Philadelphia Theatre Company concludes its inaugural season in its new home, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, with the world premiere of Tony Award-winner Bill Irwin's The Happiness Lecture on May 16-June 15. The Happiness Lecture is conceived and performed by Bill Irwin with an ensemble cast including local artists Nichole Canuso, Jennifer Childs, Melanie Cotton, Aaron Cromie, Lee Ann Etzold and Makoto Hirano as well as Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie and Cori Olinghouse.

The Happiness Lecture was commissioned by Philadelphia Theatre Company and made possible in part by a grant from the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts.

Previews begin Friday, May 16 with opening night on Wednesday, May 21. Performances run Tuesday through Sunday. Tickets are $46 to $58, with discounts for students, seniors and groups. Tickets are available by calling the PTC Box Office at 215-985-0420 or visiting www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org.

In The Happiness Lecture, Bill Irwin leads a versatile ensemble of eight actors and dancers on an adventure in the pursuit of happiness. A unique and imaginative evening of delightful vignettes and physical comedy, this world premiere event is a wild theatrical ride that spoofs theatrical conventions while exploring the sheer joy of laughter.

"We are incredibly happy and privileged to be continuing our relationship with Bill Irwin, with whom we first worked on our 2004 production of Trumbo," said Sara Garonzik, Producing Artistic Director of Philadelphia Theatre Company. "Over the last two years we have supported The Happiness Lecture as it sprung to life in Bill's imagination, introducing him to Philadelphia's most versatile performers through development workshops and creative meetings. It has been an invigorating opportunity for PTC to meet the artistic needs and exacting standards of this brilliant and inspirational artist. Bill has made an indelible impact on the creative life and profile of Philadelphia Theatre Company."

Bill Irwin, an actor, film and television star, comedian, playwright, director and choreographer, is one of the most versatile performers on today's American stage. The recipient of a Barrymore Award for his performance in Philadelphia Theatre Company's production of Trumbo, Irwin won a Tony Award for his lead role in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opposite Kathleen Turner. The creator and star of the productions Regard of Flight and Fool Moon, for which he also won a Tony Award, he starred opposite Sally Field in the 2002 Tony Award-winning play Edward Albee's The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? The Signature Theatre's 2003/04 Season was dedicated entirely to his original work for which he served as writer, director, and star. His other Broadway work includes his original work, Largely New York, which received five Tony Award nominations and won Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle and New York Dance and Performance Awards. In the fall of 2000, Irwin directed and performed his own adaptation of Samuel Beckett's prose work Texts for Nothing at the Classic Stage Company, for which he received a nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance by the Outer Critics Circle. He appeared in Waiting for Godot at the Lincoln Center with Steve Martin and Robin Williams. Irwin was the subject of a PBS Great Performances segment in 2005 called Bill Irwin: Clown Prince and has appeared on numerous television shows including The Closing Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta in which he starred, directed, and choreographed; Northern Exposure, Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, The Cosby Show, HBO's Bette Midler: Mondo Beyondo, PBS' Great Performances 20th Anniversary Special, and Sesame Street. He also performed in December 2007 at the Kennedy Center Awards to honor Steve Martin. His feature films include Love Conquers All!, Igby Goes Down, The Laramie Project for HBO, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey, John Turturro's Illuminata, Scalpers with Andy Garcia and Mike Hoffman's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Klein and Rupert Everett. In 1983, Irwin was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer's Fellowship, and in 1984 was named a Guggenheim fellow and was awarded a five-year MacArthur ("Genius") Fellowship.

Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie is an accomplished artist in ballet and modern dance, as well as in the street dance forms of b-girling (breaking), hip hop and house. She has performed and taught throughout the US and Europe, as well as in Peru and South Africa. She has appeared on MTV, Comedy Central and at Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden. A member of the all-female breaking crew FoxForceFive and of MAWU, a house dance collective, Asherie was chosen by Dance Magazine as one of 25 to watch in 2007. Asherie is on faculty at Broadway Dance Center and Peridance.

Nichole Canuso is the Artistic Director of Nichole Canuso Dance Company. Her dancing, choreography and study have taken her through France, Scotland, Poland, Japan, Italy and across the U.S. Choreographic residencies include the nEW festival, The New Edge Residency at CEC, The Swarthmore Project at Swarthmore College, and The Choreographer's Project with Susan Hess Dance Studio, with projects presented in New York at Dance Theater Workshop and Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, in Washington at DancePlace, in Chicago at Links Hall, and locally at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Wilma Dance Boom Festival, and Swarthmore College. In addition to her own choreographic projects, Canuso collaborates with several dance and theater companies, including the Bessie Award-winning Headlong Dance Theater, where she has been a company member for 10 years, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Karen Bamonte Dance Works, Group Motion Dance Company, Big Mess Theater, Arden Theatre Company, Theater Exile, and Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival.

Jennifer Childs has appeared at PTC in the award-winning productions of The Laramie Project and How I Learned To Drive. She is a co-founder and Artistic Director of 1812 Productions for which she has created eight productions and directed these as well as six other works, many of which were nominated for Barrymore Awards. She has also directed for Arden Theatre Company, University of the Arts, Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center, Act II Playhouse, and Cape May Stage. As an actor, Childs has performed extensively in the Philadelphia area for the past thirteen years, including productions at The Wilma Theater, Walnut Street Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Mum Puppettheatre, Lantern Theater Company, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival and Prince Music Theater. An 11-time Barrymore Award nominee, Childs has won three Barrymore Awards, as Best Supporting Actor, Best Ensemble, and the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre Artist.

Melanie Cotton is a member of Rennie Harris' Pure Movement Repertory and has been a principal dancer and choreographer for Montazh Performing Arts Company, Pudin' Pop Productions and Illadelph Legends. She is an accomplished performer of hip hop, locking, funk styles, African fish and belly dance. She teaches at Girls of Promise and Point Breeze Performing Arts Center. She has been recognized with the Community College of Philadelphia Award for excellence in academics and performance in the Communications Theatre department.

Aaron Cromie has received 13 Barrymore Award nominations, winning four awards for Music Director for The Fantasticks; Choreography and Ensemble, both for The Comedy of Errors; and Ensemble for Bat Boy. He is a three-time recipient of Project and Seed Grants from the Jim Henson Foundation which supported his work on An Enemy of the People, Punch's Progress, and The Foocy. His directing and choreography credits include productions at Lantern Theater Company, Mum Puppettheatre, Arden Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, Brat Productions, Bryn Mawr College and Lyric Theatre of The College of New Jersey. As an actor he has appeared at Washington's Folger Theatre, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Act II Playhouse, Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center, Pig Iron Theatre Company, and Walnut Street Theatre. A graduation of the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre, he current teaches at the University of the Arts.

Lee Ann Etzold was a finalist for the 2006 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist and received a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Ensemble in The Comedy of Errors. A founding member of New Paradise Laboratories with which she has performed several productions, she has also appeared with Lantern Theater Company, Azuka Theatre, Brat Productions, Pig Iron Theatre Company, and Arden Theatre Company. An accomplished director and choreographer, Etzold has worked on several productions for Brat Productions, Arden Theatre Company, Headlong Dance Theater and The Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis.

Makoto Hirano has performed with Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Jeb Kreager, Subcircle directed by Jorge and Niki Cousineau, and Dance Theatre X directed by Charles Anderson. He has choreographed and directed several works for OMNiBUS. Hiramo is the recipient of a fellowship from the Independence Foundation and was an APIA Artist-in-Residence at the Asian Arts Initiative.

Cori Olinghouse was a four-year member of Trisha Brown Dance Company with which she has performed and taught internationally. She performed with them as a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater, Paris Opera House, Seoul Performing Arts Festival, London's Sadler's Wells, and in New York at Lincoln Center, Central Park Summerstage, City Center, Guggenheim Museum and New Museum. She has also performed with the Emergent Improvisation Project and Polly Motley. A resident instructor with Trisha Brown Studio since 2003, she has been a guest instructor at Bennington College, Fordham University, The Culture Company in Liverpool, and Opera de Lille in France.

The Happiness Lecture brings together the creative team of set designer Kelly Hanson, lighting designer Nancy Schertler, costume designer Rebecca Lustig, sound/video designer Jorge Cousineau, and Nancy Harrington, Irwin's long-time collaborator/production stage manager. Philadelphia Theatre Company's dramaturg for The Happiness Lecture is Warren Hoffman.

Media Sponsors for The Happiness Lecture are The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly.com, and CBS-3. Print Sponsor is CRW Graphics. Philadelphia Theatre Company's Premier Season Sponsor is The Comcast Family, and the Official Airline Sponsor is US Airways.

Philadelphia Theatre Company is Philadelphia's only not-for-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, producing 35 world premieres of new American plays and musicals in its 32 seasons. Recent world premiere productions include: Being Alive with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and conceived and directed by Billy Porter; Nerds://A Musical Software Satire by Jordan Allen-Dutton, Erik Weiner, and Hal Goldberg; Some Men by Terrence McNally (recently produced at Second Stage Theatre); Adrift in Macao by Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick (produced at Primary Stages last Winter); Bruce Graham's According to Goldman; Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso; Daniel Stern's comedy Barbra's Wedding (moved to the Westside Arts Theatre in 2003); John Henry Redwood's No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs; J.T. Rogers' White People; David Ives' Lives of the Saints; three-time Tony Award-winning Master Class by Terrence McNally, starring Zoe Caldwell; Bunny Bunny by Alan Zweibel (Lucille Lortel Award, 1997); 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 has received numerous "Best Theater Company" citations from media sources such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia magazine, Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia Style Magazine, and Philadelphia City Paper. Since 1995, Philadelphia Theatre Company has received 122 nominations and 36 awards from Philadelphia's Barrymore Awards.

This year, now under the co-staff leadership of Sara Garonzik and Managing Director Diane Claussen, Philadelphia Theatre Company moved into its new home, the Suzanne Roberts Theatre designed by KieranTimberlake Associates LLP. This new state-of-the-art venue includes a 365-seat traditional proscenium auditorium designed to envelope both the actors and audience, a flexible black box theater space, a dramatic lobby and mezzanine level reception areas with an expansive view of the Avenue of the Arts, as well as superior patron amenities, box office, handicapped accessibility and elevator to all floors.

PREVIEWS:
Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17 at 8:00PM
Sunday, May 18 at 3:00PM
Tuesday, May 20 at 8:00PM

OPENING:
Wednesday, May 21 at 7:00PM

PERFORMANCES:
Tuesday - Saturday at 8:00PM
Early curtain performances at 7:00PM on May 21, May 28. June 4 and June 11
Wednesday matinee at 1:00PM on May 28, June 4 and June 11
Saturday matinee at 2:00PM on May 24, June 7 and June 14
Sunday matinee at 3:00PM on May 18, May 25, June 1, June 8 and June 15

CLOSES:
Sunday, June 15 at 3:00PM

LOCATION:
Suzanne Roberts Theatre
Broad and Lombard Streets

TICKET PRICES:
Friday preview, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, Wednesday and Saturday matinees: all seats $46
Saturday preview, Thursday and Friday evenings, Sunday matinees: all seats $52
Saturday Evenings: all seats $58
Student, Senior Citizen and Group Discounts available

PARKING/TRANSPORTATION:
Onsite parking is available at the Symphony House InterPark lot, as well as many other parking facilities on Broad Street. The Theater is also accessible by taxi, SEPTA buses and trains, and the PATCO Highspeed line.

ACCESSIBILITY:
State-of-the-art infrared assistive listening devices; PTC provides large print, Braille and audio cassette programs upon request; Open-captioned performance on Saturday, June 7 at 2:00PM; Audio described performance on Saturday, June 14 at 2:00PM

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT:
PTC's Suzanne Roberts Theatre, Broad & Lombard Streets
Monday-Friday 10:00AM - 5:30PM
215/985-0420 or 866/985-0420 or online at www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org

SPECIAL EVENTS:
Pay What You Can: Thursday, May 15 at 8:00PM
American Playwrights In Context: Sunday, June 8 following the 3pm matinee
Meet-the-Artists Post-Show Discussions on May 22, June 5 and June 10
Pre-Show Wine Tasting on May 27 and June 12 at 7:00PM (FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY)
Night OUT! pre-show LGBT-friendly reception on Thursday, May 29 at 6:30PM before 8pm performance
NEXT! A post-performance reception for patrons ages 26-40 on Friday, May 30

CONCEIVED & PERFORMED BY:
Bill Irwin

ENSEMBLE CAST:
Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie, Nichole Canuso, Jennifer Childs, Melanie Cotton, Aaron Cromie, Lee Ann Etzold, Makoto Hirano, and Cori Olinghouse

DESIGNERS & COLLABORATORS:
Set Designer – Kelly Hanson
Costume Designer – Nancy Schertler
Lighting Designer – Rebecca Lustig
Composer – Jorge Cousineau
Collaborator/Production Stage Manager – Nancy Harrington

PRESS INFORMATION:
Deborah Fleischman 215/735-7356

TICKET INFORMATION:
215/985-0420 or 866/985-0420 or www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org

SYNOPSIS:
In The Happiness Lecture Bill Irwin leads a versatile ensemble of eight actors and dancers on an adventure in the pursuit of happiness. A unique and imaginative evening of delightful vignettes and physical comedy, this world premiere event is a wild theatrical ride that spoofs theatrical conventions while exploring the sheer joy of laughter.