Roundabout Names Theresa Rebeck Associate Artist; Sets Second 'Underground' Show

Playwright Theresa Rebeck, most recently represented off-Broadway with Roundabout Theatre Company's production of The Understudy, has joined the theater as an Associate Artist. Roundabout also announced that David West Read's The Dream of the Burning Boy will be produced in the spring as the second offering of the Roundabout Underground season. Directed by Evan Cabnet, the new play will begin performances February 25, 2011, with opening set for March 20 at the Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre.

The Dream of the Burning Boy follows the story of what happens when the sudden death of a high school overachiever exposes a secret that could destroy those left behind. Casting and creative details will be announced shortly. A third play, yet to be announced, will complete the Roundabout Underground season following the fall production of Kim Rosenstock's Tigers Be Still and The Dream of the Burning Boy.

Rebeck is the first playwright to become a Roundabout Associate Artist, joining directors Scott Ellis, Joe Mantello, Mark Brokaw and Kathleen Marshall, actor Bill Irwin, casting and artistic development director Jim Carnahan, artistic consultant Robyn Goodman and resident director Doug Hughes.

Roundabout will also continue its expansion by commissioning new works by 10 playwrights and composers: Bekah Brunstetter, Julia Cho, Lydia Diamond, Diana Fithian, Nathan Louis Jackson, Stephen Karam, Steven Levenson, Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Julie Marie Myatt. (Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez have received the first commission for a new musical.)