Midsummers and movies and mums, oh my!

First off, lets all give a huge round of applause for Tez!!!! Thank you for everything, T!!!!

A cute photo of Jennifer Ehle in her full park attire at the opening of A Midsummer Night's Dream can be found at New York Magazine. I dig the red sneakers! The same photo can be seen at New York Social Diary (minus the annoying scissors border). There is one more photo of the Utopian trio at Theater Mania and a couple at getty images (search for "Jennifer Ehle"). New York Magazine also has an opening night photo of Martha Plimpton and a quote of her heroic attempt to speak in iambic pentameter offstage: “Methinks you ask a question very bold / I do not know if I have e'er been told a thing such as this / And I can't believe I'm letting you record me / Speaking in this way / Which is so embarrassing.” No pressure there!

At the Toronto International Film Festival site, the screening schedule for Before the Rains has been posted along with a description of the film: (Warning: it includes a few spoilers)

In the south of India in 1937, an Englishman could have his way with the land, the workers and sometimes with the woman of his choosing. Such power could shatter lives, even when exercised by the mildest of men. Acclaimed director and cinematographer Santosh Sivan explores this shock of collision between the forces of will and desire in colonial India.

Henry Moores (Linus Roache) has big plans to establish a spice plantation in Kerala. But his plans require a new road to be cleared through the vast hills, and the money and manpower to do it. To secure the trust of the local villagers, he depends on his right-hand man, T.K. (Rahul Bose). To satisfy his baser needs, he depends on his lover – and house servant – Sajani. Played with fire and intelligence by Nandita Das, Sajani is an irresistible, quicksilver beauty. Their sojourn to collect honey in the forest turns into a charged erotic encounter, but they are witnessed by two local boys – and Sajani has a husband back in her village. How long will it be before her betrayal becomes known?

The risk escalates when Henry’s wife and son arrive from England. Domestic demands rein him in, but Sajani will not be cast aside so easily. Threatened with death in her own village, she presses T.K. for help and Henry for refuge. Henry cannot reveal his infidelity, so he does what any man in his position might have resorted to at the time. Can his power and privilege still protect him?

A sweeping film full of striking vistas, Before the Rains has the look of a fine period epic, but as it binds its characters tighter and tighter within their dilemmas, it reveals the gears of a good film noir. Having made his reputation in Priest, Roache once again excels as a respectable man capable of catastrophic acts. Bose, however, as the local subaltern, is the heart of the film: here is the Indian man navigating all the harsh choices that came with colonization.

It seems that Before the Rains has been acquired by a new production company. According to Newswire, "Producer Robert Lantos, founder and former Chairman/CEO of Alliance Communications Inc., today announced his return to international and domestic film distribution with the formation of two new companies, Maximum Films International and Maximum Film Distribution...Maximum Film International will acquire, promote and sell independent films from around the world for theatrical release." Before the Rains is among the films on its initial slate. Interestingly enough, Robert Lantos was also the producer of Sunshine.

If anyone is planning to go to TIFF, you might want to check out this TIFF Talk blog. Richard seems to know his way around the festival and might be a good source of information.

There is exciting news for those of you on the US West Coast: Rosemary Harris will be starring in Oscar and the Pink Lady at the Old Globe in San Diego, CA from September 22 through November 4. According to Playbill, Oscar and the Pink Lady is a poignant one-woman play that "tells the story of a young hospital patient and his uplifting relationship with a kindly volunteer 'Pink Lady,' whose daily visits provide him with inspiration and hope." The Old Globe calls it "sensitive, heartbreaking, amusing, and ultimately life-affirming." Read more about the production at Theater Mania, BroadwayWorld, or SignOnSanDiego.com and visit the Old Globe website to order tickets online. (Remember that Utopia director Jack O'Brien has been the artistic director of the Old Globe since 1981.)

Speaking of Rosemary Harris, the Hollywood Reporter has a long article about her new film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, which will make its world premiere at the Deauville Film Festival on September 7 before it heads to the TIFF. (See the TIFF site for the screening schedule and IMDB for international release dates.)

Also, the Spider-Man 3 DVD is now available for pre-order at amazon.com.

The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS annual Broadway Flea Market has been scheduled to take place on September 23 in Shubert Alley (NYC). This is one of Broadway Cares most popular events. In addition to the possibility of finding a rare Utopian treasure, you might get the chance to see Amy Irving, who will be among the celebrity booth participants. Check out the official press release at All That Chat to see a list of all the participants. For those of us who cannot attend, we do have the option of participating online through FLEABAY during the month of September. The BC/EFA assures us that the FLEABAY auction will feature "at least 100 items that are typical of our true Broadway Flea Market finds. From authentic costumes to unique opening night gifts, from scripts to rare posters, many items featured are the only ones we have received."

Finally, some loosely related linkage:

• Tickets to Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll are now on sale to the general public.
• Brendan Lemon (remember The Coast of Utopia Backstage Blog?) has news of Brian F. O'Byrne's latest project: a movie called The International.
• At the Becoming Jane blog, fans speculate that Charles Bingley was based on the real Tom Lefroy. Read on to hear their arguments.

'Distinguished Production of a Play'

There are only three days of performances left, but first, the awards:

This afternoon, The Drama League presented The Coast of Utopia with the award for 'Distinguished Production of a Play.' See Playbill.com for a complete list of the nominees and winners. Note that Jennifer Ehle's former Macbeth costar, Liev Schreiber, took home the 'Distinguished Performance Award.'

Broadway.com has announced the nominees for the 2007 Audience Awards. The Coast of Utopia garnered seven nominations, including 'Favorite New Broadway Play,' and Jennifer Ehle has been nominated for 'Favorite Featured Actress in a Broadway Play' alongside castmates Amy Irving and Martha Plimpton. Vote for your favorites by May 24.

The website manager for the Tony Awards, Andrew McGibbon, announced that the first of three videos in the newly created "Road to the Tonys" series will be available online on Monday May 21st. These videos can be viewed at TonyAwards.com. Jennifer Ehle's "Tony Memories" video is not online yet, but keep checking the Tonys Site.

On the message board front, more Tony victories are predicted for The Coast of Utopia and Jennifer Ehle by idoleyes at All That Chat. Whyohwhyoh, also of All That Chat, is critical of the American cast, but commends the "brilliant Jennifer Ehle" for her performance.

Review-wise, Misha Berson of The Seattle Times attended the April 28th marathon (when Tom Stoppard was in the audience). Her review includes a mention of Ms. Ehle:

[...] Herzen's complicated relations with wife Natalie (the outstanding Jennifer Ehle), a tempestuous mistress (Martha Plimpton, also terrific), many children and a fierce German nanny (also played by Ehle) attest to the limits of 'free love' in an age without birth control (or mental-health care). [...]

Meanwhile, marathon runner Deborah Barlow of Slow Muse left the theater in a state of transcendence:

[...] I’ll be blatantly bloggish and personal and just say that I was in an altered state through the entire 12 hour marathon. (Still am.) Stoppard isn’t everyone’s cup of tea–during the breaks I overheard people who thought it was a bit 'wordy' or that they had fallen asleep through some of it–but he is definitely mine. Why stop at 12 hours? I could do 100. More! No other playwright I know blends the history of Western ideas with theatrical intensity like Stoppard. And there are so many large arc ideas in this trilogy, ones that I care about deeply. [...]

David Fischer at Blog About Town prays for an extension ("I saw Part I courtesy of TKTS last night and loved it--my main disappointment is that, barring a miraculous extension, I won't be able to see the other two parts."), while Elizabeth Maupin of The Orlando Sentinel offers a few words of caution.

Some news about the cast members' post-Utopia projects has begun to trickle out. For instance, Playbill.com reports that Dan Lipton, The Coast of Utopia's pianist, will be performing his own music at Ars Nova on June 3rd. Martha Plimpton will also be taking part in this concert.
Ethan Hawke is off to Australia to begin filming a new movie about vampires called Daybreakers, as reported by Ed Perkis of Cinema Blend. No news of any upcoming projects for Jennifer Ehle. As of now, Pride and Glory is scheduled to be released 04 January 2008.

In other news, Spider-man 3 has been setting box-office records, according to CBC.ca. Gina Carbone of Seacoastonline offers some heartening words about Rosemary Harris in an otherwise mixed review:

[...] At least there's still Aunt May. Rosemary Harris — class itself — grounds the film with her soulful warmth, reminding us that 'Spider-Man' is more than special effects and witty quips. [...]

"My Suffolk days, by Spider-Man's aunt": East Anglia Daily Times

Wow, here's an awesome interview with Rosemary Harris in the East Anglia Daily Times. It covers everything from birth onwards, basically. Too much good quotage to choose from...just read it!

Also, some multimedia from the American Theatre Wing which may or may not have been posted before:

• Dramaturg Anne Cattaneo on Women in the Theatre.
• Brian F. O'Byrne on Theatre Talk.
• Amy Irving and Billy Crudup on Downstage Centre.
  

173 down, 7 to go...

As of today, it's a tearful au revoir to the Marathon!

Meanwhile:

Tim at My Stupid Dog considers Utopia 'quite simply the best thing I have ever seen on a stage.'

The feat performed by Mr. Director is given the thumbs up once again:

[...] With a cast of forty-four and more than eighty speaking parts, this production would be massive by any standard. (The cast of the 2002 London production was smaller by a third.) Yet fluid, ingenious direction from Jack O’Brien ensures that every moment of this trilogy is enthralling, delightful, and deeply heartfelt. [...]

He also gives perhaps the highest praise yet for Mr. O'Byrne:

[...] Brian O'Byrne may be the only living American actor capable of the emotional, intellectual, physical and vocal demands of this enormous role. His booming baritone easily fills the thousand-seat Vivian Beaumont Theater - no easy task, since most of this production is performed without amplification. On days when all three parts of Coast are performed back-to-back, O’Byrne appears onstage for nearly five exhausting hours, all but shouting to the gallery the entire time. [...]

The commendations extend to the rest of the cast, although a few people are omitted:

[...] Ethan Hawke ... gives O’Byrne a fair run for his money. Hawke endows his young Mikhail Bakunin with movie-star glamour (and, more slyly, more than a little movie-star narcissism), then ages convincingly into a bitter, unsympathetic bomb-thrower. Amy Irving successfully tackles multiple roles, as Bakunin’s flibbertigibbet mother in Voyage and a shocking bisexual temptress in Shipwreck. As author Ivan Turgenev, who may well serve as the artistic conscience of Coast, Jason Butler Harner gives an initially restrained performance that grows more intense and powerful as the trilogy progresses. In the performances I saw of Voyage and Shipwreck, the character of Russian literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, usually played by Billy Crudup, was handled by understudy Scott Parkinson. Parkinson acquitted himself admirably, even drawing spontaneous applause for a lengthy first-act monologue in Voyage. [...]

He then parts with the crowd by proposing that Part 1 is the best option for a single play:

[...] Voyage would prove the most satisfying. Shipwreck, a domestic drama, feels like a middle chapter, while Salvage can seem pedantic to those who have yet to see the first two parts. [...]

• Daily Motion speaks to Rosemary Harris briefly about her career and all things arachnidan. (And you can brush up on your language skills with the complimentary French subtitles.)
• Visit the Tom Stoppard Bibliography for a comprehensive list of all Stoppardian creations including unpublished works.
• eBay.co.uk has a few things up for grabs: 1) a The Real Thing programme from the Donmar's production 2) a copy of the Radio Times from March 1983, with cover girl Rosemary Harris 3) a programme from the Apollo's production of The Best of Friends, starring Ms Harris, from 1988. 4) a programme from the Strand's 1992 production of Lost in Yonkers, also starring Ms Harris.

What's in a nom?

• The Drama League nominations are now out, with Coast of Utopia up for Distinguished Production of a Play. Utopian blokes Brian F. O'Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Billy Crudup are also nominated for Distinguished Performance. The awards will be announced on May 11th.


• The Drama Desk nominations are up too, with Utopia scoring TEN nominations. Sadly, no love for Jennifer Ehle there. Here are the categories, lifted from the LCT's news page:
  
  
  • Outstanding Play
  • Outstanding Director of a Play (Jack O'Brien)
  • Outstanding Actor in a Play (Brian F. O'Byrne)
  • Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (Billy Crudup)
  • Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Martha Plimpton)
  • Outstanding Set Design (Bob Crowley and Scott Pask)
  • Outstanding Lighting Design (Brian MacDevitt, Kenneth Posner, Natasha Katz)
  • Outstanding Costume Design (Catherine Zuber)
  • Outstanding Music for a Play (Mark Bennett)
  • Outstanding Sound Design (Mark Bennett)
  
  Congrats everyone nominated so far! Get your diaries out, awards recap:
  

• Drama League: May 11th
• Outer Critics Circle: May 14th
• Tony nominations: May 15th
• Drama Desk: May 20th
• Tony awards: June 10th

BroadwayWorld discusses the awards: Outer Critics and Drama Desks. Same at All That Chat.

• Also congrats to Utopia for being the top fundraising Broadway Play for Broadway Cares.


• There's a new post at the LCT's Utopia backstage blog about some of the above, as well as where the Utopians are headed after the show closes.


• Elsewhere in blogland, a glowing review of Shipwreck at Laughing Wild with much praise for the cast and production.
  

  [...] Jack O'Brien's direction leaves me speechless - he HAS to be a lock for every award that's coming up. The way he's masterfully taken this epic, sprawling work, this tremendous ensemble and this grade-A design team and turned it into something that stays true to its spirit, yes has a grand, riveting, almost cinematic in its epic-ness sweep to it stuns me. Everyone studying theatre should experience this production. [...]

  She also posts a discount code that lets you get Voyage seats for $55. Chad Jones of Theatre Dogs notes some of the show's iconic images:

  [...] Walking out of the theater after Shipwreck (when I ran into former San Francisco playwright Adam Bock – New York is such a small town), I could tell you I saw actors Jennifer Ehle, Brian F. O’Byrne, Jason Butler Harner, Ethan Hawke and Amy Irving do some interesting things, but they sort of all ran together in a mish-mash of Russians expounding on philosophical, romantic and political themes. But I won’t soon forget the images by Crowley (working here with Scott Pask): a stunning, forced-perspective view down the Champs d’Elysees; a demolished post-riot white marble statue; a gaudy chandelier and a man sitting deep in thought in the middle of a raging sea. [...]

  There's more love for Utopia at Metaplasmus, and another marathon fan report from Tess up at the forum.


• Word from EhleNews is that the Alpha Male DVD is due May 1st, presumably in the US. Can't find confirmation of this elsewhere. It has already been released in the UK, Greece and Poland (the Polish title is Skrywane namietnosci), according to IMDB.


• Check out our video bar over yonder on the right- they're Coast of Utopia clips from YouTube. Plus note that in the "What did you think of Utopia" poll, the coding is messed up so that votes for "haven't seen it yet" are read as 1 star. My bad.


• We haven't been following Spider-Man 3 here because of Utopia immersion, but there is plenty of news and press about it lately. Rosemary Harris has been doing the publicity rounds in the UK, Japan and Europe. Have a squiz at the official movie blog featuring a video of her saying she's sad she didn't get the chance to fly in this movie!

Anti-bacterial underwear recommended

• Michael Schulman of the New Yorker has a piece documenting the Feb 24th marathon (that explains this post's title).
• mandrakan also reports about a marathon, as does morigian.
• According to Playbill, Amy Irving's Downstage Center interview will be airing March 9 at 6 PM, March 10 at noon, March 11 at 7 PM and March 14 at midnight.
  
• Celia Wren of Commonweal reviews the Coast of Utopia trilogy.
• Michael Sommers of the Star-Ledger writes about curtain calls, with cool quotage from Martha Plimpton:

  [...] Even more striking is when the cycle is performed on a marathon day. No bows are taken after the first two plays. When the trilogy concludes, the original curtain call template is augmented by another downstage march in three rows. Then the company bends on one knee with heads lowered and a hand over their hearts.
  
  Plimpton notes several colleagues feared the gesture might seem "corny," but the results provoked "a massive emotional experience."
  
  "We could finally break the membrane between actors and audience and express our appreciation for going through this with us for nine hours," says Plimpton. "The roof came off the place. We wept." [...]

• NY Times' summary:

  Lincoln Center Theater’s brave, gorgeous, sprawling and ultimately exhilarating production of Tom Stoppard’s trilogy about intellectuals errant in 19th-century Russia. A testament to the seductive powers of narrative theater, directed with hot and cool canniness by Jack O’Brien and featuring a starry cast (Brian F. O’Byrne, Jennifer Ehle, Martha Plimpton, Josh Hamilton and Ethan Hawke, among others) in a tasty assortment of roles.

• Trivia: apparently a character from Lost is named for Bakunin. Neato.
• susabela of All That Chat saw Voyage and thought Ms Ehle's performance one of the standouts. Winnie So watched the same play and also dug it.
• David Pittu (the awesome singing servant) gets some love from Steve on Broadway. He's going to be in LoveMusik.
• The River King reviews in ingles and Spanish. The former is specifically unfavourable.
• Forgot to post this before. Ann, who attended both fanborees (December and February), kindly gave me permission to share her thoughts on Salvage:
  

  I saw all 3 parts of The Coast of Utopia last weekend. I loved it. While I think "Salvage" would be hard to see without seeing the first 2, when you see all three of them, you realize that you have just had an incredible theater experience. There was a standing ovation from a large part of the audience after "Salvage". It wasn't that it was the best, but it was a reaction to the entire production. I am really looking forward to seeing the marathon in April.
  
  Jennifer's role was much smaller in this one than her Shipwreck role, but she is there when it opens and for a good part of the first act. The fact that her character is so distinctly different from the ones she played before, demonstrates what a good actress she is.

• Spider-Man 3 preview on YouTube - there's a Rosemary Harris scene.
  

Etc

YouTube video of John Ehle doing a book reading.

New Spider-Man 3 trailer and a detailed writeup that includes a photo and description of a scene that Rosemary Harris is in. There's also a mention of her in an article about a new animal welfare food labelling scheme.

Interview with Jack O'Brien, Coast of Utopia director.

[...] The Coast of Utopia, whose first part is now in previews and opens Nov. 27, is a much-anticipated project. The three plays that make up Stoppard's epic- Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage - chronicle the lives and ideas of five artists and thinkers who laid the groundwork of the Russian Revolution: socialist writer Alexander Herzen, anarchist Michael Bakunin, novelist Ivan Turgenev, poet Nicholas Ogarev and critic Vissarion Belinsky.

"Tom never writes a play about one thing," O'Brien said. "He writes a play about a lot of stuff. This play is historical. All of these things actually happened to these people. It's very witty. It has to do with philosophy. It has to do with the evolution of independent thinking in Europe and Russia in the 19th century."

O'Brien previously directed Stoppard's Hapgood and The Invention of Love, but they didn't really prepare him for The Coast of Utopia, which the director called "the theatrical equivalent" of Wagner's Ring cycle. "It's some sort of experience," he said. "It's like watching a novel."

The cast of 44 includes Billy Crudup, Jennifer Ehle, Ethan Hawke, Amy Irving, Brian O'Byrne and Martha Plimpton, an unusually starry group for a long run with a nonprofit theater company.

Part Two of the trilogy begins in December and will play in repertory with Part One as Part Three is being rehearsed. By Valentine's Day, all three will be up and running in tandem and continue through mid-March. The last three Saturdays of the run in February and March are marathons when all three plays - a total of 81/2 hours - can be seen in one day. The marathons are already sold out.

O'Brien thinks a marathon could be too much. For out-of-towners, he suggests catching consecutive performances of the three plays over two days by taking advantage of the Wednesday and Saturday matinees.

"So in an overnight, you can see all three plays, but you're not sitting there for an entire day and you have a little time to think and absorb it. I think that's the best way of doing it." [...]

Misc "saw it, liked it": Dan, HEad of the ages, Andrew Guest:

[...] Last night we saw Voyage the first part of Tom Stoppard's "The Coast of Utopia" trilogy of plays. Thoroughly dramatic opening, with a stunning special effect of waves crashing on the stage got me to sit up in my seat. It was long and wordy, no surprise for Stoppard, but I was mesmerized. It helps to have read some Turgenev, to understand how modern ideas of the self came to Russia really at just the wrong time. To our eyes and ears, the Russians seem almost laughably naive, but they were struggling against a thousand years of groupthink, and needed time to adjust to seeing themselves as individuals in a modern setting. I hope to get back to see parts two and three next year. [...]

Sunshine review from a Jewish perspective.

Latest word from Verve Pictures is that Alpha Male has been entered for consideration for the 2007 BAFTAs. Nominations come out in January.

More blog mini-reviews: DBG is disappointed but there's love for Voyage at One scheme of happiness despite lack of preparation. She delivers this high praise:

[...] Of course, a cast boasting Ethan Hawke, Martha Plimpton, Amy Irving and Billy Crudup guarantees a full house, even if the show were a dissertation on the redeeming qualities of cat poop. Luckily for us all, Stoppard's jaunty script provoked far more interest and humor and kept the audience closer to the edge of their seats than any litterbox chatter I've encountered recently. [long, read on]

New post at the LCT blog on how actors spend their waiting time between scenes.

During a technical rehearsal last month for Voyage, when a light cue was being rewritten and much of the cast was hanging out in the audience seats of the Vivian Beaumont, Ethan Hawke remarked, "The waiting is harder than the acting."

Many actors would agree. Passing the time between set-ups, in fact, is such an integral part of the actor's life that it's a wonder no Stanislavsky or Uta Hagen has written a guide on The Art of Waiting. [...]

Sherry Grindeland of the Seattle Times recounts her trip to the city that never sleeps, meeting Voyage company member Erika Rolfsrud.

Another giveaway of the Pride and Prejudice 10th anniversary box set at Elegant Variation.

Plus, we just passed the 100 000 visitors mark recently. Yay!

Family update

Rosemary Harris

IMDB says she is currently filming Before the Devil Knows You're Dead which also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei and Ethan Hawke.

You can watch The Royal Family via Google Video for $0.99 for a day pass ticket or download the program for $19.99.

Word is that Spider-Man 3 is going to be released worldwide on May 4th 2007, at IMAX as well.

Wireimage has a bunch of Spidey on-location photos including some of Rosemary Harris.

John Ehle

The press conference for The Land Breakers is tomorrow (Fri 28th). The book is already in stores (signed copies at Borders).

Article in the Winston Salem Journal about the book being chosen for On the Same Page reading project.

Jennifer Ehle

Go Sahila.

Summerfolk program on eBay.

TheaterPro reviews Macbeth:

Moises Kaufman sets the action not in ancient Scotland but in the early twentieth century – also a period of war, bloodshed and deception -- with the result that Mr. Schreiber and his co-star, Jennifer Ehle as Lady Macbeth, are in more intimate contact with the political environment and the audience. As the hero and his wife, Mr. Schreiber and Ms. Ehle begin as fashionable opportunists, but grow deeper and darker as Macbeth sinks into despair. He delivers the big soliloquies with an emotion that thrills and chills, but is always in control, while her sleepwalking scene combines guilt and heartfelt remorse.

The production achieves the classical aim of pity for them both and their plight, and fear of the abyss that awaits the over-ambitious.

Nth Macbeth roundup

First, Playbill interviews Liev Schreiber . My pick of the best bits (but it's all interesting):

...PLAYBILL.COM: What makes Macbeth the right role for you to perform now?
LS: For the Public Theater, it’s a wartime play. It’s something that is topical to people. I don’t know if I respond to things in an openly political way. I just think they’re planted in your subconscious. For me, what’s fascinating about the character is the war that he wages in his mind—the interior battle of morality and conscience. It’s good stuff.

PLAYBILL.COM: And how do you personally compare to Macbeth?
LS: Well, I’ve never killed anyone, so that’s kind of a leap for me. But I certainly identify with the same issues of conscience. We all have ambitions and anxieties that get in the way of our daily lives. I think that Macbeth’s are just all-consuming.
...
PLAYBILL.COM: What time period does the production take place in?
LS: Our director Moises Kaufman is playing with is a period that draws its influences from The Great War. Because we’re a nation at war now, he wanted to perhaps draw and compare on past wars.

PLAYBILL.COM: How does Kaufman compare to other directors with whom you have worked on Shakespeare?
LS: Moises has an incredible visual eye and he’s the kind of person who’s inspired and driven by images. That, I think, for me, has been the defining trait of his direction.
...
PLAYBILL.COM: Have any cuts or alterations been made to the text?
LS: We have made some cuts and some amendments of text for the purpose of clarity and brevity, but nothing too big. ...

Playbill also announces the opening of Macbeth. There's a (new?) photo of Mr Schreiber in uniform, plus the purple dress / bloody shirt one we've posted earlier.

Now to launch into the blogosphere, starting with general views on Macbeth. On the critical end, ringelmatz was disappointed. On the positive end, Manda finds the play awesome and creepy. Damielle recommends it too, saying that it's warmed her up to Shakespeare after years finding him tedious. Some of her commenters liked it as well. Wyatt says both the leads were excellent and the play makes him appreciate having a non-murderous wife. Matt Johnston, an actor who's worked with Liev Schreiber before, digs the "World War 2 timeframe" and ponders on the similarities between Macbeth and his character Travis.

Views on Ms Ehle's performance are mixed. Sasha, Robert and Carolyn aren't keen but the latter two like the staging. However, Limonene reckons she "nailed the quiet maliciousness and ruthlessness of Lady Macbeth (and wore pretty, pretty dresses)". Jira thought her especially remarkable.

Finally, for Spidey fans, the Spider-Man 3 teaser trailer is out. Can't see if Rosemary Harris is in it because of dialup.

Rosemary Harris reads Henry VIII

BroadwayWorld reports that Rosemary Harris will be celebrating the Bard's birthday by taking part in the groundbreaking ceremony at the Lillian Booth Actors' Home on April 17th.

Also, on IMDB, it says she's "attached" to Spider-Man 3.