BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO with Robin Williams to Open in March at Richard Rodgers Theatre

BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO - the new American play by Rajiv Joseph and starring Robin Williams in his Broadway acting debut - will perform at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (226 W. 46 St.) on Broadway, it has been announced by the play's producers Robyn Goodman, Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller and Center Theatre Group, with previews set to begin on March 11, 2011 prior to its official opening night on March 31.

A finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize, BENGAL TIGER is directed by two-time Tony nominee Moisés Kaufman.

The Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning actor Robin Williams will make his Broadway acting debut in BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO, having previously appeared Off-Broadway opposite Steve Martin in Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" at Lincoln Center in 1988.

Additional casting TBA.

Tickets to BENGAL TIGER will go on sale to the general public starting Wednesday, November 17. Tickets can be reserved by calling Ticketmaster at 800 745 3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.bengaltigeronbroadway.com. An exclusive ticket offer to "Audience Rewards" members begins Friday, November 12. (For more information about how to join "Audience Rewards," visit www.audiencerewards.com)

BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO is Rajiv Joseph's ferocious comedy that follows the intertwined lives of a tiger (Mr. Williams), two American marines and an Iraqi gardener as they roam the streets of Baghdad in search of friendship, redemption and a toilet seat made of gold.

Rajiv Joseph is an American playwright whose plays include "Animals Out of Paper," which premiered at Second Stage in 2008, "Huck & Holden," produced at Cherry Lane Theatre, "All This Intimacy" and "The Leopard and the Fox." He is the recipient of the prestigious 2009 Kesselring Fellowship from the National Arts Club, and the 2008 Paula Vogel Award for emerging playwrights presented by the Vineyard Theatre.

Robin Williams has more than 40 industry honors to his credit including four Oscar nominations and one win, two Emmy awards, four Grammys and six Golden Globes, including the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award.

In 2009, he concluded his hugely successful comedy tour entitled Weapons of Self Destruction. The show was filmed over two nights at Washington, DC's DAR Constitution Hall, and premiered on HBO as the network's most successful stand-up comedy special of the year, earning three Emmy award nominations.

Williams began his career as a stand-up comedian and has created a repertoire of indelible characters, first in the hit series Mork & Mindy and then in numerous film roles. In 1997, Williams received Academy and Screen Actors Guild awards for his performance in Good Will Hunting, having been previously nominated by the Academy for performances in The Fisher King, Dead Poets Society, and Good Morning Vietnam. Williams' blockbuster films include Mrs. Doubtfire, The Birdcage, Jumanji, Hook, two Night at the Museum films; and the animated films Aladdin, Robots, and Happy Feet.

Having trained at the famed Juilliard School under John Houseman in New York, his other stage credits include a landmark production of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," directed by Mike Nichols and co-starring Steve Martin, and a short run in San Francisco of "The Exonerated," which tells the true stories of six innocent survivors of death row.

Best known philanthropically for his affiliation with Comic Relief, Williams supports numerous causes and has toured the Middle East numerous times with the USO.

Moisés Kaufman received a Tony nomination for his direction of Doug Wright's play "I Am My Own Wife," and a Tony nomination as playwright for "33 Variations," seen on Broadway last season starring Jane Fonda. As founder of Tectonic Theatre Project, he wrote and directed "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde," and directed "The Laramie Project," which he co-wrote with other members of the company.

Robyn Goodman won Tony Awards for Best Musical as producer of "Avenue Q," and "In the Heights." Her other Broadway productions include "Metamorphoses" and "West Side Story." She is a producer of "Avenue Q" at New World Stages, and produced "Altar Boyz" Off-Broadway. She is a founding Board member of The Ride and Artistic Consultant to Roundabout Theatre Company. Robyn was co-founder of Second Stage Theatre, serving as artistic director for 13 years.

Kevin McCollum and Jeffrey Seller are the winners of three Tony Awards for Best Musical: "Rent" (which also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama), "Avenue Q" and "In the Heights." Also on Broadway, they produced the current revival of "West Side Story," "High Fidelity" and Baz Luhrmann's production of "La Boheme." They are producers of "Avenue Q" at New World Stages, and produced "De La Guarda" Off-Broadway. .

Center Theatre Group (Michael Ritchie, Artistic Director; Charles Dillingham, Managing Director) is Los Angeles' leading theatre company and one of the nation's preeminent arts organizations, programming theatre year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. BENGAL TIGER is the eighth show sent from CTG to Broadway in the last five years and joins the current hit "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson," which also premiered at the Douglas.

BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO will perform Tuesdays at 7 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.