Lily Rabe and Mercedes Ruehl Join Cast of 'The American Plan' at MTC

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) have announced that Academy Award and Tony Award winner Mercedes Ruehl and Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominee Lily Rabe will appear in the upcoming Broadway premiere of THE AMERICAN PLAN by Tony Award-winning playwright Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out).

The limited engagement, to be directed by Tony nominee David Grindley (Journey’s End), will begin previews at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) on Friday, January 2 for a Thursday, January 22 opening.

THE AMERICAN PLAN will mark Mercedes Ruehl’s first appearance on Broadway since her acclaimed performance in 2002’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? for which she received a Tonyâ nomination. She was most recently seen Off-Broadway in the critically lauded production of Edward Albee’s The Occupant. In 1991, Ruehl received an Oscarâ and a Golden Globe Awardâ for her work in Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King. That same year, she received a Tonyâ and a Drama Desk Award for her work as ‘Bella’ in Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers.

Lily Rabe returns to Broadway in THE AMERICAN PLAN following her acclaimed turn last season in Heartbreak House for which she received an Outer Critics Circle nomination. She made her Broadway debut in 2005 as ‘Annelle’ in the revival of Steel Magnolias receiving a Drama Desk Award nomination.

It is the Catskill Mountains in the early 1960s, and Lily Adler (Rabe) and her mother Eva (Ruehl) are spending the summer across the lake from a bustling hotel where comics entertain and buffets overflow. When a handsome young stranger enters their world, the emotionally fragile Lily finds herself falling in love. But once her imperious mother learns of their relationship, lies are exposed, alliances are forged and Lily's one chance to escape her mother's control may be lost forever.

Additional casting for THE AMERICAN PLAN will be announced in the coming weeks.

The creative team for THE AMERICAN PLAN will include: Jonathan Fensom (Scenic & Costume Design), Mark McCullough (Lighting Design), and Darron L West and Bray Poor (Sound Design).

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. MTC productions have earned a total of 16 Tony Awards and five Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. Renowned MTC productions include Top Girls; From Up Here; Come Back, Little Sheba; The Receptionist; LoveMusik; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; Kimberly Akimbo; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Sylvia; Four Dogs and a Bone; Putting It Together; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain’t Misbehavin’.

This season, MTC’s Broadway stage was renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). The landmarked theatre has been the institution’s home on Broadway since 2003 and was rehabilitated by MTC following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign. In addition, MTC operates two theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street), its Off-Broadway home since 1984.

You can subscribe to MTC by calling (212) 399-3030, Monday – Friday, noon – 8 PM, with a major credit card. Subscriptions are available online at www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

TICKET INFORMATION:

    * Via Telecharge.com: Single tickets to THE AMERICAN PLAN are available via Telecharge.com by telephone at (212) 239-6200, (800) 432-7250 outside the NY metro area and online at Telecharge.com. For group ticket information, call (800) 432-7780.
    * Via the Samuel J. Friedman Box Office: Tickets are available at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre box office (261 West 47th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue). Tickets range in price from $56.50-$96.50. Student rush tickets are available the day of the performance at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre box office for $26.50.
    * MTC Subscriptions: You can subscribe to MTC by calling (212) 399-3030, Monday – Friday, noon – 8 PM, with a major credit card. Subscriptions are available online at www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

 
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

    * FRIDAY, JANUARY 2 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 4: Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 8 PM, Sunday at 2PM and 7 PM. There is no Saturday matinee during this time period.
    * TUESDAY, JANUARY 6 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 18: Tuesday at 7PM, Wednesday-Saturday at 8PM, Sunday at 7PM.  Matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2PM.
    * TUESDAY, JANUARY 20 – SUNDAY, MARCH 1: Tuesday at 7PM, Wednesday-Saturday at 8PM.  Matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2PM.
    * TUESDAY, MARCH 3 – SUNDAY, MARCH 8: Tuesday at 7PM, Wednesday-Saturday at 8PM.  Matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2PM. Please note, only seven performances will be on sale to the general public this week.
    * TUESDAY, MARCH 10 – SUNDAY, MARCH 15: Tuesday at 7PM, Wednesday-Saturday at 8PM.  Matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2PM.

 
BIOGRAPHY

Mercedes Ruehl (Eva Adler) came to prominence in Jonathan Demme’s Married to the Mob. She earned an Academy Award, Golden Globe, L.A. and Chicago Film Critics Society awards for her role in The Fisher King. Other films include Warriors, Big, Heartburn, Slaves of New York, Another You, Last Action Hero, Lost in Yonkers, What’s Cooking, The Amati Girls, For Rosanna and The Minus Man. Her career was launched in regional repertories in the works of Shakespeare, Moliere, Shaw, Chekhov and Euripides, and she went on to receive Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Helen Hayes awards for her role in Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers, later reprising her role in the film. Other Broadway credits include The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (Outer Critics Circle Award, Tony nomination); The Rose Tattoo; Shadowbox (Tony nomination); and I’m Not Rappaport. Off-Broadway includes The Occupant, Woman Before a Glass (Obie Award), Other People’s Money (Clarence Derwent Award), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Obie Award), Coming of Age in Soho, The Vagina Monologues and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Guthrie Theatre. She recently completed an acclaimed run of Viva La Vida! at the Bay Street Theatre. Among her television credits are the Emmy Awardâ-winning “Indictment: The McMartin Trial,” HBO’s “Gia,” Hallmark’s “The Lost Child,” Court TV’s “Guilt by Association” and Showtime’s “North Shore Fish.” Television guest appearances include “Entourage,” “Frasier,” “Law & Order” and “The Cosby Show.” For Lifetime TV she starred in last year’s “Mom at Sixteen” and this year’s “A Girl Like Me.”

Lily Rabe (Lily). Broadway: Heartbreak House (Roundabout Theatre Company, Callaway Award, Outer Critics Circle Nomination); Steel Magnolias (Lyceum Theatre, Drama Desk Nomination). Off Broadway: Crimes of the Heart (Roundabout Theatre Company), Colder Than Here (MCC). Regional: Crimes of the Heart (Williamstown), Proof (Gloucester Stage Co.), Crazy Girl (GSC), Speaking Well of the Dead (GSC).  Film: All Good Things (Upcoming), Aftermath (Upcoming), What Just Happened, The Toe Tactic, No Reservations, A Crime, Mona Lisa Smile, Never Again. Television: “Last of the Ninth” (pilot for HBO), “Nip/Tuck,” “Medium,” “Law and Order: CI,” “Law Order: SVU.” Education: Northwestern University. 

Photo of Mercedes Ruehl by Ben Strothmann

Photo of Lily Rabe by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.