Time Stands Still Ends Its Broadway Run

The acclaimed Manhattan Theatre Club production of Donald Margulies' new drama Time Stands Still concluded its Broadway run at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre today. Due to positive reviews and high ticket sales, the production extended its limited engagement an extra week. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, Time Stands Still starred Laura Linney as a war photographer forced to return with her partner (a journalist who she met on the job) to a conventional life back in the United States following an injury sustained while working in a dangerous land. The next Manhattan Theatre Club production to open at the Friedman Theatre will be another Donald Margulies play, Collected Stories. Starring Linda Lavin and Sarah Paulson, that production will begin performances on April 9.

Time Stands Still To Run Longer on Broadway

The positively reviewed new Broadway play Time Stands Still will be getting a week-long extension in its limited run. The acclaimed Manhattan Theatre Club production will now play until March 27 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Laura Linney (most recently on Broadway in Les Liaisons Dangereuses) stars in the Donald Margulies-penned drama as a restless war photographer who is forced to settle down in her New York apartment to recover following a bad injury while on the job. Also starring in the show is Brian d'Arcy James (Shrek the Musical) as her longtime partner and a war journalist, Eric Bogosian as her photo editor, and Alicia Silverstone (The Graduate on Broadway, Clueless on film) as his much younger girlfriend. Because of the Time Stands Still extension, MTC's next show, Collected Stories, will be slightly delayed. That production will now start on April 9 instead of April 6.

The Royal Family Extends Through Mid-December

The Manhattan Theatre Club's new production of the comedy The Royal Family will be reigning supreme at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway for an extra two weeks. It was recently announced that the limited-run production will not close on November 29 as was originally planned, but instead the show will continue its Broadway run on through December 13. The extension of the 1929 play about a renowned showbiz family, which was written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, was due to popular demand, which is no surprise given The Royal Family's impressive cast list. The production stars an excellent cast of theater notables, including Rosemary Harris, John Glover, Larry Pine, Jan Maxwell, Reg Rogers, and Ana Gasteyer.

Off-Broadway Play "Ruined" Wins Pulitzer Prize For Drama

It's official, Lynn Nottage's play Ruined has won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The speculation that Nottage's excellent drama about women in the Congo might take the prize began as soon as it began Off-Broadway in its production at the Manhattan Theatre Club in January. Ruined had its premiere in the autumn of 2008 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, which commissioned the play. Both productions were directed by Kate Whoriskey, who had a significant role in helping Nottage develop the play. With any luck, the Pulitzer Prize win will help raise the profile of Ruined, which is an important play that exposes many of the horrors that women in Africa are facing in war-torn lands where they frequently become victims of violence and sexual abuse. Part of Nottage's triumph, though, is that she takes this grim subject matter and still manages to write a play full of humor and hope. Although the MTC production's future is far from certain, there is a possibility that Ruined could move to Broadway now that it has landed this prestigious prize (and it's likely to rack up a few more now that awards season is upon us).

To Be or Not To Be Closes On Broadway

Manhattan Theatre Club's production of Nick Whitby's dark comedy To Be Or Not To Be closes on Broadway today. Based on the film of the same name, the World War II-era play suffered from bad word-of-mouth and negative reviews. MTC's next production scheduled to play the Samuel J. Friedman is Richard Greenberg's play The American Plan.

Broadway Previews For To Be Or Not To Be Delayed

To Be Or Not To Be, Nick Whitby's new stage adaptation of the famous film, will start Broadway preview performances later than planned. Instead of beginning on September 11, the play will now start on September 13. The Manhattan Theatre Club production has experienced some difficulties with casting recently, replacing leading men Craig Bierko and Brian Murray with David Rasche and Peter Maloney, respectively. To Be Or Not To Be is scheduled to have its official Broadway opening at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (formerly the Biltmore Theatre) on October 2.

Broadway's Biltmore Theatre To Be Renamed

The Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) has announced that its Broadway house, the Biltmore Theatre, will be renamed the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in honor of the Broadway publicist (MTC was just a recipient of a substantial financial gift from the Dr. Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman Foundation). The date for the new name dedication has not been set yet, but it is expected to occur right before MTC's new Broadway theater season begins.