Jessica Lewis - Page 262

Zakes Mokae, apartheid activist and Tony Award winning actor for Master Harold...And The Boys died on Friday of complications from a stroke in Las Vegas at age 75. The South African actor additionally appeared on Broadway in The Song of Jacob Zulu, Blood Knot, and A Lesson From Aloes. His work was largely focused on bringing attention to the brutality of the apartheide. Mokae also suffered from Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

Variety.com is reporting that Tony, Emmy, Drama Desk and Pulitzer Prize celebrated playwright Tony Kushner is hard at work on Steven Spielberg's much anticipated epic about Abraham Lincoln. This Lincoln project has been on the DreamWorks roster for several years, delays being caused by budget constraints and location complications. This is the second collaboration for Kushner and Spielberg: Spielberg produced and directed Kushner's 'Munich' in 2005.

Eric Rosen kicks off his second season as Kansas City Rep?s artistic director with an audacious production of INTO THE WOODS (September 18 - October 4). The Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine will be staged by Broadway director Moisés Kaufman, who will take the audience on a wild trip into the darker side of the woods, where they will experience a different version of familiar fairy tale characters. Choreography is by Daniel Pelzig. The show will also feature extensive puppetry created by Kansas City?s puppet master Paul Mesner.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced complete casting today for the world premiere of IDIOT SAVANT, written and directed by Richard Foreman. Presented in association with Ontological-Hysteric Theater, IDIOT SAVANT will begin previews Tuesday, October 27 and continue through Sunday, December 13 with an official press opening on Wednesday, November 4 at 8 p.m. Single tickets go on sale on Tuesday, September 15.

Whatsonstage.com is reporting that Dame Judi Dench will be donating the replica of the Rose Theatre used in the 1998 Oscar-winning film Shakespeare In Love (for which the Dame herself received a trophy), gifted to her by the film's producers.

The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival will host the 2009 season of author interviews and humanities discussions on 9/16. Free and open to the public, these presentations include enlightening discussions with noted authors, book signings, question-and-answer sessions, and complimentary coffee provided by the Chateau Coffee Café.

This Wednesday, September 16 at 9 p.m., WLIW21 presents the exclusive premiere of THE STORY OF BURN THE FLOOR with creator/director/choreographer/world champion dance legend Jason Gilkison and producer Harley Medcalf LIVE in the studio.

Shakespeare's ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, in a highly acclaimed production by Marianne Elliott, will be filmed live at the National Theatre in London on 1st October and broadcast by satellite to cinemas worldwide. All?s Well is the second play in the pilot season of NT Live, the National?s ground-breaking initiative which launched in June with the hugely successful broadcast of Phèdre with Helen Mirren, which was seen by 50,000 people in 19 countries around the globe. ALL'S WELL will be the first play broadcast from the largest of the National's three theatres, the Olivier, with its fan-shaped auditorium and open stage.

Yale School of Drama (James Bundy, Dean; Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean) has just announced their 2009-10 season, three plays that offer radically different, and equally provocative, views on what it means-and what it costs-to desire, to love, and to be truly alive: PHÈDRE by Jean Racine, LA RONDE by Arthur Schnitzler, and Virginia Woolf?s ORLANDO adapted by Sarah Ruhl.

Producer Jeffrey Finn announced that rehearsals begin today, Monday, September 14 for the first Broadway production of OLEANNA, the provocative drama by Pulitzer Prize winner David Mamet. Starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles and directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes (Doubt), the play is a gripping account of a power struggle between a male university professor and one of his female students. The Broadway production will begin previews on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at The Golden Theatre (252 West 45th Street) with an Opening Night set for Sunday, October 11, 2009.

The New York Comedy Festival (NYCF) announced today a new partnership with the People's Choice Awards that will provide two unique opportunities for both comedians and fans to participate in this year's festival. For the first time ever, festival-goers will have the chance to vote on and present an official People's Choice Award during the 'New York's Funniest Stand-Up' competition, an event that showcases the most talented newcomers and established comedians in New York. The winner of the competition will receive the prestigious crystal People's Choice Award and will be recognized during the 2010 People's Choice Award live broadcast on CBS.

MTV turned New York City inside out for the '2009 Video Music Awards' as the network celebrated a legend and brought together the biggest names in music, TV, film and sports. Live from Radio City Music Hall, VMA icon Madonna opened the show and introduced the emotional and heartfelt tribute to Michael Jackson. Janet Jackson was joined onstage by the most renowned choreographers in the world and Michael's tour dancers, all of whom were influenced by the 'King of Pop,' for a memorable and high energy performance. To honor her brother and his illustrious career, the dancers recreated some of his most memorable music videos including 'Thriller,' 'Bad,' 'Smooth Criminal' and 'Scream.' The celebration received a standing ovation and set the tone for the most important evening in music and pop culture.

The longest-running show in Broadway history, Andrew Lloyd Webber?s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, is set to reach another unprecedented milestone. With its 8PM evening performance on Thursday, September 17, 2009, the musical will become the first Broadway show ever to reach 9,000 performances. The occasion will be marked the previous afternoon, Wednesday, September 16, with a special presentation during the 2PM matinee?s curtain call. The post-show presentation promises a few on stage surprises for that day?s audience. Now in its phenomenal 22nd Year, the Cameron Mackintosh/Really Useful Group, Inc. production, directed by Harold Prince, continues to play at The Majestic Theatre (247 West 44th Street), with no end in sight.