Jessica Lewis - Page 198

The nominees for the Chicago Film Critics Awards are out, and include some theatrical favorites including Carey Mulligan for An Education), Meryl Streep for Julia & Julia, and Michael Stuhlbarg for A Serious Man. Jason Reitman's 'Up in the Air' and Spike Jonze' 'Where the Wild Things Are' each scored six nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Jackie Robinson Park Conservancy, Inc., in partnership with Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Inc. and Capital One Bank/145th Street Branch will presents The 12th Annual Jackie Robinson Park Lights of Hope Tree Lighting Ceremony tomorrow, December 17, 2009 from 4pm - 6pm at the Jackie Robinson Park & Recreation Center Jackie Robinson Park and Recreation Center (89 Bradhurst Avenue - a.k.a., W.E B. DuBois Avenue - at 146th Street).

After being forced to postpone the world premier of her lastest piece, THE JACKIE LOOK at the Country Club due to the venue's closing this fall, performance artist Karen Finley will now debut the piece at the Laurie Beechman on Saturday, January 23 at 7:30pm. The multimedia show will run consecutive Saturdays at 7:30pm from January 23 - February 27.

Next June, NPR humorist and best-selling author David Sedaris will take the stage at Berkeley Repertory Theatre to workshop stories from his upcoming book in front of a live audience. The author of wildly popular works such as Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Sedaris will appear nightly on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage from June 14 through June 20, 2010, with a special matinee at 2 PM that Sunday. Participate in the creation of the next hilarious and heartwarming work from this beloved author! Tickets for this workshop are $35 - half-price for anyone under 30 years of age. Following an exclusive presale period for Berkeley Rep's donors and subscribers, seats go on sale to the public today.

Susan Boyle is all about the number 1s this month. Her 1st album, I Dreamed a Dream, debuted at number 1 on the charts, remained at number 1 in it's second week and, as previously reported, 'I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Story,' which premiered exclusively on TV Guide Network on Sunday, December 13 became its #1 rated television special in history. The television special, which delivered a 1.0 coverage rating (788,500 HH) for the 8:00 p.m. telecast, also over-delivered with the network's key demos. It achieved a triple digit increase (404 percent) with persons 25-54 over the prior year, and the combined 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. telecasts reached 4.1 million households and 4.8 million viewers (p18+). The historic ratings performance indicates positive momentum for TV Guide Network, as it undergoes a major transformation to become the destination for premier entertainment programming.

Producers Randall L. Wreghitt, Chris Presley and Ellen Rusconi announced today that Warren Carlyle, the director/choreographer of the current acclaimed Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow, has joined the creative team of the Broadway-bound musical PURE COUNTRY. Carlyle will handle Musical Staging and Choreography. Based on the hit movie of the same name, PURE COUNTRY is on track to have its Broadway premiere as part of the 2010/2011 Season.

Variety is reporting that commercial broadcaster Antena 3 has signed a rights deal with FOX to broadcast Spanish free-to-air nights of GLEE on the Spanish network Modern Family and Family Guy spinoff, The Cleveland Show, are also part of the Antena 3-FOX deal. Earlier this year, Antena 3 and FOX signed similar rights deals on the dramas Lie to Me, The Listener and Mental.

Two Boots Pizza and MJS LIVE, Inc. have announced it's second show for A SLICE OF BROADWAY, a celebration of Broadway's finest at NY's Pizza Pioneers Two Boots Pizza. The 'tastiest pizza in Manhattan' (yelp.com) will honor the amazing cast of Fela! With a specialty pizza offered now until mid January at its Hell's Kitchen location. This afternoon, cast from the first selected show, Fela!, now playing at the Eugene O'Neill Theater and starring Sahr Ngaujah, Kevin Mambo, Lillias White, and Saycon Sengbloh attended Two Boots in their Theater District neighborhood. The cast posed for photographs and sampled The Zombie slice (named after one of Fela Anikulapo Kuti's most popular songs). The pizza slice included African-spiced chicken, criss-crossed with jalapeno pesto, and for the first time ever on a pizza - Yam pesto.

On the heels of the news that Legally Blonde: The Musical is testing out a new reviewing policy in the U.K. whereby reviewers come a few days prior to opening night to better prep their comments, the producers have now revealed that they are instituting the West End's first ever lottery.

Tony Award-winner Liev Schreiber and Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson of Broadway's upcoming A View From The Bridge, continue to prep for the opening of the revival of Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge. After meeting the theatrical press last week, the pair sat down with Time Out New York to discuss the rehearsal process and their relationship.

Playwrights Horizons has announced complete casting for the World Premiere of CLYBOURNE PARK, a new play by Bruce Norris (The Pain and the Itch at Playwrights Horizons/PH 2006-2007 Season).

Stephanie Gaskell of the New York Daily News reports that Broadway may be acing yet another stagehand strike, as a group of about 150 cleaning workers who tend to many of Broadway's houses - members of 32BJ SEIU - are threatening a strike if dissatisfied with their current contract negotiations.

Theater for the New City is pleased to announce that Charles Busch's new comedy THE DIVINE SISTER will play a limited premiere showcase engagement at Theater for the New City's Cino Theater (155 First Avenue). The developmental production, directed by Busch's longtime collaborator Carl Andress (The Third Story; Die, Mommie, Die!) will play a limited engagement of 24 performances from Saturday, February 6 through Sunday, March 7.

Broadcast Film Critics Association has announced the nominees for the 15th annual Critics Choice Movie Awards. The winners will be honored in a ceremony on January 15th the Hollywood Palladium. VH1 will telecast the event live.

Weekend Movie Box Office Update: December 11 - December 13, 2009

Cleveland.com reports that the national tour of WICKED raked in an impressive $7 million in a four week span of what was the show's third Cleveland stop.

GLEE star Mark Salling gives GLEE fans a special treat in this homemade video, in which he serenades the cast and crew of the hit show shirtless.

Kenny Ortega will direct a big screen adaptation of the Tony Award winning musical In the Heights, according to Variety. The film will be the director's follow-up to Michael Jackson's This is It. The film will be made by Universal pictures starring the show's creator and leading performer Lin-Manuel Miranda. The screenplay will be penned by the show's scribe, Quiara Alegria Hudes.

Tickets are now on sale for Academy Award-winner Martin McDonagh's A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE, which begins previews on Broadway on February 15, 2010 and opens on March 4, 2010. The production stars Academy Award-winner Christopher Walken and stage and screen stars Sam Rockwell, Anthony Mackie and Zoe Kazan. Directed by John Crowley, A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE will play the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Tickets are on sale through Telecharge.com, or by phone at 212-239-6200 or 800-432-7250, for this strictly limited engagement which will run for 16 weeks only.

The New York Times reports that Al Pacino will star in a big screen adaptation of Phillip Roth's novel, The Humbling. Pacino is the owner of the motion picture rights. The story centers on an insignificant stage actor who becomes reinvigorated by a younger woman. Barry Levinson, Oscar winner for Rain Man and Oscar nominated for Bugsy, rounds out the creative trifecta. Celebrated publicist Pat Kingsley is also attached.