The Actors Studio News

Principal photography has begun on Screen Gems' thriller 'The Perfect Guy,' starring Sanaa Lathan ('The Best Man Holiday'), Michael Ealy ('Think Like A Man,' 'Think Like A Man 2,' 'About Last Night,' 'Seven Pounds') and Morris Chestnut ('Think Like A Man,' 'Identity Thief,' 'The Best Man Holiday'). The film also stars Charles S. Dutton ('Longmire,' 'Against the Ropes,' 'Cry the Beloved Country,' 'Alien 3'), Rutina Wesley ('True Blood') and Kathryn Morris ('Cold Case'). Directed by David M. Rosenthal ('A Single Shot,' 'Janie Jones'), the film is produced by Tommy Oliver ('1982,' 'Kinyarwanda'), Darryl Taja ('New IN Town'), Nicole Rocklin ('The Magnificent Cooly-T,' 'Middle of Nowhere') and Wendy Rhoads ('The Haunting in Connecticut,' 'Because I Said So') and will shoot on locations throughout Los Angeles.

The Collective NY has announced the official play selections for the 2014 Collective:10. Coming off of the SOLD-OUT 2013 Collective:10, the second annual C:10 was selected from over 1000 blind submissions, a record number up from last year showcasing a variety of talented writers. The 12 selected plays will be produced, directed and performed by members of the permanent ensemble and Collective colleagues, and published as part of an anthology.

Casting has been announced for the Boston engagement of Disney's The Lion King. Boston's most eagerly awaited stage production returns to the Boston Opera House stage from September 9 to October 12 as part of the 2014-2015 Lexus Broadway In Boston Season.

Chromolume Theatre has announced Bird Lives! as its next production, opening on Friday, August 15 at 8pm. Written by Willard Manus and directed by Tommy Hicks, Bird Lives! will star Montae Russell as jazz icon Charlie Parker in this solo play with music. Parker, a legendary saxophone virtuoso, ushered in a new era of jazz by pioneering bebop and influencing subsequent generations of musicians. Bird Lives! will play a strictly limited engagement through September 21 only.

Estelle Parsons, a theatre legend whose illustrious stage career spans six decades, will play a 92-year-old French matron in Palm Beach Dramaworks' production of My Old Lady by Israel Horovitz, which runs from December 5, 2014 through January 4, 2015 at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre (201 Clematis).

The National New Play Network (NNPN), the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, in collaboration with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and Stanford University's National Center for New Plays, will host nearly fifty playwrights, directors and dramaturgs today, July 26 - August 3, 2014 as part of a week-long workshop for new works by MFA students from New York University-Tisch School of the Arts, Hunter College, University of California-San Diego, and the Juilliard School.

As one of the largest theatrical events in the world, The New York International Fringe Festival boasts an impressive roster of world premieres yearly. Of them, Los Angeles native Joshua Metzger's new play Sitting Shiva will see its first three dimensional presentation this August. Christopher Scott will direct the 90 minute play. The Broadway and Regional vet cast includes Eddie Boroevich*, Neal Mayer*, and Jeffery Plunkett*. The Production Stage Manager is Katy Moore*, and the production will be designed by Joan Racho-Jansen. *Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association. Sitting Shiva is an AEA-approved showcase.

Bravo Media, part of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, continues to be recognized for its high quality, original content as the network received four Primetime Emmy® Nominations from the Academy of Television Arts & Science

The Actors Studio previously announced that Academy Award, Emmy and Tony Award winner Ellen Burstyn will lead the cast in a new staging of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (translated by Jean-Claude van Itallie) at The Actors Studio (432 West 44th Street) today, July 10-21, 2014.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: BROADWAY IN BRYANT PARK launches its summer season today, BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY begins off-Broadway, Leslie Uggams stars in GYPSY in Connecticut and more!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? This weekend's big news: It's the Fourth of July (yay!) and PBS's A CAPITOL FOURTH and NBC's MACY'S FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR round up some of the hottest talent from Broadway and the music scene tonight, THEATER TALK remembers 1776's Peter Stone, and Center Stage's digital project MY AMERICA launches on Fandor!

The Actors Studio has announced that Academy Award, Emmy and Tony Award winner Ellen Burstyn will lead the cast in a new staging of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (translated by Jean-Claude van Itallie) at The Actors Studio (432 West 44th Street) on July 10-21, 2014, Thursdays-Mondays only.

Off The Beaten Track presents D.B. Gilles "The girl who loved the Beatles,"From Australia to LA, the Australian premiere is coming to the LA Fringe before a NY, London, and Paris tour. Opening June 13th at The Elephant Space. Tickets are $10.00

The Broadway community mourns the loss of renowned stage and screen actor Eli Wallach, who passed away on Tuesday at age 98. The marquees of Broadway theatres in New York will be dimmed in his memory Friday, June 27th, at exactly 7:45pm for one minute.

On July 2, playwright, author and screenwriter Liz Meriwether will join The Writers' Room with Reza Aslan, a refreshing take on the typically staid literary event that includes a live house band, cocktails, and audience interaction. Staged the first Wednesday of every month, The Writer's Room is an intimate yet fast-paced conversation with some of today's most compelling poets, novelists, non-fiction writers and screenwriters.

Johanna Allen makes another very welcome trip home to Adelaide to present the marvellous music of Harold Arlen, and her many fans were out in force to see her latest cabaret show,

Screen Actors Guild Foundation and Broadway World have partnered for an filmed Conversations Q&A series to recognize and celebrate the vibrant theatre community in New York City and the union actors who aspire to have a career on the stage and screen. The most recent conversation featured 2014 Tony nominee Estelle Parsons, who most recently starred on Broadway in The Velocity of Autumn, moderated by BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge. Check out the full interview below!

Meet Daphne and Carl. Join them on a three part, interactive and immersive experience to find yourself, or maybe just themselves. Topics to be covered: questionnaires, mothers, being gay, getting dumped, getting nachos, having a dream, a terrible day job, and a best friend. The two young playwrights compare and analyze their choices thus far, attempting to answer life's most important questions before one of them has an emotional breakdown.

The fourth play in MALIBU PLAYHOUSE's 2013-2014 season will be the World Premiere of Flim-Flam: Houdini and the Hereafter by Gene Franklin Smith,, opening tonight, June 20, 2014. The play will be directed by Thomas James O'Leary and stars Rick D. Wasserman, Melissa Kite, Gigi Bermingham, Peter Van Norden, Sabra Malkinson and Cameron Mitchell Jr.