Speed The Plow Starts The Rehearsal

By Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine

"It's actually quite a challenge as an actor to launch into one of these things," confides Jeremy Piven to Broadway.tv at the recent press event for the Broadway production of David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow. "So... we're theorizing about what we possibly could do. I'm excited and actually really intimidated at the same time," Piven adds. He might also have included the word "confident." As the star of HBO's Hollywood-focused hit Entourage and now with the Hollywood setting of Speed-The-Plow, Piven is uniquely positioned as both an award-winning interpreter of and a participant in the Hollywood fame-game. Talking to www.Broadway.tv amid the flash of bulbs and behind a press-conference table, Jeremy Piven exudes the spirit of Hollywood in all its complexity.

With the outstanding trio of Piven, the captivating Elisabeth Moss ("Mad Men"), and the mercurial Raul Esparza, the upcoming Broadway revival of Mamet's Speed-The-Plow has fresh blood bringing new life to the old play. "Particularly exciting about this production is that we have a great, vivacious, young group of actors... who are going to give a new take on the material," enthuses Neil Pepe, director of the show. Pepe knows the play well, and in the Broadway.tv conversation recalls working on "Boys' Life" at Lincoln Center while Madonna was starring in the first Broadway production of the show in 1988.

With a Mamet-like crispness, the cast talks about the fun and the excitement of working on Mamet's play. "I like the kick-ass nature of Mamet's writing," says Esparza going on to give a Mametian description of the specific kind of language Mamet utilizes (little ones plug your ears when watching). That said, Esparza knows Mamet is more than just a colorful wordsmith. "He writes about things that people want to talk about but are kind of afraid to," says Raul, "This one is about betrayal among friends. We all go through that."

The infinitely enchanting Moss has won fans as a star of AMC's Mad Men, and she is sure to bring her winning blend of period nuance and emotional truth to her role in Speed-The-Plow. Moss smiles wryly as she talks with Broadway.tv about the "slight quality of brutalness" that permeates the play. Fittingly, she is also drawn to the humor of Mamet's characters as well.

The cast seems pitched perfectly for the production, and together already seem to have found a chemistry and trust that bodes well for the show. "It's a great play. I think it's an amazing cast" says Esparza, "I think its going to be exciting."

So do we.

Speed-The-Plow previews start October 3 at the Ethel Barrymore Theater. Watch the complete interview with the cast and director of Speed-The-Plow right here on www.Broadway.tv. Check out our other features as well.