Brian White News

Internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzman and actor Brian White (upcoming 2019 series Ambitions, Bronx SIU, Ray Donovan) have been set to co-host the 59th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration, the largest multicultural holiday celebration in the county.

The nominees for the 29th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were announced this week.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today the start of production in Atlanta of the new multigenerational family saga “Ambitions,” produced by Will Packer Media in association with Lionsgate and Lionsgate-owned distributor Debmar-Mercury, and starring Robin Givens (“Riverdale,” “The Fix,” “The Bold and the Beautiful”), Essence Atkins (“Marlon,” “Half and Half”), Brian White (“Ray Donovan,” “Scandal”), Kendrick Cross (“Acrimony,”) Brely Evans (“Being Mary Jane”) and Erica Page (“Ozark,” “Bad Dad Rehab”). Multiple award-winning writer/EP Kevin Arkadie (“The Quad,” “New York Undercover”) has joined as showrunner. Created by executive producer/writer Jamey Giddens (“The Rich and The Ruthless”) from an original idea by Packer, “Ambitions” will debut on OWN in 2019, with the pilot episode directed by Benny Boom (“All Eyez on Me,” “Black Lightning”).

Award-winning artists' collective Rogue Artists Ensemble takes over West Hollywood's Plummer Park through a commission from The City of West Hollywood's Arts Division for a site-specific immersive theater experience with Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta, celebrating the life of Eugene Plummer, a champion of community in early Los Angeles and a prominent figure in what is now West Hollywood. Closing November 18, Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta stirs up a merry band of ghosts and shadows who sweep you into a past filled with wild west duels, pirates, land-grabs, violent mobs, shark-riding, romances, epic court battles, and, of course, fiestas!

Award-winning artists' collective Rogue Artists Ensemble takes over West Hollywood's Plummer Parkthrough a commission from The City of West Hollywood's Arts Division for a site-specific immersive theater experience with Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta, celebrating the life of Eugene Plummer, a champion of community in early Los Angeles and a prominent figure in what is now West Hollywood. Opening October 19, Señor Plummer's Final Fiesta stirs up a merry band of ghosts and shadows who sweep you into a past filled with wild west duels, pirates, land-grabs, violent mobs, shark-riding, romances, epic court battles, and, of course, fiestas!

Urban Movie Channel (UMC), the first subscription video on demand service (SVOD) created for African American and urban audiences, is now available to Comcast's Xfinity TV customers across the country. A subsidiary of RLJ Entertainment (RLJE), UMC's launch on Xfinity TV marks the first time the SVOD service has been made available on an MVPD set-top box. Featuring top programming in Black film and television, UMC is accessible in the home through Xfinity On Demand and on the go via the Xfinity Stream app and portal. Xfinity TV customers with X1 can use their voice remote and say 'Urban Movie Channel' to pull up the offering, or they'll be able to find it within the Black Film and TV section of Xfinity On Demand. UMC costs $4.99 per month.

Award-winning artists' collective Rogue Artists Ensemble brings a new-and-improved version of its acclaimed, Ovation award-winning Wood Boy Dog Fish to Burbank this summer. A mature and delightfully macabre reimagining of Carlo Collodi's "The Adventures of Pinocchio," the colorfully twisted world of Wood Boy Dog Fish takes over the Garry Marshall Theatre as part of its 2017-18 inaugural season, opening May 18 and running through June 24.

Delivering a triple threat of relevant writing, thoughtful direction, and a strong ensemble cast, SMART PEOPLE is well worth a trip to Writers Theatre's stylish new facility on Chicago's North Shore.

Netflix shares the official trailer for the upcoming film AMATEUR. In the film, 14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, presents Smart People, written by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Hallie Gordon. Smart People runs March 21 - June 10, 2018 in the Gillian Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe.

Are Caucasians (specifically, white men) 'hard-wired' to be prejudiced - genetically engineered to be biased against the members of other races - their so-called white privilege perhaps mitigated by circumstances beyond their control? That's but one of the intriguing queries posed during the two-and-a-half-hours of Lydia R. Diamond's provocative and stimulating Smart People, now onstage at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theatre in a winning production directed by Jon Royal.

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, presents Smart People, written by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Hallie Gordon. Smart People runs March 21 - June 10, 2018 in the Gillian Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The Press Opening is Wednesday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m.

NBC Shares Primetime Schedule For 1/29-2/25

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, presents Smart People, written by Lydia R. Diamond and directed by Hallie Gordon. Smart People runs March 21 June 10, 2018 in the Gillian Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The Press Opening is Wednesday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Actors Marisa Ramirez (Blue Bloods) and Brian White (Ray Donovan, Chicago Fire) will return this year to co-host the 58th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration, the largest multicultural holiday celebration in the county.

SHOWTIME has ordered a sixth season of its hit drama series RAY DONOVAN, starring multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Liev Schreiber and Jon Voight in his Golden Globe winning role. The announcement was made today by Gary Levine, President of Programming, Showtime Networks Inc.

Horror houses are not my thing. Knott's Scary Farm, Reign of Terror, Universal's Halloween Horror Nights...you can keep them. But tell me a good ghost story and I'm in. Put me in the middle of an immersive theatrical ghost story as artistically beautiful and complex as it is otherworldly and I'm in heaven. That was the experience I had at THE KAIDAN PROJECT: WALLS GROWN THIN, a co-production by Rogue Artists Ensemble and East West Players staged in a secret location I'm certain has never been used like this before.

East West Players andRogue Artists Ensemble are pleased to announce the world premiere of Rogue Artist Ensemble's Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin produced in association with East West Players a multi-sensory, site-specific experience refracting ancient Japanese ghost stories through a modern, multi-cultural lens.

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) is proud to announce the full cast and creative team for the Theatre Company's production of Smart People, directed by Theatre Company Associate Artistic Director, Nataki Garrett in her DCPA Directorial debut.

East West Players (EWP) and Rogue Artists Ensemble are pleased to announce the cast and creative team for the world premiere of Rogue Artist Ensemble's Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin produced in association with East West Players an immersive theatrical experience inspired by Japanese ghost stories. Directed by Rogue's Artistic Director Sean T. Cawelti and written by Lisa Dring and Chelsea Sutton, Kaidan Project: Walls Grow Thin begins performances at a secret, Mid-City six-story warehouse built in 1927 (revealed after tickets are purchased) on October 5 and runs until November 5, 2017, with opening night on October 13.