Mahaiwe Hosts Panel with Broadway's OF MICE AND MEN Producing Team Tonight

The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will present a live panel discussion with the producing team behind Broadway's Of Mice and Men in conjunction with the HD broadcast of the play by National Theatre Live tonight, December 20. The pre-screening panel will take place onstage at the Mahaiwe starting at 7:00pm, followed by the 8:00pm broadcast. Panelists will include Broadway Producer David Binder, Marketing Director/Associate Producer Eric Schnall, Steinbeck Estate Representative Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein, and Executive Producer/General Manager Wendy Orshan, who will serve as moderator.

"I'm very excited about the special opportunity that our behind-the-scenes panelists are creating, as they describe the development of this award-winning Broadway play and its HD broadcast process," said Mahaiwe Executive Director Beryl Jolly.

Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee James Franco (127 Hours, Milk) and Tony Award nominee Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids, Girls) star in the hit Broadway production, Of Mice And Men, filmed onstage at the Longacre Theatre in New York City by National Theatre Live. This landmark revival of Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck's play is a powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heartbreaking testament to the bonds of friendship. Set in California during the Great Depression, the play tells the tragic story of two out of work migrant ranch-workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, moving place to place in search of a job.

Of Mice and Men is directed by Tony Award, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circles award winner Anna D. Shapiro (Broadway's August: Osage County) and features Leighton Meester (Country Strong, Gossip Girl) and Tony Award winner Jim Norton (The Seafarer). The production was nominated for two Tony Awards, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Chris O'Dowd.

David Binder's Broadway credits include the first revival of A Raisin in the Sun, 33 Variations starring Jane Fonda and the Tony Award winning production of the rock 'n' roll musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, originally starring Neil Patrick Harris, now starring Michael C. Hall. David is the original producer of Hedwigas well as the downtown, genre-defying shows De La Guarda and Fuerza Bruta. International credits include This Is Our Youth with Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin at the Sydney Opera House. David produced the High Line Festival, curated by David Bowie, and the Dutch New Island Festival on Governors Island. His TED talk on "The Arts Festival Revolution" has been seen online by over a half million people. David has held a teaching fellowship at Princeton and for the last six years served on the faculty at the Yale School of Drama.

Eric Schnall is a Tony Award-winning producer and marketing director. Credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Of Mice and Men, Lucky Guy, Red, Hamlet, Mary Stuart, 33 Variations, Frost/Nixon, The Year of Magical Thinking, A Raisin in the Sun (2004), The Vagina Monologues, De La Guarda and Rent. Eric has worked with St. Ann's Warehouse, the Public Theater, the Donmar Warehouse, the National Theatre and BAM. He has lectured at the Yale School of Drama and co-produced This Is Our Youth starring Michael Cera at the Sydney Opera House. He is part-time Berkshire resident, with a home in Salisbury, Connecticut.

Elizabeth Winick Rubinstein, president and senior agent at McIntosh & Otis, has degrees from New York University and Manhattan School of Music. She began her book publishing career in subsidiary rights and then took on the responsibilities of acquisitions editor at a major audio publishing imprint. Initially, she joined McIntosh & Otis to manage all subsidiary rights but began working as an agent shortly thereafter. She represents numerous New York Times bestsellers, and both Agatha and Edgar Award winners and nominees, as well as the Steinbeck Estate.

Wendy Orshan co-founded 101 Productions with Jeffrey M. Wilson in 1994, having first worked with him at Gatchell & Neufeld, Ltd. Associates: Elie Landau, Ron Gubin and Chris Morey. Her current and upcoming Broadway productions include The Elephant Man, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and An American in Paris. Other recent productions include The Bridges of Madison County, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Annie, Big Fish, Romeo and Juliet, Lucky Guy, and I'll Eat You Last. Special projects she's produced include New Island Festival, A Broadway Celebration: In Performance at the White House, and IBM's Centennial Gala. She is a part-time Berkshire resident, with a home in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

Tickets are $17 (including both the panel and HD broadcast). The Mahaiwe is located at 14 Castle Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Box office hours are Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 6:00pm and three hours before show times. For tickets and information, see www.mahaiwe.org or call 413.528.0100.

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