Doubt: John Patrick Shanley + Douglas Cuomo

“We’ve got to learn to live with a full measure of uncertainty. There is no last word. That’s the silence under the chatter of our time. ” —John Patrick Shanley
A book signing follows the program.
Includes an optional gallery tour at 6:15 p.m.

About the Speakers

John Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. Shanley was born in the Bronx, New York City. He is a graduate of New York University and a member of the Ensemble Studio Theater. Shanley won the Academy Award and the Writers Guild of America Award for his script for the 1987 film Moonstruck. In 2005 Shanley’s play Doubt: A Parable was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. In 2008 he directed a film version of Doubt starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. His latest drama, Storefront Church, played at the Atlantic Theater last year. His first appearances at the Rubin were onstage with Jungian psychoanalyst Polly Young-Eisendrath in The Red Book Dialogues (2009) and in Brainwave: Dreams (2011).
Douglas J. Cuomo’s Arjuna’s Dilemma, a 70-minute opera-oratorio based on the Bhagavad Gita produced by Music-Theatre Group which premiered at BAM’s Next Wave festival had its introductory showcase at the Rubin. Since then he has written an opera based on the play and film Doubt with a libretto by John Patrick Shanley which premiered at Minnesota Opera this year and featured Denyce Graves, Christine Brewer, Matthew Worth and Adriana Zabala. A Winter’s Journey, a setting of Wilhelm Müller’s text for Schubert’s Winterreise song cycle produced by Music-Theatre Group and directed by David Schwiezer also premiered this year. Black Diamond Express Train to Hell, a double concerto for orchestra, cello and sampler was premiered by the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 2010, with Maya Beiser and the composer as soloists. Mr. Cuomo has lectured widely and also performs as a guitarist with his band, playing jazz interpretations of his film and television work.