Alan Ball News

Today we are talking to a busy and very recognizable actress who has appeared in over 100 TV and film properties since her debut in the 1970s and just this year played arcs on both the freshly-minted 2012 Emmy-winning Best Drama HOMELAND, as well as HBO's hit nighttime vampire series TRUE BLOOD - the accomplished and arresting Linda Purl. Discussing her roles on the hit HBO and Showtime series she has appeared on this year as well as her recent multi-episode stint on NBC's THE OFFICE, Purl sheds some light on her long and rich career and also shares stories from the sets of some of her most famous forays - HAPPY DAYS, VISITING HOURS and more included. Additionally, we shed some light on her upcoming two-night-stand at Feinstein's At Loews Regency, MIDNIGHT CARAVAN… TRAVELS THROUGH THE GREAT NEW YORK NIGHTCLUBS, with special guest Desi Arnaz, Jr., and she sets the stage for what we can expect from the noir-inspired cabaret piece featuring songs of the 1940s and 50s. Furthermore, Purl opens up about her theatrical roots - starring in plays and musicals like OLIVER, THE KING & I and THE MIRACLE WORKER growing up overseas, as well as observing no less than Tennessee Williams, a friend of her parents, as he oversaw a Tokyo production of IN THE BAR OF A TOKYO HOTEL and resided with the clan; and, later starring on Broadway in THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER,GETTING AND SPENDING and in regional revivals, such as six seasons at Williamstown and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE at LA's Rubicon. Additionally, she gives insight into many notable friends and collaborators - Edith Head, Angela Lansbury, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Laurence Olivier, Kim Hunter, Robby Benson and others. Plus, first news on the forthcoming studio album of MIDNIGHT CARAVAN - and much, much more!

From 'The X-Files' writer and producer Frank Spotnitz comes HUNTED, an eight-episode drama series set in the world of international espionage. Golden Globe nominee Melissa George (HBO's 'In Treatment') stars as Sam Hunter, a skilled, gutsy operative for Byzantium, a secretive private firm involved in global intelligence and espionage. After surviving an attempt on her life that may have been orchestrated by members of her own team, she returns to work, but doesn't know who to trust. Shot on location in Europe, the primetime suspense show debuts FRIDAY, OCT. 19 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) on CINEMAX.

In a unique special event created for Toronto International Film Festival audiences, Reitman directed a live stage reading of Alan Ball's screenplay for American Beauty. Sam Mendes' film about a family man's resplendent mid-life crisis premiered in Toronto in 1999 and went on to win five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. The one-night-only performance included Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Woody Harrelson, Adam Driver, Sarah Gadon, Nick Kroll, Mae Whitman and George Stroumboulopoulos. Check out photos from the event below!

The fifth production of the 2012 Hangar season is a true American classic, Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. This intensely moving and riveting story of acceptance and coming home again will be directed by the Hangar's Associate Artistic Director Stephanie Yankwitt (Hangar's Rounding Third) and features a cast of local favorites including Susannah Berryman (Hangar's Penelope of Ithaca, The Chalk Circle, Cabaret, and The Rainmaker) and Jesse Bush (Hangar's Ever So Humble, Disney's Beauty and the Beast). The Trip to Bountiful opens tonight, September 7, and runs through September 15th.

The fifth production of the 2012 Hangar season is a true American classic, Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. This intensely moving and riveting story of acceptance and coming home again will be directed by the Hangar's Associate Artistic Director Stephanie Yankwitt (Hangar's Rounding Third) and features a cast of local favorites including Susannah Berryman (Hangar's Penelope of Ithaca, The Chalk Circle, Cabaret, and The Rainmaker) and Jesse Bush (Hangar's Ever So Humble, Disney's Beauty and the Beast). The Trip to Bountiful will preview September 6, and run September 7 through September 15th.

Theatre East presents "Normalcy" by Bennett Windheim, Off Broadway at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 West 42nd Street, NYC. Benard Cummings directs the new play. Previews begin for the limited engagement today, August 31 and the opening is Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 7:00 pm. For this opening of its 2012-13 season, there will be a series of talk-backs throughout the run, with the author, the producers and director, as well as experts in the respective field of this emotionally charged play.

Season 5 of HBO's smash-hit series True Blood(R) came to a dramatic end on HBO last night but fans needn't shed a tear for their favorite vampire, shapeshifter, werewolf or townie. HBO GO(R) injects fun into the season finale with a bonus scene teasing season 6 appearing at the end of the last episode with additional, exclusive elements available through HBO GO's True Blood interactive viewing experience.

Theatre East presents "Normalcy" by Bennett Windheim, Off Broadway at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 West 42nd Street, NYC. Benard Cummings directs the new play. Previews begin for the limited engagement on August 31 and the opening is Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 7:00 pm. For this opening of its 2012-13 season, there will be a series of talk-backs throughout the run, with the author, the producers and director, as well as experts in the respective field of this emotionally charged play.

HBO/Cinemax has released the 2012-13 programming overview.

CINEMAX has confirmed its lineup of new and returning original series for upcoming months, including the second season of STRIKE BACK and the debuts of HUNTED and BANSHEE.

Theatre East presents "Normalcy" by Bennett Windheim, Off Broadway at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 West 42nd Street, NYC. Benard Cummings directs the new play. Previews begin for the limited engagement on August 31 and the opening is Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 7:00 pm. For this opening of its 2012-13 season, there will be a series of talk-backs throughout the run, with the author, the producers and director, as well as experts in the respective field of this emotionally charged play. The schedule will soon be announced.

Theatre East presents "Normalcy" by Bennett Windheim, Off Broadway at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 West 42nd Street, NYC. Benard Cummings directs the new play. Previews begin for the limited engagement on August 31 and the opening is Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 7:00 pm. For this opening of its 2012-13 season, there will be a series of talk-backs throughout the run, with the author, the producers and director, as well as experts in the respective field of this emotionally charged play.

The Michigan Shakespeare Festival, the official Shakespeare Festival of the State of Michigan, proudly accepted a standing ovation for the opening performance of Richard III on Saturday night. The darkly funny and deeply dramatic production, crowned by a fully underscored epic Battle of Bosworth Field, stars Michigan native David Turrentine in the title role and features performances by Amy Montgomery, Stacy Stoltz, and Alan Ball.

Stage and screen star Sanaa Lathan (A Raisin in the Sun, Contagion) returns to the title role in Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's By the Way, Meet Vera Stark for its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse. Lathan, who originated the character of Vera Stark in the critically acclaimed New York run, will once again take the stage as the 1930's era maid turned movie star, reunited with original cast member Kimberly Hebert Gregory (Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer) reprising her role as fellow aspiring African American actress Lottie. Broadway vet and Geffen alum Merle Dandridge (Spamalot, Rent, Aida) will take on the spicy role of Anna Mae, who fakes a Brazilian accent for a slice of fame, and former leading lady of ABC's Man Up, Amanda Detmer, will portray Gloria Mitchell, the white starlet dubbed "America's little sweetie pie" and Vera's first employer. Helmed by award-winning director Jo Bonney, the West Coast premiere cast also features Kevin Carroll (Paid in Full, Being John Malkovich), Spencer Garrett (Iron Man 3, Air Force One) and Geffen alum Mather Zickel (Extraordinary Chambers, Rachel Getting Married).

HBO series TRUE BLOOD and GAME OF THRONES are confirmed for panels and autograph sessions, and Cinemax series Strike Back will have a panel and a screening at Comic-Con International: San Diego 2012.

Producers Carole Black and Pat Mitchell announced today that EMOTIONAL CREATURE, the new play written by Tony Award®-winning playwright, performer, activist, and The Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler, will get a New York premiere this fall.