Thesps ponder the pros and cons of plays, pics
"There are times I've finished a play and thought, 'I'd like to sit in a trailer for a while," Helen Hunt said. She and her fellow actors put the creative process under the microscope in "Actors on Acting: Theater and Film," a Tribeca film fest panel Thursday moderated by Daily Variety editor-in-chief Peter Bart.
Web brings London's best theater to TV
Pubcaster digital channel BBC4 will film the critically acclaimed West End production of Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters," starring Kristin Scott Thomas.
Lane leads parade of legit talent to CAA
George Lane stunned Broadway when word leaked out in early March that William Morris' senior VP was ankling the agency to go to Creative Artists. Nearly as seismic were the followup reports that Lane would not be traveling west, but rather staying put on legit turf to open CAA's first Gotham office.
Domingo to sing with Fleming, Graves, Chenoweth
Sidney Poitier, Hugh Jackman, Salma Hayek, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, William Friedkin, Anthony Hopkins and Garry Marshall will be presenters at Los Angeles Opera's "Placido Domingo & Friends Concert & Gala" at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Tuesday.
Figure plummets after brief April bounce
What the Broadway gods gaveth, they quickly took away. After an unusual post-Easter bounce, the box office fell into a deep hole last week.
Play studies 'typical' teens, Satan
The first play from Catherine Johnson since her international hit "Mamma Mia!" will have its world preem May 23 at London's Bush Theater, where the scribe previously was a writer-in-residence.
Bollywood tuner due on B'way in spring 2004
Thomas Meehan is suddenly the most sought after co-book writer on Broadway.
Hatcher wrote script from stage play
Artisan Pictures has set Billy Crudup and Claire Danes to star in "Compleat Female Stage Beauty," with Richard Eyre ("Iris") directing.
Producing duo preps musical telepics, series for nets
With "Chicago" officially in the books as Miramax's highest-grossing pic ever, producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are tuning up a pair of musical-themed projects for the small screen.
'Enchanted April' enjoys biggest upswing
Broadway pulled off an Easter miracle one week late. In a welcome break from tradition, biz actually managed a resurrection coming off the holiday session. Thirty-two shows brought in $16,179,324, up $1,275,391 or 8.56% from Easter. Paid attendance jumped 9.65%, to 253,751.
Funders back ACT, but recession still in session
Exec helped bring prestige, financial stability
James A. Johnson, chairman of the Kennedy Center, will step down in January after seven years in the high-profile post.
Playwright will script, exec produce TV version
Richard Benjamin has been tapped to direct TNT's upcoming remake of Neil Simon's "The Goodbye Girl."
Actor attends after all, avoids show rescheduling
Al Pacino is obviously not worried about endearing himself to New York's theater critics. On Thursday, a press rep for the staged reading of "Salome" on Broadway called to inform critics attending the Saturday night performance that there was a "significant chance" that Pacino wouldn't be showing up.
Easter B.O. dips below past totals
Broadway has seen bigger Easter baskets. The $14,903,933 cume fell short of the $16.06 million record set in 2001 and the $15.16 million from Easter week 2002.
Group may try to join AIMA
Leaders of Actors' Equity Assn. have unanimously endorsed the current proposal to merge SAG and AFTRA into a new umbrella union called the Alliance of Intl. Media Artists.
Luhrmann musical based on Astaire-Rogers pic
Baz Luhrmann's production of Puccini's "La Boheme" and the world premiere of musical "Never Gonna Dance," based on the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers pic "Swing Time," highlight the Ahmanson's 2003-04 subscription season.
Thesp's final TV role will be an episode of 'ER'
David Schall, 53, a founding member of Actor's Co-op, died Friday night of a heart attack in Hollywood, 1½ hours before the opening night curtain of "Uncle Vanya," in which he was a cast member.
Pacino, Hunt, Banderas lead star-laden shows to profits
In a blessed break with Broadway tradition, the onset of daylight-saving time did not send B.O. plummeting. Only eight of the 31 shows on the boards experienced a decline in receipts. The total tally came to $13,229,912, up $674,348, or 7.08%, from the previous session.
Rodgers & Hart classic rewritten for London staging
Rodgers and Hart are going hip-hop. The team's 1938 musical "The Boys From Syracuse" is undergoing a thorough cultural and ethnic overhaul and will reopen as "Da Boyz" at London's Theater Royal, Stratford East, with performances starting April 24.
This can't be rap
Because it rhymes too well,
No shouts, no curses, no Yo's...
Legiter set in time of country's political unrest in 2000
The most widely acclaimed new play written in post-apartheid South Africa, John Kani's "Nothing but the Truth," will be made into a film directed by Ross Devenish ("Bleak House") and starring Kani ("The Wild Geese").
Hit play has already spawned 1972 film version
Castle Rock has acquired rights to turn the Anthony Shaffer play "Sleuth" into a screen vehicle for Jude Law.
Event is 'first step' for Ashley-directed legiter
Elvis Presley's first book musical moves ever closer to Broadway. Legit insiders attended a first reading of "Can't Help Falling in Love" Monday night at the Westside Theater, with another performance to follow today.
'Nine,' 'Urban' give legit B.O. a boost
Maybe you can watch only so much TV war coverage. Unlike the onset of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Broadway did not suffer from the Iraq attack. Instead of the 20% drop seen 12 years ago, Broadway box office actually rose $881,206, or 3.25%, last week.
Fallout could be worse than Gulf War for many reasons
Now that the bombs are dropping, turnstiles are sure to slow down at the multiplexes, on Broadway and in concert halls. But exactly how far receipts fall and for how long is hard to pinpoint.