So... anybody go to the Addams Family workshop yesterday? All That Chat is telling me Kevin Chamberlain was a standout, and I love that Krysta Rodriguez and the kid who played Cubby Bernstein were Wednesday and Puglsey. Love me some Jan Maxwell, too, even if she is crazier than a box of birds.

I hope he wins

It's a thrill to see Michael Shannon nominated for the Oscar for his work in Revolutionary Road. Michael Shannon! Michael Shannon - Tracy Letts' go-to-guy for, oh, forever. Michael Shannon, whose performance in Bug went from unsettling to shocking to flat-out astonishing with utter effortlessness. His performance in Revolutionary Road is the best part of the movie. I don't care if it makes me a bad person to say Heath Ledger should lose, but I hope Michael Shannon wins.

You can't write shit like this

Remember this guy, Josef Fritzl? Y'know, he's the Austrian who stands accused of holding his daughter captive for 24 years in a secret dungeon lair, raping her, and fathering her 7 children.

Fittingly enough, his story is being turned into a "satirical opera" in Vienna. According to The Internationalists, "The production is being directed by the well-known Austrian comedian, Hubsi Kramer, who, in the past, attempted to attend Vienna’s Opera Ball dressed as Adolf Hitler. The show is titled Fritzl’s Bed and Breakfast and opens February 23."

I hope they have youtube in Vienna.

For more about Josef Fritzl, a.k.a. the "Dungeon Monster," check out Jezebel's coverage.

Actors: They're Real People, Too

I kinda like this photo of Fred Armisen and friends, backstage at the Barrymore where his girlfriend is currently employed. They're playing Rock Band. They're having fun. Stars! They're just like us!

On the other hand, is it really news that Lizzie Moss and her boyfriend do regular stuff like play video games while enjoying a nice glass of wine? Okay, it's news because they're famous and all, but this is the Times, not PageSix Magazine, and reading about her hushed whispers in his ear to "hang out in my dressing room" makes me feel creepy.

GET THEM OUT! I WON'T CONTINUE!!

"Knick knack paddy whack diva on a throne, you just got Patti LuPWNed!"

Classic

Kristen Chenoweth tells Jeremy Piven, "Stop eating fish. Do not ever sign on to do a Broadway show, my friend. It is haarrrd."



Thanks, Leonard!

it happened today

I'm gonna leave the reflective essays to the pros today, but I thought y'all might enjoy this photo of the gorgeous work of sand-sculpture artist Sudarshan Pattnaik, all the way from Puri, India.

If you want to read President Obama's (!!) full inaugural address, you can find it here.

Some say John Roberts screwed up the Presidential Oath on purpose, so that crackpot conservatives could claim he isn't really the president.

And Gawker has a fun round-up of the top-ten inaugural moments. #5 is Dick Cheney being wheeled around, looking "a bit like a Nazi who just peeked a bit at the Ark of the Covenant." Heh.

Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Sundance: "Passing Strange Soars"

Film.com gives Spike Lee's Passing Strange film a solid A, calling it "a beautiful effort".

"Going to see this will be like heading to Broadway for a night. Spike Lee, to his credit, realized the beauty of the musical was right there on stage, no further tinkering needed. Spike used 14 cameras at once to capture a musical like it's never been done before."

If it's really this good, perhaps we can hope not only for greater success for the Passing Strange film, but also for a new appreciation for filmed musicals. Broadway prices are outrageous, and it would be so great if those who can't afford it or can't get to New York were given the chance to enjoy more fierce Broadway entertainment.

Mad Men fans can breathe a sigh of relief

Matt Weiner has signed a deal with Lionsgate TV that will keep him firmly in place for two more years. Hooray! Season 3 is scheduled to premiere this summer. I hope he got a great deal, he deserves it.

Sad news, the Zipper is closing it's doors. Tonight's show will not go on. Sad.

Your boyfriend Ryan Gosling says "Hey Girl!"

Here's a fun blog: Fuck Yeah! Ryan Gosling, which imagines a world in which Ryan Gosling is your boyfriend, and he says "Hey Girl" a lot.

Things the World Does Not Need Want: Recession Edition

Did I like Katie Holmes in All My Sons? No. Do I want to see her in the musical version of Finding Neverland? No! Do we need Katie Holmes in another Broadway show? Unfortunately, much as it pains me to say so, maybe we do. All My Sons is one of the few shows that has done really well in spite of hard times, and if it takes Katie Holmes to get the butts in the seats... well... then... ugh, maybe we do need her, even if we don't want her.

Update: I have to add this delightful video of "Ms. Josephine Potter" singing On My Own. Thanks, Clint!

The Recently Deflowered Girl

A blogger named Bo-Bailey discovered this book on "The Right Thing to Say On Every Dubious Occasion", and posted it in its entirety here. This is a dazzling yet demure literary gem, and prepares the reader for such scenarios as "Deflowerment at Seance," "Deflowement by Marimba Player," and my personal favorite:

Deflowered and Thrust Aside (Like an Old Glove)

Two weeks have passed since losing of flower to Method actor and he has made absolutely no attempt to see you. You are walking along street in sunshine on bright afternoon, wondering, wondering, wondering. Suddenly he appears walking in opposite direction. You recognize him by his dungarees. You smile encouragingly and say, "I hear you've been away at summer stock." He says, "In the middle of winter?"

You say (frivolously): "The theater is such mad make-believe."

You can read the whole marvelous thing here.

Petition Obama to Create a Secretary for the Arts

Sign here!

(thanks, Leonard!)

"My name is Monday. I'm a mathematician."

Anyone remember Mathnet? This was totally my jam around age 5. "The characters are made up, but the problems are real."

the best thing you'll see all week

BarackRolled!

Class Act: Elizabeth Moss

Lizzie Moss did a nice interview with Playbill for their "Brief Encounters". What a classy gal.

Playbill.com: Has this experience in Speed-the-Plow scared you off Broadway, or would you return?
EM: I would absolutely return. If I could do a season of "Mad Men" and do a play every year in between for the next 20 years, I'd be very happy.

It's such a shame she's a Scientologist.

Ben Brantley is a Motherfucker

...according to Josh Brolin, that is!

“I hate that motherf——-,” Brolin says, “And I don’t think he’s a good writer.”

Update 1/7/09: Defamer brings us more from the delightfully inebriated Brolin's speech that night:

"Quite an actor, Sean Penn, quite an actor. [Pause] Amazing. [Pause] And now I'm an asshole. Like Russell Crowe. Because I'm not as smart as Sean. [Pause] Quite an actor. [Pause] Amazing actor. I've loved you in Milk, I thought what you did with that role was incredible. We've known you as an actor who doesn't smile very much. And the fact that you smiled as much as you did in this film is amazing. Truly incredible. You are an amazing actor. You are going to get the Oscar. Because you smiled so much."

Amazing, indeed! Yes, Sean Penn is quite an actor.

Dr. Horrible is coming to SNL

Neil Patrick Harris is hosting SNL this week, hooray! Here's hoping for goofy musical numbers, a doogie sketch, and a special appearance from the nefarious Dr. Horrible.

Rachel Maddow is the coolest. What is it about smack-talking liberals that makes them so much classier than their conservative counterparts?

New Favorite Blog

Style Rookie is stylish, hip, very funny, and written by Tavi, a 12-year-old! She describes herself as a "garden gnome with the brain of a wind-up monkey, posture of a crotchety old hag, stare-down skills of a zombie, haircut of a little boy, and tact of Larry David." She has great, funky, and unique style, which in my middle school would have meant ostracizm to the point of serious social trauma, but seems like it's working out well for her so far. I think she might be a better blogger than me, and I'm trying not to be jealous of the young one. Or as she would put it, "jeals."

Here's just one sample of her zingyness:

There's something sentimental about this time of year which I'm not ready to give up just to go back to condescending teachers, petty drama, ridiculous expectations, self-absorbed students, alarm clocks, B.O., disgusting and nausea-causing amounts of Axe, and really smelly Messy Josephs (BAM, totez just described middle school in one, huge, run-on sentence. I could take the easy way out and use one word-Hell, if you were wondering-but this is more fun.)

Sold!

Happy New Year

About a year ago, I dryly joked to a friend that 2008 would be the Year of Change. A bad breakup had left me pretty shattered, and various other little earthquakes and aftershocks in my personal and professional life seemed to be sending a very clear message that the ground was shifting, and I was going to have to shift with it. As the year rolled forward, my half-joking idea of a year of change kept surprising me. This revolutionary presidential race happened, and there was this persistent theme of hope and change as something real and possible and vital. And then the economy collapsed, in a swirling cloud of bad mortgages, bailouts, fear and confusion.

Yesterday was New Year's Day, and as I nursed a champagne hangover with good friends, eating greasy takeout and watching Moonstruck, I considered 2008, the Year of Change, and what all these changes will mean in 2009. We're waking up to a new world that might feel uncomfortable and uncertain, in which things might get worse before they get better. That's what CNN is telling me, anyway, and when the talking heads talk about the federal reserve, stimulus packages, and a possible 10% unemployment rate by the end of the year, it feels a little like the world is spinning out of control and hiding under a rock might be a good plan for '09.

So if things are really falling apart, why do I feel so excited to see what all this change will bring? Maybe it's residual optimism from the Obama campaign, but I see something hopeful in the doom and gloom. I see a possibility that even as things fall apart, the cream will rise to the top. There's something about having less that has historically allowed us to create more. The Depression was also the golden era of film, and the late 60's recession helped end the era of big studio epics in favor of the smaller movies that have become classics, like Rosemary's Baby.

So here's my wish for all of us 2009: Watch more movies. Read more books. Turn off the news and tune in to the stuff that sustains us when we don't have much money. And then create something. Write. Sing. Dance. Paint. Take photos. Whatever it is you do, do it more, do it bigger, do it louder, and do it better. What do we have to lose?

Things the World Does Not Need: "Please God, No!" Edition

"It’s a dream that I want to achieve in the future."

Those, my friends, are the words of Mariah Carey (remember her? She starred in Glitter, pictured above?), in reference to the possibility of her performing a London production of The Prince and the Showgirl, to which she owns the rights. Please Mimi, please don't bring your emancipation to the stage! Say it with me, "Please God, No!"