ROBIN’S SHOW REVIEW: SEMINAR
In SEMINAR, four aspiring young novelists sign up for private writing classes with Leonard, an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, and sex is used as a strategic tool. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience.
Zoe Lister-Jones (The Little Dog Laughed, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, her own Codependence Is a Four-Letter Word, Salt, Breaking Upwards, NBC’s “Whitney,” Fox Searchlight’s upcoming Lola Versus) recently joined the commanding cast along with Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Jeff Goldblum (The Pillowman, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”) and Film and Television star Justin Long (He’s Just Not That Into You, The Break Up, Live Free or Die Hard, Dodgeball, “Ed”). It also features, from the original cast, Jerry O’Connell (Jerry Maguire, Stand By Me, “The Defenders,” “Crossing Jordan”) and Hettienne Park (Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide… at The Public, “The Good Wife”).
SEMINAR is written by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Peabody Award winner Theresa Rebeck (Mauritius, Omnium Gatherum, “NYBD Blue,” NBC’s new hit series “Smash”). I’ve long been a fan of Rebeck, who also wrote a piece in the off Broadway show Motherhood Out Loud, that played at Primary Stages and is set to tour worldwide.
Directed by Obie Award winner Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, Kin, Look Back in Anger, The Big Meal), SEMINAR plays at The Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street in NYC). It is produced by Jeffrey Finn, Jill Furman, John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith, Roy Furman, David Ian, David Mirvish, Amy Nauiokas and James Spry.
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.
If you’re a writer, aspiring writer or lover of good writing, SEMINAR is the must show to see. Written with wit, insight and keen observation, it’s a play I’d love to read as well.
BIOGRAPHIES
JEFF GOLDBLUM (Leonard beginning April 3). A career spanning film, television, and theater, Jeff Goldblum is one of the most talented and respected actors of his generation. Goldblum’s film career began at the age of seventeen, when he moved to New York City to study acting under Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. In less than a year, Joseph Papp cast him in the Broadway hit, Two Gentlemen of Verona. Soon after, he had his first film audition and was cast as the terrifying rapist in Death Wish. In contrast to that role, the very next week Robert Altman cast Goldblum as the twenty-year-old boy wonder in California Split, and asked him to play the mysterious biker/magician in Nashville. Goldblum’s long list of film credits include roles in some of the highest-grossing films of all time, including Steven Spielberg’s worldwide box office success, Jurassic Park, and Roland Emmerich’s science fiction thriller, Independence Day. Other film credits include The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Holy Man, Man of the Year, Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic, Paul Schrader’s Adam Resurrected, The Prince of Egypt, Chris Colombus’ Nine Months, Igby Goes Down, Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill, Silverado, The Fly, Deep Cover, Paul Mazursky’s Next Stop Greenwich Village, Remember My Name, The Right Stuff, Threshold, Between The Lines, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai, Into the Night, The Switch, Morning Glory and The Tall Guy. On television, Goldblum recently starred in a season of “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” as Detective Zach Nichols and before that as an eccentric cop who is able to talk to dead victims on “Raines.” He also garnered an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance on NBC’s “Will & Grace” and recently guest starred on the hit FOX series “Glee.” In 2005, Goldblum received critical praise for his return to Broadway, starring in Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman. He received an Outer Critics Circle Award for his performance and was nominated for a Drama Desk and Drama League Award. His most recent stage appearances include starring in two productions for London’s Old Vic: Speed-the-Plow in 2008 and The Prisoner of Second Avenue in 2010, both opposite Old Vic artistic director Kevin Spacey.
JUSTIN LONG (Martin beginning April 3), a versatile talent in both Film and Television, recently produced, co-wrote and co-starred in the upcoming romantic comedy film A Case of You opposite Evan Rachel Wood. Justin is also a recurring guest star on the FOX series “New Girl.” His starring feature roles include Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell; Live Free or Die Hard opposite Bruce Willis; Going the Distance opposite Drew Barrymore and He’s Just Not That Into You with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston and Scarlett Johansson. Justin’s other feature credits include Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Youth In Revolt with Michael Cera, Dodgeball with Ben Stiller, The Break-Up with Vince Vaughn and Mike Judge’s Idiocracy. Justin got his start in comedy as a member of Vassar College’s comedy troupe, Laughingstock, which led to his first movie roles in Galaxy Quest and Jeepers Creepers. On stage, Justin appeared at Williamstown Theatre Festival in the world premiere of Samuel J. and K. written by Mat Smart and directed by Justin Waldman, One Small Hitch written by Lewis Black and directed by Joe Grifasi, and Lanford Wilson’s The Hot L Baltimore directed by Joe Mantello. He has also worked with MCC, NY Stage and Film, Hartford Theater, Westport Theater Artist Workshop, and the Maxwell Anderson Playwrights Series on staged readings, including Neil LaBute’s Filthy Talk for Troubled Times (MCC), as well as taken part in The 24 Hour Plays. Seminar marks Mr. Long’s Broadway debut.
ZOE LISTER-JONES (Kate beginning April 3) is a Brooklyn-born actor, writer and producer. She is the executive producer, co-writer and star of Fox Searchlight’s upcoming feature Lola Versus, which will be released in Summer 2012. Additionally, she co-wrote, produced and starred in the indie comedy Breaking Upwards, which was distributed by IFC in 2010. Currently she can be seen as ‘Lily’ on NBC’s new hit comedy “Whitney.” Recent film credits include The Other Guys, Salt, State of Play, Shadows and Lies, Stuck Between Stations, Armless, Arranged and The Wedding Bros. For television Lister-Jones co-starred in Adult Swim’s “Delocated.” She has also appeared on “The Good Wife,” all four “Law & Order” series, “Bored to Death,” “The Class” and “Kidnapped.” On Broadway, Lister-Jones was in The Little Dog Laughed in a role which she originated Off-Broadway at Second Stage. Other New York stage credits include Roundabout Theatre Company’s The Marriage of Bette and Boo, New Group’s The Accomplices and in her one-woman show, Codependence is a Four-Letter Word, which she produced, wrote and starred in at PS 122, and was a New York Times Critics Pick. Lister-Jones is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and resides in Brooklyn, NY.
JERRY O’CONNELL (Douglas), born and raised in New York City, began his acting career at age 11 when he co-starred as Vern Tessio in the classic Rob Reiner film Stand By Me. He took a break from acting and didn’t return to it full-time until after getting his BFA at New York University. Upon graduating, he returned to feature film work, notably receiving critical acclaim for his role as Quarterback Frank Cushman in Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise. Among his many additional starring screen credits are Scream 2; Can’t Hardly Wait; Mission to Mars; Tomcats;the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced comedy Kangaroo Jack; Yours, Mine and Ours; the independent films Man About Town with Ben Affleck and Room 6 with Christine Taylor; the hit thriller Obsessed with Beyoncé Knowles; and Dimension Films’ recent remake of the cult classic Piranha 3D with Elisabeth Shue, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss and Ving Rhames for director Alexandre Aja. Equally prolific on television, he most recently starred as Pete Kaczmarek in the CBS comedic drama “The Defenders” opposite Jim Belushi. He previously starred on NBC’s hit drama “Crossing Jordan” for six seasons as Detective Woody Hoyt, a character that also crossed-over to NBC’s “Las Vegas.” Also among his starring roles on the small screen are the Lifetime Original Movie “Nora Roberts’ Midnight Bayou” opposite Faye Dunaway, the series “Sliders” for Fox and the Sci-Fi Channel, the television movie “What the Deaf Man Heard” and the miniseries “The ‘60s.” In 2004, O’Connell sold the screenplay for First Daughter to New Regency Films. He served as an Executive Producer for the film which starred Katie Holmes and was directed by Forrest Whitaker. Seminar marks Mr. O’Connell’s Broadway debut.
HETTIENNE PARK (Izzy) played Sooze in Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures directed by Michael Greif at The Public. Film work includes Bride Wars (dir. Gary Winick), Year of the Fish (dir. David Kaplan; Grand Jury Prize, Avignon), Never Forever (dir. Gina Kim; Jury Prize, Deauville and Grand Jury nomination at Sundance) and the upcoming Young Adult with Charlize Theron (dir. Jason Reitman). On television, Hettienne has guest starred on “Mercy” and “The Good Wife” and has appeared on “Damages,” “Numb3rs,” “Law & Order”, “ L&O: SVU” and “Hack.” Seminar marks Hettienne’s Broadway debut.
THERESA REBECK (Playwright) is a widely produced playwright throughout the United States and abroad. Past New York productions of her work include Mauritius (directed by Doug Hughes) at the Biltmore Theatre in a Manhattan Theater Club production; The Scene, The Water’s Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels at Second Stage; Bad Dates, The Butterfly Collection and Our House at Playwrights Horizons; and View of the Dome at New York Theatre Workshop. Omnium Gatherum (co-written, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2003) was featured at the Humana Festival, and had a commercial run at the Variety Arts Theatre. The Understudy (2010 Lilly Award), premiered at the 2008 Williamstown Theatre Festival and ran in New York at the Laura Pels Theater in a Roundabout Theatre Company production. All of Ms. Rebeck’s past produced plays are published by Smith and Kraus as Theresa Rebeck: Complete Plays, Volumes I, II and III and in acting editions available from Samuel French, Playscripts or Dramatists Play Service. Ms. Rebeck’s two novels, Three Girls and Their Brother (ALA Alex award) and Twelve Rooms with a View, have been published by Random House/Shaye Areheart Books. In television, Ms. Rebeck has written for “Dream On,” “Brooklyn Bridge,” “L.A. Law,” “American Dreamer,” “Maximum Bob,” “First Wave” and “Third Watch.” She has been a writer/producer for “Canterbury’s Law,” “Smith,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “NYPD Blue.” Her produced feature films include Harriet the Spy, Gossip and the independent features Sunday on the Rocks and Seducing Charlie Barker, an adaptation of her play, The Scene. Awards include the Mystery Writer’s of America’s Edgar Award, the Writer’s Guild of America award for Episodic Drama, the Hispanic Images Imagen Award and the Peabody, all for her work on “NYPD Blue.” She was the proud recipient of the National Theatre Conference Award for The Family of Mann, the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award in 2003 for The Bells and received both the 2007 IRNE Award for Best New Play and the Eliot Norton Award for Mauritius. She is also the proud recipient of the 2010 PEN Award for Playwriting. She is a board member of the Lark Theater, the Dramatists Guild and has taught at Brandeis University and Columbia University. She recently served as artist in residence at the University of Delaware. Her two most recent plays are Poor Behavior, which had its World Premiere this Fall at The Mark Taper Forum, and Dead Accounts, which had its World Premiere at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in January. She is creator, head writer and executive producer of the new hit TV series “Smash.”
SAM GOLD (Director) won a 2010 Obie Award for his direction of both Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons) and The Aliens (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater). His other recent New York work include acclaimed productions of Look Back in Anger (Roundabout), We Live Here by Zoe Kazan (Manhattan Theater Club), Kin by Bathsheba Doran (Playwrights Horizons), The Coward by Nick Jones (Lincoln Center Theater’s LCT3), Tigers Be Still by Kim Rosenstock (Roundabout Theatre Company), Stephen Belber’s Dusk Rings a Bell (Atlantic Theater Company) and Nick Jones’ Jollyship the Whiz-Bang, which played to sold out runs at Ars Nova in 2008 and The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival in 2010. He most recently directed Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at Williamstown Theatre Festival and Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County at The Old Globe. Other credits include Noah Haidle’s Rag and Bone (Rattlestick), Sam Marks’ The Joke (Studio Dante), Betty Shamieh’s The Black Eyed (New York Theater Workshop), Colin McKenna’s The Secret Agenda of Trees (Cherry Lane), The Threepenny Opera and Marlowe’s Edward II (Juilliard) and Anne Carson’s translation of Electra (Williams College). Sam was the Dramaturg at The Wooster Group from 2003-2006. He is a Roundabout Associate Artist, NYTW Usual Suspect, Drama League Directing Fellow, recipient of the Princess Grace Award, The Garson Kanin/Marian Seldes Theater Hall of Fame Fellowship, and a graduate of the Juilliard Directing Program. Upcoming: The Big Meal (Playwrights Horizons), The Realistic Joneses (Yale Rep), Uncle Vanya (Soho Rep).
DISCOUNT OFFER
VALID FOR PERFORMANCES NOW THROUGH MAY 27
Monday through Thursday Evening, Wednesday Matinee and Sunday Matinee
$84.50 ORCH/FRONT MEZZ (Reg. $116.50-$121.50)
$69 REAR MEZZ (A-F) (Reg. $76.50 -$81.50)
Friday Evening, Saturday Matinee & Evening
$89.50 ORCH/FRONT MEZZ (Reg. $126.50)
$69 REAR MEZZ (A-F) (Reg. $81.50)
TO ORDER TICKETS: VISIT BroadwayOffers.com or CALL 212.947.8844 and USE CODE SEFNF316. Feel free to share the code with friends.
Follow the show on: http://www.facebook.com/seminaronbroadway and https://twitter.com/#!/seminaronbway
