Seminar (play)
| Seminar | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the production | |
| Written by | Theresa Rebeck |
| Characters |
Leonard Kate Martin Douglas Izzy |
| Date premiered | 20 November 2011 |
| Place premiered |
John Golden Theater New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | A series of writing seminars. |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Setting | Present day; New York City |
| IBDB profile | |
Seminar is a Broadway play by Theresa Rebeck. It played, on Broadway, at the Golden Theater. Alan Rickman originated the lead character, Leonard. The production premiered on November 20, 2011 and closed on May 6, 2012.[1] Jeff Goldblum[2] replaced Alan Rickman as Leonard on April 1, 2012. The Broadway production was directed by Sam Gold and features original music by John Gromada.
Plot
Set in present day New York City, Seminar follows four young writers: Kate, Martin, Douglas, and Izzy, and their professor, Leonard. Each student has paid Leonard $5,000 for a ten-week-long writing seminar to be held in Kate's Upper West Side apartment. As tensions arise and romance falls between students, they clash over their writing, their relations, and their futures.
Principal roles and current casts
| Character | Description | Original Broadway performer | Closing Night Broadway performer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leonard | The seminar's professor, he has long, dramatic history as a writer. | Alan Rickman | Jeff Goldblum |
| Martin | A writer that is struggling financially. He is afraid to show his work to anyone. | Hamish Linklater | Justin Long |
| Douglas | Nephew of a famous playwright from Harvard, he can actually write, but is constantly accused for being a "name dropper." | Jerry O'Connell | Jerry O'Connell |
| Izzy | Deemed a good writer from the beginning, she is at the center of romantic conflict in the group. | Hettienne Park | Hettienne Park |
| Kate | Her writing is immediately classified for being one with a narrator no one cares about, she constantly tries to prove herself during the play. | Lily Rabe | Zoe Lister-Jones |
Reception
The play was mostly well received by critics. Ben Brantley of The New York Times, criticized some elements of the script, but praised the acting of Rickman and the way it handles its premise, concluding that: "Of course this mélange of feelings, magnificently orchestrated by Mr. Rickman, is arrived at after Leonard has only glanced at the first couple of pages of a vast manuscript. But for the first time I felt an authentic rush of pleasure and the exhilaration of being reminded that in theater, art comes less from landing lines than in finding what lies between them."[3]
Elysa Gardner of USA Today, called Seminar an "enriching study".[4] David Rooney, of the Hollywood Reporter, wrote that "Seminar is tight, witty and consistently entertaining, acquiring more muscle as the layers are peeled back to reveal both the scarred humanity and the numbness beneath Leonard’s soured exterior."[5]
Seminar was nominated as Best Play by the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League, but did not earn any Tony Award nominations.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kenneth Jones. "Broadway's Seminar Will Be a Closed Book on May 6". Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ↑ "Jeff Goldblum In 'Seminar': Alan Rickman To Leave Role, Goldblum Will Step In". Huffington Post. 15 February 2012.
- ↑ Brantley, Ben (20 November 2011). "Shredding Egos, One Semicolon at a Time – New York Times Review". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ↑ "Alan Rickman is head of a talented class in Seminar". USA Today. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- ↑ Rooney, David (20 November 2011). "Seminar: Theater Review – The Hollywood Reporter". Retrieved 25 February 2012.