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

'South Park' Comes to New York

The creators of the cartoon “South Park” are in the process of writing a musical, according to the New York Theater Workshop. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are working with Robert Lopez, the Tony-award winning composer of “Avenue Q,” to create a show that will run in August and September. Afterwards, New York Theater Workshop will put on a revival of “The Little Foxes” by Lillian Hellman, starring Elizabeth Marvel and directed by the artist Ivo van Hove.

Read the story at the New York Times. 

Pictured: Trey Parket and Matt Stone. (Photo: Getty Images)

Nicholas Hoult cast in 'Mad Max'

British actor Nicholas Hoult, star of the BBC show “Skins,” has been cast in the latest “Mad Max” installment from writer-director George Miller, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The sequel, based on the post-apocalyptic action film from the late ’70s starring a young Mel Gibson, is entitled “Fury Road” and is set 10 years after the original. Actors Zoe Kravitz, Teresa Palmer, and Adelaide Clemens are in talks to join the action flick. Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy are set to star in the film that begins shooting in Australia this summer.

Read the story at The Hollywood Reporter.

Pictured: Nicholas Hoult (Photo: Getty Images)

Voodoo Thinking

Mind over matter. What a concept. 

I recently interviewed a very successful actor. Chatting with her was a delight. She was forthcoming and unassuming, even somewhat self-effacing. Still, when she started talking about how "convergence" had played a role in her early career I was somewhat taken aback. She was not talking about plain old luck--or even how the stars were aligned just right--but rather how the intensity of her desire shaped external events and thus everything came together. Regrettably, this view has gained currency among many educated people from all walks of life.

R.I.P. Zelda Rubinstein

Sad news regarding someone who profoundly disturbed my childhood: actor Zelda Rubinstein, best known as Tangina, the eerie ghost hunter with the child's voice in "Poltergeist" passed away at the age of 76. I saw "Poltergeist" at least 20 times on HBO as a kid, and not only did the movie stick with me but Rubinstein's simultaneously chilling and comforting performance (see above clip) is burned into my psyche.

Rubinstein had been sick for some time; Radar reported last month that she had been taken off life support after her lungs and kidneys failed. Standing four feet, three inches tall, Rubinstein always made an impression in her films, which also included "Sixteen Candles" and "Southland Tales." She was also a welcome presence on the TV show "Picket Fences," at least for the first two seasons. Creator David E. Kelley killed her off in season three due to budget cuts, and her unceremonious death (from falling into a freezer) left a bad taste in my mouth.

In 1982, Steven Spielberg, producer of "Poltergeist," summed it best when he told the L.A. Times:  "Good things can come in small packages, and that’s certainly true of Zelda."
--Jenelle Riley

F. Murray Abraham: Actor Turns Into Real-Life Action Hero

During a rehearsal reading of Much Ado About Nothing at the Off-Broadway Classic Stage Company in NYC Monday night, an audience member managed to sneak into the dressing rooms and attempted to rob the actors on stage.

Luckily, Oscar-winning actor F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) was also in the audience, and he noticed the man heading backstage. According to ArtsBeat, the 70-year-old actor went to investigate with the house manager, where they found the man hiding under a table in the dressing room. The house manager shouted that a robbery was underway, while Abraham and the intruder scuffled; Abraham sustained at least one punch before other cast members ran backstage and the intruder fled.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, Brian Kulick, artistic director of Classic Stage Company, and executive director Jessica R. Jenen said:

“We are deeply grateful to F. Murray Abraham for his heroic intervention last evening, as well as to the entire acting ensemble that rushed to his defense. This is yet another shining example of the resilience and deep dedication of New York’s extraordinary acting community that not only stopped an intruder mid-crime but then rushed back onstage to continue the show. They have our deepest respect and thanks.”

81-Year-Old Actress Makes Broadway Debut

Veteran actress Alice Duffy is making her Broadway debut at age 81, in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of Noel Coward's Present Laughter, starring Victor Garber. NBC's Anne Thompson shared Duffy's story this morning on The Today Show. Watch the video below:

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Hippies Gather Like a Herd of Cattle at the 'Hair' Open Call

"Cattle calls": from the name, you’d think actors should know what to expect. But when a friend suggested we show up for our first Broadway open casting call the night before the audition, and sleep on the streets of New York City buried under her Snuggie, I called her crazy.

Turns out there are a lot more crazy – and enthusiastic – hopeful hippies out there than I thought, especially when it comes to the revival of the revolutionary rock musical Hair. Something about this tribal musical, preaching peace and love, drew over one thousand young people to circle the downtown New York City blocks around the Public Theater for their chance to audition.

While my crazy friend arrived outside the Public at 2 a.m., Snuggie and camera in hand (she earned audition slot number 31 for her bravery), my other friends and I thought it reasonable to wait until 6 a.m. Turning the corner before sunrise, though, we got our first glimpse of the cattle lined up and waiting for slaughter (or a callback).

Steppenwolf Among Joyce Award Recipients

The Joyce Foundation announced today the winners of its 2010 Joyce Awards. Recipient arts organizations will each be given a $50,000 grant to commission a work by a particular artist. The winners include the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, for whom playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney will develop a new work based on the biblical book of Job, and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, Minn., which will commission a work by choreographer Uri Sands.

Read the story at Playbill.

Pictured: Tarrell Alvin McCraney (Photo: Getty Images)

Calif. Tax Credit Program Runs Out of Cash

In just seven months, California's tax-incentive program for film and television production has spent $200 million two years' worth of its five-year allotment. "I'm out of money,'' Amy Lemisch, director of the California Film Commission, told the Los Angeles Times. "We will lose projects between now and June." The next round of funding won't become available until July.

Read the story at the Los Angeles Times.

Pictured: The California State Capitol in Sacramento

Solid 'Frozen'

So the Sundance Film Festival is under way, and though I'm not there, my colleague Sarah Kuhn is. If you haven't been reading her blogs from the festival, she's already discussed some buzzed-about flicks including the horror-comedy "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" and the Joan Jett biopic "The Runaways." One of the films she hasn't checked out but I was able to see here in L.A. is "Frozen," the thriller from writer-director Adam Green that has been described as "'Jaws' on a ski lift." I had a feeling "Frozen" would play well in Sundance, where I suspect a large part of the audience can relate to the three young hipsters freezing to death in the snow. (The cold temperatures is the primary reason I've never returned to Sundance since 2000.) Apparently, the premiere screening went gangbusters, with the sold-out audience screaming and groaning in all the right places. I was able to speak to Green yesterday on the phone, and he said it was by far the best premiere he'd ever been to.

When Green first told me the premise of "Frozen," back in October, I giggled a little bit because it was so simple. Three kids are stranded on a chairlift, 50 feet off the ground, with the resort closed until the following weekend. The premise sounded like a fun idea--that would last maybe 20 minutes. I mean, how much can you really do with that idea?