MTC Season Offers Plays By Da Costa, Odets, Rudnick, Harrower and Busch

The Manhattan Theatre Club has announced details of its 2006-2007 season. The lineup includes Broadway mountings of Simon Mendes da Costa's Losing Louis and Clifford Odets'The Country Girl and off-Broadway productions of Paul Rudnick's Regrets Only, David Harrower's BlackBird and Charles Busch's Our Leading Lady.

Losing Louis, directed by Jerry Zaks, will begin previews at the Biltmore Theatre on September 21 and officially open on October 12. In the play, secrets refuse to remain buried as Jewish and non-Jewish family members are brought together after years of separation. The funeral of their father Louis is the catalyst for a showdown in the bedroom-the place where all the confusion began. The show was a huge critical success in the UK.

The Country Girl, directed by MTC Artistic Director Lynne Meadow, is scheduled to start at the Biltmore on April 12, 2007 in preparation for a May 3, 2007 opening. In the play, the title character, Georgie, is married to actor Frank Elgin, once a great theater star, now down on his luck. When Frank is offered a major role by young, hotshot director Bernie Dodd, he has the chance to make a major comeback. The pressures created by a high stakes out-of-town tryout bring into dramatic focus the complicated relationship between husband and wife.

Regrets Only, directed by Christopher Ashley, will be done on City Center Stage I. The setting of the play is a Park Avenue penthouse. The players are a powerhouse attorney, his deliriously social wife and their closest friend, one of the world's most staggeringly successful fashion designers. Add a daughter's engagement, some major gowns, the President of the United States and stir. The comedy is set to start performances on October 19 and open on November 14.

Another Stage I offering will be David Harrower's Blackbird, starting performances on March 15, 2007. Blackbird centers on two people who had a relationship and meet 15 years after its completion. Ray has made a new life for himself; he has a new identity and didn't think he could be found. Una has thought of nothing else, and on finding a photo of him sets out to find Ray with shattering consequences. The play can currently be seen in the West End through May 13.

MTC was originally expected to present Our Leading Lady on Stage I back in February of 2005, but that production was canceled with Meadow issuing this statement: "Charles has decided he would like the first production of Our Leading Lady to be done outside of New York City, and we of course, support his wishes." A regional mounting of the show never occurred and MTC will now present the play's world premiere on Stage II beginning November 30. Our Leading Lady focuses on real-life 19th century American stage luminary Laura Keene, who is preparing to appear at the Ford's Theatre on the fateful night when Abraham Lincoln will be in the audience. Meadow directs.

MTC is still in the midst of its 2005-2006 season. Defiance is running on Stage I, Based on a Totally True Story is playing on Stage II and Shining City will begin performances at the Biltmore Theatre on April 20.