Eddie Varley - Page 196

US Magazine is reporting that Oscar winner and recording artist Jennifer Hudson has returned to her creative work after taking the needed time away from the public after her recent family tragedy, she is currently shooting a music video for her single, 'If It Isn't Love'.

The New York Times is reporting the positive news that the leaders of New York's Public Theater announced today, Thursday January 29th, that they have signed an agreement with the Broadway producer Elizabeth I. McCann that avoids legal action, threatened by Ms. McCann, over the upcoming transfer of the musical 'Hair,' which is scheduled to begin rehearsals on Friday.

UK's The Guardian is reporting that Magnum Force, the 1973 sequel to Dirty Harry, in which Clint Eastwood hunts down a group of vigilante cops with a penchant for murdering gangsters, is being planned as musical for a future Broadway bow. British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, is the man behind the inspiration to take Dirty Harry to the Great White Way. Hitchcock plans to produce the show alongside MTV executive Bill Flanagan.

Fresh from the Tony Award winning Musical 'Passing Strange' where Colman Domingo received outstanding notices for his unique roles from a closeted pot smoking choir director to a German performance artist, the OBIE Award winning actor brings his critically acclaimed autobiographical solo tour-de-force 'A Boy and His Soul' that whips through coming of age in 1970's West Philadelphia by way of an outstanding soul music record collection to Joe's Pub on February 23rd at 9:30pm.

The Drama Desk, the organization of professional writers, critics and columnists who cover all sectors of New York theater, will hold its first Panel Discussion/Dinner of the 2008/2009 theater season on Monday, February 2, from 5 to 7:30 PM at Tony's Di Napoli Restaurant, 147 West 43rd Street, in Times Square, it was announced today, by William Wolf, President of the organization.

Spend opening night with the new Broadway arrivals, The American Plan and Hedda Gabler-right here with Broadway Beat and BroadwayWorld.com! Broadway Beat, the popular weekly television program for and about the theatre world, right here on the web site. Broadway Beat is the premier, award-winning half hour television program covering theatre, music and performers.

Broadway producer James L. Nederlander says he's hopeful the 'Thriller' legal battle over the musical rights for the project can be resolved. In a statement today Thursday, January 29th, Nederlander expressed hope that the issue could be settled,'I'm confident that these past differences can be worked out.' Landis' lawyer said Wednesday the director will sue to stop the production if necessary.

INTAR (Eduardo Machado, Artistic Director/John McCormack, Executive Director/Alina Troyano, Associate Artistic Director), which was scheduled for two engagements, winter and spring, at the now suddenly shuttered Zipper Factory Theater, has found its new home for this season at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street). Performances will begin February 15th and run through March 7th. Opening Night is set for February 18th.

TVGuide.com is reporting that Tony Award nominee Frances Conroy has been cast on the CBS sitcom 'How I Met Your Mother' as the mother of Neil Patrick Harris' character Barney Stinson. Conroy will appear on the hit CBS this season, the episode according to TV Guide, is titled 'The Stinsons,' and is described as 'the gang discovers that Barney has a fake wife-and-kid on call should his mother ever come to town'.

Benny Andersson and Bj?rn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! welcomed Brandi Burkhardt to the Broadway cast as bride-to-be 'Sophie Sheridan' when she began performances at the Winter Garden Theatre on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009. Burkhardt was a guest on WGHT Radio's 'CURTAIN CALL with Teisha Bader'. Burkhardt made her Broadway debut earlier this season when she created the role of 'Lucie Manette' in the world premiere musical A Tale of Two Cities. She also starred as 'Daisy Mae' in Lil' Abner for the Los Angeles Reprise series and as 'Emma' in the international touring production of Jekyll & Hyde: Resurrection.

Just Jared the celebrity news website is featuring some new images from the set of the film Nine, the pictures show the first glimpse of Nicole Kidman as 'Claudia Graham' and new images of Daniel Day-Lewis as 'Guido Contini', the film is currently in production in Rome. Daniel Day-Lewis replaced the previously attached Javier Bardem in the leading role of Guido Contini, Bardem left the project citing exhaustion. Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, Stacy 'Fergie' Ferguson, Sophia Loren and Judi Dench star in the film as well.

The newly renovated Actors' Playhouse will reopen next month with 'Blood Type: RAGU', Frank Ingrasciotta's single-actor, multicharacter show about four decades of a Sicilian family's experiences in the U.S. Actors' Playhouse is located at 100 Seventh Avenue South (between Bleecker & Christopher Streets). Preview peformances begin on February 20th, with an official opening night scheduled for March 5th, 2009. The production is the first to play the downtown space since filmmaker Lawrence Page bought it last year.

Tony Award Winner Len Cariou (Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music) and Rue McClanahan (The Women, TV's 'The Golden Girls') have just been added to the Broadway Backwards concert benefiting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.

ComingSoon.net is reporting that Mamma Mia! The Movie lead Amanda Seyfried will star in Myriad Pictures' adaptation of Oscar Wilde's comedy A Woman of No Importance opposite Annette Bening and Sean Bean. Seyfried will play an American who finds herself falling in love with the womanizing Lord Illingworth (Bean) in the English countryside until his mother (Bening) throws a wrench in his plans. Donald Zuckerman will produce and Bruce Beresford will be directing from a script by Howard Himelstein.

After her run as Madame DeFarge in A Tale of Two Cities and the release of her critically acclaimed new CD, Broadway's Natalie Toro is coming to The Metropolitan Room. Toro starred as Eponine in the Original Broadway of Les Miserables. Her other stage credits include A Christmas Carol, Jesus Christ Superstar and the title role in the acclaimed 1999 20th Anniversary National Tour of Evita. Press notes state that, 'Her arrangements are ground-breaking and her vocals are breath-taking. The results are sensational. From standards to Broadway and everything in between'. Saturday, February 21st @ 9:45 & Friday, February 27th @ 9:45PM

MidTangent Productions Wins the 2008 Pressie for Best Local Theater Company. Chicago Press readers chose this smaller theater company, known for its annual gay version of a Shakespeare classic, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Queer Tale.'

Film directors Barry Levinson and John Waters talked one-on-one about their films and their connection to Baltimore to the Baltimore Sun. The filmmakers grew up just a few Beltway exits from one another, Levinson in Park Heights, Waters in Lutherville. As the Sun reveals 'Maybe 10 miles, but worlds apart'.

The New York Times has reported that the House has approved $50 million in recovery funds for the National Endowment for the Arts. The help for the NEA came today Wednesday, January 28th as part of the U.S. economic stimulus bill.

The Huffington Post is reporting that despite word that Meryl Streep would be making an appearance on the NBC comedy '30 rock', Alec Baldwin's publicist has squashed the rumors, stating, it is 'not true.' The New York Daily News reported that backstage at the 15th Annual SAG Award last Sunday, Jan. 25th, Award winner Alec Baldwin asked fellow SAG honoree Meryl Streep to appear on his show, NBC's 30 Rock and it didn't take too much for the legendary star to agree. 'Meryl was delighted with the idea of appearing on the show. She said yes immediately' reports a source. Sadly the rumor was not true.

Acclaimed Hollywood director John Landis, who co-wrote and shot the 1983 Michael Jackson Thriller music video, filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Jackson in Los Angeles Superior Court on January 21st, just days five days before James L. Nederlander announced he had bought the rights to adapt the video for the Broadway stage.