Issue #168: March 15, 2006
(next issue April 15)

• Live Schreiber is on tap to headline the Public Theater’s summer production of Macbeth which will run from June 13 to 19.

• Look for Martin McDonagh’s production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore to open at the Lyceum Theater on May 3.

• Even though his day job is up with the TV sitcom Will & Grace, Canadian actor Eric McCormack has signed on to appear off-Broadway in Neil LaBute’s Some Girl(s).  The play opens at the Lucille Lortel Theater on June 8.

• The Brooklyn Academy of Music currently has a stunning production of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.  Making her New York debut in a remount of the 2004 Australian production, Cate Blanchett takes on the role of the original “desperate housewife.”  This production plays through to March 26.

• A star-studded cast received mixed reviews when Arthur Miller’s last play, Resurrection Blues recently opened at the Old Vic.  Leading the cast, Canadian and Party of Five alum Neve Campbell tackled the role of a troubled silver-spoon revolutionary.  Joining her is American actor Matthew Modine and Austrian Maximilian Schell.  Rounding out the name-dropping is director Robert Altman.  The play runs through to April 22.

• From hit man to hairspray!  Reports are out that Pulp Fiction mobster John Travolta has signed to play Edna Turnblad in the upcoming film adaptation of the Broadway musical Hairspray.  Originally adapted from the quirky 1988 John Waters movie, Hairspray comes full circle with the return to the big screen.  Harvey Fierstein originated the stage role of Turnblad with a Tony Award to show for his efforts … is there an Oscar in Travolta’s future?