Theresa Rebeck's hilarious comedy The Understudy kicks off the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's Shelterhouse season next month (Sept. 23-Oct. 17). The Cincinnati native is a frequently produced playwright nationwide — her show Bad Dates was a big hit for the Playhouse and other regional theaters some years ago. I learned yesterday in a conversation with the Playhouse's Producing Artistic Director Ed Stern that we'll get another dose of her work a year from now in the form of a world premiere.—-
In 2006 the Playhouse commissioned Rebeck to write a new script. Stern says it's finished and he plans to include her new play in his 2011-2012 season. She now lives and works in NYC, but the Ursuline Academy grad still has family ties that bring her back to Cincinnati regularly.
And just as further proof that the Cincinnati Playhouse knows what it's doing: New York City's prestigious, non-profit, Broadway-based Roundabout Theatre Company recently appointed Rebeck as the first dramatist to serve as an "associate artist," part of an effort to develop new work. We should be proud that our own Tony Award-winning regional theater was four years ahead of the curve on this one!
