Viola Davis News

Tokyo International Players have announced information about upcoming 2012-13 productions, youth opportunities, auditions, how to apply to produce a show on TIP's second stage, and more. See full details below. (more...)

Lisa D'Amour's play Detroit premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2010, directed by Austin Pendleton, and was scheduled to open on Broadway in the 2011/12 season. (more...)

TEEN CHOICE 2012 will once again celebrate the hottest teen icons in television, music, film, sports, fashion, comedy and the web in the choicest, star-studded two-hour event airing live Sunday, July 22 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. Among the nominees are GLEE star Lea Michele and 'How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris. (more...)

Tonight's 57th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards will be presented by Eric McCormack, Grace Gummer, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Rylance, Justin Bartha, Leslie Odom Jr., Lily Rabe, Michael McKean, Tonya Pinkins, Topher Grace, and Tracee Chimo. The event will feature live performances from David Patrick Kelly of ONCE, Joshua Henry and Sumayya Ali of PORGY & BESS, and Ethan Lipton and His Orchestra of NO PLACE TO GO. (more...)

TEEN CHOICE 2012 will once again celebrate the hottest teen icons in television, music, film, sports, fashion, comedy and the web in the choicest, star-studded two-hour event airing live Sunday, July 22 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. "The Vampire Diaries" leads the TEEN CHOICE 2012 nominees with six nominations, while AMERICAN IDOL and Justin Bieber each garnered five nominations. In addition, new categories added this year include Choice Book and Choice Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Artist. (more...)

Stage and screen stars Brooke Shields and Richard Chamberlain will take on the iconic roles of Chris MacNeil and Father Merrin in playwright John Pielmeier’s world premiere of The Exorcist at the Geffen Playhouse. Helmed by acclaimed director John Doyle, who won a Tony Award for his striking reimagining of Sweeney Todd, this stage adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s famous 1971 novel transforms the unsettling battles of good versus evil, faith versus fact and ego versus ethos into a uniquely theatrical experience as sophisticated as it is suspenseful. (more...)

WON'T BACK DOWN will open in theaters on September 28, 2012 from Twentieth Century Fox. The drama was directed by Daniel Barnz and stars Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Oscar Isaac, Holly Hunter, Rosie Perez, Lance Reddick and Emily Alyn Lind. (more...)

The latest offering from Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans simultaneously displays irreverence and pays loving homage to Disney’s Mary with clever repartée, flights of the imagination, and kickin’ production numbers. (more...)

The nominees are in for the 2012 MTV MOVIE AWARDS with The Hunger Games and Bridesmaids neck-in-neck with eight nominations each, including the categories "MOVIE OF THE YEAR," "BEST CAST" and "BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE." (more...)

The White House Correspondents’ Association on April 28 welcomed Jimmy Kimmel as the host of the WHCA's 98th annual dinner. (more...)

E! Entertainment is delivering on its promise to expand into scripted programming with the announcement of the network’s first slate of projects in active development. (more...)

"The Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum, book by John Kane, music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, directed by Jonah Hagans, will be presented on TIP's mainstage May 17-20. TIP has also announced several upcoming performances and the program for its 2012-2013 season. (more...)

“Now, there’s a movie star!” quoth Eileen (Anjelica Huston) of Rebecca Duvall (special guest star Uma Thurman) following her breathy and spastic performance of a new Julia/Tom musical number for the Marilyn Monroe-based musical-within-the-show on SMASH - BOMBSHELL - titled “Dig Deep”. While last night’s “The Movie Star” episode of NBC’s musical dramedy series SMASH was light on the musical numbers - only Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Rebecca managed a musical moment - the drama was dense and delectable, with the rapport between the motley crew of characters comprising the enterprise improving by the week (and it started strong). Yet, despite the best efforts of Eileen, Tom (Christian Borle), Julia (Debra Messing) and Derek (Jack Davenport) in attempting to create a new version of the Marilyn musical that showcases her best (and limited) abilities. Rebecca is a tentative talent who lacks a lot in the vocal and dance departments - to say the least - yet it is undeniable that she also possesses a certain air of a star - perhaps because she is one; on SMASH (as in real life, given Thurman’s A-list status), a big one. Portraying the movie star trying out a Broadway show for the first - and, most likely, last - time, Thurman brings a caustic, nutsy vibe to the seemingly bipolar screen siren - “36-ish”, meaning more like 40-ish in actuality - and gives gravitas to the cartoonishly written role. Just as the Marilyn musical has shown its astonishing, chameleon-like adaptability in its iterations starring Karen and Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) - not only in its star, but also in its style, sound, mood, conception and musical arrangements - now BOMBSHELL is being retrofitted for Rebecca. But, at what cost? Stripping the show of its big Broadway leading lady musical potential and showing off the supporting cast to take the focus off of the shaky star at the center, BOMBSHELL’s “Dig Deep” yet again gave the simply astounding songwriting duo responsible for the songs of the shows-within-the-shows on SMASH (including all of the BOMBSHELL songstack heard and seen so far, as well as the glimpses at the previous Tom/Julia collaborations, HEAVEN & EARTH and THREE ON A MATCH) “Dig Deep” was a WEST SIDE STORY-esque hot jazz song complete with the syncopation and stylization implicit in the best songs of the Actors Studio era which the 50s-set scene set out to depict (Lee Strasberg and all). (more...)

Trinity Repertory Company announced today that Rhode Island’s own Academy Award-nominated actress, Viola Davis, will be honored with the 2012 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts at the 16th annual Pell Awards next month. Theater educator Elaine Foster Perry will receive the Charles Sullivan Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts, Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons will receive the Pell Award For Leadership in Arts Education, and J.L. “Lynn” Singleton, President of the Providence Performing Arts Center and Professional Facilities Management, will be honored as the recipient of the Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts. All awardees are past or current Rhode Islanders. (more...)

Trinity Repertory Company announced today that Rhode Island’s own Academy Award-nominated actress, Viola Davis, will be honored with the 2012 Pell Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts at the 16th annual Pell Awards next month. (more...)

The Village Voice, the nation’s largest alternative weekly newspaper, announced that the 57th Annual Obie Awards will take place on Monday, May 21, 2012, at Webster Hall in the East Village (125 East 11th Street). This year's awards will be presented by: Eric McCormack, Grace Gummer, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Rylance, Justin Bartha, Lily Rabe, Michael McKean, Topher Grace, Tracee Chimo. Entertainment and co-hosts to be announced. (more...)

Jessica Alba, Owen Wilson, Liev Schreiber and John Leguizamo recite poetry set to classic Disney animation in new installments of the acclaimed short-form series A POEM IS... premiering during National Poetry Month, MONDAY, APRIL 2 through SATURDAY, APRIL 21 (8:25 a.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel's Disney Junior. (more...)

Disney Junior, a 24-hour basic cable/satellite channel expressly for kids age 2-7 and their parents/caregivers, will launch FRIDAY, MARCH 23 (12:00 midnight, ET/PT) in the U.S., joining 28 other Disney Junior channels around the world. (more...)

Disney Junior, a 24-hour basic cable/satellite channel expressly for kids age 2-7 and their parents/caregivers, will launch FRIDAY, MARCH 23 (12:00 midnight, ET/PT) in the U.S., joining 28 other Disney Junior channels around the world. (more...)

Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah has signed on to star in and executive produce the Lifetime Original Movie Event, Steel Magnolias, a television adaptation of the iconic play and 1989 film of the same name, reuniting her with her producing duo Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, from the Oscar and Golden Globe winning Chicago and Hairspray. (Zadan and Meron also produce Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva and Smash.) She will take on the role of ‘M’Lynn’ and star alongside an all-star cast that includes Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad as ‘Clairee,’ Golden Globe and multiple Emmy winner Alfre Woodard as ‘Ouiser,’ Grammy winner Jill Scott as ‘Truvy,’ Adepero Oduye as ‘Annelle,’ and Condola Rashad as ‘Shelby.’ The announcement was made today by Nancy Dubuc, President and General Manager of Lifetime Networks. (more...)