Rehearsals Begin Today for FREUD'S LAST SESSION in LA

FREUD'S LAST SESSION, New York's long-running hit play by Mark St. Germain, is set to open in Los Angeles next month starring Judd Hirsch as Sigmund Freud and Tom Cavanagh as C. S. Lewis under the direction of Tyler Marchant, who helmed the original New York production. Rehearsals begin today in New York City. Presented by The Broad Stage and CRC Productions, FREUD'S LAST SESSION will begin performances January 11th for a strictly limited engagement through February 10th at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

The Off-Broadway premiere engagement of FREUD'S LAST SESSION opened on July 22, 2010 to rave reviews and became a sellout sensation throughout its phenomenal two-year run. The show is also currently playing to sold-out houses in Buenos Aires, Philadelphia and Stockholm. Additional productions are set to open this season in London, Mexico City, Sydney, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Dublin, Vancouver, Phoenix, Copenhagen, Tucson, and Anchorage. FREUD'S LAST SESSION was produced Off-Broadway by Carolyn Rossi Copeland, Robert Stillman and Jack Thomas.

FREUD'S LAST SESSION centers on legendary psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud, who invites the young, rising academic star C. S. Lewis to his home in London. Lewis, expecting to be called on the carpet for satirizing Freud in a recent book, soon realizes Freud has a much more significant agenda. On the day England enters World War II, Freud and Lewis clash on the existence of God, love, sex, and the meaning of life – only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own. Not just a powerful debate, this is a profound and deeply touching play about two men who boldly addressed the greatest questions of all time. Mark St. Germain's celebrated new play was suggested by the bestselling book The Question of God by Harvard's Dr. Armand M. Nicholi, Jr.

Judd Hirsch is a two-time Tony Award winner for I'm Not Rappaport and Conversations With My Father and his other Broadway credits include Barefoot in the Park, Chapter Two, Art, Talley's Folly, and Knock Knock. Off-Broadway, he starred in The Hot l Baltimore and The Seagull. Mr. Hirsch won two Emmys for the long-running hit TV series "Taxi," and his other film and TV credits include A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People (Oscar nomination), "The Good Wife," "Damages," Serpico, Running on Empty, "Sooner or Later," "Fear on Trial," "Numb3rs," "The Law," Independence Day, and "Dear John."

Tom Cavanagh is best known as the star of the hit NBC series "Ed." On Broadway, he starred in Urinetown and Shenandoah. His other film and TV credits include "Scrubs," "Stories from the Vaults," "Royal Pains," Bang Bang You're Dead, "The Outer Limits," "Jack & Bobby," "Eli Stone," "Love Monkey," "Trust Me," "Anya's Bell," Breakfast with Scot, Two Weeks, The Cake Eaters, "Trading Christmas," Something More, Pittsburgh, "Snow," "A Killer Among Us," Dangerous Intentions, and Gray Matters.

Playwright Mark St. Germain has written the plays Camping with Henry and Tom (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards); The Best of Enemies; Dr. Ruth, All the Way; Out of Gas on Lover's Leap; and Forgiving Typhoid Mary. With Randy Courts, he has written the musicals The Gifts of the Magi, Johnny Pye and the Foolkiller and Jack's Holiday. TV credits include Writer and Creative Consultant for "The Cosby Show." Mark co-wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed film Duma, and he directed and co-produced the documentary My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story featuring Richard Gere, Glenn Close and Edward Albee, among many others.

FREUD'S LAST SESSION hosted an unusually large number of celebrity attendees throughout its New York run, including such luminaries as Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Barbara Walters, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Gere, John Cleese, Frank Oz, Marcia Gay Harden, Peter Bogdanovich, Neil Simon, T.R. Knight, Patricia Heaton, Jerry Stiller, Christiane Amanpour, Andy Rooney, Olympia Dukakis, Dick Cavett, Victoria Jackson, Scott Adsit, Dan Lauria, Roger Goodell, Cornel West, Celeste Holm, Peter Shaffer, John Kander, Dr. Ruth (10 times!), Frances Sternhagen, The Amazing Kreskin, Tina Louise, and Louis Zorich.

Scenic design for FREUD'S LAST SESSION is by Brian Prather, with costume design by Mark Mariani, lighting design by Clifton Taylor, and sound design by Beth Lake.

The playing schedule for FREUD'S LAST SESSION will be Tuesday through Friday evenings at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at 4 & 8 PM, and Sundays at 1 & 5 PM. The running time is 84 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are available at www.TheBroadStage.com or by calling 310-434-3200. The Broad Stage is located at 1310 11th Street inside the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center.

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