Review: Rubicon's 'Steel Magnolias' blossoms with wit and warmth

From the Venura County Star | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/sep/02/rubicons-steel-magnolias-blossoms-with-wit-and/ Brimming with hair spray and heart, Rubicon's 'Steel Magnolias' is a real beauty

Theater review: ‘Steel Magnolias’ at the Rubicon Theatre

From the LA Times | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/08/theater-review-steel-magnolias-at-the-rubicon-theatre.html "There's a nuance here that escapes me." --Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) to Anthony Roselli (Jack Scalia) Remington Steele, "Steeled with a Kiss" (final episode) Suite 1157 on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/suite1157 Suite 1157 on Twitter http://twitter.com/Suite1157 Suite1157 Online Discussion Group http://tinyurl.com/Suite1157 Suite 1157 on Myspace http://www.myspace.com/suite1157

Pierce Going Bald?

From the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903454504576489860387132754.html "There's a nuance here that escapes me." --Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) to Anthony Roselli (Jack Scalia) Remington Steele, "Steeled with a Kiss" (final episode) Suite 1157 on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/suite1157 Suite 1157 on Twitter http://twitter.com/Suite1157 Suite1157 Online Discussion Group http://tinyurl.com/Suite1157 Suite 1157 on Myspace http://www.myspace.com/suite1157

Beach Bond

Pierce Brosnan shows off his expanding waistline on Hawaii break |  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1375243/Pierce-Brosnan-shows-expanding-waistline-Hawaii-break.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

 

"There's a nuance here that escapes me."
--Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) to Anthony Roselli (Jack Scalia)
Remington Steele, "Steeled with a Kiss" (final episode)

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Experience Your Inner Celt

From the Los Angelse Times | http://www.latimes.com/theguide/events-and-festivals/la-et-guidefeature17-20110317,0,5939596.story

By Katherine Tulich, Special to the Los Angeles Times

March 17, 2011

It's Monday rehearsal night for the Hollywood Choir at the Cochran Avenue Baptist Church in mid-city L.A., but instead of a rousing gospel tune, the 65-member choir is dissecting the intervals and harmonies of a lilting arrangement of "Danny Boy." It is one of three songs (including a Gaelic version of the Emerald Isle's national anthem) they will be performing at Thursday's "This Is Ireland" concert at UCLA's Royce Hall.

"A gospel choir singing Irish songs does sound surprising," says the choir's buoyant leader Blinky Williams, laughing. "At first we didn't think an African American choir would have much in common with anything Irish, but once you learn more about their history and their music we realized there was a lot we could relate to."

For the show's creator, Irish born composer-conductor Eimear Noone, it's that spirit of connection with her adopted city of Los Angeles that inspired the creation of the concert that she hopes will become an annual St. Patrick's Day event for Los Angeles. With the demise of the annual downtown St Patrick's Day parade last year due to budget cuts, Noone wanted to find a new way to celebrate the Irish holiday.

"There is so much marketing around this time green decorations, shamrocks and beer but I wondered if anyone really knew what the day represented to the Irish," she says. "I wanted an experience that shows our story and our culture. I hope it might redefine what people know as St. Patrick's Day."

The evening will be a collection of all things Irish including history lessons and literary readings from the country's most celebrated poets, traditional Irish dances, a celebration of film and music incorporating classical repertoire, traditional folk songs and even the country's more famous rock exports like Thin Lizzy and U2. "We wanted to cover everything. We even have a section devoted to Irish insults," says Noone, who will co-present as well as conduct the evening's 40-piece orchestra.

High caliber Irish talent was eager to jump aboard. Lyric soprano Celine Byrne is flying in from Ireland, joining Boston-based opera baritone Sam McElroy and locally based Irish-born actors Roma Downey and Pierce Brosnan.

"I think it was a pincer movement on the resident Irish man," says Brosnan, laughing, on the phone from his Malibu home. "For me, it was a no-brainer to be a part of this evening. I don't think there has been anything like this done before."

For Brosnan, who has lived in Los Angeles since 1981, the day still holds nostalgic meaning. "St Patrick's Day has a certain romantic memory of Ireland," he says. "It's a celebration of being Irish and it's a wonderful day of unity for those of Irish descent worldwide."

Brosnan will be part of the evening's tribute to their world renowned national Abbey Theatre, which incubated many of Ireland's great playwrights and actors. He will be reciting W.B. Yeats' "Easter, 1916", a poem that recounts the historic events of the Easter Rising against the British.

"It's a great historic piece and weaves well into the tapestry of the evening," says Brosnan, who will read from a first edition copy signed by the poet. It also represents a return to the stage in some ways for the internationally known film star. "It's where I started and how I trained as an actor, but I haven't performed on stage for many years," he says. "To have a chance to do it in such a theatrical form with an orchestra and a piece of literature so poignant will be a great experience."

For Downey, the production is a chance for the Irish community to come together. "I'm excited that I can bring my kids and can expose them to our heritage," she says. The "Touched by an Angel" star will read from the works of the celebrated Nobel Prize-winning contemporary poet Seamus Heaney, who grew up in Downey's hometown of Derry in Northern Ireland.

"I think this night will not only appeal to anyone of Irish descent but I think it will be a chance for everyone to awaken their inner Celt," she says.

 

"There's a nuance here that escapes me."
--Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) to Anthony Roselli (Jack Scalia)
Remington Steele, "Steeled with a Kiss" (final episode)

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SZ News: The Subject was Roses

The Star Ledger (New Jersey) | http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2011/02/the_subject_was_roses_preview.html

'The Subject Was Roses' preview: Dark 1960s drama is revived at George Street
Published: Friday, February 04, 2011, 8:00 AM

By Peter Filichia/For The Star-Ledger

In "The Subject Was Roses," Nettie Cleary tells her 21-year-old son that she was hit in the eye by an apple core just before she was to start a new job. Because she developed a shiner, she was too embarrassed to show up. As a result, she had to get another job where she met Timmy's father and that's where her real problems began.

Stephanie Zimbalist nods slowly as she's reminded of the speech. Starting on Tuesday, she will portray Nettie in Frank D. Gilroy's 1965 Pulitzer Prize-winner at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick.

"We all have points in our lives where two roads present themselves and we have to make a decision very fast," she says, snapping her fingers quickly to underline the need for speed. "We don't know how it will impact our lives, but it usually does."

She lifts her hands and makes an expansive gesture. "It happened to me when I was applying to colleges," she says. "I'd settled on seven and had to write an essay for each. I was either going to be an art history or English major, so that meant Yale, Columbia, Connecticut and Sarah Lawrence. Or I was going to be an actress, which meant Juilliard, Stanford or Cal-Irvine. Well, one day I got out of a cab too fast and I left in it the essays for Yale, Columbia, Connecticut and Sarah Lawrence. So I became an actress."

Of course, some inspiration came from her father, actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and the stars with whom he worked. "As a little girl, I got to meet Audrey Hepburn, who took my face in her hands and suddenly make me want to be an actress," she says.

Hence, Stephanie Zimbalist's extensive experience in films ("The Awakening"), her noted TV series "Remington Steele" and stage appearances from Ogunquit, Maine, where she played the title role in "Sylvia," to multiple roles at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Zimbalist, 54, had never seen or read "The Subject Was Roses" when old friend Michael Mastro, who is directing, sent her the script.

"We've all done our fair share of therapy," she says matter-of-factly. "So now we know such terms as `family systems,' `co-dependent' and `enmeshment.' These issues are all over the play, but it takes place in 1946, when these terms didn't exist. People had to deal with these conditions without the labels. It's rather nice to be brought back to an era when such issues haven't been named. It allows us to see them more clearly for what they actually were."

Nettie Cleary does not have a happy marriage to John, but has always stayed in it partly because of Timmy. Zimbalist has not faced these problems.

"I couldn't have done everything I have if I'd had a child, so I have no regrets," she says. "Besides, I have four nieces and nephews and a great-niece and a great-nephew," she says, stressing the word "great" to capture both meanings of the word.

Then she reaches over to caress her long-haired dachshund. "And I have Scampi," she says. She's still traumatized from what happened to her previous dog. "Right in my front yard I saw him killed by a coyote," she says. "I was just about to play a dog on stage in `Sylvia' but called and said I couldn't do it. But then I felt my dog come to me and say, `Yes, you can.' And I did it."

So Zimbalist isn't particularly sorry that she lost those essays. Going to shoot "Remington Steele" in France, Ireland, Malta and points beyond ameliorated many disappointments.

"Pierce Brosnan," she says, referring to her co-star, "is a very sweet man. Oh, we had our issues, but a lot of it was hormones."

The Subject Was Roses

Where: George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick

When: Tuesday to March 6. Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Thursdays and Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m.

How much: $29-$67.50; call (732) 246-7717 or visit gsponline.org.


 

"There's a nuance here that escapes me."
--Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) to Anthony Roselli (Jack Scalia)
Remington Steele, "Steeled with a Kiss" (final episode)

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The Irish in Hollywood | The Irish Film & Television Network

From IFTN

http://www.iftn.ie/news/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4283581&tpl=archnews&force=1

 

Irish filmmakers and pioneers have been at the forefront of Hollywood very literally since its inception. A new feature documentary, 'The Irish in Hollywood' will broadcast on Christmas day at 9:00pm on TV3 which will allow audiences the opportunity to examine the long legacy of Irish actors, producers and directors in Ireland. IFTN spoke with the doc's director Paul Howard about the documentary.

The fruit of over two years of extensive research and archive work, 'The Irish In Hollywood' is a historical documentary spanning more than 100 years of Irish talent in Hollywood's film history. Directed and produced by Paul Howard of Imagine Films, the feature traces the roots of Irish talent in Hollywood down through the ages and examines the historical and cultural impact that these men and women have had in tinsletown.

The documentary, narrated by Patrick Bergin, is based on the book 'Emeralds in Tinseltown', co-authored by the late Steve Brennan, veteran reporter and key editor for The Hollywood Reporter, and Bernadette O'Neill, and follows the story of the early pioneers such as Rex Ingram through to John Ford right up to key Irish personalities in contemporary cinema. Producer and director, Paul Howard is quick to praise Steve Brennan who passed away in the middle of 2009. "I got to know Steve very well, making this documentary," he says. I'm really sorry he didn't get to see it completed because he really would have loved it."

Paul explains that the 'The Irish in Hollywood' documentary came about as a result of several events: "Myself and a colleague of mine, writer Donal O' Neill, were working up a project tentatively titled 'Green Light' on the Irish in Hollywood,"he explains. "I was not even aware that the book, 'Emeralds in Tinseltown' was being written at the time. As it happened then, I was discussing our project with Morgan O' Sullivan who told me about a book being written on the same subject. After that I contacted Steve."

The feature examines the impact the Irish have had on the American movie industry through archival material and rare footage of the Irish luminaries such as Pat O'Brien, James Cagney, John Ford, Maureen O'Hara, and Barry Fitzgerald. The project also features engaging and insightful interviews with current industry leaders such as Gabriel Byrne, Fionnula Flanagan, Jim Sheridan, Anjelica Huston, John Boorman, Brendan Gleeson, Pierce Brosnan, Noel Pearson, John Moore, Saoirse Ronan and many others – something which proved very challenging, as Paul tells us: " All our interviewees agreed that they would all be very interested in taking part. But of course it was a question of timing. One of the major difficulties with this project was that, because all our interviewees are working in different parts of the world and because they are all doing so well, the huge logistical problem was getting them to commit to a particular time, and that was very, very difficult."

Paul was very much struck by the depth of knowledge many of his interviewees had as to the Irish heritage in Hollywood. One, in particular, surprised the filmmaker immensely: " One of the things about Gabriel – and it was one of the most amazing interviews that I have ever done – was that we sat down to interview him about his life and career in Hollywood, but he went way beyond that," he tells us. " Gabriel was very knowledgeable - knowledgeable to such a degree that he could form very credible opinions on our topics."

The documentary received support from the BAI's Sound and Vision fund and the Irish Film and Television Academy and will introduce audiences to several Irish characters such as an Irish immigrant employee of MGM Studios who designed the Oscar statuette, the Irishman who dreamed up the Hollywood sign, the Irish pioneer filmmakers who invented the Westerns and, of course, the Irish characters who were no strangers to scandal!

Having examined every Hollywood era possible Paul finds it impossible to select the Irish person who has left (or is in the process of leaving) the biggest mark on Hollywood. After much debate he settles on nine. "If you look at the different periods, I would say Rex Ingram to begin with,"he starts. "He was an artist and sculptor himself and he embraced the whole idea of movie making, and this new language which was so new at the time. Then you move onto John Ford who becomes the great master of film-making in that particular period, even though he mythologised both the American West and his view of Ireland through this exiled longing that he had. Following him you have Jim Sheridan and Neil Jordan who present a very, very different picture of Ireland, which breaks the stereotype created by John Ford and presents a very real picture through movies like 'In The Name of the Father', 'The Boxer', 'The Butcher Boy', 'Michael Collins' and so on."The remaining five include John Boorman ("Who I know was fundamentally English – but in many ways he took refuge in Ireland and made a home in Ireland") along with actors Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Ciarán Hynes and Pierce Brosnan.

That Paul can get no fewer than nine groundbreaking Irish filmmakers is very telling. Ireland has more than punched above its weight in Hollywood and has enjoyed a disproportionately large influence in the movie making industry. Paul thinks he can explain who: "We came from a long tradition of storytellinghe says. And, if you go back to the very early days in Hollywood, or even pre-Hollywood when you had a lot of Irish flooding into cities like New York and Boston and Philadelphia and so on, a lot of these were kind of maverick characters, and they were involved in theatre and vaudeville and so on. So when the movies came about they naturally gravitated with their storytelling tradition into the movies. And were immensely successful because story telling is in their blood."

On a final point I ask Paul what the ultimate message of 'The Irish in Hollywood' is. "Ultimately this is really about two countries who embraced one another and who embraced this new language," he replies thoughtfully. "This new poetry of the movie has, in the context of the modern age, become the defining art of our time. That's what this project is all about."

'The Irish in Hollywood' will air on Christmas Day at 9.00pm on TV3.

 

"There's a nuance here that escapes me."
--Remington Steele (Pierce Brosnan) to Anthony Roselli (Jack Scalia)
Remington Steele, "Steeled with a Kiss" (final episode)

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