Goodman Theatre

For Immediate Release

(March 13, 2009 - Chicago, IL) To some, he's the Tony Award-winning revolutionary from Evita who grew into a bonafide Broadway star in Sunday in the Park with George. To others, he's the Emmy Award-winning Best Actor, for his portrayal of Dr. Jeffrey Geiger in "Chicago Hope." And to others still, he will always be the man whose name is Inigo Montoya, the swashbuckling swordsman in The Princess Bride. Chicago's own Mandy Patinkin, "a musical force of nature" (The New Yorker) headlines Goodman Theatre's annual Gala fundraiser on May 30 at The Fairmont Hotel (200 N Columbus Dr). The black-tie event begins with a 6:30pm cocktail reception, followed by Patinkin's 7:30pm performance with Paul Ford on piano, including favorites from Rodgers and Hammerstein to Stephen Sondheim, Harry Chapin and back to Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. The festivities continue with an elegant dinner and dancing to the tunes of Gentlemen of Leisure. Goodman Theatre's Women's board proudly hosts the exciting night with proceeds benefiting the Goodman's Educational and Community Outreach programs.

For tickets and information about the Gala, call Katie Frient at 312.443.3811 ext. 586. Members of the media making arrangements to cover the event should contact Goodman Theatre's Publicity office: 312.443.5151.

Goodman Women's Board members Sondra Healy and Cynthia Scholl are the Gala Co- Chairs and Keith Green is the Corporate Chair. Gala Sponsor Partners include McDonald's, Allstate, Joan and Robert Clifford, Shawn M. Donnelley, Sondra and Denis Healy/Turtle Wax, Inc., Karen and Dick Pigott, Alice and John J. Sabl and American Airlines, the exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre. Shawn M. Donnelley is Chairman of the Goodman Theatre Board of Trustees and Karen Pigott is Women's Board President.

About Mandy Patinkin and Paul Ford

Mandy Patinkin has been entertaining audiences through film, television and the stage for over 30 years. In his 1980 Broadway debut, Patinkin won a Tony Award for his role as Che in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita and was nominated in 1984 for his starring role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, Sunday in the Park with George. In 1991 he returned to Broadway in the Tony Award-winning musical The Secret Garden and in 1997 played a sold-out engagement of his one-man concert, Mandy Patinkin in Concert, with all profits benefiting five charitable organizations. Patinkin's other solo concerts, Celebrating Sondheim and Mamaloshen, have been presented both on Broadway and off. Other stage credits include The Tempest, with Classic Stage Company, The Wild Party, Falsettos, The Winter's Tale, The Knife, Leave It to Beaver is Dead, Rebel Women, Hamlet, Trelawney of the 'Wells', The Shadow Box, The Split, Savages, and Henry IV, Part I.

Feature film credits include: Everybody's Hero, The Choking Man, Piñero, Elmo In Grouchland, Men with Guns, The Princess Bride, Yentl, The Music of Chance, Daniel, Ragtime, Impromptu, The Doctor, Alien Nation, Dick Tracy, The House on Carroll Street, True Colors, Maxie, and Squanto: Indian Warrior. He won a 1995 Emmy Award for his critically acclaimed performance in the CBS series, "Chicago Hope," recently starred in the CBS series "Criminal Minds" as FBI profiler Jason Gideon and the Showtime Original Series "Dead Like Me." His other television appearances include the role of Kenneth Duberstein in the Showtime film "Strange Justice," playing Quasimodo opposite Richard Harris in the TNT film presentation of "The Hunchback," and a film version of Arthur Miller's "Broken Glass" for BBC/WGBH-Boston.

In 1989, Patinkin began his concert career at Joseph Papp's Public Theater. This coincided with the release of his first solo album entitled Mandy Patinkin. Since then he has toured extensively, appearing to sold-out audiences across the United States, Canada and in London, performing songs from writers including Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Irving Berlin, Randy Newman, Adam Guettel and Harry Chapin, among others. In 1990 he released his second solo album entitled Mandy Patinkin In Concert: Dress Casual on CBS Records. His 1994 recording, Experiment, on the Nonesuch label, features songs from nine decades of popular music from Irving Berlin to Alan Menken. Also recorded on the Nonesuch label are Oscar & Steve and Leonard Bernstein's New York. In 1998 he debuted his most personal project, Mamaloshen, a collection of traditional, classic and contemporary songs sung entirely in Yiddish. The stage production of Mamaloshen was performed on and off-Broadway and has toured throughout the country. The recording of Mamaloshen won the Deutschen Schallplattenpreis (Germany's equivalent of the Grammy Award). In 2001, Nonesuch Records released Kidults, a collection of beloved songs, designed-as the title suggests-for the kid in every adult. And, in 2002, Nonesuch Records released Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim, a figurative journey through Sondheim's music and lyrics. In October 2007, Patinkin debuted his newest concert with dear friend Patti LuPone and they begin touring their show An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin in March 2009. He resides in New York City with his wife, actress and writer Kathryn Grody, and their two sons.

Paul Ford was the original pianist for the Broadway productions of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Passion, Assassins, the revival of Pacific Overtures and the Tony Award-winning revival of Assassins. His other Broadway credits include the recent revival of Pal Joey, Curtains, 110 in the Shade (revival), Tom Sawyer, High Society, The Rink, Rags, A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine, The Secret Garden, and Falsettos. Ford was the pianist for the acclaimed Follies concert at Lincoln Center, the Carnegie Hall concert performances of A Sondheim Tribute, Anyone Can Whistle, and A Little Night Music with the Philadelphia Symphony, Gypsy with Patti LuPone and the Chicago Symphony, and episodes of PBS's "My Favorite Broadway," all under the baton of Paul Gemignani. Last year he played for the televised production of Camelot with the New York Philharmonic and Show Boat at Carnegie Hall. Ford has accompanied Patinkin in Mandy Patinkin: Dress Casual at the Public Theater and on Broadway in Mamaloshen and Celebrating Sondheim, and continues to work with him on all of his recordings and national/international tours.

About the Goodman's Women's Board and Education and Outreach Programs

Since its inception in 1978, Goodman Theatre's Women's Board-currently under leadership of President Karen Pigott-has been a major force in raising funds for the theater through special events and projects. Members serve on committees for the annual Goodman Theatre Gala, the Goodman Auction, the Women's Board Annual Appeal and the Community Arts and Education Committee. The Board also provides support for Capital and Endowment initiatives, both personally and through solicitations. Monies raised support all aspects of the theater-including the sponsorship of one production per season. A major initiative has been increased support for the Goodman's productions and numerous educational community programs, which offer myriad opportunities for students and audience members of all ages. Through programs such as the Student Subscription Series for Chicago Public Schools, General Theater Studies summer program, the Cindy Bandle Young Critics theater criticism program for young women, CONTEXT: Discourse and Discussion community forums, and a theater-wide Internship Program the Goodman along with the Women's Board strives to engage audiences in deeper explorations of the work on the Goodman's stages.

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 Brian Dennehy, 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.

Upcoming productions include the world premieres of Magnolia by Regina Taylor, directed by Anna D. Shapiro (March 14 - April 19) and Ghostwritten by Naomi Iizuka, directed by Lisa Portes (April 4 - May 3); Rock 'n' Roll by Tom Stoppard, directed by Charles Newell (May 2 - June 7); The Crowd You're In With by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Wendy C. Goldberg (May 23 - June 21); Boleros for the Disenchanted by José Rivera, directed by Henry Godinez (June 20 - July 26).

For more information call Goodman Theatre's Publicity Office: 312.443.5151.

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