A day after a fan fell to his death at Rangers Ballpark while trying to catch a ball thrown from outfielder Josh Hamilton, questions remain about safety at the Arlington, Texas stadium. This is the third incident of a fan falling there since 1994. When the stadium first opened, the NY Times reports, "While posing for a picture in a section of seats known as Home Run Porch, [Hollye Minter] toppled over the railing. She fell 35 feet, fracturing several vertebrae, ribs and teeth. The Ranger organization promptly raised the height of the railings in that section of the upper deck."
In Spite Of Fan's Fatal Fall, Texas Rangers Aren't Changing Anything
Dane Cook Coming to Broadway, Threatens to Come Again
Dude, Dane Cook! Broadway! A play called Fat Pig! If we're dreaming, don't wake us up (just smother us with a pillow, thanks). Arts Beat reports that in the spring the popular comedian, who is probably richer than you'll ever be, will star opposite Gothamist favorite Josh Hamilton in Neil LaBute's dark comedy "about a man who dates an overweight woman and his obnoxious pal who questions the relationship." Guess who's the obnoxious pal?
All-Star Home Run Derby to Remember
Though the All-Star Home Run Derby has lost some luster in recent years with some of the biggest sluggers not taking part, this year's offered an intriguing story in--and thrilling performance from--Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton. Hamilton, a recovering drug addict and left-handed hitter, managed to hit 28 home runs in the first round--20 more than the next person--and broke Bobby Abreu's record of 25 home runs during a derby round. And the audience at Yankee Stadium ate it up, chanting "Hamilton! Hamilton!"
Gothamist Year In Interviews
We interviewed hundreds of people this year, from long-time rockers to the designer of New York’s subway map. Here are a few conversations you may have missed:
- On the day Radiohead’s In Rainbows was released exclusively online, musician Jonny Greenwood talked about the “experiment.”
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Josh Hamilton, Actor
New York native Josh Hamilton has long been one of the most fun-to-watch actors working in independent film and downtown theater. Fans of Noah Baumbach’s 1995 film Kicking and Screaming remember him for his iconic performance as the anxiously intelligent Grover; he also created the role of Dennis in Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth and excelled as the coolly detached Mickey in the 2005 stage production of Hurlyburly. Hamilton can currently be seen starring in the film Outsourced and, starting October 22nd, the highly anticipated new play Things We Want, written by the preternaturally brilliant Jonathan Marc Sherman. (Read Sherman's recent Times profile here.)
Broadway Joins Gyllenhaal of Fame
Start sharpening your spurs, gays and gals, because Jake Gyllenhaal is coming to Broadway! If director Mike Nichols has his way, you’ll soon have your chance to stalk the sensitive heartthrob as he flees through the stage door of Farragut North, a new play about presidential campaign hardball penned by a former Howard Dean staffer. According to today’s Post, Gyllenhaal (who made his stage debut in a Maggie Gyllenhaal-directed production of Cats in their parents’ living room) is all-but-confirmed for the cast. But before that, Nichols will shepherd other boldface names to Broadway with a spring revival of Clifford Odets’s The Country Girl, about a washed up wino actor and his beleaguered wife. With Morgan Freeman and our personal favorite Frances McDormand rumored to play the couple, this has Compelling Theatrical Event written all over it.
The Coast of Utopia
A monstrous wave of theater will engulf Lincoln Center next month and Tom Stoppard, the protean dramatist of unparalleled wit and imagination, is at the center of the squall. His three play cycle, “The Coast of Utopia”, will have its U.S. premiere in October and seems like an ideal autumn theater overload.
Theater Review: Hurlyburly
The new hit off-Broadway production by the New Group of Hurlyburly is reportedly transfering to Broadway, we are especially glad that we had the chance a few nights ago to see it at the intimate Acorn Theatre at 42nd Street's Theatre Row complex.
Tribeca Theater Festival
Gothamist is excited about the Tribeca Theater Festival, which is running now through the 31st. Yes, this is being put on by the same folks who bring us the Tribeca Film Festival. Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff are presenting, in association with the acclaimed Tribeca-based Off-Broadway theater company, Drama Dept.

