The 20th Anniversary revival of David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow begins performances tonight, Friday, October 3, 2008 with an official opening set for Sunday, October 26, 2008 at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street). The cast includes: Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Jeremy Piven ("Entourage", Fat Pig) as film production exec Bobby Gould, three-time Tony-nominee Raul Esparza (The Homecoming, Company, Taboo) as ambitious producer Charlie Fox and Elisabeth Moss(Mad Men) in the pivotal role of Karen, the temporary secretary to executive producer Bobby Gould, a role which was originally played on Broadway by Madonna. Neil Pepe (David Mamet's Romance, Ethan Coen's Almost an Evening) directs.
Performances will be Tuesdays at 7 pm, Wednesday–Saturday at 8 pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 2 pm and Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets will be sold through Telecharge.com or 212-239-6200.
Speed-The-Plow is Mamet's scathing portrait of the film industry and the people who are willing to sell their souls for sex, fame and fortune.
The revival is being produced by
Jeffrey Richards,
Jerry Frankel and
Steve Traxler, currently represented on Broadway by
Tracy Letts'
August: Osage County and
Spring Awakening.
Elisabeth Moss currently stars as Peggy Olson in the Golden Globe Award-winning drama series Mad Men, which just returned for its second season. Moss was nominated in 2008 for a SAG Award along with her Mad Men castmates for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Mad Men was also just nominated for 16 Emmys including "Outstanding Drama Series," and the show was additionally honored with a Peabody Award, An AFI Award, a TCA Award and a Writers Guild of America Award. Moss' theatre credits include: Franny in Franny's Way presented by Playwrights Horizons at the Atlantic Theater Company. She also played the same role at the Geffen Playhouse, L.A. She has performed in The Nutcracker with The Joffrey Ballet and in Sleeping Beauty with The New York City Ballet. Film credits include: Buddy Gilbert Comes Alive, The Attic, Day Zero, The Missing, Girl, Interrupted, Mumford, The Joyriders, Mumford, A Thousand Acres, Imaginary Crimes and Virgin, for which she was nominated for a 2004 Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She previously played Zoey Bartlet for seven seasons on The West Wing.
Raul Esparza most recently starred in the Tony-nominated revival of The Homecoming for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Prior to that he starred in the Tony-Award winning Company, for which he received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards and a Tony nomination. His previous New York stage appearances include Taboo, for which he also received a Tony nomination, The Normal Heart, Comedians, and tick, tick…Boom!, all of which earned him Drama League nominations. He received a 2001 Theatre World Award for his Broadway debut in the revival of The Rocky Horror Show.
Jeremy Piven's critically acclaimed, award winning portrayal of the slick, fast talking super agent, "Ari Gold" in the smash-hit HBO original series Entourage has propelled him to the forefront of the entertainment industry. The role has earned him a Golden Globe and two Emmy Awards. Piven, will next be seen starring in the feature film comedy The Goods for Paramount Vantage as well as the Guy Ritchie directed Rocknrolla. Piven was most recently seen on the big screen in director Peter Berg's political drama The Kingdom opposite
Jamie Foxx and in Joe Carnahan's Smokin Aces, in which he starred opposite Andy Garcia and
Ray Liotta. Prior to Entourage, Piven had already established his presence in over 40 feature films with a number of impressive credits which include, The Player, Runaway Jury, Old School, Serendipity, Black Hawk Down, Very Bad Things, Singles, Rush Hour 2 and The Family Man. On the small screen Piven was a series regular on Cupid and Ellen and appeared on The Larry Sanders Show and in the telepic Don King: Only in America. In 2005, Piven returned to his theater acting roots when he starred alongside
Keri Russell and
Andrew McCarthy in the off-Broadway hit, Fat Pig by
Neil LaBute. For his role, Piven received a Distinguished Performance Honor from the Drama League. Piven was born and raised in Chicago where his parents founded the Piven Theatre Workshop. His father, Byrne, taught the likes of John and Joan Cusack, Roseanna Arquette and
Aidan Quinn. Jeremy is still very active with this Theatre and returns to Chicago frequently to help keep his father's dream alive.
David Mamet was most recently represented on Broadway by November and won the Pulitzer Prize for his play Glengarry Glen Ross. His other stage credits include
Speed-The-Plow (Tony nom.), The Cryptogram (Pulitzer nom.), Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Oleanna, Romance, Boston Marriage, The Old Neighborhood, A Life in the Theatre and the adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance. Mamet is also a two-time Academy Award-nominee for The Verdict and Wag the Dog whose other film credits include State and Main, The Winslow Boy, The Spanish Prisoner, Homicide and The Untouchables. He a writer and co-producer for the current CBS hit "The Unit" and the author of numerous novels including The
Wicked Son and Bambi vs. Godzilla.
Neil Pepe has helmed such heralded productions as
David Mamet's Romance,
Harold Pinter's Celebration/The Room, Sea of Tranquility, Shaker Heights (Outer Critics Circle nom.) and the Drama League nominated production of Mojo. As the Artistic Director of Atlantic Theatre Company, he has produced the Tony Award-winning productions of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and 2007's Best Musical
Spring Awakening.
Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
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