David Finch News

Louis Phillips has joined Focus Features as the worldwide film company's executive vice president, physical production. Focus president Andrew Karpen, to whom Mr. Phillips reports, made the announcement today.

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents Woody Sez - The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, devised by David M. Lutken and Nick Corley, directed by Nick Corley. The production runs tonight, September 14 - October 21, 2012 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd.

The Road Theatre Company and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, have announced the first production of their 22nd season, the west coast premiere of THE DETECTIVE'S WIFE, written by Keith Huff (The Bird and Mr. Banks, Pursued by Happiness, A Steady Rain), directed by Mark St. Amant (The Bird and Mr. banks, Pursued by Happiness) and starring Taylor Gilbert as Alice Conroy.

The Chicago Commercial Collective has announced its first production, the remount of the Chicago and Broadway hit drama, A Steady Rain, will tour Wisconsin and Michigan this fall. Currently, A Steady Rain completes its successful nine-week run at the Chicago Dramatists Sunday, Sept. 2.

Previews begin tonight, August 24th, for If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, a new play by Nick Payne, directed by Michael Longhurst. If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet features Annie Funke (Anna), Michelle Gomez (Fiona), Jake Gyllenhaal (Terry) and Brian F. O'Byrne (George). Get to know the cast below!

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to New York. The BIC preview concert in Millennium Park, concerts by Barbra Streisand, Olivia N-J and Levi Kreis, 'Man Of La Mancha,' 'Dreamgirls,' 'A Class Act' and so much more!

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents Woody Sez - The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, devised by David M. Lutken and Nick Corley, directed by Nick Corley. The production runs September 14 - October 21, 2012 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd.

Tribecafilm.com launches a month of conversation around the upcoming documentary release Side By Side today. Each day a new exclusive clip will post from one of the film's prognosticators that couldn't be squeezed into the final cut of the film. The clips will offer a daily opportunity to follow the debate on the digital revolution that is portrayed in this seminal film.

As first reported on Deadline.com, Broadway star Sebastian Arcelus has joined the cast of Netflix's upcoming HOUSE OF CARDS.

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents Woody Sez - The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, devised by David M. Lutkin and Nick Corley, directed by Nick Corley. The production runs September 14 - October 21, 2012 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd.

The upcoming film adaptation of the best-selling novel 50 SHADES OF GREY, coming from Universal Pictures and Focus Features will be produced by Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Chicago Commercial Collective has announced the return of the Chicago and Broadway hit drama, A Steady Rain, with its original cast and crew to the Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave. The production, written by Keith Huff and directed by original director Russ Tutterow, runs Saturday, July 7 - Sunday, Sept. 2. Previews are July 7 at 8 p.m. and July 8 at 2 and 7 p.m. Opening/Press night is Tuesday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. The regular run is Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now and are $40 (preview tickets are $35) and may be purchased online at www.asteadyrainchicago.com. Student and group discounts are available.

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced additional casting for the American Premiere of Nick Payne's If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet, directed by Michael Longhurst. If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet will feature Michelle Gomez as "Fiona," Jake Gyllenhaal as "Terry" and Brian F. O'Byrne as "George."

Today we are concluding our two-part look at the life and career of legendary stage and screen icon Christopher Plummer by focusing on some of the finest films, television and filmed stage performances of his career thus far, as we anticipate the nationwide release of his newest stage and screen venture, the cinematic presentation of his recent turn as Prospero at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Des McAnuff's THE TEMPEST, presented by Fathom-equipped movie theaters on June 13, followed by a Q&A with Plummer. From his stage debut in the late-1940s through to his spectacular screen career begun with Sidney Lumet's STAGE STRUCK in 1958, in this career-spanning clip collection we will be sampling many of the most memorable and most notable projects from a rich resume ranging from almost every major male role in the canon of Shakespeare - AS YOU LIKE IT to THE WINTER'S TALE - to the work of Lilian Hellman, Bertolt Brecht, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov and Peter Shaffer to Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC on film to the Tony Award-winning Anthony Burgess musical adaptation of CYRANO onstage, to TV's THE THORN BIRDS and ON GOLDEN POND all the way to last year's double-header of brilliance in both David Fincher's THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGTON TATTOO and BEGINNERS, the latter being the part for which Plummer finally received a Best Actor Academy Award. Of course, besides his well-earned Oscar, Plummer has amassed many other top honors over the course of his sixty-year-career, as well - two Tony Awards (for CYRANO, a musical, and BARRYMORE, a two-person mostly monologue); a Golden Globe; two Emmy Awards; a SAG Award; a Genie; the list goes on and on… as does Christopher Plummer's reputable and riveting career.

Oberon in association with the Ministry of Theater will present a pre-New York tryout of ROLLER DISCO THE MUSICAL!, an unautherized parody of the classic film Roller Boogie, from May 30 to August 30 at Oberon in Cambridge Massachusetts, with its world premiere opening night on June 13. With executive producer Pablo Rojas, Roller Disco aims to transfer to Off-Broadway in Spring 2013.

Oberon in association with the Ministry of Theater will present a pre-New York tryout of ROLLER DISCO THE MUSICAL!, an unautherized parody of the classic film Roller Boogie, from tonight, May 30 to August 30 at Oberon in Cambridge Massachusetts, with its world premiere opening night on June 13. With executive producer Pablo Rojas, Roller Disco aims to transfer to Off-Broadway in Spring 2013.

Oberon in association with the Ministry of Theater will present a pre-New York tryout of ROLLER DISCO THE MUSICAL!, an unautherized parody of the classic film Roller Boogie, from May 30 to August 30 at Oberon in Cambridge Massachusetts, with its world premiere opening night on June 13. With executive producer Pablo Rojas, Roller Disco aims to transfer to Off-Broadway in Spring 2013.

You don't have to be an old folkie to appreciate the music and message in WOODY SEZ: THE LIFE & MUSIC OF WOODY GUTHRIE at the A.R.T.'s Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square. Four talented musicians sketch the life and times that were the foundation of Guthrie's music and made him into an icon of the folk/protest culture. They are unamplified, but they put across Woody's message loud and clear.