Blog Stage - Acting in Film, TV, Theatre - Backstage

California Auditions at a Glance – Jan. 28-Feb. 5

The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans.

Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below.

Regional Auditions at a Glance – Jan. 28-Feb. 5

The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans.

Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below.

'Joe Dirt' Comes to TBS

Comedian David Spade is creating an animated pilot based on his 2001 film “Joe Dirt,” for TBS. Spade created the character of Joe Dirt; a “mullet-sporting, muscle-car loving loser with a heart of gold,” according to the pilot script. Spade, Fred Wolf, and Donick Cary will executive produce alongside Sony Pictures Television and Happy Madison Productions. “Joe Dirt” will be TBS’ third animated series, including “Neighbors from Hell” and “Good and Evel.”

Read the story at The Hollywood Reporter.

Pictured: David Spade (Photo: Getty Images)

Tune in Tomorrow...

Was just told by a source at Paramount that Jason Reitman, writer/director of "Up in the Air" is scheduled to be on "Oprah" tomorrow. That in and of itself is cool, but apparently Reitman will be there with some of the real people who appeared in the film to recount what it was like to be fired.

If you haven't heard by now, Reitman took out ads in local papers saying he was making a documentary about what it's like to be fired, and had people come in to talk about their experiences. They were interviewed by the film's line producer, then he re-enacted their firing and had them respond to the situation. He put 60 people on camera; 25 ended up in the final movie.

I feel like "Up in the Air," which started out the awards season as the film to beat, has lately been overshadowed by the "Avatar" vs. "The Hurt Locker" smackdown taking place. But as we inch closer to the Oscars, I believe "Air" will regain its momentum and stands a good shot at winning the top prize. Though the film has been doing well at the box office, there's nothing like an Oprah endorsement to help!

--Jenelle Riley

'American Idiot' Comes to The Grammy's

The cast of the musical based on the music of Green Day will be performing at the Grammy Awards this Sunday on CBS. Most of the cast debuted in the production during its initial run at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. John Gallagher Jr., Michael Esper, Mary Faber, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Tony Vincent, and Christina Sajous will all continue in the production when it opens at the St. James Theater on April 20. The cast is joined by Tony nominee Stark Sands, who will perform with Green Day on the Grammy Awards.

Read the story at the New York Times.

Pictured: Billie Joe Armstrong (Photo: Getty Images)

Report: Miramax Closes its Doors

Miramax, the Weinstein brothers-founded, Disney-owned movie studio, will close its Los Angeles and New York offices, according to a report at The Wrap. As a result of this closure, part of Bob Iger’s process of streamlining Disney, 80 people will lose their jobs, and six films, including “The Tempest” and “Last Night,” will sit and wait for distribution. The Weinsteins, who named the studio after their parents, have asked to buy back the name from Disney, but have received no response as of yet.

Read the story at The Wrap.

Pictured: Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Photo: Getty Images)

And They're Off....

The theater awards race heated up this week, as nominations for the 41st annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle were announced. Honors will be presented March 22 during a ceremony at the Colony Theatre in Burbank. It was a widely varied slate, honoring theater productions  large and small, and paying homage--via special awards--to such distiguished creative talents as veteran actor Kirk Douglas and Tony-winning composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown.

No clear leader emerged,but there were multiple noms for such shows as Boston Court and Furious Theatre's co-production of Bruce Norris' searing black comedy The Pain and the Itch, the Chance Theater's revival of Hair, the Matrix Theatre's drama Stick Fly, and the long-running jukebox musical hit Life Could Be a Dream. The L.A. theater awards season is a prolific one, including the recently bestowed Ovations, and the upcoming LADCC nods, LA Weeklys, and Back Stage Garlands. Plenty of accolades to go around. Actors might not get rich toiling in L.A. theater, but they can bask in the love of adoring awards organizations.  Here's complete data on the LADCC noms.

--Les Spindle:

Feldshuh Set to Star in 'Golda's Balcony'

Actor Tovah Feldshuh will reprise her role in “Golda’s Balcony,” based on the life of late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. The one-woman play, written by William Gibson, is being presented as part of the Bristol Riverside Theatre’s Jewish Theater Festival on April 25 in Bristol, Pa. Feldshuh was nominated for a Tony award for her performance as Golda during the plays original run at the Helen Hayes Theatre in 2003.

Read the story at Playbill.com 

Pictured: Tovah Feldshuh (Photo: Getty Images)

Victory Gardens Space Named After Tribune Critic

A retired theater critic will be getting a studio in Chicago’s Victory Gardens Biograph Theater named after him. Richard Christiansen was a theater critic at The Chicago Tribune for over 40 years before retiring in 2002. The space will be dedicated in his honor at a ceremony on March 1. Many people in the entertainment industry who claim to have been supported by Christiansen donated large sums of money to the space, according to the Chicago Tribune. Christiansen joins the ranks of fellow critics Walter Kerr and Brooks Atkinson, who have namesake theaters in New York.

Read the story at the Chicago Tribune.

(Photo: Getty Images)

NBC Set to Remain on Network TV

In Washington to speak to a conference held by the Congressional Internet Caucus, Comcast chairman Brian Roberts told the Wall Street Journal’s Alan Murray that NBC will remain on network television instead of moving to cable. Roberts insisted that NBC’s parent company, Comcast, is at heart a “local company” and cited the loss of viewers when Monday Night Football was moved from ABC to ESPN as a reason to keep NBC on network. Roberts also said that Jeff Zucker will remain the CEO of the company and that NBC Universal has many creative projects in the works.

Read the story at Broadcastingcable.com 

(Photo: Getty Images)