Bill Condon News

Steppenwolf Theatre Company and ensemble member Tracy Letts, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning playwright of August: Osage County, hosts Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale and Julianne Nicholson as the guests of honor at the fifth annual Steppenwolf Salutes Women in the Arts fundraising luncheon on Monday, December 9, 2013 at 12 noon at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago (120 E Delaware Pl).

A vastly revised and rewritten new version of cult musical SIDE SHOW by Henry Krieger and Bill Russell is preparing for its debut under the direction of film director Bill Condon at the La Jolla Playhouse this month and character sketches of some of the new freaks being added to the carnival-themed show are now available to view, with comments on the process from the noted Hollywood make-up craftsmen who have helped create them, Dave and Lou Elsey.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will produce, in association with La Jolla Playhouse, a re-imagining of Henry Krieger and Bill Russell's Side Show. Directed by Academy Award winning director Bill Condon, the musical will play at La Jolla Playhouse November 5 through December 17 and will play the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater in spring 2014, according to an equity casting notice. The musical features book and lyrics by Bill Russell and music by Henry Krieger who will revise the show before its debut at La Jolla.

'Twilight Forever: The Complete Saga' a 10-disc Blu-ray set or a 12-disc DVD set, will be available today, Nov. 5, and will feature two hours of never-before-seen bonus material, including new cast interviews, as well as all five movies.

Tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow, November 2 at 10 AM for Neil Patrick Harris' return to Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, the musical with book by John Cameron Mitchell and music and lyrics by Stephen Trask, directed by Michael Mayer. For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit Telecharge.com.

'Come look at the freaks!' Celebrated cult musical SIDE SHOW is currently rehearsing for an out-of-town tryout at the La Jolla Playhouse under DREAMGIRLS feature film director Bill Condon's supervision, outfitted with a new book, new songs, new characters, a new look and a whole different attitude, making the Henry Krieger/Bill Russell musical a vastly rewritten, virtually new show, yet with the glimpses of greatness of the original ported over, as well.

The production just launched a Twitter re-tweet challenge for fans. They tweeted: 'RT this! 1st 'freak peek'at the #SideShow sisters singing: http://bit.ly/19WVt2t .' If the clip receives 200 retweets La Jolla Playhouse will release a clip of a brand new song sung by Erin Davie and Emily Padgett in rehearsal.

Following Julian Assange's heated letter to Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor, who plays the famed WikiLeaks founder in the film THE FIFTH ESTATE, has released his own response.

Stage and screen superstar Benedict Cumberbatch essays the role of a lifetime in portraying controversial modern-day figure Julian Assange in the new Bill Condon-directed biopic THE FIFTH ESTATE and the release date for the highly anticipated film was moved up more than a month by distributor Disney, signaling the studio's faith in the project.

"The Fifth Estate" reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century's most fiercely debated organization.

Triggering our age of high-stakes secrecy, explosive news leaks and the trafficking of classified information, WikiLeaks forever changed the game. Now, in a dramatic thriller based on real events, 'The Fifth Estate' reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century's most fiercely debated organization. Click below to watch a new clip from the film!

La Jolla Playhouse announces a fifth production for its 2013/14 season: the world premiere of The Tallest Tree, a new play with music written and performed by Daniel Beaty (Emergency, Through the Night), directed by Moises Kaufman (I Am My Own Wife, The Laramie Project). A co-production with Kansas City Repertory Theatre, The Tallest Tree will run in The Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre tonight, October 9 - November 3, 2013. The piece is produced in association with Tectonic Theater Project.

HBO Films presents in association with SAF Films West MUHAMMAD ALI'S GREATEST FIGHT, starring Academy Award(R) winner Christopher Plummer ('Beginners'), Academy Award(R) nominee Frank Langella ('Frost/Nixon') and Benjamin Walker ('Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter'); directed by Academy Award(R) nominee Stephen Frears ('The Queen') from a script by Shawn Slovo ('A World Apart'); and executive produced by Emmy(R) winner Frank Doelger (HBO's 'Game of Thrones' and 'The Gathering Storm'), Emmy(R) winner Tracey Scoffield (HBO's 'The Gathering Storm'), Jonathan Cameron and Stephen Frears.

Both timely and timeless, Daniel Soar's SPIES LIKE US, The Secret History of Communication and Surveillance examines the past, present and future of surveillance. It will include an up-to-date account of everything the Snowden leaks have exposed about state and corporate surveillance and crucially will also put these recent revelations in the context of espionage's long and murky history. Canongate plans to publish in Spring 2015, with rights pre-empted in Spain (Random House) and in Australia and New Zealand (Text Publishing). Francis Bickmore, Publishing Director at Canongate, has acquired A Slight Trick of the Mind, a novel by Mitch Cullin about the final years of Sherlock Holmes. Canongate bought UK and Commonwealth rights (ex. Canada) from Jessica Craig at United Agents on behalf of Peter Steinberg. Canongate will publish in May 2014.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company and ensemble member Tracy Letts, Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning playwright ofAugust: Osage County, will host Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale and Julianne Nicholson as the guests of honor at the fifth annual Steppenwolf Salutes Women in the Arts fundraising luncheon on Monday, December 9, 2013 at 12 noon (location TBD). All three of these dynamic women are featured in Letts's highly anticipated film adaptation of August: Osage County. This year's event will featured a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the film, in addition to an insightful conversation with Lewis, Martindale and Nicholson, moderated by Letts in a format similar to Inside the Actors Studio. Previous honorees at Steppenwolf Salutes Women in the Arts include ensemble members Joan Allen and Martha Plimpton, Julianna Margulies and Mary-Louise Parker.

Tonight's MUSICAL MONDAY will feature the musical SIDE SHOW with its writer/lyricist, Tony Award Nominee Bill Russell, on hand to participate in the event. Musical Monday, now in its 5th season, is MTH's Musical Theatre flavored cabaret show featured six times each year at the Off Center Theatre in Kansas City.

The Toronto International Film Festival just kicked off in Toronto, Ontario, where it runs through September 15. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you coverage of stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Dan Stevens and more at THE FIFTH ESTATE photo call!

A new featurette has been released for DreamWorks Pictures' upcoming Wikileaks thriller THE FIFTH ESTATE.

The Toronto International Film Festival just kicked off in Toronto, Ontario, where it runs through September 15. Check out photos from the stage presentation for The Fifth Estate below!