The only way I figure I can definitely get on stage - with material and production values I can feel good about - is to do it myself. This is not an option I have wanted to pursue in the...
I had a last minute commercial audition today, and while I showed up entirely wrong for the part (mostly due to the fact that my hair was in pigtails and I didn't know I was playing a mom role until...
Call me crazy, but I already have a stack of New Year's resolutions and I'm not waiting until 2009 to start working on them. Ridiculously prepared? Um hmmm. Ready to rock? Oh yeaah. Already crossed one resolution off the list?...
What did I have for Thanksgiving dinner? I had sushi. And it was good, and I ate it by myself in a hallway in the theatre. I don’t care if everyone else in the world was spending time with their...
I am pretty sick and miserable today. I stayed home and, thankfully, my rehearsal was also canceled since the director still needs to find a replacement for the guy who quit. I've spent my day attempting to sleep (hard when...
A few all-star names have been added to the cast of Cleo, director Steven Soderbergh's forthcoming 3D rock movie musical retelling of the Cleopatra story (with music by Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard). Yes, it is probably as weird as it sounds.Catherine Zeta-Jones has already been announced as Cleopatra, and Hugh Jackman is in talks to play Mark Antony. Now, the MTV Movies Blog reports this week that Ray Winstone has just joined the cast as the singing Julius Caesar. Soderbergh told MTV, “I’ve always wanted to do a musical. All the ones that were coming along just weren’t for...
It seems like it's been all bad news for Broadway lately, with one show after another closing its doors by January. Playbill reports that Boeing Boeing, the 2008 Tony winner for Best Revival of a Play, will close Jan. 4.The positive news for producers is that Boeing-Boeing, unlike most of the other recently-closed or soon-to-close productions, has recouped its initial $2.65 million investment. A U.S. tour is being planned for Fall 2009; no casting has yet been announced for the tour, according to Playbill. Producer Sonia Freedman said in a statement:Not only was Boeing-Boeing a critical and financial success, returning...
The Nov. 20–26 article “The Outing of Scott Eckern,” by Lauren Horwitch, covered the resignation of California Musical Theatre artistic director Scott Eckern in response to backlash from his support of Proposition 8, a referendum to ban gay marriage in California. The following letters came in response. Mr. Eckern did not deserve to be treated this way. It is possible to love people with attraction to the same sex and still believe that their attempt to feel validated through the acquisition of special privileges from the government is not in anyone’s best interest. Mr. Eckern should have had the right...
The Washington Rogues, a non-Equity company in Washington, D.C., is seeking new and never-produced plays for possible production. It is especially interested in dark comedies, political or social material, and science fiction. Scripts must be submitted via email to washingtonrogues.submissions@gmail.com. The deadline is Dec. 20; there’s no entry fee. Include a brief synopsis of the play, including the projected running time.
The L.A. branch of the English-Speaking Union will hold its annual Shakespeare Competition semi-finals Feb. 21, 2009; six students will be selected to continue on to the finals March 8, 2009, at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif. High school drama teachers are invited to submit students in two categories: Shakespeare monologues/sonnets and student essays on any Shakespeare play. 2008’s winner went on to win the national ESU competition and received a full scholarship to the British American Drama Academy’s Midsummer Conservatory Program in Oxford, England. $10 entry fee; the deadline is Feb. 6, 2009. For...
It's another good day for micro-mini-budgeted films about scrapping and clawing, grieving and navel gazing. That means "Frozen River," "Ballast" and "Synecdoche, New York" walked away with top trophies from the 18th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. "Frozen River's" star,...
Who knew there was a straight line between a sociopathic gangster recruiting thugs for a final score and one of the world's most famous symbols of pacifism? Sir Ben Kingsley did, and he was kind enough to connect the dots...
Shut your mouth! Or better yet, don't, all-star lineup at the American Cinematheque Awards last night. What better way to toast Samuel L. Jackson than with some strategically placed and liberally applied "Shaft"-style F-bombs? And it's just entertaining to hear...
What you won't find on the list for the anti-Oscars, also known as Film Independent's Spirit Awards, the real party before The Party that happens in February: "Slumdog Millionaire," "Revolutionary Road," "The Reader," "Doubt" and "Frost/Nixon." Major awards buzz hangs...
It's all about "Wall-E," is it? DreamWorks Animation begs to differ. Since "Kung Fu Panda" raked in north of $631 million worldwide this summer, the studio's been touting the tale of an unlikely hero as a colossal success and an...
