Off Broadway In Chicago

(Chicago, IL) Rehearsals begin this week for Goodman Theatre's world premiere of
A True History of the Johnstown Flood by Rebecca Gilman, whose work was most recently included in
Time magazine's "Best Theatre Productions of the Decade." Commissioned by the Goodman and directed by Robert Falls,
A True History of the Johnstown Flood runs March 13 - April
18, 2010 in the Goodman's Albert Theatre. Tickets start at $25 and go
on sale this Friday, February 5 at GoodmanTheatre.org. Gilman and Falls tapped eight actors to make this story
come to life including Cliff Chamberlain, just off his Broadway debut in
Superior Donuts. Joining Chamberlain are Chicago favorites Janet Ulrich Brooks (Golda Meir in
Golda's Balcony at TimeLine), Sarah Charipar (Broadway's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest),
Stephen Louis Grush (Topdog/Underdog with American Theatre Company and Congo Square),
Cedric Mays (Gem of the Ocean at the Guthrie),
Randall Newsome (Broadway's Inherit the Wind and A Touch of the Poet;
The Seafarer at Steppenwolf), Heather Wood (King Lear at New York Classical Theatre) and
Lucas Hall (Othello at Theatre For A New Audience).

Five years after Hurricane Katrina and six years after the Indian
Ocean Tsunami comes Rebecca Gilman's world premiere based on another
major historical disaster--the Johnstown Flood of 1889. Inspired by the
devastation brought on by Hurricane Katrina,
A True History of the Johnstown Flood introduces us to The
Baxter Theatre Troupe--comprised of siblings James (Stephen Louis
Grush), Richard (Cliff Chamberlain) and Fanny (Heather Wood)--who have
been summoned to perform at an exclusive resort next to a beautiful
man-made lake in the Pennsylvania mountains. Although the troupe's
repertoire consists of the romantic trifles typical of the era, James
envisions a different kind of play, one that exposes the true struggles
of common people. When a violent rainstorm compromises the lake's
shoddily constructed dam, the resulting disaster lays bare the tragic
inequities of the rigid class system-and paves the way for a seismic
change in both theater and society.

Robert Falls and Rebecca Gilman - A Decade of Work

A True History of the Johnstown Flood marks the fifth collaboration
between award-winning Chicago playwright Rebecca Gilman and Tony
Award-winning director, Robert Falls. Falls first encountered Rebecca
Gilman in the late 1990s when he read one of her earlier pieces, The Glory of Living (a 2001 Pulitzer Prize
finalist). Soon after, Falls commissioned Gilman to write a new play
for the Goodman; she responded with the provocative, hard-hitting
Spinning into Butter (1999 - now a feature film starring
Sarah Jessica Parker). The show's run was extended three times and led
to Gilman's next Goodman commission,
Boy Gets Girl (2000), which transferred to New York's Manhattan Theatre Club and was recently named by
Time magazine as one of the "Best Theatre Productions of the Decade." Falls and Gilman later teamed up for both
Blue Surge (2001) and Dollhouse (2005), Gilman's modern interpretation of Ibsen's
A Doll's House. Most recently Gilman's The Crowd You're In With (2009) made its Chicago debut at Goodman Theatre.

Rebecca Gilman (Playwright)'s plays include The Crowd You're In With, Dollhouse, Spinning Into Butter, Boy Gets Girl, Blue Surge, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and
The Glory of Living. Her plays have been produced at Goodman
Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre, Joseph Papp's
Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and Manhattan Class Company. She
is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Prince Prize for
Commissioning New Work, The Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy
Center Fund for New American Plays, The Evening Standard Award for Most
Promising Playwright and The George Devine Award. Gilman was named a
finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for her play The Glory of Living. She is an assistant
professor of playwriting and screenwriting in the Master of Fine Arts
Writing for the Screen and Stage program at Northwestern University.

Robert Falls (Director and Goodman Theatre Artistic
Director) has been the artistic director of Goodman Theatre since 1986.
From 1977 to 1985, he was the artistic director of Wisdom Bridge
Theatre. Most recently, he revived his double-bill of Hughie and Krapp's Last Tape (with director
Jennifer Tarver) starring Brian Dennehy. Prior to that, he revived his
critically acclaimed 2006 Goodman production of
King Lear for the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. after directing
Desire Under the Elms on Broadway and for "A Global
Exploration: Eugene O'Neill in the 21st Century" at the Goodman. Other
recent productions include the Broadway revival of
American Buffalo, Hughie for Long Wharf Theatre and Stratford Shakespeare Festival,
Shining City for the Goodman and Huntington Theatre Company, the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Eric Bogosian's
Talk Radio, the world premiere of Richard Nelson's Frank's Home for the Goodman and Playwrights Horizons, the Tony-nominated American premiere of
Shining City on Broadway, A Life in the Theatre for the Goodman and the London revival of
Death of a Salesman. Falls' production of Elton John and Tim Rice's
Aida
for Walt Disney Theatricals ran on Broadway for four years and toured
nationally and 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) were honored with seven Tony Awards and
three Drama Desk Awards. Previous Goodman credits include the world
premieres of Arthur Miller's
Finishing the Picture, Rebecca Gilman's Blue Surge and Dollhouse, Eric Bogosian's
Griller, Louis Rosen and Thom Bishop's Book of the Night, Steve Tesich's
The Speed of Darkness and On the Open Road and John Logan's
Riverview: A Melodrama with Music; the American premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's
House and Garden; the Midwest premieres of Kenneth Lonergan's
Lobby Hero and Edward Albee's The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?; as well as
Galileo, The Iceman Cometh, A Touch of the Poet, Three Sisters, The
Night of the Iguana, Landscape of the Body, The Misanthrope, Pal Joey and
The Tempest. Elsewhere, Falls has directed Blue Surge at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, Horton Foote's Pulitzer Prize-winning
The Young Man from Atlanta on Broadway (Tony-nominated transfer from the Goodman), the world premiere of Eric Bogosian's
subUrbia at Lincoln Center Theater (Obie Award for Best Director), The Rose Tattoo for Circle in the Square (Tony-nominated),
The Iceman Cometh at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, On the Open Road at the Joseph Papp Public Theater,
The Night of the Iguana at the Roundabout Theatre and The Food Chain
at the Westside Theatre, as well as productions for the Guthrie
Theater, Remains Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Lyric Opera of Chicago,
the Metropolitan Opera and the Grande Théatre de Genéve. Honors
received by Falls include: Human Spirit Award (Chicago Institute of
Psychoanalysis), Governor's Award for Outstanding Contributions by an
Individual Artist (Illinois Arts Council), "Chicagoan of the Year" (Chicago
magazine), Artistic Leadership Award (League of Chicago Theatres),
election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Honorary Doctor
of Fine Arts (Lake Forest College), Special Jeff Award for Outstanding
Contributions to Theatre and Chicago Illini of the Year Award
(University of Illinois).

Tickets to A True History of the Johnstown Flood
(starting at $25) go on sale Friday, February 5 (online at
GoodmanTheatre.org) and Monday, February 8 (by phone at 312.443.3800). Season subscriptions and individual tickets can also
be purchased at the box office (170 North Dearborn). Mezztix
are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box
office, and at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) day of performance;
Mezztix are not available by telephone.
10Tix are $10 mezzanine tickets for students
available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online on the day
of performance; 10Tix are not available by telephone. Valid student
I.D. must be presented when picking up the tickets. Limit four per
student with I.D. All tickets are subject to availability and handling
fees apply. Discounted
Group Tickets for 10 persons or more are available at 312.443.3820.

About Goodman Theatre

Currently playing at the Goodman is: Brian Dennehy in the Broadway-bound double-bill of
Hughie by Eugene O'Neill, directed by Robert Falls and Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett, directed by Jennifer Tarver (through February 28; Albert Theatre).

Upcoming productions in the 2009/2010 Season include: The Long Red Road by Brett C. Leonard, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (February 13 - March 14, 2010; Owen);
The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson, directed by Chuck Smith (May 1 - June 6, 2010; Albert);
The Sins of Sor Juana by Karen Zacarías, directed by Henry
Godinez (June 19 - July 25, 2010; Albert) which launches the Goodman's
5th Latino Theater Festival (offerings TBA).

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 Pulitzer Prizes for Ruined by Lynn Nottage and Glengarry
Glen Ross by David Mamet--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, Steve Scott, 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
Patricia Cox and Karen Pigott is President of the Women's Board.
American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.

Visit the Goodman virtually: watch artist interviews at
ExploreTheGoodman.org; catch the latest backstage news on the Goodman's Blog,

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