MTC Announces Complete Casting for THE WHIPPING MAN

MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB

ANNOUNCES COMPLETE CASTING FOR

THE WHIPPING MAN

WRITTEN BY MATTHEW LOPEZ

DIRECTED BY DOUG HUGHES

NEW YORK PREMIERE TO FEATURE

EMMY AWARD WINNER ANDRE BRAUGHER,

ANDRE HOLLAND, AND JAY WILKISON

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) are pleased to announce complete casting for Manhattan Theatre Club’s upcoming New York premiere of Matthew Lopez’s critically acclaimed play THE WHIPPING MAN directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes. The complete cast for this new production will feature two-time Emmy Award winner Andre Braugher (“Men of a Certain Age,” “Homicide”), Andre Holland (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Brother/Sister Plays), and Jay Wilkison (upcoming film version of Rabbit Hole).

The limited engagement of THE WHIPPING MAN will begin previews Thursday, January 13 and open Tuesday, February 1 at MTC at New York City Center – Stage I (131 West 55^th Street).

April, 1865:  the Civil War has ended. Caleb DeLeon (Wilkison), a Jewish Confederate soldier, returns wounded from the battlefield to find his family home in ruins, abandoned by everyone except Simon (Braugher) and John (Holland) – two former slaves, who were raised as Jews in the DeLeon home. As the three men reunite to celebrate Passover, and recall the exodus from Egypt in light of their own new liberties, they uncover a tangle of secrets… ties that bind them together and that, ultimately, might cost each man his freedom.

Manhattan Theatre Club’s New York debut of this acclaimed play is a tale of loyalty, deceit and deliverance, and a fascinating portrayal of three men, and this country, at a crossroads.

The creative team for THE WHIPPING MAN features: John Lee Beatty (scenic design), Catherine Zuber (costume design), Ben Stanton (lighting design), Jill BC DuBoff (sound design), and J. David Brimmer (fight direction).

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country’s most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. Over the past three decades, MTC productions have earned a total of 17 Tony Awards and six Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. MTC has a Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47^th Street) and an Off-Broadway theatre at New York City Center – Stage I (131 West 55^th Street). Renowned MTC productions include Time Stands Still; The Royal Family; Ruined; The American Plan; Come Back, Little Sheba; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; Love! Valour! Compassion!; A Small Family Business; Sylvia; Putting It Together; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain’t Misbehavin.’

For more information on MTC, please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

TICKETING INFORMATION FOR THE WHIPPING MAN:

• Tickets for THE WHIPPING MAN are available via the New York City Center Box Office (131 West 55^th Street), CityTix^® (212-581-1212) and http://www.nycitycenter.org.
• Tickets for THE WHIPPING MAN are $80.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:

Please note THE WHIPPING MAN is dark on Mondays:

• THURSDAY, JANUARY 13 – SUNDAY, JANUARY 16: Thursday through Saturday at 8 PM, Sunday at 7 PM. Matinee on Sunday at 2 PM. There will be no Saturday matinee performance this partial week.
• MONDAY, JANUARY 17 – SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6: Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM, Sunday at 7 PM. Matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM.
• MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7 – SUNDAY, MARCH 6: Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM.
• MONDAY, MARCH 7 – SUNDAY, MARCH 13: Tuesday at 7 PM, Wednesday through Saturday at 8 PM. Matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 PM. Please note there will only by seven performances on sale to the general public this week.

BIOGRAPHIES

MATTHEW LOPEZ (Playwright). Since its premiere at Luna Stage in Montclair, NJ, The Whipping Man has been produced at The Old Globe in San Diego, CA and at Barrington Stage.  Other plays include Tio Pepe (Summer Play Festival 2008), Reverberation, and Zoey’s Perfect Wedding.  His work has been developed and seen at The McCarter Theatre, The New Group, Penumbra Theatre Company, Ars Nova and The Lark Play Development Center. He is a member of the Ars Nova Writers’ Group, a New York Theatre Workshop Playwrighting Fellow and artist-in-residence at the Old Globe.

DOUG HUGHES (Director). Recent Broadway productions include Elling, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Oleanna, The Royal Family, A Man for All Seasons, Mauritius, Inherit the Wind, A Touch of the Poet, Frozen, and Doubt.  He has also worked extensively off-Broadway and at most of the nation’s leading resident theaters. He has been awarded the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics’ Circle, Lucille Lortel, Obie, and Callaway Awards for his productions.

ANDRE BRAUGHER (Simon). One of Hollywood’s most respected actors Emmy Award-winner Andre Braugher finds he is able to cross over from television to film to theatre with ease.

Braugher currently stars on the TNT series “Men of a Certain Age” alongside Ray Romano and Scott Bakula. Braugher received an Emmy Award nomination for his role in the show which returns for the second season on December 6.

Most recently Braugher co-starred in the feature film Salt opposite Angelina Jolie for director Phillip Noyce. Prior to that he co-starred in Passengers opposite Anne Hathaway; in the Frank Darabont film The Mist based on the novel by Stephen King and in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. He was also seen starring in the sci-fi mini-series “The Andromeda Strain” alongside Benjamin Bratt and Eric McCormack for A&E.

Perhaps best known for his riveting Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Detective Frank Pembleton, Braugher won a second Emmy Award in 2006 for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Mini-Series for his starring role in mini-series “Thief,” which aired on FX.

In 2004, Braugher starred in the TNT original four-hour mini-series “Salem’s Lot” based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King. Prior to that film, he starred in the Showtime Original Film “A Soldier’s Girl.”

In 2002, he starred in the critically acclaimed CBS series “Hack” opposite David Morse and in the Showtime Original Film “10,000 Black Men Named George” with Charles Dutton and Mario Van Peebles for director Robert Townsend. Braugher served as Executive Producer on this film and he received an NAACP Award nomination for his role as A. Philip Randolph.

In 2000-2001, Braugher starred in the critically acclaimed ABC drama series “Gideon’s Crossing,” which was created by Paul Attanasio also one of the creators of “Homicide: Life on the Street.” Braugher received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Dr. Ben Gideon.

In 1999 Braugher made his directorial debut with one vignette of the Showtime trilogy “Love Songs,” in which he also starred, and he starred in the TNT telefilm “Passing Glory” (1999), for director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) garnering critical acclaim for his performance.

In addition to Braugher’s success on the small screen, audiences have seen him star in a variety of feature film roles.  Most recently he co-starred in Poseidon (2006); in Duets (2000) opposite Gwyneth Paltrow for director Bruce Paltrow; in the independent feature A Better Way to Die (2000); and alongside Dennis Quaid in the critically praised film Frequency (2000). Before that he starred with Alec Baldwin in the independent film Thick As Thieves (1999), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and later aired on HBO; he was a part of an ensemble cast, which included Jeff Daniels, Gary Sinise, Joan Allen and Anna Paquin, in director Jim Stern’s All The Rage (1999); and starred in City of Angels (1998) with Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan, and Dennis Franz.

Braugher’s other notable feature film credits include Primal Fear (1996) with Richard Gere, which marked his first collaboration with Frequency director Gregory Hoblit; Spike Lee’s Get on the Bus (1996); and Glory (1989), the Oscar-winning story of America’s first unit of black soldiers during the Civil War.

Braugher’s work on television continues to be recognized by his critics, audiences and his peers.  In 2006, he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actor in a Mini-Series and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his role as Nick Atwater in mini-series “Thief.”  In 2001, he received an Emmy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Dr. Ben Gideon in “Gideon’s Crossing.”  In 1998 he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for portrayal of Detective Frank Pembleton on “Homicide: Life on the Street.”  In 1996 he received two Emmy Award nominations – one for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in “Homicide: Life on the Street” and one for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series for his work in the Peabody Award-winning HBO production “The Tuskeegee Airmen.”

His other television credits include him reprising his Emmy Award-winning role of Detective Frank Pembleton in the two-hour NBC Special “Homicide: The Movie” (2000); the title role in “The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson” (1990), HBO’s “Somebody Has to Shoot the Picture” (1990) and NBC’s “Murder in Mississippi” (1990).  He began his television career as the late Telly Savalas’ sidekick in television movies based on the original “Kojak” series.

A most versatile performer, Braugher has appeared on stage with the New York Shakespeare Festival in Measure for Measure and Twelfth Night and most recently, in the title role of Henry V, which earned him an Obie Award.  At Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, Braugher preformed in The Way of the World, and Shakespeare’s Richard II and Coriolanus.  He played Iago in the Folger Shakespeare Festival production of Othello and performed the title role in Macbeth for the Philadelphia Drama Guild.

Braugher, who was born and raised in Chicago, earned a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.F.A. from Juilliard.

ANDRE HOLLAND. Broadway: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Additional Theater credits: The Brother/Sister Plays (Public Theater), Wig Out (Vineyard Theatre), Tempest Tossed (Classic Stage Company); In the Red and Brown Water (Alliance Theatre); Blue Door (Playwrights Horizons); Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It (Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park); Andorra (Young Vic, London); Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, Saint Joan (Georgia Shakespeare Festival).  Recent film: Bride Wars (FOX); Miracle at St. Anna (Spike Lee, dir.); Sugar (Ryan Fleck/Anna Boden, dir.). Television: “Friends with Benefits” (NBC); “Law & Order” (NBC); “Black Donnellys” (NBC); “Lost & Found” (NBC Pilot), “Rockford Files” (NBC Pilot), “The News” (ABC Pilot).

JAY WILKISON (Caleb) will be seen in director John Cameron Mitchell’s upcoming film adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize winning play Rabbit Hole. His theatrical credits include Rent (Broadway, national tour), Dancing at Lughnasa (Mary McArthur Theater), and Translations (Lester Martin Theater). His television credits include “Nurse Jackie,” “Game Killers” (MTV), “Rescue Me,” “One Life to Live” and “Law & Order.”