Colin Firth to Take On Henry Higgins in Broadway Revival of MY FAIR LADY?

BROADWAY WORLD
by Caryn Robbins
May 27, 2015



Reports of an upcoming Broadway revival of MY FAIR LADY from James Nederlander Sr continue to surface and according to Page Six of the New York Post, the lead role has already been cast.

The Post quotes Nederlander Sr.: "New generations never saw it. Colin Firth is already set. The female isn't cast yet."

Asked if Firth, who showed off his singing abilities in the big screen adaptation of Broadway's Mamma Mia!, has the vocal chops to pull off the role of Henry Higgins, the 93-year-old theater owner and producer quipped, "Rex Harrison didn't either. And everyone wants to see Colin Firth."


READ MORE HERE: http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Colin-Firth-to-Take-On-Henry-Higgins-in-Broadway-Revival-of-MY-FAIR-LADY-#.VWYXNSkPtbU.facebook

Keira Knightley To Make Broadway Debut in ‘Therese Raquin’

REEL LIFE WITH JANE
Posted by: Paula Schwartz in Entertainment Features, Featured, News, Theater
October 25, 2014



Keira Knightley is coming to the Great White Way.

“The Pirates of the Carribbean” star is making her Broadway debut in in a new adaptation of “Thérèse Raquin” by Helen Edmundson (“The Clearing”), based upon the novel by Émile Zola. The drama will be directed by Evan Cabnet.

The announcement was made today in a press release sent out by Todd Haimes, Artistic Director of the Roundabout Theater Company.

These smart cookies at Roundabout now have a revival of “Cabaret” filling seats, which stars Emma Stone, who replaced Michele Williams in the role of Sally Bowles. Stone stars in the phenomenal black comedy “Birdman,” directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, which pokes fun at the current trend of making a splash on Broadway by hiring big movie stars to attract audiences. Can you imagine how many tourists would normally race to buy tickets for a production of a classic but downbeat production like “Thérèse Raquin” if a big-name Hollywood actress wasn’t headlining?

Although Knightley is making her Broadway debut, she is no newbie to theater. Her theater creds include her West End theatrical debut in Martin Crimp’s translation of Molière’s comedy “The Misanthrope,” staged by Thea Sharrock at the Comedy Theatre in London (Olivier Award nomination & Evening Standard Award nomination for The Natasha Richardson Award For Best Actress). In January 2011, she starred in Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour,” staged by Ian Rickson.

“Thérèse Raquin” is about a woman stuck in a loveless marriage to a weak man. She has reconciled herself to a life without passion until she meets Laurent and then her life is turned upside down when the two are unable to ignore their primal attraction. It’s pretty intense stuff, filled with love, betrayal, guilt and murder. Add to the mix a controlling and suspicious mother and it gets intense. Cast and crew are yet to be announced.



READ MORE HERE: http://www.reellifewithjane.com/2014/10/keira-knightley-broadway-debut-therese-raquin/

Kenneth Branagh to Make New York Stage Debut in ‘Macbeth’

WALL STREET JOURNAL
By Pia Catton
August 20, 2013

Kenneth Branagh will make his New York stage debut in June 2014, but don’t look for him on Broadway: His “Macbeth” is heading to the Upper East Side’s Park Avenue Armory.

The production originated in England at the Manchester International Festival, which co-commissioned the play with the Park Avenue Armory. Branagh starred as Macbeth and directed the play with Rob Ashford (“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”). Starring opposite Branagh in New York will be former Royal Shakespeare Company member Alex Kingston (“ER”) as Lady Macbeth.

In Manchester, the production took place in a deconsecrated church, with several parts of the space used. In New York, it will be adapted to the 55,000-square-foot drill hall, but is likely to replicate the runway stage and the intensity of the original. “The action happens so fast. The battles are right on top of you,” said Rebecca Robertson, president and executive producer of the Park Avenue Armory. “The production elements are simple, but it’s so stark and you just feel a part of it.”

READ MORE HERE: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/08/20/kenneth-branagh-makes-new-york-stage-debut-with-macbeth/

Alan Cummings: A host of stars turned out to see Alan Cummings in a new production of the Shakespeare tragedy (E.) BY JOANNA CRAWLEY ON APRIL 22, 201

Alan Cumming has bought his one man production of Macbeth to Broadway (Joseph Marzullo/WENN.com)

Alan Cumming's new production of Macbeth might be a one man show but the Scottish star was supported by a full cast of friends at the opening night on Broadway yesterday with Jodie Foster, Rosario Dawson and Jonny Lee Miller all in attendance.

Cumming, A 1998 Tony winner for his part in Cabaret, opened his play at New York's Ethel Barrymore theatre following sell out runs in Glasgow and the Lincoln Center Festival last year.

The actor's friends and co-stars came out to support his big night with Alan's The Good Wife co-star Julianna Marguiles taking her seat alongside Elementary star Jonny Lee Miller.

READ MORE:  http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/112370/Jodie-Foster-And-Rosario-Dawson-Take-Their-Seats-For-Macbeths-Broadway-Opening-PHOTOS

SPOILER ALERT FOR DOWNTON ABBEY IN AMERICA

**SPOILER ALERT for U.S. fans of DOWNTON ABBEY who have not yet viewed the drama's third season or last night's holiday episode which aired on Britain's ITV network**

DOWNTON ABBEY creator Julian Fellowes has officially decided the fate of Dan Stevens' character 'Matthew Crawley,' he told the Daily Telegraph this weekend.

Rumors of Stevens' potential departure developed months ago, when he first made the move to Broadway to star in THE HEIRESS alongside Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain.

Crawley, following the series' Christmas special, will officially be killed off. Fellowes told the paper that he "didn't really have an option."

"We have always tried to persuade him to stay," Fellowes said. "He had done fantastically well for the series and his creation of Matthew was terrific.

But there was no changing Steven's mind, Fellowes said.

"But this is life. Dan felt that this was right thing for him, and the right moment to move on to different areas."

There were few options Fellowes could take with DOWNTON's Crawley, while respecting the character's relationship with Mary. There was one choice, and Fellowes, as the showrunner, knew it was the only viable one.

"So we didn't really have any option. By him dying, their love can remain in tact."


READ MORE: http://tv.broadwayworld.com/article/Julian-Fellowes-has-Decided-Matthew-Crawleys-Fate-on-DOWNTON-ABBEY-20121230

'Downton Abbey' EP Says Talk of Dan Stevens' Departure Should Be Taken With 'Pinch of Salt' (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)

1:05 PM PST 12/13/2012 by Michael O'Connell

After word of the British series' three Golden Globe noms, Gareth Neame tells THR that 95 percent of the things written about his show are "completely inaccurate."

Downton Abbey is still having a moment. The British import, which received three Golden Globe nominations Thursday morning, continues to linger in headlines despite not having aired a new episode in the U.S. since February.

Nearing the end of its third season's U.K. run and already commissioned for a fourth, the latest rumor has been of star Dan Stevens and the suggestion that the actor may not reprise his role of Matthew Crawley. Executive producer Gareth Neame says fans might be getting concerned over nothing.

"There's been so much speculation about this cast," Neame told The Hollywood Reporter, reacting to its latest accolades. "The thing with the show is, because we don't make a long run -- we shoot about 11 hours of TV a year -- our actors have the opportunity to go and do other work."

READ MORE: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/downton-abbey-ep-says-talk-402097

Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes: 'There's Nothing We Can Do' About Dan Steven's Rumoured Exit (E.)

The writer has ruled out the possibility of recasting Matthew Crawley


Following the speculation surrounding Dan Stevens and his future on Downton Abbey, writer Julian Fellowes has admitted that there is "nothing" he can do if the actor decides to leave to the hit ITV1 period drama.

Having left a question mark over whether or not he'll be return to play Matthew Crawley, Dan told the Mail Online earlier this year:



"New York for me is going to be one big adventure. I will be taking the whole family out and we will be there for six months. I don’t know if I will be returning to Downton."

Commenting on the possibility of Dan not returning to the show, EW.com reports Julian as saying:

"Sometimes actors feel they want to move on. Initially, for the first two or three [seasons] you can contract them, but after that, every season, you have to re-contract them. If they don’t want to come back, there’s nothing we can do.”


READ MORE: http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/97271/Downton-Abbeys-Julian-Fellowes-Admits-Theres-Nothing-We-Can-Do-Over-Dan-Stevens-Rumoured-Exit

Dan Stevens: Brit star toast of the town Last Updated: 12:37 AM, December 8, 2012 Posted: 12:15 AM, December 8, 2012 (NEW YORK POST)

Debonair “Downton Abbey” star Dan Stevens has become the toast of New York during his run in “The Heiress” with Jessica Chastain. We hear the thespian will be feted at a dinner next month at John DeLucie’s new restaurant Bill’s, thrown by Town & Country’s Jay Fielden. Stevens is profiled in the latest issue, out Tuesday, in which series creator Julian Fellowes says he discovered the actor in a lesser role in a BBC production of “Sense and Sensibility.” “If you can steal ‘Sense and Sensibility’ as Edward Ferrars, one of the dullest parts in the English canon, you have definitely got something,” Fellowes quips.

READ MORE: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/brit_star_toast_of_the_town_yCJAqGsDHx0KiGbEpOx9bI

Dan Stevens' eye-popping take on his first week of "US holiday festivities Thanksgiving parades, "Black Friday" and letters to Santa" (TELEGRAPH)

By Dan Stevens
6:00AM GMT 02 Dec 2012

"The Holidays” are here again, kicked off in America in spectacular style by the celebration of Thanksgiving. Unsurprisingly, this is heralded here in the most epic, all-American way in the shape of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Lined by three million people, a two-and-a-half mile route through midtown Manhattan sees floats of every shape and size boasting Broadway shows and brass marching bands, punctuated by prodigious pneumatic manifestations of the household brands and characters that have fed the minds and stomachs of this nation’s children (and many of its adults) over the decades. Towering Smurfs are flanked by a gargantuan Pillsbury Doughboy, a titanic jug of Kool-Aid and a monumental Ronald McDonald, looming down on the crowds with a terrifyingly reassuring “thumbs up”. These are also brands that have fed the nation’s economy – indeed the giving of thanks for the “harvest” has increasingly metaphorical, commercial connotations. One can’t help but appreciate the metaphor as these giant symbols pass by; dominating view yet all hot air, kept in place only by a network of ropes held by a large, exhausted workforce.

Thanksgiving is closely followed by a grotesque, modern iteration of a “festival”. For the past decade “Black Friday” has marked the start of the Christmas shopping season, with stores opening especially early with supposedly massive (illusory) discounts to lure the hordes, with aggressive queues forming almost before Thursday’s turkey has even been battered. Two people were shot in Florida in a fight over a parking space and a friend told me, with curious pride, that in New Jersey his mother “had to punch two people to defend her shopping cart”.

(Blog owner Karen's personal observation:  No offense to Dan Stevens, but, to be fair, two people are always shot in Florida over a parking space.  We Floridians certainly don't need 'Black Friday' for that.  sheesh.  Damn, Bubba, someone just shot me in the foot.)

READ MORE:

The Heiress, Starring Jessica Chastain and Dan Stevens, Opens on Broadway NEWS By Broadway.com Staff November 1, 2012 - 10:17AM (BROADWAY BUZZ)

The Broadway revival of Ruth and Augustus Goetz’s classic play The Heiress opens on November 1 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Starring Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain and Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, the Moises Kaufman-helmed production will play a limited engagement through February 10, 2013.



READ MORE: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/165147/the-heiress-starring-jessica-chastain-and-dan-stevens-opens-on-broadway/

Downton hunky: The Abbey's Dan Stevens and Allen Leech dress up as dandies for dapper new GQ shoot By KIMBERLEY DADDS Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

They're often seen looking suave in period costume on Downton Abbey.

And now two of the favourites from the programme have shown off their hunky sides for a dapper new shoot for men's magazine GQ.

Both Dan Stevens, who plays Matthew Crawley on the series, and Allen Leech, Downton chauffeur Tom Branson, have posed for a fashion shoot on the inside pages of this month's magazine.

Allen Leech, meanwhile, looks similar to Dan as he also stands to attention in a lavish black coat with his hand on his hip.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2224800/Downton-Abbeys-Dan-Stevens-Allen-Leech-dress-dandies-dapper-new-GQ-shoot.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Anna Karenina premiere cancelled as Hurricane closes in added: 29 Oct 2012 // by: Film-News.co.uk Newsdesk

(Cover) - EN Movies - Producers have cancelled this week's premiere of Anna Karenina as the largest storm ever predicted to hit the US approaches New York City.

The Oscar hopeful period drama starring Keira Knightley was due to make its debut in the Big Apple on Tuesday night.

Keira and director Joe Wright were both scheduled to attend.

But a weather system due to make landfall on Monday night has put the event on hold until further notice, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered a mandatory evacuation as Hurricane Sandy approaches.

Executives at Focus Features are reportedly working to reschedule.

READ MORE: http://www.film-news.co.uk/show-news.asp?H=Anna-Karenina-premiere-cancelled-as-Hurricane-closes-in&nItemID=15512

Downton mania as 'Dreamy Dan' hits Broadway and is mobbed by fans By SHARON CHURCHER PUBLISHED: 17:47 EST, 27 October 2012 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Dan Stevens - better known as Downton Abbey's Captain Matthew Crawley - was all smiles as he was himself mobbed by American women outside the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York

Oh Matthew, what would Lady Mary say?

Dan Stevens – better known  as Downton Abbey's Captain Matthew Crawley – was all smiles as he found himself mobbed by American women outside a Broadway theatre.

The 30-year-old British actor, in New York to star in the play The Heiress, was surrounded by excited fans who snuggled up to him for photos.


'You're so cute!' one shrieked. 'You're so sexy!  I love your hair!' Another squealed: 'I could die now!'
'He's the best kind of Englishman. It's his naturalness, his genuineness, his kindness,' said Barb Kilpatrick, a 68-year-old nurse from Pennsylvania who has been to the play twice, paying £80 a ticket.


Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2224190/Downton-mania-Dreamy-Dan-hits-Broadway-mobbed-fans.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Dan Stevens makes the jump from Downton Abbey as he joins Broadway co-star Jessica Chastain at star-studded event By DAILY MAIL REPORTER PUBLISHED: 14:10 EST, 23 October 2012 | UPDATED: 02:56 EST, 24 October 2012

For years he carved a successful but limited career on stage and British TV adaptations, specialising in period dramas.

But his starring role as Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey has opened doors for Dan Stevens.

The 30-year-old was hobnobbing with Hollywood's finest on Monday night at a star-studded event across the pond.

Luckily his new Broadway co-star Jessica Chastain was onhand to provide the introductions, as a besuited Dan joined Christina Ricci, Olivia Palermo and even Blondie's Debbie Harry at the New York bash.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2222068/Dan-Stevens-makes-jump-Downton-Abbey-joins-Broadway-star-Jessica-Chastain-star-studded-event.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Dan Stevens: Heir Meets Heiress By Laura JacobsPhotograph by Jason Bell (VANITY FAIR)

Delightfully goony,” wrote The New York Times of Dan Stevens’s performance in his first professional play. It was 2005, and the young British actor, straight out of Cambridge University, was at Brooklyn Academy of Music, cast as Orlando in Peter Hall’s touring production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. “A breezily confident professional debut,” agreed Variety, calling Stevens’s Orlando a “sweet, swooning lad.” 

It’s been seven years since that play, and now the world is swooning for Stevens. Playing the upstanding Edwardian heartthrob Matthew Crawley in the Masterpiece mega-hit Downton Abbey, he has acquired a global fan base and a high profile. This October he returns to the New York stage in the role of a more complicated heartthrob: Morris Townsend, the handsome bounder in The Heiress, the 1947 adaptation of the Henry James novel of 1880, Washington Square.

READ MORE: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/11/matthew-crawley-downton-abbey

'Downton Abbey's' Dan Stevens discusses Broadway and his love for literature SUNDAY OCTOBER 21, 2012, 10:16 AM By ROBERT FELDBERG RECORD COLUMNIST (NORTH JERSEY)

So, Dan Stevens happily found himself summoned to Broadway, to play opposite Jessica Chastain in a revival of "The Heiress." Now in previews, the drama opens Nov. 1 at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

The handsome, 30-year-old British actor portrays Matthew Crawley, the decent, gentlemanly heir apparent to an earldom in "'Downton Abbey," the English TV series set in the early decades of the 20th century that caught on like wildfire in the United States – and around the world.

" 'Downton Abbey' obviously had a lot to do with me being here," Stevens said in a recent phone conversation. "That's the nature of the game.

"But I've always had a dream of being on Broadway. New York audiences are legendary back home."

As he expands his horizons, Stevens, who's married to voice teacher Susie Hariet and has two small children, has been pegged as having the appeal to be the series' breakout performer. For comparison's sake, his name has even appeared in the same sentence as that of film star Colin Firth.

READ MORE: http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/theater/175115961_Feldberg___Downton_Abbey_s__Dan_Stevens_discusses_Broadway_and_his_love_for_literature.html

Dan Stevens: ‘Downton Abbey’ dreamboat Dan Stevens talks Big Bird and his Broadway debut British actor co-starring with Jessica Chastain savors NYC energy, says he doesn't fear being trapped in series' role of Crawley BY JACOB E. OSTERHOUT / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Matthew Crawley alert!

Sightings of the “Downton Abbey” heartthrob have become common in midtown since British actor Dan Stevens, who plays Crawley on the PBS television series, traded the bucolic English countryside for a buzzing Manhattan.

Stevens’ first order of business: Adjusting to the crush of traffic. Not on the streets, but after the show, outside the Walter Kerr Theatre, where he’s making his Broadway debut opposite “The Help” Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain in the drama “The Heiress.”

“In London, you get people waiting for you at the stage door, but not like here,” says Stevens, 30. “There just seems to be a general excitement about theater in New York. The audiences are famously the best. Cynical, but always engaged.”

For Stevens, who has acted on stage extensively in London, “The Heiress” is his second New York stopover. In 2005 he starred in the Shakespearean love story “As You Like It” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/dan-stevens-likes-land-big-bird-broadway-article-1.1183992?localLinksEnabled=false

Jessica Chastain and Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens Make Broadway Debuts as The Heiress Begins Performances NEWS By Broadway.com Staff October 6, 2012 - 9:25AM (BROADWAY.COM)

Performances for the revival of Ruth and Augustus Goetz’s classic play The Heiress begin October 6 at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre, starring Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain and Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens. Directed by Moises Kaufman, The Heiress will open officially on November 1, and will play a limited engagement through February 10, 2013.

Set in 18th century New York City, the play is based on Henry James’ novel Washington Square. The Heiress tells the story of Catherine Sloper (Chastain), an exceedingly wealthy but plain-looking woman who is pursued by a handsome, mysterious suitor (Stevens). Although Catherine is smitten, her father, Dr. Austin Sloper (David Strathairn), suspects the man is only after his daughter’s money. In addition to Chastain, Stevens and Strathairn, the production features two-time Tony winner Judith Ivey, as well as Virginia Kull, Kieran Campion, Dee Nelson, Molly Camp and Caitlin O’Connell.

READ MORE: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/164494/jessica-chastain-and-downton-abbeys-dan-stevens-make-broadway-debuts-as-the-heiress-begins-performances/

Dan Stevens: Bloomberg News NYC Best: Chastain Onstage, Afghan Whigs, Picasso’s Rape By Zinta Lundborg on October 05, 2012 (BLOOMBERG)

Sunday Matinee
Jessica Chastain takes on the role of Catherine Sloper, the introverted upper-class girl in “The Heiress.”

Dan Stevens, a “Downton Abbey” Crawley, plays the charming fortune hunter, while David Strathairn is her disapproving Dad.

The astute Moises Kaufman directed this revival of a play based on the Henry James novella.

In previews at the Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 W. 48th St., for a Nov. 1 opening. Information: +1-212-239-6200; http://www.walterkerrtheatre.com.

READ MORE: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-05/nyc-best-chastain-onstage-afghan-whigs-picasso-s-rape

Dan Stevens to quit Downton Abbey? (MERCURY)

Dan Stevens has hinted he may leave 'Downton Abbey'.

The 29-year-old actor is moving to New York after being offered a role in Broadway play 'The Heiress' and is unlikely to reprise his role as handsome heir Matthew Crawley in the ITV1 period drama when his six month stint in the US ends.

Dan told The Sun newspaper: "I am off to New York in about a month's time and it is going to be one big adventure.

"I will be taking the whole family out and we will be there for around six months.

"I don't know if I will be coming back to 'Downton' as I don't know if they are doing another series yet."
The actor - who will be performing alongside film star Jessica Chastain in the Tony-award winning play - says the risk of uprooting his wife and two young children was outweighed by the exciting opportunities America has to offer because they are "crazy" about 'Downton'.

Dan explained: "It was a big decision to go as taking your family over there is a big thing but it's exciting.
"It is all down to the success of 'Downton' in America. The show has been a huge hit over there on the back of the Emmys.

http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/Whats-On-Leisure/TV-News/Dan-Stevens-to-quit-Downton-Abbey-2-1071542.xnf