Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Elizabeth Taylor 1932-2011



What can you say about the passing of one of the last great Hollywood Legends?

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Following is an Associated Press article about her passing:

LOS ANGELES -- Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed film goddess whose sultry screen persona, stormy personal life and enduring fame and glamour made her one of the last of the classic movie stars and a template for the modern celebrity, died Wednesday at age 79.

She was surrounded by her four children when she died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized for about six weeks, said publicist Sally Morrison.

"My Mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love," her son, Michael Wilding, said in a statement.

"We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts."

"We have just lost a Hollywood giant," said Elton John, a longtime friend of Taylor. "More importantly, we have lost an incredible human being."

Taylor was the most blessed and cursed of actresses, the toughest and the most vulnerable. She had extraordinary grace, wealth and voluptuous beauty, and won three Academy Awards, including a special one for her humanitarian work. She was the most loyal of friends and a defender of gays in Hollywood when AIDS was new to the industry and beyond. But she was afflicted by ill health, failed romances (eight marriages, seven husbands) and personal tragedy.

"I think I'm becoming fatalistic," she said in 1989. "Too much has happened in my life for me not to be fatalistic."

Her more than 50 movies included unforgettable portraits of innocence and of decadence, from the children's classic "National Velvet" and the sentimental family comedy "Father of the Bride" to Oscar-winning transgressions in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Butterfield 8." The historical epic "Cleopatra" is among Hollywood's greatest on-screen fiascos and a landmark of off-screen monkey business, the meeting ground of Taylor and Richard Burton, the "Brangelina" of their day.

She played enough bawdy women on film for critic Pauline Kael to deem her "Chaucerian Beverly Hills."

But her defining role, one that lasted past her moviemaking days, was "Elizabeth Taylor," ever marrying and divorcing, in and out of hospitals, gaining and losing weight, standing by Michael Jackson, Rock Hudson and other troubled friends, acquiring a jewelry collection that seemed to rival Tiffany ( TIF - news - people )'s.

She was a child star who grew up and aged before an adoring, appalled and fascinated public. She arrived in Hollywood when the studio system tightly controlled an actor's life and image, had more marriages than any publicist could explain away and carried on until she no longer required explanation. She was the industry's great survivor, and among the first to reach that special category of celebrity - famous for being famous, for whom her work was inseparable from the gossip around it.

The London-born actress was a star at age 12, a bride and a divorcee at 18, a superstar at 19 and a widow at 26. She was a screen sweetheart and martyr later reviled for stealing Eddie Fisher from Debbie Reynolds, then for dumping Fisher to bed Burton, a relationship of epic passion and turbulence, lasting through two marriages and countless attempted reconciliations.

She was also forgiven. Reynolds would acknowledge voting for Taylor when she was nominated for "Butterfield 8" and decades later co-starred with her old rival in "These Old Broads," co-written by Carrie Fisher, the daughter of Reynolds and Eddie Fisher.

Taylor's ailments wore down the grudges. She underwent at least 20 major operations and she nearly died from a bout with pneumonia in 1990. In 1994 and 1995, she had both hip joints replaced, and in February 1997, she underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. In 1983, she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and pain killers. Taylor was treated for alcohol and drug abuse problems at the Betty Ford Clinic in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Her troubles bonded her to her peers and the public, and deepened her compassion. Her advocacy for AIDS research and for other causes earned her a special Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1993.

As she accepted it, to a long ovation, she declared, "I call upon you to draw from the depths of your being - to prove that we are a human race, to prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame."

The dark-haired Taylor made an unforgettable impression in Hollywood with "National Velvet," the 1945 film in which the 12-year-old belle rode a steeplechase horse to victory in the Grand National.

Critic James Agee wrote of her: "Ever since I first saw the child ... I have been choked with the peculiar sort of adoration I might have felt if we were in the same grade of primary school."

"National Velvet," her fifth film, also marked the beginning of Taylor's long string of health issues. During production, she fell off a horse. The resulting back injury continued to haunt her.

Taylor matured into a ravishing beauty in "Father of the Bride," in 1950, and into a respected performer and femme fatale the following year in "A Place in the Sun," based on the Theodore Dreiser novel "An American Tragedy." The movie co-starred her close friend Montgomery Clift as the ambitious young man who drowns his working-class girlfriend to be with the socialite Taylor. In real life, too, men all but committed murder in pursuit of her.

Through the rest of the 1950s and into the 1960s, she and Marilyn Monroe were Hollywood's great sex symbols, both striving for appreciation beyond their physical beauty, both caught up in personal dramas filmmakers could only wish they had imagined. That Taylor lasted, and Monroe died young, was a matter of luck and strength; Taylor lived as she pleased and allowed no one to define her but herself.

"I don't entirely approve of some of the things I have done, or am, or have been. But I'm me. God knows, I'm me," Taylor said around the time she turned 50.

She had a remarkable and exhausting personal and professional life. Her marriage to Michael Todd ended tragically when the producer died in a plane crash in 1958. She took up with Fisher, married him, then left him for Burton. Meanwhile, she received several Academy Award nominations and two Oscars.

She was a box-office star cast in numerous "prestige" films, from "Raintree County" with Clift to "Giant," an epic co-starring her friends Hudson and James Dean. Nominations came from a pair of movies adapted from work by Tennessee Williams: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Suddenly, Last Summer." In "Butterfield 8," released in 1960, she starred with Fisher as a doomed girl-about-town. Taylor never cared much for the film, but her performance at the Oscars wowed the world.

Sympathy for Taylor's widowhood had turned to scorn when she took up with Fisher, who had supposedly been consoling her over the death of Todd. But before the 1961 ceremony, she was hospitalized from a nearly fatal bout with pneumonia and Taylor underwent a tracheotomy. The scar was bandaged when she appeared at the Oscars to accept her best actress trophy for "Butterfield 8."

To a standing ovation, she hobbled to the stage. "I don't really know how to express my great gratitude," she said in an emotional speech. "I guess I will just have to thank you with all my heart." It was one of the most dramatic moments in Academy Awards history.

"Hell, I even voted for her," Reynolds later said.

Greater drama awaited: "Cleopatra." Taylor met Burton while playing the title role in the 1963 epic, in which the brooding, womanizing Welsh actor co-starred as Mark Antony. Their chemistry was not immediate. Taylor found him boorish; Burton mocked her physique. But the love scenes on film continued away from the set and a scandal for the ages was born. Headlines shouted and screamed. Paparazzi, then an emerging breed, snapped and swooned. Their romance created such a sensation that the Vatican denounced the happenings as the "caprices of adult children."

The film so exceeded its budget that the producers lost money even though "Cleopatra" was a box-office hit and won four Academy awards. (With its $44 million budget adjusted for inflation, "Cleopatra" remains the most expensive movie ever made.) Taylor's salary per film topped $1 million. "Liz and Dick" became the ultimate jet set couple, on a first name basis with millions who had never met them.

They were a prolific acting team, even if most of the movies aged no better than their marriages: "The VIPs" (1963), "The Sandpiper" (1965), "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), "The Taming of the Shrew" (1967), "The Comedians" (1967), "Dr. Faustus" (1967), "Boom!" (1968), "Under Milk Wood" (1971) and "Hammersmith Is Out" (1972).

Art most effectively imitated life in the adaptation of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" - in which Taylor and Burton played mates who fought viciously and drank heavily. She took the best actress Oscar for her performance as the venomous Martha in "Virginia Woolf" and again stole the awards show, this time by not showing up at the ceremony. She refused to thank the academy upon learning of her victory and chastised voters for not honoring Burton.

Taylor and Burton divorced in 1974, married again in 1975 and divorced again in 1976.

"We fight a great deal," Burton once said, "and we watch the people around us who don't quite know how to behave during these storms. We don't fight when we are alone."

In 1982, Taylor and Burton appeared in a touring production of the Noel Coward play "Private Lives," in which they starred as a divorced couple who meet on their respective honeymoons. They remained close at the time of Burton's death, in 1984.

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor was born in London on Feb. 27, 1932, the daughter of Francis Taylor, an art dealer, and the former Sara Sothern, an American stage actress. At age 3, with extensive ballet training already behind her, Taylor danced for British princesses Elizabeth (the future queen) and Margaret Rose at London's Hippodrome. At age 4, she was given a wild field horse that she learned to ride expertly.

At the onset of World War II, the Taylors came to the United States. Francis Taylor opened a gallery in Beverly Hills and, in 1942, his daughter made her screen debut with a bit part in the comedy "There's One Born Every Minute."

Her big break came soon thereafter. While serving as an air-raid warden with MGM producer Sam Marx, Taylor's father learned that the studio was struggling to find an English girl to play opposite Roddy McDowall in "Lassie Come Home." Taylor's screen test for the film won her both the part and a long-term contract. She grew up quickly after that.

Still in school at 16, she would dash from the classroom to the movie set where she played passionate love scenes with Robert Taylor in "Conspirator."

"I have the emotions of a child in the body of a woman," she once said. "I was rushed into womanhood for the movies. It caused me long moments of unhappiness and doubt."

Soon after her screen presence was established, she began a series of very public romances. Early loves included socialite Bill Pawley, home run slugger Ralph Kiner and football star Glenn Davis.

Then, a roll call of husbands:

_ She married Conrad Hilton Jr., son of the hotel magnate, in May 1950 at age 18. The marriage ended in divorce that December.

_ When she married British actor Michael Wilding in February 1952, he was 39 to her 19. They had two sons, Michael Jr. and Christopher Edward. That marriage lasted 4 years.

_ She married cigar-chomping movie producer Michael Todd, also 20 years her senior, in 1957. They had a daughter, Elizabeth Francis. Todd was killed in a plane crash in 1958.

_ The best man at the Taylor-Todd wedding was Fisher. He left his wife Debbie Reynolds to marry Taylor in 1959. She converted to Judaism before the wedding.

_ Taylor and Fisher moved to London, where she was making "Cleopatra." She met Burton, who also was married. That union produced her fourth child, Maria.

_ After her second marriage to Burton ended, she married John Warner, a former secretary of the Navy, in December 1976. Warner was elected a U.S. senator from Virginia in 1978. They divorced in 1982.

_ In October 1991, she married Larry Fortensky, a truck driver and construction worker she met while both were undergoing treatment at the Betty Ford Center in 1988. He was 20 years her junior. The wedding, held at the ranch of Michael Jackson, was a media circus that included the din of helicopter blades, a journalist who parachuted to a spot near the couple and a gossip columnist as official scribe.

But in August 1995, she and Fortensky announced a trial separation; she filed for divorce six months later and the split became final in 1997.

"I was taught by my parents that if you fall in love, if you want to have a love affair, you get married," she once remarked. "I guess I'm very old-fashioned."

Her philanthropic interests included assistance for the Israeli War Victims Fund, the Variety Clubs International and the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

She received the Legion of Honor, France's most prestigious award, in 1987, for her efforts to support AIDS research. In May 2000, Queen Elizabeth II made Taylor a dame - the female equivalent of a knight - for her services to the entertainment industry and to charity.

In 1993, she won a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute; in 1999, an institute survey of screen legends ranked her No. 7 among actresses.

During much of her later career, Taylor's waistline, various diets, diet books and tangled romances were the butt of jokes by Joan Rivers and others. John Belushi mocked her on "Saturday Night Live," dressing up in drag and choking on a piece of chicken.

"It's a wonder I didn't explode," Taylor wrote of her 60-pound weight gain - and successful loss - in the 1988 book "Elizabeth Takes Off on Self-Esteem and Self-Image."

She was an iconic star, but her screen roles became increasingly rare in the 1980s and beyond. She appeared in several television movies, including "Poker Alice" and "Sweet Bird of Youth," and entered the Stone Age as Pearl Slaghoople in the movie version of "The Flintstones." She had a brief role on the popular soap opera "General Hospital."

Taylor was the subject of numerous unauthorized biographies and herself worked on a handful of books, including "Elizabeth Taylor: An Informal Memoir" and "Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair With Jewelry." In tune with the media to the end, she kept in touch through her Twitter account.

"I like the connection with fans and people who have been supportive of me," Taylor told Kim Kardashian in a 2011 interview for Harper's Bazaar. "And I love the idea of real feedback and a two-way street, which is very, very modern. But sometimes I think we know too much about our idols and that spoils the dream."

Survivors include her daughters Maria Burton-Carson and Liza Todd-Tivey, sons Christopher and Michael Wilding, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A private family funeral is planned later this week.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Mark Hapka at CELEBRITY IMPROV MASHUP



Days of Our Lives Mark Hapka (pictured above, right, with Casey Deidrick and Molly Burnett) to be a celebrity guest on Friday, March 25th at ACME Comedy Hollywood at 9 PM. Also, part of the line-up will be Alison Haislip (from the G4TV Program Attack of the Show).

If you are in the Los Angeles area, you can be a part of the studio audience. Tickets will be sold at the door and online at acmecomedy.com. The show will also stream live worldwite at acmecomedy.com at 9 PM Pacific time.

OUTTAKES INTERVIEW with MARK HAPKA



Mark Hapka ("Nathan" from Days of Our Lives) joins OutTakes to talk about his guest star appearance on Celebrity Improv Mashup at ACME COMEDY HOLLYWOOD. Also, we talk about his time on the soap as well as his upcoming films, including Beyond the Mat.

Mark's interview will air on TUESDAY, MARCH 22ND at 12 PM EST and can be found at the following link. The show is also available for on-demand playback, download and iTunes. Pre-recorded.

If you like these OutTakes Interviews, friend me at "OutTakes Interviews" on Facebook and follow me at "LauriesOutTakes" on Twitter.

Friday, March 18, 2011

OUTTAKES INTERVIEW with STEVE BLACKWOOD



Steve Blackwood (Ex-"Bart" from Days of Our Lives) joins OutTakes to talk about his appearance in Ding Dong, which is opening this weekend at the Meadowbrook Theater in Rochester, Michigan. Also, we talk about his work in indie films, his acting book, his jazz recordings and if "Bert" (the long lost evil identical twin of "Bart") will ever make his way to Days of Our Lives.

Steve's interview will air on SATURDAY, MARCH 19TH at 12 PM EST and can be found at the following link. The show is also available for on-demand playback, download and iTunes. Pre-recorded.

If you like these OutTakes Interviews, friend me at "OutTakes Interviews" on Facebook and follow me at "LauriesOutTakes" on Twitter.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Steve Blackwood in DING DONG



Christopher Howe, Julianne Somers, Steve Blackwood and Janet Caine DeLuca, pictured above. Meadow Brook Theatre, Rochester, MI.

Following by broadwayworld.com

When Bernard discovers his wife, Jacqueline, is having an affair, with his friend Robert. Bernard hits upon a creative way to even the score; he invites Robert's wife to dinner...without telling his own wife. But will his maid play along? And just where does the call girl come in? You never know who'll walk through the door next in this hilarious farce.

"Our audiences had such a great time last year with "Boeing-Boeing." We wanted to do something just as fun for them this year," said Travis Walter, MBT artistic director. "When we were given the opportunity to be the first theatre in North America to do another show by the same playwright, we jumped at the chance!"

Written by Marc Camoletti and translated by Tudor Gates, "Ding Dong" runs March 16 through April 10, 2011, at Meadow Brook Theatre, on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Mich.

"We're thrilled to welcome Christopher, Steve and Julianne back for another run at Camoletti," Walter says, speaking of the actors that wowed audiences in "Boeing-Boeing" last year. The cast of "Ding Dong" includes Christopher Howe, Julianne Somers, Ruth Crawford, Steve Blackwood, Janet Caine and MBT newcomer MaryJo Cuppone.

Directed by Travis W. Walter, Terry W. Carpenter is the stage manager, with set design by Brian Kessler, costumes by Liz Moore, Lights by Reid G. Johnson, sound by Mike Duncan and dialect coaching by Karen Sheridan.

Tickets range from $24 to $39 and are available by calling the Meadow Brook Theatre box office at 248-377-3300 or going online at www.ticketmaster.com. Student discounts are available at the box office. Groups of eight or more should call 248-370-3316 for group pricing. The schedule includes an American Sign Language interpreted performance on Wednesday, March 30 at 8 p.m.

This production of "Ding Dong" is made possible through the continued support of the Meadow Brook Theatre Guild, the Observer and Eccentric Newspapers, and AT&T Yellow Pages.

Meadow Brook Theatre is located on the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. For addition information, please visit www.mbtheatre.com. Meadow Brook Theatre is a nonprofit, cultural institution serving southeast Michigan for over 40 years.

OUTTAKES INTERVIEW with CAMDEN TOY - UPDATE



CAMDEN TOY (that wild and crazy "Igor" from The Bay) will be joining OutTakes to talk about The Bay, Goodnight Burbank -- the first ever half-hour sitcom created for the web -- and his upcoming film Of Light and Darkness.

Join OUTTAKES on FRIDAY, MARCH 18TH at 7 PM EST. The call-in number for the show is (347) 989-0605. Be sure to press "1" when prompted by the recording to be brought onto the switchboard with a question. If you register with a Blogtalkradio account, you can also participate in the chat room. The radio show can be found at the following link.

To keep up with all the news with upcoming OUTTAKES interviews, you can follow this blog, become friends with "OutTakes Interviews" on Facebook or follow "LauriesOutTakes" on Twitter!

Soap Stars invade MY BIG GAY ITALIAN WEDDING



Daytime drama stars Kristen Alderson, Ellen Dolan, Marnie Schulenberg, and Brittany Underwood will join Daytime Emmy Award nominee Ilene Kristen in Anthony Wilkinson's My Big Gay Italian Wedding, playing at St. Luke's Theatre, March 17-19. Kristen is playing the role of Aunt Toniann in the show through March 26.

My Big Gay Italian Wedding focuses on two gay men as they plan their wedding and the people around them, including an overbearing Italian mother, a jealous ex-boyfriend, the wedding planner from Hell, and an assortment of family and friends. Teresa A. Cicala has directed the production.

The production also features Anthony J. Wilkinson, Marty Thomas, Erik Ransom, Eric Carpenter, Brett Douglas, Liz Gerecitano, Leah Gerstel, Randi Kaplan, Chad Kessler, Marissa Rosen, Meagan Robar, Joe Scanio, Joey Murray, Billy Yoder and Adam Zelasko.

TICKETS:

Online:
www.telecharge.com

Phone:
(212) 239-6200
Toll Free: 1-800-432-7240

Box Office:
St. Luke’s Theatre Box Office
308 West 46th Street, NYC
Wednesday – Saturday, 12pm-8p
Performances:
Thursday – Saturday at 8pm

Running Time:
2hours plus a 15-minute intermission

Tickets:
$69.50, $29.50

VIP Premium Tickets:
$99

Group Sales:
Brett Thomas Miro btmiroart@aim.com

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Christian LeBlanc Upcoming Appearances



MARCH

Tennessee Williams Literary Festival , New Orleans, Louisiana

Christian Le Blanc will be reading from Tennessee's work on Saturday, March 26th at 8pm at thr Petit Theater du Vieux Carre on Jackson Square along with, among others, Caroll Baker (Baby Doll), Shirley Knight (Sweet Bird of Youth), Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City), Grace Zabriskie (Big Love) and John Waters (Hairspray).

Also on Sunday, March 27th Christian will be judging the "Stella" contest in Jackson Square with Shirley Knight

http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/

APRIL

The Mad Hatter's Design Competition
hosted by the Bayou Junior Woman's Club
Celebrity Guests: Brandon Beemer, Nadia Bjorlin, and the Mad Hatter, Christian Le Blanc
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
2:00-5:00pm
at Nicholls State University
The Cotillion Ballroom
906 E. 1st Street
Thibodaux, Louisiana
For info/tickets call 985-803-8109
$40.00
Face Book Page: http://www.hs.facebook.com/pages/Mad-Hatters/110742919003904

MAY

Christian and Sean Kanan will be making 2 appearances May 14th, 3pm, in Bellmore, New York at the Brokerage Entertainment Club, 2797 Merrick Road, contact (516) 785-8655

and May 15, 12pm at Uncle Vinnie's Comedy Club, 520 Arnold Avenue, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, (732)899-3900

Monday, March 14, 2011

OUTTAKES INTERVIEW with ILENE KRISTEN



Ilene Kristen ("Roxy" from One Life to Live) joins OutTakes to talk about her role in the NYC show of My Big Gay Italian Wedding, her appearance in Far From the Bay (a prequel to Gregori Martin's webseries, The Bay) and her career in daytime and theater.

Ilene's interview will air on THURSDAY, MARCH 17TH at 10 AM EST and can be found at the following link. The show is also available for on-demand playback, download and iTunes. Pre-recorded.

If you like these OutTakes Interviews, friend me at "OutTakes Interviews" on Facebook and follow me at "LauriesOutTakes" on Twitter.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

OUTTAKES INTERVIEW with CHRISTIAN LEBLANC



Christian LeBlanc -- three-time Daytime Emmy winner for his role as "Michael Baldwin" on The Young and the Restless -- joins OutTakes to talk about his upcoming reading at the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival, the Mad Hatters Designer Competition, the Daytime Emmys and Y&R.

Christian's interview will air on TUESDAY, MARCH 15th at 10 AM EST and can be found at the following link. The show is also available for on-demand playback, download and iTunes. Pre-recorded.

If you like these OutTakes Interviews, friend me at "OutTakes Interviews" on Facebook and follow me at "LauriesOutTakes" on Twitter.

Friday, March 11, 2011

ACME Saturday Night with Casey Deidrick and Chandler Massey



Check out the comedy skills of Days of Our Lives stars Casey Deidrick (Chad) and Chandler Massey (Will) -- pictured above with co-star Kate Mansi -- to see if the can make the grade at ACME COMEDY HOLLYWOOD in the ACME SATURDAY NIGHT series. This is a sketch comedy show following the footsteps of Saturday Night Live.

If you live in the Los Angeles area or are visiting Hollywood, be part of the studio audience and see the ASN show in person with studio audience seating starting at 6:30 PM PST. If you can't make it there, no worries. The show will also stream live online at 7 PM Pacific, 10 PM Eastern at www.acmecomedy.com.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

OUTTAKES INTERVIEW with CAMDEN TOY



CAMDEN TOY (that wild and crazy "Igor" from The Bay) will be joining OutTakes to talk about The Bay, Goodnight Burbank -- the first ever half-hour sitcom created for the web -- and his upcoming film Of Light and Darkness. Date and time TBA.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

OUTTAKES INTERVIEW with CASEY DEIDRICK and CHANDLER MASSEY



Days of Our Lives' Chandler Massey (Will Horton) and Casey Deidrick (Chad Dimera) -- pictured above with co-star Molly Burnett (Melanie) -- will be joining OutTakes to talk about their upcoming March 12th show of ACME Saturday Night where they will be appearing as hosts. The show starts at 7 pm PST at ACME Comedy Hollywood(135 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood CA. Also, the performance will stream live at www.acmecomedy.com.

Listen to this interview with Casey and Chandler as they discuss ACME, Days of Our Lives and more. This will be broadcast on FRIDAY, MARCH 11TH at 12 PM EST and can be found at the following link. As with all OutTakes Interviews, the show will later be available for on-demand playback, download and iTunes. Previously recorded.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Play Review - Payback's a Brunch


Youngblood's Revenge Brunch
The Ensemble Studio Theatre, NYC

Payback's a Brunch...and I found out all about that last Sunday!

Nurtured by the Ensemble Studio Theatre, youngblood consists of a group of emerging playwrights under thirty. Through meetings, readings, workshops, et cetera, these playwrights work on their craft. Every month, they have a brunch where audience members enjoy a breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit, Bloody Marys and mimosas (no small feat in one very crowded black box theater!) before sitting back for an afternoon of one act plays; in this case, the plays were all about REVENGE!!!

From the poignant Crows Nest centering on sibling angst to the outrageous Scandal Skank and Maria; or a Lullabye for the Cat that Neutered Me, there was a little something for everyone's vindictive tastes. I particularly enjoyed In Transit -- where two women (Julie Leedes and Diana Ruppe) wait at an airport bar and plot revenge against the men who have made their lives hell.

The definite show stopper of the afternoon was the hilarious Bridget Vs. Law & Order, written by Darcy Fowler. When a frustrated New York actress, "denied her rite of passage" for never landing a role on Law & Order, holds up the set and attempts to force the vet actors of the show to endure humiliation on YouTube, much comedy and chaos ensues. Georgia, the hated and temperamental diva on the set was played brilliantly by none other than Florencia Lozano (Tea, One Life to Live, pictured above).

To keep up with future brunches and productions with youngblood, check them out at http//youngbloodnyc.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

BRING BACK JACK!!! Call-in Show



Do you cringe at the thought of Jennifer Horton with anyone else besides her soul mate, Jack Deveraux? Do you love to watch Matthew Ashford as "Steve Jensen" on The Bay? Do you want to see Abby back with her dad who she adored as a child? Do you love watching YouTube clips of Jack's early days as a villain you loved to hate, the early days of the Salem Spectator, the Cruise of Deception, Alamania and other great storylines where Matthew Ashford was front and center? Then call in and support Matthew Ashford in this BRING BACK JACK!!! campaign show.

The campaign head of the FB page "Matthew Ashford : Bring him back to Days of Our Lives as Jack Deveraux" and "Save Jack and Jennifer" on Twitter will be joining me as a co-host. Jack fans can call in to chat about great storylines, about what's wrong with Days of Our Lives as it is now, about why we want one of Salem's iconic characters and the soap world's beloved actor back on the soap.

Join OUTTAKES on SUNDAY, MARCH 6TH at 10 PM EST. The call-in number for the show is (347) 989-0605. Be sure to press "1" when prompted by the recording to be brought onto the switchboard with a question. If you register with a Blogtalkradio account, you can also participate in the chat room. The radio show can be found at the following link.

DISCLAIMER: Matthew Ashford is in no way involved with this show directly. This is a grassroots effort by his fans to support him as his character of "Jack" on Days of Our Lives and to GET JACK BACK!!!