MTC announce 3 New Plays for 2014-2015 Season

Tom Millward
Tom Millward

The Manhattan Theatre Club has announced three world premieres, as part of its 2014-2015 season. At the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway, Tony and Emmy Award winner Blythe Danner will star in The Country House by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Margulies. The new comedy is directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan and it will begin previews on 09 Sep, with an official opening set for 02 Oct 2014.

 

Synopsis: Blythe Danner stars as 'Anna Patterson, the matriarch of a brood of famous and longing-to-be-famous creative artists, who have gathered at their Berkshires summerhouse during the Williamstown Theatre Festival. But when the weekend takes an unexpected turn, everyone is forced to improvise... inciting a series of simmering jealousies, a flurry of romantic outbursts and a bout of passionate soul-searching.'

Blythe Danner was last seen on Broadway from 2012-2013 in the musical comedy 'Nice Work If You Can Get It' at the Imperial Theatre. She won a Tony Award in 1970 for her performance in 'Butterflies Are Free' and has earned Tony nominations for 'Betrayal'(1980), 'A Streetcar Named Desire'(1988) and 'Follies'(2001). She is also widely known for her film roles, alongside Robert DeNiro, in 'Meet the Parents', 'Meet the Fockers' and 'Little Fockers'.

Daniel Sullivan's (Director) recent Broadway credits include 'The Snow Geese', 'Orphans' and 'Glengarry Glen Ross'. He won a Tony Award in 2001 for Best Direction of a Play (Proof) and earned Tony nominations in the same category for 'The Heidi Chronicles'(1989), 'Conversations With My Father'(1992), 'The Sisters Rosensweig'(1993), 'Morning's at Seven'(2002), Rabbit Hole (2006) and 'The Merchant of Venice'(2011).

Donald Margulies (Writer) won the Pulitzer Prize for his Drama 'Dinner With Friends' in 2000. He also earned Pulitzer nominations for 'Sight Unseen'(1992) and 'Collected Stories'(1997) and more recently earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Play with 'Time Stands Still' in 2010.

The Country House is a co-production with The Geffen Playhouse.

For its Off-Broadway season at New York City Center - Stage I, the Manhattan Theatre Club has announced two world premieres:
Lost Lake, by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, also directed by Daniel Sullivan, and The World of Extreme Happiness, by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, directed by Eric Ting.

Lost Lake will begin previews on 21 Oct 2014, with an official opening set for 11 Nov 2014. The play is 'a portrait of two strangers bound together by circumstance... a new work about the struggle for connection in an imperfect world... The lakeside rental Veronica has managed to afford is a far cry from the idyllic getaway she and her children so desperately need. And the disheveled property owner, Hogan, has problems of his own - problems that Veronica is inevitably - and irrevocably - pulled into.'

David Auburn (Writer) won both the Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001 for 'Proof'.

The World of Extreme Happiness will begin previews on 03 Feb 2014, with an official opening set for 24 Feb 2014. The dark comedy centers around Sunny, who 'unwanted from the moment she's born, is determined to escape her life in rural China and forge a new identity in the city. As naïve as she is ambitious, Sunny views her new job in a grueling factory as a stepping stone to untold opportunities. When fate casts her as a company spokeswoman at a sham PR event, Sunny's bright outlook starts to unravel in a series of harrowing and darkly comic events, as she begins to question a system enriching itself by destroying its own people.'

The World of Extreme Happiness is a co-production with The Goodman Theatre.

The Manhattan Theatre Club will announce five additional productions as part of its 2014-2015 season: two additional Broadway productions at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, as well as one additional Off-Broadway production at New York City Center - Stage I and two productions as part of 'The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series' at New York City Center - Stage II.

- by Tom Millward

Blythe Danner

Originally published on

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