To Be Or Not To Be: Brian Murray joins cast

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced that three-time Tony Award nominee Brian Murray ('The Crucible,' 'The Little Foxes,' 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead') will join the cast of its upcoming world premiere Broadway production of Nick Whitby�s To Be Or Not To Be, based on the 1942 motion picture 'To Be Or Not To Be.'

The production, to be directed by three-time Tony Award nominee Casey Nicholaw ('The Drowsy Chaperone,' 'Monty Python�s Spamalot'), will mark Whitby�s New York playwrighting debut.

Murray joins the previously announced Craig Bierko and Jan Maxwell. The cast will also feature Peter Benson (The Pajama Game), Steve Kazee (Monty Python�s Spamalot), Michael McCarty (Mary Poppins), Kristine Nielsen, Brandon Perler, Rocco Sisto and Marina Squerciati (MTC�s Beauty of the Father).

To Be Or Not To Be will be the first production of Manhattan Theatre Club�s 2008-2009 season. The production will open at the Biltmore Theatre on 2 Oct 2008, following previews from 11 Sep 2008.

At the Polski Theatre in 1939 Warsaw, Josef (Bierko) and Maria Tura (Maxwell) are about to open yet another smash with their theatrical troupe. As the German invasion gets underway, the theatre is closed by the censors, forcing the troupe to face desperate times. But when a handsome young bomber pilot enlists their help to catch a spy, what is a group of actors to do? This hilarious black comedy is an ingenious commentary on the World War II era and an inspired tribute to the timeless joys of the theatre.

Murray will play the role of Dowasz, a member of the Polski Theatre troupe. Two additional principal cast members will be announced in the coming weeks.

The creative team for To Be Or Not To Be will include: Anna Louizos (Scenic Design), Gregg Barnes (Costume Design), Howell Binkley (Lighting Design) and Darron L West (Sound Design).

In 2003, MTC reopened Broadway�s landmark, long-neglected Biltmore Theatre, soon to be renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, following a two-year, $35 million capital campaign. In addition, MTC operates two theatres at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street), its Off-Broadway home since 1984.