Lincoln Center to Produce WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, WAR HORSE & A FREE MAN OF COLOR

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) announced three productions that it will produce during the 2010-2011 season at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and on Broadway. The first, a musical version of the Pedro Almodóvar film WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, with book by Jeffrey Lane, music and lyrics by David Yazbek and direction by Bartlett Sher, will begin previews Saturday, October 2 when it will reopen the newly restored Belasco Theatre (111 W. 44 Street). Opening night is Thursday, November 4.

Screen sirens Salma Hayek and Jessica Biel, along with Broadway stars Matthew Morrison and Paulo Szot starring in a private industry reading of WOMEN ON THE VERGE... back in October of 2009. There's no word yet if any of the starry cast will appear in the production.

This will be followed at LCT's home base at Lincoln Center with the world premiere of John Guare's new play, A FREE MAN OF COLOR, directed by George C. Wolfe at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, with previews beginning Thursday, October 21, opening Thursday, November 18. Following A FREE MAN OF COLOR, LCT will team with The National Theatre of Great Britain, in association with Bob Boyett to present the U.S. premiere of The National Theatre's critically acclaimed production of War Horse, based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted by Nick Stafford with direction by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris.

War Horse is scheduled to begin performances at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on Thursday, March 17, 2011 with an opening night scheduled for Thursday, April 14, 2011. LCT's 2010-2011 Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and LCT3 productions will be announced at a later date.

Lincoln Center Theater's Tony Award winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC, directed by Bartlett Sher, will end its record-breaking run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on Sunday, August 22. By the time it ends its long run in August SOUTH PACIFIC will have played 1000 performances and 37 previews, making it the longest-running Broadway revival of any of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals. A national tour of LCT's production of South Pacific, which opened in September 2009, will continue into the 2010-2011 season and plans are currently underway for mountings of the production in London and Australia.

WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN:

Based on Pedro Almodóvar's internationally acclaimed 1988 film, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN is set in late 20th-century Madrid and tells the story of the intertwining lives of a group of women whose relationships with men lead to a tumultuous 48 hours of love, confusion and passion.

Book writer Jeffrey Lane collaborated with David Yazbek on the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The winner of five Emmy, three Writers Guild, two Peabody and a Golden Globe Award, he is best known for his work on such television programs as Mad About You, Ryan's Hope, Lou Grant and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. Composer-lyricist David Yazbek made his Broadway and musical theater debuts with The Full Monty, for which he earned Tony and Grammy nominations and a Drama Desk Award. Director Bartlett Sher, Resident Director of Lincoln Center Theater, won the Tony Award for his direction of LCT's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC. He was nominated for Tony Awards for the LCT productions of The Light in the Piazza, Awake and Sing! and Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Former Artistic Director of Seattle's Intiman Theatre, his other recent New York credits include A Prayer for My Enemy at Playwrights Horizons and the Metropolitan Opera productions of The Barber of Seville and The Tales of Hoffman.

A FREE MAN OF COLOR:

A FREE MAN OF COLOR is a freewheeling epic set in 1802 New Orleans. Jacques Cornet, the title character, is a new world Don Juan and the wealthiest inhabitant of this sexually charged and racially progressive city. Jacques thinks all is well in his paradise until history intervenes, setting off a chain of events which no one, much less this free man of color, realizes is about to splinter the world.

A FREE MAN OF COLOR marks John Guare's return to Lincoln Center Theater where his plays The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, Four Baboons Adoring The Sun (all three nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play) and Chaucer in Rome, were produced. His other plays include Rich and Famous, Landscape of the Body, Marco Polo Sings A Solo, Bosoms and Neglect, Lydie Breeze, Women and Water, A Few Stout Individuals and His Girl Friday. He won a Tony Award for the book of the musical Two Gentlemen of Verona and also wrote the book for the musical Sweet Smell of Success. Director George C. Wolfe will make his LCT debut with this production. Former Artistic Director of The Public Theater, his Broadway directorial credits include Caroline or Change, Topdog/Underdog, Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in Da' Funk, The Tempest, On the Town, The Wild Party, Jelly's Last Jam and Angels in America. His film credits include Lackawanna Blues and Nights in Rodanthe.

War Horse:

At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert's beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He's soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man's land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a mission to find him and bring him home.

War Horse premiered at The National Theatre in November 2007, directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris and in association with Handspring Puppet Company. After two sold-out runs at the National War Horse moved to London's West End in March 2009 where it continues to play to capacity houses at the New London Theatre. This American premiere, which reunites the production's acclaimed London design team, will have scenic design by Rae Smith, puppetry by Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler for Handspring, lighting by Paule Constable, movement and horse choreography by Toby Sedgwick, video by Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer, music by Adrian Sutton, songs by John Tams, and sound design by Christopher Shutt.

In addition to War Horse, Michael Morpurgo is the author of over 100 childrens' books. A former teacher, he was awarded a MBE (with his wife) for his service to education and an OBE for service to literature. Nick Stafford's plays have been produced at such theaters as The National Theatre, RSC and Hampstead Theatre Club. He is the winner of the Dennis Potter Play of the Year Award for his screenplay Pity. Marianne Elliott is Associate Director at The National Theatre where her other productions include Saint Joan (Olivier Award - Best Revival) and Pillars of the Community (Evening Standard Best Director Award). Her other productions include Much Ado About Nothing for the RSC and The Little Foxes for the Donmar Warehouse. Tom Morris is Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic and also an Associate Director at The National Theatre where he co-directed Every Good Boy Deserves Favor and developed Coram Boy. His other credits as a director include Oedipus The King, All That Fall and Macbeth with Corin Redgrave.

The designers for WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN and A FREE MAN OF COLOR and casting for all three productions will be announced at a later date.

Lincoln Center Theater is currently celebrating its 25th year with a season of new work. This fall LCT presented the New York and world premieres of Nathan Louis Jackson's Broke-ology, directed by Thomas Kail, Sarah Ruhl's In The Next Room or the vibrator play, directed by Les Waters, and the LCT3 production of Ann Marie Healy's What Once We Felt, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll. This spring LCT is presenting the American premiere of When the Rain Stops Falling by Andrew Bovell, directed by David Cromer, currently in previews in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre. It will be followed in the Newhouse by the world premiere of A.R Gurney's The Grand Manner, to be directed by Mark Lamos, beginning Tuesday, June 1. Upcoming LCT3 productions include Graceland a new play by Ellen Fairey, directed by Henry Wishcamper (May 3 - May 29), and On The Levee a play with music, conceived and directed by Lear deBessonet, play by Marcus Gardley and music and lyrics by Todd Almond (June 14 - July 10).