Jessica Lange came by her restlessness naturally. Born on April 20, 1949, to a stay-at-home mom and a traveling salesman father who moved the family all over the state of Minnesota, she quickly became acclimated to the process of re-acclimating. Eventually, the need for stabilization lost its appeal. Three years into studying art and photography at the University of Minnesota, she married Spanish photographer Paco Grande, at which point their shared wanderlust took them all over the United States and Mexico. The pair split upon moving to Paris, where Lange discovered Étienne Decroux and corporeal mime -- which departs from the conventional white-faced japery you're familiar with, and seeks to find abstract poetry in the movement of people and things.
Lange possessed the soul of a poet, but found this form of performance emotionally unrewarding, so she decamped for New York City to study acting with Mira Rostova at Hb Studio. She...
Lange possessed the soul of a poet, but found this form of performance emotionally unrewarding, so she decamped for New York City to study acting with Mira Rostova at Hb Studio. She...
- 7/25/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
The 2019 Tony Awards are almost upon us. Before you watch the CBS ceremony hosted by James Corden on June 9, make sure to check out these 11 conversations with Tony nominees. Follow the links below to watch all of our exclusive interviews with these nominated performers.
See Tony Awards predictions slugfest: 3 Experts track hottest races [Video & Audio Podcast]
Derrick Baskin (“Ain’t Too Proud”): Baskin portrays Otis Williams, the founder of The Temptations, in “Ain’t Too Proud.” It’s a role so large that he never leaves the stage. His previous Broadway credits include “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Memphis.” This is Baskin’s first Tony nomination. (Click here to watch the full interview)
Stephanie J. Block (“The Cher Show”): Block transforms herself like never before to emobdy the pop icon Cher. This marks Block’s third Tony nomination, after previously competing for “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” and “Falsettos.
See Tony Awards predictions slugfest: 3 Experts track hottest races [Video & Audio Podcast]
Derrick Baskin (“Ain’t Too Proud”): Baskin portrays Otis Williams, the founder of The Temptations, in “Ain’t Too Proud.” It’s a role so large that he never leaves the stage. His previous Broadway credits include “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Memphis.” This is Baskin’s first Tony nomination. (Click here to watch the full interview)
Stephanie J. Block (“The Cher Show”): Block transforms herself like never before to emobdy the pop icon Cher. This marks Block’s third Tony nomination, after previously competing for “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” and “Falsettos.
- 6/4/2019
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
“You know, I never thought I’d be doing this,” composer David Yazbek admits. “The fact that I’ve been translating cinematic works to the stage has just been a coincidence. … I’m still surprised. I used to feel like an outsider, like a recording artist who has a day job, but now this has become the number one thing I do.”
It’s been nearly 20 years since Yazbek wrote his first musical score. The adaptation of The Full Monty became a hit musical comedy, and he was nominated for...
It’s been nearly 20 years since Yazbek wrote his first musical score. The adaptation of The Full Monty became a hit musical comedy, and he was nominated for...
- 6/3/2019
- by Jerry Portwood
- Rollingstone.com
“If someone said you could not do what you loved to do, how far would you go?” That’s the central question director Scott Ellis planted in his new Broadway adaptation of “Tootsie.” This musical comedy nabbed Ellis his ninth Tony nomination for Best Director. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
From day one, Scott Ellis was adamant that the the team try something different with the source material. He told his collaborators “we can’t put the film onstage.” In 2019, with gender equality being at the forefront of conversation, there was a need to embrace that evolution in the storytelling. So when it came to the leads Michael and Julie Nichols (Lilli Cooper), Ellis asked himself “how do we make these two characters equal?”
Read: Best Director of a Musical deja vu: Is Scott Ellis (‘Tootsie’) steering this Tony race towards another shocking upset?
The process took “three years...
From day one, Scott Ellis was adamant that the the team try something different with the source material. He told his collaborators “we can’t put the film onstage.” In 2019, with gender equality being at the forefront of conversation, there was a need to embrace that evolution in the storytelling. So when it came to the leads Michael and Julie Nichols (Lilli Cooper), Ellis asked himself “how do we make these two characters equal?”
Read: Best Director of a Musical deja vu: Is Scott Ellis (‘Tootsie’) steering this Tony race towards another shocking upset?
The process took “three years...
- 5/20/2019
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
“She’s an independent, self-made, strong woman,” declares Lilli Cooper of her character in the new musical adaptation of “Tootsie.” Cooper plays Julie Nichols in David Yazbek’s new musical comedy on Broadway. She jumped at the chance to portray a great female role and discussed the process of creating the show with Gold Derby. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
“I’m not a Jessica Lange type,” says Cooper. Lange played Julie in the original film opposite Dustin Hoffman and won an Oscar for her efforts. While it was initially intimidating to step into the role, Cooper ultimately connected with the ways in which Julie, and the story itself, were updated and made relevant for modern audiences. “I didn’t feel like I ever needed to imitate Jessica Lange… I felt a lot of freedom in my ability to create my own version of Julie.”
Discuss the season with...
“I’m not a Jessica Lange type,” says Cooper. Lange played Julie in the original film opposite Dustin Hoffman and won an Oscar for her efforts. While it was initially intimidating to step into the role, Cooper ultimately connected with the ways in which Julie, and the story itself, were updated and made relevant for modern audiences. “I didn’t feel like I ever needed to imitate Jessica Lange… I felt a lot of freedom in my ability to create my own version of Julie.”
Discuss the season with...
- 4/27/2019
- by Sam Eckmann
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: Chicago’s long-running #DateMe: An OkCupid Experiment is finally making a date with New York City: The offbeat blend of improv, scripted comedy and musical theater will begin performances at Off Broadway’s Westside Theatre this summer.
Performances begin June 20 in New York, following a three-year Chicago run. Created by playwright Robyn Lynne Norris, who wrote the show with Bob Ladewig and Frank Caeti, #DateMe is based on Norris’ “social experiment” of creating 38 fake “undateable” profiles on the OKCupid dating site. The results were then used as source material for a one-act limited engagement show called Undateable at Second City Hollywood.
Encouraged and assisted by producer Diane Alexander to expand the idea – and apparently getting a go-ahead from Ok Cupid – the show grew to the two-act #DateMe: An OKCupid Experiment, moved to Chicago’s Up Comedy Club and found its audience. Eight re-mounts have been staged...
Performances begin June 20 in New York, following a three-year Chicago run. Created by playwright Robyn Lynne Norris, who wrote the show with Bob Ladewig and Frank Caeti, #DateMe is based on Norris’ “social experiment” of creating 38 fake “undateable” profiles on the OKCupid dating site. The results were then used as source material for a one-act limited engagement show called Undateable at Second City Hollywood.
Encouraged and assisted by producer Diane Alexander to expand the idea – and apparently getting a go-ahead from Ok Cupid – the show grew to the two-act #DateMe: An OKCupid Experiment, moved to Chicago’s Up Comedy Club and found its audience. Eight re-mounts have been staged...
- 3/20/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Since the introduction of the supporting categories at the 9th Oscar ceremony, 11 performers have contended in both acting categories in the same year, with seven of them prevailing in one of their races. At the 2019 Academy Awards, Oscar winner Nicole Kidman and Oscar nominee Steve Carell are hoping to make history and join this exclusive roster of double nominees.
Kidman has earned rave reviews for her turns in “Destroyer” and “Boy Erased.” The former finds her portraying a troubled Los Angeles detective, determined to bring down an old nemesis, while the latter has Kidman in a supporting turn, portraying the mother of a young man (Lucas Hedges) who is pressured into enrolling in a gay conversion therapy program. Kidman has previous Oscar nominations for “Moulin Rouge!” (2001); “The Hours” (2002); “Rabbit Hole” (2010); and “Lion” (2016), winning for “The Hours.”
Also coming on strong this Oscar season is Carell, whose lone nomination to date came for “Foxcatcher” (2014). This year,...
Kidman has earned rave reviews for her turns in “Destroyer” and “Boy Erased.” The former finds her portraying a troubled Los Angeles detective, determined to bring down an old nemesis, while the latter has Kidman in a supporting turn, portraying the mother of a young man (Lucas Hedges) who is pressured into enrolling in a gay conversion therapy program. Kidman has previous Oscar nominations for “Moulin Rouge!” (2001); “The Hours” (2002); “Rabbit Hole” (2010); and “Lion” (2016), winning for “The Hours.”
Also coming on strong this Oscar season is Carell, whose lone nomination to date came for “Foxcatcher” (2014). This year,...
- 9/21/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
Jessica Lange has been voted your favorite Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner of the 1980s for her performance as soap opera star Julie Nichols in “Tootsie.” The iconic actress won by a strong margin over all other 1980s winners, as voted on by the readers of Gold Derby in a recent poll.
See Meryl Streep (‘Sophie’s Choice’) is clear choice for top Best Actress Oscar winner of 1980s [Poll Results]
Lange took in 36% of the vote, more than enough to clinch a win. Olympia Dukakis (“Moonstruck”) and Dianne Wiest (“Hannah and Her Sisters”) tied for second at 17% each, the only other winners to earn double digit percentage points. Next up was Linda Hunt (“The Year of Living Dangerously”) at 9%, while Anjelica Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”) rounded out the top five with 7%.
Brenda Fricker (“My Left Foot”) followed at 6% in our poll and then came Geena Davis (“The Accidental Tourist”) with 4%. Peggy Ashcroft...
See Meryl Streep (‘Sophie’s Choice’) is clear choice for top Best Actress Oscar winner of 1980s [Poll Results]
Lange took in 36% of the vote, more than enough to clinch a win. Olympia Dukakis (“Moonstruck”) and Dianne Wiest (“Hannah and Her Sisters”) tied for second at 17% each, the only other winners to earn double digit percentage points. Next up was Linda Hunt (“The Year of Living Dangerously”) at 9%, while Anjelica Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”) rounded out the top five with 7%.
Brenda Fricker (“My Left Foot”) followed at 6% in our poll and then came Geena Davis (“The Accidental Tourist”) with 4%. Peggy Ashcroft...
- 4/30/2018
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
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