Two-time Tony Award nominee, Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman (Private Lives, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the Harry Potter franchise) is currently making his eagerly-anticipated return to Broadway starring in the World Premiere of SEMINAR, a new comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Peabody Award winner Theresa Rebeck (Mauritius, The Understudy, Omnium Gatherum, The Family of Mann, Spike Heels, NBC's upcoming "Smash").
Today, The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye reports that Rickman is in talks to take the show to the West End. Producer David Ian says that unless Rickman leads the show, a transfer won't be happening.
Directed by acclaimed Obie Award winner Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens, Tigers Be Still, Kin, The Coward) in his debut, the Broadway production also stars Tony Award nominee Lily Rabe (The Merchant of Venice, Steel Magnolias, last summer's lauded A Doll's House at Williamstown), Obie Award winner Hamish Linklater (The School for Lies, Twelfth Night, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"), film and television star Jerry O'Connell (Jerry Maguire, Stand By Me, "The Defenders," "Crossing Jordan") in his Broadway debut and actress Hettienne Park (Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide... at The Public, "The Good Wife").
Produced by Jeffrey Finn, Jill Furman, John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith, Roy Furman, David Ian, David Mirvish, Amy Nauiokas and James Spry, SEMINAR officially opened on November 20.
In SEMINAR, four aspiring young novelists (Ms. Rabe, Mr. Linklater, Mr. O'Connell and Ms. Park) sign up for private writing classes with Leonard (Mr. Rickman), an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience in this provocative new comedy.
The production features set and costume design by Tony Award nominee and two-time Obie Award winner David Zinn, lighting design by Drama Desk Award nominee Ben Stanton and original music and sound design by two-time Drama Desk Award winner John Gromada.
An internationally-renowned actor of stage, screen and television, Alan Rickman returns to the Broadway stage for the first time since being nominated for a Tony Award for his acclaimed starring performance as Elyot in the 2002 production of Noel Coward's Private Lives. He previously made his Broadway debut and earned his first Tony Award nomination as Valmont in the 1987 U.S. premiere production of Les Liasions Dangereuses. On film, he is perhaps best known for his iconic performances as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise and Hans Gruber in the 1988 hit Die Hard, as well as award-winning roles in such films as Sense and Sensibility and, more recently, Sweeney Todd and Bottle Shock.
