Media Morsels 12.21.12
(This is the last Media Morsels of 2012. In lieu of a new Media Morsels next week, I'll present my Year in Review.)
The New York revival of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years has found it Cathy and Jamie: Betsy Wolfe (The Mystery of Edwin Drood) and Adam Kantor (Mark in the final Broadway company of Rent). Wolfe and Kantor will bring to life the roles originated off-Broadway by Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz, and tell the story of Cathy and Jamie's five-year relationship from beginning to end and end to beginning. (The unique structure of the show has us experiencing Cathy's side of the story from end to beginning and Jamie's side of the story from beginning to end.) The Second Stage production, which will be directed by Brown, begins previews on March 7, 2013, and officially opens on April 2. (The show is scheduled to conclude its limited run on April 21, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is extended.) Visit 2st.com for details about the production (tickets for which go on sale to the general public on January 19 but subscribers can book now), head to Spotify to listen to the original cast recording and pop on over to Broadway.com to get a look at the appealing and talented duo of Wolfe and Kantor.
In other casting news, Vanessa Williams, Condola Rashad and Cuba Gooding, Jr., will join Cicely Tyson in the Broadway revival of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. The production will play the Stephen Sondheim theatre; previews begin March 31, 2013, and opening night is set for April 23. Playbill has details.
Award Season Update
Academy Awards- The Feinberg Forecast (in which The Hollywood Reporter's awards guru Scott Feinberg recaps what's happened in the previous week and what impact it has on the awards season) notes:
- Oscar nomination voting is now underway and will close on January 3, 2013. Nominees will be announced on Thursday, January 10, just days before the Golden Globe Awards are handed out
- Several branches of the Academy released lists of those eligible for nomination
- Silver Linings Playbook continues to perform well, picking up prizes at the Satellite Awards (see below)
- Jennifer Lawrence will host SNL on January 19, 2013, which, as Feinberg notes, will provide "her with invaluable media exposure shortly after the Oscar nominees are announced on January 10 but before final voting begins on February 8."
- Entertainment Weekly offers its list of the 25 movies you should see before Oscar night, including Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, Django Unchained, Moonrise Kingdom, The Master, Silver Linings Playbook, Argo and Lincoln.
- EW is running a "Consider This" series in which Oscar winners write open letters to and in support of possible Oscar contenders. This week:
- Reese Witherspoon wrote to Naomi Watts, in support of Watts's already award-nominated performance in The Impossible
- Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air) wrote in support of filmmaker Rian Johnson and his film Looper
- Aaron Sorkin wrote in support of the film Promised Land, which stars and was written by Matt Damon and John Krasinski
Other Awards
- Satellite Awards: Presented by the International Press Academy, Satellite Award winners include Silver Linings Playbook and its stars, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, and director, David O. Russell; Mark Boal for his original screenplay for Zero Dark Thirty; Homeland and its stars, Claire Danes and Damian Lewis; and more. Entertainment Weekly has the full list of winners.
The London Critics' Circle Film Award nominations have been announced, and Argo and The Master are among the nominees, as is Michael Fassbender (for his work in Prometheus). Thompson on Hollywood has the full list.- The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced its list of eligible films, and the list leaves out several Oscar hopefuls, including Les Miserables. (The WGA's list of eligible films is not a directive for the Academy.) Thompson on Hollywood has more.
Chicago: 6,681 Performances and Counting
This week, the Chicago revival, which opened on Broadway in 1996 and is already the longest-running revival, became the third longest-running show on Broadway, surpassing the original production of Les Miserables. The show reached the milestone on Thursday, December 20, when it played its 6,681st performance. Chicago is behind second place Cats (7,485 performances) and first place Phantom (10,356). Chicago continues its run at the Ambassador Theatre while Phantom continues at the Majestic. I guess the old "razzle dazzle" is working!
25 Films Added to National Film Registry
Bringing the total of films in the National Film Registry to 600, the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, announced that 25 films are to be added to the registry. As noted in the press release posted on Playbill, the films do not necessarily represent the best films but rather "works of enduring importance to American culture." Among the 25 films are A League of Their Own and The Matrix.
The Great Gatsby
While Leonardo DiCaprio's latest film, Django Unchained, will be released in just a few days, buzz is already building for his next feature, the delayed The Great Gatsby, director Baz Luhrman's adaptation of the great F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Here's the latest trailer:
Dig This
- Check out these terrific outtakes from the Judd Apatow-edited Vanity Fair comedy issue. I particularly like the photo, at right, of great friends and comedy legends Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.
- HBO will air a Martin Scorsese-directed documentary about President Bill Clinton. The 42nd president is reportedly set to cooperate fully with the production. The Hollywood Reporter has details.
- Can't wait until Christmas Day to see Les Miserables? No problem! Broadway.com found Spanish media outlet La Sexta's exclusive clip of the entire "One Day More" sequence, which features none other than Broadway favorite Aaron Tveit (Next to Normal, Catch Me if You Can)!
- Madison Dirks, currently starring as Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, fills out Playbill's Cue and A.
- In the upcoming issue of GQ, director Judd Apatow teases that he may be bringing his talent to Broadway!
- Studio 60 reunion? Sort of: Bradley Whitford is confirmed to appear on Matthew Perry's show, Go On. TV Line has details.
- Anchorman 2 has a release date: December 20, 2013. Rolling Stone has more.
- The League has been renewed for a fifth season, Vulture reports.
- Time magazine's person of the year is President Barack Obama.
Comments
Post a Comment