City Theatre Presents SEMINAR, 1/19-2/10

City Theatre begins the New Year with Seminar, a sharp, Broadway comedy about power, sex, and art by Theresa Rebeck. Directed by Tracy Brigden, Seminar runs on City Theatre's Mainstage from January 19 to February 10, 2013, with an Opening Night performance on Friday, January 25 at 8pm.

Enter Kate's sprawling, rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side where four aspiring, young novelists meet weekly for a private writing seminar with Leonard, a literary bigwig with a penchant for harsh criticism. Insults fly, the truth stings, and relationships are made and broken as the group learns that the hardest part of writing fiction is facing the facts.

"In 2005, we produced Theresa Rebeck's one-woman comedy Bad Dates at City Theatre, and audiences loved it," says Tracy Brigden, City Theatre's Artistic Director. "Theresa has a keen ear for snappy dialogue, and her new comedy Seminar puts a spotlight on the social interactions, human insecurities, power struggles, and sexual tension of a group of unlikely acquaintances to great comic effect. Seminar portrays four aspiring writers who all have one goal: to make it in the cutthroat literary world. Growing up with a mother who worked in the publishing industry, the play resonated with me on a personal level. It's a tough business because it's not just business-it's art, and there's a lot of ego and emotion wrapped up in that mix."

Theresa Rebeck's New York productions include Seminar (Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Nomination), The Understudy, Mauritius, The Scene (Dramalogue Nomination), The Water's Edge, Bad Dates, The Butterfly Collection, Spike Heels, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann, View of the Dome, and Omnium Gatherum (Pulitzer finalist). Produced feature films include Harriet the Spy, Gossip, and the independent features Sunday on the Rocks and Seducing Charlie Barker (adapted from her play The Scene). Awards include the Writer's Guild of America Award for Episodic Drama and a Peabody Award for her work on "NYPD Blue." She has also won The National Theatre Conference Award, the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award, the PEN/Laura Pels Foundation Award, an Alex Award, and a Lilly Award. She is the creator of the NBC drama, "SMASH."

Seminar features Andy Bean, Nadia Gan, Daniel Gerroll, Rebecca Harris, and Charles Socarides. The design team includes Tony Ferrieri (Scenic), Angela M. Vesco (Costume), Andrew David Ostrowski (Lighting), and Joe Pino (Sound).

CITY THEATRE PRESENTS

Seminar
By Theresa Rebeck
Directed by Tracy Brigden

When: January 19 - February 10, 2013

Preview Schedule
Saturday, January 19 at 5:30pm
Sunday, January 20 at 7pm
Tuesday, January 22 and Wednesday, January 23 at 7pm
Thursday, January 24 at 8pm

PRESS / OPENING NIGHT
Friday, January 25 at 8pm

Regular Run Schedule
Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7pm
Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm
Saturdays at 5:30 and 9pm
Sundays at 2pm

Weekday matinees will be performed on Wednesday, January 30 and Wednesday, February 6 at 1pm.
There will be no evening performance on Wednesday, February 6.

Where: City Theatre, 1300 Bingham Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 (South Side)

Tickets: $35 to $55

Box Office: 412.431.CITY (2489) or citytheatrecompany.org