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

Broadway Blunders Get Another Shot at Success

After being slammed by critics, Broadway shows that only lived for a short run have moved on to an afterlife. International venues seem to be a safe haven for flopped productions, granting them a second chance in front of a fresh audience.

The New York Times reported that “Shrek the Musical,” which only lasted for 14 months on Broadway, has been revamped for the West End where it drew more success at the box office and a warmer critical reception. One crucial alteration was the use of a dragon puppet in the London production, in contrast to the stationary dragon character in New York.

New York, a Growing Hub for TV Production

Move over Hollywood. New York has become a hotspot for television production, hosting almost two dozen prime time series in the 2011-2012 season. According to the Mayor’s Office of Film Theater, and Broadcasting, this is a large jump from 2006 when only nine shows were filmed in the Big Apple.

There are a few reasons for the boom in New York production, from the large outer borough soundstages to the reasonable tax incentives, reported the New York Times. New York is no longer just a setting, and industry veterans said the days of shooting New York sitcoms like “Friends” and “Seinfeld” on the West coast are dwindling.

Box Office Booms Abroad as Hollywood Expands

Even though ticket prices seem to have skyrocketed in U.S. cinemas, the real money is coming from foreign markets. TheWrap reported that the international box office is accumulating higher percentages of overall film revenues than ever before.

According to the Motion Picture Association of America, last year the U.S. and Canada only raked in $10.6 billion in revenue, while the global market reached $31.8 billion. The foreign box office also generated a groundbreaking 67 percent of all revenue, a number that is expected to climb.

Miniseries Need CDs Too

I'll get this out of the way first. Production has begun on ABC's "Pan Am" and I can confirm that the casting is being done by Chrystie Street Casting. So now every fall network show is accounted for in the production charts. (If a show is missing from the L.A. charts, check the N.Y. charts.)

I'll also get this out of the way, since if I keep talking about TV shows the headline is going to look weird: TNT's revival of the—um, classic?—show "Dallas" is being cast by Patrick Rush Casting, who also did the pilot. No shoot date is set, but they will most likely get under way within the next 30 days, in Dallas. I would make some sort of "Who shot J.R.?" joke or something, but I'm too young to remember this show. I'll just say that I think Patrick Ewing should play himself.

Okay, so, miniseries seem to be experiencing a mini-revival of sorts (on this side of the pond , anyhow; the Brits have always loved their "serials"), which is good, I think, even if the main reason is probably to challenge HBO in the Emmy category that it dominates more or less totally. There's "The Firm" from NBC, which I mentioned before, set to start shooting in Toronto next month. There's the "Hatfields & McCoys," which History announced in May, being cast by Fern Champion ahead of an October shoot in Romania. And earlier this week, A&E greenlit a four-parter based on Stephen King's "Bag of Bones." Casting for that project is being handled by Lynn Kressel, and it's scheduled to begin shooting in August in Nova Scotia. So even if they aren't filming in the States, at least they're being financed here and aired here by networks other than HBO. As far as I can tell, emulating HBO has always been good business. Just ask any one of the 80 million producers who have successfully pitched a project as " 'True Blood' meets [insert any film or TV title from the last 40 years]." Sigh.

Independent Film Week Needs Volunteers

Independent Film Week, the three-decade- old film forum that serves as a platform for emerging artists, is seeking volunteers. The Lincoln Center event will include panels, workshops, and seminars, and is set to run from September 18-22. 

Netlflix vs. Hulu; Mark Rylance Gives Tony Away

• If you think Netflix and Hulu are completely similar, think again. The New York Times reported that according to a survey conducted by Nielsen, more than half of Netflix users stream content via game consoles connected to their television. Contrastingly, almost all Hulu users watch programming directly on their computer.

• Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance gave away his trophy to the man who inspired him, according to The New York Times. Rylance won for his performance in Jez Butterworth’s “Jerusalem.”

• Redbox, which has come to be known as a DVD-rental vending machine, is continuing to pump revenue. The kiosk’s parent company Coinstar Inc. reported that Redbox revenue was $363.9 million over a three month span that ended on June 30. The Los Angeles Times has the story.

• In a legal dispute over who owns the rights to characters such as Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, Marvel prevailed against the heirs of comic book artist Jack Kirby. Read the story at The New York Times.

• Jane White, an actress best known for her role in Mary Rodgers’ “One Upon a Mattress,” died on July 24 in New York, according to Playbill. She was 88.

• The late David Legrant was a renowned acting coach, having worked with stars such as Tobey Maguire and Alyson Hannigan before his death. Read his story at Back Stage.

Pictured: Mark Rylance (Photo: Getty Images)

Back Stage Stand-Up Competition Winner Giulio Gallarotti Preps for London Debut

This past June, Back Stage sponsored the "Young Guns of Comedy" competition as part of the inaugural Stand-Up 360 Comedy Festival. The packed two-night event was held at the Broadway Comedy Club in midtown NYC and featured an impressive lineup of up-and-coming talent which was then narrowed down to eight finalists. The judging panel included late night comic legend and show opener Max Alexander (Steve Allen's is the sole Tonight Show missing from his impressive resume), Valerie Adami, the director of Weist-Barron Studios, Back Stage associate web editor Suzy Evans, and yours truly, representing the Back Stage Casting Department.

It was great night of comedy and truly a treat to see the cream of the crop of a new generation of stand-ups. In the end, my fellow judges and I were unanimous in awarding Giulio Gallarotti first place. As this was a competition all about the next breakout stand-up act, potential was the number one criteria. With a polished and confident delivery, Gallarotti proved himself an equal-opportunity offender who is well on his way to the big time. Check out the clip below for a highlight of one of his earlier sets at the Gotham Comedy Club.

Watch 'Spider-Man' Broadway Star Reeve Carney in New "Rise Above" Music Video

Watch the new music video for "Rise Above 1," in which Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark composers Bono and The Edge of U2 appear alongside star Reeve Carney to perform the Broadway musical's anthem on the rooftops of Manhattan. The video also includes footage from the rehearsals and performances of Spider-Man.

Transgender Roles Make Their Way to the Screen

Terms such as “the big screen,” “Hollywood,” and “movie star,” usually conjure up images of glamorous cookie-cutter starlets or buff heartthrobs. But now, gender identity in film is no longer so strictly defined and openly transgender actors are finding their place on screen.

Take Harmony Santana for example, who told The New York Times that she has been living full time as a woman since last year. Santana will star in Rashaad Ernesto Green’s “Gun Hill Road,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Reality star Laverne Cox, who has been living as a woman since the late 1990s, landed a role in the upcoming Susan Seidelman film “Musical Chairs.”

Emmy Nominee Melissa McCarthy on Her Audition for 'Bridesmaids'

GQ's annual summer "Comedy Issue" has been available for a couple of weeks now, but we want to share an excerpt of their interview with Bridesmaids scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy, director Paul Feig, writer/star Kristen Wiig, and other cast members from this year's hit comedy, illuminating how McCarthy was cast as Megan in the movie.

Read about McCarthy's audition experience, from GQ's "A Brief Oral History of Melissa McCarthy's Huge Bridesmaids Performance":

Melissa McCarthy: I read the script and had such a weird, fast reaction to Megan. I knew exactly what I wanted her to look like, to sound like, and I got an intense feeling of "I like her so much! This will never work out!" For the audition, I wore no makeup and a bad pant. Once I look like the character, it really locks me in, even if people sometimes say, "We need you not to be repulsive."

Paul Feig: We would always do an improv section during the auditions, and quickly we realized, "Holy shit, this woman is on fire." The mistake a lot of people make in casting is they get so tied to the words and the character they wrote that they don't see when somebody is better than what they have on the page. Melissa came in with this character that was just a force of nature. At first I was ike, "Is she playing it as a lesbian?" Then it got into all this weird sex stuff.