Lara Pulver and Ruth Wilson plays

My two worlds collide. This whatsonstage story about Lara Pulver mentioned Ruth Wilson as well.

Congratulations and good luck to Lara Pulver. The British actress has been invited across the pond to reprise her role as Lucille Frank, the dedicated wife of convicted murderer Leo Frank, in the Los Angeles production of Jason Robert Brown’s musical Parade. Robert Brown’s Tony Award-winning 1998 musical received its UK premiere two years ago at the Donmar Warehouse, with American choreographer Rob Ashford making his directorial debut, helming a cast led by Pulver and Bertie Carvel as Leo Frank.

Ashford is now reviving the Donmar production with Pulver leading a new American cast, including TR Knight (from TV’s Grey’s Anatomy) as Leo in a limited season at the Mark Taper Forum in downtown LA from 21 September to 15 November 2009. Pulver was Olivier and Whatsonstage.com Award nominated for her performance as Lucille. Speaking to us about the new US engagement, she said: “I am so pleased this production has a life, after such an amazing experience at the Donmar, and it’s a huge compliment that they've invited me to come over to re-create the role.”

Based on a true story, Parade is set in 1913 Atlanta, where a Jewish man from Brooklyn stands accused of the murder of a young factory worker. It has a book by Alfredy Urhy, music and lyrics by Brown and was co-conceived by Harold Prince, who directed its premiere at New York’s Lincoln Center in 1998.

Ashford is back at the Donmar this month, about to make his play directing debut with a revival of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Rachel Weisz, Elliot Cowan and Ruth Wilson. And Pulver has just been seen in the recession plays Everything Must Go!, which finished at Soho Theatre this past weekend.

Source: http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=207&story=E8831246882907&title=Lara+Pulver+Conquers+LA+in+Donmar+Parade%3F%3F%3F

Rachel Nichols enters my awareness

My burst of enthusiasm for July 2009 is actress Rachel Nichols. A few days ago I don't think I was aware of who she was. Then I watched a movie called P2 (as in parking level 2) and was very impressed. It was much better than I thought it would be and turned out to be a tense little thriller about a woman trapped by a obsessed security guard in a parking garage on Christmas Eve. I would quite readily compare Rachel's performance to that of Sigourney Weaver in Alien (which, coincidentally, I had watched again the night before watching P2).


Doing a little research it turns out she was in the fifth and final season of Alias. I was a big fan of Alias, at least for the first couple of years but I confess I never got to see the final season. I'll be looking for it on DVD if the price is right.


This summer Rachel is in the GI Joe movie. This will be certainly be excruciatingly awful, directed as it it by Steven Sommers, the man responsible for the dire Van Helsing. More fool me, I expect I'll end up renting GI Joe on DVD. For Rachel.

PS I think she was the green lady in the new Star Trek movie!

Lara Pulver in Robin Hood 3.13

Potential spoilers below.

So, the big finale. I had done my best to avoid spoilers although I had read that both Jonas and Armitage would be leaving the show.

What we have is an episode that on one hand finishes the story and on the other hand it starts a new chapter. (I'm assuming the show will return, but what do I know.)

In short Robin, Guy and the Sheriff don't look like they will be returning. And I would assume that Isabella was also standing a little too close to the Byzantine fire, but fingers crossed that she survived.

In the end Isabella did turn into a boo-hiss type villain. I had been hoping that she would show a little bit of subtle horror at the path she was taking, a little bit of remorse after stabbing Guy or scratching Robin with the poison blade. Lara is clearly a good enough actress to show that.

Right now I don't feel like doing the whole screen grab type image thing so here's a photo of Isabella in episode 3.13. Note the poison bottle around her left wrist!



Ah, Lara looks nice with her hair down...

Ruth Wilson article

Thanks to Barbie for finding this Ruth Wilson article:

Ruth Wilson might have attracted attention playing Jane Eyre in the BBC’s 2006 adaptation of the dark, Victorian novel, but the 27-year-old actress is keen to prove her abilities extend beyond the small screen. In July, Wilson will take on the iconic role of Stella Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire” at London’s Warehouse Theater. She’ll star alongside Rachel Weisz as Blanche DuBois, and Elliot Cowan, who plays Stanley Kowalski. “It’s such a brutal play, full of passion [and] violence,” says Wilson. “With theater, you have that adrenaline kick — you’ve only got you, your voice and that’s it, so it’s quite scary. But I like scaring myself.”

QUICK STUDY: A former history student, Wilson researches her roles thoroughly. The actress took a road trip around America’s Deep South to prep for the part, taking in South Carolina, Mississippi and New Orleans. “New Orleans is an incredible place. You can understand why Tennessee Williams wrote about it,” says Wilson. “It’s got music coming out of every corner.”

SMALL SCREEN: Wilson hasn’t left her television roots behind. The actress will play Queenie in “Small Island,” a BBC adaptation of the Andrea Levy novel set in post-World War II London, which will make its debut on British screens in the fall. She also shot a remake of the Sixties spy show “The Prisoner,” with Sir Ian McKellen and Hayley Atwell. “It’s quite weird,” says Wilson. “We all have numbers rather than names. To some people it will make no sense, to other people it will be some kind of philosophical story.”

BIG PLANS: Frustrated by what she sees as a lack of compelling roles for women, Wilson says she’s working on putting on a film festival for female writers with Atwell and Emma Thompson. “Producers [say] women don’t bring in the money,” says Wilson. “That’s the aim of the festival: for writers to start improving women’s roles. And not to write boring dramas…[but] action movies and genre movies.” The actress also says she plans to direct films of her own at some point. “It’s probably a bit about control, actually,” says Wilson with a laugh. “Wanting to know from start to finish what the hell’s going on.”

Source:
http://www.wwd.com/lifestyle-news/eye/eye-more-girls-of-summer-2184297?gnewsid=be91869e934e6ed418829ac2bc9d5e36

Rebecca Hall in Sunday Express magazine

There is a two page article on Rebecca Hall in today's Sunday Express magazine. Here are my scans:

Lara Pulver in Robin Hood 3.12

I've decided not to go overboard with the screen grab type images for this episode. Below are a representative sample of Lara in the penultimate episode.

Isabella survives this episode. Fingers crossed that she survives the series.

Alexandra Moen and Lucy Liemann in Hotel Babylon

Yes, I know Hotel Babylon is trashy TV, but it's knowingly trashy so that makes it OK. It's back on the BBC tonight.

First point of interest for me is that Alexandra Moen's character returns. She was introduced to the show last year and got me watching. Previously she played Lucy Saxon (a.k.a Mrs The Master) at the end of the third series of the new Doctor Who.

The Second point of interest for me is that the trailer for the new series was on TV this evening and I'm pretty sure I spotted Lucy Liemann for a moment. I assumed she guest stars in an episode along the way.

Expect the inevitable screen grab type images!