Alan Cumming, Scottish native and Shakespeare aficionado, is going back to his roots next year in a big way, announcing that he's undertaking a one-man production of Macbeth in which he will play all the parts. Double, double toil and trouble for the original "Scottish play," indeed! more ›

Eyes, look your last! Arms, take your last embrace! The Juliet Supper Club may not be long for this world. Police are still investigating, and have yet to make any arrests relating to, the shooting that took place at the celebrity-filled Chelsea club on Monday night and in the meantime it is closed indefinitely. And, possibly worse for the beleaguered hotspot, the State Liquor Authority is now investigating the club. considering there have been two deaths there since September, the SLA may well soon seal its fate with a righteous kiss. more ›

Want to make a geek squee? Just tell them that not only is Buffy's Joss Whedon directing the big budget Avengers movie set for next summer but he's also gone and secretly filmed a movie called Much Ado About Nothing ("based on a play"). Because yeah, that just happened. The insanity began yesterday when a Nathan Fillion tweet sent his followers to this page which lists a cast of names familiar to those who've studied the Whedon oeuvre (Amy Acker! Alexis Densiof!) and says "Bellwether Pictures is proud to announce the completion of principal photography." But do we know anything else? more ›

Can the spaghetti-eating philistines of the underground appreciate some perfectly-spewed Shakespearen prose? Two Brooklyn-based fellas—twenty-somethings Paul Marino and Fred Jones—are currently acting out scenes from Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar. And they're doing it right on the moving, oft-crowded subway cars. more ›

Though most people know him from his Emmy-winning role for Best Actor as John-Boy on The Waltons, Richard Thomas has a career that spans far beyond the classic television series. Thomas debuted on Broadway at age seven in Sunrise at Campobello, playing FDR's son John Roosevelt, and has been working consistently in theater, TV, and film ever since. Last year Thomas appeared in Race, David Mamet's newest play about a powerful white man accused of raping a young black woman (Thomas played the accused). To say that the man has range would be a huge understatement. more ›

Paging Bret Michaels! Anne Hathaway has put herself on the auction block at eBay, and the asking price is currently a measly $1,248.56. The listing says: "Treat your daughters or two special people in your life to an unforgettable afternoon or evening with film star and Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway. This once-in-a-lifetime event includes tea with your family (you and two guests) at Sweetiepie, the West Village’s pretty-in-pink dessert eatery that’s perfect for kids of all ages, or cocktails with you and two friends with Anne at another mutually agreed-upon New York City location." There is a 0% chance Ms. Hathaway is ending up at a tea party. And while her ex probably can't afford it, maybe for an extra 500 bucks she'll dress like a boy. (P.S. Free shipping! And all proceeds go to the Public Theater.) more ›

It’s hard to imagine a production of Macbeth with more sound and fury than the outré adaptation currently battering audiences on the Brooklyn waterfront in DUMBO. Two parts Shakespeare and one part Ridley Scott, this visionary spectacle is the work of Polish director Grzegorz Jarzyna and the TR Warszawa theater company; it’s being staged outdoors in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge with a cast of 32 actors on a 36-foot-high set built specifically for the production. more ›

Actor Roy Scheider died yesterday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, after battling multiple myeloma for several years and suffering complications from a staph infection. He was 75 and had been living in Sag Harbor, New York (after moving out his house in Sagaponack that Billy Joel purchased). more ›

ART: The Bronx Museum of Art is getting on board the First Friday bandwagon. They'll be opening their doors every first Friday of the month for free, and add a little something extra each time. Tonight their theme is “Say it Loud! I’m Black & I’m Proud” in celebration of Black History Month. There will be a tribute to the late James Brown, and a showcase of independent artists paying tribute to black music. more ›

In Samuel Beckett’s 1961 play Happy Days, a decidedly upbeat woman named Winnie spends Act One striving valiantly to make the best of her sticky situation: she’s irrevocably buried up to her waist in a “low mound.” True, Winnie has her reticent companion Willie for company, but she cheerily defies the barren void by holding forth for a seemingly nonexistent gathering of spectators. And Act Two finds Winnie still determined to make a go of it, despite a marked deterioration of her condition: she is now buried up to the neck. 47 years after Beckett finished it, the brutally funny and moving Happy Days is now the hot ticket at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. more ›

Was your New Year's Eve a recipe for a hangover? Luckily there are a few recipes to cure what ails you, too. Last year we found some facts about hangovers, but learning isn't going to make that first headache of '08 go away. more ›

For those not wanting to hit the big Halloween parade (led by today's interviewee) there are other options: Park Slope's Halloween Parade (info here), Clinton Hill's Halloween Walk (info here) Prospect Park South's Halloween Parade (info here) and Williamsburg's Witches Walk (info here). more ›

A welcoming red and white striped awning dawns the name of the Cornelia Street Cafe, a longtime West Village fixture with artist roots that recently celebrated its 30th birthday. Located on a "mini restaurant row" including the teeny Le Gigot, Home, and Pearl Oyster Bar, the cafe is much more spacious than its neighbors with four separate rooms on two floors, each dotted with the work of local artists. Though the West Village today is not the Village of 1977, artists still come and go from the Cornelia St. Cafe with fervor-- for the food, for the performance, or for both. The cafe continues to host nightly events and over the years has acted as stage to poet and senator Eugene McCarthy, members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Songwriters Exchange, and during the next week Eve Packer, a duo of Sondheim-singing sisters, and Cassorla are scheduled to perform. more ›

FILM: BAM features the work of Al Santana tonight. The Brooklyn filmmaker "has been a fixture on the independent film and video scene for years and his work ranges from documentaries about the transatlantic slave trade to coping with 9/11." Santana will be on hand for a Q&A tonight as well. more ›

Despite the fact that the most common response we've been hearing is "What the hell is High School Musical?", it appears that Rolling Stone coverboy Zac Efron and his overly theatrical buddies are the toast of the town. Topping the Billboard chart, breaking cable TV records and zombifying tweens everywhere (you've probably bumped into a few already this week on the sidewalk with their faces buried in the lyric book). Even though the acting is bad, the songs are cheesy and the plot makes Saved by the Bell seem like Shakespeare, there is no denying the impressive success they've been able to pull off in an era where nobody can sell a cd. For a more sophisticated look into the movie and the phenomenon as a whole (compared to the zOMG livejournal reviews scattered about the web), check out Status Ain't Hood. more ›

READING: Check out today's interviewee, Peter Yarrow, tonight at Barnes and Noble where he'll be performing and signing the recently published Puff, the Magic Dragon book. C'mon, you know you've always wanted to hear that song live! more ›

COMEDY: This weekend marks the 9th Annual Del Close Marathon. Del Close, if you don't know by now, "was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and the Upright Citizens Brigade to name a few." The annual weekend began after Del's passing in 1999. more ›

MUSIC: Courtney Love makes her return to the New York stage tonight for a little birthday celebration show at Hiro Ballroom. The rocker turned 43 on Monday of this week, and there's only one way to see if she's acting her age! Last time she got a little crazy at a suprise show at Plaid, and when she turned 40 she took a trip to Bellevue. more ›

EVENT: Together, the New York Book Club and the Gotham Center present "Resistance: A Radical History of the Lower East Side," with Michael Rosen, Al Orensanz, Jay Blotcher, and moderator Clayton Patterson. They'll tell you all about how the LES "experienced massive changes during the 1980s and 90s," including stories from the activists, writers, artists, and residents who lived it. More info here. more ›

This season Shakespeare in the Park started off with Romeo and Juliet, a play that surprisingly hasn't seen the outdoor Delacorte Theatre since 1968, when Martin Sheen played Romeo to Susan McArthur's Juliet. On July 8th the run will end, and A Midsummer Night's Dream will finish up the season. With notoriously long ticket lines to gain the free pass to a show, many miss out on these performances due to lack of time alone. So how is this season (under Michael Greif's direction) going so far? The reviews are mixed. more ›

MOVIE: Michael Moore is in town with his latest film that's pissing off the government while informing the nation, Sicko (trailer here). Get ready to be filled with rage as the carpet is pulled back on the American healthcare system and much, much more. more ›