Kicking off the final week of Neil Simons The Sunshine Boys on the Wurtele Thrust Stage, Joe Dowling will chat with the legendary producer who brought multiple Neil Simon plays to Broadway; actor Peter Michael Goetz will join the discussion.

(Minneapolis/St. Paul) The Guthrie Theater today announced a special In Conversation with Broadway producer Emanuel Manny Azenberg. The event will be held on Monday, August 27 at 7:30 p.m. on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at the Guthrie. Artistic Director Joe Dowling will lead the conversation that will be joined by actor Peter Michael Goetz, currently performing as Willie Clark in the Guthries production of Neil Simons The Sunshine Boys. Tickets for the event are $15 and are on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

Azenberg is an American theater producer and general manager whose professional relationship with playwright Neil Simon spans four decades, beginning with The Sunshine Boys in 1972. Among his many honors, including multiple Tony and Drama Desk Awards, is a 2012 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. Azenberg was elected into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2009 and has taught theater at Duke University for two decades.

The Guthrie's In Conversation series features playwrights, artists and cultural leaders discussing topics that are directly tied to current or upcoming work on the Guthrie stages. The series is designed to give context to work on stage and to enrich the playgoing experience. Past In Conversation guests include playwrights John Guare, Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, Neil Simon and Alfred Uhry, historian Joseph Ellis and actors Patrick Stewart, Rainn Wilson and David Hyde Pierce.

The GUTHRIE THEATER (Joe Dowling, Director) was founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963 and is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training. The Tony Award-winning Guthrie Theater is dedicated to producing the great works of dramatic literature, developing the work of contemporary playwrights and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. With annual attendance of nearly 500,000 people, the Guthrie Theater presents a mix of classic plays and contemporary work on its three stages. Under the artistic leadership of Joe Dowling since 1995, the Guthrie continues to set a national standard for excellence in theatrical production and performance. In 2006, the Guthrie opened its new home on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, the Guthrie Theater houses three state-of-the-art stages, production facilities, classrooms and dramatic public lobbies. www.guthrietheater.org

For more information contact:

Seena Hodges 612.225.6142

seenah@guthrietheater.org

Quinton Skinner 612.225.6140

quintons@guthrietheater.org

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