A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER

Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak’s new musical comedy, “A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER,” starring Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays (pictured), premieres at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California,on September 19, 2010. Book by Robert L. Freedman, Music by Steven Lutvak, Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak. Directed by Darko Tresnjak. La Jolla Playhouse Artistic Director, Christopher Ashley. For more information, go to http://www.lajollaplayhouse.org.

THE BEAST OF BROADWAY

Robert L. Freedman and Faye Greenberg have written a new one-man play, “THE BEAST OF BROADWAY: The Life and Times of David Merrick,” (pictured at left) about the legendary producer. The play premieres on March 4, 2010, at TheatreZone in Naples, Florida, in a production starring David Garrison (pictured at right), directed by Mark Danni and produced by Danni and Larry Goodsight. For more information, go to www.theatrezone-florida.com. To read a newspaper article about the production, go to http://www.naplesnews.com/.

FRED EBB AWARD

Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak won the 2nd Annual Fred Ebb Award for songwriting, presented by the Fred Ebb Foundation and the Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway, November 28, 2006. Four songs of theirs were performed by Broadway performers Nancy Anderson, Jason Danieley, Melissa Errico, Malcolm Gets and Catherine Walker.

KLEBAN AWARD

Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak were awarded the 2006 Kleban Award for lyric writing at a reception at ASCAP in New York on May 23, 2006. The Kleban Foundation gives an award annually to a librettist and a lyricist in honor of the late Edward Kleban ("A Chorus Line"). This year, the team of Freedman and Lutvak split the $100,000 prize with lyricist Allison Hubbard. At the reception, Steve and Will Chase performed performed a song from one of Robert and Steve’s new musicals.

Pictured at the ASCAP reception honoring the winners of the 2006 Kleban Award are, L. to R.: Allison Hubbard, Felicia Needleman, Laurence Holzman, Steven Lutvak, Robert L. Freedman, and ASCAP's Michael A. Kerker.

SUNDANCE

Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak were invited to a 3-week musical theatre workshop at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in Utah, July 10-30, 2006.

CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTURY







Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak’s new musical, CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTURY, has won the 2006 California Musical Theatre Award from the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild. A staged reading of the show was held on June 4, 2006, in Beverly Hills. Featured in the cast were John Rubinstein, Josh Radnor and Jean Louisa Kelly (pictured), Kaitlin Hopkins, Stan Chandler, Corinne Kason, Michael Kostroff, Ron Orbach, Steve Vinovich and Tregoney Shepherd. Based on a book by Greg Mitchell, CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTURY centers on the comic chicanery, media manipulation, and outrageous shenanigans surrounding Upton Sinclair's race for Governor of California in 1934.

A staged reading of CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTURY was held on September 19, 2005, at 3:00 and 7:00 p.m., at Makor, 35 West 67th St., NYC, under the auspices of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. The cast featured Tony winner Michael Rupert as Upton Sinclair (pictured), with Sally Mayes, Evan Pappas, Stacie Morgain Lewis, Elsa Carmona, Michael DeVries, Sean Allan Krill, Ron Orbach, Tom Alan Robbins, and KT Sullivan. Steven Lutvak was the Musical Director, and Robert L. Freedman directed. See photos of the NYMF presentation.

A concert version of the show starring Michael Rupert was presented as the closing event of this year's Chicago Humanities Festival on November 14, 2004.  The cast included Rob Alton, Roger Anderson, Brian Herriott, Trace Hultgren, Glory Kissel, Frances Limoncelli, Susie McMonagle, Rachel Rockwell, Malcolm Rothman, Daniel Tatar and Tracy Warren. Robert directed, and Steven Lutvak was musical director. See photos of the Chicago Humanities Festival presentation.

Staged readings of CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTURY were previously held in December, 2003, and May, 2004, at American Musical Theatre of San Jose, with a cast that included Augie Amato, Elsa Carmona, David Curley, Richard Frederick, Angela Gunter, John Hickok, Corinne Kason, Dana Lewenthal, Meg MacKay, Craig Mason, Marsha Mercant, Timothy Meyers, Ren Reynolds, and Diana Torres-Koss. The readings were produced by Marc Jacobs, and directed by Robert L. Freedman. The musical director was Craig Bohmler.

AGE OF CONSENT
Robert is writing AGE OF CONSENT, a new film for Lifetime Television, based on the true story of Sandra “Beth” Geisel, an Albany high school teacher and mother of four who pleaded guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old student. The producer is Ira Pincus, for Blueprint Entertainment.

FULL CIRCLE FAMILY
Robert is writing FULL CIRCLE FAMILY, a new film for Lifetime Television, based on the true story of a Teenage Mom who gives her baby up for adoption, with a surprising twist. Judith A. Polone produces for Lions Gate Entertainment.

MURDER IN THE HAMPTONS
Robert wrote this true crime movie for Lifetime-TV, starring Poppy Montgomery. The premiere on July 11, 2005 received the highest rating of any movie on basic cable all year, and the second highest in three years.

William Inge House Residency
Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak were invited to be Playwrights-In-Residence at the Willliam Inge House in Independence, Kansas, February 13-26, 2005.

Sundance Institute
Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak were invited by the Sundance Institute to participate in their annual Playwrights Retreat at UCROSS in Wyoming, in February, 2004. Robert and Steve worked on their new musical CAMPAIGN OF THE CENTURY, and returned to UCROSS in August, 2004, and March, 2005,  and January, 2009 to work on other projects.

KINDERGARTEN WARS
Robert has completed writing the Lifetime-TV comedy KINDERGARTEN WARS, produced by Danielle Von Zerneck and Mia Sara, and Von-Zerneck-Sertner Films. The film tells the story of an upwardly-mobile couple trying to get their child into the "right" Kindergarten.

FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS
Robert has written the A&E drama FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS, from a script by Alfred Uhry, about legendary film star Bette Davis, with Susan Sarandon attached to star, and Robert Allan Ackerman ("Life With Judy Garland") to direct. Producers are Greg Gugliotta and Stan Brooks.