Winners to be announced on February 17 at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles, New York.
The Crown, Succession, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story and The Looming Tower are among television series nominated for the 2019 Writers Guild Awards.
The list of nominees announced by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) West and East branches also includes The Handmaid’s Tale, longform projects Castle Rock, Paterno, Maniac and Sharp Objects and individual episodes of Narcos: Mexico, The Affair and Ozark.
Select categories appear below. WGA Award winners will be announced on February 17 at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York.
The Crown, Succession, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story and The Looming Tower are among television series nominated for the 2019 Writers Guild Awards.
The list of nominees announced by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) West and East branches also includes The Handmaid’s Tale, longform projects Castle Rock, Paterno, Maniac and Sharp Objects and individual episodes of Narcos: Mexico, The Affair and Ozark.
Select categories appear below. WGA Award winners will be announced on February 17 at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York.
- 12/6/2018
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
The Writers Guild Awards honor outstanding writing in film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio, promotional, and graphic animation categories. Today the nominees for the 2019 Writers Guild Awards were revealed. Check out the list below.
Television, New Media, And News Nominees
Daytime Drama
Days of Our Lives, Head Writer: Ron Carlivati; Writers: Sheri Anderson, Lorraine Broderick, David Cherrill, Joanna Cohen, Lisa Connor, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Cydney Kelley, David Kreizman, David A. Levinson, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine Schock, Elizabeth Snyder, Tyler Topits; NBC
General Hospital, Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Christopher Van Etten; Writers: Barbara Bloom, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O'Connor, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC
Drama Series
The Americans, Written by Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson; FX Networks
Better Call Saul,...
Television, New Media, And News Nominees
Daytime Drama
Days of Our Lives, Head Writer: Ron Carlivati; Writers: Sheri Anderson, Lorraine Broderick, David Cherrill, Joanna Cohen, Lisa Connor, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Cydney Kelley, David Kreizman, David A. Levinson, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine Schock, Elizabeth Snyder, Tyler Topits; NBC
General Hospital, Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Christopher Van Etten; Writers: Barbara Bloom, Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O'Connor, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC
Drama Series
The Americans, Written by Peter Ackerman, Hilary Bettis, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Sarah Nolen, Stephen Schiff, Justin Weinberger, Joe Weisberg, Tracey Scott Wilson; FX Networks
Better Call Saul,...
- 12/6/2018
- by Roger Newcomb
- We Love Soaps
The HBO comedy “Barry” is having a great day. First it reaped three Golden Globe nominations and then it earned another three bids at the Writers Guild of America Awards. At the WGA, it competes for Best Comedy Series writing as well as for an individual episode and for the catch-all Best New Series award.
For the comedy series award, “Barry” faces off against reigning Emmy champ “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” as well as “Atlanta,” “Glow” and “The Good Place.” “Barry” is the only comedy up for the new series award alongside the dramas “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Homecoming,” “Pose” and “Succession.”
Of those four, only “Succession” made it into Best Drama Series where it competes against the final season of “The Americans,” season 4 of “Better Call Saul” and the sophomore editions of “The Crown” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
The WGA Awards winners will be revealed on Feb.
For the comedy series award, “Barry” faces off against reigning Emmy champ “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” as well as “Atlanta,” “Glow” and “The Good Place.” “Barry” is the only comedy up for the new series award alongside the dramas “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Homecoming,” “Pose” and “Succession.”
Of those four, only “Succession” made it into Best Drama Series where it competes against the final season of “The Americans,” season 4 of “Better Call Saul” and the sophomore editions of “The Crown” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
The WGA Awards winners will be revealed on Feb.
- 12/6/2018
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The WGA on Thursday unveiled its nominations for in TV, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional writing for 2018, with writers for Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale and NBC’s Saturday Night Live among last year’s winners to make the cut.
Last year, Handmaid’s Tale won the Drama Series category and the New Series category. HBO’s Succession has that same chance this year in drama, nominated in both categories. Another HBO series, its Bill Hader comedy Barry, was triple-nommed today including in the episodic race.
SNL returns to the Comedy/Variety sketch series category it won last season, this time facing the likes of the final season for IFC’s Portlandia and Sarah Silverman’s Hulu docuseries I Love You, America. Another returning champ, Comedy/Variety Talk Series’ Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, also landed a nom.
Like the Golden Globes earlier today the marquee...
Last year, Handmaid’s Tale won the Drama Series category and the New Series category. HBO’s Succession has that same chance this year in drama, nominated in both categories. Another HBO series, its Bill Hader comedy Barry, was triple-nommed today including in the episodic race.
SNL returns to the Comedy/Variety sketch series category it won last season, this time facing the likes of the final season for IFC’s Portlandia and Sarah Silverman’s Hulu docuseries I Love You, America. Another returning champ, Comedy/Variety Talk Series’ Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, also landed a nom.
Like the Golden Globes earlier today the marquee...
- 12/6/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Nat Geo’s adaptation of Bill O’Reilly’s Killing Reagan will dodge the controversy spawned by the book’s suggestion that Ronald Reagan suffered intellectual decline after an assassination attempt on his life. “We deal with the assassination attempt in a limited way,” screenwriter Eric Simonson told TV critics at TCA. The “limited way” doesn’t include O’Reilly’s depiction of Reagan’s dementia. “One of the decisions Eric had to make is what do we not include from the book,”…...
- 7/30/2016
- Deadline TV
Bronx Bombers will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, March 2 at 3Pm at Circle in the Square Theatre 50th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Bronx Bombers is produced on Broadway by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, and written and directed by Eric Simonson. For tickets and more information on Bronx Bombers, please visitwww.BronxBombersPlay.com. The production opened on February 6, 2014.
- 3/2/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bronx Bombers is the latest from the producers of Broadway’s Lombardi. The story of the New York Yankees, sports’ greatest dynasty, is a massive one. From Ruth to Jeter and everywhere in between, telling the history of the once-Highlanders-now-Yankees is no simple task. The smartest way to distill the franchise’s 100+ year history is to do exactly what Eric Simonson did and build a narrative around the questions of what it is that makes being a New York Yankee so special, what it is to work towards a common goal and what it means to be a champion.
Read more...
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- 2/22/2014
- by Robert Ottone
- JustPressPlay.net
Now is the time to see Bronx Bombers, a new American play starring Peter Scolari 'Bosom Buddies,' 'Newhart,' 'Girls' as Yogi Berra. Bronx Bombers will play its final Broadway performance on Sunday, March 2 at 3Pm at Circle in the Square Theatre 50th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Bronx Bombers is produced on Broadway by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, and written and directed by Eric Simonson. For tickets and more information on Bronx Bombers, please visitwww.BronxBombersPlay.com. The production opened on February 6, 2014.
- 2/20/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bronx Bombers, a new American play by Eric Simonson, is produced on Broadway by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, and directed by Eric Simonson. Bronx Bombers officially opened on February 6 at Circle in the Square Theatre, and BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there to chat with celebrities on the red carpet before the show, including Simonson, Kirmser and Ponturo, Broadway's Kate Baldwin and Graham Rowat, plus Dan Grimaldi, Dee Snider, Karen Ziemba, Natalie Roy and Rebecca Faulkenberry and Josh Segarra. Check out what they had to say below...
- 2/10/2014
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bronx Bombers, a new American play by Eric Simonson, began previews on January 10, 2014. The show is produced on Broadway by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, and directed by Eric Simonson. Bronx Bombers officially opened last night, February 6, at Circle in the Square Theatre and BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there to chat with the company about the big night. Check out what they had to say below...
- 2/8/2014
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bronx Bombers, a new American play by Eric Simonson, began previews on January 10, 2014. The show is produced on Broadway by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, and directed by Eric Simonson. Bronx Bombers officially opened last night, February 6, at Circle in the Square Theatre and BroadwayWorld was on hand for all of the opening night festivities. Check out photos from the after party below...
- 2/7/2014
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bronx Bombers, a new American play by Eric Simonson, began previews on January 10, 2014. The show is produced on Broadway by Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, and directed by Eric Simonson. Bronx Bombers officially opened last night, February 6, at Circle in the Square Theatre and BroadwayWorld was on hand for all of the opening night festivities. Check out photos from the curtain call below...
- 2/7/2014
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
Eric Simonson is well on his way to immortalizing every sport in a Broadway play: First, there was football (“Lombardi”), then basketball (“Magic/Bird”) and now baseball with his “Bronx Bombers,” which opened Thursday at Circle in the Square. At this rate, aficionados of synchronized swimming should probably get their play sometime in the next decade. In “Bronx Bombers,” it’s crisis time in the land of the Yankees. And a sports crisis for Simonson, who also directs, is equal to a nuclear meltdown or the onset of male pattern baldness. Before “Bombers” opens, the Yankee’s star player Reggie Jackson (Francois Battiste) and manager.
- 2/7/2014
- by Robert Hofler
- The Wrap
Bronx Bombers, a new American play written and directed by Eric Simonson, will begin performances on Broadway starting January 10, 2014 at Circle in the Square Theatre. Tickets are now on sale atTelecharge.com. The cast just met the press and BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there to chat with the whole gang. Check out what they had to say about the new play below...
- 12/18/2013
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bronx Bombers, a new American play written and directed by Eric Simonson, will begin performances on Broadway starting January 10, 2014 at Circle in the Square Theater 235 West 50th Street. The official opening is February 6, 2014. The cast was gathered earlier today to film a television commercial for the production, and you can check out full photo coverage from the special event below...
- 12/4/2013
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
Bronx Bombers, a new American play written and directed by Eric Simonson, will begin performances on Broadway starting January 10, 2014 at Circle in the Square Theater 235 West 50th Street. The official opening is February 6, 2014. The cast was gathered earlier today to film a television commerical for the production, and you can check out a photo preview from the special event below...
- 12/3/2013
- by Walter McBride
- BroadwayWorld.com
"All Is Lost" and "Margin Call" writer-director J.C. Chandor has done a deal to write and potentially direct a biopic about Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi for Legendary Pictures.
Lombardi led the team to five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowl titles. Thomas Tull and Mary Parent will produce the film.
Deals have been made with the Lombardi estate and will incorporate both David Marannis' book "Pride Still Mattered" and that book's Broadway play adaptation by Eric Simonson.
Chandor is prepping "A Most Violent Year" which will begin production early next year.
This is not to be confused with another Lombardi film in the works which Robert De Niro was previously linked to star in. Eric Roth penned that script based on the book "Instant Replay".
Source: Deadline...
Lombardi led the team to five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowl titles. Thomas Tull and Mary Parent will produce the film.
Deals have been made with the Lombardi estate and will incorporate both David Marannis' book "Pride Still Mattered" and that book's Broadway play adaptation by Eric Simonson.
Chandor is prepping "A Most Violent Year" which will begin production early next year.
This is not to be confused with another Lombardi film in the works which Robert De Niro was previously linked to star in. Eric Roth penned that script based on the book "Instant Replay".
Source: Deadline...
- 12/3/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Exclusive: After turning the Jackie Robinson-Branch Rickey story 42 into a hit, Legendary Pictures is now targeting Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi for a feature film. Legendary has made a deal with All Is Lost and Margin Call writer-director J.C. Chandor to write with an eye to direct a feature about the coaching legend who led Green Bay to five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowl titles. Legendary, whose principal Thomas Tull is a part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and a passionate pigskin fan, will produce the film with Mary Parent. She produced Pacific Rim and Godzilla for Legendary. Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser will be exec producers. Chandor, who made his feature directing debut on his Oscar-nominated script Margin Call, is once again in the awards season conversation for his follow-up All Is Lost, which stars Robert Redford as a man struggling to survive on the open seas.
- 12/2/2013
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
The boys in pinstripes are hitting the Great White Way. “Bronx Bombers” a new play written and directed by Eric Simonson, will begin performances on Broadway starting next year, and will use the story of baseball legend Yogi Berra to shine a light on the sport’s most successful franchise. It does so with the blessing of the sport it dramatizes. The New York Yankees and Major League Baseball will participate in the show as special producing partners, marking these organizations’ first foray on Broadway. Also read: ‘Two and a Half Men’ Star Marin Hinkle Joins ‘Dinner With Friends’ Revival Peter Scolari,...
- 10/21/2013
- by Brent Lang
- The Wrap
You can observe a lot by watching, Yogi Berra once said. Now New York Yankees fans can watch the malaprop-spouting legend on a Broadway stage. The Bronx Bombers, which opened this month at Off Broadway’s Primary Stages, will transfer to the Circle in the Square, with previews starting Jan. 10, 2014 before an official opening on Feb. 6.
Peter Scolari, who played opposite his Bosom Buddies costar Tom Hanks in Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy last spring, will play the now 88-year-old player-turned manager. He’ll be joined by his real-life wife, Tracy Shayne (Chicago), as Berra’s wife, Carmen. They replace Richard Topol and Wendy Makkena,...
Peter Scolari, who played opposite his Bosom Buddies costar Tom Hanks in Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy last spring, will play the now 88-year-old player-turned manager. He’ll be joined by his real-life wife, Tracy Shayne (Chicago), as Berra’s wife, Carmen. They replace Richard Topol and Wendy Makkena,...
- 10/21/2013
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
You can observe a lot by watching, Yogi Berra once said. Now New York Yankees fans can watch the malaprop-spouting legend on a Broadway stage. The Bronx Bombers, which opened this month at Off Broadway’s Primary Stages, will transfer to the Circle in the Square, with previews starting Jan. 10, 2014 before an official opening on Feb. 6.
Peter Scolari, who played opposite his Bosom Buddies costar Tom Hanks in Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy last spring, will play the now 88-year-old player-turned manager. He’ll be joined by his real-life wife, Tracy Shayne (Chicago), as Berra’s wife, Carmen. They replace Richard Topol and Wendy Makkena,...
Peter Scolari, who played opposite his Bosom Buddies costar Tom Hanks in Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy last spring, will play the now 88-year-old player-turned manager. He’ll be joined by his real-life wife, Tracy Shayne (Chicago), as Berra’s wife, Carmen. They replace Richard Topol and Wendy Makkena,...
- 10/21/2013
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
New York – The New York Yankees and Major League Baseball will serve as special producing partners with Kirmser Ponturo Group on the Broadway run early next year of Bronx Bombers, a new play written and directed by Eric Simonson. The show is producing team Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo's third collaboration with playwright Simonson designed to bring sports fans to Broadway. It follows the 2010 bio-drama Lombardi, about Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi, and Magic/Bird, the 2012 chronicle of the friendship and rivalry between NBA stars Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird. Photos: Take Me Out: Hollywood's
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- 10/21/2013
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Primary Stages presents the World Premiere of Bronx Bombers, written and directed by Tony Award nominee Eric Simonson Broadway's Lombardi. The production opened last night, Tuesday, October 8, and features Francois Battiste Broadway's Magic Bird as Reggie Jackson and Elston Howard,Chris Henry Coffey Off-Broadway's Water by the Spoonful as Joe Dimaggio,Bill DawesBroadway's Lombardi as Mickey MantleThurman Munson,Christopher JacksonBroadway's In the Heights, Memphis asDerek Jeter, Wendy Makkena Broadway's Side Man as Carmen Berra, Keith Nobbs Broadway's Lombardi as Billy Martin, Richard Topol Broadway'sThe Normal Heart, The Merchant of Venice as Yogi Berra, John Wernke Broadway's The Lyons as Lou Gehrig, and C.J. Wilson Happy Now at Primary Stages, Broadway's The Big Knife,Glengarry Glen Ross as Babe Ruth. Bronx Bombers runs through October 19 at Primary Stages at The Duke on 42nd Street. BroadwayWorld brings you highlights of the cast in action below...
- 10/9/2013
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Mad Men
AMC has released several images from the upcoming season six premiere of "Mad Men". The images reveal very little in the way of story details, click here to see them.
Conquistadors
FX is developing the event series "Conquistadors" based on the Kim MacQuarrie book "Last Days of the Incas". Nicholas Osborne is writing and executive producing the drama.
The story follows Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro, the two Spanish Conquistadors who conquered the Incan empire, and Manco Inca and Cura Occlo, two teenage Incan royal lovers who led one of the greatest rebellions in history. [Source: The Live Feed]
They Marched to Sunlight
FX is also developing "They Marched Into Sunlight," a six-part limited series which "Traffic" scribe Stephen Gaghan will executive produce. The story is based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss.
Eric Simonson is writing the series which centers on two simultaneous events in October 1967 — the...
AMC has released several images from the upcoming season six premiere of "Mad Men". The images reveal very little in the way of story details, click here to see them.
Conquistadors
FX is developing the event series "Conquistadors" based on the Kim MacQuarrie book "Last Days of the Incas". Nicholas Osborne is writing and executive producing the drama.
The story follows Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro, the two Spanish Conquistadors who conquered the Incan empire, and Manco Inca and Cura Occlo, two teenage Incan royal lovers who led one of the greatest rebellions in history. [Source: The Live Feed]
They Marched to Sunlight
FX is also developing "They Marched Into Sunlight," a six-part limited series which "Traffic" scribe Stephen Gaghan will executive produce. The story is based on the novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss.
Eric Simonson is writing the series which centers on two simultaneous events in October 1967 — the...
- 4/3/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
After directing his sophomore feature, the 2005 critically-acclaimed globe-trotting thriller “Syriana,” “Traffic” writer Stephen Gaghan has had a rough go of getting a new project started. And while it seems that he’s finally gearing up to shoot his follow-up, the Oscar-winning screenwriter is also planning a stop on the small screen. Deadline is reporting that Gaghan is executive producing a limited series adaptation of David Maraniss’ “They Marched Into Sunlight” for FX, which will focus on two events that happened during the Vietnam war in October 1967: the controversial Battle of Ong Thanh and a protest on the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin. Gaghan won’t be too involved with the writing of the show though, as playwright Eric Simonson has been tapped to actually write the entire series, but the sprawl and subject matter seem to fit squarely in his wheelhouse. It seems that “limited series” is the new buzzword at FX,...
- 4/2/2013
- by Cain Rodriguez
- The Playlist
Exclusive: FX has put in development They Marched Into Sunlight, a six-part limited series executive produced by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan. The project, produced by Fox 21 and FX Prods, is based on the bestseller by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist David Maraniss. Oscar-winning documentarian and playwright Eric Simonson (A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin) is writing the series. Maraniss and Simonson are executive producing alongside Gaghan and Suzanne Joskow, who are executive producing through Gaghan’s company, Unsupervised, under his pod deal with Fox 21. They Marched Into Sunlight explores the Vietnam War both on the battlefield and at home. It centers on two simultaneous events in October 1967 — the violent ambush of the Black Lion army battalion in the jungles of Vietnam, and a student protest against Dow Chemical, the makers of napalm, on the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin — both of which...
- 4/1/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
By Samuel Negin
The Tony Awards have claimed their first casualties. After being completely shut out of the Tony Awards, receiving no nominations in any category, two plays will be closing. Theresa Rebeck‘s play, Seminar, will close after the Sunday matinee this coming Sunday, May 6th, 2012. The following Saturday, Eric Simonson‘s basketball themed play Magic/Bird will play its final performance.
Click to read more…...
The Tony Awards have claimed their first casualties. After being completely shut out of the Tony Awards, receiving no nominations in any category, two plays will be closing. Theresa Rebeck‘s play, Seminar, will close after the Sunday matinee this coming Sunday, May 6th, 2012. The following Saturday, Eric Simonson‘s basketball themed play Magic/Bird will play its final performance.
Click to read more…...
- 5/3/2012
- by Kailyn Corrigan
- Scott Feinberg
So much for hoop dreams. In their first full week since opening earlier this month, the new Broadway plays Magic/Bird and Peter and the Starcatcher appear to be struggling at the box office. Magic/Bird, the joint biography of basketball greats Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, opened April 11 to generally negative reviews. Despite backing from the NBA as well as other producers, Eric Simonson’s sports drama grossed a paltry $163,223 for the week ending April 22, according to figures from the Broadway League. The show played to houses that were only 55 percent full and took in a mere 19 percent of...
- 4/23/2012
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
Once more into the nostalgic sports bio-play breach, dear friend, once more. Following up his portrayal of legendary coach Vincent Lombardi, playwright Eric Simonson digs back into the annals of epic NBA rivalries to lend his hand to the story of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the bluntly titled Magic/Bird. This play offers about what you would expect of it, provided you're not looking for actual athletic action on the stage or any deep, meaningful insight about the two title figures.
The illusion of seeing Larry Bird is only occasionally accomplished by actor Tug Cocker and left completely to the generosity of the audience's suspension of disbelief with Kevin Daniels's attempt at Earvin "Magic" Johnson. There are no Frost/Nixon moments when you're left wondering where Frank Langella went and when Richard Nixon showed up, no such magical instances of theatrical transformation, but both Cocker and Daniels...
The illusion of seeing Larry Bird is only occasionally accomplished by actor Tug Cocker and left completely to the generosity of the audience's suspension of disbelief with Kevin Daniels's attempt at Earvin "Magic" Johnson. There are no Frost/Nixon moments when you're left wondering where Frank Langella went and when Richard Nixon showed up, no such magical instances of theatrical transformation, but both Cocker and Daniels...
- 4/19/2012
- by C. Jefferson Thom
- www.culturecatch.com
The Lion King roared into first place among the Main Stem’s biggest earners this week when it surpassed Phantom of the Opera as the highest grossing Broadway show of all time. Otherwise, it was a quiet seven days in the stage world, with the announcement that Jim Parsons and Kristen Chenoweth would name this year’s Tony nominees creating the most buzz.
In L.A., online news editor Laura Hertzfeld saw Mikhail Baryshnikov perform in his native tongue for the first time in the Russian and French In Paris. She calls the play, about a World War I general and his lover,...
In L.A., online news editor Laura Hertzfeld saw Mikhail Baryshnikov perform in his native tongue for the first time in the Russian and French In Paris. She calls the play, about a World War I general and his lover,...
- 4/14/2012
- by Aubry D'Arminio
- EW.com - PopWatch
Magicbird opened at the Longacre Theatre on Wednesday, April 11. Magicbird, directed by Tony Nominee Thomas Kail Lombardi, In The Heights, reunites Lombardi playwright, Oscar Winner and Emmy Nominee, Eric Simonson on Magicbird, a new American Play chronicling the intertwined life stories of two of the most influential figures in sports and pop culture of the past 25 years, basketball Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson.Check out highlights from opening night below...
- 4/13/2012
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Magic/Bird is another sports pantomime from playwright Eric Simonson and director Thomas Kail, the team that brought us last season’s inert, NFL–approved hagiography Lombardi. That show was an unsteady errand of stat-recounting and statue-polishing, with some basic bio-drama tricks thrown in (an invented narrator here, a speculative drama there). Magic/Bird is much better, mostly because it uses the dynamic eighties rivalry between basketball superstars Earvin “Magic” Johnson (Kevin Daniels) and Larry Bird (Tug Coker) as its mainspring. But it still can’t conceal what it is: an animatronic Epcot pavilion seemingly designed and operated by the NBA. Edited together like a highlight reel (complete with a Coldplay song), Magic/Bird steers us gently but firmly from 1979 — when Bird and Johnson ignited their long contretemps in the Ncaa Championship Game — to the early nineties, when both their careers came crashing to a close: Bird benched by his chronic back problems,...
- 4/12/2012
- by Scott Brown
- Vulture
New York – Sports and Broadway are infrequent bedfellows and Magic/Bird offers no major incentive to change that. There’s promising material in the professional rivalry and enduring friendship of Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird, and in the two players’ transformative impact on the league at a time when National Basketball Association games were suffering from low attendance and poor television coverage. But there’s little to suggest that theater is the right medium to explore all that. Playwright Eric Simonson’s bio-patchwork is a dutiful assembly, a wispy tribute that gives only sketchy insights into these exceptional athletes. Lead producers
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- 4/12/2012
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As if making their Broadway debuts isn't stressful enough, Kevin Daniels and Tug Coker face additional pressures in tackling basketball icons Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird. The play in question is "Magic/Bird" by Eric Simonson, who wrote the successful sports drama, "Lombardi" which played on Broadway last season."Magic/Bird" centers on the intense rivalry and unexpected friendship between the legendary athletes, who are credited with saving a faltering National Basketball Association (NBA) in the '80s. Johnson, an L.A. Laker, is a gregarious African-American with Hollywood charm to spare, while Bird, a Boston Celtic, is an awkward, non-verbal, white rural kid. Magic made international news when he was diagnosed with HIV in 1991. Despite their adversarial relationship Bird became Magic's true pal and support.Both athletes served as consultants on the script and will be at the Longacre Theatre on opening night, April 11. Daniels and Coker know they're facing the acting.
- 4/9/2012
- by help@backstage.com (Simi Horwitz)
- backstage.com
New York -- Retired NBA superstar Earvin "Magic" Johnson will join the cast of Magic/Bird onstage at Broadway's Longacre Theatre for a post-show talkback with audience members following a special matinee on Friday, April 13. Written by Eric Simonson and directed by Thomas Kail (In the Heights), the play chronicles the professional rivalry and enduring friendship between Johnson and fellow Hall of Famer Larry Bird as they battle it out for three championships and invigorate professional basketball in the 1980s. The iconic hoop stars are played in the production by newcomers Kevin Daniels and Tug Coker, respectively. "We are very
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- 4/3/2012
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Last year it was announced that two of the NBA's all-time greats, Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson will be the subject of the upcoming play aptly titled, "Magic/Bird."
Based on the parallel careers of sport's most memorable rivalries, the Fran Kirmser, Tony Ponturo, and Eric Simonson-produced theater piece is set to begin rehearsals on February 20 followed by preview performances on March 21.
For Johnson, recreating his on court competitiveness for the Broadway stage was a no-brainer after viewing the production trio's previous stage production, "Lombardi," which chronicled Hall of Fame football coach, Vince Lombardi. "They did a wonderful job," Johnson said during a recent interview with Playbill. "They portrayed him in an incredible light, but also [showed us] the things that were going on in his life that we didn't know were going on."
"That's when I decided, 'Okay. Go ahead. Let's do it.' And, Larry [Bird], as well. So,...
Based on the parallel careers of sport's most memorable rivalries, the Fran Kirmser, Tony Ponturo, and Eric Simonson-produced theater piece is set to begin rehearsals on February 20 followed by preview performances on March 21.
For Johnson, recreating his on court competitiveness for the Broadway stage was a no-brainer after viewing the production trio's previous stage production, "Lombardi," which chronicled Hall of Fame football coach, Vince Lombardi. "They did a wonderful job," Johnson said during a recent interview with Playbill. "They portrayed him in an incredible light, but also [showed us] the things that were going on in his life that we didn't know were going on."
"That's when I decided, 'Okay. Go ahead. Let's do it.' And, Larry [Bird], as well. So,...
- 2/10/2012
- by Brennan Williams
- Huffington Post
"Chinglish," David Henry Hwang's play about an American businessman coping with translation and romantic problems in China, will close on Jan. 29, the producers announced on Monday. The play, which previously ran at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, will have given 128 performances at the Longacre Theatre. Back Stage critic Erik Haagensen called the show a "smart and uproarious comedy" and singled out Angela Lin who plays two supporting roles, as giving one of his ten memorable New York theater performances of 2011. Watch Video With The Cast Of "Chinglish"Jennifer Lim Challenges Ethnic Stereotypes In "Chinglish""Magic/Bird," Eric Simonson's new play about basketball legends Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird, will begin preview performances at the Longacre on March 21 in advance of an April 11 opening, producers announced on Tuesday. Two other Broadway shows "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and "Relatively Speaking" will also close on Jan. 29.
- 1/17/2012
- by help@backstage.com (David Sheward)
- backstage.com
Producers Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo Lombardi will next present Magicbird on Broadway, reuniting with Tony-nominated director Thomas Kail Lombardi, In The Heights and Lombardi playwright and Oscar winner and Emmy Nominee Eric Simonson. The new play chronicles the intertwined life stories of two of the most influential figures in sports and pop culture of the past 25 years, basketball Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Earvin Magic' Johnson. According to an audition notice out today, the production will go into rehearsal on January 23, 2012 and begin previews on February 27. An opening date and theater have yet to be announced. Check out interviews with Kail, Ponturo, and Kirmser below...
- 12/13/2011
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Getty Actress Judith Light
Judith Light is nominated for a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play, for her role as Marie, wife of famed football coach Vince Lombardi (played by Dan Lauria).
Light, who starred as Angela Bower on “Who’s the Boss?” and Karen Wolek on “One Life to Live,” received critical acclaim for her performance as Lombardi’s “hammer-tongued, hard-drinking wife,” according to the Journal’s theater critic, Terry Teachout.
Speakeasy caught up with Light recently to discuss her Tony nomination,...
Judith Light is nominated for a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play, for her role as Marie, wife of famed football coach Vince Lombardi (played by Dan Lauria).
Light, who starred as Angela Bower on “Who’s the Boss?” and Karen Wolek on “One Life to Live,” received critical acclaim for her performance as Lombardi’s “hammer-tongued, hard-drinking wife,” according to the Journal’s theater critic, Terry Teachout.
Speakeasy caught up with Light recently to discuss her Tony nomination,...
- 6/10/2011
- by Barbara Chai
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Lombardi ** out of **** Circle in the Square on Broadway Sometimes, the most fascinating people can be terrible interviews. Either they're too protective of their image or -- outside the area of expertise that has made them famous -- they're simply boring. Whatever the case, complex and intriguing people sometimes just don't give good quotes. That seems to be the problem with the ornery (but lovable!) football coach Vince Lombardi in this new bio-play by Eric Simonson (director of A Note Of Triumph, the Academy Award winning short film on legendary radio talent Norman Corwin). It's 1965 and Lombardi (a fine Dan Lauria of TV's The Wonder Years) is in the midst of his remarkable revival of the Green Bay Packers. But a "hatchet job" in Esquire has Lombardi licking his wounds, wary but ready to cozy up to a cub...
- 10/25/2010
- by Michael Giltz
- Huffington Post
Studs Terkel was such a Chicago institution that it's hard to believe, two years after his death, that he's really gone. For those who still miss his lively presence as an author, broadcaster and raconteur, 40-minute documentary "Studs Terkel: Listening to America" (6 p.m. Central Saturday, HBO2; three and a half stars) provides a well-crafted portrait of his unflagging enthusiasm and unquenchable curiosity. The documentary, which was directed by Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Eric Simonson, weaves together archival interviews with Terkel as well as commentary from people who worked with him or knew him. The insights from David Schwimmer, who...
- 5/14/2010
- by Tempo
- The Watcher
New York -- The NFL is taking Vince Lombardi to Broadway.For the first time, the league will help produce a Broadway play, its first venture into live theater. The league will serve as a special producing partner of "Lombardi," which will star Dan Lauria, a regular on the TV show "The Wonder Years" and former college football player and high school coach."Lombardi" is scheduled to open Oct. 21 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. It will be directed by Tony Award nominee Thomas Kail."Football and Broadway are both iconic American forms of entertainment, and the NFL is proud to bring these two unique and passionate audiences together under one roof," said Tracy Perlman, NFL vice president of entertainment marketing and promotions. "Lombardi's charisma and coaching style were legendary - and intensely theatrical. Football fans will learn more about the dramatic private life of the sports hero...
- 4/15/2010
- backstage.com
Lombardi, a new play by Oscar winner and Steppenwolf Theater Company member Eric Simonson, is based on the best-selling biography When Pride Still Mattered, by Pulitzer Prize winning author David Maraniss. Opening on Broadway in the fall of 2010, this original work will bring the audience into the life and times of one of America's most inspirational and mercurial personalities, Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi.
- 11/9/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
New York (AP) -- Ok, Cheeseheads. Get ready to visit Broadway."Vince," a play about the legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, is planned for New York next season.Producers Tony Ponturo and Fran Krimser say the play by Eric Simonson will open during the fall of 2010. The cast, director and opening date have yet to be announced.Simonson's play is based on David Maraniss' best-selling book "When Pride Mattered." Lombardi coached the Packers from 1959-67, winning five league championships in nine years.He died in 1970 at the age of 57.Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
- 11/9/2009
- backstage.com
Steppenwolf Theatre Company launches its 2009-2010 season, exploring the theme of belief, with the world premiere of Fake, written and directed by ensemble member Eric Simonson. Fake features ensemble members Kate Arrington, Francis Guinan and Alan Wilder with Coburn Goss and Larry Yando. Fake plays September 10 - November 8, 2009 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted. The press performance is Tuesday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m.
- 7/9/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is excited to announce its 2009-2010 Subscription Season, exploring the theme of belief. Season subscriptions go on-sale to the public on Tuesday, February 3 at 11 a.m. Steppenwolf ensemble members currently confirmed for the 2009-2010 Season include: Alana Arenas, Kate Arrington, Ian Barford, Frank Galati, Jon Michael Hill, Francis Guinan, Tina Landau, Tracy Letts, Amy Morton, William Petersen, Rondi Reed, Anna D. Shapiro, Eric Simonson and Alan Wilder. Additional casting to be announced.
- 2/3/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
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