2024 Lucille Lortel Awards winners: Kecia Lewis and Eli Gelb scoop up victories ahead of Tony Awards
Winners of the 2024 Lucille Lortel Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in Off-Broadway theater, were announced on Sunday, May 5, in a ceremony at NYU Skirball. The show was hosted by Rosalind Chao, Jen Colella, Michael Esper, 2024 Tony nominee Eden Espinosa (“Lempicka”), 2024 Tony nominee Nikki M. James (“Suffs”) and Bd Wong. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf.
It was a banner evening for Ars Nova. Not only did the theater company receive an honorary award for Best Body of Work, their show “(pray)” was also the top winner of the night. This co-production with National Black Theatre took home three trophies including Best Musical, Best Director for NicHi douglas and Best Ensemble.
Four other productions earned multiple awards, with “Buena Vista Social Club,” “The Comeuppance,” “Stereophonic,” and “Wet Brain” each claiming two prizes.
“Stereophonic” is a frontrunner for Best...
It was a banner evening for Ars Nova. Not only did the theater company receive an honorary award for Best Body of Work, their show “(pray)” was also the top winner of the night. This co-production with National Black Theatre took home three trophies including Best Musical, Best Director for NicHi douglas and Best Ensemble.
Four other productions earned multiple awards, with “Buena Vista Social Club,” “The Comeuppance,” “Stereophonic,” and “Wet Brain” each claiming two prizes.
“Stereophonic” is a frontrunner for Best...
- 5/6/2024
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Broadway’s Stereophonic and Hell’s Kitchen took home Lucille Lortel Awards for their earlier Off Broadway productions.
Lortel Awards (for outstanding Off Broadway shows) were awarded to Eli Gelb for his featured performance in a play for Stereophonic, and Kecia Lewis won for her featured performance, musical, in Hell’s Kitchen. Sound designer Ryan Rumery won for Stereophonic. All three of those winners are nominated for 2024 Tony Awards for their their shows Broadway productions.
The 39th annual Lucille Lortel Awards were handed out last night. Topping the winners roster with three awards was (pray), the musical produced by Ars Nova and National Black Theatre and created by nicHi douglas, with music by S T A R R Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis. (pray) won the awards for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Director (douglas), and Outstanding Ensemble.
The complete winners list for the awards, produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre,...
Lortel Awards (for outstanding Off Broadway shows) were awarded to Eli Gelb for his featured performance in a play for Stereophonic, and Kecia Lewis won for her featured performance, musical, in Hell’s Kitchen. Sound designer Ryan Rumery won for Stereophonic. All three of those winners are nominated for 2024 Tony Awards for their their shows Broadway productions.
The 39th annual Lucille Lortel Awards were handed out last night. Topping the winners roster with three awards was (pray), the musical produced by Ars Nova and National Black Theatre and created by nicHi douglas, with music by S T A R R Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis. (pray) won the awards for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Director (douglas), and Outstanding Ensemble.
The complete winners list for the awards, produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre,...
- 5/6/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Nominations for the 39th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards were announced today by Amber Iman and George Abud, two stars of Broadway’s “Lempicka.” The Lortels honor outstanding achievement in Off-Broadway theater. The 2024 ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 5 at NYU Skirball Center. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by Tdf.
It’s common for productions to begin their life Off-Broadway before transferring to the Main Stem, so many of this year’s Tony Awards hopefuls are among the list of Lortel nominations. Chief among these contenders is “Hell’s Kitchen,” the semi-autobiographical musical from Alicia Keys. That tuner garnered five Lortel nominations. These include Best Musical, Best Choreography for Camille A. Brown, a Lead Performer bid for Maleah Joi Moon, and Featured Performer bids for Shoshana Bean and Kecia Lewis. All performance categories at the Lortel Awards are gender neutral.
It’s common for productions to begin their life Off-Broadway before transferring to the Main Stem, so many of this year’s Tony Awards hopefuls are among the list of Lortel nominations. Chief among these contenders is “Hell’s Kitchen,” the semi-autobiographical musical from Alicia Keys. That tuner garnered five Lortel nominations. These include Best Musical, Best Choreography for Camille A. Brown, a Lead Performer bid for Maleah Joi Moon, and Featured Performer bids for Shoshana Bean and Kecia Lewis. All performance categories at the Lortel Awards are gender neutral.
- 4/4/2024
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Bill Kenwright, the prolific West End producer behind the hit musicals Blood Brothers, Whistle Down the Wind and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat who would later go on to become an owner and chairman of his boyhood soccer club Everton, has died. He was 78.
In a statement, Everton said Kenwright died peacefully, “surrounded by his family and loved ones.” This month, the Premier League club revealed that Kenwright had recently undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his liver.
“The world of British theatre without Bill Kenwright seems impossible,” said fellow theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh in a statement on X. “In my lifetime, there has never been anyone like Bill. He’s totally irreplaceable, and we will miss him so.”
“Dearest Bill, Somewhere you’ll be singing Let It Be Me and challenging heavenly choirs to look into your Ebony Eyes,” Andrew Lloyd Webber tweeted. “The theatre will...
In a statement, Everton said Kenwright died peacefully, “surrounded by his family and loved ones.” This month, the Premier League club revealed that Kenwright had recently undergone surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his liver.
“The world of British theatre without Bill Kenwright seems impossible,” said fellow theater impresario Cameron Mackintosh in a statement on X. “In my lifetime, there has never been anyone like Bill. He’s totally irreplaceable, and we will miss him so.”
“Dearest Bill, Somewhere you’ll be singing Let It Be Me and challenging heavenly choirs to look into your Ebony Eyes,” Andrew Lloyd Webber tweeted. “The theatre will...
- 10/25/2023
- by Abid Rahman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Robert Swan, an actor familiar from sometimes brief but noticeable roles in Hoosiers, Rudy, The Untouchables and The Babe, died of cancer today at his home in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. He was 78.
His death was announced by his friend Betty Hoeffner in a Facebook post.
Perhaps best known for his role as an assistant to Gene Hackman’s high school basketball coach in director David Anspaugh’s 1986 sports drama Hoosiers, Swan also featured as a priest in Anspaugh’s 1993 Rudy starring Sean Astin.
Making his feature debut portraying a stagehand in 1980’s Somewhere in Time, Swan frequently appeared on both TV and in film over the next two decades, with roles in the 1984 TV-movie The Dollmaker starring Jane Fonda and in series including All My Children, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, Walking Tall, The Twilight Zone and Spencer For Hire.
On the big screen, he portrayed a biker in Doctor Detroit...
His death was announced by his friend Betty Hoeffner in a Facebook post.
Perhaps best known for his role as an assistant to Gene Hackman’s high school basketball coach in director David Anspaugh’s 1986 sports drama Hoosiers, Swan also featured as a priest in Anspaugh’s 1993 Rudy starring Sean Astin.
Making his feature debut portraying a stagehand in 1980’s Somewhere in Time, Swan frequently appeared on both TV and in film over the next two decades, with roles in the 1984 TV-movie The Dollmaker starring Jane Fonda and in series including All My Children, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, Walking Tall, The Twilight Zone and Spencer For Hire.
On the big screen, he portrayed a biker in Doctor Detroit...
- 8/9/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Francis Lawrence-directed feature adaptation of the Suzanne Collins prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has added 11 actors in its final casting round.
This includes Tony Award nominee Fionnula Flanagan, who’ll play Grandma’am, young Coriolanus Snow’s (Tom Blyth) strict grandmother. Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, the 18-year-old is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a postwar Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy,...
This includes Tony Award nominee Fionnula Flanagan, who’ll play Grandma’am, young Coriolanus Snow’s (Tom Blyth) strict grandmother. Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, the 18-year-old is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a postwar Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy,...
- 9/16/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
A musical version of The Outsiders, based on both S.E. Hinton’s groundbreaking 1967 Ya novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film version that introduced a generation of young actors who would dominate the screen for years to come, will make its world premiere next year at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre.
Though there currently are no plans for the musical beyond Chicago, the production’s creative team has significant ties to New York and Hollywood. The musical’s book is written by Adam Rapp, whose plays have been staged at, among other venues, New York Theatre Workshop and Rattlestick Theatre, and his film and TV credits include The L Word, In Treatment and The Looming Tower.
The production’s director, Liesl Tommy, directed Eclipsed starring Lupita Nyong’o both Off- and on Broadway in 2015-16. Tommy’s upcoming film projects include the movie adaptation of Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime...
Though there currently are no plans for the musical beyond Chicago, the production’s creative team has significant ties to New York and Hollywood. The musical’s book is written by Adam Rapp, whose plays have been staged at, among other venues, New York Theatre Workshop and Rattlestick Theatre, and his film and TV credits include The L Word, In Treatment and The Looming Tower.
The production’s director, Liesl Tommy, directed Eclipsed starring Lupita Nyong’o both Off- and on Broadway in 2015-16. Tommy’s upcoming film projects include the movie adaptation of Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime...
- 3/28/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The choreographed chaos of Jez Butterworth’s jaw-dropping play The Ferryman certainly earns the critical attention that’s been heaped on it. With 21 people in the cast — and a live goose and rabbit — the play about an extended family in 1980s Northern Ireland leaves audiences reeling after a suspenseful three-plus hours. Part of that is due to the savvy narrative structure that defies dramatic rules and should be impossible to pull off. Part of that is a stellar cast that manages to weave the love and violence into an organic...
- 1/6/2019
- by Jerry Portwood
- Rollingstone.com
Author: Guest
Right from its opening scene – where a suspect is chased under a bus and his head squashed like a jam doughnut – No Offence marked itself out as a gripping cop show like no other. The brainchild of Shameless’ Paul Abbott, it smashes together lightning-paced police drama with dark comedy and lashings of soap opera. At the centre is impulsive detective constable Dinah Kowalska, played by Elaine Cassidy, who we caught up with on the phone ahead of the second series beginning tonight (January 4th) on Channel 4. Key to No Offence’s success, she told us, was the Paul Abbott factor.
“It is like when you really like a band and you are waiting for their next album,” she said. “No Offence felt like his next album after Shameless, even though he has written films and stuff since. Paul’s writing is unique. It is just about three degrees left of reality.
Right from its opening scene – where a suspect is chased under a bus and his head squashed like a jam doughnut – No Offence marked itself out as a gripping cop show like no other. The brainchild of Shameless’ Paul Abbott, it smashes together lightning-paced police drama with dark comedy and lashings of soap opera. At the centre is impulsive detective constable Dinah Kowalska, played by Elaine Cassidy, who we caught up with on the phone ahead of the second series beginning tonight (January 4th) on Channel 4. Key to No Offence’s success, she told us, was the Paul Abbott factor.
“It is like when you really like a band and you are waiting for their next album,” she said. “No Offence felt like his next album after Shameless, even though he has written films and stuff since. Paul’s writing is unique. It is just about three degrees left of reality.
- 1/4/2017
- by Guest
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Judy Davis on the Sff red carpet with the winners of the Lexus Short Film Fellowship.
As the Lexus Short Film Fellowship jury chair, Judy Davis last week selected four young filmmakers - Alex Ryan, Anya Beyersdorf, Alex Murawski and Brooke Goldfinch - to receive $50,000 each to make a short that will premiere at next year's Sydney Film Festival.
The gender parity of the winners was a coincidence, Davis told If.
"On this jury, there was no quota, and I chose the films I liked. But as the afternoon wore on, it became clear it was looking like two and two. And one of the other members of the jury said, 'that's really good'."
Asked for her opinion on quotas, Davis said she wonders whether they might "breed resentment and mistrust", and argued instead for a shift in mindset: "that gradual but inevitable realisation that the female voice can be a profound voice,...
As the Lexus Short Film Fellowship jury chair, Judy Davis last week selected four young filmmakers - Alex Ryan, Anya Beyersdorf, Alex Murawski and Brooke Goldfinch - to receive $50,000 each to make a short that will premiere at next year's Sydney Film Festival.
The gender parity of the winners was a coincidence, Davis told If.
"On this jury, there was no quota, and I chose the films I liked. But as the afternoon wore on, it became clear it was looking like two and two. And one of the other members of the jury said, 'that's really good'."
Asked for her opinion on quotas, Davis said she wonders whether they might "breed resentment and mistrust", and argued instead for a shift in mindset: "that gradual but inevitable realisation that the female voice can be a profound voice,...
- 6/22/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
The Irish Repertory Theatre will honor the life and legacy of the great Irish playwright Brian Friel January 9, 1929 - October 2, 2015 with a memorial celebration to be held on Monday, December 7th, 2015 at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street, New York City. Doors will open at 330 Pm and the celebration will begin at 400 Pm. This event is open to the public but attendees must RSVP to frielirishrep.org and indicate number of attendees.
- 12/1/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Brian Friel, the Irish playwright who wrote the Tony-winning drama “Dancing at Lughnasa,” died Friday at his home in County Donegal. He was 86. The acclaimed writer first emerged in the 1960s with “Philadelphia, Here I Come!” which followed a young Irisman on the verge of emigrating to America and earned a Tony nomination for Best Play in 1966. But Friel is best known for the 1992 Tony winner “Dancing at Lughnasa,” which became a 1988 movie starring Meryl Streep as one of five unmarried sisters in rural Ireland in the 1930s. Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2015 (Photos) Friel’s other plays include.
- 10/2/2015
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Oscar-nominated actor says he would love to appear at the Lyric theatre in Belfast, where he began his professional career
Liam Neeson has hinted at a return to the stage, potentially at the theatre where his career began.
The Oscar-nominated Irish actor last appeared onstage in 2008 at New York's Lincoln Center festival in a production of Samuel Beckett's Eh Joe by the Gate theatre, Dublin. Neeson played Joe, replacing Michael Gambon, who had played the role two years earlier in Dublin.
Since then, theatregoers have had the chance to see Neeson on stage only as a hologram. He recorded the narrator's part in Jeff Wayne's stage musical version of The War of the Worlds, which toured the UK last year.
"I would love to tread the boards again at some point," Neeson told the Belfast Telegraph during a trip to Northern Ireland to receive the freedom of his home town,...
Liam Neeson has hinted at a return to the stage, potentially at the theatre where his career began.
The Oscar-nominated Irish actor last appeared onstage in 2008 at New York's Lincoln Center festival in a production of Samuel Beckett's Eh Joe by the Gate theatre, Dublin. Neeson played Joe, replacing Michael Gambon, who had played the role two years earlier in Dublin.
Since then, theatregoers have had the chance to see Neeson on stage only as a hologram. He recorded the narrator's part in Jeff Wayne's stage musical version of The War of the Worlds, which toured the UK last year.
"I would love to tread the boards again at some point," Neeson told the Belfast Telegraph during a trip to Northern Ireland to receive the freedom of his home town,...
- 1/30/2013
- by Matt Trueman
- The Guardian - Film News
Off-Broadway's acclaimed Irish Repertory Theatre presents its 2012 Annual Benefit Gala, a concert performance on Broadway of Lionel Bart's Oliver a glorious, Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale of 1850's London in the time of the Industrial Revolution on Monday, June 11 at The Shubert Theatre 225 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Charlotte Moore, who directed last year's concert staging of Camelot on Broadway and the Irish Repertory's recent revival of Brian Friel's Dancing At Lughnasa, will direct.
- 6/6/2012
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Off-Broadway's acclaimed Irish Repertory Theatre presents its 2012 Annual Benefit Gala, a concert performance on Broadway of Lionel Bart's Oliver a glorious, Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale of 1850's London in the time of the Industrial Revolution on Monday, June 11 at The Shubert Theatre 225 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Charlotte Moore, who directed last year's concert staging of Camelot on Broadway and the Irish Repertory's recent revival of Brian Friel's Dancing At Lughnasa, will direct.
- 6/5/2012
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Off-Broadway's acclaimed Irish Repertory Theatre presents its 2012 Annual Benefit Gala, a concert performance on Broadway of Lionel Bart's Oliver a glorious, Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of the classic Dickens tale of 1850's London in the time of the Industrial Revolution on Monday, June 11 at The Shubert Theatre 225 West 44th Street in Manhattan. Charlotte Moore, who directed last year's concert staging of Camelot on Broadway and the IrishRepertory's recent revival of Brian Friel's Dancing At Lughnasa, will direct.
- 5/17/2012
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
It was rumored earlier this year that Liam Neeson would return to reprise his role as Ra's al Ghul in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. He was spotted on the set of the film, but until today there's been no confirmation of his involvement. Warner Bros. made the announcement in the production notes for the film that says,
Neeson next appears in Peter Berg's actioner "Battleship," and he also will be seen in Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated action thriller "The Dark Knight Rises.
It makes perfect sense to me that his character would be back as this Batman finale as we've heard Nolan would bring everything back around in full circle in the franchise. I can't wait to see what this film has in store for us! I just can't help but think it's going to be mind blowing.
Josh Pence is playing Ra's al Ghul in the films flashbacks.
Neeson next appears in Peter Berg's actioner "Battleship," and he also will be seen in Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated action thriller "The Dark Knight Rises.
It makes perfect sense to me that his character would be back as this Batman finale as we've heard Nolan would bring everything back around in full circle in the franchise. I can't wait to see what this film has in store for us! I just can't help but think it's going to be mind blowing.
Josh Pence is playing Ra's al Ghul in the films flashbacks.
- 3/28/2012
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
The distinctive and beguiling Irish actor David Kelly, who has died aged 82, was as familiar a face in British television sitcoms as he was on the stage in Dublin, where he was particularly associated with the Gate theatre. But he was perhaps best known in recent years for playing Grandpa Joe in Tim Burton's movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), an engaging performance that was honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Irish Film and Television Academy; Johnny Depp, who played Willy Wonka, paid a touching tribute on a video link from Hollywood to Dublin.
Kelly was a tall and flamboyant figure who was often cast as a comic, eccentric Irishman, notably as Albert Riddle, an incompetent, one-armed dish-washer in the late 1970s British sitcom Robin's Nest; he...
Kelly was a tall and flamboyant figure who was often cast as a comic, eccentric Irishman, notably as Albert Riddle, an incompetent, one-armed dish-washer in the late 1970s British sitcom Robin's Nest; he...
- 2/14/2012
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Ralph Fiennes is in scary dude mode in Coriolanus, spending the entire film in a bad mood. But you can't gainsay the Bard
A few months ago, I saw a trailer for a film called Coriolanus. It concerned a war hero who falls out of favour with the public, defects to the other side, and then threatens his native land with utter devastation. The trailer made the film look pretty intense. I was really looking forward to seeing the movie because I had studied Greek and Latin in college and was drawn to anything pertaining to ancient Rome and its murderous rivals, which in this case were the Volscians, best thought as bargain-basement Etruscans. Coriolanus, of course, is by William Shakespeare. It is a second-tier play by Shakespeare, but it is a play by Shakespeare all the same. I am not sure everybody seeing that trailer was aware of this.
A few months ago, I saw a trailer for a film called Coriolanus. It concerned a war hero who falls out of favour with the public, defects to the other side, and then threatens his native land with utter devastation. The trailer made the film look pretty intense. I was really looking forward to seeing the movie because I had studied Greek and Latin in college and was drawn to anything pertaining to ancient Rome and its murderous rivals, which in this case were the Volscians, best thought as bargain-basement Etruscans. Coriolanus, of course, is by William Shakespeare. It is a second-tier play by Shakespeare, but it is a play by Shakespeare all the same. I am not sure everybody seeing that trailer was aware of this.
- 1/19/2012
- by Joe Queenan
- The Guardian - Film News
Versatile Irish stage actor who became a familiar face across British drama
Before he became a familiar face on television and cinema screens, the outstanding Irish actor Tp McKenna, who has died after a long illness aged 81, bridged the gap between the old and the new Abbey theatres in Dublin. He appeared with the company for eight years during the interim period at the Queen's theatre; the old Abbey burned down in 1951, the new one opened by the Liffey in 1966.
During that time he made his reputation as a leading actor of great charm, vocal resource – with a fine singing voice – and versatility. He was equally adept at comedy and tragedy, a great exponent of the best Irish playwriting from Jm Synge and Séan O'Casey to Hugh Leonard and Brian Friel. The elder son in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night was a favourite, much acclaimed role.
It was Stephen D,...
Before he became a familiar face on television and cinema screens, the outstanding Irish actor Tp McKenna, who has died after a long illness aged 81, bridged the gap between the old and the new Abbey theatres in Dublin. He appeared with the company for eight years during the interim period at the Queen's theatre; the old Abbey burned down in 1951, the new one opened by the Liffey in 1966.
During that time he made his reputation as a leading actor of great charm, vocal resource – with a fine singing voice – and versatility. He was equally adept at comedy and tragedy, a great exponent of the best Irish playwriting from Jm Synge and Séan O'Casey to Hugh Leonard and Brian Friel. The elder son in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night was a favourite, much acclaimed role.
It was Stephen D,...
- 2/17/2011
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Meryl Streep is seeking to research her Irish great-grandmother and to spend more time in Ireland. The acclaimed actress says that Grace Strain, her great-grandmother born 1865 in Donegal, is someone she wants to find out far more about. Her daughter Grace is named after her Irish ancestor: "I want more time in Ireland. I feel the need to do real scientific work on her ancestry,” she said. She first became aware of her Irish connection when filming "Dancing at Lughnasa," the Hollywood adaptation of Brian Friel's stage play of the same name. In that movie, she plays a Donegal-born older woman who is watching her life ebb by in a small Donegal backwater. Streep went back to Donegal for a showing of the movie and talked about her ancestor who is from Creeslough, also home of Irish country and western star Daniel O'Donnell. Her Irish roots are not far from where Matthew Broderick,...
- 2/9/2010
- IrishCentral
Stephen Rea, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, admits there are American dramas that are culturally alien to him and require research. But that's not an issue in the plays of Sam Shepard, one of Rea's favorite playwrights. Indeed, Rea has been featured in Shepard's work in Dublin, London, and New York for more than 30 years. Rea is currently co-starring in Shepard's "Ages of the Moon," now playing Off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company. "When you're acting in it, you feel more like a musician than an actor," Rea says. "You don't feel hidebound by mere character and situation. The performances are freer and more open because of it. At the same time, this play requires such precision and concentration. There's nowhere to hide."Set in rural Kentucky, the two-hander (also starring Irish actor Seán McGinley) is a dark, comic piece about two old friends who are lost souls. They reminisce,...
- 1/27/2010
- backstage.com
A talented Irish actor on stage and in films for Ford and Huston
For an actor who worked with two of the greatest movie directors of the last century and appeared in the world premieres of plays by Brian Friel, Ireland's leading contemporary dramatist, Donal Donnelly, who has died after a long illness, aged 78, was curiously unrecognised. Like so many prominent Irish actors in the diasporas of Hollywood, British television, the West End and Broadway – all areas he conquered – Donnelly was a great talent and a private citizen, happily married for many years, and always seemed youthful.
There was something mischievous, something larkish, about him, too. He twinkled. And he had a big nose. He had long lived in New York, although he died in Chicago, and had started out in Dublin, although born in England.
In John Huston's swansong movie The Dead (1987), the best screen transcription of a James Joyce fiction,...
For an actor who worked with two of the greatest movie directors of the last century and appeared in the world premieres of plays by Brian Friel, Ireland's leading contemporary dramatist, Donal Donnelly, who has died after a long illness, aged 78, was curiously unrecognised. Like so many prominent Irish actors in the diasporas of Hollywood, British television, the West End and Broadway – all areas he conquered – Donnelly was a great talent and a private citizen, happily married for many years, and always seemed youthful.
There was something mischievous, something larkish, about him, too. He twinkled. And he had a big nose. He had long lived in New York, although he died in Chicago, and had started out in Dublin, although born in England.
In John Huston's swansong movie The Dead (1987), the best screen transcription of a James Joyce fiction,...
- 1/7/2010
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Guthrie Theater and Walker Art Center staff will spend this weekend preparing for next week's five-day Twin Cities fall theater bonanza, highlighted by the American stage debut of Guthrie Director Joe Dowling in Brian Friel's Faith Healer, the Guthrie/Walker co-presentation of the internationally acclaimed Druid Ireland's The Walworth Farce, an accompanying In Conversation event with Dowling and Walworth playwright Enda Walsh, two high-definition Nt Live filmed presentations of the U.K. National Theatre's All's Well That Ends Well, the United States premiere of Interact Theater's Northern Lights/Southern Cross: Tales from the Other Side of the World and continuing performances of the Guthrie's "Wilde and witty" production of The Importance of Being Earnest.
- 10/21/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Guthrie today announced that it has launched FaithHealerLive.com, an online resource offering audiences an inside look at the theater's upcoming production of Faith Healer, in which Guthrie Director Joe Dowling will make his American acting debut. Through video interviews, design briefs and special events information, audiences can gain insight into the work of Irish playwright Brian Friel and his unique relationship with Dowling and the Guthrie. Heralded by Minnesota Monthly as one of the fall theater season's "can't-miss moments," Faith Healer begins previews October 17, opens October 23 and continues through December 6 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage. Single tickets start at $24 and are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.Stage, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.
- 10/15/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Kudos to Kino: the video company has released a boxed set of the acclaimed Aft feature films. Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
By Raymond Benson
.
Want to go see a Broadway or West End stage play—but at the local cinema? No, it’s not a filmed stage production. It’s a play translated to the film medium, but with complete faithfulness to the original play script. Not only that, it stars big name actors and is directed by a top-notch director. To complete the conceit, you get handed a playbill (program) when you enter the theater. There might even be an intermission—or two! And you have only four showtimes at which you can view the picture before it disappears, and you have to buy your ticket in advance with a subscription for a whole “season” of these filmed plays, or staged films, or whatever you want to call them.
By Raymond Benson
.
Want to go see a Broadway or West End stage play—but at the local cinema? No, it’s not a filmed stage production. It’s a play translated to the film medium, but with complete faithfulness to the original play script. Not only that, it stars big name actors and is directed by a top-notch director. To complete the conceit, you get handed a playbill (program) when you enter the theater. There might even be an intermission—or two! And you have only four showtimes at which you can view the picture before it disappears, and you have to buy your ticket in advance with a subscription for a whole “season” of these filmed plays, or staged films, or whatever you want to call them.
- 4/16/2009
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Webster University's Conservatory of Theatre Arts presents the award-winning play, "Dancing at Lughnasa," by Brian Friel, April 8-12 in the Loretto-Hilton Center's Emerson Studio Theatre, 130 Edgar Road. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m., except Sunday, which will have a 2 p.m. matinee only. Admission is $12 for the general public and $6 for senior adults and students. For ticket reservations, call the Fine Arts Hotline at 968-7128.
- 3/24/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Tony Award-winning Irish actress Anna Manahan has died of multiple organ failure at the age of 84.
Manahan, whose career on the stage, television and film spanned over 60 years, died on Sunday in Waterford, Ireland.
She made her Broadway debut in Brian Friel's Lovers in 1969, which earned her a Tony nomination for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Drama.
But it was her role as Mag Folan in famed Irish playwright Martin McDonagh's 1996 production Beauty Queen that finally earned her the Tony in 1998 for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.
She also starred in plays written by Irish writers including J.M. Synge, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and Sean O'Casey, and appeared in numerous TV series, most recently in 2004's Fair City.
Her film career saw her star alongside the likes of Sir Laurence Olivier, Peter Cushing, Kenneth Moore, and Dame Maggie Smith, while her best-known roles were in 1991's Hear My Song and 1994's A Man of No Importance, featuring Albert Finney and Sir Michael Gambon.
In 2002, Manahan was granted the freedom of the city of Waterford for life achievement in the arts.
She is survived by two brothers, Val and Joe.
Manahan, whose career on the stage, television and film spanned over 60 years, died on Sunday in Waterford, Ireland.
She made her Broadway debut in Brian Friel's Lovers in 1969, which earned her a Tony nomination for Best Supporting or Featured Actress in a Drama.
But it was her role as Mag Folan in famed Irish playwright Martin McDonagh's 1996 production Beauty Queen that finally earned her the Tony in 1998 for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.
She also starred in plays written by Irish writers including J.M. Synge, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and Sean O'Casey, and appeared in numerous TV series, most recently in 2004's Fair City.
Her film career saw her star alongside the likes of Sir Laurence Olivier, Peter Cushing, Kenneth Moore, and Dame Maggie Smith, while her best-known roles were in 1991's Hear My Song and 1994's A Man of No Importance, featuring Albert Finney and Sir Michael Gambon.
In 2002, Manahan was granted the freedom of the city of Waterford for life achievement in the arts.
She is survived by two brothers, Val and Joe.
- 3/10/2009
- WENN
With filming of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" falling into place a few weeks ago, an interesting casting report comes in. The Coleraine Times brought to the surface that actress Michelle Fairley has been picked up to play the Muggle dentist and the mother of Emma Watson's Hermione Granger.
Expressing her excitement of joining the blockbuster production, Fairley admitted, "I'm delighted as I've a lot of friends and family and their children who all love Harry Potter, so it's lovely to be involved. I've never seen any of the Harry Potter movies or read any of the books." On her role as Mrs. Granger, she additionally commented, "It's not a very large part, maybe three or four scenes which will take just a few days filming. But it's very nice indeed for me."
The actress further revealed that she almost missed out on the role due...
Expressing her excitement of joining the blockbuster production, Fairley admitted, "I'm delighted as I've a lot of friends and family and their children who all love Harry Potter, so it's lovely to be involved. I've never seen any of the Harry Potter movies or read any of the books." On her role as Mrs. Granger, she additionally commented, "It's not a very large part, maybe three or four scenes which will take just a few days filming. But it's very nice indeed for me."
The actress further revealed that she almost missed out on the role due...
- 3/5/2009
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
The Buck Creek Players will continue their 35th Anniversary "Award-Winning Season" with Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, winner of the 1992 Tony Award? for Best Play. Performances will be held at 8:00 p.m. on March 13, 14, 20 and 21, with 2:30 p.m. matinees on March 14, 15, 20 and 21. All performances will be held at the Buck Creek Playhouse, 11150 Southeastern Avenue. Tickets are $14 for adults and $12 for students and senior citizens aged 62 or older and can be reserved by calling (317) 862-2270. Group discounts are available for parties of ten or more.
- 2/25/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Irish Repertory Theatre has announced that it will extend it's highly successful run of Brian Friel's Aristocrats until March 29, 2009. The production is directed by Charlotte Moore. Aristocrats. One of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Irish theater, master storyteller, Brian Friel is at the top of his form with this touching story of a once powerful and aristocratic family in its days of decline.
- 2/11/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
NEW YORK -- An adaptation of the hugely acclaimed Brian Friel play, "Dancing at Lughnasa" demonstrates the risks of transferring poetic theatrical material to the big screen.
Although intelligently adapted, beautifully acted and gorgeously photographed, the movie never quite soars the way the theatrical production did, and it is unlikely to reap the same kind of critical success. The presence of Meryl Streep -- who gets to deliver an Irish accent -- should help, as will the film's pedigree, but boxoffice prospects don't look particularly green.
Adapted by famed Irish playwright Frank McGuinness ("Someone Who'll Watch Over Me"), "Lughnasa" is a memory piece set in rural Ireland in 1936 about the five unmarried, Catholic Mundy sisters, who live in a small house in the hills outside the Donegal village of Ballybeg. Together, they take care of Michael Darrell Johnston), the 8-year-old love child of Christina (Catherine McCormack). The other sisters are Kate (Streep), a teacher at the local Catholic school who is about to lose her job because of falling attendance; Agnes (Brid Brennan, the only holdover from the original theatrical cast), who has assumed the role of caretaker; Rose (Sophie Thompson), gentle, sweet and mentally impaired; and Maggie (Kathy Burke), irrepressibly cheerful and profane.
The plot, such as it is, mainly revolves around a pair of arrivals -- the sisters' long-absent and rather addled older brother Jack (Michael Gambon), fresh from a decades-long stint as a missionary in Africa, and Gerry (Rhys Ifans), Michael's father, who is on his way to fight for anti-Franco forces in Spain. The title refers to an annual pagan ritual that is the town's social highlight of the year.
In its translation to the screen, "Dancing at Lughnasa" has somehow lost something, and it's hard to say exactly what. Certainly, the play's highly poetic language doesn't fully translate. And the much-heralded episode in which the sisters spontaneously burst into a joyous dance -- the highlight of the stage version -- falls flat on screen. Here, the story comes across as simply a series of minor but picturesque episodes, with the chief attributes being the excellent performances and gorgeous photography of the Irish countryside.
Streep has been so good for so long that it's easy to take her for granted, but she delivers another excellent performance as a curmudgeonly character who in lesser hands would be lessened to caricature. McCormack is luminous as the sensual Christina, and the three other female leads deliver superbly nuanced work. Ifans is highly appealing as a young man so high-spirited that he whoops and hollers at the prospect of going to war. Although one misses Gambon's usual mesmerizing intensity, he gives a well-modulated, quiet performance that is perfectly apt.
Director Pat O'Connor obviously knows his way around Ireland, but his command of the material is less sure, resulting in awkward tonal shifts and passages. The excellent soundtrack is provided by composer Bill Whelan, best known for the worldwide "Riverdance" sensation.
DANCING AT LUGHNASA
Sony Pictures Classics
Credits: Director: Pat O'Connor; Producer: Noel Pearson; Screenplay: Frank McGuinness; Director of photography: Kenneth MacMillan; Editor: Humphrey Dixon; Music: Bill Whelan. Cast: Kate Mundy: Meryl Streep; Father Jack Mundy: Michael Gambon; Christina Mundy: Catherine McCormack; Maggie Mundy: Kathy Burke; Rose Mundy: Sophie Thompson; Agnes Mundy: Brid Brennan; Gerry Evans: Rhys Ifans; Michael Mundy: Darrell Johnston. MPAA rating: PG. Color/stereo. Running time -- 94 minutes.
Although intelligently adapted, beautifully acted and gorgeously photographed, the movie never quite soars the way the theatrical production did, and it is unlikely to reap the same kind of critical success. The presence of Meryl Streep -- who gets to deliver an Irish accent -- should help, as will the film's pedigree, but boxoffice prospects don't look particularly green.
Adapted by famed Irish playwright Frank McGuinness ("Someone Who'll Watch Over Me"), "Lughnasa" is a memory piece set in rural Ireland in 1936 about the five unmarried, Catholic Mundy sisters, who live in a small house in the hills outside the Donegal village of Ballybeg. Together, they take care of Michael Darrell Johnston), the 8-year-old love child of Christina (Catherine McCormack). The other sisters are Kate (Streep), a teacher at the local Catholic school who is about to lose her job because of falling attendance; Agnes (Brid Brennan, the only holdover from the original theatrical cast), who has assumed the role of caretaker; Rose (Sophie Thompson), gentle, sweet and mentally impaired; and Maggie (Kathy Burke), irrepressibly cheerful and profane.
The plot, such as it is, mainly revolves around a pair of arrivals -- the sisters' long-absent and rather addled older brother Jack (Michael Gambon), fresh from a decades-long stint as a missionary in Africa, and Gerry (Rhys Ifans), Michael's father, who is on his way to fight for anti-Franco forces in Spain. The title refers to an annual pagan ritual that is the town's social highlight of the year.
In its translation to the screen, "Dancing at Lughnasa" has somehow lost something, and it's hard to say exactly what. Certainly, the play's highly poetic language doesn't fully translate. And the much-heralded episode in which the sisters spontaneously burst into a joyous dance -- the highlight of the stage version -- falls flat on screen. Here, the story comes across as simply a series of minor but picturesque episodes, with the chief attributes being the excellent performances and gorgeous photography of the Irish countryside.
Streep has been so good for so long that it's easy to take her for granted, but she delivers another excellent performance as a curmudgeonly character who in lesser hands would be lessened to caricature. McCormack is luminous as the sensual Christina, and the three other female leads deliver superbly nuanced work. Ifans is highly appealing as a young man so high-spirited that he whoops and hollers at the prospect of going to war. Although one misses Gambon's usual mesmerizing intensity, he gives a well-modulated, quiet performance that is perfectly apt.
Director Pat O'Connor obviously knows his way around Ireland, but his command of the material is less sure, resulting in awkward tonal shifts and passages. The excellent soundtrack is provided by composer Bill Whelan, best known for the worldwide "Riverdance" sensation.
DANCING AT LUGHNASA
Sony Pictures Classics
Credits: Director: Pat O'Connor; Producer: Noel Pearson; Screenplay: Frank McGuinness; Director of photography: Kenneth MacMillan; Editor: Humphrey Dixon; Music: Bill Whelan. Cast: Kate Mundy: Meryl Streep; Father Jack Mundy: Michael Gambon; Christina Mundy: Catherine McCormack; Maggie Mundy: Kathy Burke; Rose Mundy: Sophie Thompson; Agnes Mundy: Brid Brennan; Gerry Evans: Rhys Ifans; Michael Mundy: Darrell Johnston. MPAA rating: PG. Color/stereo. Running time -- 94 minutes.
- 11/17/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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