Producers Jeffrey Finn, Jill Furman and Smuggler Films announced today that Tony Award nominee and two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Lily Rabe (The Merchant of Venice, Steel Magnolias, this summer's lauded A Doll's House at Williamstown) and Obie Award winner and Drama Desk nominee Hamish Linklater (The School for Lies, Twelfth Night, "The New Adventures of Old Christine") have joined two-time Tony Award nominee, Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman (Private Lives, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the Harry Potter franchise) in the World Premiere of SEMINAR, a new play 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").
Directed by acclaimed Obie Award winner Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens, Tigers Be Still, Kin, The Coward) in his Broadway debut, the production will begin previews on Thursday, October 27 at The Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street). Opening Night is set for Sunday, November 20 at 6:30 PM. The production marks Alan Rickman's eagerly-anticipated return to the Broadway stage. In SEMINAR, four aspiring young novelists 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 biting new comedy.
The producers also announced the design team, which will feature 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.
Final casting and ticketing information will be announced in the coming weeks.
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.
Lily Rabe earned a Tony Award nomination for her acclaimed portrayal as Portia in The Merchant of Venice, for which she also won The Joe E. Callaway Award and earned a Drama Desk nomination. She made a memorable Broadway debut in Steel Magnolias (Drama Desk nomination), also appearing in The American Plan and Heartbreak House (Callaway Award, Outer Critics Circle nomination). This summer she earned rave reviews for her starring performance as Nora in A Dolls' House at Williamstown. Her Film credits include All Good Things and Letters from a Big Man (official Sundance selection).
Hamish Linklater has consistently drawn raves for his performances in such Off-Broadway productions as The School for Lies (Obie Award), Twelfth Night (Drama Desk nomination), The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale, Good Thing (also in L.A.) and as Laertes opposite Liev Schreiber's Hamlet. He is known to Television and Film audiences for his five seasons on the hit CBS show "The New Adventures of Old Christine," as well as the films Fantastic Four, Groove (official Sundance selection), the current The Future and the upcoming Lola Versus and Battleship. SEMINAR marks Mr. Linklater's Broadway debut.
For nearly a decade, Theresa Rebeck's more than a dozen plays have been produced in New York, as well as regionally and internationally. SEMINAR marks the first time one of her works will be produced as a commercial Broadway production. (Mauritius, her acclaimed 2007 Broadway debut, was presented by Manhattan Theatre Club.) In addition to her work as a playwright, Ms. Rebeck is also a respected, award-winning television writer and producer ("NYPD Blue," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," the eagerly-awaited NBC series "Smash"), film writer (Harriet the Spy, Seducing Charlie Barker) and novelist (the recent Twelve Rooms with a View and Three Girls and Their Brother). She is creator, head writer and executive producer of the upcoming NBC series "Smash."
One of the most consistently-praised directors to emerge on the New York theatrical scene in the last several years, Sam Gold has made his mark with an impressive string of critically-embraced Off-Broadway productions. He most notably won a 2010 Obie Award for directing two productions, Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation and Ms. Baker's The Aliens. His other acclaimed New York productions include Kin, The Coward, Tigers Be Still, Dusk Rings a Bell and Nick Jones' Jollyship the Whiz-Bang. SEMINAR marks the director's Broadway debut.
