Directed by CHRISTINE DALZELL   Featuring:

JAMIE EFFROS
J MICHAEL POLICASTRO
PAULINE WALSH
BRANAN WHITEHEAD
 

  Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sunday matinees at 3 pm and Thursday September 30th at 7 pm.

In this American classic, sons of a desert dwelling alcoholic and a suburban wanderer clash over a film script. Austin, the achiever, is working on a script he has already sold when Lee, his demented petty thief brother, drops in. “A masterwork – tells us a truth, as glimpsed by a genius.” -New York Post
This play contains adult themes and language.

$20.00 general admission, $15 students and seniors. Group rates are also available.

The Attic Ensemble is located just two blocks from the Grove Street PATH Station, in the Historic Barrow Mansion, 83 Wayne Street, Jersey City. There is free parking after 7 p.m. in the parking lot 1 ½ blocks away on Christopher Columbus Drive. For reservations, directions and further information: www.atticensemble.org; phone (201) 413-9200, e-mail: info@atticensemble.org.

Tickets can be charged online at

Cash and checks are accepted at the box office. Jersey Arts Cards are accepted for discounted ticket pricing. The Barrow Mansion is handicapped accessible and barrier free. Large print program available upon request; please call one week in advance to arrange for a large print program. Assisted listening devices will be available for the Thursday September 30th 7 p.m. performance. Please call one week in advance to request a device.

The post Sam Shephard’s “True West” presented by Jersey City’s Attic Ensemble first appeared on River View Observer.

Fans have waited a long time to buy a boxed set of Clint Eastwood’s early spaghetti westerns by Sergio Leone. featuring Clint as the iconic loner with no name. The wait is over. The boxed set, officially titled Clint, available June 1, 2010, Eastwood in The Man With No Name Trilogy hits a bullseye.

This collection belongs in every home film library. Leone’s trilogy of lowbudget, high-impact films, set in the American West (but filmed in Spain and directed by an Italian), made Eastwood a major movie star with a following that forced Hollywood to sit up and take notice. Up until that time he was known only for his roles on TV, most notably as Rowdy Yates in the series, Rawhide.

I interviewed Eastwood before the Academy Awards in 2005 when he had been nominated for Best Director and Best Picture for Million Dollar.  I asked how important to his films was the music in each. “Very Baby important,” he told me, holding me with that famous Eastwood gaze that says, “Nothing matters right now except our conversation.” He went on to explain that he wrote the music himself. “I was very careful not to allow the music to overwhelm the visuals but to support them,” he said, adding, “I learned that from Ennio Morricone.”

When I recalled that Eastwood had made a name for himself with the Sergio Leone films, Eastwood brightened. “It was Morricone who wrote the music for the three spaghetti westerns,” Eastwood said. “If you’ve seen them you know the music.”

The first in the series, A Fistful of Dollars, hit U.S. movie houses in 1964. The stage was set for the former television actor to become an international sensation as the rough-hewn, silent Man with No Name.

The footloose renegade with a wacky sense of humor, a cheroot clenched in his teeth, and a squint that made villains squirm, caught the fancy of moviegoers and they became his fans for life. Those fans are now graybeards, and they’re still loyal. They, and anybody else who likes movies with Clint Eastwood, are in for a treat.

writer/director Akiro Kurosawa’s film, Yojimbo.” That cynical samurai tale, in the hands of Sergio Leone, gets a different setting, the American West. The tale, which maintains the inner stuff of legend and iconic characters, works on a visceral level.

The follow-up film, For a Few Dollars More, teams Eastwood with Lee, who played the villain opposite Gary Cooper in High Noon.

In Dollars, Leone’s classic tale of revenge, Van Cleef again plays the villain to perfection.

The third film, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, is set in the American Civil War where violence is a given. Added to that conflict is buried gold, and classic criminals in a conspiracy that involves double-crosses and trayals that play out in a tension-filled finale with enough gun fights to satisfy any action fan.

(Catalog # M121526)

● The Christopher Frayling Archives: A Fistful of Dollars

● Commentary by Film Historian Christopher Frayling

● A New Kind of Hero

● A Few Weeks in Spain: Clint Eastwood on the Experience of Making the Film ● Tre Voci: A Fistful of Dollars

● Not Ready for Primetime: Renowned Filmmaker Monte Hellman discusses the Television Broadcast ● The Network Prologue with Actor Harry Dean Stanton

● Location Comparisons: Then to Now ● 10 Radio Spots ● Double Bill Trailer ● Theatrical Trailer

(Catalog # M121528)

● The Christopher Frayling Archives: For A Few Dollars More

● Commentary by Film Historian Christopher Frayling

● A New Standard: Frayling on For A Few Dollars More

● Back for More: Clint Eastwood Remembers For A Few Dollars More

● Tre Voci: For A Few Dollars More

● For A Few Dollars More: The Original American Release Version

● Location Comparisons

● 12 Radio Spots

● Theatrical Trailer 1

● Theatrical Trailer 2

(Catalog # M121527)

● Commentary by Film Historian Richard Schickel

● Commentary by Film Historian Christopher Frayling

● Leone’s West

● The Leone Style

● The Man Who Lost the Civil War

● Reconstructing The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

● IL Maestro: Ennio Morricone and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly – Part One

● IL Maestro: Part Two

● Deleted Scenes

â—‹ Extended Tuco Torture Scene

â—‹ The Socorro Sequence: A Reconstruction

● Easter Egg #1 Uno, Due, Tre

● Easter Egg #2 Italian Lunch

● Easter Egg #3 New York Actor

● Easter Egg #4 Gun in Holster

● Theatrical Trailer

● French Trailer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is actively

engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures,

television programming, home video, interactive media, music and

licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of

modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.,

United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM

Networks Inc., MGM Domestic Networks LLC, MGM Distribution Co, MGM

International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home

Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital

Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM

has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 120

countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%),

TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ

Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more

information, visit www.mgm.com.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globaly for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and ecommerce throughout the world.

Van Cleef

The post CLINT EASTWOOD -Hollywood Behind-The-Scenes first appeared on River View Observer.

Actress Tammy Blanchard best known for her Emmy Award wining role as a young Judy Garland in CBS’s 2001 mega docu-drama Life with Judy Garland:Me and My Shadows, will appear in “Amish Grace,” a Lifetime LMN drama Sunday, March 28, at 8pm.

Based on a True Story and Book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver- Zercher.

When a gunman killed five Amish children and injured five others in a Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania schoolhouse shooting in October of 2006, the world media attention rapidly turned from the tragic events to the extraordinary forgiveness demonstrated by the Amish community.

Ms. Blanchard stars as Amy Roberts the wife of Charles Carl Roberts the shooter at Nickle Back. Also appearing with Ms. Blanchard in Amish Grace; Kimberly Williams Paisley, and Matt Letscher.

Read more about Ms. Blanchard’s acting career next month in our River View Observer Celebrity Cover Interview with this talented New Jersey actress.

The post ACTRESS TAMMY BLANCHARD STARS IN LIFETIME NETWORKS “AMISH GRACE” MARCH 28 AT 8PM first appeared on River View Observer.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Hudson Pride Connections

The Theater Company (TTC) opens with the Broadway musical RENT on February 3, 2010, but instead of just telling the story of seven friends dealing with love, loss and AIDS, the company is also helping to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Hudson Pride Connections – two organizations whose mission is to assist in the fights against HIV/AIDS and bridge gaps for gay communities.

TTC will be collecting donations for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) during the first week of performances (February 3-7, 2010). BC/EFA is the nation’s leading industry based HIV/AIDS fundraising and grant-making organization who was kind enough to send one of their directors to meet with the cast of RENT to help them understand what it means to be living with HIV/AIDS. For more information on this organization, please visit their website: www.broadwaycares.org

During the second week of performances (February 10-14, 2010), TTC will be collecting donations for Hudson(HPC). Based in Jersey City, HPC works with people living with AIDS and the lesbian, gay,Pride Connections bisexual and transgender community in Hudson County. In addition to helping to raise money for their cause, TTC will be bringing area-residents living with AIDS in to see the performances. For more information on HPC, please visit their website: www.hudsonpride.org

RENT is a powerfully moving production, but to TTC, continuing to get its message out isn’t enough. Please join the cast and crew of RENT in helping these two amazing charities, by making a monetary donation.

Tickets are $25 general admission/$20 students & seniors and are currently available for purchase at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/87678 (cash/checks at the door). The Monroe Theatrespace

(http://monroecenter.com) is located at 720 Monroe St., Hoboken, NJ. A link to directions and parking as well event details can all be found on TTC’s website at www.thetheatercompany.org/Rent.html

Originally named the DeBaun Players, The Theater Company is based in Hoboken, NJ, and has been presenting plays since 2000. In June 2007, TTC was awarded Associate Membership with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and is also a founding member of the Hudson County Theatre Alliance. TTC’s mission is to produce theatrical productions that are accessible to people of every age, involving a diverse group of people on stage and off.

Contact:

David Zimmerman

Phone: 201.248.2788

the.theater.company@gmail.com

268 4th St., 2nd Floor

Jersey City, NJ 07302

www.thetheatercompany.org

For more information about RENT or TTC, please visit

or emailthe.theater.company@gmail.com

About TTC:

Originally named the DeBaun Players, The Theater Company is based in Hoboken, NJ, and has been presenting plays since 2000. In June 2007, TTC was awarded Associate Membership with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and is also a founding member of the Hudson County Theatre Alliance. TTC’s mission is to produce theatrical productions that are accessible to people of every age, involving a diverse group of people on stage and off.

 

 

Contact:

David Zimmerman

Phone: 201.248.2788

the.theater.company@gmail.com

268 4th St., 2nd Floor

Jersey City, NJ 07302

www.thetheatercompany.org

RENT or TTC, please visit

www.thetheatercompany.org

or email the.theater.company@gmail.com.

Phone: 201.248.2788

 

 

The post THE THEATER COMPANY PARTNERS WITH CHARITIES DURING ITS RUN OF “RENT” first appeared on River View Observer.

Before Jack Paar Johnny Carson, Jay Leno , Jimmy Kimmel  Conan  O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon there is Joe Franklin.

Joe Franklin —America‘s First Talk Show Host!

by Sally Deering

To his fans he’s the “King of Nostalgia,” but to thousands of show folk, Joe Franklin is a friend who gives stars a place to shine and unknowns the chance to stand out from the crowd.  In his 50-year career, Franklin has made it his mission to help the struggling artist get a foot in the door, and with a look-back, it seems this spunky octogenarian not only accomplished his goal, he picked up a little stardust of his own along the way.

In 1951 TV was a toddler still learning and discovering its capabilities. Many of the TV studios were in New York – on the fringes of the Theater District broadcasting game shows, kiddie shows, dramas and comedies live and in black-and-white. That year, station WJZ (which later became ABC,) approached Franklin about doing a TV talk show.Things clicked and “The Joe Franklin Show” premiered with Franklin as host engaging celebrity guests in the art of conversation.

Franklin has sat behind the mic for some 300,000 interviews with the Who’s Who of Hollywood — Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino and practically every superstar in between. But it wasn’t just the big names that interested Franklin. New York City was his hometown and Franklin knew first-hand how young actors, singers and comics were struggling for their first break. So between the glamorous glitterati, Franklin interviewed unknown up-and-comers. Some never went any further than Franklin’s show, but others like comic Bill Cosby, singers Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand and actress Julia Roberts saw their careers take off and became superstars.

 At 83, the dapper “boy from ‘da Bronx” is still going strong. His radio show “Memory Lane,” broadcasts Saturday nights at midnight on WOR, 710-AM and he hosts weekly interviews with celebrities for Bloomberg Radio’s “Lifestyles.”

An authority on the world of show business from the days of silent films, Franklin has written 23 books on the stars and how some of them played a role in his life. He interviewed so many stand-up comics, he wrote a book about them, too. Carving out his niche as talk show host cum celebrity, Franklin even played himself in films like “Ghostbusters” and “Broadway Danny Rose.” And now, the accolades are rolling in. The Theater Museum honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award at a dinner held at the Players Club, last October, and he was honored by the Museum of Broadcasting for his contribution to television. And to many New Yorkers, he’s still the man to see when you’re trying to break into the biz.

The Open Door Policy

Franklin’s office is in a busy theatrical building that shadows the Theatre District west of Broadway, a building where the business of show is conducted on a daily basis. Walk through the halls and you’re likely to see audition postings on office doors and the halls filling up with dancers, singers and actors waiting to be called in to perform a monologue or sing 8-bars for the director or casting agent. It’s a building like so many others in Manhattan and before you even get to Franklin’s office, you feel that show biz electricity in the air. When you reach his door, it’s slightly ajar as if to say “Come in, have a seat and we’ll talk!”

Stepping inside Franklin’s office is like entering a catacomb of memorabilia crowded with piles of books, celebrity photographs, magazines and papers. Shelves line most of the walls with record albums from Franklin’s days as a DJ spinning “33s” for New York’s insomniacs, lonely-hearts and night-shifters who tuned in to his radio program back in the day. Franklin still keeps warehouses filled with memorabilia he has collected throughout his years, with enough nostalgic ephemera to fill several museums.

At the far side of the room, Franklin holds court at a small desk – his two phones ringing constantly with press agents and publicists looking to book their clients on his radio show.  He doesn’t have a computer or a talent coordinator and does all the bookings himself.

“I never solicited a guest,” Franklin says between calls, “never called one guest to appear on my show. They all came to me.”

Among his favorites, he says, were five U.S. Presidents, Cary Grant and Charlie Chaplin. He had Frank Sinatra on four times.

“He was charming,” Franklin says. “He spoke what he spoke, ‘dese, dems and doughs,’ but when he sang, he was like a different person.”

And the stars keep coming. This week, for his Bloomberg Radio show, Franklin booked Lily Tomlin, Andy Williams, Dick Van Patten and his best friend from childhood, Tony Curtis, who’s plugging a new book.  When interviewing celebs, Franklin says, “get the plug out of the way fast. They’re always nervous about what they gotta plug, once that’s done, they can relax.”

It’s a late Thursday afternoon and Franklin’s friend, 56 year-old aspiring actor Frank DiGiovanni has been visiting and helps answer phones and greet visitors.  When they walk through the open door, some Franklin knows and some he doesn’t, but whether they’re stopping in to say hello or plug their act – Franklin greets each one with a smile and a handshake.

“DJ Patty” and “DJ Anthony” a mother and son mobile disc jockey act from Long Island are visiting Franklin with the hope he might help them break into the Manhattan scene. DJ Patty, a vivacious blonde, shows Franklin a picture of herself with Robert DeNiro from the time she DJ’d a party for the “Casino” cast. Franklin seems genuinely interested and invites her to sit and schmooze.

“He’s a legend,” DJ Patty gushes. “I watched his show all the time.”

And while DJ Patty puts on the charm, Franklin’s old buddy Remo Capra strolls through the door. Capra talked about the time he sang with the Tommy Dorsey band in 1956 and recorded an album with Frank DeVol at Columbia records.

“I used to go on Joe’s show all the time,” Capra says. “Those were good times.”

And then Tommy “G” from Bayonne bursts through the door with some buddies.

“I met Joe through my cousin, they were very good friends,” Tommy “G” says after shaking hands with Franklin and exchanging hellos. “I call him on the phone and stop by and say hi whenever I’m in the neighborhood.”

So do a lot of people.

“This is typical,” DiGiovanni says.. “They come to talk with Joe or to network.”

A New York Landmark

Joe Franklin is a New York original who shooed away offers to leave the urban landscape for the glitz and glam of Hollywood. He’s a “Regular Joe” who still gets a kick out of being recognized on the street and hearing cab drivers tell him they learned English from watching his show.

“I was told I should relocate to the West Coast, but I didn’t want to drop the New York Beat,” Franklin says.

He’s a New York landmark, a TV pioneer who has given thousands of people their shot – and he’s not done yet. As the phones keep ringing, Franklin sits in his chair booking guests and sharing anecdotes with the people chatting away in his office. This is his world – schmoozing with big names and meeting new faces and Franklin, looking delighted at all the activity, stops for a moment and asks, “Anyone want coffee?”

His guests say “Yes,” coffee orders are taken and everyone settles in for a schmooze-fest;  just another typical day in the life of “America’s First Talk Show Host.”

The post Joe Franklin- Amercia’s First Talk Show Host “Memory Lane” January 22nd, 1983 first appeared on River View Observer.

 Opening Reception: Friday, January 15, 2010. 6-8 p.m. Free.

 

Off-site Location:
The Majestic Theatre Condominiums
222 Montgomery St.
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Phone: 201.435.8000

www.majesticjerseycity.com

 

“Jersey City-the places, the stuff, the subject matter-is expanding like helicopters that fly a little too low, could be nothing or big trouble, a spectacle along with the everyday sublime.” – Tim Daly

 

Jersey City Museum and The Majestic Theatre Condominiums are pleased to present Tim Daly: Here and Away, an exhibition featuring a new series of paintings and drawings by renowned New Jersey artist Tim Daly. Daly is in known for painting Jersey City, the Meadowlands, and its immediate environs. He says, “The oddness of the New Jersey landscape has been what draws me.” However, in this exhibition, he expands his range of vision to include areas around Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Southern California.

 

An opening reception for Here and Now will take place on Friday, January 15, 6-8 p.m. Wine and light refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on view by appointment at The Majestic Theater Condominiums through April 1, 2010. To view, please contact The Majestic management office at 201.435.8023.  Here and Away is guest curated by Brendan Carroll. More information about the artist’s work can be found at www.timdalypainting.com.

 

JCM @ features selected artworks and exhibitions curated by the Jersey City Museum and on view throughout the community.

 

Founded in 1901, the Jersey City Museum is the major presenter of contemporary art serving the people of Jersey City, Hudson County and the region.  The museum organizes many group and solo exhibitions every year, featuring works by culturally diverse, contemporary artists and from its 10,000-piece collection of regional significant art and historical objects. Through exhibitions, educational initiatives and programs, the museum welcomes over 25,000 visitors each year, including 11,000 school-aged children and youth.

 

Jersey City Museum’s gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 11am to 5pm and Saturdays from 12pm to 5pm. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and students, and free for children under 12 and museum members. Admission is free for all on Saturdays at part of Target Free Saturdays. Jersey City Museum is located at 350 Montgomery Street at Monmouth in the Historic Downtown District of Jersey City, within walking distance of the Grove Street PATH and Jersey Avenue Light Rail stations.  For more information, visit www.jerseycitymuseum.org or call 201-413-0303.

 

The post Jersey City Museum @ The Majestic presents Tim Daly: Here and Now first appeared on River View Observer.

Hoboken police  have confirmed that Lange apparently stabbed himself nine times last Saturday morning leaving knife wounds to his stomach at his luxury condo in Hoboken, New Jersey. A reason has not been given for Mr. Lange stabbing himself, but according to neighbors; Lange, has had some problems that has resulted in some stays at Rehab clinics.

Mr. Lange has also spoken about many of his demons in his best selling book “Too Fat to Fish” which was released in November of last year. In Chapter 8, called “Pig in Shit” -Mr. Lange states in detail his experiences with drugs for many years and how it all began.

Bleeding, unconscious but alive; Lange, was found by his own mother who called 911 last Saturday morning, when  paramedics did arrive they found the comedian / actor star of the hijinx movie “Beer League” conscious and rushed him to Jersey City’s Medical Center.

Hoboken resident Nara Desmond who said  she often sees Lange in Hoboken said “I think he is very funny, and yet I see that connection with other comedians like John Belushi, and Chris Farley, and  I hope that Artie Lange doesn’t wind up the same way as they did. It would be another terrible loss of talent.”

Hudson County has been Lange’s home for some time, and many of his neighbors have a tremendous amount of love and respect for Howard Stern’s morning sidekick and  wish him well.

We  too wish him well.

photo source wikipedia

The post Hudson County’s Artie Lange Stabs Self According to Hoboken Police Department first appeared on River View Observer.

Tammy Blanchard co-stars with Kimberly Williams-Paisley

Ms. Blanchard’s role is that of Marie Roberts; widow of Charles Carl Roberts the shooter of the Pennsylvania schoolhouse.

The Nickle Mine, Pennsylvania schoolhouse shootings received world wide  attention not only for the depth of the tragedy but because of the reaction of the Amish leaders’ who forgave the shooter and his widow wife.

Ms. Blanchards acting roles include: In 2009 co- starred in  “Rabbit Hole” about a  happy couple who’s life is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident. Co-starring with Nicole Kidman as Ms. Kidman’s sister in David Lindsay-Abaire Pulitizer Prize winning play brought to the big screen. Also appearng in the film is Aaron Echhart, Diane Wiest and Giancarlo Esposito. A 2010 release of the film is in the works.

Ms. Blanchard co-starred as Laura a young hearing and speach impaired girl who becomes Matt Damon’s love interest  in Robert De Niro’s  2006 CIA movie blockbuster The Good Shepherd.”

In 2006 she also starred in “Sybil”  with Jessica Lange in the television remake  about Sybil Dorsett who suffered from multiple personality disorder for CBS which aired in June of  2009.

In the 2006  she also co – starred in “Bella” playing Nina” a waitress , struggling to make it in New York City, who  discovers something about herself that she’s unprepared for. Bella went on to win the 2007 People Choice Award  at the Toronto Film Festival.

In 2004 she played Gypsy Rose Lee in Sam Mendes adaption of Gypsy Rose Lee on Broadway co-starring with Bernadette Peters.

The talented Ms. Blanchard won an Emmy in 2001 for her performance as a young Judy Garland in CBS’s movie Me and My Shadows “Life With Judy Garland” based on the book by Judy Garland’s daughter Lorna Luft.

Video of Blanchards “SYBIL” Performance

Blanchard in Living Proof

Read about Tammy Blanchard in “Bella”

 Read about Blanchard’s Emmy

The post Tammy Blanchard Co-stars in new Lifetime Movie-AMISH GRACE first appeared on River View Observer.