Veteran playwright/TV writer Theresa Rebeck has been tapped to write Showtime's Broadway series project.
The untitled project, a brainchild of Steven Spielberg, chronicles the development of an original Broadway musical, from the inception of the idea through the opening night and everything in between.
If the project goes to series, the intention is to take the musical at the center of the show to the stage.
DreamWorks TV principals Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, who executive produce the project with Spielberg, had known Rebeck's work writing for such series as "NYPD Blue," "L.A. Law" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."
They zeroed in on her for the Broadway project after reading her comedy play "The Understudy," which is running off-Broadway with Julie White and Mark-Paul Gosselaar starring.
Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have produced several successful film and TV musical adaptations, are also exec producing along with the CAA-repped Rebeck.
The untitled project, a brainchild of Steven Spielberg, chronicles the development of an original Broadway musical, from the inception of the idea through the opening night and everything in between.
If the project goes to series, the intention is to take the musical at the center of the show to the stage.
DreamWorks TV principals Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, who executive produce the project with Spielberg, had known Rebeck's work writing for such series as "NYPD Blue," "L.A. Law" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."
They zeroed in on her for the Broadway project after reading her comedy play "The Understudy," which is running off-Broadway with Julie White and Mark-Paul Gosselaar starring.
Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who have produced several successful film and TV musical adaptations, are also exec producing along with the CAA-repped Rebeck.
- 1/19/2010
- by By Nellie Andreeva
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We finally caught up with the Off Broadway hit Circle Mirror Transformation (pictured at left) and boy are we glad that we did. Ditto for the reinvention of the David Lean movie Brief Encounter that wraps up this weekend at Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse. These little shows are both stunners...and will certainly tide us over until the coming wave of big openings. (We're particularly excited about The Pee-Wee Herman Show in L.A. -- you can read more about the plans for the production in the profile of Paul Reubens in this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly.) If you're looking for some live theater,...
- 1/16/2010
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
In December, David Cromer's production of the Off Broadway play Our Town (pictured at left) became the longest running version of the show ever, so we here at EW urge you to take a look at our just-posted review of the production—and consider heading to downtown NYC to give it a gander. It's worth it, as EW's Tanner Stransky gave the production an A- and called it "incredibly moving." Because of the recent holidays, few new shows have been opening on the boards in NYC. But if you're looking for some live theater, check out the EW.com...
- 1/9/2010
- by Tanner Stransky
- EW.com - PopWatch
With the holiday season upon us, new stage openings are sparse. What's worse, audiences have been sparse at several of this season's new shows. This week brought closing notices for two well-reviewed revivals, Finian's Rainbow (final performance Jan. 17) and Ragtime (pictured at left; final show Jan. 10). On the other hand, we received casting news on some upcoming productions (The Hangover's Justin Bartha in for T.R. Knight in the Broadway revival of Lend Me a Tenor) -- as well as word that Martin Sheen will return to the stage in February (at L.A.'s Mark Taper Forum) in a...
- 1/1/2010
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
In the past week, two new shows have opened in New York City: A Little Night Music, a musical revival starring Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta-Jones (at left), and The Orphans Home Cycle, Part 2 -- The Story of a Marriage. EW reviewers enjoyed both of them. Thom Geier gave A Little Night Music a B+ and said that star Zeta-Jones comfortably commanded the stage "as if it were just another red carpet to be conquered." Meanwhile, Melissa Rose Bernardo also gave The Orphans Home Cycle, Part 2 -- The Story of a Marriage a B+ and made the powerful proclamation that...
- 12/19/2009
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
The past week saw the opening of two new shows in New York City. The first is a new play from David Mamet, Race, which EW critic Lisa Schwarzbaum awarded a C grade and called "a four-person dramatic tap dance about the lies blacks and whites tell each other about each other." The other—without a doubt, much lighter fare—is a lost backstage play called So Help Me God starring Kristen Johnston that EW's Jessica Shaw gave a B, commenting that "Johnston seems to relish every second" of her time on stage, "strutting around the stage in diva-worthy capes and lacy gowns,...
- 12/12/2009
- by Tanner Stransky
- EW.com - PopWatch
Stage fans, we find ourselves on a weekend where lots of the star-driven shows on the boards -- ranging from Oleanna and After Miss Julie to A Steady Rain and Hamlet -- are set to close. Single tear. But, never fear! A handful of great new shows have opened in the last week, too, so you're covered. Reviews of five new shows went up on EW.com this week: our critics' takes on the touring production of The 101 Dalmatians Musical (B-); and off-Broadway entries The Brother/Sister Plays (A), This (B+), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (C+), and A Streetcar Named Desire...
- 12/5/2009
- by Tanner Stransky
- EW.com - PopWatch
Former American Idol contestant Syesha Mercado may be the biggest known name in the revival of Dreamgirls that kicked off its national tour at Harlem's famed Apollo Theatre this week, but it's an unknown named Moya Angela who's generating all the buzz as Effie "I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" White, according to EW's Tanner Stransky. Also this week, the booty-shaking biographical Afrobeat musical Fela! (pictured at left) opened on Broadway to widespread raves (including a B+ from EW), while a fine cast headed by a lifeless Matthew Broderick struggled in director/playwright Kenneth Lonergan's disappointing new Off Broadway comic drama,...
- 11/27/2009
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
It was a busy week on the boards. Sunday saw the opening of a Broadway revival of the musical Ragtime (pictured right), which EW's Melissa Rose Bernardo calls "dazzling" and gives an A. Also on Broadway, Sarah Ruhl's provocatively titled comic play In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play opened to a decidedly lukewarm review from yours truly: "Ruhl's play could have benefited from a broader, farcical touch." Elsewhere on Broadway, the Julia Stiles-Bill Pullman revival of David Mamet's Oleanna announced plans to close on Jan. 3. Off Broadway, we raved about both Alan Ayckbourn's My...
- 11/21/2009
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
Although nothing much opened on the Great White Way this week, never fear, stage fans! Next week, we'll be posting new reviews of Broadway's musical revival Ragtime (at left) and the comedy In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play as well as the Alan Ayckbourn play My Wonderful Day Off Broadway and the Los Angeles productions of Mary Poppins and the drama Equivocation. If you are looking for something fresh from EW this week, though, read up on Broadway's new Spider-Man, Reeve Carney. But in the meantime, you can enjoy all the other great Stage coverage. Check out the EW.
- 11/14/2009
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
Justin Kirk is far more successful than Harry, the underemployed actor he plays in "The Understudy," Theresa Rebeck's three-hander now currently being presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company Off-Broadway at the Laura Pels Theatre. Indeed, Kirk is well-known for his creepy, neurotic turn as Andy Botwin on the Showtime series "Weeds." Nonetheless, he understands the comically tormented Harry's plight. "For an actor, it's a constant struggle to keep yourself from diving into cynicism, paranoia, and the feeling that the universe is crashing in on you," he says. "But we try." The play, which also stars Julie White and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, touches on a range of thorny issues: jealousy, anxiety, and rage as talent-free actors become stars while their more-gifted counterparts are relegated to the understudy role. Kirk observes that occasionally talent is recognized and rewarded and oftentimes it is not, if for no other reason than there are far more actors than roles.
- 11/11/2009
- backstage.com
This week saw the too-rapid close of the Neil Simon revival Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway, as well as the opening of three Off Broadway productions: The Understudy, starring Justin Kirk, Julie White, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (above); Idiot Savant with Willem Dafoe; and Nightingale with Lynn Redgrave. Melissa Bernardo gave a B+ to The Understudy but dinged it for the cast's somewhat mixed on-stage chemistry. Thom Geier calls Idiot Savant "one strange, head-scratching evening" and gives it a C+. As for Lynn Redgrave's one-woman show, Nightingale, I gave it a C and took issue with the production because "the...
- 11/7/2009
- by Tanner Stransky
- EW.com - PopWatch
This week saw the opening of two new Broadway productions, both revivals: The Neil Simon Plays: Brighton Beach Memoirs, a comedy-drama starring former Roseanne star Laurie Metcalf (left), which I described as "a fine revival, easily the best show of a young Broadway season," and the musical Finian's Rainbow, which Tanner Stransky called "an odd, farcical muscial" that is "well cast and smartly performed." Still hunting for something to see on stage? Check out the EW.com Stage hub for up-to-date news and reviews; or consult this handy guide below, which includes links to all of our stage reviews of current shows.
- 10/30/2009
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
Pictures of toys for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen continue to sneak their way online and TheBadandUgly.com have just posted even more that show The Fallen toy in Alt-Mode as well as a returning Decepticon. You can view the pics here ! Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen , directed by Michael Bay, hits conventional and IMAX theaters on June 24. Shia Labeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, John Benjamin Hickey, Ramon Rodriguez, Isabel Lucas and John Turturro star.
- 2/23/2009
- Comingsoon.net
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