Posted 6/13/2008
The Incredible
Hulk – Opens Today
This Incredible Hulk film is extremely different from the 2003 Ang
Lee film. The movie assumes that you already know the back story of its
characters: It follows scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) who
survives a gamma radiation accident which turns him into the Hulk, only
after he gets very angry. His nemesis, General Ross (William Hurt) and
the U.S. Army, backed with an army of tanks, helicopters and soldiers –
try to capture and use the powerful and ever-growing Hulk as a weapon.
Although, Bruce Banner is cut off from the life he once knew he does
receive help from the woman he loves, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). Besides
trying to avoid the relentless pursuit of General Ross, the Hulk is
confronted with a new adversary – The Abomination (Tim Roth), whose
destructive strength rivals even the Hulk’s.
For such a great actor as Norton is he does a good job playing the
straight man to the Hulk. Tyler brought nothing to the film. I thought
her character was just plain boring. Overall, I think this will be a
film you will enjoy.
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some
frightening sci-fi images, and brief suggestive content.
Running Time: approx 119 minutes
Sex and the City – The girls are back!
Opens May 30, 2008
The movie picks up four years later from where the HBO series ended. The
film revolves around New York writer and fashion icon, Carrie Bradshaw
(Sarah Jessica Parker) and her three best friends, Charlotte (Kristin
Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall).
Carrie and Big (Chris Noth) are still going strong, but unmarried.
Miranda has settled in Brooklyn with her husband, Steve (David Eigenberg),
and their son, Brady. Charlotte is busy being super-mom to adopted
daughter Lily and Samantha has moved to Los Angeles, where she spends
her every waking moment managing her boyfriend’s Hollywood career.
As a possible wedding for Carrie and Big looms, each of the girls find
disaster of their own to work through with the help of each other.
Miranda finds her marriage on the rocks while Charlotte has concerns
about her pregnancy and Samantha has been faithful to her actor
boyfriend, but how long can that last?
The cast also includes Evan Handler as Harry, Charlotte’s husband; and
Jason Lewis as Smith Jerrod, Samantha’s boyfriend. Co-starring are
Candice Bergen as Vogue editor, Enid Frick and Academy Award winning
actress Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) as Carrie’s assistant, Louise.
Returning show favorites are Mario Cantone as Anthony Marentino,
Charlotte’s opinionated wedding planner, Willie Garson as Carrie’s pal
Standford Blatch.
The film still provides all those tender and wacky moments from the
series plus a whole lot more. If you were a fan of the series then you
will enjoy the film as it ties up all the loose ends that left you
hanging when the series ended. And ladies, do me a favorite please do
not drag along your boyfriends or husbands to see this film. This is
definitely a “girl’s night out” flick.
Running Time: 142 minutes
Rating: R for “strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language”
The New England Regional Theatre
Premiere!
June 10 -29, 2008 - Tickets on sale now!
Beverly, MA: The hit of the 2000 Broadway season and winner of 4
Tony Awards dances across the stage in North Shore Music Theatre's New
England Regional Premiere of CONTACT. A unique and powerful three-part
dance play CONTACT runs June 10 - 29, 2008.
"This season pays tribute to the legendary Tony Award-winning Director
and Choreographer Susan Stroman and we felt that Contact would be a
great way to honor her and be an entertaining departure from the
standard definition of a musical," said Barry Ivan, NSMT's new Artistic
Director and Executive Producer. "The show is wonderfully unique in that
it tells three separate stories of romance and escapism primarily
through Stroman?s clever and witty choreography. This will be a rare
treat for NSMT audiences."
CONTACT is a moving and often humorous dance play that tells three
separate stories "Swing," "Did You Move" and "Contact." Each is about
different ways to pursue love. Featuring a book by John Weidmann & Susan
Stroman, and with music and lyrics from various artists, CONTACT will
sweep audiences off their feet. An eclectic array of songs provide the
soundtrack for the mini-vignettes, including Robert Palmer's "Simply
Irresistible," Dean Martin's "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You,?
Dion?s ?Runaround Sue,? the Beach Boys? ?Do You Want to Dance?? and
?Sing Sing Sing? from Benny Goodman and his Orchestra.
CONTACT stars Tony Award-Winner Jarrod Emick as Michael Willey, Naomi
Hubert as A Girl in the Yellow Dress, Sally Mae Dunn as Wife, and Steve
Luker as Husband. Emick is best known for his Tony Award-winning
performance as Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees, which also garnered him a
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor and a Theatre World
Award. He has also starred in Broadway productions of TheRocky Horror
Show, The Boy From Oz, and Ring of Fire. Before she became a girl in
the yellow dress, Hubert was an original cast member in Stroman's
Broadway productions of The Producers and The Frogs. She has also
appeared in national tours of Spamalot, Doctor Dolittle and Annie Get
Your Gun and played Cassandra in the IV National Tour of Cats. Dunn has
appeared on Broadway in Never Gonna Dance (u/s Mabel), Beauty and the
Beast (Babette), The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, The Will Rogers
Follies and in a national tour of Chicago (June). Luker has appeared in
over 80 professional shows including 42nd Street on Broadway, National
and European tours of Footloose and 42nd Street, and at Radio City and
was last seen at NSMT in Damn Yankees.
CONTACT will be directed and choreographed by Tom Cousin. Cousin
performed in and helped to develop the original production of CONTACT as
part of the original Lincoln Center ensemble, both off-Broadway and on,
from 1999-2002. He has been selected by Stroman to recreate the original
show. Cousins other performance credits include Broadway productions of
Dreamgirls, Belle Epoque Bingo Long, and Village Wooing. He has also
traveled the country in National Tours of A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, My
One and Only and performed in many Regional Theatres.
Tickets for CONTACT are priced from $77 to $40. Senior & Youth Discounts
and Rush Tickets are Available. Also check out
www.nsmt.org for special ticket
packages including ?Date Night and "Girl"s Night Out.? Performances are
June 10 - 29, Tue - Thurs at 7:30 pm, Fri & Sat at 8 pm, matinees
Wed, Sat and Sun at 2 pm. For tickets:
www.nsmt.org, (978) 232-7200, or in person at 62 Dunham Rd. Beverly.
CONTACT is recommended for theater goers 16 and over.
NSMT is offering two free pre-show swing dancing classes taught by a
member of the CONTACT cast. Classes will take place June 19 from 5 - 6
p.m. and June 20 from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. in Studio One in the Theatre Arts
and Education Building behind the theatre. This program is free of
charge but advanced reservations are required. Email class reservation
to pr@nsmt.org. Class size is limited
to 20 participants.
Also during CONTACT, NSMT is offering a new Kids Club program for
parents and kids. With the purchase of an adult ticket to the June 22
production of CONTACT, parents are invited to enroll their children in a
special free theater workshop on site at NSMT while they attend the
show. NSMT's teaching staff will lead classes in acting, dancing, and
singing at the theater. The Kids Club is open to children ages 4-11.
This program is free of charge but advanced reservations are required by
the Friday before the Sunday show. The Kids Club will have a designated
date for each mainstage musical production in the 2008 season.
Additional Free Audience Enrichment events: Meet the Theatre: post-show
audience discussion with the artists on June 17 after the 7:30 pm
performance June 28 after the 2 pm performance; Spotlight on History, a
free pre-show discussion focusing on historical issues related to the
performance on June 22; Out at the North Shore, an evening for the Gay
and Lesbian Community with a post-show reception on June 26.
