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More Details About The Understudy

Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre/ Laura Pels Theatre

Modern and innovative, with a subterranean design, this complex features the mainstage Laura Pels Theatre. An intimate space bathed in soothing blue tones with contemporary architectural touches is newly restored with state of the art seating and theatrical equipment.

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Website: http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/pels/index2.htm

Behind every great star, there's a great actor hoping he'll get sick. The star he's working with doesn't get the play. The disgruntled stage manager happens to be his bitter ex-fiancé. The set technician is high. Just another day in the life of an understudy. The most thankless job in theatre takes center stage in Theresa Rebeck's bitingly funny new look at the underbelly of the acting world. Through the course of a dress rehearsal, we glimpse all the genius, bitterness and ridiculousness that underscore a life in showbiz. Tony Award® winner Julie White (The Little Dog Laughed) returns to Roundabout alongside Mark-Paul Gosselaar (TNT's “Raising the Bar”) and Justin Kirk (Showtime's “Weeds”) in this delightfully original New York premiere, directed by Scott Ellis (Twelve Angry Men).

MARK-PAUL GOSSELAAR (Jake). Mark-Paul Gosselaar's prolific television career began in 1989 when he played his iconic role, “Zach Morris,” on the wildly popular teen television show, “Saved by the Bell”. Since his acting career began, Gosselaar has achieved acclaim for his many television and film roles. Currently, Gosselaar is starring in the TNT hit drama, “Raising the Bar” for producer Steven Bochco. Gosselaar's television credits also include “Murphy Brown”, “The Wonder Years”, “Punky Brewster”, HBO's “John From Cincinnati”, and cult favorite “Robot Chicken”. In addition, Gosselaar had the lead role in his first feature film, Dead Man on Campus. More recently, Gosselaar starred with Geena Davis in ABC's “Commander in Chief” and previously as detective "John Clark" in the critically acclaimed drama “NYPD Blue”, where he began his professional relationship with Steven Bochco. In June 2009, Gosselaar appeared on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and conducted the interview in character as the beloved “Zach Morris” from “Saved by the Bell”.

JUSTIN KIRK (Harry). Justin Kirk currently stars on the Showtime television series “Weeds” and has earned a Golden Globe® nomination for 'Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television'. He also earned high praise for his role as “Prior Walter” in Mike Nichols's award-winning mini-series “Angels In America”. Starring alongside Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and his “Weeds” co-star Mary-Louise Parker, Kirk was nominated for both an Emmy® and SAG® Award for his performance in the mini-series. Recently, Kirk completed filming a few independent films – The Presence with Mira Sorvino and Elektra Luxx with Carla Gugino and Timothy Olyphant. Kirk received rave reviews for his performances in Puccini For Beginners with Elizabeth Reaser and Gretchen Mol, and Flannel Pajamas with Julianne Nicholson. Other film credits include Against the Current with Joseph Fiennes and Elizabeth Reaser, Four Boxes, See You in September with Estella Warren, Henry Jaglom's Hollywood Dreams, Ask The Dust, Chapter Zero, and the independent thrillers The Eden Myth and Outpatient. He also worked on Harry Shearer's Teddy Bears' Picnic. On television, Kirk has appeared in notable guest spots on “Without a Trace”, “Everwood”, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Jack and Bobby”. He was also a series regular on the WB series “Jack & Jill”. Also an accomplished stage actor, Kirk won the Obie Award for 'Distinguished Performance in the Ensemble' in Love! Valour! Compassion! and went on to star in the feature film adaptation. In 2001, he co-starred with Julianna Margulies and Donald Sutherland in Ten Unknowns at Lincoln Center. The role won him a Lucille Lortel Award, as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations. His additional stage work includes The World Over, Old Wicked Songs, for which he won a Backstage West Garland Award for 'Outstanding Performance,' Any Given Day and June Moon with The Drama Department, a theater company of which he is a founding member.

JULIE WHITE (Roxanne). Julie White received the Tony Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Little Dog Laughed. She also received an Obie Award and nominations from the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel Awards, Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League for this performance. She recently starred on stage in From Up Here (Drama Desk, Drama League nominations) at Manhattan Theatre Club. Her other New York stage appearances include Fiction at The Roundabout, The Heidi Chronicles, Dinner With Friends, Barbra's Wedding and also Bad Dates, Spike Heels, and The Family of Man all by Theresa Rebeck. Television credits include "Cavemen," guest starring as Mitzi Dalton Huntley on HBO's "Six Feet Under," a series regular on "Grace Under Fire," "The Heidi Chronicles," "Law And Order," "Law And Order: SVU," "Whoopi," "Ally McBeal," "Strong Medicine," "Touched By An Angel" and "Arli$$." Film credits include the upcoming Transformers 2, The Astronaut Farmer, Michael Clayton, The Nanny Diaries, Transformers, War Of The Worlds, Slap Her, She's French, Breaking Upwards and Sunday on the Rocks.

THERESA REBECK (Playwright). Theresa Rebeck is a multi-dimensional talent whose written works include all mediums from television, to film, theater and books. As a Pulitzer Prize nominated author, Theresa Rebeck continues to shine as a widely produced and respected literary talent in the United States and abroad. There are over 100 productions of her work performed all over the world each year. Her most recent accomplishments include her Broadway debut in 2007 with Mauritius at the Biltmore Theatre in a Manhattan Theater Club Production. The play went on to a West Coast premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse this year and continues to be performed throughout the United States. Rebeck's Our House had a limited run at Playwrights Horizons this summer. In addition Rebeck has written The Scene, The Water's Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels all at Second Stage; Bad Dates and The Butterfly Collection 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. 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. Ms. Rebeck's other publications are Free Fire Zone, a book of comedic essays about writing and show business. She has written for American Theatre Magazine and has had excerpts of her plays published in the Harvard Review. As a television writer, 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 and Order: Criminal Intent" and "NYPD Blue." Her produced feature films include Harriet the Spy, Gossip, and the independent feature Sunday on the Rocks. In the spring of 2008, Rebeck became a novelist when her first book Three Girls and Their Brother was published by Shaye Areheart books. A compelling tale about "it" girls in New York City, this book received rave reviews. Three Girls... won a 2009 Alex Award as one of the "10 best books of the year that appeal to teen audiences," and was chosen by Booklist as one of the top ten first novels of the year. 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 has won the National Theatre Conference Award (for The Family of Mann), and was awarded the William Inge New Voices Playwriting Award in 2003 for The Bells. Mauritius was originally produced at Boston's Huntington Theatre, where it received the 2007 IRNE Award for Best New Play as well as the Eliot Norton Award. This year Ms. Rebeck was the honored playwright at the Great Plains Theatre Conference. Ms. Rebeck has collaborated with many stars of stage and screen including Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Bobby Canavale, Patricia Heaton, Kevin Bacon, Tony Goldwyn and Julie White among others. Ms. Rebeck is originally from Cincinnati and holds an MFA in Playwrighting and a PhD. in Victorian Melodrama, both from Brandeis University. She is a proud board member of the Dramatists Guild and has taught at Brandeis University and Columbia University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband Jess Lynn and two children, Cooper and Cleo.

SCOTT ELLIS (Director) most recently directed David Rabe's Streamers at Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre. He was recently represented on Broadway by the new Kander and Ebb musical Curtains starring David Hyde Pierce (Tony Nomination, Best Direction of a Musical). His Broadway credits include Douglas Carter Beane's Tony Nominated play, The Little Dog Laughed, the hit revival of Twelve Angry Men (Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations), The Look of Love -the songs of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Arthur Miller's The Man Who Had All the Luck starring Chris O'Donnell, The Rainmaker starring Woody Harrelson, The Boys From Syracuse, 1776 (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Tony Award nominations), Steel Pier (which he co-conceived, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Tony Award nominations), She Loves Me (Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations, Outer Critics Circle Award, Olivier Award for Best Director London Production), Picnic starring Ashley Judd, A Month in the Country starring Helen Mirren, and the 1995 revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company. Off-Broadway credits include Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Good Boys and True, Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed (Lucille Lortel Award nomination & LA production), Kenneth Lonergan's The Waverly Gallery starring Eileen Heckart, David Rabe's The Dog Problem, Kander and Ebb's Flora, The Red Menace, Eric Overmyer's Dark Rapture, the 1999 revival of That Championship Season, and The World Goes 'Round...The Songs Of Kander and Ebb (Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle nomination). Other recent credits include the national tour of Twelve Angry Men starring Richard Thomas, and Theresa Rebeck's The Understudy at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. His productions for the New York City Opera include Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones 110 in the Shade, and Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music (Drama Desk Award) which was subsequently televised on PBS Network's "Live from Lincoln Center" (Emmy Nomination), and later re-staged with Jeremy Irons and Juliet Stephenson. Mr. Ellis also re-staged A Little Night Music for the Los Angeles Opera (L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award Nomination) starring Victor Garber. Mr. Ellis co-conceived and directed Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall as well as The Leading Ladies of Broadway, which were each televised on "Great Performances". For television, he has directed Showtime's "Weeds," NBC's "30 Rock"(Emmy Nomination, Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series) and "Frasier," ABC's "Desperate Housewives" and "Hope & Faith," FOX's "Stacked," CBS's "Charlie Lawrence" and "Out of Practice," and TNT's "The Closer." A graduate of Chicago Goodman School of Drama, he is the recipient of their 1999 Distinguished Artist Award. Mr. Ellis is the Associate Artistic Director of the Roundabout Theatre Company.