Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
In an interview with Empire, Hayden Christensen reveals that he’s been cast in the Edie Sedgewick biopic Factory Girl along with Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce. He’ll be playing a character “based on Bob Dylan.”
He’ll also be starring with Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon in Penelope, which he describes as” a fable-esque tale, sort of like an Edward Scissorhands-type movie, but for a female who
George Takei, Mr. Hikaru Sulu of Star Trek, came out in Frontiers, a L.A. magazine that covers the gay and lesbian community:
“The world has changed from when I was a young teen feeling ashamed for being gay,” he said. “The issue of gay marriage is now a political issue. That would have been unthinkable when I was young.”
The 68-year-old actor said he considers himself as “having been out for quite some time.” Takei and his partner, Brad Altman, have been together for 18 years.
(Via Fanthropology.)
William Hootkins, who played Porkins in A New Hope, passed away on Sunday from pancreatic cancer. (via TFN.)
Always complaining that you’ve given half of your lifetime earnings to George Lucas?
Well, now he has done some good with our hard-earned funds and donated towards the building of a memorial to Martin Luther King in Washington DC.
Maxi big his charitable giving!
That’s the official word. But the people over at Ewan News are launching a campaign to get TPTB to change their minds.
It has been confirmed to Ewan News that there will be no cast recording from Guys and Dolls; the recording label has pulled its financial backing. One Ewan fan who attended the play on Monday spoke with the Guys and Dolls orchestra conductor who told her about it.
Numerous Ewan fans travelled from all over the world to see this play — some more than once! It would be so wonderful to have a lasting memory of the brilliant cast and the songs they sang. Many more were unable to make the journey and a cast recording would be their only way to share the remarkable Guys and Dolls experience.
We are going to try to sway the powers that be in our favor. We would like every Ewan fan — and that includes you! — to write to the theater between October 23 and 29 to let them know how much you want to be able to buy a cast recording. And while we’re at it, let’s really grab their attention: include a pair of dice with your letter. The play revolves around the love lives of craps players, and the game of craps is played with a pair of dice.
Here is the address to the Piccadilly Theater:
Piccadilly Theatre
16 Denman Street
London
W1D 7DYThank you! :-)
If you can’t send dice, send postcards! Me? I’m sending Luci!
Not so, I lie!
Comic Continuum has pictures of James Marsters from Smallville’s next (October 20th) episode. They also have a description of the October 27th episode, which has Carrie Fisher guest starring as the editor of The Daily Planet.
(I’ve heard Smallville is really, really awful this year, but what else is new? It can’t be any worse than The O.C., right? Please, someone tell me I’m right.)
In other SW guest star news, Comic Continuum also reported that Mark Hamill will be voicing the Trickster on an upcoming episode of Cartoon Network’s Justice League Unlimited. Hamill infamously played the Trickster in the short lived live-action Flash TV show starring Dawson’s dad, and (of course) voiced the Joker for Batman: The Animated Series. I’d link pictures, but you’re probably off just renting Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back for your Hamill-in-spandex fix.
Plans are underway for composer Adam Guettel and screenwriter William Goldman to bring “The Princess Bride” to the stage as a musical.
Speaking of musicals (nice segue!), the London revival of “Guys and Dolls” has recouped its capitalization in just 17 weeks.
While we’re still on the topic, don’t miss your chance to see “Star Wars: The Musical Edition” playing in Boston in November.
Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon, via Time magazine. (Thanks to Christy on the list for the link.)
EastEnders’ star Nigel Harman will replace Ewan McGregor in the West End production of “Guys and Dolls.”
EastEnders heartthrob Nigel Harman will swap the East End for the West End this winter and replace Ewan McGregor as gambler Sky Masterson in the hit musical Guys and Dolls.
Harman, 32, is set to film his final scenes in Albert Square in November and will make his debut at the Piccadilly Theatre on December 5.
The actor who catapulted to stardom as Dirty Den’s son Dennis Rickman is no stranger to treading the boards. He has previously appeared in the West End musicals Mamma Mia!, Damn Yankees and Tommy.
He will join former Coronation Street star Sarah Lancashire, who will play the nightclub ‘hostess’ Miss Adelaide.
Star Wars actor McGregor will be a hard act to follow. He has had warm reviews for his all-singing, all-dancing role, famously played by Marlon Brando in the 1955 film.
McGregor will be a hard act to follow, but I suspect that Harman is up to the task. Now I want to see “Guys and Dolls” again!
The American Film Institute has named the score for A New Hope as the greatest film score of all time. John Williams has three scores in the top 25, also including Jaws (#6) and E.T. (#14.) Rounding out the top five are the scores for Gone with the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, Psycho, and The Godfather.