Ticket to Read

A Full Weekend
Rosemary Harris has a very beesy weekend scheduled September 26-27.
Linked here some time ago, now Brian Scott Lipton at theatermania has helpfully published a reminder about the 2009-2010 season lineup at The 92nd Street Y's Unterberg Poetry Center.

"Highlights of interest to theater lovers include Tony Award winner Rosemary Harris reading children's literature(September 26 at 11:30am)"

Then on Sunday, as Andrew Gans reports at playbill, Ms Harris will attend The 23rd Annual Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction.

"The outdoor fundraiser in Shubert Alley raises money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and features a host of theatrical memorabilia donated by the theatrical community. The day-long event also boasts a Celebrity Autograph Table and Photo Booth, where theatre fans can purchase autographs by or photos with their favorite stars [...]

Some of the items that will be featured in the Grand Auction include ... opening-night tickets to ... The Royal Family [...]

Celebrities scheduled to appear at the Celebrity Autograph Table and Photo Booth in exchange for donations to BC/EFA include: ... Rosemary Harris [...] "

Dan Bacalzo at theatermania also reported on the event and noted "All auction items will also be available for online bidding in September for those unable to make it to New York. For more information, including how to place a bid, visit broadwaycares." [Better than EBay!!]

All this in addition to two performances of The Royal Family on each of those two days ... one weekend after her birthday (September 19th, mark your calendars) If I had as much energy as this marvelous lady, you'd be reading blog updates here more often.


She's not the only Reader in the Family

Valerie MacEwan's Blog: and Kathryn Stripling Byer's Netwest Mountain Writers and Poets Blog alert us to an event on October 10th in Asheville NC.

"Internationally acclaimed author and Asheville native, John Ehle, will read and sign books on October 10 at 2 pm. The event, sponsored by The Writers’ Workshop, will be held at the West Asheville Public Library at 942 Haywood Road. It is free and open to the public. A reception follows, hosted by Friends of West Asheville Library. Books will be available for purchase at the book-signing.[...] A luncheon for Mr. Ehle will be held at noon, prior to the reading. For more information about the reading or luncheon, please email writersw@gmail.com , or call 828-254-8111."

Getting Close to The Royal Family
Previews are less than a week away.

playbill reports on the Photo Call

Single tickets available for purchase at the box office.

In addition, Tickets are on sale now via Telecharge (where the schedule shown below can be seen) or by calling (212) 239-6200.


Since last posting here about the play, casting changes and additional casting and other news were announced at backstage blog and theatermania. And I can't resist including Michael Kuchwara (AP) from the Washington Examiner simply because he writes "The always incandescent Rosemary Harris plays its matriarch"

Alexis Soloski in The Village Voice writes about an Interview with director Dough Hughes in which is revealed "Hughes hand-picked this varied cast, having first persuaded Harris to be Fanny."

A "little royal family"
Robert Simonson shared PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER with the Queen herself. It's a charming interview, be sure to read the entire article. (Now we have circus ponies and sled dogs along with chicks and bees to add to this blog's signature references!)

"[...]
Playbill.com: With your daughter, Jennifer Ehle, do you sometimes feel like you have a little royal family yourself?
RH: Who knows? (Laughs) She's just given birth to a little girl, so who knows? Who knows if she'll tread the boards or not? Who knows? "

Thrones
The latest biggest news is the casting of Lena Headey (aka Blanche Glover, Christabel LaMotte's BFF) as Cersei. The announcement was widely covered as you can see by the links below. It's amazing and confounding though that everyone seems to have missed the opportunity to recognize that JE and LH had worked together before in Possession. I saw only one connection made & that was in a reader comment, not the body of the article.

Read all about it at these links:
Scifi.About
Jacksonville-TV-Examiner
iftn Lena Headey Joins ‘Game of Thrones’
TV Overmind
Aceshowbiz
Collider
Zap 2 It News & Buzz
Chicago Tribune Features Blog (This one has several comments. You have to love the commenter who wrote "She's won two Tonys for roles in play by Tom Stoppard -- 'The Real Thing' and 'The Coast of Utopia'. You don't get to phone it in with Stoppard: He demands actors who are intellectually and emotionally bringing their A-game all the time. "

It remains to be seen if any tables will be overthrone in this new project --



Look who's getting into the act
Not to be outdone in the Royals & Thrones arena, just look who is going to play the role of Queen Elizabeth II's father King George VI in "The King's Speech".



Let's not forget the Fitches

Variety
New York Theater Guide