MTC's Shining City Begins Previews April 20 and Opens May 9 at the Biltmore

Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, artistic director; Barry Grove, executive producer) have announced that the American premiere of Conor McPherson's Shining City at the Biltmore Theatre (261 West 47th Street) will open Tuesday, May 9 at the Biltmore Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Previews for Shining City will begin Thursday, April 20. The production will be directed by Tony Awardâ-winner Robert Falls.

The cast will star (in alphabetical order): Brían F. O'Byrne (Ian), Oliver Platt (John), Martha Plimpton (Neasa), and Peter Scanavino (Laurence).

The Manhattan Theatre Club production of Rabbit Hole, the critically acclaimed play by David Lindsay-Abaire, has been extended again through Sunday, April 9 at the Biltmore Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Rabbit Hole is directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

Originally produced at London's Royal Court Theater to critical acclaim, Shining City is set in Dublin, where a guilt-ridden man (Platt) reaches out to a therapist (O'Byrne) after seeing the ghost of his recently deceased wife. Wrestling with his own demons, the therapist can only do so much to help. Routine visits between the two men quickly become a gripping struggle to survive, changing both of them for the rest of their lives.

The creative team for Shining City includes: Santo Loquasto (scenic design), Christopher Akerlind (lighting design), Kaye Voyce (costume design), and Obadiah Eaves (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. Renowned MTC productions include Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Yellowman; Kimberly Akimbo; 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'. In 2003, MTC reopened Broadway's long neglected landmark Biltmore Theatre, following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign.

Tickets are available at Telecharge at 212-239-6200 and at telecharge.com and at the Biltmore box office (261 West 47th Street).

www.manhattantheatreclub.com

BIOGRAPHIES

CONOR McPHERSON (Playwright) was born in Dublin in 1971. He attended University College Dublin, where he began to write and direct. His plays include Rum & Vodka, The Good Thief, This Lime Tree Bower, St Nicholas, The Weir, Dublin Carol and Port Authority. Film work includes I Went Down, Saltwater, The Actors, and Samuel Beckett's Endgame. Awards for his theatre work include the Laurence Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award, Critics Circle Award, George Devine Award, Meyer-Whitworth Award and the Stewart Parker Award. Awards for his film work include the CICAE Award for Best Film (Berlin Film Festival for Saltwater) Best Screenplay Award and Jury Prize (San Sebastian Film Festival for I Went Down) and two Irish Film & Television Academy Best Screenplay awards. His new play, The Seafarer, premieres at the London's Royal National Theatre in September 2006.

ROBERT FALLS (Director), in New York, most recently directed Long Day's Journey Into Night (three 2003 Tony Awards, including Best Revival) as well as the 1999 Tony Award-winning Death of a Salesman, for which he was honored as Best Director. His other Broadway credits include the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Young Man From Atlanta, The Speed of Darkness, The Rose Tattoo and The Night of the Iguana. Mr. Falls received an Obie Award for his direction of Eric Bogosian's subUrbia at Lincoln Center. His work has also been seen at Manhattan Theatre Club and the Joseph Papp Public Theater. As artistic director of Chicago's Goodman Theatre, he has directed many productions, including Book of the Night, Riverview and a major revival of Pal Joey, for which he wrote a new book. His opera credits include productions for Chicago's Lyric Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Houston Grand Opera and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

BRÍAN F. O'BYRNE (Ian) most recently starred in the hit production of Doubt, which originated at Manhattan Theatre Club for which he received the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards and a Tonyâ nomination. O'Byrne previously received the Tony Awardâ for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for Frozen. Other theatre credits include The Lonesome West (Tonyâ nomination, Irish Times Best Actor), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Tonyâ nomination), The Sisters Rosensweig. His Off-Broadway credits include: Bedbound; Smelling a Rat; Hapgood; Marking; Grandchild of Kings; Seconds Out; Philadelphia, Here I Come; Playboy of the Western World. Ireland and London: The Leenane Trilogy (including Skull in Connemara); Hackney Office; Sharon's Grave; Good Evening, Mr. Collins; The Woman Who Walked Into Doors. Film: New World, Million Dollar Baby, Intermission, Easy, Mapmaker, Bandits, An Everlasting Piece, The Grey Zone, Disco Pies, The Fifth Province, The Last Bus Home. TV: "Black Water Lightship," "Oz," "Amongst Women." A native of Cavan County, Ireland, O'Byrne received his training from Trinity College, Dublin.

OLIVER PLATT (Tom) recently garnered Emmyâ and Golden Globeâ Nominations for his work in the critically acclaimed Showtime series "Huff," which will premiere its second season this spring. He can also be seen in the recent films, Casanova and Ice Harvest. Other film credits include Funnybones, Bullworth, Married to the Mob, Working Girl, Flatliners, Postcards from the Edge, Indecent Proposal, The Three Musketeers, A Time to Kill, Doctor Dolittle, Simon Birch, Lake Placid, Don't Say a Word and Pieces of April. Mr. Platt made his producing debut on the film Big Night. On television, Oliver received an Emmy® nomination for his guest starring role on "The West Wing." Mr. Platt graduated from Tufts University with a degree in drama and immediately began working in regional theater, as well as off-Broadway, in such productions as The Tempest, and John Guare's Moon Over Miami. He also starred in the Lincoln Center production of Ubu and Jules Feiffer's Elliot Loves, directed by Mike Nichols. Platt most recently received rave reviews for his performance as Sir Toby Belch in Brian Kulick's Twelfth Night.

Martha Plimpton (Neasa) made her Broadway debut in 2004 with 16 Wounded at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Off-Broadway credits include The False Servant (Classic Stage Co.), Flesh & Blood (NYTW), Boston Marriage, Pericles (The Public Theater), Hobson's Choice (Atlantic, 2001 Obie Award), subUrbia (LCT). Regional: Uncle Vanya, Sisters Rosensweig, Heidi Chronicles (Seattle Rep.). Absolution (dir.), The Glass Menagerie, The Libertine (Steppenwolf). Hedda Gabler, Playboy of the Western World (Steppenwolf, Long Wharf). She is a member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble. Films credits include The Sleepy Time Gal, Pecker, 200 Cigarettes, Eye of God, I Shot Andy Warhol, Mrs. Parker & the Vicious Circle, Parenthood, Another Woman, Running on Empty, The Mosquito Coast. Television credits include "7th Heaven" (writer), "Law & Order: SVU" (Emmy nomination), "E.R.," and "The Defenders."

PETER SCANAVINO (Laurence) will be making his Broadway and MTC debut in Shining City. He most recently appeared in director Jeff Cohen's The Moonlight Room and the Cherry Lane Theatre productions of Double Sohia and Urgent Fury. His TV and film credits include: "Law & Order: CI," "Third Watch," "Jonny Zero," and "The Guiding Light."