Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Yay for Tolkein Geeks Everywhere!

"Precious" News

NEW YORK (AP) -- Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached agreement to make J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, a planned prequel to the blockbuster trilogy The Lord of the Rings.

Peter Jackson is set to oversee the film adaptation of The Hobbit.

Jackson, who directed the Rings trilogy, will serve as executive producer for The Hobbit. A director for the prequel films has yet to be named.

Relations between Jackson and New Line had soured after Rings, despite a collective worldwide box office gross of nearly $3 billion -- an enormous success. The two sides nevertheless were able to reconcile, with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) splitting The Hobbit 50/50, spokemen for both studios said Tuesday.
"I'm very pleased that we've been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line," Jackson said in a statement. "We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth."

Two Hobbit films are scheduled to be shot simultaneously, similar to how the three Lord of the Rings films were made. Production is set to begin in 2009 with a released planned for 2010, with the sequel scheduled for a 2011 release.
Doug's Comments:
I'm a total LOTR geek. I loved the films. Jackson and New Line have been fighting for years over DVD profits from the trilogy and it seemed that their irreconcilable differences were going to de-rail The Hobbit. Apparently not! I hope Jackson decides to direct it himself. And I hope they get Andy Serkis to reprise his role as Gollum. Though I doubt they'll use Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins as they did in LOTR. He'd be more than a bit too old to play Bilbo in this film. Can't freakin wait!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

TV Review

Aliens in America

A few evenings ago, I was home. Nothing much was on TV and I was just flipping through channels. I stumbled on a show called Aliens in America on the CW (of all places) and decided to give it a shot. I'd heard of the show before, but just never had a chance to see it and was never interested enough to consider DVR-ing it. So I watched. And I laughed. A lot! I also had my heartstrings pulled a little bit.

Summary: A family in the midwest with a nerdy teenage son signs up for a foreign exchange student program so that the son would have an instant friend. They expected a handsome Norwegian. What they got was a Pakistani named Raja. Great concept, great cast, great writing. The cast features Dan Byrd as Justin, Amy Pietz as Franny (the mom), Scott patterson as Gary (the dad) and Adhir Kalyan as Raja. There's also a daughter, but I don't care about her.

It's easier if you just watch it and see what I mean. Here's a link to a youtube video trailer...

With there being seemingly no end to the writer's strike, try to catch the show on re-runs. I believe you can also watch full episodes online at the CW website.

Friday, December 7, 2007

My 2007 Theatre Season Retrospective


This is traditionally the time of year when we reflect on things...our lives, our careers and our overall experiences. When I reflect on my year in theatre, I am usually amazed. I'm amazed by the talented people I've gotten to work with and by the fact that I'm even able to fit all the projects into my schedule. Here's a summary of my projects from 2007, and a little about what they meant to me:

In January, I performed in an original musical entitled Familiar Strangers at MusicalFare Theatre. This show was very special for me in many ways. First of all it was conceived, written, directed and choreographed by one man, my bestest friend, Michael Walline. The story concerned a woman whose husband committed suicide. She subsequently had a breakdown of sorts and became psychologically unable to leave her home (agoraphobia). She lived her life vicariously through those she observed through her window. I played the dead husband and was seen in flashbacks or fantasy sequences. The cool thing about the show is that there was one vocalist (the sublime Loraine O'Donnell) who sang the entire show...all music of Joni Mitchell's. The rest of us danced the entire story. No ensemble singing, no dialogue (except for three lines at the very end of the show).

As an almost 40 year old man, it was a challenge to dance again. This wasn't "musical theatre" choreography. This was modern, interperetive, contemporary dance like I used to do back in my college dance company. Granted, I wasn't in a lot of numbers as my character was dead. But those I was in really challenged me and moved me when I performed them. And, when you do certain shows and everything fits together, it's a blessing. This show was like that not just because of the material and concept, but because of the cast. This is one of the those shows where the cast was very close and very special to one another. Every one of them is a good friend of mine. Some of them have been my friend for almost 20 years: Michael (of course), Kelly Cammarata (whom I went to college with) and Terrie George (who has been a part of my theatrical life ever since I can remember). Some of them are long-time friends whom I've known and worked with for years: Loraine, Bobby Cooke, Nicole Marrale, Kristy Schupp and my other bestest friend (and housemate), Marc Sacco (pictured above with me). And a new friend, who I love like a little brother, Christopher M. Howard. Familiar Strangers is truly one of those experiences I'll hold close to my heart, forever.

In April/May, I performed in another new work at MusicalFare entitled A Rainbow Journey: The Harold Arlen Story. It told the story of Buffalo-born composer Harold Arlen. New works are always fun because no one else has been able to put a stamp on a character you're playing. And the text can change day-to-day. The best part of this show for me was the fact that it was the first time I was able to perform with both John Fredo and Kathy Weese (the three of us pictured, above) at the same time in over ten years. That' s kinda bizarre as the three of us used to do shows together constantly. Throw Norm Sham and Todd Benzin in the mix, and that made the experience even better.

My summer was spent working in Amherst and Lewiston. First, I started rehearsals for Sisters of Swing: The Andrews Sisters Musical at MusicalFare, which was being re-mounted for a few weeks in the summer after having been a big success the previous fall. I directed and choreographed. My original dream cast (Kathy Weese, Debbie Pappas, Kelly Meg Brennan, Phil Farugia and Todd Benzin - all but Phil pictured above) were back. In certain ways, I was happier with the re-mount than the original production. Don't get me wrong: I was damn proud of the original. But I was able to tweak some things (like my sometimes awakward blocking) for the re-mount that made the show, I believe, better. The day Sisters... started prevues, I began rehearsal stage managing Aida up at Artpark in Lewiston, NY. It was a hoot-and-a-half! The cast was lovely and talented, and included Nikki Renee Daniels (from Broadway's Les Miserables) and the ridiculously talented Michael Hunsaker. It was directed by my MusicalFare boss, Randall Kramer (nicely done, btw) and choreographed by my longtime mentor and friend, the brilliant Lynne Kurdziel-Formato. I also met some new, fantastic people (Steven Baker, Ashlea Potts) and got closer to some I previously knew (Kevin Kennedy, Allan Paglia).

This fall, I performed in a play. I love doing plays. This one was a coup, in itself. It was the World Premiere since the New York production of Terrance McNally's Some Men, directed by Javier Bustillos. It was a really great experience and I got to work opposite some fantastic actors and wonderful friends. Jimmy Janowski and Bill Schmidt blew me away. And working opposite Chris Kelly, Matthew Hurley and Matthew Crehan Higgins was beyond fantastic. The biggest challenge to this show was that I had to appear fully nude...several times...for long stretches. I'd never had to do it before, but I'm glad I did it. None of my nudity was gratuitous; it was all necessary. I miss this show, as well. I thank Javier for the opportunity.

The rest of my autumn was spent choreographing Dear Edwina for Orchard Park Middle School. I've done ten shows there over a 14 year span. Next year will be the last for our production team. The kids are great and Syndi and Cindy make me smile every day I'm there. (If you do scholastic theatre, I highly recommend this show.)

Currently, I'm in rehearsal for 12 Angry Men (another play!) at the Kavinoky Theatre. It opens in January, so we're rehearsing through the holidays. Everyone's very talented and I'm looking forward to being directed by my old friend (and a superb lighting designer!), Brian Cavanagh.

As if that wasn't enough, those are only the shows in which I performed or which I directed, choreographed or stage managed. I also worked on Tick, Tick...Boom! (props), Altar Boyz (props, lighting board-op), A Brief History of White Music (co-rehearsal stage mgr, props) - all at MusicalFare; MusicalFare's Bat Boy at Studio Arena for which I did preliminary production coordination, and MusicalFare's Sophie Tucker: Last of the Red Hot Mamas at ICTC for which I ran sound. I'm also working on props for MusicalFare's upcoming Sweeney Todd and doing some basic production work for Charles Dickens Presents: A Christmas Carol.

That's 14 shows in 12 months. I'm not bragging. I'm just grateful. I love what I do and can't wait to do more! (Maybe not 14 shows this year, though. Some sleep would be good, too...)

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Film Review

Zodiac

Back when I was approximately 12 years old, I saw a "special" on some cable TV show. Maybe it was WPIX out of NYC (remember when people played video games in a daily contest yelling "Pix!" to make someone at the station press the button?) or A&E in its early days. Anyway, the "special" was about the Zodiac Killer who terrorized California in the late 60s through mid 70s. He murdered people randomly and in different ways and sent cypher-codes (see pic to see an actual example of one of his cyphers) to the police and media to give them clues to his identity. It absolutely haunted me for years because they had the creepiest sounding guy reading the letters that the killer sent to area newspapers or the police. His voice-over stuck in my head. That, and the fact that they never caught Zodiac struck a chord on my impressionable young mind.

They say the best way to overcome your fear is to face it, so I read books about the case, magazine articles, and anything I could get my hands on. The entire time I did so, it was to reassure myself that they guy was in California and nowhere near Buffalo, NY. Eventually, I got over it.

Then, the internet came along and one day I stumbled on a site about the case...and spent weeks following links to others. Reading "new" theories about the case re-sparked my interest. At the same time, there had been rumors for well over a decade about a film being made, which never seemed to come to fruition.

Then came 2007 and David Fincher's marvelous film, Zodiac. When it was released, I wanted to go see it, but was too busy and figured I'd catch it on DVD. I bought the DVD a month or so ago, but never got around to watching it...partially because I also bought a PS3 and have been addicted to Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for a while now...but I digress.

I watched the film and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's an amazing "history" of the case. It is meticulously filmed, edited and designed. And the interesting thing is that while ther performances are all very well done, no one is a stand-out among the others. It's a real ensemble piece.

It is long. A little more than 2 and a half hours. And you wonder where it's going at times. But it's all worth it in the end. You can't feel the frustration the investigators felt or the obsession that the reporters felt without almost literally re-living the entire investigation.

Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey, Jr., and Anthony Edwards all do finely tuned, nuanced work, as do all (and I mean all) of the supporting actors and extras. The director's cut with a ton of extras comes out in 2008, and I'll be the first to buy it. It will give me one more moment of obsession about a 40 yr old serial killer case.

Chances are the Zodiac Killer is dead or in old-age obscurity at this point, because of the amount of time that has gone by, but the case still creeps me out. It's the "what if" factor. And this remarkable film only reinforces that. Zodiac is "unease" at its best.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

In Memoriam

J. Bryan Hayes

I haven't yet blogged about anything for Buffalo/WNY Theatre and it's unfortunate that this tragedy has to be the first for that subject. Actor J. Bryan Hayes, who worked extensively in the WNY area before re-locating, passed away recently. He worked for most of the area's theatres/companies at some point or other. Personally, I only worked with him once - in a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Upstage NY back in the very early 90s.



A memorial service will be held at 10am on Sunday, December 9th at the Kavinoky Theatre for any wishing to attend.

(photo by Beverly Broucous)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

The Men of Wisteria Lane

OK, we all know the show is called Desperate Housewives. And we all know the women are fierce in their own ways. But I want to write about the men who are currently on the show. Some of them I like, some of them I love, some of them I couldn't give a rat's ass about one way or another. So, in no particular order...
Doug Savant (Tom Scavo) I must admit, I love him the most. Not because he played gay on Melrose Place. Not because his name is "Doug," like me. (FYI - "Douglas" is a Scottish name that translates to "dweller of the dark brook." Mysterious, huh?) As far as I'm concerned, he's the unsung strongest male actor on the show. He's not only completely and utterly believable, but he's strong enough to go head-to-head with Felicity Huffman in a majority of his scenes. I think he plays his character exactly right - flawed and real...exactly what every man really is.
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Ricardo Chavira (Carlos Solis) I love him second most. I love Latin men. He's tall, dark and swarthy. He's also a man's man. Oh, and a good actor. My only complaint? Wait, I have none.
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Shawn Pyfrom (Andrew Van De Camp) Don't argue with me. He's not one of the kids anymore. He's a young man. And a fine actor. I wished the writers hadn't watered him down so much since his bad-boy days. And give the character a boyfriend, please! He's been single and celibate for too long. Someone that good-looking and in the prime of his life should be gettin' some on a regular basis. Shawn has come a long way since his guest starring days on Still Standing and Reba. Hell, sometimes you can catch him on both shows, back-to-back on Lifetime.
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Kyle MacLachlan (Orson Hodge) Kyle's been around for years. And I still don't buy a majority of what he says/does on screen. It's not that I think he's a bad actor. He's OK. But, there's something so "plastic" and "facade-like" about him, that I've always wondered if the real Kyle MacLachlan was buried somewhere in the sands of Dune, while what we see is some sort of robot David Lynch created to take his place. He's so wax-like, I half-expect him to melt in daylight scenes.
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James Denton (Mike Delfino) Sleepwalking. That's what he's doing. Sleepwalking.
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Kevin Rahm (Lee McDermott) One half of the gay couple on Wisteria Lane. I like him. He's appropriately snarky (and you know I love snarky!). His face has character and there's something very appealing about him. I'm intrigued enough that I'll bet they kill off his partner at some point and give him more to do...
like maybe become Andrew's bf.
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Tuc Watkins (Bob Hunter) The other half of the gay couple on Wisteria Lane. The cardboard half.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Film Review

30 Days of Night

You're not gonna believe this...I freakin' loved this movie! It's not gonna win any awards or anything, but it's so damn stylized and crafted that ya can't help but be impressed.

The story is this...

The town of Barrow is far enough north that it's one of the locations in Alaska that ends up with 30 straight days without sunlight. A majority of the town leaves for elsewhere during this time because most of the locals can't deal with darkness for that long. Maybe 75-100 folks stay for the duration. And only a handful survive...because freaky-deaky vampires some to play! What better place for vampires to visit? No pesky sunlight to drive them into slumber. Just constant darkness. They don't feel cold - only hunger. So it's terror for the residents because they've got, basically, no chance.

The cinematography is very cool. Very unique. There's one overhead crane shot of the overall massacre of the town that is striking. Blood on snow. Makes a fantastic impression.

The tension builds throughout the film - basically along the lines of "who's gonna get bitten/savaged/axed/beheaded next?" I had a number of "jump out of my seat" moments.

It stars Josh Hartnett and Melissa George. Now, I usually hate Josh Hartnett. I think he's pretty much the blandest "actor" ever to appear on screen. Thank the heavens he doesn't have much to do here but look stressed, run around, and yell a lot, so he's tolerable. Oh, and he grows a beard over the course of the film. And the beard looks, appropriately for baby-faced Joshy, like that of a 12 year old boy.

Melissa George - dunno who the hell she is. Very Olivia D'Abo..though I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing.

I would say the best part of the movie is the fact that, while there are "special effects," it's mostly of the good, old fashioned splatter-fest makeup effects kind. There's barely any green-screening. Just lots of fake blood, fake snow, and real terror.

Go see it - you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

10 of My Favorite Actresses Currently Appearing on TV

Obviously, this list is subjective. But, I love every one of these women. I think they're talented, beautiful and some of the best actresses working today. They're in my order of preference...

(1) Felicity Huffman - The true anchor of Desperate Housewives. The other women are all very good, but Huffman is a true goddess. She's brilliant and needs to make more feature films, like Transamerica... not like Georgia Rule. I have nothing snarky to say about her.

(2) Jean Smart - Currently appearing on Samantha Who? The former Designing Women star is a formidable actress. She's appeared on almost every quality sitcom (both she and Felicity Huffman were Frasier Crane's girlfriends at one time or another on Frasier), and her Emmy nominated work on 24 was amazing. Someone get this woman into more films. A hidden gem of hers: playing the Bradys' next door-neighbor, Mrs. Ditmeyer in The Brady Bunch Movie. (Feeling drunk, horny and standing between Greg and Peter: "I'm in a Brady sandwich.")

(3) Sally Field - OK, she's amazing. Nobody can work a camera or an audience better than she on Brothers & Sisters. She's consistently ballsy. And consistently good. And the Boniva spokeswoman.

(4) Chandra Wilson - I LOVE Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey on Grey's Anatomy. She makes the "Nazi" (their term, not mine) on the show a strong leader, yet a sensitive woman. Can't wait to see what the future holds for her. And, Chandra, I don't care what you say - I love your nose.

(5) Becki Newton - As Amanda on Ugly Betty, she manages to do the unthinkable...steal almost every scene she's in. Brilliant at both comedy and dramatic work, great at slapstick comedy and fantastic at portraying multiple roles, she's someone to watch. And she's hot! Don't forget hot. Every homo's dream hag.

(6) Rachel Griffiths - Was brilliant on Six Feet Under, is brilliant on Brothers & Sisters. I'm a sucker for an Aussie.

(7) America Ferrera - The only actress on my list named after a country/continent. Ugly Betty herself conveys every emotion flawlessly, while holding the center of the show. I wonder if her boyfriend sings "I like to be in America..." when they have sex?

(8) Kristin Chenoweth - The Pushing Daisies star is adorable, yet formidable. She's been popping up everywhere (Ugly Betty, The West Wing) since she left Broadway's Wicked. And, don't forget she was the basis for Sarah Paulson's born-again character on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Kristin's got Jesus on her side.

(9) Kate Walsh - She's the perfect actress to spin off from Grey's Anatomy, to Private Practice. I idolize her. I wish I was her. Then, I'd get to meet TR Knight.

(10) Sandra Oh - I feel bad putting her at #10. She is a genius. Fantastic on Grey's Anatomy. Was great in Sideways. But she was stupid for ever agreeing to do Under the Tuscan Sun.