Charles Laughton News

Warner Bros. and Appian Way's Leonardo DiCaprio have signed Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy to write a modern adaptation of H.G. Wells' 1896 novel THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU for the big screen.

The Warner Archive Collection announces its newest releases:

'Every good story's a war story,' says a character in Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah, premiering at the Contemporary American Theater Festival. That certainly seems to be playwright Mark St. Germain's approach in imagining a 1937 encounter between writers F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.

May Classics are 'Top of their Genres' on Reel 13 on THIRTEEN. This month's selections include some of the American Film Institute's best thriller, inspirational, courtroom and sports films.

Fifty years after he started writing it, Quasimodo, a major musical by Oliver! composer Lionel Bart, will finally get its World Premiere at the King's Head Theatre in London this month, March 2013.

Casting is now complete for Quasimodo, the last great unproduced musical by Oliver! composer Lionel Bart, which is getting its World Premiere, 50 years after it was written.

The Picture Show at Bay Street Theatre, sponsored by Peconic Landing continues with classic films this winter and spring. All films start at 8 pm. Tickets are $7 at the door and include a small box of popcorn. For the $28 prix-fixe 'Dinner and a Movie' package, call Page at 63 Main (631-725-1810), IL Capuccino (631-725-2747) or Sen (631-725-1774). Beginning February 15, the dinner package will be available at Dockside (631-725-7100). Cost does not include sales tax, beverage or gratuities.

Producers are hunting for an undiscovered singing talent for the role of a lifetime to star as the infamous and tragic Parisian hunchback Quasimodo in the last great unproduced musical by Oliver! composer Lionel Bart.

Producers are hunting for an undiscovered singing talent for the role of a lifetime to star as the infamous and tragic Parisian hunchback Quasimodo in the last great unproduced musical by Oliver! composer Lionel Bart.

The Picture Show at Bay Street Theatre has announced announce that Peconic Landing is sponsoring its long-running, classic Picture Show Series for the 2013 Season.

Fifty years after he started writing it, Quasimodo, a major musical by Oliver! composer Lionel?Bart,will finally get its World Premiere at the King's Head Theatre in London in March 2013.

With CHRISTMAS IN TINSELTOWN (HCI $14.95)- the follow-up to his international sensation The Dead Celebrity Cookbook - Frank DeCaro shows how to put the kitsch into your holiday kitchen as he salutes a quirky collection of celebrities who are gone, but fondly remembered every year at Christmastime.

Apparently, if you've seen LES MISERABLES in its current incarnation, you're missing 15 minutes (approximately), and a revolving stage that makes the action come alive. Well, I hadn't seen the production in any form-I even missed the Muny's presentation, so this was a fresh experience for me. I can't imagine what was cut, since it's about 3 hours even with the intermission, but the revolving stage might have been nice to have. In any event, this is still an epic musical that stirs the heart and soul, and it left the audience enthralled as it told its sprawling tale. Having read Victor Hugo's unedited text some years ago, and written a paper on how it compared to the Frederic March and Charles Laughton film, I come at this from a different perspective. For me, this modern opera currently playing the Fox Theatre (through October 28, 2012), is generally more impressive due to it's fine performances and expert staging than its reputation.

Simon Callow has brought his highly acclaimed show BEING SHAKESPEARE to the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at the Broadway Playhouse for a limited engagement through April 29, 2012. Performances began April, 18 2012. The Chicago engagement follows productions at BAM in New York and Trafalgar Studios 1 in London. Click below to watch Callow in action!

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announced today the return of British film and stage actor Simon Callow to Chicago for CST's 25th Anniversary engagement of his acclaimed Being Shakespeare-a virtuosic solo performance that weaves together excerpts from William Shakespeare's plays and poems, breathing new life into his unforgettable characters and the real man behind the legend.

Classic Stage Company's upcoming production of Bertolt Brecht's GALILEO (translated by Charles Laughton) starring Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham closes on Sunday, March 18.

Simon Callow has returned to London's Trafalgar Studios 1 to reprise his highly acclaimed show BEING SHAKESPEARE for a strictly limited season from 7 to 31 March, before heading across the seas to appear at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music in New York and then at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at the Broadway Playhouse.

ZOE CALDWELL has been entertaining audiences as a cold-hearted Upper East Side matron in David Adjmi's intimateElective Affinitives. Meanwhile she has been seen as an affectionate grandmother in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, one of this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Picture. Caldwell has earned four Tony Awards, most recently as Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's Master Class. She has portrayed such heroines as Lady Macbeth and Medea, not to mention Lillian Hellman and Miss Jean Brodie, and she has worked with such legends as Dame Judith Anderson, Dame Edith Evans, Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Charles Laughton, and Paul Robeson. She has also directed stars such as Eileen Atkins, Glenda Jackson, James Earl Jones, Christopher Plummer, and Vanessa Redgrave. Caldwell is now writing a sequel to I Will Be Cleopatra, a memoir about her early years in Australia, and she'll share a few highlights from her most memorable encounters with Shakespeare with President of the Shakespeare Guild, JOHN ANDREWS, OBE. and answer questions from the audience.

Shortly into Bertolt Brecht's Galileo, the 17th Century Italian scientist shows his young companion a model of the Ptolemaic system of the universe, a gyroscope-looking creation depicting the sun and planets and other celestial bodies revolving on golden bands of orbits around the earth.  And if you choose that moment to take a look around you at Classic Stage Company's inviting new production, you'll notice how cleverly the environment created by set designer Adrianne Lobel replicates the look of the model, with large celestial globes suspended above the Earthlike playing area and hints of their golden orbits.

Whether you've been living under a rock for the past week, or you're just in the mood for a recap of everything theatre, BroadwayWorld's feature, 'This Week in Pictures' is here to satisfy your end of the week fix. Take a look below to catch up on the latest happenings from the Great White Way to the West End (and everywhere in between) with coverage of press events, rehearsals, opening nights and more! For last week's biggest events: visit THIS WEEK IN PICTURES: February 11-17.