Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Return to the Web (with some minor tidbits)

Hello faithful readers. With the end of summer coming way to quickly upon us, I have decided to return to the world of my blog. Though I will probably not be posting on a daily basis for another week or so as I get back into the swing of school, I did want to get the ball rolling again and make sur you had some updates to get the year started.

Just to whet your appetites, recently, actress Anne Hathaway (whose name, I was recently reminded by a theater director friend of mine, is the same as that of William Shakespeare's wife) is in talks to star as Fantine in the upcoming film version of Broadway's megahit Les Miserables. She will star opposite Hugh Jackman, who has been confirmed to play Jean Valjean in the film. The film is to be directed by Tom Hooper, who recently had a hit with The King's Speech, for which he won the Best Director Oscar. Other actors rumored to be in talks for the film are Russel Crowe who is said to be up for the role of policeman Javert, and Jeffrey Rush and helena Bonham Carter, who are said to team up as the Thenardiers, the comedic hotel owners. The original Broadway production of Les Miserables is the third longest running showin Broadway history.

Speaking of long-running hits on Broadway, the current revival of Chicago, which opened back in 1996, became the fourth longest-running production in Broadway history on August 29th after its 6,138th performance, surpassing the record previously held by A Chorus Line. As though that was not enough, the show simultaneously became the longest-running American musical on the list, with three British imports in the top three spots (in order, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and the aforementioned Les Miserables).

In other news, the previously-announced revival of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth, which was set to star Nicole Kidman and James Franco, has been delayed and Franco has dropped (or been dropped, it is unclear which) out of the project. While there has been no comment from Nicole Kidman, the production's director, David Cromer, has said to The New York Times that the show is being postponed indefinitely so that the show's lead producer, Scott Rudin, can focus on an upcoming revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman which is set to star Phillip Seymour Hoffman is Willy Loman, Linda Emond as his wife, Linda, and film star Andrew Garfield as one of their sons.

Well, those are the highlights of the past few days. I will be updating more frequently as time moves on and will be back to my usual daily routine within another week or so.