Little excitement today. There, I said it.

Although there are a few pieces to tide us over...

Before the Rains

• MSN movies have another nice Rains clip which you may or may not have seen. It features Henry and Sajani (Linus Roache and Nandita Das). Enjoy! (And apologies for the advert before it.)

• Review-wise, James Thompson of People's Weekly World seems contented, referring to the film's 'wonderful imagery'. He also has some interesting observations:

[...] The movie “Before the Rains” should be used as an example to illustrate the main points of Frederick Engels’ work “Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State.” Set in 1930s India during the uprising of Indian nationalists, it clearly shows the effects of capital on love and human relationships. The bottom line is that people who love money, particularly capital, cannot love people. [...]

[...] One of the most poignant moments in the film came when the British master asked his Indian collaborator if the workers in the village were calm. The complacency of the workers is of utmost importance to the capitalist. [...]

The Heidi Chronicles

• Playbill have been interviewing actor Robert Sean Leonard, who discussed his career highlights. Among those he shared was:

[...] James Lapine calling and asking me to read Boyd Gaines' part in The Heidi Chronicles, with Jennifer Ehle, because Andre [Bishop] and Bernie [Gersten] wanted to hear it. I told him, 'It means so much to me, more than 20 years later, that you believe in me.' To me, that's it — it's family. To be included in a room with people you admire is one of the greatest joys in life. [...]

The context of this reading is unclear, and may or may not have anything to do with Ms Ehle's involvement in Nothin' Like A Dame in 2006. See back-posts for more information.

Tony time

• The infamous Mr. Charles Isherwood of the New York Times looks to this year's Tonys with reflection on the 'larger' winners of the previous two years (The Coast of Utopia and The History Boys).

Rosemary Harris

• Sue Merrell of The Grand Rapids Press has been conversing with actress Elizabeth Wilson. Wilson was Ms Harris' co-star in Waiting in the Wings in 1999/2000.

[...] Wilson, 87, said the onstage animosity between "Wings" characters Lotta (Lauren Bacall) and May (Rosemary Harris) wasn't all acting, either, as the two had their conflicts off-stage as well. But Wilson speaks highly of both actresses. "Rosemary Harris is just the best actress on the planet," Wilson said. [...]

• There is a little more news from The Belfast Telegraph regarding the forthcoming Yankee King. Regarding the story:

[...] Yankee King is a romantic comedy... [It] is set in Ireland in the early sixties and tells the story of a man 'done good' returning to his native Ireland where the plot becomes an entanglement of love and tragedy with interludes of comic relief. [...]

On the film set:

[...] Once again the Paint Hall in the Titanic Quarter [will] be transformed into a studio for the new film. ... The Paint Hall is an organic, user-friendly space with a 90 ft working height, the biggest in Europe. ... [The] production will create about 150 jobs sourced locally and is due to start filming in July with a budget of £4m. As well as filming at Titanic Quarter, the production team proposes to travel to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and Groomsport Harbour. [...]

Still not IMDb-able, but we'll keep you posted. And for future reference, a bag of imaginary rubles for the first person to spot an Ivanov confirmation. (Should one materialise, of course.)

Road to the Sky to get Indian release too

Looks like Road to the Sky is the title now. Anyhow, this Deccan Chronicle article isn't online, but you can read it and see a photo of Rahul Bose through the Google cache.

Rahul Bose has just completed shooting for Hollywood banner Echo Lake Production’s Road To The Sky. Set in 1937, the film tells the story of two friends, one British and the other Indian, and how the British friend ruins the friendship and brings it to an end. “The British actor plays a married man in the film while my character is single. The screenplay is an adaptation of a story from Israel. Though the film is set in 1937, it’s not an epic or a period film,” says Rahul.

Road To The Sky has been directed by ace cinematographer Santosh Sivan. “Echo Lake Productions chose Santosh to direct the film. Santosh asked me to play the character of the Indian guy. The film also stars British actress Jennifer Ehle and Nandita Das,” says Bose. According to him, besides a worldwide release, Road To The Sky will hit the theatres in India too.

Besides Road To The Sky, Echo Lake Productions is also backing Deepa Mehta’s Water. Rahul says, “They were familiar with the work Sivan and I had done, which led them to approach him to make the film for their production house.”

Asked whether there were major differences in the style of working in an international venture, and Bose says, “The differences that people talk about are superficial. And this is not the first time that I am doing an English film. I earlier did English, August too. I have also completed The Whispers and shooting for it was like doing any other international venture. Also, the approach towards my role is the same whether I am doing a Hindi film or an international venture. Differences may be there, but they are too minuscule to even talk about.”

Not really worth a post in itself, but an IMDBer had a brief post-Nothin' Like a Dame encounter.

Video from Nothin' Like a Dame

Broadway Beat has clips from Nothin' Like a Dame, which you can see either streamed at
BroadwayWorld or as a humungous 62mb .mov file. Neither are working properly for me, but Chelsea says there's only a tiny bit with Ms Ehle and Rosemary Harris in it. Still, I think there are some songs and things you might enjoy.

In the same vein...

More from Kerry, who provided the stage door pics below.

The show was really fun - even from the second to last row! Cynthia Nixon came out and spoke a little about Wendy Wasserstein and said in her honor that they were going to read one of her more famous passages. As a movie person I had never heard of Chronicles of Heidi but she introduced JE and Julianna as Wendy worthy actresses. It was a passage in which Hedi - the main character - goes back to her old school to give a speech about where women are today. They all portrayed Hedi - not different characters. Julianna started, JE continued and Cynthia finished up. They all did a good job but JE is was the only one who had clearly memorized her lines and didn't need the crutch of the binder that was in front of each of them.

More Nothin' Like a Dame photos

Eight in total - some new ones, some the same as those previously posted but nice and big and unwatermarked. You can see them in our Photobucket folder. Thanks a million to the generous and tireless Josie who sent these to us.

Nothin' Like a Dame stage door

Thanks to Kerry who posted this in one of the comments below. It's reproduced here in case people don't read the comments.

Hey I just thought I post a little stage door encounter -after the Nothin' Like A Dame show. I stumbled onto this site about two days before the show and as a Ms. Ehle fan thought I should go see it. I was actually looking up trivia about The River King - which I had just watched. Anyway, the show was extremely good and I had a lot of fun. Afterwards I waited to get an autograph and she was extremely polite. This is considering the fact I had planned on being very cool and casual but when push came to shove I barely got the words out to ask for her autograph!! Ms. Ehle is the only celebrity I have ever met let alone tried to encounter. The whole time I was overcome with the thought "WOW she's really tall." As a note - be prepared if you meet her - she's really tall! Her mother was equally as pleasant and now I have some very nice pictures!

...as an extra tidbit Rosemary Harris asked me which direction 8th Ave was after taking a picture with her --- they were headed to the cast party.

She also sent in these fab photos and adds:

If you make captions for [the photos] you should reference the fact that I was a complete studdering fool (couldn't even look her in the eye) and my entire family now makes fun of me. Well worth it though.

Blog trawl, part #13849

Brief report from someone who attended Nothin' Like a Dame

Blogger's review of The River King

I just saw this little known but quite charming movie called The River King..... It's a mystery/crime movie based on Alice Hoffman's bestselling novel by the same name, starring Ed Burns (remember the assault-rifle wielding, handsome Ranger in Saving Private Ryan?) and Jennifer Ehle (who bears a good resemblance to the the exquisite, great Meryl Streep) plus an excellent supporting cast. What struck me most while I was watching this movie was Simon Boswell's refreshing mandolin score in the background.

There are some sounds, smells and sights that hit a spot somewhere deep inside you, awaken memories or strong feelings..... things you had buried so deep in your psyche.

Photo from Nothin' Like a Dame

More Nothin' Like a Dame writeups

Playbill has an announcement of the amount raised, and the Broadway Cares site about the event has a report about all the performances.

...Rosemary Harris appeared to speak eloquently of the Women’s Initiative, reminding us how women, so naturally nurturing, need a place where they, too, can get the help they need.

The Phyllis Newman Health Initiative was organized in 1996 with a $10,000 grant form BC/EFA to provide a safety net for women in the entertainment industry who are coping with critical health concerns, or life-threatening illnesses; illnesses such as lymphoma, which claimed the life of Wendy Wasserstein this past January. Wendy was honored on stage at this year’s DAMES in selected readings from her Tony-award and Pulitzer-prize winning play, THE HEIDI CHRONICLES, performed by Jennifer Ehle, Julianna Margulies and Cynthia Nixon.

The photos below are by Ben Strothmann for BroadwayWorld. Click to enlarge.

Nothin' Like a Dame pictures

These are from Getty Images (search for Nothin' Like a Dame). Click to enlarge. In the first one, look to the far right.





Cool hair, no? Sort of reminiscent of this look.

PS. I think the red ribbon's for this, perhaps?

Nothin' Like a Dame reports

Broadwayworld reports that the charity show raised a whopping $300 000 for The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative.

Recap of all the night's acts on Broadway Pulse

Review from Broadwayworld forum members who attended.

Cynthia Nixon, Julianna Margulies and Jennifer Ehle read a section of "The Heidi Chronicles" as a tribute to Wendy Wasserstein... I wasn't sure how they were going to do a tribute to her in the middle of a show that was mostly singing, but, I thought it worked well.
...
The Wendy Wasserstein Tribute was really good too, as perhaps embarassingly, I'm not familiar with "The Heidi Chronicles." Twas a great monolugue shared by the 3 performers.

PS.

Nothin' Like a Dame is in 24 hours (8pm GMT-5).

Nothin' Like a Dame seats limited

Just received an e-mail from the BroadwayWorld mailing list. Here it is in full:

The 11th Annual NOTHIN' LIKE A DAME benefiting The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative of The Actors' Fund of America is a one-night gathering of the first ladies of Broadway and special guests. This year's performance will be a starred-studded vaudeville of Broadway's best, brightest and most talents ladies- live on stage together for one night only! The show is followed by a cast party at a world-renowned and legendary Times Square institution- John's Pizzaria.

$50 Balcony seats and a very few mezzanine and orchestra seats are still available.

Call Broadway Cares at 212 840 0770 x268 or visit http://www.broadwaycares.org/events/dames2006.cfm

NOW CONFIRMED AND STARRING:
Bebe Neuwirth
Victoria Clark
Kate Clinton
Tyne Daly
Bobbie Eakes
Jennifer Ehle
Jill Eikenberry
Felicia Finley
Maria Friedman
Ruthie Henshall
Rosemary Harris
Catherine Hurlin and Jessica Ferretti
Lauren Kennedy
Darlene Love
Julianna Margulies
Jessica Molaskey
Phyllis Newman
Cynthia Nixon
Rosie O'Donnell
Jill Paice
Angie Schworer
Brynn Williams
Ruth Williamson

The Jersey Girls from Jersey Boys
Jennifer Naimo, Erica Piccininni, Sara Schmidt and Heather Ferguson

Sweeney Todd
Diana MiMarzio, Lauren Molina, Dorothy Stanley, Elisa Winters, Jessica Wright

Julianna Margulies (Topsy from Paradise Road) wasn't listed before I think.

And a bit of meat

To compensate. This 1994 article, from Raleigh's News & Observer, recounts the story behind the making of The Journey of August King and particularly the friendship between John Ehle and producer Borden Mace.

Some quotage about Jennifer Ehle's part in bringing her dad's book to the screen:

For nearly two years, Mace shopped the project. He snagged actor Sam Waterston as a fellow producer, but despite several close calls -- including one with Miramax -- the deals fell through.

Then came some unexpected help from Ehle's actress daughter, Jennifer, who was living in London. Harvey Weinstein, one of the heads of Miramax, was interested in casting her in a movie, Ehle says. She was tied up with other projects, but she showed Weinstein a copy of her father's "August King" script.

Weinstein loved it and brokered the deal that allowed Mace's team to remain. The film would be made after all.

AFAIK, which is not far, she hasn't done any Miramax films yet (though there was a connection with Possession).

Reminder: the Nothin' Like a Dame event is in exactly a week. Both Ms Ehle and Rosemary Harris will be in it. It's the first time the former has been on Broadway since 2001. It's for a good cause. Go.

Hallelujah!

NEW NEWS from Playbill!

It will be a starry evening at the Imperial Theatre March 6 when the 11th Annual Nothin' Like a Dame concert is presented to benefit The Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative of The Actors’ Fund of America.

Those scheduled to take part in the 8 PM concert include Bebe Neuwirth, Victoria Clark, Tyne Daly, Lea DeLaria, Bobbie Eakes, Jennifer Ehle, Maria Friedman, Rosemary Harris...

Tickets here, ranging from a mere $50 to $5 000. Full list of participants on the BroadwayCares site.

It'd be wicked cool if we could have a "reporter" at the event. If you're going and would like to share your experience with us poor old international fans, please let us know at jenniferehle@gmail.com. Don't worry if you're not a writer, excited squeeing is exactly what we want!

PS. Thanks to Paula for notifying us about this article.