#this is the dae i created and described all those years ago when he was created.
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Side note: For me, it feels a bit strange that Alex barely talks about how it was working with (one of his) best friend(s) Scott Caan. I expected some more insight. In none of the interviews, he gets candid about that. Maybe it’s just me who noticed it...
Alex O'Loughlin is adding another title to his all-encompassing Hawaii Five-0 resume.
The 41-year-old star, who has valiantly led the Five-0 team as Steve McGarrett, makes his directorial debut with Friday's season eight episode of the CBS action drama, stepping behind the camera for the first time in his career.
In the installment, titled "E Ho'Oko Kuleana (To One's Duty)," the ex-wife of the man who shot Danny (Scott Caan) in an early season eight episode finds her way to Oahu, kicking off a slew of flashbacks to a time when the actions of a younger Danny, living in New Jersey at the time, helped save her life. While Danny's past comes back to roost, Tani (Meaghan Rath) and Junior (Beulah Koale) patrol the island, providing levity to an action-packed hour, and Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) is framed for the murder of the crime boss he's been hot on the heels of.
Ahead of the episode's premiere, ET jumped on the phone with O'Loughlin for a candid conversation about his directorial debut, why he's backtracking on comments he made about his desire to step away from Hawaii Five-0 after the current season and the "trickiest" part about directing himself.
ET: Friday’s episode of Hawaii Five-0 marks the first time you’ll be credited as a director in your career. How would you describe the experience stepping behind the camera versus being in front of it?
Alex O’Loughlin: It was super exciting. It was very different in the sense that when I’m in front of [the cameras], I try to make all the cameras disappear and all the strange people holding things around me just go away. That suspension of disbelief that’s required as an actor to live truthfully in imaginary circumstances is different to what needs to happen as a director, in the sense that you are the master of all the moving parts. You create the world in every detail. But it was thrilling. It was fantastic. It’s something I really hope I can do more of in my life because I enjoyed it very much.
You’ve been working in the industry for a while. Why did now feel like the right time for you to take the directing plunge?
I think my career is still a work in progress. There are many things I want to do, so many people I want to work with, so many different opportunities out there as an actor. It’s a really good question. Fundamentally, on this show, it took me years and years and years to get my workload down to a point where I could even conceptualize doing something like directing, because it takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. I know myself -- I don’t do anything half-a**ed -- so I think I did a hundred prep hours on this thing, almost like a bit of a psycho; I was a little OCD with it. It was by chance that [the opportunity] came this late on this show. When I started, I don’t think I was ever a good actor -- I’m not saying I’m a good actor now, but this show has been a master class in acting. I think I’ve grown as an actor on this show, [and] I wanted to do that first.
What was the most challenging part about directing?
The trickiest thing for me was dealing with myself, to be totally honest. I didn’t do as much acting preparation as I would’ve liked to or as I always do, so I was a little frustrated as an actor and also as a director. I was sort of racing back and forth from when I’d act a scene and then I’d call “cut” and then I’d race back to the monitor to watch the playback of my work, which I didn’t really care about. I just wanted to get me out of the way so I could focus on all of these great actors I was working with. I was annoyed at and with myself. [Laughs] But everything else was great.
This may be a difficult question for you to answer, but how is Alex the director different from Alex the actor?
That's an interesting question. There are some big differences. When I'm working as an actor, I want to be left alone and I have to go inward to get to the work that I've done, if that makes sense. But as a director, I'm much more gregarious and running around [on set] -- "Hey, I'm so glad we're doing this!" -- fiddling with all the cameras and lights. It's not that I feel more like a collaborator when I'm directing, but I feel like the collaboration when you work as an actor is more unsaid, it's more unsuspecting. You are a cog in the machine and you just focus on your part. As a director, you're focusing on all the cogs and on all the sums of the [whole] part.
You had the opportunity to direct major emotional beats in the episode, as well as a big action sequence and flashbacks with Scott. What was the most difficult for you to execute?
The action's second nature to me. I know how to do action and make it action-y. [Laughs] The thing that was most exciting to me was working with actors. Working with [guest stars] Joanna [Christie] and Daniel [Kaemon] was great. To have the permission to climb down into the foxhole with these actors where they live and do all their hard, dirty, emotional work and sit with them quietly and go, "Hey, listen, how do you feel about this? Do you trust me to take this [scene] this way?" That sort of stuff was really beautiful because I've had that relationship from the other side with a handful of wonderful directors over the years who care about the human condition. I care about story, man. I care about the human journey. To have these amazing actors give me the encouragement to be a part of what they're doing, to help them make choices, that was really, really amazing and very fulfilling.
We also see McGarrett playing the guitar early on in the episode, which is a nice nod for fans of the show, and you get to share the scene with Jimmy Buffett. Talk me through filming that moment.
Oh yeah, that was rad! [Laughs] It's funny, that Portuguese guitar -- I've played guitar my whole life, but that was impossible to play. So someone had to come in and string it like a normal guitar because none of us [had experience playing it]. I cheated a little bit and had them restring it so I could play it like a human. That was fun. It was a bizarre, funny little moment to have Jimmy Buffett with his bare feet up in McGarrett's office. It was nice. For the most part, it's a pretty dense, serious episode, so those little parts are deeply important relief moments.
In the April 13 episode, McGarrett's ex, Catherine, comes back into the fray. What can you tease about Michelle Borth's return?
It was great to see Michelle and it was cool to pick up where we left off. It's a great action, travel-y episode with McGarrett and Catherine. It's also nice to see these two sharing the same space for a minute and to explore how they feel about each other, how everything is cool [between them]. It was weird for a minute, the way she left -- somebody who's about to get proposed to and they choose an allegiance to the government and national security. It was a big blow for McGarrett. I think this episode served as a gentle closure and reinstated the friendship between the two of them, which was really important.
Last time we spoke, you were adamant about Hawaii Five-0 season eight being your last. We're now approaching the end of the season. Do you still feel the same way about your future on the show?
I'm opening the door a little bit. A big part of this is that my back injury is doing a lot better after my stem cell treatments. It's a big deal when you hurt your spine; it's one thing to get your teeth knocked out or have torn ligaments and tendons, but that injury really scared me. A couple of years ago, part of my reality was if this stays this way, I can't [do this anymore]. What are going to do, Ironside? Put me in a wheelchair? That sort of shifted a little bit. It's the end of a very long season and we're almost at 200 episodes. It's tough for me to think about coming back to work right now, but I'm open to negotiations. I haven't heard much but yeah, I'm open to it.
Could there be a situation where former stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park returned at some point for a final farewell? Has there been any internal talk about that?
I haven't listened to any talk about any of that stuff. All I know is they left and we got two new fantastic young actors who want to be here. It's sort of made a massive difference on the show. We had a long relationship with those other guys and they decided they didn't want to be here anymore and now we've got two people who want to be here. I don't know what it's like on the outside and I don't read all the news either, but from the inside, it's been a charming adjustment. That's probably part of why I'm more open to coming back as well.
So you'd be interested in discussions for a potential ninth season? (Note: CBS has yet to renew Hawaii Five-0.)
I'm way more open than I used to be but again, I don't know if we're even close to making a deal so it still might not happen. So we'll see.
Hawaii Five-0 airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
#alex o'loughlin#Alex O'Loughlin director#Alex O'loughlin direct#H50#h50 episode 8.18#h50 season 8#Steve McGarrett
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Challenge - The Sorting Test - {01}
Personal Questions
1. What is your real, birth name? Any nicknames? When and where were you born?
Giovanna Tomago. Born in Daejeon, South Korea on February 23, 1994, but raised in Tokyo, Japan.
2. What is your Myers-Briggs Personality Type? (If you don’t know go here, this question is optional.)
INTJ - A “The Architect”
3. Do you have a nickname? What is it, and where did you get it?
There are two options. Gogo for close friends and Gio for everyone else, Giovanna is a mouthful no one should be tortured to say every time. I don’t really know if it counts as a nickname, but to cover myself incase of getting caught when out racing I go by Leiko Tanaka. So other fellow street racers know me by that name.
4. What do you look like? (Include height, weight, hair, eyes, skin, apparent age, and distinguishing features)
I’m short at just 5′4″, but I’m 128 pounds of compact muscle. My hair is black, but I’ve got a purple streak on the fringe. Eyes are a dark brown, often mistaken for black by others that don’t really pay attention to them. I think physically I look younger than I actually am, but if you interact with me you’d probably assume I’m older cause of my quiet nature. I’m a lot laid-back than I seem though, I just seem intimidating.
5. How do you dress most of the time? Do you wear any jewelry?
Uh, simple t-shirt with a leather jack thrown of top, some black jeans, shorts or leggings. Whatever I feel like wearing that day or find first, I don’t stress. I’m not the jewelry type, but I do have one of those fitness tracker watches. I like to know how many steps I’ve taken during the day, I always meet and surpass my daily goal.
6. What don’t you like about yourself? What kind of things embarrass you? Why?
My height. It’s an inconvenience because all standard cupboards are for people taller than me. Most of the time I have to jump onto the counter to reach things that others can easily grab. There isn’t much that embarrasses me apart from being wrong. It’s more of being on the spot though.
7. In your opinion, what is your best feature?
Physically or otherwise? Cause physically I’d say my hair, but like in a characteristic kind of way I’d say my drive.
8. Where do you live? Describe it: Is it messy, neat, avant-garde, sparse, etc.?
In a minimalist looking apartment, but somehow it’s still constantly messy. There’s books everywhere, clothes, my small inventions and of course my tools. Those are the only things I never put away.
9. What is your most prized mundane possession? Why do you value it so much?
A keychain. It’s my lucky item. I had it on me when I won my first race and since then it hasn’t failed me.
10. What one word best describes you?
I’d say adrenaline junkie, but that’s two words so I guess I’ll go with daredevil.
Familial Questions
1. What is/was your family structure like? (i.e. are you adopted, how many siblings, pets, etc.)
Well it’s my dad, my mom and me. We used to have a cat, but he passed away three years ago, so no current pets.
2. Who was your father, and what was he like? Who was your mother, and what was she like? What was your parents marriage like? Were they married? Did they remain married?
Dae-hyun and Aiko Tomago are my parents. My father’s a marketing manager for Mitsubishi and my mother’s a psychiatrist. They’re both alright even though they don’t like my habits. Maybe if I didn’t sneak out almost every night before they wouldn’t have hated it as much, but they wouldn’t have accepted if I had actually asked them so... Yeah they’re still married.
4. What are/were your siblings names? What are/were they like? (If you have siblings)
N/A
5. What’s the worst thing one of your siblings ever did to you? What’s the worst thing you’ve done to one of your siblings? (If you have siblings)
N/A
6. When’s the last time you saw any member of your family? Where are they now?
I visited them during spring break, but I’m going to visit them again after the Cancun trip, so this answer is only temporary.
7. Who is your closest friend(s)? Describe them and how you relate to them.
Probably Jella, so far she’s the only one who puts up with my crazy driving. But we get along really well because she’s just as energetic as me. If I had to pick someone to go with me on my races it’d be her.
Childhood Questions
1. What is your first memory?
Running around the house trying to get away from my mom.
2. What was your favorite toy?
Scooter.
3. What was your favorite game?
Red light, green light.
4. Who was your best friend when you were growing up?
...Can’t remember the guy’s name, but it was some boy from grade school.
5. What is your fondest, childhood memory?
Getting my first bike- no, it was finally taking the training wheels off.
6. What is your worst childhood memory?
When my bike broke, I crashed into a tree and the front wheel bent pretty bad.
Adolescent Questions
1. It is common for one’s view of authority to develop in their adolescent years. What is your view of authority, and what event most affected it?
Most often than not I tend to break the rules, so that should tell you enough about what I think about authority.
3. What “clique” did/do you best fit in with? (Royals, Dark Royals, Wallflowers, Bookworms, Punks, Hipsters, Rejects, etc.)
Punks or Rejects probably, if I’m being honest.
3. What were/are your high school goals? What were/are your uni goals?
Get into college, simple. Now I want to create one of the fastest bikes out there and finish university at the top of my class, while keeping my undefeated title in street racing.
4. What is/was your favorite memory from adolescence? What is/was your worst memory from adolescence?
Buying my Yamaha bike. Loosing an industrial designing contest. I lost because I made a simple mistake in my calculations.
5. Do you own a car? Describe it. If not, describe your dream car.
Not a car, but I do have a bike, or should I say motorcycle. It’s a black and yellow Yahama R6, with some upgrades I’ve done myself, so it’s the fastest bike ever invented.
Occupational Questions
1. Do you have a job? What is it? Do you like it? If no job, where does your money come from?
Yeah I do, it’s not a long term thing, just while I’m going to school so I have an income for books and everyday necessities. I work at a nearby repair shop. I already had the skills for taking the cars and bikes apart and then putting them back together, so it’s not bad.
2. What is your boss or employer like? (Or publisher, or agent, or whatever.)
He’s alright, laid-back guy who let’s us listen to music while we work.
3. What are your co-workers like? Do you get along with them? Any in particular? Which ones don’t you get along with?
There are just like three other guys apart from me and we get along well. We have an understanding that only I work on my cars, but if they run into some trouble with theirs I’ll lend a hand.
4. What is something you had to learn that you hated?
Changing the oil of a car, it can get real messy if you don’t do it right.
5. Do you tend to save or spend your money? Why?
Money is money, but the economy runs on it and I don’t want to be broke just cause I couldn’t save, so I don’t spend it unless I really need whatever I’m buying. Of course there are exceptions, but it’s not often so it’s fine.
Likes & Dislikes Questions
1. What hobbies do you have?
Racing, reading, jamming to some music, finding new ways to upgrade my bike to make it faster.
2. What bands/artists do you like? What song is “your song?” Why?
CNBLUE, F.T. Island and Girls’ Generation... yeah I’m into K-pop. Louder by Neon Jungle cause it gets me pumped when driving.
3. When it comes to politics, do you care? If so, which way do you tend to vote? If not, why don’t you care?
Not really, everyone has their own agenda. The only good president we’ve had in a long ass time was Obama and he’s gone now.
4. What time of day is your favorite? What kind of weather is your favorite?
Night, it’s when the city looked the most alive back in Tokyo, with all its lights. I like it when it’s sunny, but not hot. I can’t stand the heat, at least not excessive heat.
5. What is your favorite food? What is your least favorite food?
Fish cakes are the bomb! And mochi would have to be my least favorite food. Oh and don’t get me started on mochi ice cream.
6. What is your favorite drink? (Coffee, Coke, Juice, Beer, Wine, etc.)
Monster
7. What’s your favorite animal? Why?
Cheetah
8. Do you have any pets? Do you want any pets? What kind?
I used to have a cat, but he passed away a few years ago and I haven’t had one since.
9. What do you find most relaxing? (Not as in stress relief, but as something that actually calms you down.)
Messing around on the computer, writing codes and stuff. I once even hacked into some company’s website and though it was super cool I get more of a rush racing.
10. What’s a pet peeve of yours?
People assuming they know more than me.
Sex & Intimacy Questions
1. Would you consider yourself straight, gay, bi, pan, or something else? Why?
Well I’m definitely not straight if that’s what you want to know. [Pansexual]
2. Who was the first person you had sex with? When did it happen? What was it like? How well did it go? (If your character is sexually active, if not, skip this question)
That is honestly none of your concern, but I’ll tell you it was with some guy I met my freshman year of uni.
3. Do you currently have a lover/crush? What is their name, and what is your relationship like? What are they like? Why are you attracted to them?
Nah
4. Describe the perfect romantic partner for you and describe your perfect date with them.
Someone I can be myself around, who isn’t intimidated and can see past my ‘cold’ exterior.
5. Do you ever want to get married and have children? When do you see this happening?
Sure.. but not any time soon.
6. What is more important – sex or intimacy? Why?
I guess intimacy cause there’s no actual importance to sex.
7. What was your most recent relationship like? Who was it with? (Does not need to be sexual, merely romantic.)
It was just a couple of dates with a girl I met after a race. She wanted me to give her some pointers at first and we kind of just hit it off. We ended on friendly terms, so it’s all good.
8. What’s the worst thing you’ve done to someone you loved?
Disrespected them in some way.
Drug & Alcohol Questions (if your character’s a drinker/does drugs, iif not, skip to numbers 5 & 6)
1. How old were you when you first got drunk? What was the experience like?
Probably 18 or 19, I was already in college that’s for sure. It was whatever, the usual.
2. Did anything good come out of it? Did anything bad come out of it?
Sure, I met some point, but that’s about it.
3. Do you drink on any kind of regular basis?
Nah, just at parties or whenever I decide to go to a bar, but I don’t actually have alcohol at my apartment.
4. What kind of alcohol do you prefer?
Any kind of beer really. I occasionally like wine though. Sometimes I drink it while studying just to relax, it actually helps.
5. Have you ever tried any other kind of “mood altering” substance? Which one(s)? What did you think of each?
No
6. What do you think of drugs and alcohol? Are there any people should not do? Why or why not?
Would it really matter what I say? They already exist and will continue to do so regardless of my reply and people will keep doing what they do, so there’s no point.
Thoughtful Questions
1.What about you is heroic?
I put my friends’ safety before mine. Don’t mess with them because you’ll be dealing with me. And that isn’t an empty threat.
2. What about you is social? What do you like about people?
I’m always open for meeting new people. Commitment. If you’re someone who does what they say, when they say they’re going to do it, then you and me are going to get along just great.
3. If a magical being, describe the color of what magic you use, is it of a light color, bold and bright, pastel and sparkly, etc.
N/A
4. Are you a better leader or follower? Why do you think that? If you think the whole leader-follower archetype is a crock of shit, say so, and explain why?
Leader, I’m able to find ways to control a situation even when the odds are against me, which makes me a favorable candidate for leadership.
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Patti LuPone sings in her basement for her Twitter followers
A singer from the “Couch Choir” of the Rotterdam Philharmonic sings Burt Bacharach’s (They Long to Be) Close To You — one of the many virtual performances by orchestras and choirs that have sprung up worldwide since the stay-at-home orders
Alvin Ailey’s magnificent 60-year-old “Revelations,” with its inspiring Negro spirituals and spirited modern dancing, (pictured) streamed for free as part of the new online series Ailey All Access , added to the growing list of online offerings
Faith Prince and Richard Kind perform in The Tale of the Allergists Wife on Stars in the House, which is branching out from variety talk show to live readings of full-length plays.
T.R. Knight in “Transition” by David Lindsay-Abaire, one of the plays from 24 Hour Plays’ Viral Monologues, Round 3
Pirates pitcher Steven Brault sings Broadway
Max von Essen sings “What More Can I Do” from Falsettos for Intermission Mission, one of the new online series, this one from Today Tix
J Harrison Ghee from Mrs Doubtfire
In the first week of April, as the news remained scary and theaters remained closed, theater – and especially theater music – became a balm.
Mrs. Doubtfire didn’t open on Sunday, the first of the 10 Broadway openings originally scheduled for April, but they celebrated in song, with a virtual performance of the show’s song “As long as there is love”
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The New York Philharmonic canceled its season a couple of weeks ago, but its musicians offered a ravishing Bolero by Ravel, remotely
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For those who’ve enjoyed @nyphil‘s digital “Bolero,” check out earlier virtual orchestra/choir videos — the “couch choir” of @rdamphil (pictured), @CamdenVoices , @BerkleeCollege , @CO_Symphony, @dycireland https://t.co/ijv1Z0wbOK pic.twitter.com/d4s8U3podm
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) April 4, 2020
Bette Midler offered a song for New Yorkers
From some dear New York friends of mine: Sung by Zora Rasmussen Piano by @marcshaiman pic.twitter.com/nAGbOSt9bR
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) April 2, 2020
Patti LuPone offered us a singing tour of her basement
Ya bored yet? pic.twitter.com/kDZR1jYWyG
— Patti LuPone (@PattiLuPone) April 1, 2020
Even Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Steven Brault was singing this week, releasing a showtunes album with the almost-punning title A Pitch at Broadway A Pitch at Broadway
Oscar winner Parasite debuts on Hulu
Jodie Foster and Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, on Netflix
James Corden at National Live at Home
She Loves Me on PBS
April 2020 Calendar of “Openings”: What’s Streaming on Netflix, National Theatre, Hulu, PBS Great Performances, Amazon Prime, HBO Etc
New York Theater Quiz for March 2020
Theater Book Reviews
Death By Shakespeare “Plague shaped Shakespeare’s life,” Kathryn Harkup writes in her new book. Death By Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts (Bloomsbury Sigma, 368 pages, May 2020 publication date.) The first outbreak of the Plague during Shakespeare’s lifetime occurred three months after his birth in 1564, and he was among only one-third of the children in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon to survive. He was just starting to make his name as a playwright in London in 1592, when there was a severe outbreak that resulted in the shuttering of the theaters – drying up opportunity for playwriting and thus pushing the Bard to become a poet, which arguably enhanced his writing when he returned to drama. Plague was so common at the time that authorities decreed that theaters could reopen if the weekly death rate from the epidemic sunk below 50 for three consecutive weeks. And so, Harkup says, it’s no surprise that the Plague pervades Shakespeare’s plays “Death by Shakespeare” doesn’t just fact-check the playwright’s scripts. The author uses death as the lens by which to describe life in Elizabethan England – the conditions, the attitudes, the practices surrounding death. Full review
Terrence McNally Selected Works: A Memoir in Plays Terrence McNally considered Shakespeare and Chekhov his gods, and Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera his goddesses; he learned a lot from all four. That’s what he tells us within the first few pages of Selected Works: A Memoir in Plays (Grove Press, 659 pages) a book published in 2015 that presents the scripts of eight of his plays*, written from 1987 to 2013, interspersed with a few pages of introduction, recollection and digression. full review
Note: Monday night April 6 at 8 p.m., McNally’s Lips Together, Teeth Apart live online reading performed by Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Zachary Quinto and Ari Graynor , in support of the BC/EFA COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund
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Online Theater Gets Seriously Comic
Stars in the House, which has been a twice-daily online variety hour and talk show, has now added a twice weekly “matinee” – a live reading every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon of popular play performed by a starry cast. They’re calling in Plays in the House. The first up last week were Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles, performed by the original cast, and Charles Busch’s The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife starring Busch himself (as Marjorie herself) and Richard Kind, Faith Prince,
The hosts promise that future plays will star Harvey Fierstein, Tony Shaloub, and Brooke Adams, among others.
T.R. Knight in “Transition” by David Lindsay-Abaire, one of the plays from 24 Hour Plays’ Viral Monologues, Round 3
Playwright @lindsayabaire on writing plays, successively, for @TheRealDratch (a comedy), Marylouise Burke (a haunting mystery), & @TR_Knight (a fantasy) in @24HourPlays‘ #ViralMonologues. My interview w/ him in @DC_theatrescene: https://t.co/8Zutj6eLda pic.twitter.com/YZc8W1qabf
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) April 3, 2020
Methuen Drama will publish the Viral Monologues as a book, edited by Howard Sherman, who inspired the solo series.
Added since last week to my roundup Where to Get Your Theater Fix Online: Old Favorites and New Experiments
Ailey All Access
Humana Festival of New Plays offering two of the plays from the season that it had to cancelon stage
Intermission Mission from TodayTix “At home performances from the Broadway community” — basically a single song each day by a different Broadway star
Joe’s Pub Live
L.A. Theatreworks
Play at Home — new original short plays available to read for free commissioned by five great theaters, including the Public Theater and Woolly Mammoth. This echoes what were called “closet plays” during earlier eras when theaters where shut down either because of Plague or political repression. The playwrights then never expected them to be produced, so went wild. Presumably, the 21st century playwrights are just as wild, but expect eventually to see them on stage.
The Shows Must Go On A different Andrew Lloyd Webber musical launches for free every Friday for 48 hours on this new YouTube page. First up: Donny Osmond stars in the 1999 film of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”
News
Arts industry unemployment claims in New York rise 3,880 percent.
Broadway is still selling tickets for April performances. But why?
The Off-Broadway League has announced that its 2020 Lortel Awards, honoring Off-Broadway will go on as scheduled — nominations April 14, winners at May 3 ceremony — but all now online. This is the only New York theater award so far to keep to its original schedule.
The Bret Adams & Paul Reisch Foundation is offering 40 emergency grants of $2,500 each to playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists who have had a full professional production cancelled, closed, or indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 closures
An inspiring story: Director @JeffWhitingNYC is leading some 900 theater professionals, mostly wardrobe & costume people from Broadway shows, to create protective gear. And that’s just in NYC! Theater pros are helping throughout the country.https://t.co/EnQbRWYpLl
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) April 1, 2020
Pandemic theater is already here examples in this L.A Times article: Skylight Theatre of Los Angeles and the 24 Hour Plays’ Viral Monologues. “Pandemic-set plays were bound to happen sooner or later, and it’s so close to home. Numerous members of the theater community have tested positive for the coronavirus, including Tom Hanks, Aaron Tveit, Daniel Dae Kim, Laura Bell Bundy and Brian Stokes Mitchell. The disease took the lives of Terrence McNally and Adam Schlesinger.”
American Theatre Magazine editor Rob Weiner-Kendt offers a scattershot overview of what’s happening in a piece entitled No Show.: If we can’t have theatre until we can gather again safely, what are U.S. theatres and artists going to do in the meantime, and after? One paragraph:
“Theatre has survived worse, even in its cradle. The plague of Athens killed some 25 percent of its population in 430 B.C.E., and inspired the Theban plague in Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex. Shakespeare’s career was famously interrupted by the Black Plague, during which time, as [San Diego’s Old Globe artistic director Barry] Edelstein pointed out, the Bard and his colleagues did three things: “They made plans for what they were going to do when theatres reopened. They toured the provinces, sold props, costumes, bundled plays and sold them—that’s how the First Folio got made. And they went to the King and said, ‘Help.’”
Rest in Peace
Adam Schlesinger, 52, from COVID-19. Known for his work with his band Fountains of Wayne and on the TV show “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” he was also a 2-time Broadway veteran (comical co-songwriter of Cry Baby and Act of God)
a sweet “egobituary” about Adam Schlesinger https://t.co/IdQB1YiS8Q
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) April 2, 2020
William Wolf, 94, theater critic who wrote reviews and columns for Cue and New York magazines and taught at NYU.He was a past president of the Drama Desk. He too died from complications from the coronavirus.
The NYC health workers who have died of COVID-19
#AloneTogether, singing! Online theater gets seriously comic. #Stageworthy News of the Week In the first week of April, as the news remained scary and theaters remained closed, theater – and especially theater music – became a balm.
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Alex O'Loughlin Reveals Why He's Changing His Tune About Leaving 'Hawaii Five-0' (Exclusive)
Alex O'Loughlin is adding another title to his all-encompassing Hawaii Five-0 resume.
The 41-year-old star, who has valiantly led the Five-0 team as Steve McGarrett, makes his directorial debut with Friday's season eight episode of the CBS action drama, stepping behind the camera for the first time in his career.
In the installment, titled "E Ho'Oko Kuleana (To One's Duty)," the ex-wife of the man who shot Danny (Scott Caan) in an early season eight episode finds her way to Oahu, kicking off a slew of flashbacks to a time when the actions of a younger Danny, living in New Jersey at the time, helped save her life. While Danny's past comes back to roost, Tani (Meaghan Rath) and Junior (Beulah Koale) patrol the island, providing levity to an action-packed hour, and Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) is framed for the murder of the crime boss he's been hot on the heels of.
Ahead of the episode's premiere, ET jumped on the phone with O'Loughlin for a candid conversation about his directorial debut, why he's backtracking on comments he made about his desire to step away from Hawaii Five-0 after the current season and the "trickiest" part about directing himself.
ET: Friday’s episode of Hawaii Five-0 marks the first time you’ll be credited as a director in your career. How would you describe the experience stepping behind the camera versus being in front of it?
Alex O’Loughlin: It was super exciting. It was very different in the sense that when I’m in front of [the cameras], I try to make all the cameras disappear and all the strange people holding things around me just go away. That suspension of disbelief that’s required as an actor to live truthfully in imaginary circumstances is different to what needs to happen as a director, in the sense that you are the master of all the moving parts. You create the world in every detail. But it was thrilling. It was fantastic. It’s something I really hope I can do more of in my life because I enjoyed it very much.
You’ve been working in the industry for a while. Why did now feel like the right time for you to take the directing plunge?
I think my career is still a work in progress. There are many things I want to do, so many people I want to work with, so many different opportunities out there as an actor. It’s a really good question. Fundamentally, on this show, it took me years and years and years to get my workload down to a point where I could even conceptualize doing something like directing, because it takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. I know myself -- I don’t do anything half-a**ed -- so I think I did a hundred prep hours on this thing, almost like a bit of a psycho; I was a little OCD with it. It was by chance that [the opportunity] came this late on this show. When I started, I don’t think I was ever a good actor -- I’m not saying I’m a good actor now, but this show has been a master class in acting. I think I’ve grown as an actor on this show, [and] I wanted to do that first.
What was the most challenging part about directing?
The trickiest thing for me was dealing with myself, to be totally honest. I didn’t do as much acting preparation as I would’ve liked to or as I always do, so I was a little frustrated as an actor and also as a director. I was sort of racing back and forth from when I’d act a scene and then I’d call “cut” and then I’d race back to the monitor to watch the playback of my work, which I didn’t really care about. I just wanted to get me out of the way so I could focus on all of these great actors I was working with. I was annoyed at and with myself. [Laughs] But everything else was great.
This may be a difficult question for you to answer, but how is Alex the director different from Alex the actor?
That's an interesting question. There are some big differences. When I'm working as an actor, I want to be left alone and I have to go inward to get to the work that I've done, if that makes sense. But as a director, I'm much more gregarious and running around [on set] -- "Hey, I'm so glad we're doing this!" -- fiddling with all the cameras and lights. It's not that I feel more like a collaborator when I'm directing, but I feel like the collaboration when you work as an actor is more unsaid, it's more unsuspecting. You are a cog in the machine and you just focus on your part. As a director, you're focusing on all the cogs and on all the sums of the [whole] part.
CBS
You had the opportunity to direct major emotional beats in the episode, as well as a big action sequence and flashbacks with Scott. What was the most difficult for you to execute?
The action's second nature to me. I know how to do action and make it action-y. [Laughs] The thing that was most exciting to me was working with actors. Working with [guest stars] Joanna [Christie] and Daniel [Kaemon] was great. To have the permission to climb down into the foxhole with these actors where they live and do all their hard, dirty, emotional work and sit with them quietly and go, "Hey, listen, how do you feel about this? Do you trust me to take this [scene] this way?" That sort of stuff was really beautiful because I've had that relationship from the other side with a handful of wonderful directors over the years who care about the human condition. I care about story, man. I care about the human journey. To have these amazing actors give me the encouragement to be a part of what they're doing, to help them make choices, that was really, really amazing and very fulfilling.
We also see McGarrett playing the guitar early on in the episode, which is a nice nod for fans of the show, and you get to share the scene with Jimmy Buffett. Talk me through filming that moment.
Oh yeah, that was rad! [Laughs] It's funny, that Portuguese guitar -- I've played guitar my whole life, but that was impossible to play. So someone had to come in and string it like a normal guitar because none of us [had experience playing it]. I cheated a little bit and had them restring it so I could play it like a human. That was fun. It was a bizarre, funny little moment to have Jimmy Buffett with his bare feet up in McGarrett's office. It was nice. For the most part, it's a pretty dense, serious episode, so those little parts are deeply important relief moments.
In the April 13 episode, McGarrett's ex, Catherine, comes back into the fray. What can you tease about Michelle Borth's return?
It was great to see Michelle and it was cool to pick up where we left off. It's a great action, travel-y episode with McGarrett and Catherine. It's also nice to see these two sharing the same space for a minute and to explore how they feel about each other, how everything is cool [between them]. It was weird for a minute, the way she left -- somebody who's about to get proposed to and they choose an allegiance to the government and national security. It was a big blow for McGarrett. I think this episode served as a gentle closure and reinstated the friendship between the two of them, which was really important.
Last time we spoke, you were adamant about Hawaii Five-0 season eight being your last. We're now approaching the end of the season. Do you still feel the same way about your future on the show?
I'm opening the door a little bit. A big part of this is that my back injury is doing a lot better after my stem cell treatments. It's a big deal when you hurt your spine; it's one thing to get your teeth knocked out or have torn ligaments and tendons, but that injury really scared me. A couple of years ago, part of my reality was if this stays this way, I can't [do this anymore]. What are going to do, Ironside? Put me in a wheelchair? That sort of shifted a little bit. It's the end of a very long season and we're almost at 200 episodes. It's tough for me to think about coming back to work right now, but I'm open to negotiations. I haven't heard much but yeah, I'm open to it.
Could there be a situation where former stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park returned at some point for a final farewell? Has there been any internal talk about that?
I haven't listened to any talk about any of that stuff. All I know is they left and we got two new fantastic young actors who want to be here. It's sort of made a massive difference on the show. We had a long relationship with those other guys and they decided they didn't want to be here anymore and now we've got two people who want to be here. I don't know what it's like on the outside and I don't read all the news either, but from the inside, it's been a charming adjustment. That's probably part of why I'm more open to coming back as well.
So you'd be interested in discussions for a potential ninth season? (Note: CBS has yet to renew Hawaii Five-0.)
I'm way more open than I used to be but again, I don't know if we're even close to making a deal so it still might not happen. So we'll see.
Hawaii Five-0 airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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