February 13, 2006

Philadelphia Theatre Company presents the Philadelphia premiere of Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage March 17-April 16 at 1714 Delancey Street. Directed by Tim Vasen, the ensemble features Stephanie Berry, Rosalyn Coleman, Eisa Davis, Maury Ginsberg, Stephen Conrad Moore, and Anne Louise Zachry.

Previews begin Friday, March 17 with opening night on Wednesday, March 22. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday until April 16. Tickets are $31 to $49, with discounts for students, seniors and groups. Tickets are available by calling the Box Office at 215-985-0420 or visiting www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philadelphia Gay News (PGN) are the season print media sponsors. Philly.com is the season online media sponsor and CBS3 is the Media Partner.

Set in 1905 Manhattan, Intimate Apparel, the winner of five national awards for best play including the New York Drama Critics Circle award, is a deeply moving portrait of Esther, an African-American seamstress who creates exquisite lingerie for women of the boudoir and the brothel alike. Painfully lonely, Esther becomes a new woman when she falls in love with a handsome Barbadian laborer who woos her through a series of romantic letters, while her friendship with a shy Jewish fabric merchant grows in unexpected ways.

Lynn Nottage (Playwright) is the author of A Stone's Throw/The Antigone Project, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Las Meninas, and the Obie Award-winning Fabulation, or, The Re-Education of Undine. She received the 2004 New York Drama Critics Circle Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play for Intimate Apparel as well as the 2004 Francesca Primus and two AUDELCOs. Most recently she is the recipient of the PEN/Laura Pels Award and a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Tim Vasen (Director) directed Philadelphia Theatre Company's critically-acclaimed production of Edward Albee's The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?. The Resident Director of Baltimore's CENTERSTAGE for five years, he directed a workshop production of Intimate Apparel as part of their First Look reading series created to facilitate the development of new plays the theater had commissioned. Other recent work includes Topdog/Underdog at the Weston Playhouse and Keith Bunin's The World Over at Playwrights Horizons. In addition, he has participated in new play development at Steppenwolf, the New Harmony Project, Playwrights Horizons, South Coast Repertory and Midwest Playlabs.

Stephanie Berry (Mrs. Dickson) was last seen in Philadelphia in Arden Theatre Company's production of Fences for which she received a Barrymore Award nomination for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play. She has also performed in King Lear at Portland Center Stage, When Grace Comes In at both LaJolla Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre, Oedipus The King at Hartford Stage, and Flying West at both Studio Arena and Geva Theatre. Her film credits include Finding Forrester, The Visiting, and Little Fugitive.

Rosalyn Coleman (Esther) starred on Broadway in Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson, and Mule Bone. Off-Broadway she has performed at Playwrights Horizons, Primary Stages, The Public Theater, Circle Rep and The Actor's Studio where she is a lifetime member. In addition to featured roles in the films Vanilla Sky, Brown Sugar, Music of the Heart, and Our Song, she has appeared on television in Oz, DC, and Law & Order: SVU.

Eisa Davis (Mayme) appeared on Broadway in The Violet Hour and Off-Broadway in Belize at LaMama Theatre and June & Jean in Concert at both The Public Theater and Signature Theatre. Regionally she has performed at Alliance Theatre, Geva Theatre, Old Globe Theatre and the Powerhouse Theatre at Vassar. She has had recurring roles in Guiding Light and Soul Food and featured roles in Law & Order, Cosby, Now & Again, and All My Children.

Maury Ginsberg (Mr. Marks) is a frequent guest at Williamstown Theatre Festival, having starred in Marat/Sade, Mother Courage, American Clock, John Brown's Body, and Henry IV. Regionally he has been featured at Arizona Theatre Company, Pacific Rep, South Coast Repertory, and Geffen Playhouse. In addition to recurring roles on Two Guys and A Girl and The Tick, his television appearances include roles on Law & Order: SVU, Joan of Arcadia, Without a Trace, and The Agency.

Stephen Conrad Moore (George) makes his Philadelphia debut with this production. He has performed in numerous productions at Yale Repertory Theatre, including the world premiere of August Wilson's Radio Golf, King Lear, Taming of the Shrew, and The Comedy of Errors.

Anne Louise Zachry (Mrs. Van Buren) has appeared Off-Broadway in Dead Reckoning at Soho Repertory, Train Story at Cherry Lane Theatre, and several productions at Theatre For A New Audience. Making her Philadelphia debut, she has performed regionally at Syracuse Stage, Baltimore's CENTERSTAGE, Cleveland Playhouse, Theatre Shakespeare, and Milwaukee Shakespeare Company.

Intimate Apparel brings together the creative team of Lee Savage (set designer), Ann G. Wrightson (lighting designer), Janus Stefanowicz (costume designer), and Robert Maggio (composer).

Lee Savage received the Connecticut Critics Circle award for Best Scenic Design for the Yale Repertory Theater production of The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow by Rolin Jones. He also designed Go-Go Kitty Go! at the New York International Fringe Festival (Fringe NYC Best Play Award) and The Jammer by Rolin Jones at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Fringe First Award Winner).

Ann G. Wrightson, who worked at Philadelphia Theatre Company on Take Me Out, Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, According to Goldman, Dinner with Friends, and No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs, designed the lights for Intimate Apparel at both The Guthrie Theater and Steppenwolf. Her New York designs have been seen at Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theater, American Place, Playwrights Horizons, and in the original production of A...My Name Is Alice at The Top of the Village Gate.

Janus Stefanowicz's past Philadelphia Theatre Company designs include The Story, Trumbo, Nickel and Dimed, King Hedley II, Edward Albee's The Play About The Baby, Side Man, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, How I Learned to Drive, and Seven Guitars. She has been nominated for eleven Barrymore Awards and won the Outstanding Costume Design award twice, in 1998 for On the Razzle, and in 2003 for Big Love.

Robert Maggio, professor of Music Theory and Composition at West Chester University, wrote the music for Philadelphia Theatre Company's Take Me Out, Nickel and Dimed, Dinner with Friends and The Laramie Project. His works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Music of Lincoln Center, and Orchestra 2001.

Philadelphia Theatre Company is Philadelphia's only non-profit professional theater dedicated exclusively to producing world and regional premieres of works by contemporary American playwrights. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director, Sara Garonzik, Philadelphia Theatre Company has had ever-increasing national impact having produced over 30 world premieres of new American plays. Recent world premiere productions include: Adrift in Macao by Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick; Bruce Graham's According to Goldman; Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso; Daniel Stern's comedy Barbra's Wedding; John Henry Redwood's No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs; J.T. Roger's White People; David Ives' Lives of the Saints; three-time Tony Award-winning Master Class by Terrence McNally; Bunny Bunny by Alan Zweibel; and the American premiere of Birdy by Naomi Wallace. A Picasso received its New York premiere at the Manhattan Theatre Club in April 2005. Philadelphia Theatre Company was chosen Best Theatre Company 2003 by Philadelphia Magazine, Theater Company of the Year by Philadelphia Weekly (2005) and Best Theater Company in the 2005 City Paper Reader's Choice Awards. Since 1995, Philadelphia Theatre Company has received 99 nominations and 30 awards from Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards, most recently for most recently for Take Me Out (Outstanding Overall Production of a Play, and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play [Kraig Swartz as Mason]), Elegies: A Song Cycle (Outstanding Music Direction [Kimberly Grigsby], and Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical), The Story (Outstanding Direction of a Play [Maria Mileaf]), and Trumbo (Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play [Bill Irwin]).

Philadelphia Theatre Company recently embarked on a groundbreaking Capital Campaign in support of building its new home, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre on the Avenue of the Arts, scheduled to open in Fall, 2007. The company has been in residence at the historic Plays & Players Theater since 1982.

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