Theresa Rebeck
Encyclopedia
Theresa Rebeck is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 writer and novelist. Her work has appeared on the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 and Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 stage, in film, and on television. Among her awards are the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

.

Biography

Rebeck was born in Kenwood, Ohio
Kenwood, Ohio
Kenwood is a census-designated place in Sycamore Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 7,423 at the 2000 census...

, and graduated from Cincinnati's Ursuline Academy
Ursuline Academy (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Ursuline Academy is a four-year college-preparatory private girls’ Catholic high school founded by the Ursuline sisters of Brown County, Ohio in 1896...

 in 1976. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 in 1980, and followed that with three degrees from Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...

: an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in 1983, a M.F.A.
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...

 in Playwrighting in 1986, and a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 in Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...

, awarded in 1989.

Past New York productions of her work include Mauritius on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre
Biltmore Theatre
The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 261 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan.-History:...

 in a Manhattan Theater Club Production; The Scene, The Water’s Edge, Loose Knit, The Family of Mann and Spike Heels at Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre
Second Stage Theatre is an award-winning contemporary Off-Broadway theater company.-Mission:The theatre's mission is to give new life to contemporary American plays and to produce the world premiers of new plays by both established and emerging playwrights...

; Bad Dates and The Butterfly Collection at Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....

; and View of the Dome at New York Theatre Workshop
New York Theatre Workshop
__notoc__New York Theatre Workshop is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a...

. Omnium Gatherum (co-written, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...

 in 2003) was featured at the Humana Festival, and had a commercial run at the Variety Arts Theatre in 2003. Her play The Understudy, premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival
Williamstown Theatre Festival
The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a regional summer stock theatre on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, founded in 1954 by Williams College news director, Ralph Renzi, and drama program chairman, David C. Bryant. The theatre was conceived as a way to use the Adams...

 in the summer of 2008, with a cast including Reg Rogers, Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...

 and Kristen Johnson
Kristen Johnson
Kristen Lynn Johnson is a beauty queen who has represented Kentucky at both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA.-Miss Kentucky USA:Before Johnson returned to the USA pageant stage, she competed and won the title Miss Model of Kentucky....

, and ran in New York at the Roundabout Theatre from October 2009 - January 2010, featuring Julie White
Julie White
Julie White is an American actress. She is known for her role in Grace Under Fire and for her role as Judy Witwicky in the Transformers film series.-Personal life:...

, Justin Kirk
Justin Kirk
Justin Kirk is an American stage and film actor. He is known for playing Prior Walter in Mike Nichols's screen adaptation of Angels in America and for his portrayal of Andy Botwin in Showtime's Weeds.-Early life and education:Kirk was born in Salem, Oregon, son of a...

, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Mark-Paul Gosselaar
Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Zack Morris in NBC's Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and Saved by the Bell: The College Years, Detective John Clark in NYPD Blue, Jerry Kellerman in TNT's Raising the Bar, and more recently Peter...

 in the cast. Rebeck is also writing the book for the new musical Ever After
Ever After
Ever After: A Cinderella Story is a 1998 film inspired by the fairy tale Cinderella, directed by Andy Tennant and starring Drew Barrymore, Anjelica Huston and Dougray Scott. The screenplay is written by Tennant, Susannah Grant, and Rick Parks. The original music score is composed by George Fenton...

, based on the Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...

 movie of the same name. That show was expected to start pre-Broadway tryouts in San Francisco in April 2009, but has been indefinitely postponed. Her play, Mauritius
Mauritius (play)
Mauritius is a play on Broadway which opened on October 4, 2007 at the Biltmore Theatre and closed November 25, 2007. Written by Pulitzer Prize for Drama-nominee Theresa Rebeck, it is her Broadway debut. It is about two sisters who inherit a stamp collection which might be worth a fortune. Many of...

, ran at the Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena Playhouse
The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engagements each year.-History:...

 in California from March 27 through April 26, 2009.

Her play Seminar will play on Broadway starting in October 2011, and stars Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...

.

In television, Rebeck has written for Dream On
Dream On (TV series)
Dream On is an American adult-themed situation comedy about single New Yorker, Martin Tupper. The show used a gimmick where old black and white clips were used to punctuate the main character's feelings or thoughts...

, Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge (TV series)
Brooklyn Bridge is an American television program which aired on CBS between 1991 and 1993. It is about a Jewish American family living in Brooklyn in the middle 1950s...

, L.A. Law
L.A. Law
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...

, American Dreamer
American Dreamer (television)
American Dreamer is a situation comedy which aired in the U.S. on NBC as part of its 1990-91 lineup.American Dreamer starred Robert Urich as fictional character Tom Nash, formerly a high-powered network correspondent who was forced to reassess his priorities following the death of his wife. He...

, Maximum Bob
Maximum Bob
Maximum Bob was a short-lived television series that debuted in 1998 on ABC TV. Starring Beau Bridges, the show was based on Elmore Leonard's 1991 novel with the same title.-Premise:...

, First Wave, and Third Watch
Third Watch
Third Watch is an American television drama series which first aired on NBC from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 132 episodes, broadcast in 6 seasons of 22 episodes each....

. She has been a writer/producer for Canterbury’s Law, Smith, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...

. Her produced feature film screenplays include Harriet the Spy
Harriet the Spy
Harriet the Spy is a children's novel by Louise Fitzhugh published in 1964. It won the Sequoyah Book Award and the New York Times Outstanding Book Award in 1964.-Plot summary:...

, Gossip, and the independent feature Sunday on the Rocks.

Rebeck’s other publications include 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
Harvard Review
The Harvard Review is a literary magazine published by the Harvard University library system.Its origins can be dated to 1986, when Stratis Haviaras, the curator of the libraries' poetry room founded a magazine called Erato to publicize poetry room authors.The first issue included a poem by Seamus...

. Rebeck’s first novel, Three Girls and Their Brother, was published in 2008 by Random House/Shaye Areheart Books.

She has received awards including the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

, the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....

 Award for Episodic Drama, the Hispanic Images Imagen Award, and the Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...

, all for her work on NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...

. 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.

Rebeck is a board member of The Dramatists Guild, and has taught at Brandeis University and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

. Rebeck is married, residing with her husband, Jess Lynn, and two children, Cooper and Cleo in Brooklyn. "Three Girls and their Brother" is dedicated to both Cooper and Cleo.

In an article in the New York Times in September, 2007, she said that her plays were about "betrayal and treason and poor behavior. A lot of poor behavior."

Television

For her work on NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...

 she was awarded a Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....

 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 and a Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....

 award for Episodic Drama.
  • Canterbury's Law
    Canterbury's Law
    Canterbury's Law is an American legal drama, which ran from March 10, 2008 to April 18, 2008 as a mid-season replacement on Fox. The show was created by Dave Erickson and executive produced by Denis Leary, Jim Serpico, Walon Green, John Kane, and Mike Figgis, who also directed the pilot...

  • Smith
  • Law & Order: Criminal Intent
    Law & Order: Criminal Intent
    Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...

  • Third Watch
    Third Watch
    Third Watch is an American television drama series which first aired on NBC from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 132 episodes, broadcast in 6 seasons of 22 episodes each....

  • Maximum Bob
    Maximum Bob
    Maximum Bob was a short-lived television series that debuted in 1998 on ABC TV. Starring Beau Bridges, the show was based on Elmore Leonard's 1991 novel with the same title.-Premise:...

  • Total Security
  • American Dreamer
    American Dreamer (television)
    American Dreamer is a situation comedy which aired in the U.S. on NBC as part of its 1990-91 lineup.American Dreamer starred Robert Urich as fictional character Tom Nash, formerly a high-powered network correspondent who was forced to reassess his priorities following the death of his wife. He...

  • L.A. Law
    L.A. Law
    L.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...

  • Dream On
    Dream On (TV series)
    Dream On is an American adult-themed situation comedy about single New Yorker, Martin Tupper. The show used a gimmick where old black and white clips were used to punctuate the main character's feelings or thoughts...

  • Brooklyn Bridge
    Brooklyn Bridge (TV series)
    Brooklyn Bridge is an American television program which aired on CBS between 1991 and 1993. It is about a Jewish American family living in Brooklyn in the middle 1950s...


Plays

Her other work as a playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

 includes:

Full Length
  • Seminar (2011)
  • Good Behavior (2011)
  • The Understudy (2007)
  • Mauritius
    Mauritius (play)
    Mauritius is a play on Broadway which opened on October 4, 2007 at the Biltmore Theatre and closed November 25, 2007. Written by Pulitzer Prize for Drama-nominee Theresa Rebeck, it is her Broadway debut. It is about two sisters who inherit a stamp collection which might be worth a fortune. Many of...

     (2007) http://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/2008_mainstage_season.htm#MAURITIUS
  • Our House (2009)
  • The Scene
    The Scene (play)
    The Scene is a black comedy written by Theresa Rebeck that was first performed in 2006.-Plot summary:The characters in the play are show business people in Manhattan, the unemployed actor Charlie, his successful wife Stella, and his friend Lewis. Enter Clea from Ohio, who presents as a pretty but...

     (2006)
  • The Water’s Edge (2006)
  • The Bells (2005)
  • Omnium Gatherum (2003) (Co-Written with Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros)
  • Bad Dates (2003)
  • Dollhouse (2000)
  • The Butterfly Collection (2000)
  • Abstract Expression (1998)
  • View of the Dome (1996)
  • Sunday on the Rocks (1994, Final version - 1996)
  • The Family of Mann (1994)
  • Loose Knit (1992)
  • Spike Heels (1990, Final version - 1992)


One Acts
  • Mary, Mother of God, Intercede for Us (2006)
  • Aftermath (2005)
  • Off Base (2005)
  • How We Get to Where We're Going (2004)
  • Train to Brooklyn (2003)
  • Deliver Me (2003)
  • The Actress (2002)
  • Art Appreciation (2002)
  • Funeral Play (2001)
  • Josephina (2001)
  • First Day (2000)
  • Walk (1999)
  • Great To See You (1998)
  • The Contract (1997)
  • Katie and Frank (1996)
  • Does This Woman Have a Name? (1993)
  • What We Are Up Against (1992)
  • Candy Heart (1992)
  • Drinking Problem (1991)
  • Big Mistake (1991)
  • Sex With The Censor (1990)
  • The Bar Plays (1990)

"O Beautiful" (2011) Written for the professional actors at the University of Delaware

Film

Her work as a screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 (or story writer) includes:
  • Catwoman
  • Gossip
    Gossip (2000 American film)
    Gossip is a 2000 teen drama film directed by Davis Guggenheim and featuring an ensemble cast including James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, and Kate Hudson.-Plot:...

  • Harriet the Spy
    Harriet the Spy
    Harriet the Spy is a children's novel by Louise Fitzhugh published in 1964. It won the Sequoyah Book Award and the New York Times Outstanding Book Award in 1964.-Plot summary:...

  • Seducing Charlie Barker

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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