Natalie Portman News

American director Wes Anderson has built colorful, beautifully realized worlds in his seven feature films, from his stunning debut Bottle Rocket to his latest Cannes Film Festival opening feature, Moonrise Kingdom. From today, May 18 through 27, 2012, Museum of the Moving Image will present a Wes Anderson retrospective including all of his features and the short Hotel Chevalier, as well as a special screening of Orson Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons-a film that inspired Anderson. Each screening in the series will open with a personal video introduction by Wes Anderson.

Anthony Rapp will perform his one-man show, Anthony Rapp: Without You - An Evening of Love, Loss and the Musical Rent, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on August 1-26.

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!

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents its next monthly networking panel, Taking the Leap from Showcase to Commercial Producing: A Change of Perspective, Pitch and Priorities, a discussion focused on the transition from producing at the showcase level to the commercial level. The panel will take place at the Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC. Doors open at 7:00pm for networking and refreshments, panel starts promptly at 7:30pm.

New York City Ballet's 2012 Spring Gala tonight, May 10 will feature a one-time-only salute to France titled À La Francaise, and will feature two World Premiere ballets, one by NYCB's Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins to a score by the French composer Marc-Andre Dalbavie; and one by French-born choreographer and former NYCB Principal Dancer Benjamin Millepied to a commissioned score by Nico Muhly. The evening will also include a major revival of George Balanchine's Symphony in C, which was created for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1947 to a score by the French composer Georges Bizet.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for AS YOU LIKE IT, the first show of the 50th Anniversary season of free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, AS YOU LIKE IT will begin previews on Tuesday, June 5 and continue for four weeks through Saturday, June 30, opening on Thursday, June 21.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rooney Mara has joined the cast of the big-screen adaptation of Colm Toibins' BROOKLYN. The film will be based on the best-selling novel by author and screenwriter Nick Hornby. The actress will join previously announced cast members Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette and Emile Hirschcast.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents its next monthly networking panel, The Forgotten Members of Your Production Team: Casting Director, Dialect Coach, Dramaturg, Fight Coach and Others, a discussion focused on the benefits and costs of including these experts on your production team.

Renowned investigative theatre company The Civilians celebrates its 2011-2012 season with the presentation of its first ever Civilian of the Year Award. The Civilians will honor Robert Hammond, co-founder of The High Line, at its 2012 Benefit tonight, April 23rd, at the Highline Ballroom. Hammond will be feted by the company's Associate Artists as well as additional stage and screen stars in a one-night-only performance of interviews and songs by Michael J. Friedman (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) about Hammond and the creation of The High Line, put together in The Civilians' signature investigative style. Interviewees for this unique performance include Amanda Burden (Director of the Department of City Planning), Florent Morellet (Restaurant Owner), and Bronson Van Wyck (Event Planner).

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents its next monthly networking panel, The Forgotten Members of Your Production Team: Casting Director, Dialect Coach, Dramaturg, Fight Coach and Others, a discussion focused on the benefits and costs of including these experts on your production team.

Renowned investigative theatre company The Civilians celebrates its 2011-2012 season with the presentation of its first ever Civilian of the Year Award. The Civilians will honor Robert Hammond, co-founder of The High Line, at its 2012 Benefit on April 23rd at the Highline Ballroom Hammond will be feted by the company's Associate Artists as well as additional stage and screen stars in a one-night-only performance of interviews and songs by Michael J. Friedman (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) about Hammond and the creation of The High Line put together in The Civilians' signature investigative style. Interviewees for this unique performance include Amanda Burden (Director of the Department of City Planning), Florent Morellet (Restaurant Owner), and Bronson van Wyck (Event Planner).

In honor and celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater, The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) will hold a special one-night-only gala event on Monday, June 18, featuring Kevin Kline as Romeo and Meryl Streep as Juliet in a star-studded staged reading of ROMEO AND JULIET, directed by Daniel Sullivan. For information on tickets for The Public Theater's Anniversary Gala, please call (212) 539-8547 or visit www.shakespeareinthepark.org.

As first reported exclusively by BroadwayWorld.com last week, the Public Theater confirmed today that Tony Award-winner Donna Murphy has been cast as The Witch in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved musical INTO THE WOODS, directed by Timothy Sheader with co-direction by Liam Steel. Murphy last performed at the Delacorte in the Shakepeare in the Park production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 1985. INTO THE WOODS will begin previews on Monday, July 23 and continue for five weeks through Saturday, August 25 with an official press opening on Thursday, August 9.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) announced additional casting today for the 50th Anniversary season of free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte. Robert Joy (Le Beau, Lord) and Oliver Platt (Touchstone) join the previously announced MacIntyre Dixon (Adam), David Furr (Orlando), Renee Elise Goldsberry (Celia), Omar Metwally (Oliver), Lily Rabe (Rosalind), and Stephen Spinella (Jaques) in Shakespeare's comedy AS YOU LIKE IT, directed by Daniel Sullivan.

ABC details its 12 drama pilots under consideration for next season.

The Public Theater has announced additional casting today for the 50th Anniversary season of free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte. David Furr (Orlando) and Stephen Spinella (Jaques) join the previously announced MacIntyre Dixon (Adam), Renee Elise Goldsberry (Celia), Omar Metwally (Oliver), and Lily Rabe (Rosalind) in Shakespeare's comedy AS YOU LIKE IT, directed by Daniel Sullivan.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the renowned Long Island summer arts camp whose alumni include Natalie Portman and Mariah Carey, announces that its currently running "First Class," the inaugural show of works by students of Usdan's 2011 Portfolio Preparation Track being presented at the Atrium at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, has been extended through March 27. It was originally supposed to close March 22.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts (www.usdan.com) today announced its final two free Open Houses for its 45th season.

Producer Stephen Byrd of the upcoming revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, and the only African American producer to ever win the coveted British Olivier Award (for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) has just been announced as an addition to the next panel of Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU). This monthly networking panel, Coloring the Great White Way: Bringing Diversity to Commercial Theater, will offer a discussion focused on how to bring more diverse productions and audiences to the traditionally great 'white' way. The panel will take place on March 21 at 7:30pm at the Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street, NYC.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents its next monthly networking panel, Coloring the Great White Way: Bringing Diversity to Commercial Theater, a discussion focused on how to bring more diverse offerings and audiences to New York City.