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Speed-The-Plow to Begin Oct. 3 at The Belasco Theatre

By: Jul. 14, 2008
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The 20th Anniversary revival of David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow will begin performances on Friday, October 3, 2008 at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street) under the direction of Neil Pepe (David Mamet's Romance, Ethan Coen's Almost an Evening). The play will star Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Jeremy Piven ("Entourage", Fat Pig) as ambitious producer Charlie Fox and three-time Tony-nominee Raúl Esparza (The Homecoming, Company, Taboo) as film production exec Bobby Gould. 

Speed-The-Plow is Mamet's scathing portrait of the film industry and the people who are willing to sell their souls for sex, fame and fortune.  Still to be cast is the role of Karen that Madonna originated on Broadway in the 1988 production

The revival is being produced by Jeffrey Richards,Jerry Frankel and Steve Traxler, currently represented on Broadway by Tracy Letts' August: Osage County and Spring Awakening. 

RAÚL ESPARZA most recently starred in the Tony-nominated revival of The Homecoming for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Prior to that he starred in the Tony-Award winning Company, for which he received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards and a Tony nomination. His previous New York stage appearances include Taboo, for which he also received a Tony nomination, The Normal Heart, Comedians, and tick, tick…Boom!, all of which earned him Drama League nominations. He received a 2001 Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut in the revival of The Rocky Horror Show.

Jeremy Piven.  Piven's critically acclaimed, award winning portrayal of the slick, fast talking super agent, "Ari Gold" in the smash-hit HBO original series Entourage has propelled him to the forefront of the entertainment industry. The role has earned him a Golden Globe and two Emmy Awards.  Piven, will next be seen starring in the feature film comedy The Goods for Paramount Vantage as well as the Guy Ritchie directed Rocknrolla. Piven was most recently seen on the big screen in director Peter Berg's political drama The Kingdom opposite Jamie Foxx and in Joe Carnahan's Smokin Aces, in which he starred opposite Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta.  Prior to Entourage, Piven had already established his presence in over 40 feature films with a number of impressive credits which include, The Player, Runaway Jury, Old School, Serendipity, Black Hawk Down, Very Bad Things, Singles,  Rush Hour 2 and The Family Man.  On the small screen Piven was a series regular on Cupid and Ellen and appeared on The Larry Sanders Show and in the telepic Don King: Only in America. In 2005, Piven returned to his theater acting roots when he starred alongside Keri Russell and Andrew McCarthy in the off-Broadway hit, Fat Pig by Neil LaBute. For his role, Piven received a Distinguished Performance Honor from the Drama League.   Piven was born and raised in Chicago where his parents founded the Piven Theatre Workshop. His father, Byrne, taught the likes of John and Joan Cusack, Roseanna Arquette and Aidan Quinn. Jeremy is still very active with this Theatre and returns to Chicago frequently to help keep his father's dream alive.

David Mamet was most recently represented on Broadway by November and won the Pulitzer Prize for his play Glengarry Glen Ross. His other stage credits include Speed-The-Plow (Tony nom.), The Cryptogram (Pulitzer nom.), Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Oleanna, Romance, Boston Marriage, The Old Neighborhood, A Life in the Theatre and the adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance. Mamet is also a two-time Academy Award-nominee for The Verdict and Wag the Dog whose other film credits include State and Main, The Winslow Boy, The Spanish Prisoner, Homicide and The Untouchables. He a writer and co-producer for the current CBS hit "The Unit" and the author of numerous novels including The Wicked Son and Bambi vs. Godzilla.

Neil Pepe has helmed such heralded productions as David Mamet's Romance, Harold Pinter's Celebration/The Room, Sea of Tranquility, Shaker Heights (Outer Critics Circle nom.) and the Drama League nominated production of Mojo. As the Artistic Director of Atlantic Theatre Company, he has produced the Tony Award-winning productions of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and 2007's Best Musical Spring Awakening.

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