Tony Award Winner Richard Maltby to Helm Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's A MOST DANGEROUS WOMAN

Tony Award winner Richard Maltby, Jr. will direct The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's world premiere production of Cathy Tempelsman's A Most Dangerous Woman about the famed Victorian-era writer George Eliot. The production begins performances on September 18, 2013 at The Shakespeare Theatre's F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre in Madison New Jersey.

Maltby conceived and directed the Tony Award winning Broadway musicals Aint' Misbehavin' for which Maltby won the Tony Award for Best Director, Fosse and Ring of Fire. His credits also include the Tony-nominated Broadway musicals Baby (director and lyricist), Big (lyricist), Take Flight (lyricist and conceiver), Miss Saigon (co-lyricist), and The Pirate Queen (co-book writer and lyricist). He was also the director and co-lyricist for Song & Dance for which Bernadette Peters won her first Tony Award. His Off-Broadway credits include the Grammy-nominated Starting Here, Starting Now (director and lyricist), and Closer Than Ever, winner of the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical and Best Score. He recently directed the highly acclaimed revival of Closer Than Ever at the York Theatre Company. Maltby is also the recipient of Grammy, Outer Critics and Drama Desk Award nominations. He also wrote the screenplay for the film Miss Potter starting Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor and contributes crossword puzzles to Harpers Magazine.

A Most Dangerous Woman explores the extraordinary life of Mary Ann Evans -- better known by her pen name George Eliot -- one of the leading authors of the Victorian era. In order to be taken more seriously as a writer, Eliot took the name and was forced into a world of deception and secrets. "Out of the isolation she suffers - born of her own passion and need - she develops a preternatural insight into hidden and secret lives and the suffering of ordinary men and women, who, dramatically, are as rich and compelling as the kings and queens we find in Shakespeare," said playwright Cathy Tempelsman.

Tempelsman's award-winning A Most Dangerous Woman is the recipient of a Pilgrim Fund development grant and has received readings at Primary Stages, The Vineyard Playhouse in Martha's Vineyard, The Dramatists Guild, and Nuneaton Town Hall in England. Her one-act play Missing was produced at Boston Playwrights Theatre and the Barrow Group in New York City, and was recently published by Smith and Kraus. She has been a guest artist at the Kennedy Center's Playwriting Intensive, and studied at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in Tennessee. She has also been a guest lecturer at the International George Eliot Conference at the University of Warwickshire in the UK. Prior to writing plays, Tempelsman worked for the Wall Street Journal and she is the author of the parenting guide Child-Wise. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Vineyard Gazette and Coastal Living.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Main Stage, the 308-seat F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, is conveniently located in Madison at 36 Madison Avenue (Route 124) at Lancaster Road (on the Drew University campus), just minutes from routes 287, 78 and 10. Parking is free.

The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre is barrier free with access into the Theatre via a ramp and has elevator access to all floors. Wheelchair seating and transfer seating is available. Braille and large print programs are also available. Infrared listening devices are free of charge. Some performances are audio described. Contact the Theatre for more information. The Outdoor Stage is located on the campus of the College of St. Elizabeth, 2 Convent Road in Morris Township. For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 973-408-5600 or visit www.ShakespeareNJ.org.

The acclaimed Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is an independent, professional theatre company located on the Drew University campus. One of the leading Shakespeare theatres in the nation, serving 100,000 adults and children annually, it is New Jersey's largest professional theatre company dedicated solely to Shakespeare's canon and other world classics. Through its distinguished productions and education programs, the company strives to illuminate the universal and lasting relevance of the classics for contemporary audiences.