Theresa Rebeck (born February 19, 1958) is an American playwright, television writer, and novelist. Her work has appeared on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage, in film, and on television. Among her awards are the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award. In 2012, she received the Athena Film Festival Award for Excellence as a Playwright and Author of Films, Books, and Television.The Athena Film Festival: http://athenafilmfestival.com/ She is a 2009 recipient of the Alex Awards. Her works have influenced American playwrights by bringing a feminist edge in her old works.

Early life and education Rebeck was born in Kenwood, Ohio, and graduated from Cincinnati's Ursuline Academy in 1976.Kiesewetter, John. title = Kenwood native delves into criminal mind on Law & Order. Cincinnati Enquirer. November 18, 2001. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame in 1980,FTT Talks presents Theresa RebeckAuthor, playwright, and screenwriter“Writing for the Stage, Screen and Page . University of Notre Dame Film, television, and Theatre Department. September 18, 2008. "ND '80". and followed that with three degrees from Brandeis University: an MA in English 1983, a MFA in Playwriting in 1986, and a PhD in Victorian era melodrama, awarded in 1989.

Career Past New York productions of her work include Mauritius on Broadway 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 Theatre; 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 for Drama in 2003) was featured at the Humana Festival, and had a commercial run at the Variety Arts Theatre in 2003.Brantley, Ben."Theater Review; A Feisty Feast Of Wicked Wit". The New York Times. September 26, 2003. Her play The Understudy, premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in the summer of 2008, with a cast including Reg Rogers, Bradley Cooper and Kristen Johnson, and ran in New York at the Roundabout Theatre from October 2009 – January 2010, featuring Julie White, Justin Kirk, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar in the cast.Laura Pels Theatre. Roundabout Theatre Company. The off-Broadway and regional theatre hit comedy premiered in 2015 at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland.Artists Repertory Theatre . Rebeck was attached as a book writer for the new musical Ever After, based on the Drew Barrymore movie of the same name."Kathleen Marshall Will Direct Broadway Debut of 'Ever After' Based On 1998 Cinderella Film" playbill.com That show was expected to start pre-Broadway tryouts in San Francisco in April 2009, but was postponed. Her play, Mauritius, ran at the Pasadena Playhouse in California from March 27 through April 26, 2009.McNulty, Charles. "Review: 'Mauritius' at Pasadena Playhouse". Los Angeles Times. April 5, 2009.

Her play Seminar played on Broadway starting in October 2011, and starred Alan Rickman.Jones, Kenneth. Broadway's Seminar, Starring Alan Rickman, Available in Presale Sept. 6–16; General Sale Starts Sept. 17" . Playbill.com, September 6, 2011. In May 2014 Seminar premiered in San Francisco at San Francisco Playhouse receiving outstanding reviews. Her play Fool premiered at the Alley Theatre, Houston, Texas, in February 2014.Hetrick, Adam. "Theresa Rebeck's 'Fool' Opens at the Alley Theatre Feb. 26" playbill.com, February 26, 2014 The theme of the play Seminar was women empowerment through sexuality and the struggles of what it is to be a female in an industry dominated by men.

Her play Poor Behavior opened Off-Broadway at Primary Stages in August 2014. The play premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in 2011.Hetrick, Adam."Ethics and Infidelity: Theresa Rebeck Comedy Poor Behavior Opens Off-Broadway Tonight" playbill.com, August 17, 2014

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."Simonson, Robert. "An Acute Interest in Bad Behavior". The New York Times. September 23, 2007. 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. 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, the Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Drama, the Hispanic Images Imagen Award, and the Peabody Award, 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 Elliot Norton Award. In 2010, Rebeck was honored with the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for an American playwright in mid-career.

In television, 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. Through March 2012 she was one of the executive producers for the NBC musical series Smash, which she created, and which also debuted on February 6, 2012. Her produced feature film screenplays include Harriet the Spy, Gossip, and the independent feature Sunday on the Rocks.

Academic Rebeck is a board member of The Dramatists Guild and the Lark Play Development Center in New York City, and has taught at Brandeis University and Columbia University. From 2014 through 2023 she was a Distinguished Professor of Playwriting and the Lyndall Finley Wortham Chair in the Performing Arts in the McGovern College of the Arts at the University of Houston.Acclaimed Playwright Theresa Rebeck Joining UH School of Theatre & Dance by Mike Emery. University of Houston News & Events, June 2, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014.

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

Works Theatre Her other work as a playwright includes: +YearTitleVenue NotesRef. 2003 Omnium Gatherum Humana Festival; world premiere With Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros 2007 Mauritius Biltmore Theatre, Broadway pasadenaplayhouse.org2007 The Understudy Williamstown Theatre Festival; world premiere 2011 O Beautiful University of Delaware Healy, Patrick. Staging the Politics of Abortion. The New York Times. April 13, 2011.2011 Poor Behavior Mark Taper Forum; world premiere 2011 What We're Up Against Magic Theatre, San Francisco 2011 Seminar John Golden Theatre, Broadway 2012 Dead Accounts Music Box Theatre, Broadway Hetrick, Adam."Katie Holmes to Return to Broadway in Theresa Rebeck's 'Dead Accounts' This Fall" playbill.com, July 19, 20122016 The Nest Denver Center Theatre Company Denver center.org, January 7, 20162016 Seared San Francisco Playhouse; world premiere "Seared | World Premiere at San Francisco Playhouse" sfplayhouse.org, August 19, 20162018 Bernhardt/Hamlet American Airlines Theatre, Broadway Bernhardt/Hamlet ibdb.com2019 Dig Dorset Playhouse; world premiere 2022 Mad House Ambassadors Theatre, West End 2023 I Need That American Airlines Theatre, Broadway

Television +YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes Ref.1990–1991 American Dreamer /1992–1994 L.A. Law 2 episodes 1991–1992 Dream On 4 episodes 1991–1992 Brooklyn Bridge 2 episodes 1997 Total Security Also Creator; 2 episodes 1998 Maximum Bob Episode: "Bay of Big's" 2000 Third Watch Episode: "Demolition Derby" 2001–2003 Law & Order: Criminal Intent 41 episodes 2007–2008 Law & Order: Criminal Mind 4 episodes 2007 Smith Episode: "Six" 2008 Canterbury's Law 5 episodes 2012–2013 Smash Also Creator; 32 episodes 2013 Copper Episode: "Think Gently of the Erring" 2014 The Divide Episode: "I Can't Go Back" 2015 Hand of God Episode: "A Flower That Bees Prefer" 2016 Of Kings and Prophets 2 episodes 2018 The Russian Cousin Television Movie 2020 For the Record Episode: "Autumn Elegy"

Film +YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerNotes Ref.1995 Harriet the Spy 2000 Gossip 2004 Catwoman Story by 2004 Sunday on the Rocks 2010 Seducing Charlie Barker Based on her play The Scene 2016 Poor Behavior 2016 Walk Short film 2017 Trouble 2019 Date Short film 2022 Spike Heels Short film 2022 The 355 2022 Glimpse 2024 Eco Village

Awards and nominations +YearAssociationCategoryProjectResultRef.1996 Edgar Award Best Television Episode NYPD Blue (episode: "Torah! Torah! Torah!") 1996 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Drama Series NYPD Blue (season three) 1997 NYPD Blue (season four) 1997 Writers Guild of America Episodic Drama NYPD Blue (episode: "Girl Talk") 2005 Razzie Award Worst Screenplay Catwoman 2020 Drama League Award Outstanding Production of a Play Seared 2024 Outer Critics Circle Award Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Dig

Bibliography Fiction I'm Glad About You (2016) Twelve Rooms with a View (2011) Three Girls and Their Brother: A Novel by Theresa Rebeck (2009)

Non-fiction "Free Fire Zone: A Playwright's Adventures on the Creative Battlefields of Film, TV, and Theater" (2007)

Volumes

References

External links

Who's Who entry from Playbill Channeling Theatre: A Chat with Theresa Rebeck, a January 2004 Playbill article Her Notre Dame study theatre work in the late 1970s, from the university's website Theresa Rebeck at Random House Theresa Rebeck: "I Am a Populist", an L Magazine article from December 11, 2009