Media Morsels 2.1.13

Award Season Updates
SAG Awards
The SAG Awards were handed out on Sunday night, and while there were few surprises, there were some nice moments. Read my Wrap Up for full red carpet coverage and the complete list of winners, and below check out some extras from around the 'net.
Academy Awards
Norah Jones will perform Seth MacFarlane's Oscar-nominated song from Ted, "Everybody Needs a Best Friend," during the Oscar broadcast. (Adele will also perform her Oscar-nominated song from Skyfall, "Skyfall.") Thompson on Hollywood has more.

This week's Feinberg Forecast (in which The Hollywood Reporter's awards guru, Scott Feinberg, surveys the week gone by and what impact it has on the Oscars race) notes:
  • It was a good week for Argo, which not only won the SAG Award but also the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Modern Master Award and the PGA Award.
  • Zero Dark Thirty received non-award praise and attention, with director Kathryn Bigelow appear on the cover of Time magazine and outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta telling ABC News that he think ZD30 is "a great movie."
  • The historical drama Lincoln was also the subject of some attention, with both Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones taking home SAG Awards; plus, it was announced that writer Tony Kushner will receive the WGA's Paul Selvin Award on February 17 and that director Steven Spielberg will receive the American Cinema Editors guild award for Filmmaker of the year on February 16.
  • Silver Linings Playbook didn't do quite as well at the SAG Awards as many had expected, thought the Australian Academy of Film and Television Arts did bestow upon it several awards.
  • Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables, Red) was one recipient of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Virtuoso Award.
While not a nominee this year, the one and only Barbra Streisand will perform on the Oscar telecast! The last time Babs performed on the Oscars was in March 1977; she sang "Evergreen," the Oscar-winning song from A Star is Born (and also my parents' "first dance" song!). Of Babs's appearance, Oscars co-producers Craig Zadan and Neil Merson said in a statement, "In an evening that celebrates the artistry of movies and music, how could the telecast be complete without Barbra Streisand?" Agreed! (Maybe she'll sing with host Seth MacFarlane? I like it when he sings.)


Theatre News
  • Alan Cumming is bringing his celebrated one-man incarnation of Macbeth to Broadway for a limited run. Previews at the Barrymore theatre will begin on April 7 in advance of an April 21 opening. Playbill has details.
  • Despite being amazing, the stellar revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? will end its run three weeks earlier than planned. The show will now conclude on March 3. Playbill has details. (And over on Broadway.com, co-star Madison Dirks talks about working on the play after having admired Tracy Letts and Amy Morton (George and Martha) from afar in college.)
  • The critically acclaimed Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a Christopher Durang play that plays with Chekhov's characters, will come to Broadway this spring. The show had a celebrated run off-Broadway earlier this year, and that same cast, which includes Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde Pierce, will be back for the Broadway run. Vanya... will play the Golden Theatre; previews begin March 5 and opening night is March 14. Playbill has details.
  • Cady Huffman will reunite with her The Producers costar Nathan Lane in the upcoming production of Douglas Carter Beane's (Lysistrata Jones) new play, The Nance. (Both actors won Tony awards for The Producers.) They will be joined by Jenni Barber (The Performers), Andrea Burns and others, and directed by Jack O'Brien (Catch Me if You Can). The Nance, a Lincoln Center Theater production, begins previews at the Lyceum on March 21 and opens on April 15. Playbill has additional details.
  • The lovely and talented Jessie Mueller (On a Clear Day..., Mystery of Edwin Drood) has joined the cast of the NY Philharmonic's concert production of Carousel. She, John Cullum (The Scottsboro Boys) and Jason Danieley, among others, join the previously announced Kelli O'Hara, who will portray Julie Jordan. The production runs February 27-March 2, and will be broadcast on PBS on April 26. Broadway World has more.
  • When Bette Midler returns to Broadway this spring, she (and her play, I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers) will play the Booth Theatre. Playbill has details.
  • Benjamin Walker, starring in the recently-opened revival of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, talks to Broadway.com about the show, including keeping the magic in theatre. And in another feature on the site, Broadway.com fantasizes about the musical theatre roles they'd like to see Walker tackle. (He was Sexypants POTUS in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, after all.) My vote's for their first offering, Walker as Joe Hardy and Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur) as Lola in a revival of Damn Yankees. Thespis, please make this happen!
  • The terrific Bad Jews, which played an extended run off-Broadway last year as part of Roundabout's Underground series, will move up a level this fall to Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre. Playbill has details, including the fact that this marks the first time an Underground show has moved up in the building.
Joe Iconis in the News
Broadway.com introduces you to the new songwriters - like Joe Iconis - that will be featured on this season of Smash, which comes back to the airwaves on Tuesday, February 5. Iconis is also featured in the New York Times; at the Times's request, Iconis penned a song about Mayor Michael Bloomberg! Check it out.

House of Cards
House of Cards, the new Netflix-exclusive series, is being released today. Beau Willimon (Farragut North, Spirit Control, The Ides of March) is the head writer and showrunner, and he spoke with Salon about the show and politics. (Willimon is a campaign veteran, having cut his teeth as a wunderkind on campaigns for Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Howard Dean.) Several theatre veterans appear in the show (which stars Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Kate Mara), including Sebastian Arcelus (The Blue Flower), who spoke to Broadway.com. And if all that pedigree isn't enough, David Fincher (The Social Network) directed and is an executive producer of the show. Fire up your Netflix streaming subscription and tune in!

Dig This
  • The talented and beautiful Allison Janney might be heading back to the tube. The actress has joined the cast of the CBS pilot, Mom. The Hollywood Reporter has details.
  • Attention Angelinos: the summer line up for the Hollywood Bowl has been announced, and will include a production of Chicago, a hall of fame concert and a Kristin Chenoweth concert. Visit Playbill for details.
  • Aaron Sorkin is no longer writing the book for the Stephen Schwartz musical Houdini, which has Hugh Jackman attached at the titular star. Playbill has details.
  • Who needs awards when you already have your next job? Jessica Chastain (The Heiress, Zero Dark Thirty) will star in a film adaptation of the August Strindberg play Miss Julie. (For a fun, Cliff's Notes version of the classic, read Patrick Marber's After Miss Julie.)

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