Eddie Varley - Page 205

Spring Awakening star Hunter Parrish was featured in the New York Times theater section yesterday, the WEEDS actor gives a brief interview about performing the Broadway show and how the stage continues to inspire him. Parrish has been a wonderful addition to the Great White Way these last number of months, bringing dynamic energy to the production and giving of his time and talents to the entire Broadway community. The Times piece is a great profile on an inspired young actor.

Passing Strange- the film directed by Spike Lee is showing at Sundance 2009 and is gaining raves from both critics and audiences alike at the famous Utah film festival. The film is being screened during the Spectrum Documentary Spotlight program through Feb. 25, 2009. The long, exciting trip continues for Passing Strange, the rock musical that was born at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, enjoyed an extended off-Broadway run at The Public Theater, and then burst onto Broadway with its original cast intact. Celebrated director Spike Lee filmed two of the show's final performances to preserve it for future generations and it is premiering to much acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival.

West Side Story returned to where it all began for the show in 1957, the National Theatre in Washington, DC. official out of town performance period. West Side Story played a limited engagement at the National with the final 'Somewhere' being sung 'Tonight' (forgive us-but too easy) January 17th, 2009. The cast will next bring the classic story to life on the stage of The Palace Theatre on Febuary 23rd, the first scheduled preview performance. West Side Story's official Opening Night on Broadway is set for March 19th, 2009. The producers of West Side Story have assembled a dynamic cast for the new Broadway production. The cast of 37 stars Matt Cavenaugh (A Catered Affair, Grey Gardens) as 'Tony,' Karen Olivo (In the Heights) as 'Anita,' Cody Green (Movin' Out) as 'Riff' and George Akram (The Farrelly's Stuck on You) as 'Bernardo.' The role of 'Maria' will be played by Broadway newcomer Josefina Scaglione. The 21 year old actress comes directly, by special arrangement with Actors' Equity Association, from Buenos Aires after an exhaustive international search for the role. She created the role of Amber Von Tussle in the Argentinean production of Hairspray and the title role in Cinderella. Miss Scaglione is a classically trained opera singer who has received critical acclaim appearing as a soloist in the nation's most prestigious concert halls.

BroadwayWorld.com is proud to announce its newest addition to the BWW TV family - StageTube! Presenting the best in viral, viewer-created videos, StageTube will connect BroadwayWorld.com visitors with the best of user driven video content. Inside the Actor's Studio welcomes actor Ricky Gervais on Monday January 19th at 7pm on Bravo. James Lipton sits down for a hilarious interview with funny-man Ricky Gervais. A can't-miss episode, Ricky talks comically about creating 'The Office', his clever role in 'Extras', and manages to make James Lipton blush on the subject of his penis size. Tune-in as Ricky chats up -and cracks up-the ever-serious Lipton!

Variety is reporting some very good news for the world of theatre, while Broadway is dealing with a bit of a 'chill', the West End is heating up with record box office scores. The entertainment bible reports that for the the week commencing Dec. 29, 'the London production of 'Wicked' grossed ?885,294 ($1.28 million), the highest weekly tally of its entire London run, while 'Billy Elliot' also broke its own weekly box office record'. The Queen musical 'We Will Rock You,' which just celebrated its seventh birthday at the Dominion Theater, achieved the highest number of paid admissions in one week for any West End show in 2008.

While attending the Sundance Film Festival, Collider.com Editor-in-Chief Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub bumped into legendary Monty Python member John Cleese while exiting a Starbucks. Cleese revealed to Weintraub that he is working 'in earnest' with his daughter Camilla on the stage musical adaptation of his classic film, 'A Fish Called Wanda'. The comic legend hopes to have it finished in the next two to three years and debut it in San Diego with the hope of the production continuing on to Broadway and London's West End reports the website.

Classic Stage Company's new production of Anton Chekhov's UNCLE VANYA, starring Tony Award winner Denis O'Hare as Vanya, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Yelena and Peter Sarsgaard as Astrov, extended its limited engagement through Sunday, March 8, it was announced today by CSC Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen. Directed by Austin Pendleton, UNCLE VANYA will begin previews on this Saturday, January 17 at Classic Stage Company at 136 East 13th Street, with an official opening set for Thursday, February 12. The cast of UNCLE VANYA also features Mamie Gummer (Sonya), Louis Zorich (Waffles), George Morfogen (Srebryakov), Delphi Harrington (Maria) and Cyrilla Baer (Marina). UNCLE VANYA will feature scenic design by Tony Award winner Santo Loquasto, who received wide acclaim last season at CSC for his design of The Seagull and who has designed numerous Chekhovian productions in his esteemed career including the famed Lincoln Center production of The Cherry Orchard in 1977. Costume design is by Suzy Benzinger, who also designed last season's The Seagull, and lighting design is by Jason Lyons. The play is translated by Carol Rocamora. O'Hare, who last performed at CSC in Yasmina Reza's A Spanish Play, stars as Vanya, the quintessential superfluous man, who wakes up one morning to discover he has wasted his life in the service of others, in Chekhov's tragicomic masterpiece of dashed dreams, thwarted love and eternal longing. The play was first performed at the legendary Moscow Art Theater in 1899, directed by Constantine Stanislavsky.

Those three talented 'Billy Elliots' David Alvarez, Kiril Kulish and Trent Kowalik stopped by Bloomingdales on Lexington Avenue at 59th Street on Thursday January 15th to meet the fans and sign the hit musical's cast CD. BroadwayWorld tagged along with the terrific trio as they mixed and mingled! A hit in London and one of the most highly anticipated shows of the season, Billy Elliot officially opened at Broadway's Imperial Theatre on Thursday, November 13th, 2008. With music by Elton John, book and lyrics by Lee Hall and directed by Stephen Daldry, this joyful musical lights up Broadway eight times a week!

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents the hilarious Off-Broadway musical comedy hit, BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL. This campy, off-the-wall parody inspired by a supermarket tabloid story of a half-boy, half-bat keeps both tongue and fang firmly in cheek. The exuberant score mixes rock, Broadway, gospel, and country music in a smart, witty, self-aware comical confection. Award-winning director Jay Manley helms this fabulous cult hit with musical direction by Spencer Williams, and choreography by Andrew Ceglio (also the production's star). The talented cast of BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL includes Andrew Ceglio as both Bat Boy and the production choreographer (credits include Pippin at Foothill Music Theatre, Marquee Productions at Childrens Musical Theater San Jose, Theater on San Pedro, and Forever Plaid at Cabrillo Stage as director and choreographer); Kateri McRae returns to the Foothill stage as Bat Boy's young love, Shelley (previously seen as Mae in Foothill Music Theatre's The Pajama Game, other credits include Broadway By the Bay and the Palo Alto Players); Ariel Buck as Shelley's mother and Bat Boy's tutor (credits include North Shore Music Theatre, MA, Marquee Productions at CMSTSJ, and an international tour with Tokyo Disney Sea); Tim Reynolds as the veterinarian, Dr. Parker (credits include Bobby in Company at Foothill Music Theatre, and roles at TheatreWorks and Broadway By the Bay); Todd Wright returns to Foothill as the Sherriff (previous roles include Alfie Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Mr. Hasler in The Pajama Game and numerous roles with the Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival). Also featured in the cast of BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL are David Cates, RaMond Thomas, Michael Rhone, Sarah B. Griner, and Monique Hafen in rotating roles as the various citizens of Hope Falls, West Virigina.

Boy George has been jailed for 15 months for the false imprisonment of a male escort. George denied the charge and claimed he lawfully detained Carlsen for stealing photos from his laptop. He was sentenced to 15 months behind bars at a hearing at London's Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday.

A multi-city tour of 101 DALMATIANS directed by Jerry Zaks with a score by Dennis DeYoung and a book by B.T. McNicholl will hit the road starting in Fall 2009. There are no tour dates or locations announced at this time,but more information is expected soon. Disney's animated film version was made in to a series of hit live action features starring Glenn Close as the villianess Cruella De Ville, the classic Dodie Smith's 1957 novel revolves around a canine family that must band together to overcome difficult times and dangerous foes.

SPEED-THE-PLOW producer Jeffrey Richards is not taking Piven's 'fishy' pleas regarding his departure from the show sitting down. Richards announced in a statement that, 'The producers of SPEED THE PLOW have officially filed a grievance with Actors' Equity re: Jeremy Piven's departure. A date for the arbitration is to be determined.' Jeremy Piven defended his sudden and shocking exit from SPEED-THE-PLOW in an exclusive interview on 'Good Morning America' yesterday morning. Piven told GMA host Diane Sawyer was 'brought to my knees' by his condition and said that on doctor's orders he 'couldn't do it.' 'You talk about 'the show must go on,' this is in my DNA. To have the rap be on me that I walked out on this thing. ... This was the greatest moment of my life,' he revealed to Sawyer. To watch the entire video visit the official ABC GMA site by going here.

Rumors abound that actress Evan Rachel Wood has been cast as 'Mary Jane' in the upcoming Broadway SPIDERMAN musical. There is also word that her 'Across The Universe' co-star Jim Sturgess, is being sought to play the leading role of Peter Parker/Spiderman. Maybe Wood will discuss the musical when she appears on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! tonight? You'll also find a handy list below of other late night talk guests, check local listings are excat times.

Aussie news website LiveNews had a brief chat with NINE film star Penelope Cruz, and the sulty star admitted that performing the classic 'A Call From the Vatican' number from the show and sure to be a highlight in the film version, left her blistered and bruised-but she loved doing it!The song required the actress to perform a rope routine and the stunt left her worried she would lose her grip and fall. Cruz explained to the site 'When something like that happens, you just have to keep going and forget about any physical pain. I was dancing in the dark with one spotlight on me, so I had to be extremely alert and focused. 'There were other things to think about, so I was not in pain while dancing - I was just praying not to fall!'

Twenty-one St. Louis theater companies are represented in the nominations for the fourth annual Kevin Kline Awards. Forty-two plays and musicals produced in the St. Louis area during 2008 now share 113 nominations in 22 different categories for the coveted award. The nominations were announced on KWMU-FM's 'Cityscape' today, January 16th, 2009. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis received the most nominations, 32, divided among seven different productions that were presented on its mainstage, and in both the Studio and Off-Ramp series. The Muny was the second-highest recipient, with 15 nominations. Stages St. Louis was the third theater to receive double-digit nominations, with 13. The satirical comedy The Little Dog Laughed, which was produced by the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis as part of its Off-Ramp series, received the most nominations (8), followed by seven nominations for My Fair Lady at the Muny. Eighty-two actors, directors, choreographers, playwrights and designers received nominations. Six artists received multiple nominations.

Stage and screen star Kristin Chenoweth, Tony Award winner for 'You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown,' and Tony Award nominee for originating the role of Glinda the Good Witch in 'Wicked,' will now perform her Benefit Concert at Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, artistic directors, Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, managing director) on March 28th instead of the original date of February 7th, 8 p.m.

Kelli O'Hara, the Tony nominated star of South Pacific is has a new 'production' in the works that will demand she take leave from the Lincoln Center hit starting in March, she is expecting her first child with husband Greg Naughton. No exact date has been announced for her departure, but production representatives confirmed the news of her upcoming exit. The hope is that she will return to the production at a future date after her leave of absence. She married her husband in 2007, an actor and the son of Tony winning actor James Naughton. Kelli O'Hara was nominated for a TONY for her current role as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. She was also TONY nominated for The Pajama Game opposite Harry Connick Jr. (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations) and The Light in the Piazza (Tony and OCC nominations). Other Broadway credits include Sweet Smell of Success opposite John Lithgow, Sondheim's Follies, Dracula, and Jekyll & Hyde. She recently released her first album Wonder in the World on Ghostlight Records.

USA Today has revealed that Beyonce will sing for Barack and Michelle Obama's first dance on inauguration night. The song however is being kept a secret. The Presidential Inaugural Committee is keeping mum on the title of the song. 'It is our hope that we can keep the song secret until the moment,' said spokeswoman Linda Douglass to the paper. The inaugural team for Barack Obama has announced a huge and starry lineup of talent that will perform at an opening celebration at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, in a kickoff heavy in its mix of history and leading performance artists.

A quick peek at 'Soul OF SHAOLIN', Will Ferrell chats about 'You're Welcome America A Final Night with George W Bush', The Fantasticks welcomes new cast members and highlights of the The Who's TOMMY: 15th Anniversary Benefit Reunion Concert-all right here with Broadway Beat and BroadwayWorld.com!

Variety reports that following a seven-month, $15 million renovation, Gotham's Beacon Theater will reopen with a pair of Paul Simon concerts on Feb. 13 and 14.The 2,800-seat, Upper West Side showcase, which Cablevision's MSG Entertainment acquired in November 2006, originally opened in 1929. Designed by Chicago architect Walter Ahlschlager, it had been used for opera, films, vaudeville and theatrical productions. In 1979 it received landmark designation, and it has functioned primarily as a concert venue since the late 1980s.