Film News

The Seagull, Terrence McNally Documentary to Play Tribeca Film Festival

The festival will also feature documentaries about Howard Ashman and industrial musicals.

Saoirse Ronan will star in the upcoming screen adaptation of The Seagull, which will make its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Saoirse Ronan will star in the upcoming screen adaptation of The Seagull, which will make its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
(© David Gordon)

Tribeca Film Festival announced its lineup today, and among its selections are a handful of theater-related films, all making their world premieres.

Chief among them is The Seagull, Michael Mayer's adaptation of the Anton Chekhov play with a cast that includes Saoirse Ronan, Annette Bening, Elisabeth Moss, Brian Dennehy, Corey Stoll, and Mare Winningham. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film on May 11; a first trailer was recently released.

The rest of the theater-related slate comprises documentaries. There's Bathtubs Over Broadway, which follows comedy writer Steve Young's discovery of the world of industrial musicals. Dava Whisenant directs the film, which includes appearances by David Letterman, Chita Rivera, Martin Short, Susan Stroman, Sheldon Harnick, and Jello Biafra.

Biographical documentaries round out the slate. Terrence McNally is the focus of Jeff Kaufman's Every Act of Life, with McNally featured in the film along with Audra McDonald, Nathan Lane, Larry Kramer, Angela Lansbury, Christine Baranski, and more. And Howard is Don Hahn's documentary about the late lyricist Howard Ashman, who worked with longtime collaborator Alan Menken on Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which Hahn produced.