Goodman Theatre

For Immediate Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(December 21, 2007 - Chicago, IL) Goodman Theatre rings in 2008 with intrigue and mystery with the arrival of the acclaimed Broadway hit, Shining City, Conor McPherson's "haunting and absolutely glorious new play…as close to perfection as contemporary playwrighting gets" (The New York Times). Artistic Director Robert Falls, whom McPherson hand-picked to direct his play's Broadway premiere last season, directs the Goodman production with four noted Chicago actors: Jay Whittaker (Frank's Home); Nicole Wiesner (Passion Play: a cycle in three parts) and John Judd and Keith Gallagher, both in their Goodman debut. A contemporary ghost story about man's search for love, faith and meaning, Shining City garnered instant critical and popular acclaim, appearing on the 2006 "Top 10" or "Best of" theater lists of Time magazine, Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times, among others. Shining City runs January 12 to February 17; press opening night is January 21. Northern Trust is the Major Corporate Sponsor of Shining City, and Katten Muchin Rosenman is the Corporate Sponsor Partner.

"Conor McPherson is one of Ireland's foremost living storytellers who, at a shockingly young age, has achieved international success with his unerring ear for dialogue and vivid sense of character," said director Robert Falls. "Shining City is a rich, poetic and harrowing journey through the labyrinth of the heart and spirit-a work I believe is one of Conor's finest achievements. I am thrilled to bring this piece, with a remarkable new cast, to Chicago."

Falls first met McPherson in 1992, while in Dublin directing the Goodman's production of The Iceman Cometh at the Abbey Theatre. When McPherson, who has directed a number of his own plays, found that he was unavailable to direct Shining City at New York's Biltmore Theater on Broadway, he asked Falls to helm the premiere, which featured a cast that included Oliver Platt, Brian F. O'Byrne and Martha Plimpton-and was nominated for two Tony Awards, including Best Play.

"Bob's instincts and approach as an American director allow him to deliver Shining City in a way that is keen and meaningful for an American audience-which feels to me almost like a translation, very spirited and interesting," said playwright Conor McPherson. "I've long admired Bob's body of work, and I'm excited that Shining City will have its Chicago premiere at Goodman Theatre."

Set in present-day Dublin, Shining City takes place in the disheveled office of Ian, a former priest turned therapist. His newest patient is John, a distraught middle-aged man who has recently lost his wife in a tragic accident. John is having trouble sleeping and is desperate for help-but Ian is wrestling with his own demons, including a crumbling relationship, a new baby and the search for his rightful place in the world. John soon reveals to Ian the source of his insomnia: he has been visited by the ghost of his dead wife.

About Playwright Conor McPherson

Shining City premiered on Broadway in 2006 and aligned Conor McPherson with fellow prominent Irish playwrights Martin McDonaugh-known for his satirical bloodbath The Lieutenant of Inishmore-and Brian Friel, whose Faith Healer was recently revived on Broadway. In this celebrated handful of Irish plays, McPherson's work is set apart by distinctive monologues and lyrical, start-and-stop dialogue, which has been compared to the elliptical banter pioneered by Samuel Beckett and reinvented by Harold Pinter and David Mamet.

McPherson's plays include The Seafarer (currently in its Broadway premiere), Poor Beast in the Rain, Port Authority, Dublin Carol (premiered on Broadway in 2002), The Weir (premiered on Broadway in 1999), St Nicholas and This Lime Tree Bower. His plays have been performed at Atlantic Theater Company, Primary Stages, National Theatre, The Royal Court Theatre, Gate Theatre, New Ambassadors Theatre, Duke of York's Theatre, Dublin Theatre Festival and Bush Theatre. His plays have been performed across the United States, as well as in Ireland, England, Germany, France, Australia, Poland, Italy, Japan, Argentina and Uruguay. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 2006 for Shining City; nominated for the 2002 South Bank Show Award for Best Play for Port Authority; received the 1999 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play, the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright, the Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright and was a finalist for the Lloyds Bank Playwright of the Year Award for The Weir; and was the joint winner of 1997 George Devine Award and the winner of the Meyer Whitworth Award for Saint Nicholas.

McPherson's screenplays include Our Lady of the Forest for Channel 4, Brothers for Film Four, The Actors for Film Four/Miramax, Saltwater for Treasure Films/BBC (premiered at the Berlin Festival in 2000 and received The International Confederation of Art Cinemas Prize), Endgame for RTE/Channel 4, I Went Down for BBC/Treasure Films (Best Screenplay, San Sebastian 1997, selected at Cannes Festival, Edinburgh Festival and Sundance Festival) and MacIntyre (commission for Treasure Films).

The Cast and Creative Team

Jay Whittaker (Ian) returns to the Goodman after appearing as Lloyd Wright in Frank's Home, directed by Robert Falls. Other Chicago credits include Measure for Measure, The Tempest, Love's Labour's Lost, All's Well that Ends Well, Julius Caesar and Edward Hall's Rose Rage at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He also appeared in Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Henry I, Parts I and II, which went to Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Whittaker has appeared off-Broadway in Rose Rage at The Duke on 42nd Street and Frank's Home at Playwrights Horizons. He most recently appeared in two Christopher Marlowe plays: Edward II and Tamburlaine the Great at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. Film credits include Dustclouds, Death of a President and Let's Go to Prison. Television credits include Early Edition and Prison Break.

John Judd (John) makes his Goodman Theatre debut. He appeared most recently in Othello at Writers' Theatre (Iago), Execution of Justice with About Face Theatre (Tom Norman) and Come Back Little Sheba with Shattered Globe Theatre (Doc). He has appeared at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Last of the Boys (Jeeter), The Dresser (Knight), The Butcher of Baraboo (Donal) and Orson's Shadow (Laurence Olivier). Other credits include A Number (Salter) at Next Theatre Company, The Cripple of Inishmaan (BabbyBobby) at Northlight Theatre, Gagarin Way (Frank) at A Red Orchid Theatre, The Price (Walter) at Writers' Theatre, Great Men of Science (Abbe) at Lookingglass Theatre Company, Gross Indecency (Sir Edward Clarke) at Court Theatre and Angels in America Parts I and II (Roy Cohn) with the Journeymen Theater Company. Judd has appeared off-Broadway in Orson's Shadow and An Oak Tree (A Man) at Barrow Street Theatre and in Crime and Punishment (Porfiry) at 59E59 Theaters. Film credits include Batman Begins, Mr. 3000 and Road to Perdition. Television credits include ER, Prison Break and a recent pilot for Family Practice on Lifetime.

Nicole Wiesner most recently appeared on the Goodman stage as Mary 2 in Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play: a cycle in three parts, directed by Mark Wing-Davey. Other Chicago credits include Madame Chatelet in the Lookingglass Theatre Company's Great Men of Science Nos. 21 and 22, directed by Tracy Letts, and Panope in Court Theatre's production of Phedre, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis. Wiesner is an artistic associate of Chicago's Trap Door Theatre, where she has appeared in more than a dozen productions, including the title roles in Emile Zola's Nana, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant and Susan Sontag's Alice in Bed.

Keith Gallagher (Laurence) makes his Goodman debut. Other Chicago appearances include TUTA's production of Tracks at Viaduct Theater and Chopin Theatre; Arcadia at Court Theatre; and The Real Thing at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Gallagher completed his conservatory training at The Theatre School at DePaul University in 2006.

Now in his 21st season as Artistic Director of Goodman Theatre, Shining City director Robert Falls has directed more than 30 major productions for the Goodman, including eight world premieres and eight plays that he subsequently remounted on Broadway and/or abroad. Two of his most highly acclaimed Broadway productions, Arthur Miller's Death of A Salesman and Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (first staged at the Goodman in 1998 and 2002, respectively, and both starring his longtime collaborator Brian Dennehy) were honored with seven Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. For his 20th anniversary season at the Goodman, Falls directed King Lear starring Stacy Keach and the world premiere of Frank's Home, which transferred off-Broadway to Playwrights Horizons. Last season on Broadway, he directed Eric Bogosian's Talk Radio, featuring Liev Schreiber. Past Goodman credits include the world premieres of Arthur Miller's final play, Finishing the Picture; Rebecca Gilman's Dollhouse and Blue Surge; Griller; Book of the Night; The Speed of Darkness; On the Open Road; Riverview: A Melodrama with Music; and the American premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's House and Garden. Additional Goodman credits include David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre; Hughie; Galileo; The Iceman Cometh;, A Touch of the Poet; Three Sisters; The Night of the Iguana; Landscape of the Body; The Misanthrope; and Pal Joey. This spring, Falls will direct the world premiere musical The Boys are Coming Home (starts June 21, 2008) by Leslie Arden, book by Rebecca Gilman.

The design team for Shining City includes Santo LoQuasto (Set Designer); Kaye Voyce (Costume Designer); Christopher Akerlind (Lighting Designer); and Obadiah Eaves (Sound Designer/Composter). Tanya Palmer is the Dramaturg and Linda Gates is the Vocal Coach.

Tickets to Shining City are $20 to $70 and may be purchased online at GoodmanTheatre.org, at the Goodman Theatre Box Office, 170 North Dearborn Street, or charged by phoning 312.443.3800. MezzTix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 6pm for evening shows and 12 noon for matinees at the box office, and at 10am online at GoodmanTheatre.org on the day of performance, subject to availability. Groups of 10 or more, call 312.443.3820.

About Goodman Theatre

Named the country's Best Regional Theatre by Time magazine (2003), Goodman Theatre is a leader in the American theater, internationally recognized for its artists, productions and educational programs since its founding in 1925. Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer's forward-thinking leadership has earned the Goodman unparalleled artistic distinction, garnered hundreds of awards-including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992)-and moved dozens of plays from Chicago to stages in New York and abroad. Central to its commitment to the reinvestigation of classics and development of new plays and artists is the Goodman's Artistic Collective, including Frank Galati, Henry Godinez, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. The largest not-for-profit theater in Chicago, the Goodman moved in 2000 into a brand new state-of-the-art complex which houses two principal theaters: the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre and the 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Goodman Theatre. Board Chairman is Shawn M. Donnelley and Alice Young Sabl is chair of the Women's Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre. Kraft Foods is the Principal Sponsor of the Goodman's free Student Subscription Series.

Upcoming productions in the 2007/2008 season include: Shining City by Conor McPherson, directed by Robert Falls (January 12 - February 17, 2008); The Horton Foote Festival (including The Trip to Bountiful, Talking Pictures, Blind Date and The Actor - events begin January 2008); Ain't Misbehavin': The Fats Waller Musical Show, based on an idea by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, Jr., music by Fats Waller, directed by Chuck Smith (April 5 - May 4, 2008); The Ballad of Emmett Till by Ifa Bayeza (April 26 - June 1, 2008); The Boys are Coming Home, music and lyrics by Leslie Arden, book by Rebecca Gilman, directed by David Petrarca (June 21 - July 27, 2008). For more information call Goodman Theatre's Publicity Office: 312.443.5151.

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