Mike Nichols News

It's that time of year again! Nominations are now open for the 2011 Boston BroadwayWorld.com Awards. This is your chance to put your favorite stars and shows in the spotlight by submitting them on the new, streamlined nomination form.

The Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 2005, Monty Python's Spamalot, will visit the fair city of Portland for two performances on October 20th and 21st at Merrill Auditorium, both performances are at 8pm.

Canal Park Playhouse will present the first NYC revival of ON THE LINE, written by Canal Park Playhouse resident playwright Joe Roland and directed by Michael Tisdale. ON THE LINE begins performances on Thursday, October 27 for a limited engagement through Saturday, November 19.

For two decades Friends In Deed has offered emotional and spiritual support for all those affected by life threatening illness, caregiving and grief. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Friends In Deed, Emmy Award winner Sarah Jessica Parker and Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick hosted 'A Little Jurassic Treasure Hunt,' a once-in-a-lifetime event last night, October 3, 2011. At this special benefit event, guests formed teams to trace clues through the American Museum of Natural History in a specially devised hunt created by legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Following a cocktail reception in The Museum's Hall of Mammals, the hunt took place in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs and the Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs before a dinner reception in the Rose Center for Earth and Space.

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (SCLA), a professional theater and arts education nonprofit organization that builds communities around the appreciation and production of Shakespeare, will present blockbuster film director Roland Emmerich and entertainment attorney and author Bert Fields with the Crystal Quill Award for their contributions to the Shakespeare authorship debate.

For two decades Friends In Deed has offered emotional and spiritual support for all those affected by life threatening illness, caregiving and grief. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Friends In Deed, Emmy Award winner Sarah Jessica Parker and Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick will host 'A Little Jurassic Treasure Hunt,' a once-in-a-lifetime event on Monday, October 3, 2011. At this special benefit event, guests will form teams to trace clues through the American Museum of Natural History in a specially devised hunt created by legendary composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Following a cocktail reception in The Museum's Hall of Mammals, the hunt will take place in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs and the Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs before a dinner reception in the Rose Center for Earth and Space. The dinner reception will feature performances of Mr. Sondheim's songs by Tony Award winner Barbara Cook and Tony nominee Raul Esparza.

The Casting Society of America has announced winners of the 27th Annual Artios Awards®. The bi-coastal award ceremonies were held on Monday, September 26 in Los Angeles at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, and at the District 36 in New York. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage below!

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (SCLA), a professional theater and arts education nonprofit organization that builds communities around the appreciation and production of Shakespeare, will present blockbuster film director Roland Emmerich and entertainment attorney and author Bert Fields with the Crystal Quill Award for their contributions to the Shakespeare authorship debate.

The Casting Society of America will fête their own tonight at the 27th Annual Artios Awards®. The bi-coastal award ceremonies will be held simultaneously at the The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles (reception will commence at 5:45 p.m. PDT) and at District 36 in New York (reception will commence at 5:30 p.m. EDT). For ticket information, please call (212) 868-1260 , or (323) 463-1925 , or visit artios@castingsociety.com.

The Project Rushmore Theatre company will present Bob Ader's one man show FIFTY YEARS IN THE BUSINESS (the musical memoirs of an overgrown, 50+ year old child actor) on Monday 9/26 at the Pearl Studios, 500 8th Ave., Studio 1209.

The Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 2005, Monty Python's Spamalot, will visit the fair city of Easton, PA for one performance only on Friday, October 14th, 8 PM at the State Theatre.

The Project Rushmore Theatre company will present Bob Ader's one man show FIFTY YEARS IN THE BUSINESS (the musical memoirs of an overgrown, 50+ year old child actor) on Monday 9/26 at the Pearl Studios, 500 8th Ave., Studio 1209.

Academy, Tony and four-time Emmy Award nominee Bob Balaban; acclaimed 'White Collar' television star Matt Bomer; Emmy Award-winning journalist Campbell Brown; celebrated playwright and gay rights activist Larry Kramer; two-time Academy Award-nominated, multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning, two-time Tony Award-winning actor John Lithgow; Tony Award nominee and Broadway Impact Co-Founder Rory O'Malley; and Emmy Award winner and three-time Golden Globe Award nominee Bradley Whitford will appear in the world premiere of '8' on Broadway, joining the previously announced Anthony Edwards, Morgan Freeman, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and Marisa Tomei. The production is an unprecedented account of the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), the case filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, which eliminated the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples in California.

With four Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards, the Juilliard-trained Audra McDonald returns to performing live full-time this month following four seasons playing Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC's hit television series Private Practice. Currently starring alongside Norm Lewis in A.R.T.'s PORGY AND BESS, the Broadway-bound singer will make a stop at Carnegie Hall as a part of her 20-city concert tour across North America. McDonald will present her trademark mix of show tunes, classic songs from movies, and pieces written expressly for her by leading contemporary composers.

Academy, Tony and four-time Emmy Award nominee Bob Balaban; acclaimed 'White Collar' television star Matt Bomer; Emmy Award-winning journalist Campbell Brown; celebrated playwright and gay rights activist Larry Kramer; two-time Academy Award-nominated, multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning, two-time Tony Award-winning actor John Lithgow; Tony Award nominee and Broadway Impact Co-Founder Rory O'Malley; and Emmy Award winner and three-time Golden Globe Award nominee Bradley Whitford will appear in the world premiere of '8' on Broadway, joining the previously announced Anthony Edwards, Morgan Freeman, Cheyenne Jackson, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Yeardley Smith and Marisa Tomei. The production is an unprecedented account of the Federal District Court trial in Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now Perry v. Brown), the case filed by AFER to overturn Proposition 8, which eliminated the right to marry for gay and lesbian couples in California.

Today we are continuing our series on theatrically-related 2012 Oscar hopefuls with a look at the just-released trailer for David Cronenberg's new film A DANGEROUS METHOD starring Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel. Based on a play about the friendship, lives and studies of scientists/philosophers/doctors Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and how it pertains to a female patient, Sabina, penned by DANGEROUS LIASONS and ATONEMENT scribe Christopher Hampton, titled THE TALKING CURE, Hampton also penned the screenplay for this film adaptation, which also credits John Kerr's examination of Freud and Jung's studies and personal lives, A MOST DANGEROUS METHOD. Given the films R-rating, Cronenberg will evidently be given full reign to follow the story's explorations of the dark recesses of human psychology and how it manifests in our sexuality. While Cronenberg has repeatedly proven his prowess with intimate character studies in recent years with his superb string of dramas such as SPIDER starring Ralph Fiennes, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE with Viggo Mortensen and Maria Bello and, most recently, the unforgettable EASTERN PROMISES with Mortensen and Naomi Watts, A DANGEROUS METHOD is his first bid for Oscar gold this decade and for the first time in his forty year career he may finally be awarded for his cinematic legacy given this perfect storm of his idiosyncratic cinematic sensibilities married to charismatic lead performances by four of the hottest names in drama telling a story that only Cronenberg could tell this well - with a screenplay by one of the great playwrights and screenwriters of our age, as well. If the early reviews from the Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered earlier this week, and spellbinding images and scenes on display in the new trailer for the film are any indication of what we can expect from A DANGEROUS METHOD onscreen, this could very well be the film to sweep all the statuettes at the Oscars.