by Marla LewinThe play “Arcadia” is set at the English estate of the Coverlys, a family of the nobility, and bounces back and forth between 1809 and the present day. Arcadia refers to the classical Greek state of mind which is pastorial and harmonius.  There is little of that actually in the play where both classic and present day characters look for love, relics, and recommendation and confirmation of their talents.There is repeated mention of poet, playboy Lord Byron himself, though we ne...

By: Maria Esteves - May 27, 2010 The 55th Annual OBIES Cocktail Party preceded the ceremony at Webster Hall, New York, Monday, May 17, 7:00pm. Presented by The Village Voice and Stella Artois, the OBIES (abbreviation for Off-Broadway) co-hosted by Tony Award winners Michael Cerveris and Anika Noni Rose honors Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater achievements of 2009-2010.  Theater professionals, past Obie winners and nominees celebrated a private cocktail reception with exquisite h'ord...

By: Maria Esteves – May 26, 2010 The 55th Annual 2010 Village Voice OBIE Awards honoring Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater exceptional achievements of 2009-2010, co-hosted by Tony Award winners Michael Cerveris and Anika Noni Rose (2001 OBIE Award winner, Eli's Comin') were held at the historical Webster Hall ballroom, New York, Monday, May 17, 8:00 pm. The ceremony included special performances by cast members of Eleven-Time Tony Award nominee Broadway musical FELA! (2009 OBIE Awar...

By: Maria Esteves – May 22, 2010 The 55th Annual 2010 Village Voice OBIE Awards honoring Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater exceptional achievements of 2009-2010, co-hosted by Tony Award winners Michael Cerveris and Anika Noni Rose (2001 OBIE Award winner, Eli's Comin') were held at the historical Webster Hall ballroom, New York, Monday, May 17, 8:00 pm. This year’s award presenters were J. Smith Cameron, Viola Davis, Marin Ireland, Linda Lavin, Hamish Linklater, Sam Rockwell, ...

According to "Cannes Market News," Arclight films will be in charge of international sales for director Michael Radford's adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear, while North American distribution will be handled by ICM. Barry Navidi will produce the film, which is prepared to start preproduction in October and filmed on location in the UK. The film is being funded with private finances along with UK tax rebate and Belgium/E-Motion fund. At this time the budget has not been disclosed. ...

Looking at the main competition films set for the 2010 Film Festival in Cannes, one will not see any Australian films, though the Aussie presence is still evident in the Palais from the opening film to the closing film, with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett premiering "Robin Hood" on the red carpet, to the French-Australian co-production of "The Tree." Lack of a strong Austrailian presence at the festival this year is due to the attempts by Australian filmmakers to cre...

Nancy trained as an actor and director at the University of Michigan and the National Theatre Institute, earning her MA in theatre at Northwestern University.In the early 90’s, Black Box Theater lured Nancy to Prague where she directed a number of plays. When she became Artistic Director, she professionalized the company, and rechristened it as Black Box International, at which time the theatre began touring productions through out Europe.At this point Prague was fast becoming the Hollywood of...

The 55th Annual 2010 OBIE Awards presented by The Village Voice honoring Off-Broadway's theater achievements of 2009-2010 will commence on Monday, May 17, 2010 at Webster Hall, New York.  This year's OBIE Awards co-hosted by Michael Cerveris (In the Next Room) and Anika Noni Rose (2001 OBIE winner, Eli's Comin' ) will be announced by J. Smith Cameron, Viola Davis, Marin Ireland, Linda Lavin, Sam Rockwell, Michael Shannon, Kerry Washington, and Jennifer Westfeldt. The ceremony will feature a liv...

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles CorrespondentLOS ANGELES, CA: While the world may be doing some serious Spring Cleaning after the Icelandic volcano ashfall subsides, in Los Angeles actors, writers and directors looking for creative Spring cleaning will end up with the only industrial strength antidote for artistic malaise in this town: Candace Silvers.Phil Silvers' fully reloaded daughter Candace took a personal sojourn from actor to reactor; from frightened backstage ingenue to powerhouse pee...

by Marla LewinFriday night I saw The Royal Family on Broadway. It was all one would imagine of a grand old dynasty, like the Barrymores.  A family with an entourage, men falling in love with their own images, women unable to embrace love for fear of missing an opportunity for a good part. Shakespeare said “all the world is a stage”, and still today everyone likes to take a peek at the lives of those who actually get paid to act. The play is about the drama the characters create in their o...

by Marla Lewin Ed Asner was born the same year as the Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman play, Once In A Lifetime, was written 1929. Ed has been a regular performer for the LA Theatre Works readings of great plays since its inception in 1985. The first live reading of this play back then had guests Steven Spielberg and Barry Diller in the audience. The producer explained that their technique and equipment for that performance had not been as good as they would have liked so they had always wanted...

Since I call myself "interested in theatre" and I lived in San Francisco for four years,it's probably some sort of sin that I had never heard of the San Francisco Mime Troupe before Friday.  When I sawthe Mill Valley Film Festival was having an event: Troupers: 50 Years of the San Francisco Mime Troupe I was intrigued, but also sincerely thought I was infor a night of miming- in my mind silent acting.   The illustrious Peter Coyote introduced the event by reading a section from his ...

Since I call myself "interested in theatre" and I lived in San Francisco for four years,it's probably some sort of sin that I had never heard of the San Francisco Mime Troupe before Friday. When I sawthe Mill Valley Film Festival was having an event: Troupers: 50 Years of the San Francisco Mime Troupe I was intrigued, but also sincerely thought I was infor a night of miming- in my mind silent acting. The illustrious Peter Coyote introduced the event by reading a section from his book, Sleeping...

by Marla Lewin "The Foreigner" Lindsay Ballew and Jon Powell Photo by John Johnson Playwright Larry Shue graduated cum laude in film from Illinois Wesleyan University and was a Vietnam War Veteran. Shue was also an actor, and appeared on the daytime drama, “One Life to Live” and in the feature film, “Sweet Liberty.”  His other plays include “The Nerd,” “Grandma Duck is Dead,” and “My Emperor’s New Clothes.”  He died in a commercial plane cras...

"Burn This" at Flight Theatre at the Complex. Eli Mahar (l.), Mark Thornton, Melanie Hawkins, Ben McGroarty. photo by Ryan Correll.Anna, (Melanie Hawkins) a professional dancer is living in a loft, with two gay roommates and they are all fabulous friends. Larry (Mark Thornton) works in advertising and feels he has sold his soul to make his living. Their other roommate Robbie also an exceptionally talented and famous dancer was just killed along with his Greek lover, Dominic in a boati...