Tuesday, April 23, 2013

First Look at Kathryn Erbe & More in Off-Broadway’s Nikolai and the Others

Kathryn Erbe as Natasha Nabokov and Stephen Kunken as Nikolai Nabokov in Nikolai and the Others.

The cast of Nikolai and the Others.

Acclaimed director David Cromer helms the world premiere production of Tony winner Richard Nelson’s latest drama Nikolai and the Others. Set in 1948, the play imagines the creation of Balanchine and Stravinsky’s historic collaboration, the ballet Orpheus. The Lincoln Center Theater production opens May 6 and stars Tony winner Michael Cerveris, Kathryn Erbe, John Glover, Stephen Kunken, Alvin Epstein and many many more. Click below to get your first look at this stirring drama, and head over to the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre to see it live.

source: Broadway.com

Women’s Campaign Fund Gala

Like last year Kathryn attended the 33rd annual WCFonline Gala, yesterday at NYC. Unfortunately there is just this one photo until now.


Women’s Campaign Fund’s 33rd Annual Parties of Your Choice Gala

When  Mon, April 22,5:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where  Christie's Auction House, 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY
Admission  Ticketed Event
Description 
The Women’s Campaign Fund (WCF), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in elected office who support reproductive health choices for all, is hosting the 33rd Annual Parties of Your Choice Gala in New York City. Tulsi Gabbard, United States Representative for Hawaii's second congressional district, will be honored with the first Wendy Mackenzie Game Changer Award presented to her by Wendy Mackenzie, a long-time WCF board member and renowned women’s activist. Candace Straight, national co-chair of Republican Majority for Choice, will receive the Wendy Mackenzie Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

We got the title: POISONED MOTIVE

Law and Order : SVU - Episode 14.22 - Poisoned Motive - Press Release 


"LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT"

"POISONED MOTIVE"

05/08/2013 (09:01PM - 10:00PM) (Wednesday) : LIEUTENANT ALEXANDRA EAMES (GUEST STAR KATHRYN ERBE) RETURNS TO HELP THE SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT WHEN A STRING OF SHOOTINGS IS LINKED TO FIN’S (ICE-T) PAST AS A NARCOTICS OFFICER.

Two surprise sniper attacks on the NYPD leave the SVU squad scrambling for answers. When the link between the shootings appears to be Detective Tutuola (Ice-T), he reconnects with his former Narcotics partner (guest star Yul Vazquez) in order to uncover a possible motive tied to their old cases. As the violence continues, Lieutenant Eames (guest star Erbe) joins the investigation and the Special Victims Unit races to hunt down a killer no one saw coming. Also starring Mariska Hargitay (Detective Olivia Benson), Dann Florek (Captain Donald Cragen), Danny Pino (Detective Nick Amaro) and Kelli Giddish (Detective Amanda Rollins). Guest starring Jessica Camacho, Emilio Rivera, Cathy Moriarty, 2 Chainz and LaLa Anthony.

I can't wait to see first on set photos!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Nikolai and the Others - more reviews

You can find three more longer reviews of Kathryn's current play here at BroadwayWorld.com.

customsay:
nowing Nelson's work I didn't walk in expecting a tight narrative and tidy construction, but the pleasures of his best plays, including the recent Apple family cycle at the Public, which I loved, were absent for me here. This play just rambles, and the ensemble hasn't come together yet. It's previews, I understand; hopefully they'll get there. But there were no standout performances either, in part due to the flatness of the roles as written. None of the actors really gets a chance to shine. The author's note that Whizzer quotes above makes explicit at least one of Nelson's main objectives here � to depict a kind of harmony between what he clearly sees as the exalted act of creating art and the more mundane pursuits of everyday life. But the play didn't capture this for me and there was too much on-the-nose talk about art and artists that cast the whole bunch � Stravinsky, Balanchine, et al. � as stereotypically pretentious and self-absorbed. Nelson fails to really humanize and make three-dimensional these legendary figures. Cromer's staging seems to be a work-in-progress. Sightlines are funky and he's got a lot of characters to maneuver around and through that tiny space. Right now some of the action is unfocused and details are missed or don't register depending on where you're sitting. Hopefully that gets tightened up too. Michael Cerveris gave a little curtain speech acknowledging the death of Maria Tallchief and the dancer playing Tallchief took a solo bow in tribute. A lovely moment.

After Eight:
I've not been a great fan of Richard Nelson's work. In fact, most of his plays have bored me to tears, though I did like his book for The Dead. But I most certainly did like this play, which could be subtitled something like Beyond the Cherry Orchard. It's both elegiac and moving.

Though not a play of great moment, it proceeds as a succession of affecting moments. On a sprawling canvas, Nelson has written an intimist piece, full of finely-etched characters and beautifully-wrought details. It's like unrolling a bolt of brocaded silk, and it flows just as smoothly.


The opening dining scene plays out like an orchestrated pageant, from the setting of the table, the talking up of the arrival of the awaited guest, his grand entrance like that of Neptune emerging from the sea, to the meal itself, with its multiple tales being told both in both word and silence. The acting ensemble is wonderful, as is the direction, with each actor fully able to convey his character's nature and feelings through the merest of gestures or facial expressions. Everything is conveyed subtly, glancingly, with the total effect being profoundly meaningful without once being heavy-handed or labored.


The camaraderie and insular nature of emigres in a new land; their sense of loss of what they left behind; their own callousness to "outsiders;" the egomania, insensitivity and petty cruelties of great artists; the satellites who surround and worship them; the betrayals, jealousies and disappointments integral to the human condition: all these themes are evoked here with an accomplished and compassionate hand.


A special commendation must go to the wonderful costumes, which evoke a time, milieu and state of mind all on their own.


All in all, a very satisfying evening in the theatre, and easily the best new play I've seen this season.

15minutecall:
I was there yesterday afternoon and agree with After Eight. Lovely work on the page and the stage.

Don't miss the online version of Lincoln Center Theater review - Issues 60 (Spring 2013). You will find 23 pages full of´ Nikolai and the Others information.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

All Things Alex Eames...



...collected by my wonderful friend gorengal.

See the entry here at her LJ. I can't wait for more news about the next SVU episode.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Look who'll return!

Law & Order: SVU Exclusive: Kathryn Erbe Returns for 'Big' Finn Episode
April 9, 2013 12:36 PM PDT by

When Law & Order: SVU‘s Finn finds himself in danger this May, an old friend will be around to lend a hand.
Kathryn Erbe‘s Det. Alexandra Eames will make her second appearance of the season in the May 8 episode, executive producer Warren Leight tells TVLine exclusively.

The Law & Order: Criminal Intent mainstay will show up when someone related to Finn’s past as a narcotics officer begins causing trouble for the SVU detective . What happens is “so big, she’s called in,” Leights says, adding that the idea for the episode originated with its star Ice T.
“He said, ‘I saw after that Rollins-and-her-sister episode, the fans really like it when we’re in harm’s way,” the EP recalls. “‘And don’t forget, I used to be a narcotics officer. There’s got to be a lot of people who want me dead.’”

Hip-hop artist 2 Chainz also appears in the episode as “someone Finn dealt with in the past,” Leight says. “There’s a lot of bad blood from Finn’s past involved in it.”
Emilio Rivera (Sons of Anarchy), Yul Vasquez (Magic City) and Cathy Moriarty (Raging Bull) also appear in the episode.
 

Friday, April 5, 2013

Nikolai and the Others - First Review

by Richard Nelson
directed by David Cromer
originally produced at Lincoln Center Theater, New York, NY.
April 4, 2013 through June 6, 2013

About the Premiere Production:

It is 1948 and over the course of an early-spring weekend in Westport, Connecticut, a close-knit group of Russian émigrés, including choreographer George Balanchine, composer Igor Stravinsky, conductor Serge Koussevitsky, set designer Sergey Sudeikin, and composer Nikolai Nabokov, gather to eat, drink, talk, and make art. In Nikolai and the Others, playwright Richard Nelson reimagines the genesis of Balanchine and Stravinsky’s historic collaboration, the ballet Orpheus, which led directly to the creation of the New York City Ballet. Illuminating the precarious convergence of culture and politics, Nelson sheds light on the U.S. government’s surreptitious arts funding at the outset of the Cold War. Directed by David Cromer, Nikolai and the Others has been scheduled for a 10½-week run (April 4–June 16, 2013) in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. The production will be designed by Marsha Ginsberg (sets), Jane Greenwood (costumes), Ken Billington (lighting), and Daniel Kluger (sound). New York City Ballet's Rosemary Dunleavy will recreate Balanchine’s Orpheus choreography to Stravinsky’s piano score (pending rights permission). Commissioned by LCT with support from Ellen and Howard Katz.

source: tcg.org

Reviews at BroadwayWorld.com (don't read, when you don't want to get spoilered):

WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel:
I was at the first preview tonight and it was very frustrating. I think there's an awesome idea for a play here, but after 3 hours tonight Richard Nelson hasn't quite found it yet.
The play takes place during a Russian weekend in the country in Westport Connecticut. A cavalcade of historical figures descend on the cottage including Nicholas Nabokov, Igor Stravinsky, George Balanchine and his two lead dancers Maria Tallchief and Nicholas Magallanes. I thought this would be right up my alley, but the script meanders through the weekend without much forward motion.
There is an author's note in the playbill that states the people are real, but the situation is not. Facts and figures have been altered for dramatic purposes. The trouble is nothing all that dramatic happens!
Here's something else Nelson writes in his note:
Or to put this another way, my hope is to show a world where the creating of art- in this case dance- lives side by side, cheek by jowl, with all other essential and necessary functions of life; such as eating, drinking, dying, sleeping, dreaming, making love, laughing, remembering, disappointing, and attempting to be generous.
Well this is all very interesting in theory, but Nelson doesn't achieve what Baker (contestedly) achieved with The Flick; watching the mundane doesn't excite and the actors are left at sea treading water to keep afloat.
The scene at the end of act one was the best scene. Everyone gathered to watch Stravinsky and Balanchine choreograph Orpheus, and the two dancers perform it beautifully. It turns out the creation of art IS the most interesting to dramatize.
The staging is problematic because some of the sightlines will be bad. I felt like I was sitting in the perfect section, but other people, especially on the far left, did not have it so lucky.
I think there will be a lot of trimming in the weeks to come, so if you have an interest I would suggest holding off until changes are made.
The actors are all good; what a finely assembled group this is! Unfortunately the play is overstuffed with characters and I felt like we never got to know any of them except for Nabokov (Kunken).
The costumes and wigs are excellent.

sowren1020:
The opening scene setting a table awaiting for another guest, took way too long. Michael Cerveris was on stage almost with nothing nothing to really say, although he looked great as Balanchine. Blair Brown seemed ill matched with John Glover as his mistress, who became his wife, but with almost no chemistry between them.. John Procaccino had the most moving moments, but at almost 2 &1/2 hours in, it was like watching Chekov under glass. Or under water.
Stephen Kunken as the title character seemed fine, but at times too whiney and self indulgent as a chracter rather than a really moving outsider who wants to be in.
Haviland Morris, Best Aidem, Katie Erbe all very good, but a lot of book reporting with other than being concerned about serving food and monitoring the elderly Alvin Epstein in the show.
Needs a good 1/3 to be cut.

See here the full schedule table and ticket prices.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Nikolai and The Others, Premieres Off-Broadway April 4

By Adam Hetrick
04 Apr 2013 
Source: PlayBill

Nikolai and the Others, the world-premiere play from Richard Nelson that imagines a weekend shared by Russian artists George Balanchine, Igor Stravinsky, Nikolai Nabokov and more, begins Off-Broadway previews April 4 at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.
Award-winning director David Cromer (Tribes, Our Town, The House of Blue Leaves), who also staged the American premiere of Andrew Bovell's When the Rain Stops Falling for LCT in 2010, helms the 1948-set play in which artistic pursuits and Cold War American politics intermingle. It will officially open May 6 on the thrust stage of the Newhouse.
The cast, who inhabit a collection of Russian emigres who assemble over the course of a weekend in Westport, CT, includes Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris (Sweeney Todd, Evita) as choreographer George Balanchine, Tony Award winner John Glover (Love! Valour! Compassion!) as composer Igor Stravinsky, Alvin Epstein (Endgame, King Lear) as artist Sergey Sudeikin, Stephen Kunken (Enron) as composer Nikolai Nabokov, Dale Place (Our Town) as conductor Serge Koussevitsky, Tony winner Blair Brown (Copenhagen) as Vera Stravinsky, Tony nominee Kathryn Erbe (The Speed of Darkness) as Natasha Nabokov, as well as Betsy Aidem, Natalia Alonso, Lauren Culpepper, Anthony Cochrane, Jennifer Grace, Katie Kreisler, Haviland Morris, John Procaccino, Michael Rosen, Gareth Saxe and Alan Schmuckler.
According to LCT, "Serge Koussevitsky (Place), painter/set designer Sergey Sudeikin (Epstein) and composer Nikolai Nabokov (Kunken), gather to eat, drink and talk. In Nikolai and the Others playwright Richard Nelson reimagines, during the course of this weekend, the creation of Balanchine and Stravinsky’s historic collaboration, the ballet Orpheus, and explores the interesting and controversial ways American art was funded at the outset of the Cold War."
Nikolai and the Others has sets by Marsha Ginsberg, costumes by Jane Greenwood, lighting by Ken Billington, sound by Daniel Kluger, choreography by George Balanchine and ballet staging by Rosemary Dunleavy. Jeff Edwards is ballet master.
Nelson is the Tony Award-winning playwright/adaptor of James Joyce's The Dead. His works also include Two Shakespearean Actors, Farewell to the Theatre, Conversations in Tusculum, as well as the acclaimed trilogy of plays, Sweet and Sad, That Hopey Changey Thing and Sorry. He wrote the book and lyrics and directed the musical My Life with Albertine and also penned the book for the musical Chess.
Visit LCT.org.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Love from Ground Zero News

See which comment the producers of Love from Ground Zero made here at Lovely Kathryn.
We have some exciting news for Love From Ground Zero,! Check out our facebook page & tumblr  for updates on its relaunch!

Lovefromgroundzero.com is still under construction
Sounds exciting!

Release Date: 1998
Duration: 102 min
Cast: Kathryn Erbe, Jacqueline McKenzie, Sam Robards, James Gammon, Anne Dake, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Hollis McCarthy
Categories: Movies, Drama, Indie film

Love From Ground Zero follows three strangers across the back roads of America with the ashes of a mutual friend. Using a series of old postcards as a map, the threesome drive from New York to Montana retracing their friend’s journey “out west” years before. As they try to make sense of the untimely death, they are forced to face the realities in their own lives that have brought them down this unpredictable road. The film was shot on the move across the Midwestern states of Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Colorado in 35mm color and has an original acoustic score by American music legend, John McEuen, a Grammy Award winner and founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.


Love From Ground Zero [Official Trailer] von ptarmiganfilms