To find talent for a new play in development for the past year, casting has been outsourced at the Center Theatre Group. Kimber Lee’s Idaho-set drama, “different words for the same thing,” has a dozen intertwining characters of varying ages, which makes finding appropriate actors a challenge. Having lost longtime casting director Erika Sellin last summer, Ctg was juggling 20 shows across three theaters with a four-person casting office before Neel Keller brought in film casting director Heidi Levitt as a consultant. “Casting is usually done strictly in-house,” Keller, an associate artistic director at Ctg, told Backstage. “We’ve always had a full-time casting staff, but occasionally we’ve brought someone like Heidi or Joanne DeNaut [casting director at South Coast Repertory] in to help.” The challenge with Lee’s play, Keller explained, is that “every single [casting] decision you make has ripples. As soon as you settle on one person, it sets more specificity for the...
- 2/26/2014
- backstage.com
Center Theatre Group has parted ways with long-time director of casting Erika Sellin. Sellin oversaw casting at the Ctg’s Ahmanson Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre. A member of the Casting Society of America, Actors’ Equity Association, and the Stage Managers’ Association, she joined the city’s largest theater company in 2003 as an associate in the casting office until 2006, when she became the casting director. In a statement to Backstage, Ctg said Sellin “was laid off as part of a reduction in force at Center Theatre Group of a few staff members.” Her departure surprised the Los Angeles theater community, where Sellin has been a fixture for years. In a 2009 interview with Backstage, she spoke fondly of the Ctg’s open Equity casting calls, which are held once a month on the first or second Monday. “It’s a really great way to meet people,...
- 7/25/2013
- backstage.com
Park, No RecreationThe logistics of working at smaller theatersActors who perform in L.A.-area theaters under the Actors' Equity Association 99-Seat Plan aren't going to get rich doing so. Yet, as they practice their craft, it's a happy occasion when there are certain comforts or amenities available along the way.But finding safe and convenient parking can be a challenge, particularly in areas like the North Hollywood theater district, where boulevard meters require payment up until 8 p.m. and side-street parking is scarce. Meters requiring money at night are now prevalent in other areas too, including many Hollywood neighborhoods. Some companies, such as Hollywood's Actors Co-op, the Sierra Madre Playhouse, and Pasadena's Theatre @ Boston Court provide free parking for audiences, actors, and other theater workers at or near the building. Macha Theatre in West Hollywood has limited free parking. Other situations vary widely. Yet, where there's a will, there's always a way.
- 11/24/2010
- backstage.com
In addition to his skills building relationships onstage, Wilson Milam seems to particularly enjoy reconnecting with artists and meeting new ones. As director of Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore," which opened at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles this week, Milam has gathered an international cast and recruited other artists from both sides of the pond for this production, even though he helmed versions of it in Stratford, London, and New York prior to this incarnation.Nominated for a Tony Award for his direction of "Inishmore," Milam, a former actor, also directed "Poor Beast in the Rain" at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles, as well as plays at Berkeley Rep, Woolly Mammoth, and Steppenwolf in the U.S., and the Royal Court, the Abbey, Shakespeare's Globe, and Donmar Warehouse in the U.K and Ireland.Back Stage met with him during previews of the Taper production of "Inishmore.
- 7/15/2010
- backstage.com
Here are the 2010 Los Angeles Reader's Choice results for categories dealing with casting directors. To look at all of the categories, be sure to visit the main page.Favorite Casting Director Workshop: Talent to GoSix years ago, accomplished actors Patricia Tallman and Judy Kain found that work had slowed for each of them. They decided it was time to create a casting director workshop that would help experienced actors further their careers in a way that showcased the actors' strengths."When I get a piece of copy, I get coached and I'm familiar with that copy," says Kain. "We were not going to do one of those cold-reading workshops—not that there's anything wrong with them—but we wanted to do something where the actor could really put their best foot forward. Where it was advantageous for the actor. Where they could really show what they do best, so that...
- 6/23/2010
- backstage.com
It's a noble tradition. Think of Rex Harrison in "My Fair Lady," Richard Burton in "Camelot," Anthony Quinn in "Zorba," Katharine Hepburn in "Coco," and Lauren Bacall in "Applause." And the list goes on. When accomplished actors who are untrained and inexperienced in the demanding disciplines of musical theater courageously jump off the diving board to leap headfirst into the genre, it can be a frightening yet exhilarating swim. The challenges are enormous, but the rewards can be sweet.Fresh off his five-year run on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," Emmy-nominated stage and screen actor T.R. Knight has taken on the multifaceted role of Leo Frank, an ill-fated Jewish factory superintendent in 1913 Atlanta, in an acclaimed revival of the fact-based, Tony-winning musical drama "Parade" by composer-lyricist Jason Robert Brown and librettist Alfred Uhry. The production is currently playing at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. The payoffs for Knight have been intense personal satisfaction,...
- 11/4/2009
- backstage.com
Casting directors came out from behind the curtain to be honored by their peers last night at the 25th Annual Artios Awards. The bi-coastal awards, which were held simultaneously at the new Times Center in New York City and the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, are presented yearly for outstanding achievement in casting in theater, film, and television categories on the criteria of originality, creativity, and contribution of casting to the overall quality of a project.Celebrity awards presenters in New York were Patrick Wilson ("Little Children," "Angels in America"), Carrie Preston ("True Blood"), Michael Shannon ("Revolutionary Road"), Jennifer Morrison ("House"), Bill Pullman ("Oleanna"), Christine Ebersole ("Grey Gardens"), Vincent Kartheiser ("Mad Men"), and Elizabeth Reaser ("Twilight"). Stanley Tucci and producer Daryl Roth presented the New York Big Apple Award to Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, whose "Love, Loss and What I Wore" recently opened Off-Broadway to rave reviews.
- 11/3/2009
- backstage.com
Producer Laura Ziskin, writer-director Nora Ephron, writer Delia Ephron and casting director John Frank Levey will be honored at the Casting Society of America's 24th annual Artios Awards.
Simultaneous awards ceremonies will be held in at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles and the New York Times Building in New York on Nov. 2.
Ziskin is set to receive the group's Career Achievement Award. The New York Apple Award will be presented to Nora and Delia Ephron. Levy is this year's recipient of the Hoyt Bowers Award.
Representing 425 members in the United States, Canada, England and Australia, Cas also announced its nominees in film TV and theater on Thursday.
In the category of big budget feature drama, Ellen Chenoweth scored two noms for "Changeling" and "Duplicity." The category nominees are John Papsidera for "The Dark Knight"; April Webster and Alyssa Weisberg for "Star Trek" and Avy Kaufman for "State of Play.
Simultaneous awards ceremonies will be held in at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles and the New York Times Building in New York on Nov. 2.
Ziskin is set to receive the group's Career Achievement Award. The New York Apple Award will be presented to Nora and Delia Ephron. Levy is this year's recipient of the Hoyt Bowers Award.
Representing 425 members in the United States, Canada, England and Australia, Cas also announced its nominees in film TV and theater on Thursday.
In the category of big budget feature drama, Ellen Chenoweth scored two noms for "Changeling" and "Duplicity." The category nominees are John Papsidera for "The Dark Knight"; April Webster and Alyssa Weisberg for "Star Trek" and Avy Kaufman for "State of Play.
- 9/17/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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