You're the Man!

Here's a scene from Third in which Professor Jameson (Maureen Anderman) and Woodson (Graham Hamilton) compare their latest bookstore purchases, highlighting their philosophical and personal differences.

Audiences Loves Third

Third - Boston Rehearsal Video

About "Third"

Director Richard Seer talks about the play.

Coming Home for "Third"

Third Director Rick Seer and Actor Maureen Anderman talk about coming "home" for Third:

'25 Questions for a Jewish Mother' Opens - Video

Judy Gold brought a new perspective to the South End last night in her opening performance at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. I saw the show with a friend of mine and we had a great time. The show is funny, and touching, and speaks to what makes a family these days. Leave it to Mom to reach right down and find the essence of what is really important.

Here's a new video clip for you.



Judith and the Moms are here through New Years Eve

Speak True: The Huntington and Codman Academy help students find their role

I recently connected with an extended family member via Facebook, and found out that she works with The Unity Project. Life is full of amazing connections. I love what the project is doing - especially how their programs use the Arts in their education and leadership programming. She asked me for a few Huntington links and I decided to send her some that related to our Education and Community Outreach programming. I did some looking around and discovered these fantastic videos from Dorchester's Codman Academy. Were proud of our connection with Codman, and we're proud of these amazing kids. Take a look at these videos. I think you'll understand why.

Speak True: Part 1


Speak True: Part 2


This year's annual Shakespeare Monologue Competition is 2PM, Thursday Dec 20th, 2007, at the Calderwood Pavilion

"Streamers" - Audience Reaction

How would you describe Streamers?

What surprised you?

What are you going to tell your friends?


click below to add your comments.

Shea at BPT, Noone at BUR

BU Today has a video feature about Comp, a new play written by Huntington Playwriting Fellow John Shea. The show runs through this weekend at Boston Playwrights Theatre.
Click here to watch the feature.

HPF Ronan Noone appeared on WBUR today. Click here to listen in, requires RealPlayer. Ronan's portion of the item starts about ten minutes in.

Sometimes you feel like a nut

Sometimes tech rehearsals can feel REEAAALLLLLY long.

Today's silliness is brought to your courtesy of the Williamstown Theatre Festival's lighting department (or BU West as it's better known around these parts).

Streamers Boston - Video

I was wondering why there had been SO much chatter and excitement over the last 18 months about this play coming to the Huntington. I wonder no more. I know. I've seen it.

You'll have to wait until Friday, Nov. 9th for performances to begin in order to find out for yourself.

Meanwhile - we managed to get a lot of good video from our interviews last week. Here are four more clips for your viewing pleasure.

Streamers - Video Greetings

We had a few cameras up in the rehearsal hall last week to get you a peek behind the scenes in rehearsal. The video is currently being edited - though I was provided these teasers to string you along. Hint - I saved the best for last.


Brad Fleischer (Billy) made his Broadway debut in “Coram Boy” this year. Previously, he appeared in “Pig Farm” at South Coast Repertory Theatre and the Roundabout Theatre Company. He has appeared in the film “The Good Shepherd,” and the television shows “Prison Break,” “The Unit,” and “Law & Order.” He holds an M.F.A. in acting from UC-San Diego.


Ato Essandoh (Carlyle) was last seen in “Measure for Measure” at Manhattan Theatre Source and in George C. Wolfe’s production of “Mother Courage and Her Children” at the Public Theater with Meryl Streep. He appeared in New York productions of “The Three Sisters,” Ronan Noone’s “The Blowin of Baile Gall,” and had major roles in the films “Garden State,” and “Blood Diamond” with Leo DiCaprio.


John Sharian (Rooney) graduated from the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, England. He will be seen in the 2008 film “Staten Island” with Ethan Hawke and has appeared in numerous films and television shows including “Waz,” “Romasanta,” “Love, Actually,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and “Lost in Space.”

Boston talks "Brendan" at the Calderwood Pavilion

Audiences at the Huntington Theatre Company production of Brendan talk to us about their experience!


Video by Laura Haughey & Paul Lyzon of CDIA

Note the appearance of HPF Lydia Diamond - who snuck in unrecognized by our audience wranglers.

Tell us what in the play moved you - or how you liked the video. Click the comments link below.

I attended last night's opening and managed to squeeze myself into the very full house. I sat near Boston theatre notables Jeff Poulos, Tony McLean, Jill Pearson, and Naheem Garcia. Their guffaws and gasps, sighs and hoots, were all nearly as much fun to experience as the performance itself. Watching an audience lose themselves completely in a performance is my best and favorite paycheck. I have to fess up to tuning in and adding a sob and sniffle to the mix. The post show festivities were also very well attended and everyone was having a great time. And I still managed to make it home by the fourth inning.

The reviews hit today and it's great to see that our press also had a genuinely enjoyable experience. Today's reports were also full of notices that Nicholas Martin may accept the Artistic Director position at Williamstown Theatre Festival starting with this summer's season. Nicky sent a nice note to staff and board members yesterday giving us a heads up. He is a busy , busy man and yet is still keeping me running with advance planning on She Loves Me well underway. Anyone have a decent dance studio in the neighborhood that we might use for a few weeks in April/May?

39 Steps Boston - last chance

Our new friends from The Roundabout have been a few times in the last week, and we're expecting a few more visits. The production will move to their American Airlines Theatre for a nice three month run on Broadway sometime around New Year's. We look forward to working with you!

We've been working once a week or so with our understudies and they have been doing a fabulous job. The challenge has been that there is only one understudy for the two clowns. That makes sense for performance, but it's a little tough for rehearsals where the other half of the team is the same guy! Luckily the stage crew have been stepping into the act and helping out. I hear that many of them have stepped in and performed a role during the rehearsals to help out . Sounds like fun! I hear Ryan, Pat and Christine have all taken star turns. Wish I had video on that...

We're going to miss this gang, but we're also looking forward to Streamers which began rehearsals today. Maybe we'll all take a field trip to NY in January or February and see how our The 39 Steps friends are doing on Broadway.

Here's one more glimpse of The 39 Steps brought to you courtesy of the Boston Phoenix. I like how they assembled our b roll - see for yourself below.




One last reminder: I was talking to Jim Torres at SpeakEasy Stage tonight while writing this post here in the Calderwood Pavilion lobby. He mentioned, in addition to The 39 Steps, their production of Zanna, Don't! also closes on Sunday with an additional performance. Both shows can be purchased at BostonTheatreScene.com

Inbox - Tuesday

Had a few nice surprises in my mailbox today:

BU Today published a video feature with Campbell Scott, Justin Waldman and Ronan Noone. Visit BU Today and take a look.

Huntington favorite Jerry Kissel (Persephone, The Cherry Orchard, Sisters Rosenswieg) recorded a radio spot for us... it's especially worth a listen if you know Jerry. Take a look under the videos in the side bar for the radio ad.

The 39 Steps Boston - Video

I thought I'd toss this fun video online while I'm eating my dinner, a yummy maki roll from the nice folks at Symphony Sushi right around the corner here in Boston. (Shameless, aren't I?)

Here are our good friends Arnie Burton, Charles Edwards, Jennifer Ferrin, Cliff Saunders and Director Maria Aitken hamming it up for the camera in the Huntington Theatre's rehearsal hall. Enjoy the video!



Next Post? Production Photos. Y'all come back now!

Run for it!

Today we rehearsed a bit of one of the more challenging chase sequences in The 39 Steps. We don't officially start tech until Sunday - but this scene requires the use of the technical wizardry only available on stage, so we joined the cast and spent three or four hours playing with all of our toys. It was a lot of fun and this show is shaping up nicely.

It's also fun to see that we are not making a carbon copy of the London production. Sure - it closely resembles the fun now playing in Piccadilly Circus - but it has a character all it's own.

I didn't get any video this afternoon, but I found the scenes from the Hitchcock movie that we're re-enacting. The part we rehearsed today starts about 2 minutes into this clip.



The 39 Steps play (rather fully) recreates The 39 Steps movie, but Hitchcock slips into the action in other ways (as Hitchcock will). We borrow from this classic movie too...



I have to say - the helicopter scene in Miss Saigon has NOTHING on us. See today's earlier post if you are interest in catching the whole thing on a larger screen.

It's Official

We have announced our full slate of "Huntington Presents" productions. This brings the count up to a grand total of 12 productions, if we include our Breaking Ground Festival in the Spring. Remember when we just did five????

Subscribers are the obvious winners with first choice seating to even more Huntington 07-08 shows.

On the production front I've been lucky enough to take another vacation, and am now paying the price. The 39 Steps starts rehearsal tomorrow. I'll have more updates for you soon. Meanwhile here's some info about our upcoming programming at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.

Screen and stage star Campbell Scott, stand-up comedienne/monologist Judy Gold, Boston actress and playwright Rebekah Maggor, and internationally acclaimed performance artist Ennio Marchetto comprise the Huntington Theatre Company’s 2007-2008 “Huntington Presents” series in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.

“This series complements the Huntington’s regular season and allows us to bring a wider variety of voices and performances to Boston,” says Huntington Artistic Director Nicholas Martin. “‘Huntington Presents’ shows are perfectly suited to the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, where the connections between performers and audiences are especially intimate,” he says.

The 2007-2008 “Huntington Presents” line-up includes:

“THE ATHEIST”

By Ronan Noone

Directed by Justin Waldman

Starring Campbell Scott

Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

Sept, 12-30, 2007

Stage and screen star Campbell Scott (”The Secret Lives of Dentists,” “Roger Dodger,” and the Huntington’s 1996 production of “Hamlet”) plays an ethically challenged journalist in this limited-run engagement of Boston playwright Ronan Noone’s one-man show. “The Atheist” was presented first by Scott at the Huntington’s Breaking Ground Festival of new play readings in 2006, before its New York and London premieres.

“25 QUESTIONS FOR A JEWISH MOTHER”

By Kate Moira Ryan and Judy Gold

Directed by Karen Kohlhaas

Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

Dec. 18-31, 2007

An award-winning Comedy Central, HBO, and Logo network favorite, stand-up comic and monologist Judy Gold explores what it takes to be a Jewish mother in this hilarious, autobiographical Off Broadway hit that makes its Boston premiere at the Calderwood Pavilion. By mixing her personal experiences with those of women she and Ryan interviewed around the country, Gold weaves a funny and universal story about the ups and downs of motherhood. Click here to view a Judy Gold Video.

“SHAKESPEARE’S ACTRESSES IN AMERICA”

Created and performed by Rebekah Maggor

Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

Jan. 27 - Feb. 11, 2008

Boston playwright and actress Rebekah Maggor (a 2006 Huntington Playwriting Fellow) channels actresses both current and historic in a salute to the Bard’s best-known female characters and the women who brought them to life. This return engagement follows critically acclaimed runs in Cambridge and Wellfleet, Mass. last year.

“ENNIO!”

Starring Ennio Marchetto

Created by Ennio Marchetto and Sosthen Hennekam

Wimberly Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA

May 13-June 1, 2008

Marilyn Monroe morphs into Marilyn Manson at lightning speed. Eminem's rapping becomes Gloria Gaynor’s wailing in the blink of an eye. A world of celebrity icons new and old unfolds as the original quick-change artist Ennio Marchetto turns origami into hilarious, family-friendly theatrical magic. This international sensation has not been seen in the Boston area since 1994! Click here to view an Ennio Video

Tickets for “The Atheist” are available now online (www.huntingtontheatre.org and www.bostontheatrescene.com), by phone (617 266-0800), or in person (at the Boston University Theatre Box Office at 264 Huntington Avenue and the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA Box Office at 527 Tremont Street). Phone and box office hours vary; call for schedule.

Judy Gold Photo: Courtesy Off Broadway Booking. Rebekah Maggor Photo: Andrew Brilliant. Ennio Photo: Courtesy Foster Entertainment.

Rhythm and Bruise

I've been a guest at the Calderwood Pavilion twice this week... it's very odd, but fun. Monday I attended "The Party" as a guest of Jeff Poulos over at StageSource. It was a great evening and nice to see so many familiar faces all in one place. Tonight I attended the 10th Anniversary Party for Wilson Butler - the Calderwood Pavilion's Architects. More familiar faces... it hardly seems like almost three years have passed since we cut the ribbon there together.

Anyway - as part of the Wilson Butler celebration we had a command performance from Snappy Dance Theater, who are also celebrating 10 years. I've been hearing from my staff about how much fun the String Beings piece is, and they were right, it's a great example of how you can use live digital projection as part of a performance. It is a truly enjoyable evening of dance theater, and since you probably won't be able to get tickets to Saturday evening's performance of Present Laughter why don't you head down to the Calderwood and enjoy Snappy Dance instead. Tickets at BostonTheatreScene.com, of course. And - I found this fun video from Snappy on You Tube. Enjoy!

Snappy Dance Theater Photo: Odd Egg Out, 1999, photo by Roger Ide

Father and Daughter

I'm still waiting for JMK to hand over the opening night photos and some production video, even though he sent this photo our way today. We had a great performance last night, and the audience had an extra special treat.


Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Victor Garber, and Nicholas Martin visit backstage following Sunday's performance of Present Laughter. Jennifer and Victor worked together on ABC's Alias. Ben was in town to do some work for the Greater Boston Food Bank and to cheer on the Sox. More info here. And a follow up here.

Present Laughter begins it's final two weeks tomorrow. Best bet for tickets are weekday and matinee performances, though availability is good for all of the remaining performances.

WBZ's Liz Walker has an interview with Victor Garber here which aired Sunday, June 3rd. Joyce Kulhawik has a review here. Both pieces include some performance video.