Join us for a screening followed by a Q&A with director Michael Mayer, producer Tom Hulce, and producer Leslie Urdang. 

Moderated by Mark Peikert, Playbill.

SYNOPSIS
One summer at a lakeside Russian estate, friends and family gather for a weekend in the countryside. While everyone is caught up in passionately loving someone who loves somebody else, a rich story unfolds about art, fame, parents, children, and human folly.  Adapted by Tony-winning playwright Stephen Karam from Anton Chekhov’s classic play and directed by Tony-winning director Michael Mayer, The Seagull asks the timeless question about how to live a purposeful life in a tragicomedy starring Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan, Corey Stoll and Elisabeth Moss.

PANELIST BIOS

Michael Mayer - Director
Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Director) made his feature film directorial debut in 2004 with A Home at the End of the World, starring Colin Farrell and Robin Wright. It was awarded a Special Recognition for Excellence in Filmmaking by the National Board of Review and was nominated for Outstanding Film in Wide Release by the GLAAD Media Awards. In 2006, Mayer went on to make the family film, FLICKA. He served as an executive producer on 27 Dresses, and directed the acclaimed pilot and several episodes of NBC’s Smash, for which he was also a consulting producer in Season One. Mayer directed two-seasons of Amazon’s Alpha House, and was featured in the documentary, Broadway Idiot. Mayer is well known for his theatrical directing around the world. His most recent works include: Michael Moore’s The Terms of My Surrender on Broadway, a record-breaking revival of Funny Girl in the West End and UK tour, a new Japanese language production of As You Like It at the Toho Theatre in Tokyo, and Mike Bartlett’s Love Love Love, at the Roundabout. He received the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his production of Spring Awakening, which also played in London, Vienna, Tokyo, and Seoul. His other Broadway credits include: Hedwig And the Angry Inch (Tony Award for Best Musical Revival), American Idiot (Drama Desk Award for Direction), Side Man (Tony Award for Best Play), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony Award for Best Musical), A View from the Bridge (Tony Award for Best Revival), On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Everyday Rapture, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and Triumph of Love. He also directed the national tours of Angels in America, Thoroughly Modern Millie, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Spring Awakening, American Idiot, and Hedwig and The Angry Inch. Mayer made his Metropolitan Opera debut with a celebrated new production of Rigoletto and directed the world premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie at the English National Opera. He serves on the board of New York Stage and Film.

Tom Hulce - Producer
Tom Hulce is an internationally acclaimed actor. For his portrayal of Mozart in Milos Forman’s Amadeus, he received an Oscar® nomination, a Golden Globe® nomination, and won Italy’s David di Donatello Award. He made his Broadway debut at 20, starring opposite Anthony Hopkins in Peter Shaffer’s Equus. He also starred on Broadway in Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men and on London’s West End in The Normal Heart. His films include Dominick and Eugene, Parenthood, Animal House. He also voiced the title role in Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame. As a producer, he presented the American premiere of Alan Bennetts Talking Heads, starring Annette Bening, Lynn Redgrave, and Tyne Daly. With his partner Ira Pittelman, he developed and produced the Broadway musical Spring Awakening, winning eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, and the Broadway smash Green Day’s American Idiot. Both of these shows were directed by Michael Mayer. This past year, he and Ira Pittelman collaborated on the Broadway play Significant Other, written by Joshua Harmon and directed by Trip Cullman. They are currently producing the new musical Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of The Temptations, written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Des McAnuff, which recently completed a record-breaking pre-Broadway run at Berkeley Repertory Theater. Hulce and director Michael Mayer made their first film together, A Home at the End of the World, starring Colin Farrell, Robin Wright, Dallas Roberts, and Sissy Spacek.

Leslie Urdang - Producer
Leslie is President of Mar-Key Pictures, Founder and Producing Director of New York Stage and Film Company, and a producer of film, theater and television. Some of her feature films include Mike Mills’ Beginners (which earned numerous awards, including the 2011 Gotham Award for Best Picture, the Golden Globe®, SAG, BAFTA and Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor Christopher Plummer), Rabbit Hole (which earned Nicole Kidman a 2011 Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), and A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Michael Hoffman, starring Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stanley Tucci, and Christian Bale. Her other films include: The Oranges, starring Hugh Laurie; Stu Blumberg’s Thanks for Sharing, starring Mark Ruffalo, Gwyneth Paltrow, Pink, and Josh Gad; The Family Fang, starring Jason Bateman and Nicole Kidman; Max Mayer’s Adam starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne; 12 and Holding, directed by Michael Cuesta; and People I Know, by Jon Robin Baitz, starring Al Pacino. Urdang has several feature projects in development including John Patrick Shanley’s Wild Mountain Thyme, Emma Forrest’s The Chocolate Money and adaptations of the bestselling novels Counting by 7’s and Sweetness #9. Urdang is working on several television projects with writers including Ivy Pochoda and Harlan Coben. As a founder and the Producing Director of New York Stage and Film, she has been involved in the development of hundreds of new plays and musicals including Doubt, The Humans, and Hamilton, and oversees the company’s film and television mentorship program. Urdang is married to actor Jon Tenney.