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

Read a Comic Strip by James Franco

Actor and Academy Awards co-host James Franco joined Twitter last week, and it seems like he's getting the hang of it pretty quickly. Check out this inscrutable yet oddly disturbing theater-themed comic strip he posted over the weekend (our apologies for Franco's potty mouth):

James Earl Jones Recites Bieber's 'Baby'

James Earl Jones was a guest on The Gayle King Show on OWN, when King asked the actor to read lyrics from Justin Bieber's hit song "Baby." Watch the video below to see the results (tween pop with gravitas!):

James Franco Creates College Course About James Franco

The latest project that actor-writer-director-Oscar host-professional student James Franco has undertaken to add to his growing list of educational and artistic activities at first came as a surprise to me. Then I had to nod my head and say, "Well, of course he would do that, wouldn't he?"

Partnering with Columbia College Hollywood, Franco has added a new class to the school's curriculum, called "Master Class: Editing James Franco... with James Franco." It's exactly what it sounds like: a class about James Franco, created by James Franco, using film editing as a way to examine the actor's life and career.

Vulture Gets Inspired By 'The Motherf**ker With the Hat'

The Motherf**ker Wit the Hat is coming to Broadway this spring, starring Chris Rock, Bobby Cannavale, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and Annabella Sciorra. But Vulture wonders why we haven't been subjected to the public outrage that usually accompanies a dirty word on a poster. Scott Brown writes, "Thanks to cult playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis's profane debut on the Great White Way, Broadway is quietly having its own $h*! My Dad Says moment, and the silence is deafening."

Maybe more Broadway shows could use some well-placed asterisks in their titles, to spice up the marquees in Times Square. Read some of our favorite suggestions from Vulture, below:

The P****** of the Opera
*ock of Ages
Spider-Man: Turn off the D***
***** Me if You Can
That Championship S*****
La C*** aux F****s
Sister Act

Glenn Beck Loves 'Spider-Man,' Hates Critics

Finally, some good news for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark! Conservative TV and radio host Glenn Beck praised the new Broadway musical on his talk radio show today. "This is the best show I've ever seen, bar none. Heads and shoulders above anything else," Beck said. He then adopted a French accent to mock theater critics and the "New York elite" who just don't understand the brilliance of the show because Bono wrote it -- and he writes rock songs, not musical theater. Or something.

Beck said on "The Glenn Beck Program":

"This is better than Wicked... After you couldn't get a ticket to Spider-Man and you've offered a kidney for it, go see Wicked. I mean, you've got two kidneys. Don’t give both kidneys up -- go see Wicked before you give both kidneys. But give a kidney to go see Spider-Man. I'm telling you, mark my words, it’s being panned right now, nobody's saying good stuff about it. I'm telling you, you go buy your ticket -- you buy your ticket now, if you're thinking about coming to New York, because when this thing opens and it's starting to run, you will not be able to get tickets to this for a year. This is one of those shows, this is the Phantom of the 21st century. This is history of Broadway being made. I sat next to the casting director, by chance, and I said, 'You, sir, are part of history'."

'Spider-Man' Hospitalized on Cover of 'The New Yorker'

The new issue of The New Yorker also includes an examination of the morbid curiosity that has propelled ticket sales for director Julie Taymor's injury-plagued Broadway blockbuster Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

The Onion Reports: Bomb Drops on 'Spider-Man' Musical

Following the seemingly unending reports of injuries and financial setbacks that have plagued the production for months, satirical fake news site The Onion has inevitably used the disastrous Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark for its own comedic gain.

The Onion "reports" in "Nuclear Bomb Detonates During Rehearsal For 'Spider-Man' Musical":

In yet another setback for the $65 million dollar Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark—a production plagued by multiple delays, poor early reviews, and severe injuries to its cast and crew—a thermonuclear device detonated during the first act of Tuesday night's preview performance. "The bomb should not have gone off at all," said lead producer Michael Cohl, adding that the explosion that vaporized most of Manhattan was "not that unusual" for a major Broadway show still in development...

'Fiddler On the Roof' Gets Served in Trailer Mash-Up

Watch an amazing mash-up of Fiddler on the Roof and You Got Served:

Nick Offerman Celebrates Festivus with "Airing of Grievances"

Rather than offer Christmas blessings or a year-end Top 10 list, TVSquad.com asked actor Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson on NBC's Parks and Recreation) to list his "Airing of Grievances" in celebration of Festivus. Some highlights:

"My wife abjectly refuses to take up woodworking."

"Isn't looking good for 'Sex and the City 3'."

"My mustache was signed by CAA, while I remain at a smaller boutique agency."

Check Out Darren Criss' High School Yearbook Photo

Jezebel has uncovered the high school yearbook photo of new Glee cast member Darren Criss: