Espresso - Backstage - Actor Industry News

'Jersey Boys' Movie; Shatner Voyaging to Broadway

• John Logan, Tony-winning playwright, will adapt the Tony-winning Broadway musical "Jersey Boys" for the big screen. Has anyone even heard of this show? It's not like there are productions in New York, London, Las Vegas, Sydney, and two national tours. Read the story at Playbill.

• Emmy-winning actor and singer William Shatner will boldy go where he's gone before, albeit about 50 years ago. Next month, the star of "Star Trek" and "Boston Legal" will begin performing his two-hour one-man show on Broadway. Check it out at The New York Times. Someone please go dressed as a "Star Wars" Stormtrooper.

•TiVo's research unit has reported that watching TV shows on the Internet or through DVR has exceeded live viewership. The research unit is headed by Captain Obvious. Take a look at The Hollywood Reporter.

Trailers for Theater Productions; David Wheeler Dies

• Theater companies are trying to use trailers, like feature films do, to advertise upcoming productions. Read the story at The New York Times.

• David Wheeler, director and influential figure in Boston theater, passed away at age 86. Read his obituary at Playbill.

•The New York Times discusses how this year's acclaimed actresses transformed into and stayed in character.

• For all the geeks out there, this one is for you. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is being remastered into high definition, reported Entertainment Weekly.

Mara's Audition Challenges; Webber's Reality Show?

• Before Rooney Mara auditioned for the role of Lisbeth Salander in the "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," she was provided with a list of challenging requirements she would have to agree to do if she was hired. According to the Irish Echo, Mara was told she would have to become a smoker, be naked, do rape scenes, isolate herself for a year, and ride a motorcycle. Mara is up for a Golden Globe, so it appears to have been worth all that.

• Andrew Lloyd Webber may be making a new reality show that will find an actor to play Jesus in a stadium tour of "Jesus Christ Superstar," reported Whatsonstage.com.

• "Bambi," Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid," and Robert Rodriguez's "El Mariachi" are among the 25 films that have been chosen to be preserved the National Registry. Check out out Los Angeles Times for the full list.

• Cheetah, a chimpanzee who was one of the most famous animal stars of the 1930s and was featured alongside Tarzan in that era's franchise films, died. He was estimated to be 80 years old. Read the story at The New York Times.

Pictured: Rooney Mara (Photo: Getty Images)

Christmas Special for Visually Impaired, and More

• On Christmas Eve, the 17th annual “The Eyes of Christmas” television special for the visually impaired will start with an airing of the 1946 movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The holiday classic will be broadcast in TheatreVision on NBC at 8 pm and be narrated by former President George H.W. Bush. Following “It’s a Wonderful Life” will be special holiday programming beginning at 6 a.m. (ET) Christmas morning on ION Television. The block of Christmas morning programs will be hosted by Vin Scully with stars, such as Sandra Bullock, Bob Costas, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, and Reba McIntyre, sharing holiday wishes. For more details, please click over to RP International.

• Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken will write new songs for the Broadway production of "Newsies." Read the story at Playbill.

• A 19-year old British man was imprisoned because he missed the last day of jury services by pretending to be ill and instead attended the West End production of "Chicago." The young gent, and apparently passionate theater-lover, served a sentence of fourteen days, which some consider too harsh. Check it out at The Guardian.

• Film director Don Sharp passed away at 89. He was known for his Gothic horror films. Read his obituary at The New York Times.

Opera Sees Mediator; New B'Way Shows Struggle

• New York City Opera management and union leaders met with a federal mediator Monday morning in the hopes of resolving a labor dispute, reported The New York Times. The American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents City Opera's chorus members, stage managers and assistant directors, said it agreed to return to negotiations on Jan. 3.

• The number of long-standing art house theaters is decreasing nationwide. These theaters aren't faring so well partially because they're losing customers to high-end theaters, which offer premium services and more mainstream titles, and major chains that are now showing the types of movies normally reserved for indie theaters. Read the story at Los Angeles Times.

• Last week, several new Broadway musicals struggled to sell tickets. The main reason: holiday tourists tend to attend long-running shows like "The Lion King" and "Wicked" instead of trying something new. Read the story at The New York Times.

• Tokyo-based management company Japollywood Artists is looking to give American and British actors more fame in Asia along with possibly hefty paychecks. The best part is you don't have to be on Hollywood's A-list to work with the new company. Check it out at The Hollywood Reporter.

• The Weinstein Company is moving forward developing its first stage musical, “Finding Neverland,” based on the 2004 film of the same name, according to The New York Times.

Met Opera Singer Injured; Apple's Vague TV Goals

• During a Metropolitan Opera performance of "Faust," Wendy White, a mezzo-soprano, fell about eight feet from a platform to the stage.  Read the story at The Huffington Post.

• Los Angeles Times spoke with actor-director Ed Burns about using video-on-demand for his indie films.  He argues that as indie movie theaters continue to disappear, for either economic or digital shifting reasons, it is harder for indie films to vie for space against blockbusters in megaplexes. VOD is, thus, a logical place for indie films in his opinion.

• The New York Times interviewed Louis C.K. on recently succeeding with his web experiment: putting an entire stand-up concert on his website for only $5. He's expected to make at least a $1 million off the venture. As great as this endeavor has proven to be, it still is a unique situation. Before putting his concert online, Louis C.K. already had a substantial core audience, a few cable stand-up specials, and one currently successful cable show. In other words,  even though this Internet experiment paid off literally, he couldn't have done it without his previous exposure from decades of stand-up comedy and being on television, which C.K. points out in the article.

• According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple is moving ahead with its TV ambitions. Details are a bit scarce, as is always the case with Apple technology, but the only information most people want is the release date; alas, no luck... yet.

Pictured: Ed Burns (Photo: Getting Images)

'Fear Factor' Returning to NBC This Week

For those who missed the grossest of the grossest reality shows, fear not. For “Fear Factor” is back and more disgusting than ever! The program will begin its second life on NBC tonight.

Chiller, a small cable channel owned by NBC’s parent company, Comcast, has been running repeats of the show, and by Chiller standards, the ratings are strong. Based on that, NBC decided to give the show another chance, but because desensitization has done wonders, the show has to be “bigger, badder, and grosser” than ever before.

Critics' Name Best Movies; More 'Who'?

• Critics associations around the country are naming their best movies of 2011. The consensus is... well, results tend to vary. The same names, like "The Artist" and "The Descendants," you've heard over and over this year are still receiving attention. Click over to Deadline's postings showing the votes from New York Film Critics Online and Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

• These next two bullets are for the geeks out there (I'm one of you). Two lost "Doctor Who" episodes have been recovered and will be shown sometime in the future. How were they lost initially? It was common for shows in the early days of television to tape over old episodes once their repeats rights had expired or to save storage space. No one thought people would buy whole seasons of TV series, which has become common practice in this day and age, especially at Christmas when you have no idea what to get someone.  Read the story at The Guardian.

• According to The New York Times, Hollywood is pushing for the creation of new languages -including grammatical rules, an alphabet, and basic vocabulary- to be used in their fantasy and sci-fi movies ("Avatar"), TV shows ("Game of Thrones"), and video games. This move is supposed to add believability to a project. Requiring viewers to learn a new language to understand plot certainly won't alienate them. For me, if a movie's characters don't speak any language, I won't invest them. That's why I don't care for silent films.

• There's doubt over whether Marilyn Monroe's alleged affair with Colin Clark took place. The tryst is the basis of the movie "My Week with Marilyn." Why does this matter? Did people think they were seeing a documentary? Read the story at Los Angeles Times.

Maher Joins Yahoo! Comedy; Schwartz Honored

• Comedian Bill Maher will perform a show at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts that will be streamed online for free on Feb. 23. The stand-up special will be used to introduce a new Yahoo! comedy channel that will contain other original and licensed content. Read the story at The New York Times.

• Stephen Schwartz, Oscar-winning "Wicked" and "Pippin" composer and lyricist, was honored by the ASCAP foundation for his contributions to musical theater. On Wednesday, Tony-winner Adam Guettel presented Schwartz with the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers Award. Click over to Playbill for more.

• Stephen Colbert interviewed David Hallberg, the first American dancer to join the Bolshoi Ballet, on Wednesday. Hallberg and American Ballet Theatre soloist Hee Seo later performed a pas de deux from "The Nutcracker." Colbert even showed off some of his dance moves and... legs. Check it out at The New York Times.

Pictured: Bill Maher (Photo: Getty Images)

Verizon vs. Netflix?; Harry Morgan of 'M*A*S*H' Dies

• According to Reuters, Verizon plans to start a standalone service in 2012 that will let customers stream film and TV shows over the Internet. Such an endeavor would put the company in competition with Netflix and cable providers. If Verizon increases its number of subscribers, then it may be able to lower its fees.

• The lawsuit of a former Universal TV employee claims that behind the scenes of Fox's "House" there are sexual antics galore. The Hollywood Reporter said these allegations may soon be presented to a jury.

• Harry Morgan, prolific character actor best known for playing Colonel Potter in the television series “M*A*S*H,” died Wednesday at the age of 96. Read his obituary at The New York Times. Also, Leo Friedman, renowned stage photographer who captured the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepurn, passed away. He was 92. Check out his Times obituary and a slideshow of his photographs.