Media Morsels 8.20.10

• American Idiot in the Media
  We have a few Idiot items to get to this week:


• Stark Sands was featured in this week’s Cue & A on Playbill.com. (This is a feature in which actors fill out Playbill’s questionnaire, answering questions ranging from full name to worst costume and favorite board game.) Broadway.com also caught up with Sands; its interview features scoop about The Miraculous Year, the HBO show written by John Logan, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring a bevy of Broadway big-timers, including Norbert Leo Butz and Patti LuPone. (When I saw American Idiot earlier this month, they were filming a part of the pilot right next door!)
  
  
• Rebecca Naomi Jones, Christina Sajous, Alysha Umphress and Ben Thompson stopped by Seth Rudetsky’s Chatterbox broadcast recently and Broadwayworld.com has footage of the half-hour chat session. Tune in to learn how Christina became the “upside down girl” and each Idiot’s funny-in-retrospect audition story.
  
  
• Hut, Hut, Sing!
  Green Day and the lovely Idiots will perform during halftime at the Meadowlands when the NY Jets (led by QB and theatre aficionado Mark Sanchez) take on the Baltimore Ravens on September 13. Green Day and the cast are set to sing Green Day’s latest hit from 21st Century Breakdown (and number in American Idiot) “Last of the American Girls”. Be sure to tune in to Monday Night Football on ESPN for the game and the halftime show.
  
  
• New Trailers
  This week, the first trailers for two new romantic comedies hit the 'net. One is for How Do You Know, starring favorites Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd (along with my third favorite Wilson brother, Owen, and Jack Nicholson.) The other is for Love and Other Drugs, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Both look fairly predictable (though Love... seems to have some aspirations toward edginess) but I chuckled through each trailer. I love Reese and Paul's a charmer; Jake is too adorable to pass up and Anne's likable enough. So, I'll probably end up seeing both movies, but one (maybe both) may have to wait until they're available on Netflix!
  
  This week we also saw the first trailer for the new Darren Aronofsky film, Black Swan. Aronofsky is best known for his weird-good Requiem for a Dream and The Wrestler. Black Swan seems a little All About Eve-ish, set in the ballet world. As such, all the choreography was created by City Ballet principal dancer Benjamin Millepied. Not sure if I’ll get to this one in the theatre (unlike my brother, I’m not in love with Aronofsky as a filmmaker (just in like) and Black Swan stars Natalie Portman (who’s now dating Millepied), who is hit or miss for me) but it’ll definitely make its way into my Netflix queue.
  
  
• Meet the Dancers
  Speaking of City Ballet dancers, the company just launched a new website devoted entirely to getting to know the 24 principal dancers. Here you can learn which is Robert Fairchild’s favorite piece to dance; why Sterling Hyltin got in to ballet and what Jonathan Stafford loves most about the company. Study up now because the 2010-2011 season is just a month away!
  
  
• Hockadoo!
  A couple of months ago, I mentioned that JTims, he who comes from Memphis, Tennessee, was rumored to be interested in playing Memphis’s leading man, Huey Calhoun, in a film adaptation to be directed by Oliver Stone. This week it was reported that Zac Efron, who recently took in the show for a second time, is also interested in playing the role. I don’t have much on which to base my opinion of Efron, though I did find him charming enough in 17 Again (What can I say? I like Matthew Perry.), but I think I’d much rather see Mr. Timberlake portray Huey. (Of course, it’d be great if cutie Chad Kimball, who currently plays Huey – and earned a Tony nod for his portrayal – could reprise the role on screen, but Hollywood politicking will probably prevail and, alas, Memphis won’t live in Chad on celluloid.) No word as to who would play Felicia, Huey’s leading lady, but expect Beyonce’s name to be bandied about at some point.
  
  
• The Boss Says "Yeah Yeah!"
  Bruce Springsteen and family took in a performance of Fela! this week. Broadway.com was on hand to catch them greeting leading man Sahr Ngaujah.
  
  
• Bloody Bloody Artwork
  Check it: (and visit bloodybloodyandrewjackson.com for more details!)