Ben Edelman
Ben Edelman | |
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| Education | Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) |
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Ben Edelman is an American actor and producer. He originated the role of Charlie Luther Mason in Joshua Harmon's Admissions at Lincoln Center Theater in 2018, for which he received an Obie Award for performance and the Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater, and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play.[1][2] In 2023, he alternated in the role of poet Max Ritvo in Sarah Ruhl's Letters from Max, a ritual and received a second Drama Desk nomination, shared with Zane Pais and Sinan Refik Zafar, for Outstanding Music in a Play.[3][4] Edelman also produced the documentary feature Your Friend, Memphis, which premiered at the 2022 South by Southwest festival.[5]
Early life and education
[edit]Edelman grew up in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia.[6] He developed an interest in acting while attending a summer camp where he participated in theatre, music, magic, and other performance activities.[7][6]
Edelman earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from Carnegie Mellon University.[8] Between his first and second years there, he studied at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England.[7]
Career
[edit]Theatre
[edit]After graduating, Edelman served as understudy for the central role of Jordan Berman in the Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway production of Joshua Harmon's Significant Other and its 2017 Broadway transfer to the Booth Theatre.[9][10]
In 2017, Edelman played Danny Saunders in a four-actor production of The Chosen at Long Wharf Theatre, adapted by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok.[8] Critics praised the cast, and Arts Paper singled out Edelman's performance as the Hasidic teenager.[11][12]
Edelman played Charlie, a white prep-school student whose rejection from Yale tests his parents' progressive ideals, in the 2018 world premiere of Admissions at Lincoln Center Theater. Daniel Aukin directed a cast that also included Jessica Hecht, Andrew Garman, Ann McDonough, and Sally Murphy.[13] Critics paid particular attention to Edelman's extended monologues: reviews in Vulture, The Daily Beast, The Hollywood Reporter, and New York Stage Review described his performance favorably.[14][15][16][17]
For Admissions, Edelman received a 2018 Obie Award for performance and the Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater. He was also nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play.[1][2][18] He reprised the role in the play's 2019 West End production at Trafalgar Studios, becoming the only member of the New York cast to transfer with the production.[7][19] Reviewing the London staging for The Guardian, Michael Billington found Edelman's later work than his opening monologue most effective.[20]
In 2022, Edelman appeared as Baal, the former husband of playwright-performer Liba Vaynberg's character, in the world premiere of The Gett at Rattlestick Theater.[21]
The following year, he appeared with Hecht and Zane Pais in the world premiere of Ruhl's Letters from Max, a ritual at Signature Theatre Company. Edelman and Pais alternated as Ritvo and as a supporting angel figure; the actor not playing Ritvo supplied live musical accompaniment.[3] Edelman performed on piano, and he, Pais, and sound designer Sinan Refik Zafar developed original music for the production.[22] Reviews in Time Out New York and New York Stage Review praised aspects of his interpretation, with the latter describing his readings of Ritvo's poems as electric.[23][24] Edelman, Pais, and Zafar were nominated for the 2023 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play.[4]
Screen work and producing
[edit]Edelman's television work has included guest appearances in The Good Wife, BrainDead, and Instinct.[9]
Edelman and Luke Terrell produced David P. Zucker's documentary feature Your Friend, Memphis, which follows a young filmmaker with cerebral palsy seeking independence. The film had its world premiere in the Documentary Spotlight program at the 2022 South by Southwest festival and was subsequently distributed by Greenwich Entertainment.[5][25]
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Admissions | Nominated[18] |
| Obie Award | Performance | Won[1] | ||
| Dorothy Loudon Award | Excellence in the Theater | Won[2] | ||
| 2023 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Music in a Play | Letters from Max, a ritual | Nominated[4] |
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "2018 Obies Winners and Performances". Obie Awards. May 19, 2018. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 3 McPhee, Ryan (May 16, 2018). "Ben Edelman Receives Theatre World's 2018 Dorothy Loudon Award". Playbill. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 Hall, Margaret (February 27, 2023). "Good Grief: How Zane Pais and Ben Edelman Find Peace in Off-Broadway's Letters from Max". Playbill. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Culwell-Block, Logan (April 27, 2023). "Shucked Leads 2023 Drama Desk Nominations; See the Full List". Playbill. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 "2022 SXSW Film Festival Lineup Announced Including Atlanta Season 3". South by Southwest. February 2, 2022. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 Burland, Michael (May 8, 2019). "Making Admissions: Alex Kingston and Ben Edelman interview". The American. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Wolf, Matt (April 9, 2019). "Ben Edelman on Starring in London's Admissions Amid College Scandal Headlines". Broadway.com. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 Boros, Phyllis A. S. (November 23, 2017). "Chaim Potok's classic novel, 'The Chosen,' comes to Long Wharf". The Darien Times. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 Fierberg, Ruthie (April 25, 2018). "Performer You Should Know: Admissions' Ben Edelman". Playbill. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Ben Edelman – Broadway Cast & Staff". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Gellman, Lucy (December 13, 2017). "'The Chosen' Choose to Play It Safe". Arts Paper. Arts Council of Greater New Haven. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Minor, E. Kyle (November 30, 2017). "Theater review: Superbly done 'Chosen' offers engaging look at fathers, sons & forgiveness". New Haven Register. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Clement, Olivia (March 12, 2018). "Admissions Opens at Lincoln Center Theater Off-Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Holdren, Sara (March 12, 2018). "Theater Review: Why I Can't Accept Admissions". Vulture. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Teeman, Tim (March 12, 2018). "This Is What White Middle-Class Race Hypocrisy Looks Like: Review of 'Admissions'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Rooney, David (March 12, 2018). "'Admissions': Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Suskin, Steven (March 12, 2018). "Admissions: Lacerating Privilege, with Laughs". New York Stage Review. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- 1 2 McPhee, Ryan (April 26, 2018). "Carousel, SpongeBob SquarePants, Mean Girls Lead 2018 Drama Desk Award Nominations". Playbill. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Lefkowitz, Andy (January 30, 2019). "Ben Edelman to Reprise Award-Winning Turn in London Debut of Admissions". Broadway.com. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Billington, Michael (March 13, 2019). "Admissions review – a harsh lesson for white liberals". The Guardian. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Gergely, Julia (November 18, 2022). "'The Gett,' a play about Jewish divorce, stems from an unlikely marriage between a Brooklyn synagogue and a theater company". New York Jewish Week. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Macdonald, Colin (March 1, 2023). "Letters from Max, a ritual". Off Off Online. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Steketee, Martha Wade (February 27, 2023). "Letters from Max, a ritual". Time Out New York. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ Bernardo, Melissa Rose (February 27, 2023). "Letters From Max, a ritual: A Playwright and Poet Open Their Hearts". New York Stage Review. Retrieved August 24, 2026.
- ↑ "Your Friend, Memphis". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 24, 2026.