The Cripple of Inishmaan

July 19, 2004 by Dennis Baker 

The first weekend of The Cripple of Inishmaan went well. It is nice to have a break as we went for eight straight days. We will have a pick up rehearsal on Wed., and then resume performances Thurs.-Sun. If you are planning on coming to see it this would be a good weekend, as I am told the August weekend fills up with students as they are back for fall semester. Also the theatre students are required to see it. Email me if you know you are coming and I can reserve you a ticket when I get to the theatre.

I will hopefully be able to post pictures soon. We only had about five or so press pictures taken before opening weekend, but some were taken during dress rehearsal. Our photo rehearsal will not be until August so hopefully I can get some before then.

Filed under: Acting, Los Angeles, Theater/Theatre
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Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd

July 4, 2004 by Dennis Baker 

Elia Kazan’s second collaboration with screenwriter Budd Schulberg after ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) is a corrosive attack on the ascendant medium of television. Andy Griffith, in his film debut, plays Lonesome Rhodes, a charismatic guitar-picking hillbilly who rises from radio performer to TV star to all-around celebrity and power-mad demagogue. Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau prove instrumental in building the Rhodes legend but are rudely disillusioned by the dark private side of their public hero. Hyperbolic, energetic, and in many ways positively prophetic, A FACE IN THE CROWD is both an indictment of the television business and a broader cautionary tale about the cult of personality in postwar America.

Based on the short story “Your Arkansas Traveler” by B. Schulberg. Producer: Elia Kazan. Screenplay: Budd Schulberg. Cinematographer: Harry Stradling. Editor: Gene Milford. Cast: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick. 35mm, 125 min.

I am not one for old movies, but I saw this one in my acting class last year. It was good! It is Andy Griffith as you have never seen him. It is playing Friday August 20 2004 at 7:30PM at UCLA Film and Television Archive. I would see it again, but I am performing that night. So if you are not coming to my show that night (because you are coming another night), go see this movie.

Filed under: Film, Los Angeles
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