Alan Rickman-Led SEMINAR Tix Now on Sale to AmEx Card Holders; Box Office Opens 10/6

Producers Jeffrey Finn, Jill Furman, John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith and Roy Furman have announced the on-sale Ticketing schedule for two-time Tony Award nominee, Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman (Private Lives, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the Harry Potter franchise) making his eagerly-anticipated return to Broadway starring in the World Premiere of SEMINAR, a new comedy by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Peabody Award winner Theresa Rebeck (Mauritius, The Understudy, Omnium Gatherum, The Family of Mann, Spike Heels, NBC's upcoming "Smash"). Directed by acclaimed Obie Award winner Sam Gold (Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens, Tigers Be Still, Kin, The Coward) in his Broadway debut, the production will also star Tony Award nominee Lily Rabe (The Merchant of Venice, Steel Magnolias, this summer's lauded A Doll's House at Williamstown) and Obie Award winner Hamish Linklater (The School for Lies, Twelfth Night, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"). SEMINAR will begin previews on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at The Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street) with an Opening Night set for Sunday, November 20 at 6:30 PM.

Tickets for SEMINAR will first be available through an exclusive American Express® presale beginning today, Tuesday, September 6. American Express Cardmembers will have the opportunity to buy tickets before they are placed on sale to the general public by visiting www.telecharge.com or calling (212) 239-6200, with Preferred Seating available to the American Express Gold Card, Platinum Card® and Centurion® members. The American Express exclusive presale will be available through Sunday, September 11 at 11:59pm.

Beginning Monday, September 12, a second presale for SEMINAR tickets will be available through Audience Rewards (www.audiencerewards.com), the official rewards program of Broadway. Members of the program will be able to purchase tickets and earn bonus Audience Rewards points through Friday, September 16.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning Saturday, September 17 and will be available through internet and phone sales by visiting www.telecharge.com or calling (212) 239-6200.

To buy tickets in person, The Golden Theatre box office (252 West 45th Street) will open on Thursday, October 6. Tickets are $51.50-126.50, with Premium seating also available.

In SEMINAR, four aspiring young novelists (including Ms. Rabe and Mr. Linklater) sign up for private writing classes with Leonard (Mr. Rickman), an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience in this biting new comedy.

The production will feature 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.

The performance schedule for SEMINAR during previews will be Monday through Saturday evenings at 8PM and Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2PM during previews (please note holiday week variances). After the November 20 opening, the performance schedule Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7PM, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8PM, Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2PM and Sunday matinees at 3PM.

Final casting will be announced in the coming weeks.

An internationally-renowned actor of stage, screen and television, Alan Rickman returns to the Broadway stage for the first time since being nominated for a Tony Award for his acclaimed starring performance as Elyot in the 2002 production of Noel Coward's Private Lives. He previously made his Broadway debut and earned his first Tony Award nomination as Valmont in the 1987 U.S. premiere production of Les Liasions Dangereuses. On film, he is perhaps best known for his iconic performances as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise and Hans Gruber in the 1988 hit Die Hard, as well as award-winning roles in such films as Sense and Sensibility and, more recently, Sweeney Todd and Bottle Shock.

Lily Rabe earned a Tony Award nomination for her acclaimed portrayal as Portia in The Merchant of Venice, for which she also won The Joe E. Callaway Award and earned a Drama Desk nomination. She made a memorable Broadway debut in Steel Magnolias (Drama Desk nomination), also appearing in The American Plan and Heartbreak House (Callaway Award, Outer Critics Circle nomination). This summer she earned rave reviews for her starring performance as Nora in A Dolls' House at Williamstown. Her Film credits include All Good Things and Letters from a Big Man (official Sundance selection).

Hamish Linklater has consistently drawn raves for his performances in such Off-Broadway productions as The School for Lies (Obie Award), Twelfth Night (Drama Desk nomination), The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale, Good Thing (also in L.A.) and as Laertes opposite Liev Schreiber's Hamlet. He is known to Television and Film audiences for his five seasons on the hit CBS show "The New Adventures of Old Christine," as well as the films Fantastic Four, Groove (official Sundance selection), the current The Future and the upcoming Lola Versus and Battleship. SEMINAR marks Mr. Linklater's Broadway debut.

For nearly a decade, Theresa Rebeck's more than a dozen plays have been produced in New York, as well as regionally and internationally. SEMINAR marks the first time one of her works will be produced as a commercial Broadway production. (Mauritius, her acclaimed 2007 Broadway debut, was presented by Manhattan Theatre Club.) In addition to her work as a playwright, Ms. Rebeck is also a respected, award-winning television writer and producer ("NYPD Blue," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," the eagerly-awaited NBC series "Smash"), film writer (Harriet the Spy, Seducing Charlie Barker) and novelist (the recent Twelve Rooms with a View and Three Girls and Their Brother). She is creator, head writer and executive producer of the upcoming NBC series "Smash."

One of the most consistently-praised directors to emerge on the New York theatrical scene in the last several years, Sam Gold has made his mark with an impressive string of critically-embraced Off-Broadway productions. He most notably won a 2010 Obie Award for directing two productions, Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation and Ms. Baker's The Aliens. His other acclaimed New York productions include Kin, The Coward, Tigers Be Still, Dusk Rings a Bell and Nick Jones' Jollyship the Whiz-Bang. SEMINAR marks the director's Broadway debut.

For more information, visit www.SeminarOnBroadway.com.

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Alan Rickman (Leonard). Theater credits include John Gabriel Borkman (Abbey Theatre, Dublin and BAM, New York), Private Lives (West End and Broadway; Variety Club Award, Olivier and Tony nominations, Best Actor); Anthony and Cleopatra (National Theatre); Hamlet (Riverside Studios); Tango at the End of Winter (Edinburgh Festival and Playhouse Theatre; Time Out Award, Best Actor); Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Royal Shakespeare Company, West End and Broadway; Tony nomination, Best Actor); Mephisto, As You Like It, Troilus and Cressida, Love's Labours Lost, The Tempest, Captain Swing (RSC); The Lucky Chance, The Grass Widow, The Seagull (Royal Court); The Last Elephant, Commitments (Bush Theatre); The Devil Himself (Lyric Studio); Bad Language (Hampstead); The Brothers Karamazov (Edinburgh Festival); and seasons at Glasgow Citizens, Sheffield Crucible, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Haymarket Leicester, and Library Manchester. He directed Creditors (Donmar Warehouse and BAM), My Name is Rachel Corrie (Royal Court, West End, Edinburgh Festival and New York; Theatregoers' Award, Best Director), Wax Acts (West End) and The Winter Guest (Almeida). Television credits include The Song of Lunch, Something the Lord Made (Emmy nomination, Best Actor), Rasputin (Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Awards, Best Actor), Fallen Angels, Revolutionary Witness, Spirit of Man, Benefactors, Busted, The Barchester Chronicles, and Romeo and Juliet. Films include Alice in Wonderland; the Harry Potter series; Bottle Shock (Best Actor, Seattle Film Festival); Sweeny Todd; Noble Son; Perfume; Snow Cake; Love Actually; Play; Blow Dry: Galaxy Quest; Dogma; Dark Harbor; Judas Kiss; Michael Collins (BAFTA nomination); Sense and Sensibility (BAFTA nomination); An Awfully Big Adventure; Bob Roberts; Mesmer; (Best Actor, Montreal Film Festival); Truly, Madly, Deeply (BAFTA nomination); Close My Eyes (Evening Standard Best Actor Award); Prince of Thieves (BAFTA Award); Quigley Down Under; Closetland; The January Man; and Die Hard. Rickman directed the film of The Winter Guest (CinemaAvvenire Award, OCIC Award Venice Film Festival, and Best Film Chicago Film Festival).

Lily Rabe (Kate) was most recently seen opposite Al Pacino in the Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice, reprising her critically-acclaimed Central Park performance of Portia which began in the 2010 Shakespeare in the Park production of the play. Rabe's performance earned her The Joe A. Callaway Award, as well as nominations for 2011 Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League awards. She also starred as Nora this summer in A Doll's House at Williamstown under the direction of Sam Gold. Rabe made her Broadway debut in Steel Magnolias, a role for which she earned a Drama Desk Award nomination. She has performed in several other Broadway shows, including The American Plan (Manhattan Theatre Club) and Heartbreak House (Roundabout Theater Company, Callaway Award, Outer Critics Circle nomination). Additionally, she has performed in various Off-Broadway and Regional pieces, including Crimes of the Heart (Roundabout Theater Company); Colder Than Here (MCC); Crimes of the Heart (Williamstown); and Proof, Crazy Girl and Speaking Well of the Dead (all for Gloucester Stage Company). On screen, Rabe was most recently seen opposite Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst in Andrew Jarecki's crime drama All Good Things. She also starred in Letters from a Big Man, written and directed by Christopher Munch, which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Other film credits include Weakness, What Just Happened, Aftermath, The Toe Tactic, No Reservations, A Crime, Mona Lisa Smile and Never Again. Her television credits include "The Good Wife," "Last of the Ninth," "Saving Grace," "Nip/Tuck," "Medium," all three "Law & Orders" and, most recently, the pilot "Exit Strategy" opposite Ethan Hawke. Rabe, who was born in New York City and raised on the East Coast, graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Science in Theatre.

Hamish Linklater (Martin) earned an Obie Award last season for his performance in CSC's production of David Ives' The School for Lies. He received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Twelfth Night at Shakespeare in the Park, where he also appeared opposite Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice. His many other Theater credits include starring opposite Jill Clayburgh in The Busy World Is Hushed and opposite Heather Graham in Recent Tragic Events, both at Playwrights Horizons; Good Thing at The New Group (also in Los Angeles); and Laertes opposite Liev Schreiber in Hamlet, The Square and Love's Fire, all at The Public. Notable Regional credits include Romeo in Romeo & Juliet twice by the age of 21, at Portland Stage and for The Acting Company; the title role in Hamlet twice by the age of 31, at Long Wharf (Connecticut Critics Circle Award) and at South Coast Rep; the world premiere of The Violet Hour at South Coast Rep; The Singing Forest at Long Wharf; and A Midsummer Night's Dream and Measure for Measure for director Sir Peter Hall at The Ahmanson (Paul Green Foundation Award). Hamish can currently be seen starring in the feature film The Future, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. His other Film credits include Fantastic Four, Final Draft, Groove (official selection, 2000 Sundance Film Festival), and the upcoming Lola Versus from duo Zoe Lister-Jones and Daryl Wein and Battleship along with Liam Neeson, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker and Alexander Skarsgaard, directed by Peter Berg. Hamish appeared as Matthew in the CBS hit comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine" opposite Julia Louis Dreyfus for the series' five season run. His other Television credits include "Ugly Betty," "Pushing Daisies," "American Dreams," "Gideon's Crossing" (series regular) and the television movies "5ive Days to Midnight "and "Live from Baghdad."

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 new play, Poor Behavior, will have its World Premiere this Fall at The Mark Taper Forum. She is creator, head writer and executive producer of the upcoming NBC 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 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). From 2003 to 2006, Sam served as the dramaturg at The Wooster Group. He is a Roundabout Associate Artist, NYTW Usual Suspect, a Drama League Directing Fellow, a recipient of the Princess Grace Award, and a graduate of the Juilliard Directing Program. Future projects include Dan LeFranc's The Big Meal at Playwrights Horizons in Spring 2012. In addition, Sam Gold, Nick Jones and Dave Malloy are currently developing a new musical, Homunculus, which has been commissioned and will be produced by Center Theatre Group.

Jeffrey Finn (Producer). Broadway: American Idiot (Tony nomination, Best Musical), A View from the Bridge (Tony nomination, Best Play Revival), Oleanna, Blithe Spirit, On Golden Pond (Tony nomination, Best Play Revival). Off-Broadway: Game Show. Regional: Oleanna at the Mark Taper Forum, The Subject Was Roses at The Kennedy Center. National Tours: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber; On Golden Pond; The Who's Tommy; Leader of the Pack; Tell Me on a Sunday; Promises, Promises; Company; Chess; and numerous Broadway Songbooks concert tours. In 1992, Jeffrey Finn Productions launched a corporate events company, Hot On Broadway, to produce customized corporate entertainment exclusively featuring current Broadway performers. Upcoming projects include producing the World Premiere of Theresa Rebeck's new play Poor Behavior at The Mark Taper Forum and Executive Producing the new musical Saving Aimee at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle.

Jill Furman (Producer) was co-lead producer of In the Heights, which won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2008. On Broadway, Jill co-produced the most recent revival of West Side Story, and is also co-producing the national tour, which is currently running. On Broadway, she produced The Drowsy Chaperone and associate produced Sly Fox and Fortune's Fool. Off-Broadway, she produced In the Heights and On the Line and associate produced Adult Entertainment. Currently, Jill is co-producing the hip-hop comedy group Freestyle Love Supreme, and will soon shoot a television pilot with the group for a cable network. In 2011 Jill received the Robert Whitehead Award from the Commercial Theatre Institute for Outstanding Achievement in Commercial Theatre Producing. Jill is on the Board of Directors of MCC Theater, the advisory committee of the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center and is a member of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.

John N. Hart JR (Producer). Prior to co-founding Smuggler Films, LLC, Mr. Hart was a founding partner and President of Hart Sharp Entertainment, Inc., a New York based independent film Production Company. During his tenure at Hart Sharp, Mr. Hart produced 11 films and managed two private equity funds with an aggregate capital commitment of $20 million. Mr. Hart has produced 16 critically-acclaimed feature films including Boys Don't Cry, You Can Count on Me and Revolutionary Road. He began his entertainment career in New York City as a theater producer and his Broadway credits include Eubie! A Musical (his debut in 1978), Guys & Dolls, The Who's Tommy, Hamlet with Ralph Fiennes, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring Matthew Broderick, Annie Get Your Gun starring Bernadette Peters and the record-breaking revival of Chicago. His productions have personally garnered him three Tony Awards for Best Production. In 2009, John Hart created a joint venture with Smuggler, Inc to form Smuggler Films.

Patrick Milling Smith (Producer) founded Production Company Smuggler Inc with partner Brian Carmody in 2001. The two quickly gained a reputation for spotting young talent and building exciting and successful careers. Smuggler is now an industry leader and creative powerhouse, winning every major award and accolade the advertising industry has to offer. Smuggler's commercial division has twIce Taken home the coveted Cannes Lions Palme d'Or as well as the Cannes Lions Grand Prix, the Emmy, D&AD pencils and Sundance, London, Berlin and Venice Film Festival Awards. Mr. Milling Smith was recently awarded Clio and British Arrows Production Company of the Year and was among six honorees of the Made in New York Awards presented annually by Mayor Bloomberg. In 2009 Patrick and Brian teamed up with veteran producer John N. Hart to form Smuggler Films and execute on a slate of theater and film projects.

Roy Furman (Producer) is currently represented on Broadway by The Book of Mormon, War Horse, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and The Addams Family. Co-producing this season: Relatively Speaking, Nice Work If You Can Get It and Evita. Past productions include La Bête, West Side Story, Spamalot, Gypsy, The History Boys, The Color Purple and All My Sons. Co-founder of investment firm Furman Selz, currently Vice Chairman of Jefferies & Co. Vice Chairman, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos