Media Morsels 9.9.11

• Johnny Gallagher + Aaron Sorkin Get Picked Up
  You remember when Johnny Gallagher left Jerusalem in July so he could head out to LA to shoot a pilot with Aaron Sorkin? Well guess what. HBO picked up the pilot! While details about air dates and series casting is not confirmed, we do know this means more Sorkinese, and on HBO, where Sorkin can say exactly what he wants without fear of network censors. I am sooooooooo excited for this show, which was at one point titled More as this Story Develops.
  
  (In other Johnny Gallagher news: He has a slew of concert dates at New York's Rockwood Music Hall. Visit the cozy venue's website to find them all!)
  
  
• Now. Here. This. Gets Full Production
  The beautiful theatrical experience that is Now. Here. This., which received a one-week lab production at the Vineyard earlier this year, will receive a full-scale off-Broadway production, also at the Vineyard! I'm so excited that more people will get to see this and that I get to experience it again! The show is slotted for March and April 2012 and tickets are sure to go very quickly so act fast! Visit vineyardtheatre.org for more information.
  
  
• Foo Fighters Rock on Conan
  

• Award Season Update
• Oscar News
  Eddie Murphy will host the Oscars on February 26, 2012. (What - the date's isn't already inked on your calendar? For shame!) Eddie Murphy was funny...in the 80s. Though, to be sure, his selection is a nod back at the "good old days" of Oscar telecasts, when actual comedians, like Billy Crystal, hosted, instead of hyperactive movie stars. (That would be you, Anne Hathaway.) What do you think? Will he make a good host?
  
  Over at GoldDerby.com, they have updated their list of Best Picture frontrunners, as well as the "possible" list. If you've tracked my movie going habits, dear readers, it shouldn't shock you that I haven't seen any of the films on the list, though most of them are in my Netflix queue. Have you seen any? What are you predictions?
  
  
• Kennedy Center Honors
  As Donna Moss would say, "Yo-Yo Ma rules!" It seems the Honors selection committee (?) agrees, as Ma is one of the five honorees for the 34th annual Kennedy Center Honors. He is joined by theatre veteran Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Sonny Rollins (a saxophonist and composer) and the one and only Meryl Streep. (You think her new son-in-law, sexypants POTUS Benjamin Walker, will attend the ceremony?) According to the announcement on Playbill.com, the ceremony will take place on December 4 and will be broadcast on CBS on December 27 at 9pm.
  
  
• SAG Awards
  That spunky kid, Mary Tyler Moore, will receive the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award in January. The 18th Annual SAG Awards will be presented on January 29, 2012.
  
  
• The Book of Mormon on Tour
  The Broadway smash hit, The Book of Mormon, will begin its first national tour four months earlier than originally planned. Instead of beginning in December 2012, the tour will kick off in Denver in August. As tickets to the Broadway show are such a hot commodity, I predict that tickets to tour dates will be harder to come by than other tours. Stay tuned to bookofmormonbroadway.com for tour details and on sale dates.
  
  And, as if that wasn't enough, a Book of Mormon company will open in Chicago in 2012. They are currently booked for a 12-week engagement at the BofA Theatre. This Chicago company is separate from the tour. Visit Playbill.com for details.
  
  
• NYC Ballet
  The 2011-2012 season begins next week, dear readers! I'm very excited for this season, as it includes both a Christopher Wheeldon City Ballet-premiere and also a Wheeldon world premiere. (And I'm going on the premiere night!) But that's in the winter. This fall, we can look forward to Ocean's Kingdom, the new Peter Martins ballet that is danced to a score composed by Sir Paul. McCartney's daughter, designer Stella, designed the costumes for the ballet; here's a sneak peek at her fantastical costumes for Ocean's Kingdom.
  
  And here's a little treat: Some of City Ballet's brightest (and most handsome!) strike a pose in this look behind the scenes of a photo shoot for Dance magazine. Head over to Dancemedia.com to watch Tyler Angle, Craig Hall, Robbie Fairchild, Amar Ramasar and Andrew Veyette strut their stuff!
  
  
• Clybourne Park Relocates to Broadway
  The Pulitzer Prize-winning Bruce Norris play Clybourne Park will bow on Broadway this spring. This modern homage to A Raisin in the Sun had its world premiere a couple of seasons ago at off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizons. Original director Pam MacKinnon (currently at PH with Completeness) will once again direct the fascinating, time-spanning play. Casting and an exact location are still to be announced.
  
  
• Dig This
• The Mel Brooks-Dick Cavett special airs tonight (9.9) on HBO!
  
  
• Peter Travers's fall movie picks, including the Sorkin-scribed Moneyball; stage to screen adaptations like The Ides of March (a.k.a. Farragut North) and Carnage (a.k.a. God of Carnage); and Leo's latest flick, J. Edgar.
  
  
• Not sure if I dig this: Adam Pascal (the original Roger in Rent) will take on the role of Huey Calhoun in Memphis beginning in October. What do you thing, Rentheads and Memphisters? To dig or not to dig?
  
  
• Dule Hill, better known as Charlie Young to The West Wing fans, will star in Stick Fly, a new play headed to Broadway this fall.
  
  
• Cuddle lessons from John Stamos: