KINGSTON, R.I. — September 29, 2014 — The University of Rhode Island Theatre Department begins the fall semester with one very funny seminar on stage. In fact, the department will present the fresh comedy, Seminar by Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck.
The show will be staged Oct. 9-11 and 16-18 at 7.30 p.m. and Saturdays Oct. 12 and 19 at 3 p.m. in J Studio in the Fine Arts Center on the Kingston Campus. General admission is $20, $15 for seniors, URI faculty/staff and $12 for students. For reservations, call 401.874.5843 or visit online at web.uri.edu/theatre.
This edgy, contemporary, comedic play written by Rebeck involves four post-graduate aspiring writers who hire a well-known writing guru to critique their work. They get much more than they bargained for as his powerful persona disrupts their well being in many unexpected ways. This sexy, witty and entertaining play, set primarily in an upscale apartment on Manhattan’s upper West Side, explores the world of art and commerce in one exciting intermission-less act, as it affects the two young men and two young women going into that world. Rebeck is a widely produced playwright and television writer whose plays include Dead Accounts, Mauritius and Spike Heels. Seminar played on Broadway in 2011-2012 and was nominated for a 2012 Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Play and as Best Play by the Outer Critics Circle. This will be the show’s Rhode Island premiere. 
Seminar is directed by Bryna Wortman, associate professor, (Crimes of the Heart, Much Ado About Nothing, The Sea Gull), costume design is by Marilyn Salvatore, guest artist, set design is by Cheryl deWardner, guest artist, lighting is by Jen Rock, guest artist and sound design is by Mike Hyde, guest artist.
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Cast Members:
• Belamy Brophy-Baermann, Providence, R.I., plays the well-connected, but limited Douglas
• Christopher Morris, Harrison, N.Y., plays the loathsome teacher, Leonard
• Christine O’Connell, Portsmouth, R.I., plays the prickly writer who’s constantly trying to prove herself Kate
• Stephen Peterson, Torrington, Conn., plays the struggling writer who’s afraid to show his work to anyone, Martin
• Laine Wagner, Narragansett, R.I., plays the beautiful and ambitious Izzy
Understudies:
• Steven Carvalho, Pawtucket, R.I., as Douglas
• Raymond Fournier, Woonsocket, R.I., as Leonard
• Nick Killian, Providence, R.I., as Martin
• Rachel Marshall, Littleton, Mass., as Kate
• Celine Montaudy, Norwalk, Conn., as Izzy
Pictured above:
TAKES THE CAKE: Christine O’Connell, of Portsmouth, R.I., plays the defensive writer, Kate, in the URI Theatre Department’s production of Seminar. The show will be staged Oct. 9-11 and 16-18 at 7.30 p.m. and Saturdays Oct. 12 and 19 at 3 p.m. in J Studio in the Fine Arts Center on the Kingston Campus.
WORDS, WORDS, WORDS: The cast of writers/characters in the URI Theatre Department’s production of Seminar (left to right, front to back) Christine O’Connell, Portsmouth, R.I.; Belamy Brophy-Baermann, Providence, R.I.; Laine Wagner, Narragansett, R.I.; Christopher Morris, Harrison, N.Y.; and Stephen Peterson, Torrington, Conn. The show will be staged Oct. 9-11 and 16-18 at 7.30 p.m. and Saturdays Oct. 12 and 19 at 3 p.m. in J Studio in the Fine Arts Center on the Kingston Campus.
URI photos by Randy Osga.