a full-price theater ticket.

A special open captioned performance of FRAN'S BED for deaf and hard of hearing theater-goers will be held on Saturday, September 17 at 2:30 PM. The performance will be followed by a special captioned discussion. Funding for this program is provided, in part, by the Theodore H. Barth Foundation, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, the Elroy and Terry Krumholz Foundation and the Theatre Development Fund's TAP Plus program in cooperation with the New York State Council on the Arts.

How to order tickets for the open captioned performance:
• Online: log on to www.playwrightshorizons.org
• Phone: call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily) via Relay Service (800) 421-1220
• TTY: call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily) via Relay Service (800) 662-1220
• By fax: a printable order form may be found online at www.playwrightshorizons.org/tickets.htm

For subscription and ticket information to all PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS productions, call TICKET CENTRAL at (212) 279-4200, Noon to 8 pm daily, or purchase online at the Playwrights Horizons website at www.playwrightshorizons.org

BIOGRAPHIES

Mia Farrow (Fran) made her stage debut in 1963 in an Off-Broadway production of The Importance of Being Earnest. A year later she made her first screen appearance. Her career was spurred by a two-year stint on the television phenomenon Peyton Place, but was first really given recognition in Roman Polanksi's Rosemary's Baby. Memorable films that followed include The Great Gatsby, Death on the Nile and the Woody Allen films A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Husbands and Wives, Shadows and Fog and Alice (Golden Globe Award). More recent films include Miami Rhapsody, Reckless and Angela Mooney Dies Again. She recently published her memoir What Falls Away.

Harris Yulin (Hank). Broadway: Hedda Gabler, The Price, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Visit, A Lesson From Aloes, Watch on the Rhine. Off-Broadway: Don Juan in Hell (Symphony Space); Arts and Leisure (Playwrights Horizons); Approaching Zanzibar (Second Stage); Hamlet, King John, Richard III, A Midsummer Night's Dream (NYSF); Mrs. Warren's Profession, Hedda Gabler (Roundabout). Regional: King Lear (NJSF); Tartuffe (Guthrie, Arena Stage); Henry V (Hartford); The Tempest (Shakespeare & Co.). As director: The Prisoner's Song, This Lime Tree Bower, Don Juan in Hell, Baba Goya, Winter Play, Candida, The Front Page, The Guardsman. Extensive film and television credits, including an Emmy nomination for "Frasier."

Heather Burns (Vicky) last appeared at Playwrights Horizons in Lobby Hero. Her other stage credits include Writer's Block and All Things Considered (Atlantic), The Empire Builders (Fourth Street Theatre), Restitution (HERE), Whatever (NY Performance Works) and the West End production of This Is Our Youth. On film, she can be seen in the current Bewitched and the upcoming The Groomsmen (written and directed by Ed Burns) and Perception. Her other film credits include Two Weeks Notice, Miss Congeniality 1 and 2, You've Got Mail and Kill the Poor. TV credits include being a series regular on "The Beat." She's a graduate of the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School and Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

Julia Stiles (Birdie) was born and trained in New York City. She began her career onstage as a member of the Ridge Theater Company in such productions as Everyday Newt Berman, Sandalwood Box, Photo Op (all at La Mama Theater); Matthew/School of Life, Hughies (both at The Kitchen Theater); and Jungle Movie (One Dream). More recently, she has appeared in Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in the Park) as Viola and the West End revival of David Mamet's Oleanna. In film, she will next be seen in a film version of David Mamet's play Edmond and A Little Trip to Heaven. Other films include The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Identity, Mona Lisa's Smile, Hamlet, Ten Things I Hate About You, O, State and Main, Save the Last Dance and The Business of Strangers.

Brenda Pressley (Dolly) has appeared on Broadway in Dreamgirls (original cast), Cats and The Moony Shapiro Songbook. Off-Broadway appearances include Marvin's Room, And the World Goes 'Round (Outer Critics Circle Award), And Still I Rise (directed by Maya Angelou) and Blues in the Night. Regionally, she's appeared in productions of Initmate Apparel, The Old Settler, A Raisin in the Sun, Jar the Floor, Blues for an Alabama Sky and Oh, Kay!. Her film and television credits include Tim Robbins' The Cradle Will Rock and "Brewster Place" (series regular) opposite Oprah Winfrey.

Marcia DeBonis (Lynne). New York credits include Blue Window (MCC), Space (NYSF), Low Level Panic (One Dream Theatre) and numerous productions with The Barrow Group, of which she is a founding company member (1994 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Theater Company). Regional: Greetings (Capital Rep). Film and TV: What Lies Beneath, L.I.E., Angela's Ashes, The Truman Show, The Devil's Advocate, This Is My Life, Tadpole, Judy Berlin, Extreme Measures, "Spin City," "Deadline" and "Law & Order."

James Lapine (Playwright & Director) collaborated with Stephen Sondheim as both librettist and director on the Broadway productions of Passion (Tony, Drama Desk Awards), Into the Woods (Tony, New York Drama Critics, Drama Desk Awards) and Sunday in the Park with George (Pulitzer Prize, Drama Desk, New York Drama Critics Awards). With William Finn, he collaborated on A New Brain and the Off-Broadway shows March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, later produced on Broadway as Falsettos (Tony Award). Mr. Lapine is currently represented on Broadway as director of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award). He has written and directed the plays Table Settings, Twelve Dreams and Luck, Pluck and Virtue. He directed Claudia Shear's Dirty Blonde and Wendy Kesselman's new adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank both on Broadway, Gertrude Stein's Photograph, and for NYSF, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Winter's Tale and Golden Child (also on Broadway), as well as the recent Modern Orthodox. He has directed the films Impromptu, Life with Mikey and Earthly Possessions and the television versions of "Into the Woods" and "Passion."