Theater News

Manhattan Theatre Club Announces Its 2003-2004 Season

Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) has announced its 2003-2004 season, which will include productions on its two Off-Broadway stages at City Center and at the newly restored Biltmore Theatre on Broadway.

The Biltmore — which originally opened in 1925 — has been vacant since the late 1980s, when it suffered structural and cosmetic damage from arson and vandalism. After a two-year, $35 million campaign, the theater will reopen this fall.

The MTC at the Biltmore series will include Richard Greenberg’s The Violet Hour, about a young publisher and a mysterious machine that could drastically alter his future (opening November 6); Regina Taylor’s Drowning Crow, which concerns a family of African-American artists and is based on Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull (opening February 19, 2004); and Donald Margulies’s Sight Unseen, the Broadway premiere of the play — originally produced Off-Broadway by MTC — about an artist who battles with his ex-lover over a portrait of her (opening May 25, 2004 in a production to be directed by Daniel Sullivan).

The MTC at City Center series will include The Rhythm Club, a musical with music by Matthew Sklar, book and lyrics by Chad Beguelin, direction by Eric Scaeffer, and choreography by Jodi Moccia that tells the story of a group of friends in 1930s Germany who assemble a band in the hope of escaping to America; and Daniel Goldfarb’s Sarah, Sarah, a comedy about the ties that bind a family together. The dates of these shows and the titles of two additional productions in this series will be announced soon.

For Manhattan Theatre Club subscriptions, call 212-399-3030 or visit the website www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.