I contacted the Rosie show, but she only had Cherry Jones from "Moon from the Misbegotten "early on. "See you at the Tony's", she said to Cherry. Ha, ha...Cherry lost:-)She's never had any other drama stars on except Lauren Bacall. It will be interesting to see what JE and SD decide to do next-- any thoughts? JE maintains there is nothing in the pipeline.I hope she doesn't sew herself up for anything since "Sunshine" is coming out on Friday and the US reviews are good...for a certain type of academic audience. Still she is getting mention along with Mum. I hope she does another play...she's a natural for a Tennessee Williams female role.I read where Nicole Kidman was rumored for "Cat on Hot... She is in the inviable position of having no responsibilites and doesn't need the money...

I wonder why Broadway.com claims that the reporter from Show Business Weekly had the most correct predictions. I found this column at Back Stage, and this woman guessed 17 out of 21 correct. She got Original Score, Featured Actor, Lighting Desing and Costume design wrong, but that's all. http://www.backstage.com/columns/centerstage/CSG20000601.asp

Great article and cute photo of RH & JE of 25 years ago in The New York Daily News at http://www.nydailynes.com/today/New_York_Now/Movies/a-69202.asp - The Sunshine promotion has started.

sorry here it is again http://www.nydailynews.com/today/New_York_Now/Movies/a-69202.asp

That picture is soooo cute. They are certainly making the most out of the mother-daughter thing too. Wonder if some cable network will pick up The Chamomile Lawn now (notice they called it The Chamomile Lane in the article).

Wonder if some cable network will pick up The Chamomile Lawn now (notice they called it The Chamomile Lane in the article). It will have to be a late night cable...this is an adult movie. "Chamomile" is the American spelling.The British "camomile" stuck with the original french "camemille".

Thank you Karen for the Village Voice article...(we won't post that one;-) Thank God they're not all that way...like I said, this film isn't for everyone. Like the AP said:"This film has intelligence and empathy to burn". Most movie-goers don't go for either one...plus it's 3 hrs long... Bring a cush for your tusch.

From Variety: TONYS UPS AWARENESS, STUDY SHOWS By ROBERT HOFLER The Tony Awards may have tanked in the national ratings on CBS, but their impact among potential theatergoers appears to have rearranged Broadway's current hit list. According to a study conducted by Audience Research Analysis, a visual and performing arts market research firm, the CBS and PBS broadcasts were especially effective at raising the national awareness of "Contact," which received the Tony for best musical. George Wachtel, president of ARA, said that 47% of the survey's respondents had not even heard of the dance show prior to the telecast. Only 12% of respondents who watched at least some of the telecast remained in ignorance, naturally enough. 'Copenhagen' gains Similarly, lack of awareness for "Copenhagen," the best play winner, and "The Real Thing," winner of best revival of a play, decreased from 46% and 36%, respectively, to 34% and 24%. Pre-telecast, "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Aida" were virtually tied as the musical potential theatergoers most wanted to see. After the telecast, the Cole Porter show, which received the award for best revival of a musical, retained its No. 1 ranking, but "Contact" jumped from fourth position to second and "Aida" dropped to third, ahead of -- in descending order -- "Swing," "The Music Man," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "The Wild Party." 'Real Thing' moves up As for plays, "Copenhagen" jumped from fourth to first place on the most-wanted list while "The Real Thing" moved from sixth to second place. Post-telecast, they were followed by, in descending order, "Moon for the Misbegotten," "Dirty Blonde," "True West," "The Ride Down Mt. Morgan" and "Uncle Vanya." ARA conducted the survey of 975 respondents through the NYCtourist.com Web site.

Evelyn do not feel bad about the Village Voice review. They do not like anything. (Sad case of troubled unhappy New Yawkers)

Thanks for the Daily News article, Ann. Nice and I love the old photo! Not so hot Sunshine review from Rex Reed in the New York Observer, but praise for JE. Just the parts pertaining to her (note he gives Rafe, ahem, short shrift;-): . . . The best way to get through it is to let it roll over you, sift through the morass and thrill to some wonderful performances. A stroke of casting genius has the delicate Jennifer Ehle, as the young, headstrong Valerie, replaced partway through the film by the elegant Rosemary Harris, Ms. Ehle�s mother in real life, who plays Valerie in later years. Valie becomes the family�s surviving matriarch, having endured so much pain and sacrifice. Oddly enough, it is Ralph Fiennes who disappoints. Instead of delivering a nuanced set of interpretations that delves into the inner depths of his three disparate characters, he plays them all the same way. Full frontal nudity, which he displays eagerly and often, may generate prurient interest, but only proves he�s no babe magnet. . .

Very good reviews for Sunshine in Entertainment Weekly (B+) and New York Magazine, which has a large color photo of JE and Ralph from the wedding scene. Jennifer singled out for high praise in both!

Thanks everybody...I'll go hunt those reviews down for the website.... Interesting on the Tony impact....I was sure sold on "Contact"..sorry I went to see Annie get you Gun...I dunno about Copenhagen.... I read that Wild Party is closing on Sunday. Great about TRT going to second place....hey a Brit play with two unknown leads ...that's not bad. LOL...heard that Rosie gave out tickets to TRT yesterday on her show.... ...and I laughed when ATA played on a half price day in London... See...God is punishing me!

Mari, I can't find the reviews do you have a link and have you seen the James Berardinelli Review at the MRQE 3stars out of 4, very good for JE.too.

Hi Ann, I saw the Entertaiment Weekly and the New York Mag reviews at the bookstore (I'm one of those browsers that the shop owners *just love*;-) I have a subscription to EW, but haven't gotten the new issue yet. Will pick up the New York mag tomorrow and post the review, as I don't think it's available online, but EW should be; they just probably haven't posted the new issue yet. The NY Observer is online at: www.nyobserver.com Scroll down the left to Rex Reed's column. The Sunshine review is 2nd, I believe. Yes, I saw the James B. review (with the link to his P&P review). What a huge P&P fan he is! It was nice to re-read that review.

Here's the Entertainment Weekly review. Friday, June 9, 2000 SUNSHINE �� THIS MORTAL FOIL Family man Fiennes is a ''Sunshine'' superman Ralph Fiennes, Jennifer Ehle Rated R Multigenerational sagas are more comfortably the provenance of TV miniseries than of crammed feature films. But in Sunshine, the distinguished Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo (''Mephisto'') distills complex issues of identity into three hours of dense 20th-century family drama that, while inevitably oversimplified, is never less than engrossing. Three generations of the Jewish Hungarian Sonnenschein family -- the name means sunshine -- rise and fall through the rise and fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Nazism, and communism. It is Szabo's most elegant touch, though, to cast one mournful-faced actor, Ralph Fiennes, as a Sonnenschein son of each era, weighing forfeitures (of family name, of religion) against personal and professional gains. The classy cast includes James Frain, Rachel Weisz, and William Hurt. And none is classier than recent Tony Award winner Jennifer Ehle as free thinking Valerie Sonnenschein, the story's bright center. Another fine detail: When Valerie ages, she's played by the luminous Ehle's own glowing mother, Rosemary Harris. � Grade: �B+ � -- Lisa Schwarzbaum

Thanks Mari, I guess when things are going well they go very well and to think she was out of work for 6 months. I have just found a very good review for Jennifer and her mum again not so good for RF and the film at Mr. Showbiz, here are the relevent bits:- "It's chief virtue is the luminous work done by nascent screen star and Tony winner JE and her mother, actress RH." "In the movie's first third, Szabo effectively delivers his thesis: Political regimes promise happiness, but commit heinous acts to achieve it. It's easily the best part of the film thanks mostly t o Ehle's commanding screen presence and Meryl Streep-like sensuality." I must say from what I have seen so far the reviews are better than the ones it recieved in the UK and very very good for JE & Mum. The best one for JE in the UK was the Telegraph.

Entertainment Weekly Review of Sunshine: http://www.ew.com/ew/review/movie/0,1683,1350,00.html ~~~~~~ The NY Observer pans the film and RF, but complimentary of JE and RH. A stroke of casting genius has the delicate Jennifer Ehle, as the young, headstrong Valerie, replaced partway through the film by the elegant Rosemary Harris, Ms. Ehle�s mother in real life, who plays Valerie in later years. Valie becomes the family�s surviving matriarch, having endured so much pain and sacrifice. Oddly enough, it is Ralph Fiennes who disappoints. Looks like those girls are pulling a "Rupert Everett".....

Here's the link to Rex Reed's column at the NY Observer. Sunshine's review is below the one entitled "The Bard's Cabaret Act. http://www.observer.com/pages/onthetown.htm

Mr Showbiz http://mrshowbiz.go.com/reviews/moviereviews/movies/Sunshine_2000.html In the movie's first third, Szab� effectively delivers his thesis: Political regimes promise happiness, but commit heinous acts to achieve it. It's easily the best part of the film, thanks mostly to Ehle's commanding screen presence and Meryl Streep-like sensuality..... As Sunshine crawls toward its inevitable end, its chief virtue is Harris playing the aged version of the character originated by her real-life daughter Ehle. The role of Valerie is schematic; her apolitical, humanist ways are intended to be the Sonnenschein family's only beacon of virtue. In that regard, Szab�'s heavy moralism works all too well: The mother-daughter duo is Sunshine's only ray of light. And these people mostly like Nicolas Cage...

Would you rather we posted the links, rather than the full reviews here?

Good review from The New York Post, 3 out of 4 stars; once again great for JE. POWERFUL 'SUNSHINE' MORE THAN FIENNES By JONATHAN FOREMAN SUNSHINE Ralph Fiennes, Jennifer Ehle, William Hurt and Rosemary Harris are excellent in this flawed but powerful romantic family saga that takes three generations of an adultery-prone Hungarian Jewish family through a turbulent century. Running time: 180 minutes. Rated: R. At the Loews 72nd Street and the Union Square. �SUNSHINE, " a three-hour saga from Istvan Szabo, the Oscar-winning Hungarian director of "Mephisto" and "Colonel Redl," should really have been a miniseries - though its sex, nudity and one ghastly torture-murder scene would probably keep it off the networks. The compelling story of a Jewish family's rise and fall, with Ralph Fiennes playing three generations of the troubled Sonnenschein clan (Sunshine in German), it moves swiftly along through several wars and revolutions, buoyed by excellent performances from the ravishing Tony award-winner Jennifer Ehle, her real-life mother, Rosemary Harris, andMolly Parker and Rachel Weisz. It is often as powerful as it is elegantly shot. Unfortunately, Szabo tends to tell this rather predictable tale in an obvious yet uneven way. Some of the historical and personal episodes feel rushed, while others - especially those that take place in the Communist era - are dragged out too long. Still, if it is a story with familiar ironies (on New Year's Eve 1899, one character says, "I predict that this will be a century of love, justice and tolerance") it's only so because so many Jewish family narratives from Eastern Europe really do follow the same tragic arc. Name changes, conversion to Catholicism and enthusiastic participation in the postwar purge of Hungarian fascists are not enough to protect the Sonnenscheins. And though you are supposed to draw a conclusion about the futility of assimilation, the real lesson of "Sunshine" seems to be that the end of the liberal Habsburg monarchy was an unequivocal disaster for minorities like the Jews.

From the New York Times; mixed/positive, good for the actors: Serving the Empire, One After Another After By A. O. SCOTT About half an hour into "Sunshine," the first of three characters played by Ralph Fiennes raises a glass to toast the passage of time. "Long live the 20th century!" he cries, which is, when you think about it, a profoundly illogical thing to say. Not that he's entirely wrong: the century, or at least one Hungarian Jewish family's experience of it, from the twilight of empire to the fall of Communism, is the subject of Istvan Szabo's churning, sometimes clumsy, often thought-provoking -- and decidedly long -- film. It follows in the footsteps of movies like Visconti's "Leopard" and Bertolucci's "1900," epics that aspired to match the sprawl and capaciousness of classic novels and to show, at once panoramically and intimately, the process of historical change. This is never an easy thing to do, and Mr. Szabo, working from a script he wrote with the American playwright Israel Horovitz, attempts it with minimal subtlety, priming his enormous canvas with big, cartoonish sketches. "I predict this will be a century of love, justice and tolerance," Mr. Fiennes's character, a rising star of the Austro-Hungarian judicial system named Ignatz Sonnenschein, declares after his toast. You don't need to know much about the last hundred years -- just that they were characterized by an awful lot of hatred, injustice and intolerance -- to grasp the irony. But fortunately, and thanks largely to Mr. Fiennes, Jennifer Ehle and Rosemary Harris, the film pulls away from such obviousness and views the lethal unreason of the past hundred years with gravity, humor and, most remarkably, with something like sanity. The first third of the film, which sprints from Ignatz's 19th-century childhood to his death in 1930, doesn't have much time for nuance. Most of the action takes place at the Sonnenschein dinner table, which stoically endures being pounded and stormed away from during the passionate arguments that seem to erupt at every meal. Most of the tsoris is caused by the smoldering passion between Ignatz and his adopted sister Valerie (Ms. Ehle), who is really his cousin and who will eventually be his wife (and then, since Mr. Fiennes plays both their son and grandson, his mother and his grandmother). When they aren't provoking family fights, Ignatz and Valerie steal away for dreamy, heavy-breathing, soft-focus sex, followed by earnest pillow talk. "When I'm lying in your arms, I feel like I've come home," Ignatz whispers. No kidding. The Sonnenschein household, overseen by plump, good-hearted parents who migrated to Budapest from the countryside and made a fortune selling an herbal elixir called Sunshine, is dominated by a quasi-incestuous love triangle involving Valerie, Ignatz and his younger brother Gustave. Their relationship is further complicated by political differences that erupt, all of a sudden, in a scene of speechifying melodrama shortly before the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. Gustave is a socialist, his brother a steadfast believer in the empire's brand of liberal multiculturalism, while their sister turns out to be a budding Hungarian nationalist. This scene, and many others in the film, is both underdeveloped and overdone, as though Mr. Szabo, in his rush to interpret the history of Central Europe, couldn't be bothered to dramatize it. The sets are there -- the complacent bourgeois opulence of the Sonnenschein apartments, the haughty grandeur of Budapest's cafes and governmental palaces -- but he never slows down enough to capture the texture and rhythm of daily life. For all the shouting and panting, the Sonnenschein family story feels more like a collage of ideas, events and metaphors than something lived. But it must be said that the ideas are interesting, the metaphors occasionally inspired and some of the events unforgettably powerful. Just as history, properly understood, is more than just one darn thing after another, so "Sunshine" manages, as a whole, to transcend the crude melodrama of its individual scenes. The stagy political shouting match on the eve of World War I turns out to be the key to Mr. Szabo's understanding of the 20th century. He imagines socialism, nationalism and imperial liberalism as siblings, born out of an essentially decent, meliorist 19th-century impulse, and all vulnerable to horrifying moral corruption. Several of this Hungarian director's earlier films -- notably "Mephisto" (1981) and "Colonel Redl" (1985) -- dealt with the exemplary modern agonies, especially acute in Central Europe in the middle decades of the 20th century, of decent men driven to compromise with evil. "Sunshine" is a triptych of such stories, each one displaying Mr. Fiennes, with different facial hair and altered ideological coloration, caught in the pincers of history. Small compromises lead to big disasters: Ignatz, anxious to advance his career, changes the family name from Sonnenschein to the more Hungarian-sounding Sors . His son Adam converts to Christianity to gain admittance to Budapest's most exclusive fencing club. He becomes the national fencing champion and leads his team to the 1936 Olympics but succumbs to the temptations of snobbery, anti-Semitism and acquiescence to dictatorship. As it follows Adam's rise and fall, the film begins to breathe a little more, and Mr. Fiennes comes out of himself, acting with the fierce insouciance that is his best, and often neglected, attribute. In the next generation Mr. Fiennes's flair turns into rage, as he portrays Adam's son Ivan, who becomes, after World War II, a member of the Communist secret police out of blind, vengeful rage at the fascists who destroyed his family. The contours of Hungarian history from 1939 to 1956, when Soviet tanks crushed an incipient revolution, is well known, but I'll refrain from revealing the particulars of the Sors-Sonnenschein family saga. By the time Ivan confronts his own crisis of conscience, the movie has accumulated sufficient power and momentum to erase the memory of its earlier awkwardness. It shows such sympathy for its characters, and approaches its subject with such intelligence, that it's easy to forgive the clumsy editing, the haphazard insertion of black-and-white newsreels, and the hyperventilating sexual ardor that seems to be a Sors family curse. In spite of it all, the film leaves you with a sense of quiet, chastened grace, as embodied by the older Valerie, played by Ms. Harris, who is Ms. Ehle's real mother (the two actresses might share an Oscar, just as Mr. Fiennes might have to compete against himself). "She was the only one of us who had the gift of breathing freely," her troubled grandson remarks, and "Sunshine," at last, honors that gift. ��

Ok, I'm done for now.;-) V. good, from the LA Times; the Sunshine Girls once again impress.;-) Hungarian Upheaval, Family Entwined in 'Sunshine' By KEVIN THOMAS, Times Staff Writer �����With the monumental three-hour "Sunshine," master director Istv�n Szab� relates the tragic and turbulent history of Hungary in the 20th century. The story is told through the Sonnenscheins, an assimilated Jewish family whose last survivor finally accepts the futility of trying to deny one�s roots--especially when he realizes that that is all he has left. �����It is a superb period re-creation and boasts a formidable international cast acting in English but does not attain the high artistic level of Szab�s great trilogy exploring the theme of self-deception, "Mephisto, "Colonel Redl" and "Hanussen." �����Szab� and his co-writer, playwright Israel Horovitz, tend to match every upheaval in Hungarian life with tempestuous behavior on the part of the Sonnenscheins, particularly the three generations of scions played by Ralph Fiennes. The constant compounding of personal and political turmoil is soap operatic in effect, which makes you feel that "Sunshine" would play best as a TV miniseries. It is nevertheless absorbing and illuminating in regard to the eras its spans but is also pretty wearying by the time it starts winding down. However, those of us who are steadfast admirers of Szab�--and also suckers for traditional-style period epics--wouldn�t want to miss it. �����"Sunshine," which is English for Sonnenschein, prophetically opens (in 1840) with an explosion in the herbal distillery of a rural tavern-keeper, killing him and his entire family except for his 12-year-old son, Emmanuel. The boy heads for Budapest with his father�s secret recipe for his "Sunshine" herbal tonic, which will become the basis for the family fortune that affords the Sonnenscheins a palatial mansion. Their story begins in earnest with the dawn of the 20th century, at which time the sons of Emmanuel (David de Keyser) and Rosa (Miriam Margolyes), Ignatz (Ralph Fiennes) and Gustave (James Frain), have settled on careers in law and medicine, respectively. They have been raised with their orphaned cousin, Valerie (Jennifer Ehle), an aspiring photographer and free spirit who defiantly and successfully seduces Ignatz, whom she marries. �����Under the rule of Emperor Franz Joseph, Hungarian Jews were granted unprecedented opportunities and civil rights, and the dashing Ignatz rises fast through the ranks of jurisprudence but must change the family name (to Sors, pronounced Sorsh) if he is to go all the way to the top. He�s so grateful to the emperor that he refuses to notice that the government is growing ever weaker and more corrupt, with the lower classes left in such dire straits that Gustave becomes a Communist in protest. �����The outbreak of World War I, the deaths of the emperor and his father on the very same day, and Valerie�s disillusionment with him ensure an early grave for Ignatz. Hungary goes briefly Communist until taken over by Admiral Horthy�s military regime, which ultimately collaborated with the Nazis. With the end of World War II, Hungary would endure Communist rule until 1989. �����It is unclear whether in the wake of World War I the Sunshine Tonic is still being manufactured, but in any event the Sonnenscheins continue living in style in the family mansion. Ignatz�s son Adam, a dedicated assimilationist and superb fencer, leads Hungary to triumph at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, returning home a national hero and no more willing to see where the country is heading than his late father, Ignatz, was in his time. �����Only Adam�s sister-in-law Greta (Rachel Weisz) sees that the family needs to emigrate before it�s too late. Needless to say, Adam�s heroic status will mean nothing once the deportations of Hungarian Jews commence. Valerie (Rosemary Harris, having taken over for Ehle, her real-life daughter) and Adam�s son Ivan survive the Holocaust, with Ivan turning Stalinist inquisitor in his mood for vengeance but emerging a hero of the futile 1956 Hungarian uprising. Ivan, too, is seduced--by an aggressive apparatchik (Deborah Kara Unger). �����With his clenched intensity, Fiennes is well-cast as a series of single-minded, self-absorbed innocents who are pursued by women rather than pursuing them. The film is anchored by Ehle and Harris, equally luminous as Valerie, who possesses the strength and wisdom of a woman who always dared to be true to herself. Margolyes makes a put-upon, tradition-minded matriarch sympathetic because she can be amusing and common-sensical in her candor. �����William Hurt is commanding as a man who survives Auschwitz only to meet a worse fate at the hands of rabid Stalinists, and R�diger Vogler is an elegant and subtle Hungarian general. (Vogler in middle age recalls Melvyn Douglas at his most urbane, which is a long way from the hippie drifters Vogler played in Wim Wenders� early films.) Lajos Koltai�s cinematography is glorious, as usual, and Maurice Jarre is the ideal composer for a stirring epic. Although the lives of the three generations of Sonnenscheins come across as melodramatic rather than tragic, "Sunshine" is a film of many redeeming virtues.

Great reviews, thanks Mari. Will you please post the NY Magazine review when you have it?

NY Times:Re: JE &RH (the two actresses might share an Oscar, just as Mr. Fiennes might have to compete against himself I predict an Oscar nomination for Rosemary Harris. Great week for those girls and ...is Paramount lucky or what? Thanks Mari. I think that sews it up. I would like to see Philly Inquirer and Chicago Trib when it gets there...but the majors are in now... What a ride!Phew!

Evelyn, there is still one more to come and it is another goodie for the ladies, RF and the film don't come off to well but her is what the NY Daily News says about JE & RH:- "Sunshine lacks Shading" .."The standout performances are by JE as Ignatz' sensual, stromg-willed wife, Valerie, and Ehle's real-life mother, RH, who takes over as Valerie for her later years, as the family's doting matriarch." As you say what a week, I think JE could walk on water at the moment and incidentaly have you noticed how often the words "sensual and luminous" appears in reviews for these two.

"too not to"

Evelyn, there is still one more to come and it is another goodie for the ladies, RF and the film don't come off to well but her is what the NY Daily News says about JE & RH:- "Sunshine lacks Shading" .."The standout performances are by JE as Ignatz' sensual, stromg-willed wife, Valerie, and Ehle's real-life mother, RH, who takes over as Valerie for her later years, as the family's doting matriarch." As you say what a week, I think JE could walk on water at the moment and incidentaly have you noticed how often the words "sensual and luminous" appears in reviews for these two.

From theatre.com Fiennes, Ehle, Harris Play Across Generations in Sunshine, Opening June 9 NEW YORK � Three Tony Award winning Broadway stars -- Ralph Fiennes (Hamlet), Jennifer Ehle (The Real Thing) and Rosemary Harris A Delicate Balance) -� play the leads in Istvan Szabo�s $25 million epic film drama, Sunshine, opening Friday, June 9.

Running more than three hours, Sunshine spans four generations of a Jewish family and covers the entire 20th century that saw two world wars, the rise and fall of a monarchy, fascist dictatorships and the communist regime in Hungary. Set primarily in Budapest, the film traces the partilineage of the Sonnenschein family through grandfather, father and son, all of whom are played by Ralph Fiennes. The first is Ignatz, a judge who changes his Jewish name to advance his career. The second is his son, Adam, who converts to Catholicism to win a spot on the fencing team and dies in the Holocaust. The grandson is Ivan, who joins the Communist secret police to avenge his father�s death. Mother-daughter actors Harris and Ehle both play Ignatz�s wife Valerie. Originally called The Taste of Sunshine, the film is a huge saga about a Hungarian-Jewish clan locked in a camouflage battle with history. Along the way, the life of each man played by Fiennes is complicated by an illicit romance.

Directed and written by Szabo (Academy Award winner for Mephisto and Colonel Redl), the film�s screenplay was co-written by American playwright Israel Horowitz. �It�s a wonderful, wonderful film that opened at the Toronto Film Festival,� Harris told Theatre.com. �My daughter Jennifer Ehle and I play the same role. She plays the first 40 years, and I play the next 40 years of the same part. Ralph Fiennes plays three parts. William Hurt is also in the film.� Harris and Ehle previously played across the generations in the 1992 British television drama "The Chamomile Lawn." "At the same time that Istvan was thinking about me for Valerie," Ehle told Newsday. "He asked Ralph who should be the older Valerie. And he's alleged to have said, 'What about Rosemary Harris?' And they hadn't known we were mother and daughter." With music by Maurice Jarre, the stories in Sunshine parallel the experience of the Jewish middle-class in Central Europe from the decline and fall of the Habsburg Empire to the aftermath of the Hungarian revolution of 1956. It is both historical and artistic

�I�ve always been selective of the films I take on,� Harris said. �Film is the lazy way out of acting. It�s not nearly as hard work as the stage. I also have a family. I have a daughter who I adore, and I never wanted to be just an actress. i wanted to be a mother first and an actress second. So I was always putting my family first. My husband, Johnny, is a writer. He was able to take a pad and pencil, and we would put Jennifer in our pockets and go off and do a project.� Likewise, Szabo has said in interviews that Sunshine centers on the family: "It started in my mind with how in the whole of Middle Europe, not just Hungary, people's private lives have been influenced by history and politics. I wanted to tell the story of one family and how their whole life is deeply affected by the various movements in Europe. All human beings seek out a sense of comfort in their lives and in the last 150 years we have faced enormous challenges and difficulties which threaten our safety and that can lead to losing ourselves. So I wrote this story, showing how these supposedly different regimes -- be they an Empire, a republic or a foreign dictatorship -- have put individuals under pressure

"All regimes promise happiness," Szabo continued, "but dreadful things have happened in that name. Authority uses people. When it no longer needs them, it throws them away or destroys them. This enormous experience is only the experience of the 20th century. It is extraordinary that in one life, say that of my grandfather, a man could experience the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Nazi and the Communist Regime. Instead of showing one life through different ages, I thought it might be more profound to tell the story through three generations. I therefore created three characters - a grandfather, a father and a son - all at similar ages. I always knew that I wanted one actor to play the three parts, of Ignatz, Adam and Ivan and so I asked Ralph Fiennes to create these for me." Fiennes said he wanted to work with Szabo because he is a fan of Mephisto and Colonel Redl: "The script works on so many levels. Not only is it a story of personal relationships across three generations, but it is set against a very specific historical and social background of Hungary from the turn of the century through until the 1960's. It is deeply humane without being sentimental. It is as rich as any great novel and it is all from Istvan Szabo who is an extraordinary human being."

In the press packet, Fiennes describes Ignatz as "a lawyer who wants to be accepted as a member of the establishment of Hungary. He is a middle class Jew who wants to be assimilated successfully; he wants to feel the safety of the Establishment and the legal system. The infrastructure of the Empire is what gives him his raison-d'etre, to the point of neglecting the woman he loves. By contrast, his son Adam is an Olympic athlete. �He lives through his body, he's a championship top athletic fencer and his motivation is to succeed as an athlete,� Fiennes said. �He too wants to be assimilated, but he's a physical man and has the linear vision of any sportsman. He is blind to social change, to the rise of Fascism, so in one sense he is quite limited. But in another he is the most romantic because he is a bit of a swashbuckler."

Ivan, Adam's son and Igantz's grandson, may be the most complex. "Ivan is the most crippled and wounded psychologically by seeing his father murdered in a concentration camp,� Fiennes said. �He's the most conflicted; he has literally no roots. He comes out of the war with a kind of Messianic determination to fight for Communism and take revenge on the Fascists. It's only when he sees the corruption of the Communist Regime and recognizes it as the same mindless corruption as Totalitarianism that he is able to make a change. He does it in the most fundamental way, by changing back to his family name." Sunshine also stars Rachel Weisz (The Mummy, Chain Reaction), Deborah Kara Unger (The Hurricane, Crash), Molly Parker (Kissed, The Five Senses), James Frain (Elizabeth, Hilary & Jackie) and Academy Award winner William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God, Broadcast News). {:-)-:} I'm sorry about cutting up the article, but it won't post any other way:-(

RH: "�Film is the lazy way out of acting. It�s not nearly as hard work as the stage. Er...a...hm...maybe I don't want my friend on #129 to be on Broadway...;-)

For Donna, a little snippet I noticed in today's Times, Section 2 "SPOTTED: Stephen Dillane, who won best actor at the Tony awards, distributing buttons just before the ceremony began to fellow cast members of The Real Thing. On one side he had printed "I lost" on the other, "I won". Hedging his bets, but so sweet.

A cutie-patootie story, worthy of telling on the Rosie O'Donnell show. Now if she'd only book him! :-)

Donna, I read another cute Stephen tidbit in Variety. They said that Stephen was spotted in a New York street right after the Tonys making a post win phone call in a pay phone. He doesn't own a cell phone. Good for him!

Gosh, had I known that, I would have lent him mine :-)

Ann, the newstand was out of NY Mag, so I'll need to look elsewhere.

Tony Award magic From Variety: The Tony's four big winners responded nicely at the box office: "Contact" (up $16,357), "Copenhagen" (up $71,849), "Kiss Me, Kate" (up $66,542) and "The Real Thing" (up $74,694). "Contact" and "Copenhagen" had their best sessions ever, coming in at $602,884 and $346,742, respectively. Dame Edna's scene-stealing at the Tonys also did the trick. Her "Royal Tour" rose $62,076.

Tom Stoppard is scheduled to be on Charlie Rose tonight!

Mary-Louise Parker will be in Desire Under the Elms, directed by David Leveaux.

Thanks, Donna! I should make this a must see. Let me know if you read anything else on this play (or DL). I wonder if TS is a repeat on Charlie Rose. I remember he was on after SIL.

Thanks Donna, please report if TS says anything about TRT and the Tonys.

Thanks, Donna, I'll watch tonight. It should be very obvious if it's the SiL one.

This from Playbill.com... More info on David Leveaux. Mary-Louise Parker To Be Found Under Roundabout's Elms This Fall 14-JUN-2000 Mary-Louise Parker, currently starring in Off-Broadway's Proof, will be joining the cast of Desire Under the Elms when it runs this fall at the American Airlines Theatre. Parker will stay with Proof at least until the end of July, she told Playbill On-Line (June 14). Spokespersons for the Roundabout at Boneau/Bryan-Brown could not confirm any casting on the production and did not anticipate any casting announcements until August. As reported earlier, director David Leveaux, who recently worked on the Broadway production of The Real Thing, will be helming the Roundabout Theatre Company (RTC) production of Eugene O'Neill's play at the American Airlines Theatre. This will be the third time Leveaux has directed an O'Neill play on Broadway (see below). Desire is scheduled to run at the American Airlines Theatre directly after the The Man Who Came to Dinner, which stars Nathan Lane. Dinner, RTC's first show at the reconstructed Selwyn house on West 42nd Street, should begin previews June 30. Leveaux's Broadway productions include two other O'Neill plays -- Anna Christie with Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson (Tony Award for Best Revival) and A Moon for the Misbegotten (Tony nomination for Outstanding Direction), making Desire his third shot at directing O'Neill on Broadway. No other casting or production information was available on Desire at press time. For the Royal Shakespeare Company, Leveaux has directed 'Tis Pity She's a Whore and Romeo and Juliet. For the Royal National Theatre, Leveaux directed Strindberg's The Father. Since 1993, he has been artistic director of Theatre Project Tokyo, Japan, where other productions included Yukio Mishima's Modern Noh Plays, The Changeling, Hedda Gabler and Mishima's version of Jean Cocteau's Two Headed Eagle. Leveaux's opera credits include The Turn of the Screw for Scottish Opera; The Marriage of Figaro, and Richard Strauss's Salome at the English National Opera.

I MUST MEET DL!!!Where have I benn??? Thanks, Donna!

I MUST MEET DL!!!Where have I been??? Thanks, Donna!

*hic*

The Stoppard interview is from 4/14/00. He says in the movie, the cricket bat will be a baseball bat. :-(

An American TRT??? How could he? We are not so *provincial*! Bad call, ST.

I hope he was joking about the bat :-( Anyhow, Tom mentioned that he thought TRT has fulfilled itself at the Barrymore Theatre. He thinks that technically, it plays better than in London. The Albery being a higher stage, and the Donmar being smaller. Charlie asked about if he saw a difference in the play given the different leads (Irons, Dillane, and Stoppard mentioned Rees who did it in London) and their approach to the role. Tom gave a politically correct answer, no. Though apparently critics and audiences don't agree :-) Too bad this was taped before TRT officially opened (taped 4/14, opened 4/17). He said he would have to see the opening, "to support the boys and girls." Charlie also asked if he thought about what would have happened to Henry and Annie. Tom gave a funny answer, basically "that's all folks." Basically that the play has to end somewhere.

I would like to hear Tom's answers to the same questions today, after the rave reviews and the Tony wins. When he gave the interview, the production was still going through growing pains. Would he (or Harvey) reconsider the bat? Would he re-think how the play "plays" given Dillane's performance? Hmmm. I ponder. I balance a pineapple chunk on top of my carrot stick. Pass the buck's fizz, I need a stiff one.

(Donna) Though apparently critics and audiences don't agree :-) Lest anyone get confused, those *be* my words, not Tom's :-)

(Donna) I hope he was joking about the bat :-( Wouldn't he have to change some of that speech? Don't think that baseball bats are made of composite materials (layers); just one piece of wood. Very interesting that Stoppard did say that the American production was better than in London because of the theater. What happened to "the play's the thing"? ;-) Now, if he would only Charlie would show the entire interview with SD and JE... Come on, folks, email Charlie and show him that people want to see more of them.

He says in the movie, the cricket bat will be a baseball bat. A clue that it will also have an American cast. ~~~~~~~~ I enjoyed the interview...though it too was a bit convoluted. Charlie also asked if he thought about what would have happened to Henry and Annie. He also added that he likes an audience "to have a choice or responses". Wasn't it Stephen who said in an interview that some nights he thinks Annie and Henry will make it and some he doesn't!! What I thought he said that was interesting is that : [paraphrasing]If he were writing that play today, it would be less flashy and less rhetorical.Less witty...he thinks that sometimes actors are "in the service of the writer".(TRT was written in 1982). He admires writers that can write concise plots.He wrote TRT in response to critics who said TS didn't understand women..."I'll show them"... The part about being happy now because he has established his identity..."he escaped from generality"..He made it.."Who wants posthumous fame", says Charlie.He had no formal education...left school at 18. He regrets not having had a university education...but has no hang-ups about it..

I saw True West tonight. I was stunned, because I thought the performance of John C. Reilly was not remarkable (he portrayed the writer in this performance). Not a bad performance, but not of the caliber for being nominated as best actor. And I recently saw Derek Jacobi in Uncle Vanya, who wasn't nominated and I think turned in a much better performance. Maybe Reilly does better in the other part. Thank goodness Stephen won the Tony, much deserved I must say. Had it gone to one of the True West actors, I think it would have been based on popularity. Hoffman turned in a good performance (as the Schlitz drinking drunk), truly wonderful at some moments. But I thought it was over the top at times. Lots of yelling. That gets tiresome. I think the actors would have been better off sticking to one role and getting it down, rather than switching roles every 3 nights. Maybe True West is the "in thing" to see for the NY elite. Flavor of the month, so to speak. The audience gave the play a huge standing-o. It is a loud play, lots of angst. Well enough done, but overrated, IMO. Why do people equate yelling, shouting, and emoting anger as great acting? Rhetorical question. I wonder if other actors find that discouraging. Rhetorical question. Toni Collette and Matthew Broderick were in the audience (not together), I guess that's what happens when your play closes. Blah blah blah. Just bummed. There is no reason on earth as to why they have to change the cricket bat to a baseball bat. Can't Henry be a British playwright married to an American actress living in Manhattan? Can't he have a cricket bat stored in his closet? Yeah, baseball bats aren't sprung like a dance floor. Geesh, to take the very best moment of the play and change it for an American audience! Unnecessary.

I wouldn't get too discouraged Donna because if TS is working on the script (which I'm sure he would be), then any changes should be just fine. He did change things on TRT from its previous incarnation for this run and is a big-time script doctor (i.e., SiL). So... no worries (although I do agree with you about the British playwright married to an American; easy accomodation)

I also agree. Why do people equate yelling, shouting, and emoting anger as great acting? One of my pet peeves.

An excerpt from today's The New York Observer about the Tonys and Gabriel Byrne: At 7:30 on June 4, Gabriel Byrne stepped out of a black Town Car in front of Radio City Music Hall looking every bit as forlorn as the depressive drunk James Tyrone he�s been playing in A Moon For the Misbegotten... Everybody knew who Mr. Byrne was, though. And as he made his way slowly down the press line, he got screams from girls across the street. It didn�t lighten his mood, which seemed to be reflected in the dark rumpled suit he�d chosen over a tux, his two days� beard growth and perma-grimace. He looked like he was taking a slow stroll into a hail of bullets. By the looks of it, Tony night meant to Mr. Byrne what Tony night has come to mean to the rest of New York. As Broadway has become increasingly geared to out-of-town crowds�Jack Wagner in Jekyll & Hyde!�the hard candy-coating of Manhattan glamour that once surrounded the Tonys has been chipped away and replaced with a saccharine taffy geared to the lowest- common-denominator tastes of middle America. (People who aren�t interested in theater anyway, judging from Nielsen numbers that made this year�s telecast the lowest-rated Tonys ever.) Mr. Byrne�s mug said it all. The Tonys have become business without pleasure; a prime-time opportunity for Broadway�s producers to advertise their big musical numbers on national television, and if they win the award, nab Schubert Alley�s answer to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. The logic goes that Mr. Iowa is more likely to shell out a few hundred bucks to take the family to see the road-show production of Tony-winning triumph Contact, rather than something that could be described as a pool-hall dance party set to a recording of Robert Palmer�s "Simply Irresistible." "For the majority of people theater has become irrelevant," Mr. Byrne told The Transom on his way inside, moaning in a very Eugene O�Neill way. "Television and rap music and movies are far more relevant to the vast majority of people than theater. It�s become much more about advertising, about �product,�" he added. "There�s a lot of reasons why theater has to take a good long look at itself." If the organizers of the Tonys heed Mr. Byrne�s advice, a good place to start would have been Rosie O�Donnell�s much-touted opening number for the CBS show. Ms. O�Donnell emerged on stage flanked by grooving fellow television stars Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order), Jane Krakowski (Ally McBeal) and Megan Mullally (Will & Grace). Behind her on risers stood what appeared to be a church choir in black tunics... The rest of the show went without drama or incident, except when after the rousing "Seventy-Six Trombones" number from The Music Man, the CBS camera briefly found Mr. Byrne politely applauding, but wearing a root-canal scowl. Ten minutes later, Mr. Byrne lost the best leading actor in a play award to The Real Thing�s Stephen Dillane. Mr. Byrne was nowhere to be found at the party ...

Slightly OT - but since we talked so much about the Tonys at this topic... A scathing review of Susan Stroman's choreography ("Contact") in today's Wall Street Journal. She apparently has also choreographed the movie "Center Stage." Here is the last paragraph: Dance plays and dance movies deserving of the name should earn praise or blame for the actual dancing in them. By this standard, "Contact" and "Center Stage" merit scant attention. Maybe audiences impressed by these shenanigans should try an actual dance performance. OUCH.

According to Variety , the Box Office for TRT continues to climb since winning Tony Awards weekend, I am so relieved and so pleased for everyone.

delete "winning"

the Box Office for TRT continues to climb since winning Tony Awards The Power of a Tony....who said..."Tony's don't mean anything?" Or...a better one.... "Actors don't care whether or not they win a Tony" [Oh yeah? They sure do if their play closes early...]

There are some video clips of the Tony Nominees Brunch at Sardi's to be found at http://www.broadwaybeat.com/tvindex.htm It's always a short interview with the actor followed by a short clip from the show. Part 1: Heather Headley, Stephen Spinella, Ann Hampton Callaway, Claudia Shear and Helen Stenborg Part 2: Craig Bierko, Karen Ziemba, Deborah Yates, Laura Benanti, Jayne Atkinson, Derek Smith, Cherry Jones, Gabriel Byrne and last but not least Jennifer Ehle Part 3: starts with a TRT clip followed by a short interview with SD.

(Tineke) Part 3: starts with a TRT clip followed by a short interview with SD. Love the cowlick :-)

From Playbill News: The Tonys are over, but there's one more award show to go -- the Friends of New York Theatre "FANY" Awards. When they are presented June 25 at Swing 46, I forget...were there any nominations released on this? Was TRT among them? Like , who cares....we got a Tony.(I'm greedy) Actually, SD has a suitcase full of awards.More than any other actor this year on Broadway.Care to enumerate them, Donna? (And the Olivier went to Henry Goodman...Pfft. Bet he wouldn't have gotten a Tony)

I'm about 70% done with his awards page... research research research :-) But here is what I've got so far for The Real Thing: Tony - Stephen won Theatre World - Stephen honored (not a competition) Drama Desk - Stephen won Drama League - TRT was nominated (actors were NOT in competition) Outer Critics - Stephen nominated, but Derek Jacobi won Olivier - Stephen nominated, Henry Goodman won Evening Standard - Stephen won Variety Club - Stephen won FANYS - TRT nominated, to be announced 6/25. Stephen was not nominated: Nominees for Outstanding Leading Actor: Play Michael Cumpsty, Copenhagen Philip Seymour Hoffman, True West Kevin Spacey, The Iceman Cometh Patrick Stewart, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan Hey, whoever heard of a FANY anyway! :-)

Hey, whoever heard of a FANY anyway! :-) Quite so. They're just friends of, not close relations or anything. ;-)

(Donna)Hey, whoever heard of a FANY anyway! :-) (karen)Quite so. They're just friends of, not close relations or anything. ;-) Youse pay your $250. bucks and you're a "Friend"... ~~~~~~ (donna)Theatre World - Stephen honored (not a competition) Hey...make that a win...he showed up;-)

Old news, but some of you may not have seen before. This includes some nice quotes about Colin and Stephen. This is an excerpt from a report last November, where Stephen won the Evening Standard Best Actor award. Best Actor This was one of two really hard-fought categories which went into a second round. Nicholas de Jongh declared it the best list of Best Actors this decade. "Quite astonishing performances and not by the usual collection of actors either." Benedict Nightingale praised Klaus Maria Brandauer's charismatic performance in Speer. He also put the case for Peter O'Toole in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell: "His performance had deepened and darkened so hugely since he first tackled it, with sorrow and half-acknowledged self-doubt and regret as well as tipsy fun." He felt it was one of the best performances he'd ever given. Susannah Clapp applauded Simon Russell Beale's detailed, intelligent playing in Money, acclaiming him as one of the stage's best actors. Nicholas de Jongh was thrilled by Charles Dance in Good. "He caught one of the profound dilemmas of the century, whether you collude with evil or struggle against it." Several judges praised Colin Firth's understated performance in Three Days of Rain. Susannah Clapp thought his change from a "very neurotic to a mildly ruffled person" exquisitely done. De Jongh agreed: "He shares with Stephen Dillane an ability to convey nuances of deep feeling without putting them on the surface." But the final battle was fought between Michael Sheen, Stephen Dillane and Henry Goodman. Susannah Clapp put Sheen forward for reinventing Look Back in Anger, praising his luminous quality and ability to be goaded, fiery and defensive at the same time. Jane Edwardes admired his portrayal of the self-hatred behind Jimmy Porter's self-pity. Paul Taylor thought he revealed "the emotional neediness behind the aggression", and helped reinterpret the play in terms of emotional politics rather than politics. For Benedict Nightingale, Henry Goodman established himself as a major actor with his performance as "a most unsentimental" Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. "I found him heart-rending, but also funny, mocking and self-mocking." Jane Edwardes was moved by the mask he assumed in public and took off at home. She found his long pause when debating whether to carry on with the bond one of the most thrilling moments of the year. Paul Taylor agreed, but thought it was Trevor Nunn's interpretation of Shylock that was so brilliant - though Goodman executed it deftly. Taylor argued the case for Stephen Dillane in The Real Thing, "the most delicately layered performance all year. Apart from the potentially rebarbative cocky Stop-pard figure, he showed you a man drowning in his sardonic distancing pose. I think he's a very underrated actor and I value him for the lightness of touch with which he brings out depths." Nicholas de Jongh agreed, praising Dillane's "magnificent casualness". After the second round of voting Stephen Dillane emerged as the winner, with Sheen one point behind.

Yahoo Entertainment Business A Moon for the Misbegotten,'' a revival of the Eugene O'Neill drama starring Cherry Jones, Gabriel Byrne and Roy Dotrice. Walter Kerr. Closes July 2. Whew! That coulda'been us, folks!! "Moon..." lost to TRT as Best Revival... GB lost to SD for Best Actor Cherry Jones lost to Jennifer for Best Actress Only Roy Dotrice (of the stirring acceptance speech) won Best Supporting.

Terrific review for Sunshine in today's Philly Inquirer, and raves for our favorite mother-daughter team.:-) I posted it on 127.

Ordinary Decent Criminal will open tomorrow. I've seen quite a few billboards, even on trams, and they discussed the film on the radio today (Stephen wasn't mentioned though).

(Tineke) Ordinary Decent Criminal will open tomorrow. Well we eagerly await your review Tineke! Do you know if it will be shown in English or dubbed? We already know it got hammered by the British reviewers (is that hammered by an emotional backlash?), but maybe it will be better received outside the UK. I think the reviewers were upset that this real life criminal was romanticized by the movie. It will be interesting to see this film here, and Linda Fiorantino with an Irish accent (I presume). And I suppose this will be another film where we see far too little of SD. Hee hee, I'm still laughing at the "cone of silence" on the other topic.

]Do you know if it will be shown in English or dubbed? English for sure!! We NEVER EVER dub movies! Okay, maybe that's a lie. We do dub Disney films, but that's because 6 year olds can't read. But we can still choose between the Dutch or the original version. Anyone who's not accompanied by a child will choose the original version. Movie complexes here have more than one theatre, so they simply show both versions. I've never seen a film dubbed in Dutch. I'm sure no one would want to watch it. I've seen films dubbed in French and think it's horrible. I even stopped watching Another Country once on French TV because I just couldn't stand it.

Just a Gabriel Byrne - Tony follow-up from Liz Smith today: By the by, I received a sweet, funny note from Gabriel, who responded to my wondering in this column why he looked so glum at the Tony Awards telecast? "Dear Liz: Tension, exhaustion, nerves, shyness, uncomfortableness, lead to a configuration of facial muscles resulting in the condition known as glumpussery. I'm now in a state of post-Tony contentment!! Kindest regards, Gabriel." What a cutie (my words, not Liz')! Glumpussery... must use that some time.

From Jeffrey Wells's column: The Real Thing Caught Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing last night (i.e., Tuesday) at New York's Ethel Barrymore Theatre. A marvelously witty drama about love and infidelity, it stars Tony Award winners Stephen Dillane and Jennifer Ehle in the roles played by Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close in the original 1984 Broadway production. Having seen that version also, I found last night's production every bit as rewarding, and more so in some respects. I loved every minute, every line. Director Sydney Pollack (Random Hearts, Out of Africa) is a big fan also. He and I spoke yesterday afternoon about the Stoppard play and the film version he wanted to direct 15 or 16 years ago for Universal, but couldn't because of script problems he was unable to fix. I called Pollack about this because Miramax Films' Harvey Weinstein, who is co-producing the Broadway revival, intends to produce his own film version before too long. I was curious what Pollack thinks of the idea, and what obstacles he feels the play presents in translating it into screen terms. And since Miramax isn't saying much beyond its plan to shoot a film version, I was wondering if he'd heard anything. The current Real Thing, he says, "is a whole 'nother way of coming at the play," which he describes as "less royal." He attended the opening-night performance a few months ago, and "everyone in that place thought it was written for them. "If it's not the greatest play of the 20th century, I think it's certainly one of the greatest. I really do. It's the most romantic play Stoppard's ever done. It's so full of acute observations about relationships. It fascinates the s**t out of me." He says Universal Pictures bought the play for him to develop into a possible film project in '84, at the direction of then-chairman Frank Price. He contacted Stoppard and asked him about what might be the best way to make it work as a screenplay. I heard from another source that Stoppard "took a couple of swings" at an attempted translation, but what he turned in wasn't to anyone's particular satisfaction. Pollack didn't explain it precisely this way, but acknowledges that efforts to create a filmable Real Thing screenplay never panned out. "The problem for me was I was so involved with the play, I could never find a way to do those things which one does [in order to make a play] into a film, because I thought it would finally eviscerate it. I mean, this is a play about words, about language � and the power and the obligation and the nobility of language. What words can and cannot do, when used properly. "One could always film it as a play. I talked about this not long ago with Stoppard. When we first spoke, I just told him how great I thought the production was � and how you could make it work as a film. But when we started mucking around with it, we wanted to have our cake and eat it too. I know it's primarily a play about language, and it was very hard to make it work in a visual sense." However, says Pollack, "Somebody's going to come along some day and make a liar out of me. A good imaginative director is going to lick it someday, and it'll be very exciting. Harvey [Weinstein] and I talked about this not too long ago. He was joking with me, 'Ok, Sydney, you've had your chance, now we're taking ours.' "I would love to find a way to make it work as a film," Pollack adds. "If I could, I would go to Harvey and say 'let's go.'" He says he doesn't know how soon Weinstein is planning to roll ahead with his Real Thing movie. "Harvey's a gambler," he says. "He sticks his neck out where other people don't." The Real Thing has another few weeks to go. If your plans include being in New York before August, make every effort to see it.

v. interesting. As we've been discussing, it's all in the hands of the director or "his vision." Wonder who Harvey will get.

Wonder who Harvey will get. This seems to be a job for someone with both a theatrical and film background -- like our boy Sam Mendes. Or Anthony Minghella. Wish Wells had also asked Pollack about his casting ideas. Cool article -- thanks Mari.

(SusanMC) Wish Wells had also asked Pollack about his casting ideas. Bet he did, hee hee, and he's not revealing! :-) All I can say, having been seated behind Sydney at the theater, is that his eyes were riveted on SD. Even in scenes where JE was talking on the other side of the stage. And he laughed and howled at all the right places. He was one of the first on his feet giving a standing-o. The big question is... what is Harvey's casting ideas? The inquiring minds want to know :-) Ugh, I've giving myself an ulcer just thinking about it. The Americanization of Henry. :-(

Harv's probably going for his "Dream Cast": David Arquette and Courtney Cox. ;-)

ROTFLMAO I think I like it!

It will probably be an entirely different production.Like TRT I in 1982 when I hear that Jeremy Irons played Henry as a "Stuffy Englishman". And Glen Close was an older Annie.Casting a play with low-wattage stars is one thing...but a movie is another.Like BJD it will have to be high- profile actors to take the leads. IMO But the dialogue is so malleable that it will adapt to any skilled actor.... (Pl God, don't let it be Melanie Griffith):-(

The first glimpse of Stephen as Karenin in Anna Karenina. This is where he first starts to suspect something is amiss.

Hey gang....Donna has been putting in lots of hours reorganizing the SD website...to include The Awards Page. http://fp.enter.net/~purrfect/dillane.htm

Any dates on when we might see AK? Russian drama = winter, I expect. ;-) Yes, Donna's site is great. Will check out the new stuff.

Was meaning to ask, where are all the glossy magazine articles on Stephen? He did win all those awards, became the toast of Bway and ....???

I heard a rumble somewhere that AK was probably going to be shown on PBS this fall. It is 4 hours and was shown in 4 parts in the UK. Yeah, where is Stephen??? I've been glancing at the mags too, and nothing! But then, where is Brian Stokes Mitchell and Heather Headley? JE really lucked out with having Sunshine being released at the same time, plus the RH connection made her story even juicier. I'm so glad the attention is being given to someone who is talented. Not like that Dharva person :-)

Have to agree...and wish he was right there with her...cause TRT is Henry's play and he's taking home a suitcase full of trophies.Jennifer did luck out with Mum being on the Tony ticket..."first time in history" gimmick.Talk about luck... was Paramount releasing Sunshine the same week.Win-win all around.

I just saw Ordinary Decent Criminal. It was shown in the largest theatre of the complex, so this means that they're expecting people to go and see this movie. I quite liked it. It certainly doesn't deserve to be trashed. I suppose that some critics didn't like it because it's sort of the same story as The General. But since I haven't seen The General (wanted to though) this didn't bother me. Stephen looks gorgeous in it, his hair is very short (quite like it that way), he wears a suit sans green shirt;-) He plays the only relatively intelligent Garda of the film. Even though his part is important, it's not that grand. I mean, it's not a big enough part to stand out. People will not think Ordinary Decent Criminal - "oh, the superintendent was good", if you catch my drift. He was good, mind you. But this film is about Kevin Spacey, clever Kevin Spacey, every other part is a minor part.

Jennifer did luck out... I am afraid I don't agree with this, The Tony voters considered she had given a winning performance, I think this counted more than luck and her reviews for Sunshine (and her Mum) have been iniversally excellent whereas RF's have been a bit mixed. I too wish there wer more articles on SD but I certainly think Jennifer deserves all the publicity she is now getting.

closing tags too I don't think anybody meant Jennifer doesn't deserve her award, but the additional publicity was likely generated by the people at Paramount Classics and she is benefitting from that. No one is saying she doesn't deserve it. The kind of splash she is making in the press is strictly a Hollywood thing. When a movie comes out, the star(s) appear on the covers of everything from Knitting Weekly to Popular Electronics. Films are national. Most of America doesn't give two hoots about the Tonys as they are for NY plays, most of which they will never see. Touring companies have different casts. As Donna pointed out, there's been no corresponding publicity for any of the other big winners (SD, HH, the three intitial guy from KMK).

Okay, it was just the word "luck", which perhaps I took the wrong meaning. Did I not close the tags, it didn't appear that I hadn't.

The tag is now closed. Sometimes people use the wrong slash to close their tags. Make sure you are using the / and not the \ :-)

Films are national. Most of America doesn't give two hoots about the Tonys as they are for NY plays, most of which they will never see. Ann...Karen is correct.If you said Tony's to the man on the street, he's think it was the newest Pizza Place in town.No kidding. And for a drama actress to receive the publicity she has, is unheard of. Judi Dench didn't get any splash last year, or Janet McTeer the year before. 'Cause it helps that she is v. photogenic and young. Nothing on Heather Hadley, either. Yes, she derserved the Tony , but the rest of the hoop-la is gravy. Albeit, v. welcomed.And by the sound of her last interview, she's"loving it".

Yes, JE deserves all the great publicity!! No glumpussery here :-) The luck was the double whammy of Tony win and major film release. By the way, does anyone know where her recent photos were shot?

Fairenoughski!, it must be this excruciating toothache I have today that is making me ultra sensitive.