Rattestick & piece by piece to Bring 'Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait' to Gym at Judson

 Kathryn has a new play!!! She works again with Daniel Talbot and Seth Numrich.

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 27: Playwright/Director Daniel Talbott with the Ensemble Cast during the photo call for the Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre production of 'Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait' at the Roundabout Rehearsal Hall on April 27, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Walter McBride/Getty Images)

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and piece by piece productions have announced that Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait, written and directed by Daniel Talbott, will begin performances Thursday, May 21 at 7pm at The Gym at Judson, 243 Thompson Street. The opening night is set for Tuesday, June 9 at 7pm. The production is scheduled to run through Saturday, June 27.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

In a not so distant future where children have never known a world without war, resources are vanishing and what's left is controlled by minuscule factions. Soldiers still train and wait for battle, but there seem to be no enemies left to fight and no one, especially those in charge, seems to know who has won. American soldiers Smith and Leadem kill time at a worn out desert outpost swallowed by sand on the other side of the world. Dutifully fulfilling their mission, they wait for a sign from the enemy, for further orders, for anything. As their rations shrink and the desert, sky, and sand seem to grow and expand around them, they fight for clarity and sanity, to stay on task, and to serve as they've sworn to do. Is the enemy trying to kill them, or is it the country they've been fighting for that's the real darkness they're running from? As the days fall away it becomes less and less possible to know what is future, past, living, dead, or dream.

The cast of Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait is Kathryn Erbe ("Law & Order: Criminal Intent," Ode to Joy), Brian Miskell (The Undeniable Sound of Right Now, Hill Town Plays), Seth Numrich ("Turn," Golden Boy, War Horse, Slipping), Chris Stack (Your Mother's Copy of the Kama Sutra, Hill Town Plays, "One Life to Live"), Jimi Stanton, and Jelena Stupljanin (Circus Columbia).

The set design for Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait is by Raul Abrego; costume design is by Tristan Raines; lighting design is by Joel Moritz; sound design is by John Zalewski; projection design is by Dave Tennent; violence and dance choreography by UnkleDave's Fight-House.

Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait plays Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday at 7pm at The Gym at Judson, 243 Thompson Street. There are added performances on Monday, May 25 and Wednesday, May 27, both at 7pm. There will be no performance on Tuesday, May 26; Friday, May 29; and Sunday, June 13. There are special performance times on Sunday, May 24 (7:30pm) and Sunday, June 7 (5pm). Tickets are $45 and may be purchased by visiting www.ovationtix.com; by phoning 866 811 4111; or by going to the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater box office, 224 Waverly Place, Monday through Friday 11am-5pm. Student tickets are $10 and are available for advance sale at the Rattlestick box office with a valid student ID. For more information about Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait, please visit www.rattlestick.org.

read more here at:
BroadwayWorld, TheaterMania

Tribeca Film Festival "Tumbledown"

Yeah, Kathryn is out and about with her kids. For the world premiere of "Tumbledown" at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 18, 2015, in New York she came with her daughter Maeve.

picture sources:

• WireImage - Desiree Navarro / Contributor
• phcelebrity - Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
• GettyImages - Jamie McCarthy
• Zimbio - Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images North America
• PRPhotos

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Red Carpet

Kathryn, her son and friends attended 'Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2' New York Premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on April 11, 2015 in New York City.

picture sources:

• WireImage: Gary Gershoff / Contributor
• FilmMagic: Brent N. Clarke / Contributor
• GettyImages: Mike Coppola / staff
• ImageCollect: Globe-Photos
• Newcom: Robin Platzer/Twin Images
• Contactmusic

Kensho Update

Brad Raider wrote a new email to the Kensho at the Bedfellow supporters. I'm glad the movie is (more or less) done. I hope it will hit a festival close to me and you.

Dear Kensho Supporters,

After more than a year of post-production, I'm so pleased to report that the film is in its final stages as we prepare for our festival run and beyond.

We've been selected as one of only a handful of films worldwide to take part in the Conscious Film Convergence -- a two-day event May 29th and 30th during the Illuminate Film Festival in Sedona, Arizona.

While we won't be screening the film there, our team will be involved in panels, conversations and specifically, The Conscious Cinema Accelerator aimed at connecting filmmakers with financiers, marketers, distributors, and other industry professionals -- all of whom are committed to creating content that uplifts, enlivens, and inspires audiences. The Convergence is open to filmmakers and film fans, alike -- all are welcome.  Let me know if you'd like to go!

Our World Premiere is still in the works and I can't wait to share the news with you as soon as it's official.

In the meantime, checkout some new Film Grabs on our website and we'll continue to post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as news comes in.

For our IndieGoGo supporters, thanks so much for your patience -- perks will be organized as soon as our final print is complete.  Online thank yous are here -- please let us know if we misspelled or omitted you.  Additional support for the film can be made here.  It's so appreciated and will supplement our efforts as we enter the home stretch.

Thank you again and more soon ... !

Warmest,
Brad

PS29 parents do student plays

 

tweeted by Renee Dale @ReneeMDale

Our #PS29 parents @lilitaylor #EbonMossBachrach #KathrynErbe @rhondakeyser do student plays #evaluatethat #publicEd

source: twitter

Picture of the Week

 

Kathryn Erbe and Arliss Howard - An opening night party was held for the play adaptation of the 1970's Swedish TV series "Scenes From a Marriage" at Phebe's Tavern and Grill in New York, New York, United States - Tuesday 23rd September 2014

source: contactmusic

2015 Roundabout Theatre Company Spring Gala

 

Roundabout Spring Gala honored Helen Mirren

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Dir) presented its annual 2015 Spring Gala “There is Nothing Like a Dame” on Mon Mar 2 in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria (301 Park Ave).  The evening was a celebration of Helen Mirren, who presented with The Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre.  The gala began at 7:00 PM with dinner and a live auction, followed by an all-star tribute to Mirren, directed by Scott Ellis.

source: theatricalindex.com

While on the plane to New York City to share the stage with Helen Mirren in The Audience, Dylan Baker happened to catch a screening of his new co-star in The Hundred-Foot Journey.

"Playing this French character, so reserved and so snooty — the humanity she brought to that, I was so floored," Baker told The Hollywood Reporter of Mirren, the Roundabout Theatre Company's spring gala honoree, receiving The Jason Robards Award for Excellence in Theatre. Now, in Stephen Daldry's production at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Baker admires her "blue-collar" approach: "Let's just work on the play and make it as great as possible."

Judith Light, who saw Mirren in The Audience this past weekend, said of the actress as Queen Elizabeth II, "I learned what stillness, listening and presence on the stage is really about, watching her. I've seen almost everything she's done and I love what she does, but watching her just be there and give sway to the other people she's working with is just stunning to behold."

Alessandro Nivola, who has played both her lover and son onstage, noted that "her most defining quality is fearlessness," while Carla Gugino added, "She's at her most cool now, and she's been infinitely cool since she started. I know that's a funny word to use for Dame Helen Mirren, and yet I think that's exactly what makes her so extraordinary."

Despite the ubiquitous praise on the red carpet from Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Garner and Joel Grey, Mirren humbly told reporters that she's overjoyed to be bringing the hit West End production to the States, where audiences "laugh more and certainly applaud more at the end" in comparison to British theater patrons. Throughout her varied career, she told The Hollywood Reporter that she has held on to timeless advice: "Fight fair."

Inside the Waldorf Astoria grand ballroom, Mirren was the subject of lots of jokes about being Queen (as in, a member of the rock band, a gay male in the West Village and the actual member of royalty — "God save you!"), plus a selection of musical theater numbers by Victor Garber, Kelli O'Hara, Laura Benanti, Alan Cumming and the On the Twentieth Century cast, introduced by Alec Baldwin. "I was probably the worst singer in the Roundabout family, and I've carried that with me for many years — until tonight," he told the ballroom after dinner. "[But] there's one thing Helen Mirren can't do: she can't sing!"

Kathryn Erbe, Byron Jennings and Ron Rifkin introduced a reel with Broadway welcomes from Sean Hayes, David Hyde Pierce, Hugh Jackman, Broderick and Martin Short, Jessie Mueller, Josh Radnor, as well as the casts of Les Miserables and Gentleman's Guide, Kinky Boots, You Can't Take It With You and Cabaret. Garner then presented the annual honor to Mirren.

"Doesn't weigh much — you can wear it as an earring!" said the Dame of the trophy. Her speech recounted the highs of her 50-year stage career, including her 1995 Broadway debut in A Month in the Country. "I felt a bit like a peasant approaching Constantinople — it seemed so alive with energy and possibility and danger and the unknown, and I just couldn't have been more excited," she recalled.

With a bittersweet sentiment, Mirren dedicated the award to her fellow theatre actors, especially the late British stage star Alan Howard, whom she often watched from the wings, mourning how many would never experience his work.

"That is the pain and the truth and the beauty of theater: no matter where in the world it occurs, it goes," Mirren reflected. "It only lives for that moment in the stage shared by strangers, and from then on, can only reside in your memory. It is that engagement with the transitory nature of life that draws many actors to the art. It is as if you are struggling with the very nature of life, its innermost secret. ... These are the people who choose to contemplate and communicate this most challenging element of life. It doesn't stop. Everything moves on."

Mirren lightheartedly closed her speech by noting the difference between British and American actors: "The American actors learn their lines! They do! They arrive for rehearsals superbly prepared, open and ready for anything. The British arrive as if they've been at an all-night party, and all they want to be is at home and bed, and they're not sure whether they're at rehearsal or some kind of self-help meeting. But just below the superficial differences beats the same heart. It's a sensitive heart. It's a brave and searching heart."

source: hollywoodreporter.com

Photo sources: Paul Zimmerman/WireImage, Jennifer Broski/Broadwaywolrd, Bruce Glikas/Contributor

Click here to see two more arrival photo of the photographer who always calls his lawyer when I repost his work: 1, 2