Roundabout's world premiere of Belber's "McReele" to star Anthony Mackie

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) is proud to announce that Anthony Mackie will star in the world premiere of Stephen Belber's McReele, staged by Tony Award© nominated director Doug Hughes (Doubt). McReele begins previews in January 2005 at the Laura Pels Theatre (Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre; 111 West 46th Street) and officially opens on Thursday, February 17, 2005. This is a limited engagement through Sunday, April 24th.

From playwright Stephen Belber (Match, Tape, The Laramie Project) comes a provocative new drama that pits social responsibility against personal redemption. When Delaware journalist Rick Dayne meets death row inmate Darius McReele, the articles Rick writes eventually lead to Darius's exoneration from an 18 year old murder conviction. Darius's sympathetic past and magnetic personality make him a darling of the lecture circuit, leading to national attention and political viability. With his past and future in the balance, Darius walks the line, as Rick seeks to determine which way he'll ultimately fall.

Anthony Mackie starred in last season's Drowning Crow on Broadway opposite Alfre Woodard and can currently be seen in the critically acclaimed, Sundance Award winning independent feature film Brother to Brother, for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best debut performance and a Gotham Award nomination for best breakthrough performance.

Playwright Stephen Belber was represented last season on Broadway with the world premiere of his play Match starring Frank Langella and Ray Liotta. Belber's play Tape has been produced in New York, Australia, Germany, Canada, Greece and Japan and was made into a feature film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.

Doug Hughes recently received unanimous critical acclaim for his direction of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, which opened this month off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club. Hughes received 2004 Tony Award©, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle nominations for his direction of Bryony Lavery's acclaimed Frozen, which quickly transferred to Broadway last season after being embraced by critics and audiences alike.

Additional cast and creative team will be announced shortly.

TICKET INFORMATION & PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Tickets will be available beginning Friday, December 10th by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212) 719-1300, check online at www.roundabouttheatre.org for details, or at the box office at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street). Ticket prices range from $51.25 to $61.25. McReele will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30PM with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00PM.

BIOGRAPHIES

Anthony Mackie (Darius McReele) last appeared on Broadway in Regina Taylor's Drowning Crow opposite Alfre Woodard and made his Broadway debut in August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. He can currently be seen starring in the critically acclaimed and Sundance Award winning independent feature film Brother to Brother, for which he recently received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best debut performance and a Gotham Award nomination for best breakthrough performance. Upcoming films include Million Dollar Baby opposite Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank, directed by Clint Eastwood (National Board of Review -4th Best film of the Year); Haven with Orlando Bloom and Bill Paxton and the Showtime feature film Sucker Free City directed by Spike Lee. Anthony made his screen debut in the critically acclaimed blockbuster film "8 Mile" opposite Eminem, directed by Curtis Hanson. Other theater roles include: at the Public Theater: The Moderator in Talk (dir. Marion McClinton, Obie Award), Booth in Topdog/Underdog (understudy for Don Cheadle). NYTW: Tupac in Up Against the Wind. Juilliard: Blues for Mister Charlie, The Mahabharata and Someone Who'll Watch Over Me. Film: The Manchurian Candidate (directed by Jonathan Demme), Spike Lee's She Hate Me, Sony's Hollywood Homicide directed by Ron Shelton. Television: guest star on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

Stephen Belber's (Playwright) plays include Match (Broadway), Tape (Naked Angels--NYC/LA/London), One Million Butterflies (Primary Stages), Drifting Elegant (Magic Theater), The Transparency of Val (Theater Outrageous, NYC), The Wake (Via Theater, NYC), Through Fred (Soho Rep) and The Death of Frank (Araca Group, NYC). Tape has been produced around the world, and Stephen also wrote the screenplay for the film, directed by Richard Linklater (Sundance; Berlin). He is a member of Tectonic Theater Project and was one of three Associate Writers (and an actor) for The Laramie Project, performed around the world and made into an HBO movie (Emmy nomination for screenwriting). He is a graduate of Juilliard's Playwrights Program, has received commissions from Playwrights Horizons, The Huntington Theater, Arena Stage and Philadelphia Theater Company. TV credits include Rescue Me and Law & Order, SVU (staff writer). He is currently working on screenplays for Linklater and Philip Kaufman, as well as writing a TV pilot for HBO.

Doug Hughes (Director) recently received critical acclaim for Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere off-Broadway production of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt. Mr. Hughes received a Tony, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle nomination for his work on Frozen. He is a resident director at MCC Theater, where he directed Scattergood, Anadarko and The Grey Zone (Obie Award and Drama Desk nomination), co-produced Wit and received the first-ever MCC Award. Recent work in New York includes Engaged at the Lucille Lortel Theatre; Flesh and Blood (Callaway Award), The Beard of Avon and A Question of Mercy, all at NYTW; Othello (with Keith David and Liev Schreiber) and Henry V (1996) at the Public Theater; John Guare's Lake Hollywood at Signature Theatre Company and An Experiment With an Air-Pump at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Mr. Hughes has directed five productions for the Guthrie Theater, where he also served as director of artistic planning. His work has been seen at the Long Wharf Theatre, Seattle Rep, the La Jolla Playhouse, the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., London's Bush Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, The Yale Repertory Theatre, and the McCarter Theatre.

Roundabout Theatre Company is one of the country's leading not-for-profit theatres. The company contributes invaluably to New York's cultural life by staging the highest quality revivals of classic plays and musicals as well as new plays by established writers. Roundabout consistently partners great artists with great works to bring a fresh and exciting interpretation that makes each production relevant and important to today's audiences.

The 2004-05 season marks an extraordinary time in Roundabout's history. The theatre has finally secured three permanent theatres each of which is designed specifically to enhance the needs of the Roundabout's mission. The off Broadway home, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre's Laura Pels Theatre with its simple sophisticated design is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays while the grandeur of its Broadway home, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. Together these three distinctive venues serve to enhance the work on each of its stages.

Roundabout Theatre Company is supported with public funds from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; New York State Council on the Arts; and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. American Airlines is the official airline of the Roundabout Theatre Company. The Westin Hotel is the official hotel of the Roundabout Theatre Company.

www.roundabouttheatre.org