Disney’s latest fairy tale princess musical “Moana” is heading to a robust estimated $75 million-plus Thanksgiving holiday weekend total. One crucial contributor to this South Pacific animated feature, directed by the “Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” team of Ron Clements and John Musker, is “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who needs only an Oscar to complete his Egot-qualifying “In the Heights” Grammy and 11 Tony wins for his second Broadway musical, “Hamilton,” plus a Primetime Emmy for his 2014 Tony Awards opening song “Bigger” for host Neil Patrick Harris. (The Pulitzer Prize for “Hamilton” is frosting on the cake.)
While Miranda said he isn’t seeking it, he has been chasing the youngest Egot-holder to date, Bobby Lopez, “my whole life,” Miranda told me in our video interview. His mentor went to the same elementary school and high school and was working on “Avenue Q” in previews “right when I was getting out of school.
While Miranda said he isn’t seeking it, he has been chasing the youngest Egot-holder to date, Bobby Lopez, “my whole life,” Miranda told me in our video interview. His mentor went to the same elementary school and high school and was working on “Avenue Q” in previews “right when I was getting out of school.
- 11/25/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Disney’s latest fairy tale princess musical “Moana” is heading to a robust estimated $75 million-plus Thanksgiving holiday weekend total. One crucial contributor to this South Pacific animated feature, directed by the “Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” team of Ron Clements and John Musker, is “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who needs only an Oscar to complete his Egot-qualifying “In the Heights” Grammy and 11 Tony wins for his second Broadway musical, “Hamilton,” plus a Primetime Emmy for his 2014 Tony Awards opening song “Bigger” for host Neil Patrick Harris. (The Pulitzer Prize for “Hamilton” is frosting on the cake.)
While Miranda said he isn’t seeking it, he has been chasing the youngest Egot-holder to date, Bobby Lopez, “my whole life,” Miranda told me in our video interview. His mentor went to the same elementary school and high school and was working on “Avenue Q” in previews “right when I was getting out of school.
While Miranda said he isn’t seeking it, he has been chasing the youngest Egot-holder to date, Bobby Lopez, “my whole life,” Miranda told me in our video interview. His mentor went to the same elementary school and high school and was working on “Avenue Q” in previews “right when I was getting out of school.
- 11/25/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Daniel Wozniak has been sentenced to death for the murders of his neighbor and his neighbor's friend, according to a press release from the Orange County district attorney's office. The California theater actor, 31, killed his neighbor, 26-year-old Army veteran Sam Herr, and Herr's friend Juri "Julie" Kibuishi in 2010 as part of a ploy to clean out Herr's $62,000 savings so he could pay for his upcoming wedding to his actress fiancée Rachel Buffett. On Friday, Orange County Superior Court Judge John Conley ruled against Wozniak's public defender Scott Sanders' motion for a new trial and against another motion to dismiss the death penalty,...
- 9/24/2016
- by Blake Bakkila, @bcbakkila
- PEOPLE.com
Tony and Emmy Award-winning producer Scott Sanders has just been named creative head of global entertainment, a newly created role, at Westfield Corporation. As part of the deal, his Scott Sanders Theatrical Productions, responsible for the widely lauded musical revival “The Color Purple,” has been wholly acquired by Westfield, the New York-based company announced on Wednesday. Along with his existing plans to bring several productions to Broadway — including “Tootsie,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter” and “Up Here” — and to make the movie adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s “In the Heights,” Sanders will also be developing “organically-inspired” theatrical experiences for the company...
- 8/31/2016
- by Meriah Doty
- The Wrap
No genre is more subjective than comedy. What makes one person laugh may make another cringe. Some “comedies” may only result in a few chuckles while watching, yet are heightened as one looks back. Others may cause constant laughter, yet are forgettable after theater’s lights come on.
With Seth Rogen‘s latest comedy, Sausage Party, arriving in theaters this week, we’ve set out to reflect on the millennium’s comedies that have most excelled. To note: we only stuck with feature-length works of 60 minutes or longer and, to make room for a few more titles, our definition of “the 21st century” stretched to include 2000.
Following our favorite sci-fi films and animations, check out our top 50 below and, in the comments, let us know your favorites. If you’re on Letterboxd, you can follow the list here.
50. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Jake Kasdan)
It is wholly possible...
With Seth Rogen‘s latest comedy, Sausage Party, arriving in theaters this week, we’ve set out to reflect on the millennium’s comedies that have most excelled. To note: we only stuck with feature-length works of 60 minutes or longer and, to make room for a few more titles, our definition of “the 21st century” stretched to include 2000.
Following our favorite sci-fi films and animations, check out our top 50 below and, in the comments, let us know your favorites. If you’re on Letterboxd, you can follow the list here.
50. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Jake Kasdan)
It is wholly possible...
- 8/10/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
The last time Lin-Manuel Miranda attended the Tony Awards, he was nervous because “In the Heights” needed to win in order to lure audiences. It won best new musical.
That’s not a problem for his ticket-scalpers’ delight, “Hamilton,” his second Broadway musical. He stars in the production, wrote the book, music, and lyrics, and it scored a record-breaking 16 nominations. It swept the Tonys Sunday night with 11 awards including best new musical, and could eventually earn over $1 billion worldwide, according to The New York Times.
“Hamilton” also won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Grammy Award for best musical theater album. Because Miranda won an Emmy for writing Neil Patrick Harris’s closing rap at the 2014 Tonys, all he needs is an Oscar to become a member of the Egot club.
That’s not an impossibility, as Miranda’s moving his star to Hollywood—more specifically, Disney. J.J. Abrams...
That’s not a problem for his ticket-scalpers’ delight, “Hamilton,” his second Broadway musical. He stars in the production, wrote the book, music, and lyrics, and it scored a record-breaking 16 nominations. It swept the Tonys Sunday night with 11 awards including best new musical, and could eventually earn over $1 billion worldwide, according to The New York Times.
“Hamilton” also won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and a Grammy Award for best musical theater album. Because Miranda won an Emmy for writing Neil Patrick Harris’s closing rap at the 2014 Tonys, all he needs is an Oscar to become a member of the Egot club.
That’s not an impossibility, as Miranda’s moving his star to Hollywood—more specifically, Disney. J.J. Abrams...
- 6/12/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Doug Liman ("Edge of Tomorrow," "The Bourne Identity") is in talks to direct the film adaptation of Patrick Ness' post-apocalyptic young adult thriller trilogy "Chaos Walking" for Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment. Production aims to begin this Fall.
Robert Zemeckis had previously been attached to helm this story set in a world where there are no women and all living creatures can hear one another's thoughts in a stream of images, words and sounds called Noise. Charlie Kaufman and Jamie Linden have reportedly worked on the script.
Jon M. Chu is in early talks to direct the film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2008 musical "In the Heights" which Miranda is producing while Quiara Alegria Hudes is handling the script.
Set in Washington Heights in New York City, the story focuses on a bodega owner who's closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother's fortune. Scott Sanders...
Robert Zemeckis had previously been attached to helm this story set in a world where there are no women and all living creatures can hear one another's thoughts in a stream of images, words and sounds called Noise. Charlie Kaufman and Jamie Linden have reportedly worked on the script.
Jon M. Chu is in early talks to direct the film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2008 musical "In the Heights" which Miranda is producing while Quiara Alegria Hudes is handling the script.
Set in Washington Heights in New York City, the story focuses on a bodega owner who's closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother's fortune. Scott Sanders...
- 6/10/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Jon Chu is in early talks to direct Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s “In the Heights” for The Weinstein Company, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap. “In the Heights” is based on the Tony Award-winning musical in which Miranda starred. Miranda is producing the film, alongside Scott Sanders and Mara Jacobs. Quiara Alegria Hudes wrote the screenplay after Marc Klein wrote an earlier draft. In “Heights,” Miranda originated the role of Usanvi, a Dominican-American bodega owner. It’s currently unclear if he’ll reprise the role, though the insider said his on-screen involvement has yet to be ironed out.
- 6/10/2016
- by Beatrice Verhoeven and Matt Donnelly
- The Wrap
When it rains, it pours. The world seems to be on fire with the Hamilton craze, and as expected, it's seemed to have raised the profile of the musical's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as anything he's worked on in the past, including the 2008 Broadway musical, In The Heights.
THR is reporting that the production is being adapted into a film for $15 million by the Weinstein company.
"As a kid from Queens, I’ve always loved bringing New York stories to film," Weinstein said. "In the Heights and Lin-Manuel brought Washington Heights to Broadway back in 2008 and in the process turned the theater world on its head. The movie musicals of the 1950s were incredible, but In The Heights will revolutionize what movie audiences expect from the genre.“
This is undoubtedly a great way for the studio to profit from the current Hamilton craze. With the musical getting so much...
THR is reporting that the production is being adapted into a film for $15 million by the Weinstein company.
"As a kid from Queens, I’ve always loved bringing New York stories to film," Weinstein said. "In the Heights and Lin-Manuel brought Washington Heights to Broadway back in 2008 and in the process turned the theater world on its head. The movie musicals of the 1950s were incredible, but In The Heights will revolutionize what movie audiences expect from the genre.“
This is undoubtedly a great way for the studio to profit from the current Hamilton craze. With the musical getting so much...
- 6/1/2016
- by Joseph Medina
- LRMonline.com
Before he created the stage cultural sensation "Hamilton," actor/composer/rapper/writer Lin-Manuel Miranda was responsible for another famed play - the 2008 Tony Award winning musical "In the Heights".
A film version of that production had previously been in development at Universal Pictures until it was put into turnaround five years ago when the studio balked at the $37 million budget for the Kenny Ortega-helmed feature.
Now it seems the project has new life again as The Weinstein Company is reportedly working on an adaptation of the bodega-set project. Miranda will produce the film which they plan to make for around $15 million, but no director is yet in place.
Set in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, the story centers on a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother's fortune.
Though Miranda creatively will be heavily involved,...
A film version of that production had previously been in development at Universal Pictures until it was put into turnaround five years ago when the studio balked at the $37 million budget for the Kenny Ortega-helmed feature.
Now it seems the project has new life again as The Weinstein Company is reportedly working on an adaptation of the bodega-set project. Miranda will produce the film which they plan to make for around $15 million, but no director is yet in place.
Set in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, the story centers on a bodega owner who has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother's fortune.
Though Miranda creatively will be heavily involved,...
- 5/31/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
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Need a good laugh, but only got an hour and a half? Might we recommend this little lot...
I’m of the firm belief that films work most effectively when their runtime is 90 minutes or less. It forces an economy of story and dialogue which propels the film into its best self. No bloated middle, extended ending, or wasted stories here. This goes double for comedies. They should never outstay their welcome. But they seem to be getting longer, as we recently pointed out here.
So to refresh your movie comedy palette, here are 25 films that are 90 minutes or under. I’ve tried to avoid the more obvious ones, and shine a light on those comedies which might have gone a bit unappreciated over the years, but are well worth a hour and a half of your time. This lean runtime isn’t a guarantee of greatness of course,...
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Need a good laugh, but only got an hour and a half? Might we recommend this little lot...
I’m of the firm belief that films work most effectively when their runtime is 90 minutes or less. It forces an economy of story and dialogue which propels the film into its best self. No bloated middle, extended ending, or wasted stories here. This goes double for comedies. They should never outstay their welcome. But they seem to be getting longer, as we recently pointed out here.
So to refresh your movie comedy palette, here are 25 films that are 90 minutes or under. I’ve tried to avoid the more obvious ones, and shine a light on those comedies which might have gone a bit unappreciated over the years, but are well worth a hour and a half of your time. This lean runtime isn’t a guarantee of greatness of course,...
- 3/2/2016
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Daniel Wozniak was found guilty of a gruesome double murder on Wednesday afternoon and now faces a possible death sentence, People confirms. The California theater actor, 31, killed his neighbor, 26-year-old Army veteran Sam Herr, and Herr's friend Juri "Julie" Kibuishi in 2010 as part of a ploy to clean out Herr's $62,000 savings so he could pay for his upcoming wedding to his actress fiancée Rachel Buffett. On May 20, 2010, Wozniak shot Herr twice in the head with a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol after luring him to the attic of an empty theater on the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. Hours later,...
- 12/17/2015
- by Tara Fowler, @waterfowlerta
- PEOPLE.com
Daniel Wozniak was found guilty of a gruesome double murder on Wednesday afternoon and now faces a possible death sentence, People confirms. The California theater actor, 31, killed his neighbor, 26-year-old Army veteran Sam Herr, and Herr's friend Juri "Julie" Kibuishi in 2010 as part of a ploy to clean out Herr's $62,000 savings so he could pay for his upcoming wedding to his actress fiancée Rachel Buffett. On May 20, 2010, Wozniak shot Herr twice in the head with a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol after luring him to the attic of an empty theater on the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. Hours later,...
- 12/17/2015
- by Tara Fowler, @waterfowlerta
- PEOPLE.com
Grasan Kingsberry holds a Degree from Juilliard School in Dance and is now appearing in The Color Purple - The Musical starring Jennifer Hudson, Cynthia Erivo amp Danielle Brooks. This latest version of The Color Purple has been Produced by Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, Roy Furman and a group of seasoned industry vets. Book by Marsha Norman, Music amp Lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis amp Stephen Bray all under the Direction of John Doyle.
- 11/6/2015
- by Marina Kamen
- BroadwayWorld.com
La Jolla Playhouseopens its world premiere of Up Here, a new musical comedy featuring book, music and lyrics by the husband-and-wife composing team of Robert Lopez The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q and Kristen Anderson-Lopez In Transit, recipients of the 2014 Academy Award for Best Original Song for their hit song, 'Let It Go,' from the Disney animated film Frozen. Up Here is directed by Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers Broadway's Rocky, Off-Broadway's Here Lies Love, Playhouse's Peter and the Starcatcher and will run July 28 - September 6 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre. Up Here is being presented by special arrangement with Scott Sanders Theatrical Productions, along with Victor Alvarez, WarnerChappell Music, Sally Horchow International Productions, Caiola Productions, Dominion Pictures.
- 7/28/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Produced by Scott Sanders, Roy Furman, Oprah Winfrey, David Babani, and Tom Siracusa, The Color Purple will return to Broadway this fall in the acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory production directed by Two-time Tony Award winner John Doyle. The highly anticipated staging will feature Grammy, Academy Award, and Golden Globe award winner Jennifer Hudson Cynthia Erivo, the breakout star from the London production and Orange is the New Black's Danielle Brooks. All three women will be making their Broadway debuts. Tickets are now availableCan't wait until the show returns to Broadway this fall Get your Color Purple fix today with a free download of 'Too Beautiful for Words,' performed by Jennifer Hudson. Click Here to download the song now...
- 6/30/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its world premiere of Up Here, a new musical comedy featuring book, music and lyrics by the husband-and-wife composing team of Robert Lopez The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q and Kristen Anderson-Lopez In Transit, recipients of the 2014 Academy Award for Best Original Song for their hit song, 'Let It Go,' from the Disney animated film Frozen. Up Here is directed by Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers Broadway's Rocky, Off-Broadway's Here Lies Love, Playhouse's Peter and the Starcatcher and will run July 28 - September 6 in the Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre. Up Here is being presented by special arrangement with Scott Sanders Theatrical Productions, along with Victor Alvarez, WarnerChappell Music, Sally Horchow International Productions, Caiola Productions, Dominion Pictures.
- 6/9/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Producers Scott Sanders, Roy Furman, Oprah Winfrey, David Babani, Tom Siracusa just announced that Cynthia Erivo, the breakout star of the Menier Chocolate Factory production of The Color Purple, will make her Broadway debut this fall when she reprises her acclaimed performance as Celie in John Doyle's critically heralded production. The Color Purple will begin preview performances on Monday, November 9th at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre 242 West 45th street and will officially open on Thursday, December 3.
- 3/16/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Cynthia Erivo has been cast to play Celie in this fall's Oprah Winfrey-produced Broadway revival of "The Color Purple," which is currently set for a December 3 open at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. Erivo, a British actress making her New York stage debut, will reprise the role she played to glowing reviews at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London. She joins the previously-cast Jennifer Hudson, also making her Broadway debut, as Shug, in the musical revival, which Oprah Winfrey will return to produce, and back, with her theatrical business partner Scott Sanders. John Doyle is directing. Just as I pondered when "A Raisin in the Sun" was revived yet again,...
- 3/16/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
In the late afternoon of May 21, 2010, Juri "Julie" Kibuishi started getting texts from her friend Sam Herr, who seemed distraught and needed to talk to someone. Kibuishi, who had been tutoring Herr in his community college courses, happily agreed to meet up with the 26-year-old Afghanistan war veteran later that night. "Please don’t tell anyone. Please," he wrote. "You can trust me," Kibuishi responded. "I promise. I am not going to say anything. I promise. Pinkie promise." Kibuishi, 23, had no idea she was being set up. The man she thought was Herr was actually Daniel Wozniak, Herr's neighbor at...
- 3/13/2015
- by Christine Pelisek, @chrispelisek
- PEOPLE.com
In the late afternoon of May 21, 2010, Juri "Julie" Kibuishi started getting texts from her friend Sam Herr who seemed distraught and needed to talk to someone. Kibuishi, who had been tutoring Herr in his community college courses, happily agreed to meet up with the 26-year-old Afghan war veteran later that night. "Please don’t tell anyone. Please," he wrote. "You can trust me," Kibuishi responded. "I promise. I am not going to say anything. I promise. Pinkie promise." Kibuishi, 23, had no idea she was being set up. The man she thought was Herr was actually Daniel Wozniak, Herr's neighbor at...
- 3/13/2015
- by Christine Pelisek, @chrispelisek
- PEOPLE.com
Producers Scott Sanders and Wynton Marsalis announced today that After Midnight, the seven-time 2014 Tony Award-nominee, and winner of the Tony Award for Best Choreography Warren Carlyle, will play its final performance on Sunday, June 29 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre 256 W 47th Street. At the time of its closing, After Midnight will have run 8 months, with 19 preview performances and 272 regular performances. Conceived by Jack Viertel, and directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, After Midnight began preview performances on Friday, October 18, 2013, and opened to the best reviews of any new musical this season on Sunday, November 3, 2013.
- 6/15/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
New York — Despite landing seven Tony Award nominations including best musical and generating some of the best reviews of the 2013-14 season, the Jazz Age revue After Midnight will close early on June 29, scrapping plans for two starry special guest vocalist engagements scheduled for later in the summer. Lead producers Scott Sanders and Wynton Marsalis confirmed the news on Saturday. The show began previews on Oct. 18 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, officially opening to ecstatic reviews on Nov. 3. It landed on the top-10 2013 New York theater lists of a number of publications, including The Hollywood Reporter.
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- 6/14/2014
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York -- On Sunday night Scott Sanders will be at Radio City Music Hall attending the Tony Awards as the lead producer of the best musical nominee After Midnight. It would be a special night for Sanders if that was all there was to his story, but there's more: 35 years ago, in another lifetime, before he became one of the more respected figures on the Great White Way, he helped to save the venue in which his show -- an $8 million jazz revue -- will now open "the Super Bowl of Broadway," as he calls it, and possibly even take
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- 6/7/2014
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
On Tuesday evening, 9-time Tony award winner Tommy Tune hosted a dinner for the musical After Midnight to celebrate their 7 Tony Award nominations at his home on the Upper East Side. Guests for the evening included Andre Leon Talley, Ruben and Isabel Toledo, Mercedes Ellington, William Ivey Long, Rick Miramontez, Jean Doumanian, David Rockwell, Warren Carlyle and After Midnight producer Scott Sanders. Check out photos from the evening below...
- 5/22/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
New York (AP) — It was a brutal Tuesday morning for some A-list stars on Broadway. Snubbed for Tony Award nominations were Denzel Washington, James Franco, Zachary Quinto, Michelle Williams, Orlando Bloom, Ethan Hawke, Zach Braff, Billy Crudup, Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig. Daniel Radcliffe struck out for his third consecutive Broadway show. Neil Patrick Harris, who won a nomination for his brilliant performance in the punk-rock show "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," said he was surprised by the final list. But he's been a Tony host and knows from experience the process is often rough. "Having been the host in previous years, it's always interesting and surprising," he said. "It's a small group of people that nominate and you're never quite sure what they're responding to. That being said, it does get to showcase the talents of people who often don't get their moment in the spotlight." One of the...
- 4/29/2014
- by Mark Kennedy (AP)
- Hitfix
Hoping to bring her singing talents to the stage, Oprah Winfrey is reportedly heading to Broadway for the 2015-2016 season.
According to the New York Times, the 60-year-old media mogul is in talks to play a role in Marsha Norman's 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "'night, Mother."
Lead producer of the production, Scott Sanders stated on Thursday (February 6) that he is currently in the midst of helping Miss Winfrey to make her exciting Broadway debut. "Oprah has had a longstanding desire to act on Broadway. She understands how unique and challenging performing live on stage will be as an actress."
He continued, "She and I have been looking at a number of plays and roles in order to find material and a character that truly resonates with her. We've recently read something that we're both excited about but are not yet ready to officially announce the specifics."
Starring opposite of Tony-Award winner Audra McDonald,...
According to the New York Times, the 60-year-old media mogul is in talks to play a role in Marsha Norman's 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning play "'night, Mother."
Lead producer of the production, Scott Sanders stated on Thursday (February 6) that he is currently in the midst of helping Miss Winfrey to make her exciting Broadway debut. "Oprah has had a longstanding desire to act on Broadway. She understands how unique and challenging performing live on stage will be as an actress."
He continued, "She and I have been looking at a number of plays and roles in order to find material and a character that truly resonates with her. We've recently read something that we're both excited about but are not yet ready to officially announce the specifics."
Starring opposite of Tony-Award winner Audra McDonald,...
- 2/7/2014
- GossipCenter
Oprah Winfrey has trod the Broadway boards before - only strictly behind the scenes, as a major investor in the not-quite-successful production of the 2005 musical The Color Purple. But now the media mogul, who helped bid a fond farewell to Jay Leno Thursday night, may actually appear in the flesh before New York theater audiences during the 2015-16 season. The vehicle, reports The New York Times, is likely to be a revival of Marsha Norman's somber 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'night, Mother. The two-character drama, about a mother's last-ditch attempt to prevent her daughter from committing suicide, originally starred Kathy Bates as the daughter,...
- 2/7/2014
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
London, Feb 7: Oprah Winfrey is set to make her Broadway debut in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'Night Mother', it has been revealed.
Scott Sanders, who is among the producers, said that the 60-year-old talk show host has had a longstanding desire to act on Broadway, the Mirror reported.
Sanders said that she knows how unique and challenging it is to perform live on stage as an actress, adding that the both of them have been looking at a number of plays and roles in order to find material and a character that truly resonate with her.
Broadway veteran George C. Wolfe is said to direct the production, which.
Scott Sanders, who is among the producers, said that the 60-year-old talk show host has had a longstanding desire to act on Broadway, the Mirror reported.
Sanders said that she knows how unique and challenging it is to perform live on stage as an actress, adding that the both of them have been looking at a number of plays and roles in order to find material and a character that truly resonate with her.
Broadway veteran George C. Wolfe is said to direct the production, which.
- 2/7/2014
- by Meeta Kabra
- RealBollywood.com
Fresh off a well-reviewed turn in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” Oprah Winfrey is in talks to make her Broadway debut in a revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “’Night, Mother,” the New York Times reports. A representative for Winfrey did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Broadway veteran George C. Wolfe is expected to direct the production, which will star fellow Tony Award winner Audra McDonald as a mother desperate to prevent her daughter from killing herself. Also Read: Oprah Winfrey Joins Brad Pitt as Producer of Mlk Drama ‘Selma’ Scott Sanders is among the producers, who are reportedly aiming for the.
- 2/6/2014
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
Oprah Winfrey may be coming to Broadway. The media mogul is in talks to star opposite Tony-winner Audra McDonald in a revival of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'night, Mother, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. The role would be her first in a Broadway production. Tony winner George C. Wolfe, who recently directed Tom Hanks in Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy, would direct the production, which is being eyed for the 2015-16 Broadway season. The play is being produced by Scott Sanders, according to The New York Times, which previously reported Winfrey was in talks for the role. Photos:
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- 2/6/2014
- by THR Staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Producers Scott Sanders and Wynton Marsalis present After Midnight, directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle and featuring the big-band sounds of nine-time Grammy Award-winner Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars, After Midnight began previews on Friday, October 18, 2013 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre 256 W 47th St and celebrated opening night on November 3. Below, watch Grammy Award winner Fantasia The Color Purple belt 'Sunny Side of the Street' onstage...
- 1/16/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Hugh Jackman has confirmed he will not be a part of Stephen Schwartz's upcoming Broadway musical "Houdini".
Jackman has been attached to the project for some time, with the production scheduled to debut next year. However, the 45-year-old "Wolverine" star has had to bow out due to scheduling constraints, saying the following in an official statement:
"I have greatly enjoyed the collaborative process on Houdini. Ultimately, though, I wasn't able to commit to the time this role will require. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the creative team and I wish everyone the best. I know they're well on their way to making something extraordinary."
Jackman's the second high-profile departure from the stage production following writer Aaron Sorkin leaving in January.
Producer Scott Sanders says: "Hugh has been terrific to have on this part of our journey. We will continue to move forward with our remarkable creative team...
Jackman has been attached to the project for some time, with the production scheduled to debut next year. However, the 45-year-old "Wolverine" star has had to bow out due to scheduling constraints, saying the following in an official statement:
"I have greatly enjoyed the collaborative process on Houdini. Ultimately, though, I wasn't able to commit to the time this role will require. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the creative team and I wish everyone the best. I know they're well on their way to making something extraordinary."
Jackman's the second high-profile departure from the stage production following writer Aaron Sorkin leaving in January.
Producer Scott Sanders says: "Hugh has been terrific to have on this part of our journey. We will continue to move forward with our remarkable creative team...
- 12/24/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Hugh Jackman has confirmed he will not be a part of Stephen Schwartz's upcoming Broadway musical "Houdini".
Jackman has been attached to the project for some time, with the production scheduled to debut next year. However, the 45-year-old "Wolverine" star has had to bow out due to scheduling constraints, saying the following in an official statement:
"I have greatly enjoyed the collaborative process on Houdini. Ultimately, though, I wasn't able to commit to the time this role will require. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the creative team and I wish everyone the best. I know they're well on their way to making something extraordinary."
Jackman's the second high-profile departure from the stage production following writer Aaron Sorkin leaving in January.
Producer Scott Sanders says: "Hugh has been terrific to have on this part of our journey. We will continue to move forward with our remarkable creative team...
Jackman has been attached to the project for some time, with the production scheduled to debut next year. However, the 45-year-old "Wolverine" star has had to bow out due to scheduling constraints, saying the following in an official statement:
"I have greatly enjoyed the collaborative process on Houdini. Ultimately, though, I wasn't able to commit to the time this role will require. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the creative team and I wish everyone the best. I know they're well on their way to making something extraordinary."
Jackman's the second high-profile departure from the stage production following writer Aaron Sorkin leaving in January.
Producer Scott Sanders says: "Hugh has been terrific to have on this part of our journey. We will continue to move forward with our remarkable creative team...
- 12/24/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
The ultimate disappearing act? Producers of an eagerly anticipated 2014 Broadway musical about escape artist supreme Harry Houdini confirmed Monday that the show has lost its star, the inestimable Hugh Jackman. "I have greatly enjoyed the collaborative process on Houdini," Jackman said in a statement. "Ultimately, though, I wasn't able to commit to the time this role will require." Added People's 2008 Sexist Man Alive, whose name on a Times Square marquee (even when he isn't playing Wolverine) all but guarantees a sell-out, "I have tremendous respect and admiration for the creative team and I wish everyone the best. I know they're...
- 12/24/2013
- by Stephen M. Silverman
- PEOPLE.com
It looks like Hugh Jackman won’t be making magic on Broadway any time soon.
The Tony-winner and Oscar nominee is no longer attached to star as the famed magician in the upcoming musical Houdini, written by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) and David Ives (Venus in Fur). Though no official production had been announced yet, Jackman confirmed his involvement in the show after years of speculation while Aaron Sorkin and Danny Elfman were still on board as the show’s creative team. Now, it seems Wolverine might be a little too busy to try and escape from a straight jacket upside down.
The Tony-winner and Oscar nominee is no longer attached to star as the famed magician in the upcoming musical Houdini, written by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) and David Ives (Venus in Fur). Though no official production had been announced yet, Jackman confirmed his involvement in the show after years of speculation while Aaron Sorkin and Danny Elfman were still on board as the show’s creative team. Now, it seems Wolverine might be a little too busy to try and escape from a straight jacket upside down.
- 12/23/2013
- by Jake Perlman
- EW.com - PopWatch
Just yesterday, it was announced that the Hartman Group, the Broadway press agency that was slated to represent the new musical, would close its doors in January 2014. Since then, Houdini producer Scott Sanders told the New York Times that the show is now aiming for a run in the 2015-16 theatre season. He told the Nyt I'm very supportive of Michael's decision, as I think everyone is, because this is certainly the time in one's life to do something like this. We'll figure out how to successfully transition some of our projects to another firm or elsewhere.
- 12/3/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The elusive “Golden Ticket”. Beginning next Wednesday (December 4th) in a wave of four announcements, is when the official word comes out. Plenty of filmmakers are already in the know, but some will find out over the course of this Thanksgiving weekend. Having covered the festival and fest circuit for some time now, we’re already aware that worthy films that were indeed submitted will be excluded from the ’14 edition. Thousands of filmmakers won’t get the phone call, and while it can bruise dreams, this is not a rejection of quality…but rather, a preference from a programmer/programming team which reflects a larger mandate. John Cooper, Trevor Groth et al. have a difficult job and the way I see it, it’s the equivalent to draft day for a major professional sport – where a team in a given turn doesn’t go for the consensus pick, but instead...
- 11/29/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
He took a noticeable leave of absence from the Daily Show back in July to shoot a project close to his heart. With an A-team comprised of Shohreh Aghdashloo, Gael García Bernal and the presence of DS gagster Jason Jones, Jon Stewart shot his directorial debut in Jordan side by side with cinematographer Bobby Bukowski (Rampart). If ready on time, it certainly feels like a perfect match between the anti-Argo, Iranian political drama and the politicized festival.
Gist: Written by Jon Stewart, Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy, and based on the Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story Of Love, Captivity, And Survival, this is about a journalist is detained in Iran for more than 100 days and brutally interrogated in prison.
Production Co./Producers: Oddlot’s Gigi Pritzker, Scott Rudin and Stewart. Exec Producing: Lila Yacoub, Eli Bush and Chris McShane.
Prediction: Buyer interest through the roof for...
Gist: Written by Jon Stewart, Maziar Bahari and Aimee Molloy, and based on the Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story Of Love, Captivity, And Survival, this is about a journalist is detained in Iran for more than 100 days and brutally interrogated in prison.
Production Co./Producers: Oddlot’s Gigi Pritzker, Scott Rudin and Stewart. Exec Producing: Lila Yacoub, Eli Bush and Chris McShane.
Prediction: Buyer interest through the roof for...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
It’s a major vote of confidence when a festival, such as Sundance, happens to be filled almost exclusively by world premieres and then allows for a film to crack the line-up five months after premiering elsewhere. Thus was the case for Gareth Evans’ The Raid: Redemption. It kicked-butt at Tiff, before finding a slot in Park City and despite the very recent Sony pick-up, this action-thriller also looks primed for a January showing. Production talk took place not much time after the film’s international release and it commenced in January of this year. If the first installment was over the top, I can only imagine this getting incrementally better with each chop, kick, stab and punch.
Gist: A sequel that literally picks up where the first installment ends, this follows Rama (Iko Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in...
Gist: A sequel that literally picks up where the first installment ends, this follows Rama (Iko Uwais) as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Best known for kick-starting careers of up-and-coming filmmakers, Park City still makes room for first time directors pushing north of a ripe old age north of 50. Writer of unknown entities America So Beautiful (2001) and Circle of Eight (2009), Brian Horiuchi’s (shot in Detroit of 2012) Parts Per Billion has got a Sundance parka friendly cast (comprised of Teresa Palmer, Penn Badgley, Josh Hartnett, Alexis Bledel, Rosario Dawson with legends Frank Langella and Gena Rowlands). This is surely in completion stages.
Gist: The story of three couples dealing with a reality-shaking event that threatens to tear them apart. Inspired and sometimes blinded by their love, Len (Josh Hartnett), Mia (Rosario Dawson), Andy (Frank Langella), Esther (Gena Rowlands), Anna (Teresa Palmer) and Erik (Penn Badgley) are as flawed and beautiful as any of the billions who are facing this human-made biological disaster.
Production Co./Producers: Benaroya Pictures’ Michael Benaroya (Kill Your Darlings), Bow Street Films...
Gist: The story of three couples dealing with a reality-shaking event that threatens to tear them apart. Inspired and sometimes blinded by their love, Len (Josh Hartnett), Mia (Rosario Dawson), Andy (Frank Langella), Esther (Gena Rowlands), Anna (Teresa Palmer) and Erik (Penn Badgley) are as flawed and beautiful as any of the billions who are facing this human-made biological disaster.
Production Co./Producers: Benaroya Pictures’ Michael Benaroya (Kill Your Darlings), Bow Street Films...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
There will digital blood in the streets of ’14. The first to get their portrait of Pablo Escobar out first, might “win” the battle of the biopics. On a regular, annual basis, Sundance has served as a festival where a known actor can unveil his/her debut behind the camera, there might be a couple of those type of debuts year, of which we might want to include Andrea Di Stefano (Life of Pi). To be honest – this might be my Hail Mary pass pick of the 80 predictions as Pathe Int. doesn’t really do Sundance with their bigger budget films, but this Paradise Lost (not to be confused with the West Memphis Three trilogy) which was shot in Panama in March, has got a cast in Brady Corbet, Josh Hutcherson, Ana Girardot, Claudia Traisac and Benicio Del Toro that would make Eccles crowds salivate.
Gist: Paradise Lost: The Untold...
Gist: Paradise Lost: The Untold...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
With a famous pair of acting parents, we imagine that his on-set apprenticeship qualifies as film school. The multi-talented (jury will be out on his first directing gig) Charlie McDowell (pictured above) shot in March of this year, and then he jumped on a book tour (Dear Girls Above Me) a couple of weeks later. Despite the busy schedule, this quirky comedy featuring trio Elisabeth Moss (will also be seen in Listen Up Philip), Ted Danson and Sundance favorite Mark Duplass should be in the can.
Gist: Written by Justin Lader and McDowell, this is about a couple (Moss and Duplass) trying to solve the problems plaguing their marriage take a romantic weekend getaway, only to discover a new set of problems waiting for them.
Production Co./Producers: Mel Eslyn (Touchy Feely)
Prediction: An outside shot at a Premieres category preem with SXSW keen on claiming another world preem that Sundance might pass on.
Gist: Written by Justin Lader and McDowell, this is about a couple (Moss and Duplass) trying to solve the problems plaguing their marriage take a romantic weekend getaway, only to discover a new set of problems waiting for them.
Production Co./Producers: Mel Eslyn (Touchy Feely)
Prediction: An outside shot at a Premieres category preem with SXSW keen on claiming another world preem that Sundance might pass on.
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
We were big fans of Anthony Burns’ debut film, the visually strong coming-of-ager sans pretension and a nod to the Dazed and Confused sorts with just the right character set. Skateland deserved a little more fanfare than the one it got back in 2011, but Burns round two North of Hell, should receive a lot more fanfare with its cast alone. Pitting Patrick Wilson, Jordana Brewster, Kevin McKidd with Katherine Heigl, this dramedy began shooting in March-ish of this year…so we’re banking on this being already prepped for festival season.
Gist: Based on a story by Carlo Allen, Ted Elrick and Tom Lavagnino, and scripted by Anthony Burns, this is about a seductive and scheming new hire causes dangerous problems for a businessman who is married to a bi-polar, obsessive-compulsive woman.
Production Co./Producers: Burns, A.J. Buckley, Jeff Culotta (God Bless America) and Darko Ent.’s Sean McKittrick (Hell Baby...
Gist: Based on a story by Carlo Allen, Ted Elrick and Tom Lavagnino, and scripted by Anthony Burns, this is about a seductive and scheming new hire causes dangerous problems for a businessman who is married to a bi-polar, obsessive-compulsive woman.
Production Co./Producers: Burns, A.J. Buckley, Jeff Culotta (God Bless America) and Darko Ent.’s Sean McKittrick (Hell Baby...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance tends to include at least one eco-friendly docu in their line-up, and this one promises to shake up the establishment. He broke out with his directing debut, The Take (about unemployed auto-parts workers who took joblessness into their own hands) and now a decade later, his sophomore project also working with a direct, to-the-point type of title in The Message is in the works. Once again working alongside Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine), Canuck documentary helmer Avi Lewis has been working on this project since ’11, but as is the case with several docu titles, we might be a tad bit early on the delivery date.
Gist: Based on the book by Naomi Klein, truly confronting the climate challenge means reducing inequality, addressing the global South’s right to development, localizing economies, halting destructive extraction projects and deepening democracy. The film takes an international outlook and emphasizes people on the frontlines of change,...
Gist: Based on the book by Naomi Klein, truly confronting the climate challenge means reducing inequality, addressing the global South’s right to development, localizing economies, halting destructive extraction projects and deepening democracy. The film takes an international outlook and emphasizes people on the frontlines of change,...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The family name got him onto film sets (on our end we call that the best film school), but it’s 2012 Chronicle that set the wind in the sails for Max Landis. When the uber film-geek wasn’t ranting about men with wear capes or penning another half dozen projects, he was directing his debut feature with what we can justifiably call a weirdo ensemble: Haley Joel Osment, Alia Shawkat, Casey Wilson, Geena Davis, Lance Henriksen, Scott Bakula, Dustin Milligan, Angela Sarafyan, and future it girl Emily Meade (look for her nuanced perf in Lance Edmands’ Bluebird). Shooting began this summer and all points toward Sundance. The Prod Co., Big Beach Films have been doing comedy right for some time now, and as indie producers they have a direct line to Park City programmers – just about everything they’ve produced since Little Miss Sunshine has preemed in Park City, including...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Having just participated at the 2013 Music and Sound Design Lab at Skywalker Sound, Mark Grieco’s heavily supported docu (Cinereach, MacArthur and Britdoc Foundations) debut is in the final stages of completion – and this after a long six year process. There is light ahead of the tunnel for the Canadian/Colombian production, currently seeking completion funds, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marmato culminates into a ’14 showing.
Gist: Marmato is a documentary feature about an artisan gold-mining village in rural Colombia on the precipice of opportunity and destruction as a Canadian mining company plans a massive regional investment. For five centuries these miners have lived in the lush Andes Mountains; the gold being their only source of sustenance. This intimate portrait follows the lives of the villagers as they struggle to preserve their centuries old way of life and confront the arrival of large-scale mining operations.
Production Co./Producers: Mark Achbar,...
Gist: Marmato is a documentary feature about an artisan gold-mining village in rural Colombia on the precipice of opportunity and destruction as a Canadian mining company plans a massive regional investment. For five centuries these miners have lived in the lush Andes Mountains; the gold being their only source of sustenance. This intimate portrait follows the lives of the villagers as they struggle to preserve their centuries old way of life and confront the arrival of large-scale mining operations.
Production Co./Producers: Mark Achbar,...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
While 2013 gave us Inside Llewyn Davis, 2014 will give us Low Down. I’m thinking that photographer/ethnographic documentarian/commercials and video director Jeff Preiss’ debut film will be something of an event. Taking the shape of a biographic tale not surprisingly related to American music scene, the drama should be ready for show – as it was filmed in March of this year. Lena Headey, Taryn Manning, Peter Dinklage, Elle Fanning, Burn Gorman, Caleb Landry Jones, Glenn Close, Tim Daly and John Hawkes who’ll take center stage once again.
Gist: Written by Topper Lilien and Amy Albany (based on Amy Albany’s memoir), this is a look at the life of pianist Joe Albany from the perspective of his young daughter, as she watches him contend with his drug addiction during the 1960s and ’70s jazz scene.
Production Co./Producers: Bona Fide Productions’ Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa (Nebraska), Epoch Films’ Mindy Goldberg (Junebug)
Prediction: U.
Gist: Written by Topper Lilien and Amy Albany (based on Amy Albany’s memoir), this is a look at the life of pianist Joe Albany from the perspective of his young daughter, as she watches him contend with his drug addiction during the 1960s and ’70s jazz scene.
Production Co./Producers: Bona Fide Productions’ Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa (Nebraska), Epoch Films’ Mindy Goldberg (Junebug)
Prediction: U.
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
A destination lieu for Ira Sachs dating back to 1994 when he showed his experimental short Lady, I’d be baffled if Love is Strange premieres elsewhere than Park City – the birthplace for his critically acclaimed The Delta (’97), Forty Shades of Blue (’05) and Keep the Lights On (’12). We have a trio of actors in Marisa Tomei, John Lithgow and Alfred Molina who are probably starved for such roles and I have no doubt will hit this out of the Eccles park. Shooting took place in NYC this past summer (here’s the production blog) on the contempo storyline.
Gist: Written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, after 39 years together, Ben and George take advantage of the new marriage laws and tie the knot in a City Hall wedding in lower Manhattan. On the return from their honeymoon, however, and on account of their vows, George gets fired from his longtime job as...
Gist: Written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, after 39 years together, Ben and George take advantage of the new marriage laws and tie the knot in a City Hall wedding in lower Manhattan. On the return from their honeymoon, however, and on account of their vows, George gets fired from his longtime job as...
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
My crystal ball says this might be 2014′s answer to Winter’s Bone, where tragedy, economics and backdrop are just as strong a character set as the array of players themselves. You can’t get a more perfect Park City “package” than Sara Colangelo’s debut film. Spawned from her award-winning short of the same name (it played at the fest’s 2010 edition) and which would serve as the basis for a feature that became a part of the Sundance Institute’s 2011 June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, before Little Accidents got its mid summer production start, the West Virginia set project attracted the attention of a who’s who of producing talent, Fruitvale Station‘s cinematographer Rachel Morrison and Production Designer Chris Trujillo. Starring Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook, Chloë Sevigny, Jacob Lofland, Josh Lucas and indie queen starlet Alexia Rasmussen, this will be among the films to beat in the comp.
- 11/20/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
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