Playwright Christopher Durang died earlier this week from complications of primary progressive aphasia.
A Tony Award-winner for his 2012 play Vanya and Sonia and Mash and Spike, his work on and off-broadway spanned decades, and included several collaborations with the actress Sigourney Weaver.
He also played a little-known part in Saturday Night Live history.
It was his friendship with Weaver that brought Durang to Saturday Night Live on October 11th, 1986 for the show’s first episode of its 12th season (an episode that also saw the debut of Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman).
Weaver hosted that night, and she introduced Durang to the audience in her opening monologue before two participated in a somewhat stilted gag about Lorne Michaels convincing Weaver to appear on the show out of his love for Bertolt Brecht.
Durang appeared again minutes later in the debut installment of Church Chat, where he earned the distinction of...
A Tony Award-winner for his 2012 play Vanya and Sonia and Mash and Spike, his work on and off-broadway spanned decades, and included several collaborations with the actress Sigourney Weaver.
He also played a little-known part in Saturday Night Live history.
It was his friendship with Weaver that brought Durang to Saturday Night Live on October 11th, 1986 for the show’s first episode of its 12th season (an episode that also saw the debut of Dana Carvey and Phil Hartman).
Weaver hosted that night, and she introduced Durang to the audience in her opening monologue before two participated in a somewhat stilted gag about Lorne Michaels convincing Weaver to appear on the show out of his love for Bertolt Brecht.
Durang appeared again minutes later in the debut installment of Church Chat, where he earned the distinction of...
- 4/4/2024
- by Jed Rosenzweig
- LateNighter
Christopher Durang, a Tony Award-winning playwright who specialized in a particular form of brainy and absurdist comedy, has died. He was 75. The cause was complications from a form of dementia known as logopenic primary progressive aphasia, according to his husband John Augustine.
Durang was best known for writing 1979’s “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You,” a popular dissection of Catholic doctrine that was frequently staged, drawing occasional protests for its iconoclastic take on religion. A film version, starring Diane Keaton as the title character, aired on Showtime in 2001.
Another Durang play, 1981’s “Beyond Therapy,” which looked at Manhattanites who cope with romantic neurosis with the help of their psychiatrists, was also adapted for the screen by Robert Altman. Despite having a cast that included Glenda Jackson and Jeff Goldblum, critics excoriated the 1987 film as flat and unfunny. It was an opinion shared by Durang, who described it as...
Durang was best known for writing 1979’s “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You,” a popular dissection of Catholic doctrine that was frequently staged, drawing occasional protests for its iconoclastic take on religion. A film version, starring Diane Keaton as the title character, aired on Showtime in 2001.
Another Durang play, 1981’s “Beyond Therapy,” which looked at Manhattanites who cope with romantic neurosis with the help of their psychiatrists, was also adapted for the screen by Robert Altman. Despite having a cast that included Glenda Jackson and Jeff Goldblum, critics excoriated the 1987 film as flat and unfunny. It was an opinion shared by Durang, who described it as...
- 4/3/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Christopher Durang, one of American’s most acclaimed and accomplished playwrights whose works like Beyond Therapy, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You and the Tony-winning Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike were as incisive as they were absurdly comic, died Tuesday night at his home in Pipersville, Pa., in Bucks County. He was 75.
His agent, Patrick Herold, confirmed that Durang died as a result complications of his 2016 diagnosis with logopenic primary progressive aphasia (Ppa), a form of Alzheimer’s disease that impedes the ability to process language. He remained out of the public spotlight since his condition was made public in 2022. In February, New York’s Dramatists Guild announced that the playwright would receive its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award on May 6, placing Durang on a prestigious roster alongside such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.
Born Christopher Ferdinand Durang on January 2, 1949, Durang soared to...
His agent, Patrick Herold, confirmed that Durang died as a result complications of his 2016 diagnosis with logopenic primary progressive aphasia (Ppa), a form of Alzheimer’s disease that impedes the ability to process language. He remained out of the public spotlight since his condition was made public in 2022. In February, New York’s Dramatists Guild announced that the playwright would receive its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award on May 6, placing Durang on a prestigious roster alongside such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.
Born Christopher Ferdinand Durang on January 2, 1949, Durang soared to...
- 4/3/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Playwright Christopher Durang has been named the recipient of The Dramatists Guild of America’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, joining a prestigious roster of such past awardees as John Guare, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Miller.
The Guild’s annual awards ceremony is scheduled for Monday, May 6, at New York City’s Sony Hall. No word yet on whether the celebrated Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike playwright, who has been out of the public eye since a diagnosis of progressive aphasia was disclosed two years ago, will attend.
“It’s a privilege to celebrate Christopher Durang with the Dramatists Guild’s highest honor, in recognition of his singular voice and his enduring impact on generations of other writers,” said Lloyd Suh, chair of the Dramatists Guild’s Awards Committee, in a statement. “His grace, wit, charm, and generosity are an example to all of us in the community of American dramatists.
The Guild’s annual awards ceremony is scheduled for Monday, May 6, at New York City’s Sony Hall. No word yet on whether the celebrated Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike playwright, who has been out of the public eye since a diagnosis of progressive aphasia was disclosed two years ago, will attend.
“It’s a privilege to celebrate Christopher Durang with the Dramatists Guild’s highest honor, in recognition of his singular voice and his enduring impact on generations of other writers,” said Lloyd Suh, chair of the Dramatists Guild’s Awards Committee, in a statement. “His grace, wit, charm, and generosity are an example to all of us in the community of American dramatists.
- 2/29/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
André Bishop will conclude his 33-year leadership tenure at Lincoln Center Theater in June 2025 at the conclusion of the non-profit theater company’s 40th anniversary 2024-25 season.
Bishop, whose celebrated tenure as Lct’s Artistic Director and more recently Producing Artistic Director included the premieres of such acclaimed new works as Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia and Arcadia, Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig, and The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel, to name a very few, announced his intended departure today.
“My years at Lincoln Center Theater have been happy ones,” he said in a statement, “and I will miss working with all my friends and colleagues. But the time has come, as it inevitably does, for the next generation to step in and step up. I look forward to that. Lct has...
Bishop, whose celebrated tenure as Lct’s Artistic Director and more recently Producing Artistic Director included the premieres of such acclaimed new works as Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia and Arcadia, Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig, and The Light in the Piazza by Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel, to name a very few, announced his intended departure today.
“My years at Lincoln Center Theater have been happy ones,” he said in a statement, “and I will miss working with all my friends and colleagues. But the time has come, as it inevitably does, for the next generation to step in and step up. I look forward to that. Lct has...
- 9/22/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Mark Simon, a longtime casting director for stage productions on Broadway and at Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group, died July 16 in Los Angeles. He was 70.
His death was confirmed by Broadway publicist Adrian Bryan-Brown.
Launching his theater career as assistant general manager at Manhattan Theatre Club, Simon subsequently worked at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater and for the Off-Off Broadway Alliance, now known as Art-ny.
Simon was a co-producer of the 1986 revival of Joe Orton’s Loot, directed by John Tillinger. The production started at the Manhattan Theatre Club Off Broadway and subsequently transferred to Broadway’s Music Box Theater with a cast including Zoë Wanamaker, Zeljko Ivanek and, in his Broadway debut, Alec Baldwin.
As the founder of Mark Simon Casting and, before that, as a casting director at Johnson/Liff & Associates, Binder Casting and Livent, Simon worked on such Broadway and Off Broadway productions as The Sweet Smell of Success and Ragtime.
His death was confirmed by Broadway publicist Adrian Bryan-Brown.
Launching his theater career as assistant general manager at Manhattan Theatre Club, Simon subsequently worked at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater and for the Off-Off Broadway Alliance, now known as Art-ny.
Simon was a co-producer of the 1986 revival of Joe Orton’s Loot, directed by John Tillinger. The production started at the Manhattan Theatre Club Off Broadway and subsequently transferred to Broadway’s Music Box Theater with a cast including Zoë Wanamaker, Zeljko Ivanek and, in his Broadway debut, Alec Baldwin.
As the founder of Mark Simon Casting and, before that, as a casting director at Johnson/Liff & Associates, Binder Casting and Livent, Simon worked on such Broadway and Off Broadway productions as The Sweet Smell of Success and Ragtime.
- 7/26/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Sigourney Weaver is formidable. Intimidating. When she steps in front of a camera, she instantly becomes the most powerful presence in the scene, even if her character isn't. She projects fierce intelligence, and rightfully seems to disdain every single character in her orbit as less than. She's devoured the daunting likes of Bill Murray, Mel Gibson, and Gene Hackman without breaking a sweat. At 5'11", Weaver towers and struts with Amazonian grace. She's as captivating as she is impenetrable. But then she lets the facade crack, and you realize, even when she's playing an ice queen like Katharine Parker in Mike Nichols' "Working Girl," that these forces of nature are concealing a mess of neuroses.
In a less patriarchal world, Weaver would've been the female equivalent of Harrison Ford. She's a movie star top-to-bottom, but she's long worked against society's view of determined, independent women. There have been films that...
In a less patriarchal world, Weaver would've been the female equivalent of Harrison Ford. She's a movie star top-to-bottom, but she's long worked against society's view of determined, independent women. There have been films that...
- 4/8/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Saturday Night Live can get pretty edgy at 11:30 p.m., but it’s still on NBC. They can’t violate FCC obscenity standards, but they sure try to push it. Dana Carvey remembers his Church Lady character testing some of the boundaries. When the network censor asked him to change some lines, Carvey ended up making the Church Lady even dirtier.
L-r: Christopher Durang and Dana Carvey | Reggie Lewis/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Carvey and David Spade now host the Fly on the Wall podcast where they reminisce about Saturday Night Live with former guests and cast members. Head Writer Jim Downey appeared on their May 11 episode and Downey reminded Carvey of his Church Lady battles.
The NBC censor said Church Lady couldn’t say ‘penis’ on ‘Saturday Night Live’
The Church Lady hosts the “Church Chat” segment. Carvey wears a dress and wig and purses his lips in a disapproving voice.
L-r: Christopher Durang and Dana Carvey | Reggie Lewis/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank
Carvey and David Spade now host the Fly on the Wall podcast where they reminisce about Saturday Night Live with former guests and cast members. Head Writer Jim Downey appeared on their May 11 episode and Downey reminded Carvey of his Church Lady battles.
The NBC censor said Church Lady couldn’t say ‘penis’ on ‘Saturday Night Live’
The Church Lady hosts the “Church Chat” segment. Carvey wears a dress and wig and purses his lips in a disapproving voice.
- 3/2/2023
- by Fred Topel
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
This review originally ran Sept. 15, 2021, for the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Like many an entertaining addict, Hildy Good is a great storyteller, providing withering judgments about the people in her orbit amidst all the latest gossip. But like all addicts, the stories she tells always exonerate herself and her behavior — she’s just fine, it’s everyone else who’s messed up. And so what if she sneaks wine after having already been sent to rehab? She never drinks before 5pm, so it’s not like she’s an alcoholic or anything.
Sigourney Weaver plunges herself into the role of Hildy in “The Good House,” and it’s been a while since this titan of cinema has been given a character with the complexity (and the screen time) that the actor deserves. Weaver’s droll comic style has surfaced periodically over the course of...
Like many an entertaining addict, Hildy Good is a great storyteller, providing withering judgments about the people in her orbit amidst all the latest gossip. But like all addicts, the stories she tells always exonerate herself and her behavior — she’s just fine, it’s everyone else who’s messed up. And so what if she sneaks wine after having already been sent to rehab? She never drinks before 5pm, so it’s not like she’s an alcoholic or anything.
Sigourney Weaver plunges herself into the role of Hildy in “The Good House,” and it’s been a while since this titan of cinema has been given a character with the complexity (and the screen time) that the actor deserves. Weaver’s droll comic style has surfaced periodically over the course of...
- 9/29/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Christopher Durang, one of American theater’s most accomplished and acclaimed playwrights, has been diagnosed with logopenic primary progressive aphasia (Ppa), a rare disorder of language which, according to a newly published report, “has curbed the prolific author’s career.”
The disclosure of Durang’s condition was made by the playwright’s family and friends to the website Broadway News.
“This illness is a terrible illness,” said André Bishop, producing artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater and friend of the playwright. “For a writer, in particular, who deals in words, to not be able to find those words is a great sadness.”
The diagnosis marks the second high-profile case to be disclosed in recent months, following the announcement in March that Bruce Willis is stepping away from acting due to aphasia.
According to Broadway News, Durang began showing symptoms in 2012 and a neurologist diagnosed aphasia. A second opinion was sought...
The disclosure of Durang’s condition was made by the playwright’s family and friends to the website Broadway News.
“This illness is a terrible illness,” said André Bishop, producing artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater and friend of the playwright. “For a writer, in particular, who deals in words, to not be able to find those words is a great sadness.”
The diagnosis marks the second high-profile case to be disclosed in recent months, following the announcement in March that Bruce Willis is stepping away from acting due to aphasia.
According to Broadway News, Durang began showing symptoms in 2012 and a neurologist diagnosed aphasia. A second opinion was sought...
- 7/19/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
“Slave Play” made history back in October when it received 12 Tony Awards nominations, the most ever for a play. Five of those citations recognize members of its stellar ensemble, including a bid in Actress, two in Featured Actor, and two in Featured Actress. While “Slave Play” is the frontrunner for Best Play according to our exclusive Tony Awards predictions, none of its cast will take home trophies. But could an upset be looming?
Though it seems counterintuitive that Tony voters would award a play the top honor without recognizing at least one of its performers, it has happened six times in the past 20 years, including the two most recent. In 2019, Jez Butterworth’s “The Ferryman,” an expansive family drama about The Troubles in Ireland, won the top prize and trophies for Director (Sam Mendes), Scenic Design, and Costume Design, but didn’t pick up awards for its three nominated performers: actor Paddy Considine,...
Though it seems counterintuitive that Tony voters would award a play the top honor without recognizing at least one of its performers, it has happened six times in the past 20 years, including the two most recent. In 2019, Jez Butterworth’s “The Ferryman,” an expansive family drama about The Troubles in Ireland, won the top prize and trophies for Director (Sam Mendes), Scenic Design, and Costume Design, but didn’t pick up awards for its three nominated performers: actor Paddy Considine,...
- 9/22/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
James C. Nicola, whose tenure as artistic director of Off Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop included the development of such prominent stage works as Rent, Once, Hadestown, What the Constitution Means to Me, Slave Play and David Bowie’s Lazarus, will leave the post next year, the company announced today.
“In July of 2022, I will reach the age of 72,” Nicola said in a statement. “In my mind, that has always been the moment to interrupt whatever patterns there might be in my life, and to leap off a cliff into reinvention. So that is my plan.”
Nicola will depart Nytw on June 30, 2022. He has been the artistic director since 1988.
Under his stewardship, Nytw has cemented a reputation as an important force in the production and development of new theater work, many of which have gone on to Broadway runs. A partial list of important works developed at the Nytw includes Jonathan Larson’s Rent,...
“In July of 2022, I will reach the age of 72,” Nicola said in a statement. “In my mind, that has always been the moment to interrupt whatever patterns there might be in my life, and to leap off a cliff into reinvention. So that is my plan.”
Nicola will depart Nytw on June 30, 2022. He has been the artistic director since 1988.
Under his stewardship, Nytw has cemented a reputation as an important force in the production and development of new theater work, many of which have gone on to Broadway runs. A partial list of important works developed at the Nytw includes Jonathan Larson’s Rent,...
- 4/16/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Dramatists Play Service, the theatrical licensing and publishing agency formed in 1936 that represents scores the stage’s most prominent playwrights, has been acquired by Broadway Licensing in what the companies are calling a landmark agreement.
Broadway Licensing, a full-service theatrical licensing partner specializing in the development, production and worldwide distribution of new and established theatrical properties, will now house Dps under its slate of brands. Among the dramatists now represented under this newly formed umbrella are Ayad Akhtar, Edward Albee, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Christopher Durang, Horton Foote, Richard Greenberg, Katori Hall, Beth Henley, George S. Kaufman, Tracy Letts, Martyna Majok, Donald Margulies, Terrence McNally, Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, Eugene O’Neill, Susan-Lori Parks, John Patrick Shanley, Alfred Uhry, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Tennessee Williams, Lanford Wilson, and Doug Wright.
The deal was announced today by Sean Cercone, CEO/President, Broadway Licensing, and David J. Moore, Acting President, Dramatists Play Service.
Broadway Licensing, a full-service theatrical licensing partner specializing in the development, production and worldwide distribution of new and established theatrical properties, will now house Dps under its slate of brands. Among the dramatists now represented under this newly formed umbrella are Ayad Akhtar, Edward Albee, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Christopher Durang, Horton Foote, Richard Greenberg, Katori Hall, Beth Henley, George S. Kaufman, Tracy Letts, Martyna Majok, Donald Margulies, Terrence McNally, Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, Eugene O’Neill, Susan-Lori Parks, John Patrick Shanley, Alfred Uhry, Paula Vogel, Wendy Wasserstein, Tennessee Williams, Lanford Wilson, and Doug Wright.
The deal was announced today by Sean Cercone, CEO/President, Broadway Licensing, and David J. Moore, Acting President, Dramatists Play Service.
- 3/23/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The great actor Robert Picardo, a frequent Joe Dante collaborator and long time Star Trek hologram, joins Josh and Joe to discuss movies that compel him to sit and watch all the way through any time they just happen to be on.
Also… Josh and Bob discuss the best cheesesteak joints in Philly.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Howling (1981)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film (1959)
Swing Time (1936)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
Cabaret (1972)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
On The Waterfront (1954)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Innerspace (1987)
Ordinary People (1980)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
Rock ‘N’ Roll High School (1978)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Jaws (1975)
The Wiz (1978)
The Godfather Part III (1990)
Alien (1979)
Star Wars (1977)
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
I Knew It Was You (2009)
Touch Of Evil (1958)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Day The Earth Stood Still...
Also… Josh and Bob discuss the best cheesesteak joints in Philly.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Howling (1981)
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
The Running Jumping and Standing Still Film (1959)
Swing Time (1936)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
Cabaret (1972)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
On The Waterfront (1954)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Innerspace (1987)
Ordinary People (1980)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
Rock ‘N’ Roll High School (1978)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Jaws (1975)
The Wiz (1978)
The Godfather Part III (1990)
Alien (1979)
Star Wars (1977)
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
I Knew It Was You (2009)
Touch Of Evil (1958)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Day The Earth Stood Still...
- 11/24/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Jean Smart is Emmy-nominated for HBO’s “Watchmen,” playing an anti-vigilante FBI agent. It’s yet another of Smart’s surprising performances, tackling offbeat roles and making them distinct and memorable.
Smart became a household name with her five-year run as Charlene on CBS’ “Designing Women,” starting in 1986. But when the sitcom debuted, she had already racked up multiple credits, including guest parts in various series and many theater roles, earning a Tony nomination for playing Marlene Dietrich in Broadway’s “Piaf.”
Since then, she’s played the smart but mentally unstable first lady in “24,” a woman forced into organized crime in FX’s “Fargo,” and films including “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Garden State,” “I Heart Huckabees” and “A Simple Favor.” She has also played onstage in Kaufman & Hart’s “The Man Who Came to Dinner” and Christopher Durang’s “Laughing Wild,” among many others.
She and her husband, actor Richard Gilliland,...
Smart became a household name with her five-year run as Charlene on CBS’ “Designing Women,” starting in 1986. But when the sitcom debuted, she had already racked up multiple credits, including guest parts in various series and many theater roles, earning a Tony nomination for playing Marlene Dietrich in Broadway’s “Piaf.”
Since then, she’s played the smart but mentally unstable first lady in “24,” a woman forced into organized crime in FX’s “Fargo,” and films including “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Garden State,” “I Heart Huckabees” and “A Simple Favor.” She has also played onstage in Kaufman & Hart’s “The Man Who Came to Dinner” and Christopher Durang’s “Laughing Wild,” among many others.
She and her husband, actor Richard Gilliland,...
- 8/28/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
John McCormack, a longtime behind-the-scenes force in Off Broadway theater, died Monday, May 18, at his home in Queens, New York from complications related to Covid-19. He was 61.
McCormack’s death was announced by Off Broadway’s Intar Theatre, where he was executive director.
During a nearly 40-year career, McCormack was an influential player in New York theater, working in producing, artistic director and executive positions at such companies as Ensemble Studio Theatre, Naked Angels, the Zipper Theater, his own company All Seasons Theater, and, since 2006, Intar.
Many of the performers and writers he championed would go on to successful careers in theater, film and television. Among the artists whose careers he impacted over the years were actors Kevin Bacon, Patricia Clarkson, Rob Morrow; playwrights Warren Leight, Richard Greenberg, Lucas Hnath and Alan Zweibel; director Mark Brokaw and artistic directors Douglas Aibel, Bernard Telsey and Christopher Ashley, among many others.
“Nobody...
McCormack’s death was announced by Off Broadway’s Intar Theatre, where he was executive director.
During a nearly 40-year career, McCormack was an influential player in New York theater, working in producing, artistic director and executive positions at such companies as Ensemble Studio Theatre, Naked Angels, the Zipper Theater, his own company All Seasons Theater, and, since 2006, Intar.
Many of the performers and writers he championed would go on to successful careers in theater, film and television. Among the artists whose careers he impacted over the years were actors Kevin Bacon, Patricia Clarkson, Rob Morrow; playwrights Warren Leight, Richard Greenberg, Lucas Hnath and Alan Zweibel; director Mark Brokaw and artistic directors Douglas Aibel, Bernard Telsey and Christopher Ashley, among many others.
“Nobody...
- 6/1/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Bernard Gersten, a pioneering force in New York City’s nonprofit theater movement, died today at his home in Manhattan of pancreatic cancer. He was 97.
His death was announced by daughter Jenny Gersten.
“Lincoln Center Theater mourns our cherished Bernard Gersten who died this morning peacefully in his sleep at the astounding age of 97,” the theater company said in a statement. “Bernie’s intelligence, innate sense of goodness, bravery, wisdom, generosity, elegance and wit, and most important, deep knowledge and love of the theater, made him a giant in our...
His death was announced by daughter Jenny Gersten.
“Lincoln Center Theater mourns our cherished Bernard Gersten who died this morning peacefully in his sleep at the astounding age of 97,” the theater company said in a statement. “Bernie’s intelligence, innate sense of goodness, bravery, wisdom, generosity, elegance and wit, and most important, deep knowledge and love of the theater, made him a giant in our...
- 4/27/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
One Flew Over the Butcher Shop: Altman’s Klutzy Crafting of “Beyond Therapy” (1987) | Blu-ray Review
The 1980s were a difficult period for Robert Altman, stumbling into the decade with two high profile projects, HealtH and Popeye, both poorly received. Although several titles from this era are worthy of reconsideration and/or are among some of his best, time has not been kind to all of them. Perhaps chief amongst these is his 1987 comedic failing Beyond Therapy, based on Christopher Durang’s (who co-wrote the script) Broadway play.
Featuring Altman’s usual predilections and shot in Paris despite being set in New York, it’s an odd mix of sexual identity politics and slapstick comedy (think Bringing Up Baby or His Girl Friday) but with jarring tonal shifts, ungainly editing and two highly unlikeable lead performances.…...
Featuring Altman’s usual predilections and shot in Paris despite being set in New York, it’s an odd mix of sexual identity politics and slapstick comedy (think Bringing Up Baby or His Girl Friday) but with jarring tonal shifts, ungainly editing and two highly unlikeable lead performances.…...
- 3/31/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
A review of “Morta di Fame,” this week’s The Deuce, coming up just as soon as I run for town whore…
Late in “Morta di Fame,” Lori vents to her agent Kiki about the conditions of her recent porn shoots. “This thing doesn’t last forever,” Kiki warns her. “Not for anyone, not for you.”
This is the final season of The Deuce, and one back to an eight-episode order after last year’s experiment with nine. Other series from other creative teams might feel more urgency about getting their endgame into gear,...
Late in “Morta di Fame,” Lori vents to her agent Kiki about the conditions of her recent porn shoots. “This thing doesn’t last forever,” Kiki warns her. “Not for anyone, not for you.”
This is the final season of The Deuce, and one back to an eight-episode order after last year’s experiment with nine. Other series from other creative teams might feel more urgency about getting their endgame into gear,...
- 9/17/2019
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
Good Girls Revolt star Genevieve Angelson has been cast as Dr. Eve Watson for Season 2 of Titans, the super-team series on the DC Universe subscription streaming service.
Watson is described as a research doctor with conflicted feelings about her recent work at Cadmus Laboratories, the genetic engineering hub known in DC Comics mythology as the birthplace of the clone called Superboy. The Season 1 finale of Titans depicted the mysterious Superboy’s escape from captivity at Cadmus.
Angelson most recently starred in the PopTV series Flack, but is best known as the lead on Amazon’s hit drama Good Girls Revolt. Her television credits also include Law & Order: Svu, the Fox crime-drama Backstrom opposite Rainn Wilson, and a nine-episode Season 3 story arc on the Showtime comedy House of Lies. Her guest appearances include The Glades, Army Wives, and The Good Wife.
On stage, she recently starred in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of The Cake.
Watson is described as a research doctor with conflicted feelings about her recent work at Cadmus Laboratories, the genetic engineering hub known in DC Comics mythology as the birthplace of the clone called Superboy. The Season 1 finale of Titans depicted the mysterious Superboy’s escape from captivity at Cadmus.
Angelson most recently starred in the PopTV series Flack, but is best known as the lead on Amazon’s hit drama Good Girls Revolt. Her television credits also include Law & Order: Svu, the Fox crime-drama Backstrom opposite Rainn Wilson, and a nine-episode Season 3 story arc on the Showtime comedy House of Lies. Her guest appearances include The Glades, Army Wives, and The Good Wife.
On stage, she recently starred in the Manhattan Theatre Club production of The Cake.
- 7/29/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the fourth and final time to discuss eligibility for the 73rd Annual Tony Awards. Determinations were made for the final 10 productions of the 2018-2019 Broadway season.
The productions discussed were “All My Sons,” “Beetlejuice,” “Burn This,” “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” “Hadestown,” “Hillary and Clinton,” “Ink,” “King Lear,” “Oklahoma!,” and “Tootsie.”
The committee made the following determinations:
Jayne Houdyshell, Elizabeth Marvel, Aisling O’Sullivan, Ruth Wilson, Pedro Pascal and John Douglas Thompson will be considered eligible for Featured Actress/Actor in a Play for their respective performances in “King Lear.”
Damon Daunno and Rebecca Naomi Jones will be eligible for Lead Actor/Actress in a Musical for their respective performances in “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!”
Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada will be eligible for Lead Actor/Actress in a Musical for their respective performances in “Hadestown.”
Benjamin Walker will be eligible...
The productions discussed were “All My Sons,” “Beetlejuice,” “Burn This,” “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” “Hadestown,” “Hillary and Clinton,” “Ink,” “King Lear,” “Oklahoma!,” and “Tootsie.”
The committee made the following determinations:
Jayne Houdyshell, Elizabeth Marvel, Aisling O’Sullivan, Ruth Wilson, Pedro Pascal and John Douglas Thompson will be considered eligible for Featured Actress/Actor in a Play for their respective performances in “King Lear.”
Damon Daunno and Rebecca Naomi Jones will be eligible for Lead Actor/Actress in a Musical for their respective performances in “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!”
Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada will be eligible for Lead Actor/Actress in a Musical for their respective performances in “Hadestown.”
Benjamin Walker will be eligible...
- 4/26/2019
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Signature Theatre, one of Off Broadway’s premiere companies, has named Meghan Lantzy as its new general manager. She arrives at the Signature from Lincoln Center Theater, where she worked for 12 years.
“There’s always a lot of exciting activity happening at Signature and The Pershing Square Signature Center, and I’m confident Meghan’s management expertise and thoughtful approach will help us continue moving forward and realizing the possibilities inherent in our unique mission,” said Executive Director Harold Wolpert
The company announced Lantzy’s hiring today. She’ll join senior leadership that includes Wolpert, Artistic Director Paige Evans, among others. Lantzy takes the spot previously held by Gilbert Medina.
At Lincoln Center Theater, Lantzy was part of the team that managed over such productions as My Fair Lady, Falsettos, The King and I, South Pacific, and Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, among many others.
“There’s always a lot of exciting activity happening at Signature and The Pershing Square Signature Center, and I’m confident Meghan’s management expertise and thoughtful approach will help us continue moving forward and realizing the possibilities inherent in our unique mission,” said Executive Director Harold Wolpert
The company announced Lantzy’s hiring today. She’ll join senior leadership that includes Wolpert, Artistic Director Paige Evans, among others. Lantzy takes the spot previously held by Gilbert Medina.
At Lincoln Center Theater, Lantzy was part of the team that managed over such productions as My Fair Lady, Falsettos, The King and I, South Pacific, and Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, among many others.
- 11/16/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
BroadwayWorld has an inside look at Pamela's First Musical, a world premiere with a book by Wendy Wasserstein and Christopher Durang, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by David Zippel, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele at Two River Theatre. Performances continue through Sunday, October 7 in Two River's Rechnitz Theater, 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank, NJ. Tickets are available from 732.345.1400 or tworivertheater.org.
- 9/18/2018
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
BroadwayWorld has an inside look at Pamela's First Musical, a world premiere with a book by Wendy Wasserstein and Christopher Durang, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by David Zippel, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele at Two River Theatre. Performances continue through Sunday, October 7 in Two River's Rechnitz Theater, 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank, NJ. Tickets are available from 732.345.1400 or tworivertheater.org.
- 9/14/2018
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
BroadwayWorld has a first look at Pamela's First Musical, a world premiere with a book by Wendy Wasserstein and Christopher Durang, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by David Zippel, directed and choreographed by Graciela Daniele at Two River Theatre. Performances continue through Sunday, October 7 in Two River's Rechnitz Theater, 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank, NJ. Tickets are available from 732.345.1400 or tworivertheater.org.
- 9/11/2018
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The era of podcasts and audio storytelling is upon us, and it’s about time that theater got into the game. Playing On Air, a series of one-act plays by accomplished playwrights read by some of the industry’s top actors, was launched onto the airwaves in 2014 by theater producer Claudia Catania. As creator, artistic producer, and host of each episode, Catania was inspired during a reading of a short play, at which everyone was gathered informally in folding chairs. “I had been to one too many readings where there’s a cast of actors knocking one’s socks off and thought, Wait a minute—why don’t we bring the folding chairs to millions of people?” she told Backstage. Since audio podcasts can be distributed to a wide audience inexpensively, she reached out to a radio producer, then to writer Christopher Durang—the first of many artists who agreed...
- 6/28/2017
- backstage.com
"I'm the end of the line," Arthur Miller once asserted. "Absurd and appalling as it may seem, serious New York theater has died in my lifetime."
Many might argue otherwise. In fact, the best proof that theatre is still alive and kicking is Focus on Playwrights, the new coffee-table book, the cover of which showcases the life-crinkled face that once overlooked the birth of A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, and The Crucible. Yes, photographer Susan Johann’s scintillating collection of over 90 playwrights, whom she’s shot over 20 years -- and the inclusion of sharply revealing interviews with some of the same, is the best retort to anyone ready to cremate modern drama.
Some of those captured for publications such as Vogue and the New Yorker are now deceased (e.g. August Wilson, Edward Albee, and Joe Chaikin) while others are very much functioning (e.g. David Henry Hwang,...
Many might argue otherwise. In fact, the best proof that theatre is still alive and kicking is Focus on Playwrights, the new coffee-table book, the cover of which showcases the life-crinkled face that once overlooked the birth of A View from the Bridge, All My Sons, and The Crucible. Yes, photographer Susan Johann’s scintillating collection of over 90 playwrights, whom she’s shot over 20 years -- and the inclusion of sharply revealing interviews with some of the same, is the best retort to anyone ready to cremate modern drama.
Some of those captured for publications such as Vogue and the New Yorker are now deceased (e.g. August Wilson, Edward Albee, and Joe Chaikin) while others are very much functioning (e.g. David Henry Hwang,...
- 1/20/2017
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
The Drama Leaguehas announced TonyAward and Oscarwinner F. Murray Abraham Amadeus, EmmyAward winner Hank Azaria 'The Simpsons', TonyAward winner Christopher Durang Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, TonyAward winning Broadway Producer Daryl Roth Kinky Boots, TonyAward nominees Kate Baldwin Hello, Dolly, Drama Desk nominee John Bolton Curtains, along with Lea DeLaria 'Orange is the New Black' and Peri Gilpin 'Frazier', have joined the roster of special guest performers for The 33rd Annual Drama League Centennial Musical Celebration of Broadway honoring Tonyand EmmyAward winner David Hyde Pierce to be held on Monday evening, November 7, 2016 at The Plaza 768 Fifth Avenue in New York City.
- 10/27/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Annette Insdorf with Andrzej Wajda at his home in July, 2014 Photo: Hanna Hartowicz
Annette Insdorf , the author of Francois Truffaut; Indelible Shadows: Film and Holocaust, Philip Kaufman; and Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski recalls meeting Andrzej Wajda for the first time in 1974 when he was directing Elzbieta Czyzewska (star of Wajda's Everything For Sale) in Albert Camus’s adaptation of the Dostoyevsky novel The Possessed at the Yale Repertory Theater with Meryl Streep and playwright Christopher Durang among the cast.
Andrzej Wajda's Afterimage is Poland's Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film
Annette, is also a Professor in the Graduate Film Program of Columbia’s School of the Arts and moderator of the Telluride Film Festival where Wajda was honored in 1983. She shares with us her personal encounters with this great artist who left his indelible mark on the world.
"Maybe it's because I...
Annette Insdorf , the author of Francois Truffaut; Indelible Shadows: Film and Holocaust, Philip Kaufman; and Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski recalls meeting Andrzej Wajda for the first time in 1974 when he was directing Elzbieta Czyzewska (star of Wajda's Everything For Sale) in Albert Camus’s adaptation of the Dostoyevsky novel The Possessed at the Yale Repertory Theater with Meryl Streep and playwright Christopher Durang among the cast.
Andrzej Wajda's Afterimage is Poland's Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film
Annette, is also a Professor in the Graduate Film Program of Columbia’s School of the Arts and moderator of the Telluride Film Festival where Wajda was honored in 1983. She shares with us her personal encounters with this great artist who left his indelible mark on the world.
"Maybe it's because I...
- 10/15/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze and Annette Insdorf
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Trying to escape the April rain? There are dozens of upcoming auditions for projects in California, including a Chekhov-infused comedy, a toe-tapping musical, and two excellent on-screen gigs! Check out the listings below. “Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike”International City Theatre is casting all characters in their upcoming production of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike!” Penned by Christopher Durang, the 2013 Tony Award–winning play follows the unusual relationships of three middle-aged siblings. When one of them threatens to sell their family home, poignant realizations and chaotic hilarity ensue. Auditions will be held April 18 in Hollywood, California, and rehearsals for the paid gig begin May 17. “Adulting”The Pink Film Company is casting the series “Adulting,” which will unfold tales of love, balancing work and life, and picking the proper thread count when buying sheets. Auditions are April 8 and 10 in Los Angeles, California, with a photoshoot taking place...
- 4/7/2016
- backstage.com
The era of podcasts and audio storytelling is upon us, and it’s about time that theater got into the game. Playing On Air, a series of one-act plays by accomplished playwrights read by some of the industry’s top actors, was launched onto the airwaves in 2014 by theater producer Claudia Catania. As creator, artistic producer, and host of each episode, Catania was inspired during a reading of a short play, at which everyone was gathered informally in folding chairs. “I had been to one too many readings where there’s a cast of actors knocking one’s socks off and thought, Wait a minute—why don’t we bring the folding chairs to millions of people?” she told Backstage. Since audio podcasts can be distributed to a wide audience inexpensively, she reached out to a radio producer, then to writer Christopher Durang—the first of many artists who agreed...
- 9/23/2015
- backstage.com
The Old Globe presentsGeorge Bernard Shaw'sArms and the Man, joining celebrated directorJessica Stone, who recently made her Globe debut with Christopher Durang'sVanya and Sonia andMasha and Spike. Shaw's romantic comedy, whichcontinuesthe Globe's 80th Anniversary festivities as part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration,will runMay 9 -June 14, 2015on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the OldGlobe Theatre,part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Opening night is Thursday, May 14 at 800 p.m. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast in costume...
- 4/28/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man, joining celebrated director Jessica Stone, who recently made her Globe debut with Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Shaw's romantic comedy, which continues the Globe's 80th Anniversary festivities as part of the Balboa Park Centennial Celebration, will run May 9 - June 14, 2015 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run May 9 through 13. Opening night is Thursday, May 14 at 800 p.m.
- 4/13/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
What are we going to do when Mad Men breaks up with all of us at the end of May? They say if you love something, you should let it go, and that seems to be what Elisabeth Moss has been trying to do ever since joining the cast of The Heidi Chronicles on Broadway. At a recent 92Y panel discussion with her Heidi Chronicles cast members Jason Biggs, Bryce Pinkham, producer André Bishop, and playwright Christopher Durang, Moss waxed poetic on what it was like to miss playing Mad Men's Peggy Olson.It’s funny because I was pretty sad when we ended. Mostly and only because I liked to play that character, and I didn’t want to not play her anymore. I did a few projects afterwards, and they were all very different. Having done [The Heidi Chronicles], this was the first time and first role that I’d...
- 3/30/2015
- by Brooke Marine
- Vulture
The Old Globe today announced it will open its 2015-2016 Season with In Your Arms, a World Premiere dance-theatre musical featuring direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli Newsies, Godspell, Lincoln Center Theater's South Pacific and original music by Tony Award winner Stephen Flaherty Ragtime, Once on This Island two-time Oscar nominee for Anastasia. Co-conceived by Gattelli and Jennifer Manocherian, In Your Arms features 10 dance vignettes written by an incredible and diverse lineup of theatre powerhouses, including Douglas Carter Beane, Nilo Cruz, Christopher Durang, Carrie Fisher, David Henry Hwang, Rajiv Joseph, Terrence McNally, Marsha Norman, Lynn Nottage, and Alfred Uhry. Among them, the creators have amassed 14 Tony Awards, five Pulitzer Prizes, six Pulitzer finalist designations, and one Academy Award.
- 1/27/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Photo Coverage: Paper Mill Playhouse Celebrates Opening Night of Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike
Paper Mill Playhouse presents its winter comedy, Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will be directed by Don Stephenson. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater, now through February 15, 2015. The official press opening night was yesterday, January 25, at 700pm. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the big opening below...
- 1/26/2015
- by Genevieve Rafter Keddy
- BroadwayWorld.com
Paper Mill Playhouse presents its winter comedy, Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will be directed by Don Stephenson. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater, now through February 15, 2015. The official press opening night is Sunday, January 25, at 700pm. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below...
- 1/23/2015
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Paper Mill Playhouse presents its winter comedy, Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. This touching and wickedly hysterical Tony Award-winning best play features Broadway, television and film veterans Philippe Bowgen Spike, Gina Daniels Cassandra,Carolyn McCormick Masha, Mark Nelson Vanya, Michele PawkSonia and Jamie Ann Romero Nina. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will be directed by Don Stephenson. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater, now through February 15, 2015. The official press opening night is Sunday, January 25, at 700pm. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below...
- 1/22/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Paper Mill Playhouse presents its winter comedy, Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. This touching and wickedly hysterical Tony Award-winning best play features Broadway, television and film veterans Philippe Bowgen Spike, Gina Daniels Cassandra, Carolyn McCormick Masha, Mark Nelson Vanya, Michele Pawk Sonia and Jamie Ann Romero Nina. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will be directed by Don Stephenson. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater from tonight, January 21 through February 15, 2015. The official press opening night is Sunday, January 25, at 700pm.
- 1/21/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Paper Mill Playhouse has announced casting for its winter comedy, Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. This touching and wickedly hysterical Tony Award-winning best play features Broadway, television and film veterans Philippe Bowgen Spike, Gina Daniels Cassandra, Carolyn McCormick Masha, Mark Nelson Vanya, Michele Pawk Sonia and Jamie Ann Romero Nina. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will be directed by Don Stephenson. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater from January 21 through February 15, 2015. The official press opening night is Sunday, January 25, at 700pm. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2014-2015 Season is sponsored by Investors Bank.
- 12/15/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Long unavailable for home viewing, Robert Altman’s 1982 title Come Back to the 5 and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean has languished as a remote, minor title of the auteur’s filmography, trotted out to devotees at retrospectives. Based on the play by Ed Graczyk and featuring a bevy of eclectic actresses, it’s often and unfairly lumped into consideration with Altman’s other adaptations of stage material from the time period, including David Rabe’s Streamers (1983), Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love (1985) and Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy (1987). Often described as typically Altmanesque with its examination of Americana, a dialogue heavy showcase of melodrama squeezed from the banalities of everyday existence, at last it’s available for a wider appreciation, ripe for a recuperation as more than a mere trifle lost in a flood of greater titles from an American auteur.
It’s 1975 and a group of extreme James Dean fans,...
It’s 1975 and a group of extreme James Dean fans,...
- 11/25/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Timing is everything. Donald Margulies respectfully raids the Chekhovian thematic pantry in The Country House, which arrives on Broadway in an elegant production staged with customary polish by Daniel Sullivan and starring Blythe Danner in a role that overlaps with her own professional history. But coming in the wake of Christopher Durang's far more illuminating contemporary riff on the Russian master, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, seriously undercuts the usefulness of this engaging, if rather safe, middlebrow entertainment. Appropriating elements drawn primarily from The Seagull and Uncle Vanya, Margulies' Chekhov excursion is a vast improvement on the lame-
read more...
read more...
- 10/3/2014
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Leah Ryan's Feww is hosting an evening of celebratory cocktails and performances on Monday, October 6 at Joe's Pub in New York. The benefit will commemorate the fifth year of Leah Ryan's Fund for Emerging Women Writers and the announcement of The Vladimir, a new emergency fund for writers facing medical emergencies. Hosted by Lisa Kron and directed by Leigh Silverman, the party will feature performances by, among others, Julie White, Christopher Durang, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Jennifer Westfeldt. Tickets are 100 and may be purchased through the website httpleahryansfeww.com. For information call Tessa Laneve at 917-841-4879. Joe's Pub is located at 425 Lafayette St, New York, NY.
- 9/26/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Playwright Christopher Durang - who won his first Tony Award in 2013 for his comedy Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike on Broadway - makes his debut in the role of 'Vanya' at Bucks County Playhouse 70 S. Main St in New Hope, Pa, through August 10. The cast of the play also features Marilu Henner, the beloved actress best-known for the long-running TV series Taxi. Click below to go behind the scenes with Henner and the rest of the company...
- 7/25/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
“What is my America?” That was the question asked 50 playwrights by Centerstage, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Their answers were filmed by Hal Hartley, who is exclusively debuting the resulting feature documentary, My America, on Fandor for its Svod premiere beginning July 4. From Centerstage: Filmed by Possible Films, led by award-winning director Hal Hartley, these 50 monologues by writers including Anna Deavere Smith, Neil Labute, Christopher Durang, and Lynn Nottage explore our particular American moment—the ideas and people that make the country what it is today. The responses, ranging from the political to the personal, form […]...
- 6/20/2014
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“What is my America?” That was the question asked 50 playwrights by Centerstage, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Their answers were filmed by Hal Hartley, who is exclusively debuting the resulting feature documentary, My America, on Fandor for its Svod premiere beginning July 4. From Centerstage: Filmed by Possible Films, led by award-winning director Hal Hartley, these 50 monologues by writers including Anna Deavere Smith, Neil Labute, Christopher Durang, and Lynn Nottage explore our particular American moment—the ideas and people that make the country what it is today. The responses, ranging from the political to the personal, form […]...
- 6/20/2014
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The Old Globe presents Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning farce Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which will include Candy Buckley as Masha, Marcia DeBonis as Sonia, Tyler Lansing Weaks as Spike, Allison Layman as Nina, Martin Moran as Vanya, and Haneefah Wood as Cassandra. Jessica Stone will direct, based on the Tony-nominated Broadway direction of Old Globe Associate Artist Nicholas Martin, whose loss on April 30 devastated the theatre world. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run now through June 22, 2014 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe'sConrad Prebys Theatre Center. The show is currently in previews, and opening night is May 22 at 800 p.m. Below, BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action...
- 5/22/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Old Globe presents Christopher Durang's Tony Award-winning farce Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which will include Candy Buckley as Masha, Marcia DeBonis as Sonia, Tyler Lansing Weaks as Spike, Allison Layman as Nina, Martin Moran as Vanya, and Haneefah Wood as Cassandra. Jessica Stone will direct, based on the Tony-nominated Broadway direction of Old Globe Associate Artist Nicholas Martin, whose loss on April 30 devastated the theatre world. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will run today, May 17 - June 22, 2014 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run tonight, May 17 through the 21st. Opening night is May 22 at 800 p.m.
- 5/17/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
New York -- Bryan Cranston opened on Broadway to rave reviews last month, playing Lbj in All the Way. Now his former Breaking Bad co-star, Anna Gunn, is also heading to the New York stage this summer, in an Off Broadway production of Laura Eason's Sex With Strangers. The Emmy winner will appear opposite Billy Magnussen, a Tony nominee last season for his role in Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. The two-hander will be produced by Second Stage Theatre and directed by David Schwimmer. It begins previews July 8, with official opening set for July 30,
read more...
read more...
- 4/1/2014
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Playwright Christopher Durang - who won his first Tony Award in 2013 for his comedy Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike on Broadway - will make his debut in the role of Vanya when the play is presented at Bucks County Playhouse 70 S. Main St in New Hope, Pa. From July 17 to August 10, it has been announced by the Playhouse's newly-appointed producing team -- Producing Director Alexander Fraser, Executive Producer Robyn Goodman and Producers Stephen Kocis and Josh Fiedler.
- 3/30/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.