Espresso - Backstage - Actor Industry News

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.

Audition Online for Dance Theatre of Harlem

Dance Theatre of Harlem is holding online auditions for a new troupe, reported The New York Times. Theatre's professional dance company shut down in 2004, but thanks to foundations and donors contributing about $2.5 million, it is being revived as a troupe of 18 dancers. Company hopefuls can post audition videos to dancetheatreofharlem.org.

If you don't want to use the Web, in-person auditions will be available at various locations and dates listed on the company's website. Live auditions will be held for finalists overall. A portion of the revived troupe's dancers will also come from Dance Theatre of Harlem II, which is a training group comprised of students from Theatre's school.

Rehearsals for the new company are scheduled to commence in August and touring in October. The company reportedly hopes to be back in April 2013 on a New York stage.

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)

NYPL Adds to Caffe Cino Collection For Next Year

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has announced that it will be making more Caffe Cino memorabilia, which are currently part of the Billy Rose Theater Division, available to the public.

'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.

Digital Projectors to Dominate Theaters By 2015

Digital projectors are predicted to completely take over the global theater industry by late 2015, reported the Los Angeles Times. According to Texas Instruments Inc., which produces the computer chips used in digital projectors,  the number of DLP digital projectors set up around the world has increased 84 percent over the last year. Today, 62 percent of American movie screens have been converted digitally while film studios continue to decease the use of expensive film prints.

Around the world, much of the growth of digital usage has been in Europe and China. 3-D moneymakers, like "Avatar," also fuel the fire since they need digital projectors to be seen in movie theaters. It seems that learning any aspect of digital filmmaking is a good investment for the future. But who knows? Vinyl records are making a comeback of sorts, so maybe you don't want throw out those old-fashioned film projectors just yet.

Theaters Improve Actor Housing; Fire at Universal

• Recently, two regional theaters improved their housing for visiting artists. In 2010, Salt Lake City's Pioneer Theatre Company spent $2.6 million renovating a historic building into actor residences. Also, this year, Connecticut's Godspeed Musicals used $5.5 million to create a sort of village of artist houses. Check it out at Playbill.

• Kiosk rental service Redbox is planning to partner with Verizon on a streaming service. According to TechCrunch, the endeavor is reportedly directed toward digital platforms, but not cable.

• A fire erupted in a construction zone at Universal Studios on Thursday afternoon, reported Deadline. It was extinguished quickly and damage was limited. 

• 6'5" actor Tug Coker has been cast to play Larry Bird in the biographical play "Magic/Bird." Read the story at The New York Times.