New movie with Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth
New web series – “Hustling”
Early on in the run of “Chicago the Musical” on Broadway, I had the chance to work with Sebastian LaCause as fellow cast members of the show (while it was still at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway).
Sebastian went on to several other projects including the featured role of “Rocky” in the Broadway revival of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” among other things.
Now, Sebastian has written, directed and starred in a new web series that also utilizes several other major Broadway names like Brent Barrett and two-time Tony Award nominee Daphne Rubin-Vega.
About the new, edgy project Sebastian says:
“I play Ryan Crosby. He’s been making his living working as a hustler, among other things, since his early 20s. This is a guy who sort of fell into turning tricks at a young age [and] realized that he could make a lot of money off his looks and body, with very little effort. Suddenly he’s 40 and the work is starting to dry up and he’s left wondering, ‘What the hell did I do with my life?’ We meet him at a turning point when he’s trying desperately to figure out how to change his life but has absolutely no idea how to do it or if there’s even anything else he can do.”
“This series is about this guy trying to get unstuck and discover what his true passion is. The subject matter is definitely adult but regardless of his ‘life situation,’ his struggles as a human being, I think, are quite relatable.”
Starting in June, LaCause wrote the eight episodes and shot all of the footage over the weekends in August and September. Shooting began Aug. 1.
“It’s basically like making eight short films,” he explained. “It definitely has an improvised feel to it. It’s all about the characters and the relationships and the dialogue.”
Other “Hustling” cast members include Gerald McCullouch, Gary Cowling, Brian Keane, Max Carpenter, Andrew Glaszek, Gregory Gunter, Emily Shapiro and Todd Riegler. Original music is by SirPaul and Okai.
The web series has a fan page at www.facebook.com/HustlingTheWebSeries.
The 8 episodes go live online November 16th at http://blip.tv/HustlingTheWebSeries
Preview: NBC’s “Smash”
Looks promising. And a talented cast. Coming to NBC in February 2012.
I do have a tiny quibble with the “and introducing Katherine McPhee” – a bit grand since she’s done movies and been a very public recording artist for years. I hardly think the people who tune in for this show will be “introduced” to Katherine McPhee. However, that’s not a comment on her talent. I like her a lot.
But, the show does look interesting. Just the shots of people auditioning take me back to my New York days as an actor. (I actually had a director take a cell phone call during an audition once). Ah, the glamour of it all.
Penn State scandal and debacle
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| Sandusky, McQueary and Paterno |
As the students of Penn State rally in support of Joe Paterno, who was fired for being implicated in the child abuse scandal that has rocked the school, the details revealed in the grand jury report are becoming more and more clear.
A former Penn State assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, has been charged with more than 40 counts of sexual abuse.
In an article for The Daily Beast today, Buzz Bissinger – in clear language – writes about what has been alleged and what was NOT done.
The horror of it all, both in terms of what Sandusky allegedly did and what Penn State officials did not, can be summed up by a single sound.
It is a “rhythmic, slapping” sound, according to page 6 of the grand-jury report. It is heard by a 28-year-old football graduate assistant named Mike McQueary in the locker room of the Lasch Football Building on the Penn State Campus at 9:30 on the Friday night of March 1, 2002.
McQueary is placing some new sneakers into his locker. At first he finds it odd that the lights and showers are on. Then he hears the sound coming from the showers. He looks inside and according to his grand-jury testimony, sees the cause of the sound: a naked child of roughly 10 years old with his hands up against the wall with a naked Sandusky butt-f–king him from behind. Sadistic, yes. Sick, yes. Beyond disturbing, yes. Deviant, yes. Immediate grounds for calling the police? Of course, yes. The upshot?
Nothing. Nada. Not a goddamn thing but the passing of the buck up the food chain of bureaucratic bullshit where too many people know that something awful has happened and try to bury it.
McQueary, who witnessed the incident, witnessed it, doesn’t call the police, although he is 28. He runs to his daddy. His daddy advises him to tell Paterno. He tells Paterno. The great JoePa, who regardless of his noncredible insistence in grand-jury testimony that he was never told the specific nature of the sexual act, does at the very least acknowledge that McQueary did relate to him that Sandusky was “fondling” a young boy.
What staggers the mind is Paterno admitting that McQueary told him, at the very least, that Sandusky was “fondling” a young boy and all Paterno did at the time was report it to his superiors. NOT go to the police. NOT tell McQueary to go to the police.
And why on earth did McQueary, a former Penn State quarterback, not stop what he saw going on in the showers? At the time, McQueary was 28 years old and fit. He could have stormed into the showers and stopped this but he did not.
This boggles the mind.
McQueary will be coaching Penn State this weekend. Hard to imagine why. There are theories that the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office doesn’t want to lose McQueary as a cooperative witness, should the AG decide to pursue legal charges against Paterno for not doing enough in 2002, and the AG’s office has asked the school not to alienate McQueary by firing him. Maybe, maybe not.
But to think that this guy witnessed what is alleged he saw and did so little is incredible. And sad.
Rick Perry on DADT
Rick Perry, appearing on ABC today said he would be comfortable reinstating DADT as President.
“I think Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell worked very well,” Perry responded, ignoring the thousands of service members dismissed form the military because of their sexual orientation.
“I think the President of the United States changing a policy that was working well and to do it while we were at war in two different theaters, I think was irresponsible and I think he truly did it to respond to his political base,” Perry said.
I personally think the policy did not work at all, and forced gay and lesbian military to lie about who they were – hardly an “honorable” position to put our hard working men and women in uniform. It also was hardly fiscally responsible as thousands and thousands of dollars spent training valuable experts were thrown away as outed men and women were discharged.
GLEE sneak peek – Adele mashup: “Rumour Has It” and “Someone Like You”
In a sneak peek clip, Mercedes (Amber Riley), Santana (Naya Rivera) and the rest of the Troubletones tackle a mash-up of Adele’s “Rumour Has It” and “Someone Like You,” which is also the show’s 300th musical performance.
Both songs are from Adele’s “21” which is the biggest selling album in the world this year.
Remember the little boy from “Jerry Maguire”?
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| Jonathan Lipnicki all grown up |
From RadarOnline: Jonathan Lipnicki, who played Renee Zellweger’s adorable son in the blockbuster flick Jerry Maguire, is all grown up and recently revealed his new and improved, buff body.
The 21-year-old, who also starred in Stuart Little and Like Mike, has been training in mixed martial arts – and all the hard work has definitely paid off.
How about that?
Senate Judiciary committee votes to repeal DOMA
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ this morning in a 10-8 vote along party lines, advancing the bill.
It’s unknown if and when the full chamber might consider it.
Check out the video of Senator Franken fact-checking Senator Grassley: “I just believe you misstated the history of marriage. Marriage has not existed as a union between one man and one woman for thousands of years in every culture. In many cultures, men have been able to marry many women and young girls. For centuries, women have been treated as cattle in marriage. Further, if the religious purpose for marriage is procreation, why would we sanction marriage between an 89 year-old widower and an 80 year-old widow? I just think we need to be accurate when we talk about the history of marriage, the history of man and woman, the history of our institutions.”
Police seemingly attack students at Occupy CA
From Occupy Berkeley.
I don’t know what happened before this video, but the police don’t seem to be in any danger. From the video, it looks like they make the decision to just attack.
Wow.
‘Deadbeat dad’ Joe Walsh has a meltdown
After several constituents accurately pointed out that bank lobbyists occupy key positions within Congress, the SEC, and other oversight bodies that are supposed to supervise bank practices, Walsh began sticking his finger close to his constituent’s faces, yelling, “quiet for a minute or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Remember this is the guy who owes over $100K in child support to his ex-wife.
Get to the 1:22 mark, it gets pretty interesting…