Backstage.com News

L.A.’s REDCAT Lands $244K Grant To Fund Theater Festival, Residencies

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:34:43 -0400

The REDCAT has received a major grant that will help it expand Radar L.A., an international contemporary theater festival set for late September. The Los Angeles interdisciplinary contemporary arts center, known formally as the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, announced this week that it has received $244,000 from ArtPlace America, a coalition of national and regional foundations, banks and federal agencies. The money will help REDCAT expand Radar L.A. beyond the 14 companies invited to mount productions last year. "The ArtPlace America grant provides much needed support for the unique festival and residency programming," Mark Murphy, executive director of REDCAT and co-curator of Radar L.A., said in a statement. "It will enable us to implement larger, long-term strategies which utilize cultural activity as a key way to help contribute to the cultural vitality of Los Angeles, with a special focus on downtown." The grant money will also help fund a batch of artist residencies following the festival in September. This year more than 150 artists will be participating in Radar L.A. with roughly 250 artists and arts professionals attending the accompanying symposium. Typically half the companies chosen to mount productions

The Cannes Diary: May 22

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:29:31 -0400

Note: Film critic Tim Grierson is attending the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. For Backstage, he’ll be filing occasional diary entries about his thoughts and impressions of the granddaddy of all film festivals. Wednesday, May 22, 12:16am Most press screenings for the Official Competition films take place at 8:30 a.m. That probably sounds insane to a lot of folks. Audiences are cool with going to midnight movies, and some will catch the early matinees at, say, 10 a.m. But 8:30 can seem ungodly early. Most people are barely functioning at that time of day. Seeing a movie then doesn’t seem ideal. During my time here in Cannes, I have to say I’ve really come to enjoy the early-hours routine. Then again, I confess to being a morning person. There’s something about the start of the day: It holds such optimism for where the next several hours could lead. And when you wake up at that time of the morning here at the festival, you can walk past all the empty chairs left over from the night before by photographers from all over the world who were busy taking shots of stars as they walked the Cannes red carpet. In the morning, the stars are asleep and so is all the hoopla surrounding them. At that time of

New York Auditions at a Glance: May 23-June 20

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:43:20 -0400

The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans. Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below. Thu. May 23 'Accidental Death of an Anarchist' 'A Christmas Story', Dancers'Jesus Christ Superstar' 'Napoli' 'The Hills are Alive!' 'The House That Will Not Stand' 'The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures' 'The Normal Heart' 'The Orphan of Zhao' 'Tribes' 'Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike' 'Venus in Fur' Fri. May 24 'Franklin Stein' 'Henry IV: Part 1' Odyssey Dance Theatre 2013-14 Season Sat. May 25 'Hypnosis' 'Twelfth Night' Sun. May 26 'Hypnosis' 'The Waitress' Mon. May 27 'Dark of the Moon', 'Venus in Fur', and 'Evil Dead: The Musical' Tue. May 28 'Certifiable' 'Pirates of Finance!' 'The Taming of the Shrew' 'The Wiz' Wed. May 29 'The Monster Builder' 'The Snow Geese' 'The Wiz' 'White Christmas' Thu. May 30 'Billboard' 'Crossing Verrazano' 'Oblivion' 'Much Ado About Nothing' 'Room Service' 'Storyville' 'The Masterpiece' 'The Nightmare Dream' 'The Winslow

California Auditions at a Glance: May 23-June 20

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:40:09 -0400

The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans. Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below. Thurs. May 23 Bridge 2 Broadway Fri. May 24'Alice in Wonderland' 'Sesame Street Live!', National Tour Sat. May 25 Click here to search for auditions. Sun. May 26 Click here to search for auditions. Mon. May 27 Click here to search for auditions. Tue. May 28 Bridge 2 Broadway Wed. May 29 'The Yogi' Thu. May 30 B Street TYA Family Series 'EgoManiac--A Theater Experience of 'The Ego'' Fri. May 31 B Street 2013/14 Season Sat. June 1 Cat Venom Cinnabar Theater 2013-14 Season 'In Sickness and in Health' 'The Apple Tree' Sun. June 2 'In Sickness and in Health' Professional Christmas Caroling 'The Apple Tree' Mon. June 3 'Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' Tue. June 4 'A Fundamental Change' 'Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' Wed. June 5 'A Fundamental Change' Corporate Events, Singers 'Hairspray', Youth Production 'Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street' Thu. June 6 Click here to

Regional Auditions at a Glance: May 23-June 20

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:35:26 -0400

The following "Auditions at a Glance" calendar conveniently organizes projects by the date and day-of-the-week that the projects' auditions are taking place, to help you schedule your plans. Click on any of the following links to see the casting and job notices related to the dates and project titles highlighted below. Thu. May 23 'Billboard' 'Oliver'Fri. May 24 'Godspell' Sat. May 25 'Godspell' 'Oswald: The Actual Interrogation' 'Smoke in the Air' WA, Tacoma Musical Playhouse 2013-2014 Season Sun. May 26 'Fool For Love' 'Smoke in the Air' 'The Billingsgate Project' 'The Seagull' Mon. May 27 'Fiddler on the Roof' 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Tue. May 28 'Assassins' Boise Contemporary Theater Season 'Fiddler on the Roof' 'Goodnight Moon' 'Pinkalicious' 'The Book of Mormon' 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Wed. May 29 'A Great Wilderness' 'Bonita' 'The Hound of Baskerville' 'The Monster Builder' 'The Servant of Two Masters' Thu. May 30 Click here to search for auditions. Fri. May 31 'White Christmas' Sat. June 1 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' Sun. June 2 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' Mon. June 3 '33 Variations' 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings' 'Educating Rita' 'Everybody Drinks the Same Water' 'Heroes' 'Next to Normal' 'Stick Fly' 'The Red

5 Acting Tips From Drama Desk Award Winners

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:51:33 -0400

We sat down with some of the 2013 Drama Desk Award winners after the ceremony on Sunday night and asked them to impart wisdom to aspiring actors! See what Bertie Carvel, Judith Light, Michael Urie, Andrea Martin, and Tracy Letts have to say to up-and-comers! CLICK HERE TO VIEW SLIDESHOW

The Cannes Diary: May 21

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:09:07 -0400

Note: Film critic Tim Grierson is attending the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. For Backstage, he’ll be filing occasional diary entries about his thoughts and impressions of the granddaddy of all film festivals. Tuesday, May 21, 12:35am We’re about halfway through Cannes, which means that about half of the festival’s Official Competition films have now been screened. And a few possible contenders for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize, have already established themselves. As with predicting the Oscars, guessing the Palme winner requires knowing the electorate. In this case, it’s the nine-member jury that this year is headed by Steven Spielberg but also includes Christoph Waltz, Nicole Kidman, and Ang Lee. What sort of movie might move them? Of what I’ve seen thus far, I’d bet on “The Past,” the new film from writer-director Asghar Farhadi, whose last film was “A Separation,” which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film a year ago. “The Past” is a sensitive, revealing look at a former married couple (Bérénice Bejo and Ali Mosaffa) and her new lover (Tahar Rahim,). Bejo wants her ex-husband to

Obie Awards Celebrate Off and Off-Off Broadway Community

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:38:29 -0400

The love was definitely in the room at the 58th annual Village Voice Obie Awards, which were hosted by Jessica Hecht and Jeremy Shamos at Webster Hall on Monday night. The Obie Awards honor Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway, and there are no set categories or nominees, unlike "the other stupid fucking awards shows," as Shamos delicately put it. The winners receive a somewhat "cryptic" invitation to the event, as one winner put it, and the honorees include actors, playwrights, directors, composers, costume designers, producers, and more. "The Obies are like downtown theater itself," Hecht said, acknowledging the unpredictable community-oriented nature of the evening. The event also marked longtime Village Voice theater critic Michael Feingold's final awards as a staff member at the Voice, as his contract was terminated with the paper. When Feingold took the podium, the audience greeted him with a rapturous standing ovation. Feingold addressed them as friends because "that's what you all instantly became" and asked everyone to consider the night a celebration. Schuler Hensley received the first award for his performance as an obese man dying of congestive heart failure who is reconnecting with is daughter. "As an actor, you're

Winners of L.A.'s Jerry Herman Awards On To Broadway

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:09:21 -0400

Two Los Angeles area high school students won a chance to perform on Broadway after claiming the top spots in the regional round of the National High School Musical Theater Awards. The final round of the five-year-old competition, whose awards are known as the Jimmys, will take place at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre in New York City July 1. The Southern California winners, who were participating in the 2nd annual Jerry Herman Awards staged by the Pantages Theatre and Nederlander Organization May 19, were Natalia Vivino of Santa Susana High School for best female actor and Anthony Nappier from Arcadia High School for best male actor. Both performers took home a $1,000 cash prize plus an all-expenses-paid trip to New York. While in Manhattan, the national finalists will also get five days of private coaching, master classes, and rehearsals with theater professionals. Judges for the Jerry Herman Awards, which are the local round of the National High School Musical Theater Awards, were director John Bowab, actors Nancy Dussault, Karen Morrow and Cathy Rigby, and Kenny Ortega, who directed the "High School Musical" trilogy. Ortega said the event helped raise the profile of Los Angeles theater. "This brings a lot of attention

The Cannes Diary: May 20

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:53:05 -0400

Note: Film critic Tim Grierson is attending the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. For Backstage, he’ll be filing occasional diary entries about his thoughts and impressions of the granddaddy of all film festivals. Sunday, May 19, 11:58 p.m. If you follow critics on social media, you may notice that when they attend film festivals, they’ll talk about the movies they’re seeing and their first impressions right after a screening. But you also have to endure a certain amount of complaining about the dumbest stuff. Maybe it’s about the bad weather. Or the long queue lines outside a theater. Or the fact that the wi-fi at their hotel is crummy. And, really, who cares? Only when you go to a festival yourself—and have to cover it on tight deadlines—do you get a sense of why these incensed, whiny tweets start flying. And I’m sympathetic, to a point. To be fair, critics and journalists do work on little sleep and whatever food they can find between screenings. And they do this for maybe a week or two on a seemingly endless loop, sometimes digesting four or five movies a day. It’s demanding work ... but it’s also the work of a film critic, which is one of the best jobs in

'Matilda,' 'Pippin' Lead Drama Desk Award Winners

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:25:12 -0400

“Matilda The Musical” and “Pippin” took home the top awards for best musical and best musical revival at the 58th annual Drama Desk Awards. The West End import also received awards for outstanding featured actor in a musical for Bertie Carvel, outstanding book of a musical, outstanding lyrics, and outstanding set design. The Diane Paulus–helmed revival won the award for its director, outstanding featured actress in a musical for Andrea Martin, and outstanding choreography. Christopher Durang’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” won outstanding revival of a play, and the now-closed “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” won best play revival, along with best leading actor in a play for Tracy Letts. Other acting awards went to Laura Osnes for outstanding actress in a musical for “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” Billy Porter for outstanding actor in a musical for “Kinky Boots,” Richard Kind for outstanding featured actor in a play for “The Big Knife,” Judith Light for outstanding featured actress in a play for “The Assembled Parties,” and Cicely Tyson for outstanding actress in a play for “The Trip

Amid Netflix Buzz, Amazon Quietly Readying Pilots

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:27:42 -0400

With Netflix getting ready to unveil its next exclusive series, Amazon is quietly moving forward with its pilot development process. Last month, Amazon Studios debuted 14 pilots online and has since been sifting through viewer and executive feedback to determine which will go to series. Meanwhile, Netflix, the main competitor to Amazon Instant Video, the online retail giant’s streaming service, is getting ready to premiere the fourth season of "Arrested Development" on May 26. The company, which saw a spike in subscription growth after the debut of its original series “House of Cards” earlier this year, has been heavily promoting the return of the former Fox series. Amazon, meanwhile, hasn’t matched that buzz with its slate of pilots, despite the presence of prominent actors such as Jeffrey Tambor, who stars in "Onion News Empire" -- and "Arrested Development" -- and John Goodman, who stars in the Garry Trudeau-created pilot "Alpha House." According to Deadline, Amazon has decided not to proceed with a series for its "Zombieland" pilot, but the fate of the other seven comedies and six kids series is unclear. A spokeswoman for Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.

When Does an Actor Need a Lawyer?

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:00:00 -0400

So you book a job, your agent sends over the contract or deal memo, and suddenly it hits you: Should I have a lawyer look at this before I sign? It’s a simple question, but the answer is more complex than one might imagine. After all, agents understand deals—they negotiate them. A lawyer brings a deeper knowledge of the details and the capability to negotiate those details, but that knowledge comes with a price: Most entertainment lawyers charge talent 5 percent, while some are available at hourly rates of $300 an hour and up. Is an attorney always necessary? Some lawyers we spoke to said yes. One studio lawyer recommended, “Actors should engage an attorney whenever they are presented with a contract to sign. Even if the employer refuses to modify the agreement, the attorney can educate the actor about the terms of the contract, including what rights he/she is giving up.” Attorney Irwin Rappaport, who represents producers, says, “It’s always best to have a lawyer involved for the sake of protecting the actor’s interests, giving a perspective that the manager and/or agent might not have, and establishing a relationship of trust between lawyer and client that hopefully will only

The Cannes Diary: May 16

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:50:00 -0400

Note: Film critic Tim Grierson is attending the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. For Backstage, he’ll be filing occasional diary entries about his thoughts and impressions of the granddaddy of all film festivals. Friday, May 17, 1:14 a.m. Cannes, like most film festivals, drives on star power. A terrific movie such as “Amour” can premiere here and win the Palme d’Or, paving the way for a Best Foreign Language Oscar, but for a certain (larger) part of the population, the festival’s bigger films will always be the ones that topline Brad Pitt. A film that debuted Thursday in the Director’s Fortnight section tackles these topics—art and celebrity—head on. Actors will no doubt be intrigued by the movie’s concept, but what it has to say about their profession might make them a little queasy. The sci-fi, partly animated drama “The Congress” imagines a not-too-distant future where fading stars sign unusual contracts with studios, relinquishing the rights to their digital likeness in exchange for a big paycheck. “Waltz With Bashir” filmmaker Ari Folman casts Robin Wright as herself, in a stunt reminiscent of “Being John Malkovich” or

MPAA's Latest Salvo Against Online Piracy Launches

Thu, 16 May 2013 13:53:42 -0400

Wondering where to download that new series or a recently released film? Forget Pirates Bay—the Motion Picture Association of America wants to help guide viewers to legal content sites. To that end, the entertainment industry trade group has unveiled www.wheretowatch.org, a new website that will serve as a clearinghouse for legal content portals online. It’s the latest step in the group’s multi-pronged effort to curb content piracy. In addition to enforcement and user education, the MPAA is also trying to make paying for content convenient and “seamless.” “Audiences want seamless access to film and TV shows. Our industry has listened, and we are now delivering more choices that ever before,” Chris Dodd, MPAA’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “There have never been more ways to access movies and television legitimately online, and those platforms continue to grow and develop thanks in large part to a copyright system that encourages innovation, risk and growth.” The website breaks the various services into categories such as “search tools” and streaming services. It also lists what devices are compatible with which service and where that service is

The Cannes Diary: May 15

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:28:00 -0400

Note: Film critic Tim Grierson is attending the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. For Backstage, he’ll be filing occasional diary entries about his thoughts and impressions of the granddaddy of all film festivals. Day 2: Wednesday, May 15, 11:48 p.m. One of the constant peculiarities of film festivals is their unlikely juxtaposition of different genres of movies within the same day. It’s not unusual to attend four screenings back-to-back and be treated to four completely different types of films: for instance, a French character drama, a sensitive American indie, a British thriller, and an omnibus horror movie. Seeing them one after another without much time in between to process can lead to strange associations one wouldn’t normally make if one were seeing them away from the feverish festival atmosphere. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing; it’s simply reality. The first day of this year’s Cannes was no different. There were only two movies on the docket, but they could not have been more a study in contrasts, even though they played right next to each other. Having its star-studded screening at the Lumiere was “The Great Gatsby,” an event that was swarmed

Best of the Week Ahead: May 16–22

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:33:18 -0400

The 7th annual Broadway Beauty pageant; a Burt Lancaster film series at Film Society of Lincoln Center; the “Giant” cast recording; “American Psycho” at Hollywood Forever Cemetery; and a SAG Foundation CAP workshop are some of the things we’re looking forward to this week. CLICK HERE TO VIEW SLIDESHOW

Study: Opportunities Down For Female Actors in Hollywood

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:09:05 -0400

For all the talk of a post-“Bridesmaids” boom, opportunities have not increased for female actors in Hollywood films. That’s according to a new study released May 13 by USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The results of a survey of the top 100 box-office grossing films in 2012 found that women comprised only 28.4 percent of speaking roles in movies. “There has been no meaningful change in the prevalence of women onscreen across the five years studied,” professor Stacy L. Smith, the study’s principal investigator, said in a written statement from the school. “In fact, 2012 features the lowest percentage of females in the five years covered in this report.” When they are onscreen, women tend to be portrayed in a highly sexualized manner. The study found that 31.6 percent of women in movies were featured wearing “sexually revealing clothing.” More than half of teen characters—56.6 percent—appeared in sexual attire.

Navigating the Murky Water of Commissions and Percentages

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:05:52 -0400

United Talent Agency’s lawsuit against Donald Faison caught the former “Scrubs” actor unaware of $73,000 in commissions he owed to the agency. The legal snafu was a reminder of the challenges some performers face in managing their business affairs. UTA said it was out the 10 percent commission it was contracted to receive from Faison for nine episodes of the network comedy. Moreover, he’d failed to pay commission on a pilot he’d been paid $60,000 to shoot. UTA’s suit, filed May 9, states that Faison, “for no reason whatsoever, suddenly stopped making payments” to the agency during the series’ final season in 2010. When working with SAG-AFTRA performers, no franchised agent—meaning one recognized by the union—may charge a rate of commission higher than 10 percent, although in some low-budget cases, an agent must negotiate an actor’s fee above the minimum scale, “scale plus 10 percent,” to collect commission on a job. In UTA’s dispute with Faison, the agency said that the actor, who played Dr. Christopher Turk on the series, agreed to pay 10 percent of his earnings through a holding corporation called Adeosun, which is named in the

'Long Way Go Down' Challenges Cast And Audience On Illegal Immigration

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:01:56 -0400

The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company in Los Angeles is set to raise the curtain on a production that will challenge audiences’ views on immigration and its small cast’s ability to bring life to characters some may perceive as stereotypes. “Long Way Go Down,” which will have its West Coast premiere May 17, centers on Nini and Violetta, two young illegal immigrants trying to make a dangerous, smuggled crossing into the United States. The play was written by Zayd Dohrn, the son of Bernardine Rae Dohrn and Bill Ayers, both former members of the left-wing radical group the Weather Underground Organization. The Weathermen, as they were known, conducted a bombing campaign against public buildings during the Vietnam War. Dohrn said his writing was influenced by the politics of his family. “I’m not sure I would say that it exactly follows in the footsteps of what my parents were doing, but it’s obviously related,” he told Backstage. “For me, all my work is political in some way. It has to do with social power structures and dynamics.” Border security and illegal immigration have reentered the national debate, with Washington again considering an overhaul of the