Jessica Tandy News

Tennessee-born actress Elaine Hendrix, perhaps best known for her many film and television roles, takes on the challenge of becoming Blanche DuBois in the University of North Alabama's Summer Theatre 2012 production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, opening this Thursday night, June 28, and continuing through July 8. Directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Randal Myler (for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical for Ain't Nothin' But the Blues), the cast also includes Broadway veteran Myk Watford in the role of Stanley Kowalski. The production is part of the University's Summer Theatre program, which gives UNA's Department of Music and Theatre students integrated opportunities with professional actors. A Streetcar Named Desire runs from June 28 until July 8 at UNA's George S. Lindsey Theater. Evening show times are June 28 to 30 and July 5 to 7 at 7:30 p.m. Matinee performances are set for June 30 and July 1 and 8 at 2 p.m. "One of the priorities of Summer Theater is to bring in professional actors for our students to work with," said UNA theater faculty Charlton James. "[Hendrix] is someone for our students to look up to, and she is appealing to the audience because many people have seen the movies she has been in. She has been wonderful to work with, and, at the same time, students are networking and making connections with professionals." With more than 100 film, television and stage credits under her belt, Hendrix is perhaps best known for her role as opportunistic, scheming fiancee Meredith Blake in the 1998 Disney remake of The Parent Trap. She has also been cast in countless movies such as Inspector Gadget 2, SNL's Superstar, What the Bleep Do We Know!? and the cult classic Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion. Her television projects include Castle, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI: Miami, Rules of Engagement, 90210 and two years on the critically acclaimed CBS series Joan of Arcadia, among many others. She will soon appear alongside Janeane Garofolo and Larry Miller in the film General Education, which is set for an August release. The Tennessee-bred (she was born in Oak Ridge) and Los Angeles-living star remains just as active offstage as on by devoting her free time ensuring humane care and treatment of neglected or abused animals as co-founder of the nonprofit organization Animal Rescue Corps. Hendrix is also an annual Honorary Committee Member of the Genesis Awards, presented by The Humane Society of the United States, and she received the Guardian Award at the National Animal Rights Conference for her work on behalf of animals. She has also received numerous other awards and honors for both her humanitarian and acting work, including two Telly Awards (one for her work on Pets 90210), two film festival Best Actress awards and the Founder's Award at the Secret City Film Festival. Tickets for A Streetcar Named Desire are on sale in the UNA Department of Music and Theatre office or Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts. For further details, call (256) 765-5500 or visit the website at www.una.edu/summertheatre.

Following critically acclaimed sell-out runs on Broadway and in the West End, Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer prize winning play, DRIVING MISS DAISY, starring Gwen Taylor as Daisy Werthan, Don Warrington as Hoke Coleburn and Ian Porter as Boolie Werthan will go on a national tour from 10 October 2012.

Julia Stiles stars in a new series, BLUE which is premiering now on the YouTube Channel, WIGS (www.youtube.com/wigs). In the series, Stiles stars as the title character, a single mom trying to protect her son from the consequences of her secret career.

Emmy Award winning actor Thom Christopher (One Life to Live; Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) will star in A.R. Gurney's comedy Black Tie, kicking off the Adirondack Theatre Festival's (ATF) 18th summer season of professional theatre June 26.

Jennifer Garner and Alfred Molina star in SERENA, a short film written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, a co-founder of WIGS along with Jon Avnet and Jake Avnet. Garner plays Serena, a woman who makes a series of shocking confessions to her Priest (Molina).

Today, award-winning filmmakers Jon Avnet ('Black Swan,' 'Fried Green Tomatoes,' 'Risky Business') and Rodrigo Garcia ('Albert Nobbs,' 'In Treatment,' 'Mother and Child') launch 'Jan,' the first WIGS series from a comprehensive slate of new, original programming.The digital channel's premiere series, 'Jan,' is written and directed by Jon Avnet. The series stars Caitlin Gerard ('The Social Network'), Virginia Madsen ('Sideways'), Stephen Moyer ('True Blood'), along with Alexandra Holden ('Friday Night Lights'), Jaime Murray ('Dexter,' 'Spartacus'), Kyle Gallner ('A Nightmare on Elm Street'), Iddo Goldberg ('Diary of a Call Girl,' 'Uprising'), Laura Spencer, Dorothy Davis, Allison McAtee, Andrea De Oliveira, John Ales, and Cass Castelow. Watch the first episode below!

According to NY Magazine, Angela Lansbury, who is currently starring in GORE VIDAL'S THE BEST MAN on Broadway, has signed on to star alongside James Earl Jones in an Australian tour of DRIVING MISS DAISY next winter.

Carol Irvin, Michael Ruff and Daniel W. Black star in Cumberland County Playhouse's 48th season-opening production of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning Driving Miss Daisy, which opens this Saturday, January 21.

As the final of three mainstage productions during the two-month Eugene O'Neill Festival spearheaded by Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, Long Day's Journey into Night rounds out this celebration of O'Neill's life and work. The English-born and Canadian-based director and former Stratford Festival Artistic Director Robin Phillips makes his Arena Stage debut to direct his fourth production of this Pulitzer Prize-winning play in a theatrical career spanning more than 50 years.

As the final of three mainstage productions during the two-month Eugene O'Neill Festival spearheaded by Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, Long Day's Journey into Night rounds out this celebration of O'Neill's life and work. The English-born and Canadian-based director and former Stratford Festival Artistic Director Robin Phillips makes his Arena Stage debut to direct his fourth production of this Pulitzer Prize-winning play in a theatrical career spanning more than 50 years.

The American Rep Theater of WNY starts the New Year and the second-half of the 2011-12 season with a production of D.L. Colburn's classic work, THE GIN GAME, to be presented at the Buffalo East, 1410 Main Street, January 20th through February 12th.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-fourth year. The ten Finalists for the 2011-2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, chosen from over 100 submitted plays, are:

The New York Film Academy (NYFA) has a long and impressive list of speakers who have shared their insight and knowledge with students who have chosen acting and/or filmmaking as a career. Previous guests have included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Glenn Close, Dennis Hopper, John Carpenter, Kevin Klein, Jon Voight, Kevin Spacey, Ben Stiller, Ron Howard, Juliette Lewis, Sir Ben Kingsley, Andy Garcia and Steven Spielberg.

Carol Irvin, Michael Ruff and Daniel W. Black star in Cumberland County Playhouse's 48th season-opening production of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning Driving Miss Daisy, which opens this Saturday, January 21.

The American Rep Theater of WNY starts the New Year and the second-half of the 2011-12 season with a production of D.L. Colburn's classic work, THE GIN GAME, to be presented at the Buffalo East, 1410 Main Street, January 20th through February 12th.

Carol Irvin, Michael Ruff and Daniel W. Black star in Cumberland County Playhouse's 48th season-opening production of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning Driving Miss Daisy, which opens this Saturday, January 21.

The American Rep Theater of WNY starts the New Year and the second-half of the 2011-12 season with a production of D.L. Colburn's classic work, THE GIN GAME, to be presented at the Buffalo East, 1410 Main Street, January 20th through February 12th.

The American Rep Theater of WNY starts the New Year and the second-half of the 2011-12 season with a production of D.L. Colburn's classic work, THE GIN GAME, to be presented at the Buffalo East, 1410 Main Street, January 20th through February 12th.

The Joyce Theater Foundation will present the NYC premiere of Angel Reapers, a new dance/theater piece with text by Alfred Uhry and direction and choreography by Martha Clarke for a two-week limited run from November 29 - December 11.

The Joyce Theater Foundation will present the NYC premiere of Angel Reapers, a new dance/theater piece with text by Alfred Uhry and direction and choreography by Martha Clarke for a two-week limited run from November 29 - December 11.