Nick Searcy

Photo credit: Zimbio.com

Cullowhee, a small mountain city in North Carolina, isn’t generally thought of as a place where stars are born.

But one was born there.

Actor Nick Searcy, who plays lawman Art Mullen on the hit FX TV series “Justified,” was born and raised in Cullowhee, N.C.

Searcy, who now lives in Los Angeles, Calif. with his wife and two children, has worked as a professional actor for over 20 years, alongside industry professionals Tom Hanks, Jodie Foster, Tom Cruise, among others.

“I’ve had the great fortune to do this for a living,” Searcy said. “I’ve been blessed.”

TV critic Jack McKinney said in a review of "Justified" earlier this year that Searcy plays a huge part in the show's success. McKinney said Searcy is an indispensable member of the "Justified" cast.

"If they had an award for playing a character that is critical to a show but is so good and consistent that you forget how truly remarkable they are, Nick Searcy would win every year for his work as Art Mullen," McKinney said.

Searcy made his big screen debut in 1991 as villain Frank Bennett in Fried Green Tomatoes.  Since then, he has acted in several major motion pictures, including Moneyball, The Last Song, The Ugly Truth, Runaway Jury and Castaway. In addition to his role on “Justified,” Searcy has also held recurring roles on ABC’s “Rodney,” ABC’s “Thunder Alley” and HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon.”

Searcy said his earliest recollection of wanting to be a professional actor dates back to his childhood days in Cullowhee.

“I fell in love with the movies when I was a kid,” Searcy said.  “I was about 11 and my first memory is of watching 'The Mary Tyler Moore show' and thinking, ‘Those people look like they enjoy their jobs.  I want to do that.’”

So that’s what he did.  After high school, Searcy went to the N.C. School of the Arts in Winston-Salem to study drama and then to UNC-Chapel Hill, where he studied drama and English.  After graduating from UNC in 1981, Searcy moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting. While there, he met the woman who would eventually become his wife, fellow actor Leslie Riley.

Searcy and Riley wed in 1986. Leslie Searcy, nee Riley, said that although their married life in New York City was exciting, it was often difficult to make ends meet.

“We were both starving actors in New York,” Searcy said.  “And parts of it were really fun.  We sacrificed to try to make it work.  We worked midnight to 7 a.m. shifts proofreading legal documents so we could audition during the day.  It was fun, but it got old.”

The couple moved back to North Carolina in 1989 after their daughter was born. Leslie Searcy said that, at that time, it looked like her husband was going to have to put his acting career on hold. Searcy said she never asked him to give up on his dreams, though.

“I was doubtful that he could make it, but I never said, ‘You have to give this up.’’’

And it’s a good thing she didn’t because in 1991 Searcy was cast in Fried Green Tomatoes – a film that would propel him into the television and film industry. Leslie Searcy said they were ecstatic when they heard the news Searcy had been cast in the film.

“We were just blown away,” Searcy said.  “I mean they had stars auditioning for that part.  We couldn’t believe they cast him.”

Fried Green Tomatoes helped Searcy land an agent in Los Angeles.  The year after the film was released, Searcy and his family moved to California.

And Searcy has been a consistent presence in the television and film industry ever since.  He’s most recognized as an actor, but has tried his hand at directing and producing, as well. 

In 1996 Searcy produced, directed and acted in the independent feature Paradise Falls.  The film was incredibly successful. It won the Hollywood Film Festival’s Best Feature Film award in 1998. 

While Searcy said he enjoyed the chance to direct, he said the experience ultimately taught him that acting is what he is most passionate about.

 “I enjoyed the directing, but I realized it’s just so much work!” Searcy said.  “The whole time I was directing, I was thinking, ‘I miss that little job I had of sitting in my trailer with my five lines.'  I realized that acting is what I really like.”

Searcy said he’s found acting especially rewarding when he’s been able to play roles that are perfect for him – like his character on “Justified.”

“I read the script and thought, ‘Oh this is mine,’” Searcy said.

Searcy was cast as Chief Deputy Art Mullen on “Justified,” which just finished its third season, in 2009. The show is set in Kentucky and follows the life of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, played by Timothy Olyphant.  Searcy plays Givens’ boss in the series.

“Justified” will begin filming again in October. Searcy said he hopes the show will be around for many years to come.

“I love ‘Justified,’” Searcy said.  “I hope it goes on for 10 years.  I’m hoping I can just ride this one out into the sunset.”

Dean Smith, of Chapel Hill, who met Searcy at the N.C. School of the Arts many years ago, said Searcy’s stellar performance on “Justified,” is characteristic of Searcy’s work as an actor. Smith said Searcy is the real deal of film and TV acting.

“He’s that reliable character actor,” Smith said, “who can come in and give any show or movie the flesh-and-blood depth and texture they need to be more than just a vehicle for the latest start of the moment. He’s a real pro.”

Searcy said he would describe the roles he generally gets as “character” roles – roles like the best friend, the boss, the neighbor, etc. Searcy said he isn’t bothered by not getting cast in leading man roles.

“I’m a leading man trapped in a character actor’s body,” Searcy joked.

Searcy said the secret to his success in the film industry has been his confidence, persistence and candor.

“My wife always says that I’ve been blessed with overconfidence,” Searcy joked. “But you have to be tough.  In this business you get rejected 150 times and you might get accepted three or four times – and that’s good.  You can make a living out of that.  You have to have the ability to hear ‘You’re not good enough,” and think, ‘You people are idiots.’”

Leslie Searcy confirmed that her husband has always been incredibly self-assured.

“I could see it from the first moment I met him,” Searcy said.  “I really think it’s the reason he made it. He takes rejection and just thinks that the other people are stupid.  I mean what a gift.”

Frank Garrett, of Winston–Salem, who was Searcy’s roommate at the N.C. School of the Arts nearly 30 years ago, said he always believed Searcy would make it big.

“I told him that he would be successful and that I would be behind him 100 percent,” Garrett said.  “He had some very difficult times, but I always knew he was going to make it.  He had that drive and that determination.  I never thought he would give up.”

Garrett wasn’t always Searcy’s biggest fan, though. When the two first met at the N.C. School of the Arts, Garrett said he was skeptical whether he and Searcy would get along.

“When Jane, my sister, and I were moving my stuff into my dorm room, I met Nick and his parents,” Garrett said. “And I instantly disliked Nick.”

Garrett said the animosity was short-lived, though.

“After a couple of months, Nick and I came to love each other as best friends,” Garrett said. “We’ve been best friends ever since.”

Garret said that, despite his fame, Searcy is just a regular guy. Searcy is the father of two children – Chloe, 22, and Omar, 12. Searcy said his daughter plans on launching an acting career of her own – against her dad’s best advice.

“I tease her that she has an unrealistic idea about acting because she sees her dad lying around the house most weeks out of the year,” Searcy said.  “But she’s going to do great.  She’s a really great actress.”

Omar, Searcy's son whom they adopted at 15-months-old, is Searcy's pride and joy. Leslie Searcy said that because her husband has such a flexible work schedule, he is able to be a very hands-on father.  Searcy said her husband enjoys spending a lot of time with his son.

“He’s always with that boy,” she said. “He just adores him.  He’s an amazing father.  He really loves being with the kids.”

Searcy said he’s told his agents that he’s planning on taking the summer off to have some fun and be with his kids.  He’ll begin filming “Justified” in October and has plans to act in a play next spring. 

Searcy said that he is thankful for and excited by his present career success – even if it did come later than expected.

“I’ve been expecting sizable roles all my life,” Searcy said.  “It’s the years of anonymity and failure that I didn’t expect.  At last, they finally figured out how great I am.”

 

"Angels" Then and Now

Photo credit: OneonOneNYC

If theatrical success is measured by sold out performances and standing ovations, then PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of Angels in America last year was a hit.  Critics called Angels, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, “a magnificent piece of contemporary theater.” 

The story was quite different 16 years ago, when the play's North Carolina debut in Charlotte resulted in boycotting, millions of dollars being cut from the arts community and the eventual closing of the city's only accredited professional theater. 

At first there was great excitement for the play to come to Charlotte.  Charlotte Observer theater critic Lawrence Toppman, who worked as the paper's film critic at the time, said the play was highly anticipated by audiences. 

“It was an extremely hot ticket,” Toppman said.  “It might be possible that every performance sold out – or at least every weekend performance.  It was very difficult to get in.”

After the production opened, many people were angered by the play’s risqué content.  A group of religious conservatives, including five Mecklenburg County commissioners, were especially vocal expressing their disdain for the play, which has full frontal male nudity and gay themes. 

In Toppman’s 2009 article “Participants Reflect on the ‘Angels’ Controversy in Charlotte’” Bill James, one of the commissioners who spearheaded the effort to ban the play, said his response was justified.  

“I report to voters, and voters were mad that their tax dollars went toward illegal, immoral and repugnant stuff,” James said.

In the wake of the Angels controversy, James and the four other members of the nine-member board voted in 1997 to cut $2.5 million from the Arts & Science Council.  Eight years later, the Charlotte Repertory Theatre closed its doors for good.

Toppman said the controversy created a lot of bad feeling in the Charlotte community.

“There were no winners in the outcome,” Toppman said.  “The county commissioners looked foolish and narrow minded and four of the five of them decided not to run again or were not reelected.  Nobody really came out of it smelling like roses.” 

Angels had rocked Charlotte and attracted national attention to the area.  Fifteen years later, the play found its way to Chapel Hill.

PlayMakers Repertory Company produced Angels in America Spring 2011.  Jeff Meanza, PRC’s associate artistic director, said he and Artistic Director Joseph Haj were anxious to see how modern audiences would respond to it.

“It was the 20 year anniversary of the play being written and we were curious of whether it would have any contemporary resonance,” Meanza said.  “It was a sort of test to see where we are now.  There’s been a big cultural shift across the state since the Charlotte incident.”

Meanza said he and Haj had no idea whether the show would be a success — they just hoped for the best.

“We were cautiously optimistic,” Meanza said.

Fortunately for PlayMakers, the production was a success.  The play ran from Jan. 29 to Mar. 6 and was met with positive reviews.  The News and Observer described Angels as “a play not everyone will want to see, but one everyone should see.”

Meanza said the play sold better than the theater’s 2010 production of Nicholas Nickelby, an eight-hour stage play adapted from the Charles Dickens novel.  Nickelby was PlayMakers’ first full-scale rotating repertory production and was universally praised by critics and audiences.

Whitney Vaughan, PRC’s wardrobe supervisor who worked backstage of Angels, said the production was, for the most part, well-received by audiences.

“Overall it seemed like people responded well to it,” Vaughan said.  “Some people would leave mid-show because it wasn’t what they expected, but those who stayed to the end responded pretty positively.”

Meanza confirmed that while the production was commercially successful and mostly well-received, not all audience members respected PlayMakers’ decision to show the play.

“There were people who were not pleased,” Meanza said.  “We got our share of letters from people with strong opinions.  A couple of people decided not to subscribe with us anymore.”

Yet those audience members’ reactions were nothing compared to those of the 1996 Charlotte controversy. Unlike the Charlotte showing, there were no picketers surrounding the PlayMakers production, chanting, “This play is evil.  Don’t go in.”

Toppman said part of the reason why recent North Carolina productions of Angels have been better received than in years past is that the show has become less shocking over the years.

“We’ve been desensitized by film, television, video and what we post online,” Toppman said.  “It’s hard for a play about social issues to irritate us now.  We just have sort of accepted it as part of the fabric of life in America.”

Meanza said it also has to do with audiences becoming more comfortable with the play and with gay themes in general.

“We produced the play after the HBO miniseries took off,” Meanza said.  “And there was a Broadway remount of the production.  There are also more queer characters on TV now than there were then.  It’s not as immediately scary to the majority of people as it once was.” 

 While PlayMakers never aims to shock or scare audiences, it prides itself on challenging patrons with the material it selects.  PlayMakers recently presented a one-night staged reading of “8,” which chronicles the controversial Proposition 8 trial.  Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt read the stage directions for the play.

Tim Scales, PRC’s marketing assistant and producer of “8,” said PlayMakers is devoted to promoting dialogue through theater.  Scales said the Chapel Hill community has come to expect bold, intellectually satisfying content from the PlayMakers stage.

“We live in a very socially conscious community,” Scales said.  “We have an audience that cares about important issues and wants to come see these shows.  And as a theater, we want to remain relevant.  We want to have an impact.”

Scales credits PRC Artistic Director Joseph Haj, who began working for the theater in 2006, for turning PlayMakers into a socially aware theater.

“He sets what direction our plays go in,” Scales said.  “He puts a lot of resonance on producing plays that explore important issues.”

Meanza said that one of the immediate changes Haj made after joining the theater in 2006 was to add a second stage season of plays – called PRC ² – where a post-show conversation follows every performance.

In a 2011 interview, Haj said he believes it is PlayMakers’ duty to address difficult issues in its work.  Since his coming, the theater has produced Fences, The Parchman Hour and Big River, which address race issues.


Haj said one of theater’s greatest responsibilities is to encourage audience members to think deeply about the material and engage in meaningful conversation with each other.


“If you’re going to strive to be an important theater, you have to have courage,” Haj said.  “You have to be willing to ask thought-provoking questions.  You have to make it meaningful.”

Meanza agreed.  “We realize that theater has a social responsibility,” Meanza said.  “It is one of the last public forums where the medium lends itself to generating dialogue.  We believe that theater is not a passive art form, but that it’s participatory.”

PlayMakers’ 2012-2013 season includes A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Clybourne Park, a new Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Bruce Norris.  Both plays address race issues.

Toppman said it is a testament to how far we have come as a society that theaters in North Carolina are now able to show productions like these without causing much of a stir.

“We’ve passed it as a culture  — as a threatening point,” Toppman said.  “We ‘get it’ better; it doesn’t scare us.”

Meanza said PlayMakers will continue to produce works that start conversations around social and political issues.

“Absolutely.  Why would you do anything else?” Meanza said. “We’re not going to be doing seasons of Annie and Thumbelina. We’re not interested in that type of playmaking.”

 

Sources for Trend Story

I am writing a trend story on the increase in socially conscious theater in North Carolina and how it is being better received now than in years past.

I will compare the 1996 "Angels in America" production in Charlotte, N.C., which was incredibly controversial, to the 2011 production at PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, N.C.  The PRC production was well received by audiences.  Unlike the Charlotte Repertory Theater production 15 years prior, the PRC production did not inspire riots or boycotting.  PRC's Artistic Director Joe Haj said he did receive hate mail for choosing the play, though.

I plan on contacting Joe Haj for an interview.  If he is unavailable, I will contact Associate Artistic Director Jeffrey Meanza.  I want to find out why PlayMakers has decided to do theater with social justice undertones.  Why did it decide to show "Parchman Hour," "Fences," "Big River," and "A Raisin in the Sun," which all deal with race issues?  And what about "Angels in America" and "8," which deal with gay rights?  Has PlayMakers become a socially conscious theater?

On the national level, I plan on contacting someone at the League of Regional Theaters (LORT) for information on whether there has been an increase in theaters across the country taking on social justice issues into their work.

I want to find out why PRC has decided to have shows that deal largely with social issues and if other theaters are doing this, as well. What makes these shows important?  And why are these shows being better received now than in years past?

Is this type of theater just in Chapel Hill?  Or are there other theaters in North Carolina that are doing this kind of work?  And how are audience members responding? Are audience members' opinions on social justice theater changing?  Are they becoming more tolerant?

The Varsity Theatre

Russell Greene remembers watching movies at the Varsity Theatre on Franklin Street when he was a UNC student.

Twenty years later and now a film editor in New York City, Greene is making a trip back to Chapel Hill and to the Varsity Theatre.  But this time it’s his own film he’ll be watching on the big screen.

The Varsity Theatre will screen Greene’s short film “Easy Street” at 5 p.m. April 1. The film is Green’s writing and directorial debut. The Varsity will also screen “About Time,” a short film directed by UNC communication studies professor Joseph Megel. Greene, who also edited “About Time,” said it was Megel’s idea to show the two films at the Varsity Theatre.

“Joseph had the idea to screen his film at the Varsity and he asked me to show 'Easy Street' there as part of a double feature,” Greene said.  “I jumped all over it because the Varsity is a really special movie theater in my life.”

Greene, who graduated from UNC in 1997, said he spent many of his college nights watching movies at the Varsity Theatre.  Greene said that it was at the Varsity where he learned he had a passion for films.

“When I was a student at UNC, Carolina had just gotten rid of their film department,” Greene said.  “So the Varsity was like my film school.  It had films that I wasn’t exposed to before coming to college.  I started to really think about critically examining films.”

Greene said that it was after watching the independent film Smoke at the Varsity that he decided he wanted to pursue filmmaking as a career.

“I remember when I came out of the theater, I said to my friend, ‘I think I want to make movies,’” Greene said. 

After college, Greene went on to study film at New York University and has lived as a film editor for the past 15 years, 9 years spent in New York.  Greene has participated in 29 film festivals in the United States and has won best film honors at five festivals.  “Easy Street,” which is about a Southern lawyer’s job interview with an eccentric federal judge, is Greene’s first attempt at writing and directing a short film.

Greene said he is excited to share this new experience with Chapel Hill students and residents at the place that started it all — the Varsity Theatre.

“The whole thing feels like 20 years coming full circle,” Greene said.

But Greene hasn’t been back to the Varsity since it came under new ownership a few years ago.  The theater is now run by Paul and Susan Shareshian.  The Shareshians bought the Varsity from the previous owner, Bruce Stone, who closed down the theater in June 2009 after several months of sagging ticket sales.  The Shareshians renovated the Varsity and re-opened it Thanksgiving weekend 2009. The first film they showed at their restored theater was The Wizard of Oz.

Paul Shareshian said he and his wife decided to buy the Varsity after reading in the newspaper that it was closing down.  They had no previous experience owning a business, let alone a movie theater, but Shareshian said they thought it would be a profitable investment.  The Shareshians put a business plan together, bought the theater and set to work remodeling the place to a ritzy “Old Hollywood” grandeur it had not known for some time.

“We updated the lobby, recarpeted and repainted it to make it look older in a sense,” Shareshian said.  “We used a lot of reds and golds.  Before, it had steel walls and was very cold, so we changed it into a more welcoming place.” 

The Shareshians also updated the upstairs by converting old offices into rooms for receptions and children’s birthday parties.  They also updated the theater’s projection system with BlueRay, DVD and HDTV capabilities to allow for presentations and webcasts. 

The upgraded projection system allows the Varsity to be rented out for private events and screenings, in addition to its nightly showings.  Melanie Williams, a junior biology major at UNC, said she organized a movie viewing for her sorority at the Varsity.

“We played Bridesmaids on their DVD player and had an event,” Williams said.  “It was nice that we could rent out the whole theater and play a movie of our choice.”

But even with the new technological improvements, Shareshian said the Varsity Theatre is still very much the same “Mom and Pop” theater it has been for the last 50 years.  The Varsity has only one ticket counter, one concession stand, two theaters — one seating up to 230 and the other seating 138 — and tickets are cheap.  A single ticket costs only $4.

“It’s a no pressure kind of place and it’s kind of homey in that sense,” Shareshian said.

The Varsity is located inside the Sorrell building.  Since the Sorrell building was built in 1927, it has always housed a movie theater, starting with the original Carolina Theater.  In 1928 the Carolina Theater moved across the street to where the Walgreens on Franklin is now located, and the Sorrell building’s theater was renamed the Village Theater.  It was renamed the Varsity Theatre in the 1950s.  The Carolina Theater closed in July 2005, and the Varsity also closed for a few months in 2009.  For the first time since 1927, there was no movie theater in operation on Franklin Street. 

The Varsity’s previous owner, Bruce Stone, who has also owned the Chelsea Theater for the past 22 years, said he closed down the Varsity because of a decrease in demand for arts films, which were the primary type of film he showed at the Varsity. 

“There were fewer art film distributors and they were all sort of shutting down,” Stone said.  “There were fewer films and it was becoming more difficult to get people to go downtown.”

Shareshian said he and his wife have made a lot of changes to the Varsity in the past two years they’ve owned it — the biggest being that they don’t show arts films.  Shareshian said he wouldn’t consider his theater an art house theater at all.  Instead, his theater runs a combination of classic and recent movies to appeal to a diverse audience of both students and residents of Chapel Hill.

“We feel the audience out and release what they want,” Shareshian said. “We only have two screens, so we’ve got to be selective.”

Shareshian said they typically run recent releases and run a classic once a month.  When the summer hits, they tend to show more classics because there aren't as many students around. Shareshian said their system works, but is far from perfect. 

 “It’s trial by fire,” Shareshian said.  “We learn from it and we build from that.”

Greene said he’s just glad the Varsity is still around. Because of its location and history, it is a center point for students and residents. Greene said the Chapel Hill community needs the Varsity.

“It would be really sad if they didn’t have a theater on Franklin Street,” Greene said.  “I hope that never happens.”

The Shareshians said they do not plan on closing down the theater anytime soon.

Greene said he plans on bringing his 13-year-old son, who is already set on coming to UNC, to the “Easy Street” screening at the Varsity on April 1.  Greene said he expects it to be a very special occasion.

“He’ll get to watch his dad’s film at the Varsity,” Greene said.  “And that will give him some memories.”

Place Story

I've decided to write my place story on the Varsity Theatre. The Varsity movie theater, located on Franklin Street, has been around for more than 50 years and has, consequentially, established itself as a landmark in the Chapel Hill community.  The Varsity plays old movies like Casablanca and Gone With the Wind, and also new hits like The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo and The Descendants.

The Varsity is selective in the movies it shows.  It's not a major cinema conglomerate; it's not the Carmike down the street.  The Varsity is an old-time movie theater.  It has a retro, yet homey flair.  It's small, cozy and cheap: Tickets go for $4 a person.

I think the Varsity deserves a good place story written about it.  It's one of the last of a dying breed of little 'ol movie theaters.  I love watching movies there.  I love the atmosphere and the experience of watching a movie like they did in 1950.  The Varsity is proof that you don't need a shiny, expensive venue to watch a good movie.  One with a single ticket counter, concession stand and character will do just fine.

Stay tuned for a place story about the Varsity Theatre!

Andrea Powell

Photo Credit: Powell's twitter

Like most people, Andrea Powell gets up and goes to work.  Unlike most people, her colleagues are Harrison Ford and Viola Davis. 

Powell, a North Carolina resident and professional actress, has just been cast in Ender’s Game, a sci-fi thriller set to be released March 2013.  The film is set in the future and revolves around Ender Wiggin, a child genius trained by the government to fight against a hostile alien race that has invaded Earth.

The film’s stacked cast includes Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, Ben Kingsley, Asa Butterfield and Abigail Breslin.  Asa Butterfield, the star of Martin Scorsese’s five-time Academy Award winning film Hugo, will play Ender Wiggin.  And Powell has been cast as his mother, Theresa Wiggin.

“I’m incredibly excited,” Powell said.  “It’s like it’s too good to be true.”

           

Powell, who will also appear in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 as the vampire Sasha later this year, said she doesn’t know exactly how she landed her role in Ender’s Game.  

“I mean you never really know,” Powell said.  “The casting director knew me from other projects, and she thought I’d be right for the part, so I auditioned.  The director liked what I did, and I went to New Orleans for a meeting with him.  After a long wait, I got the call.”

Powell said filming for Ender’s Game will begin next week in New Orleans, but that the cast has already had several rehearsals.  Powell said she wasn’t nervous about working with her celebrity castmates.    

“I don’t get intimidated by celebrities,” Powell said.  “To be in the room with all these people at once, you see that they’re all really normal.  They’re human beings.”

Powell has been acting since she was a child.  At age 12, she was cast as the lead in a school production of Oliver, and she has been doing some form of acting ever since.  After graduating from high school, Powell went to the University of Hawaii and later to Louisiana State University to study theater.  Over the past 20 years, Powell has appeared in numerous T.V. shows and films.  In 2010, she was cast as a recurring character on the T.V. series The Gates.

Paul Ferguson, Powell’s husband and acting coach, said Powell’s success—especially her most recent success—is well deserved.

“This is an ideal experience,” Ferguson said.  “I think of it as a reward that she’s earned every bit of.”

Ferguson and Powell just celebrated their 18^th wedding anniversary.  They have worked together on various theatrical productions for more than 20 years.  Ferguson, a writer, director and professor at UNC, works with Powell on her auditions and has directed Powell in many of his original musicals and adaptations. Ferguson said he and Powell are each other’s biggest fans.

“We’re a team,” Ferguson said.  “That’s one of the secrets to our success.  We both believe that neither of us would be able to be as good as we are without the other.  I hope that I’m able to help her go further as an actor.  And I know that she helps me go further than I could as a writer and a director.”

Powell credits Ferguson and her friends’ continued support for much, if not all, of her success.

“Having love and health and friends I think makes me a better actor,” Powell said.  “In a way, I don’t think success could have come to me if I didn’t have that perspective.”

Powell and Ferguson have mentored many of Ferguson’s students at UNC.  Ferguson’s students said they were excited, but not shocked, by the news that Powell had been cast in a major motion picture.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Laura Ann Tully, a senior dramatic art major, said.  “Andi’s a brilliant actress and a wonderful person.  She totally deserves this success.”

Kallie Wray, a junior dramatic art and communication studies double major, agreed. 

“She’s an inspiration,” Wray said.  “She’s able to achieve anything she sets her mind to, and she keeps such a good attitude.”

Tully said she sees Powell as a role model.

“She’s a great example of a good person making it,” Tully said.  “You always want good people to make it.  It’s really refreshing to see.”

Powell said that it is impossible to predict whether being cast in Ender’s Game will skyrocket her to stardom.  Regardless, Powell said that becoming famous isn’t one of her priorities.  

“There was a time when I was more single-minded about pursuing my acting career,” Powell said.  “Ultimately I figured out that the most important thing in my life is love, which I have.”

Powell said that she’s not sure what she will do after she is done filming Ender’s Game.  She said she hopes another project will come along, or else she will have some time off.  If nothing else, Powell said landing her role in Ender’s Game will lead to interesting experiences. 

“And that’s all I really want to do,” Powell said. “To live a life full of interesting experiences.” 

Bold Choice, Big Show

"Henry IV" is one long show.  It runs over three hours, and one is acutely aware of it at times.

Despite its long running time, PlayMakers Repertory Company's production of "Henry IV" is well done.  The actors are well cast, the language well handled and the action fast-paced — especially in the latter half.  The production runs until March 4 in the Paul Green Theatre.

"Henry IV" is a coming of age tale that marks Prince Hal’s assent to the throne.  Amidst political unrest, Hal, a rowdy young man who spends most of his time drinking in a tavern with his band of misfit friends, rises to be crowned Henry V by the play’s conclusion.

The PlayMakers actors seemed to have more fun in Acts II and III of the play.  And the audience did, too.  This isn’t surprising, as Act I, in typical Shakespearean fashion, is mostly obligatory exposition.  

A note of caution to theatergoers not familiar with the play’s storyline: read the plot summary in the playbill beforehand.  Otherwise, you are in danger of being completely confused for the entire first Act.

The trick to Shakespeare is to never make how his words are said more important than what is said.  The actors in "Henry IV" were especially adept at letting Shakespeare’s text speak for itself.  The language, which could be difficult for less capable actors, never sounded stilted or overdone coming from the PlayMakers actors.  They handled each word with grace and strength.

Michael Winters, who plays Sir John Falstaff, Prince Hal’s surrogate father figure, is especially adept.  He skillfully plays the bumbling, good-natured Falstaff, whose weight is the butt of most jokes throughout the play.

But the show is certainly an acquired taste.  It doesn’t have the wide audience appeal that PlayMakers’ next production, “Noises Off,” which runs April 4 to April 22, will undoubtedly have.  "Henry IV" is a historical drama, after all.  It won’t bring in big crowds.  There were many open seats at the performance Saturday night and after two intermissions, yes two intermissions, the theater was even emptier.

The costume design was contradictory.  Though most of the actors were adorned in standard period costume, Prince Hal was dressed in distracting modern clothing.  He sported a hooded sweatshirt that looked like something out of a Gap advertisement in Act I, ripped jeans in Act II, and a white suit circa 1920s mobster in Act III.

The purpose of dressing Prince Hal in modern garb was most likely an attempt of the costume designer’s to emphasize Hal’s status as the leader of a new generation.  But this didn’t read. It was too bold.  His modern dress was distracting and unnecessary.  Costume design should never steal focus from the action onstage or from the playwright’s text.  Metaphors are best left to Shakespeare, not to costume designers.

Needless to say, "Henry IV" is definitely worth seeing.  The set is incredible with its steel scaffolding and trap door center stage.  The actors are skilled, the direction seamless and the sound and lighting design impeccable.  The production is a bold choice for PlayMakers and the company does justice to the enormous undertaking.

Shakespeare, whoever he (or she) was, would be proud.

Stay tuned for a review of "Henry V" within the next few weeks.

"Henry IV" and "Henry V" will run until March 4 in rotating repertory in the Paul Green Theatre.  Shows are at 7:30 p.m with additional 2 p.m. weekend matinees. For a complete calendar of show times, refer to the PlayMakers calendar.

Tickets range from $10 to $45.  To purchase tickets, call PlayMakers' box office at (919) 962-7529, or visit the PlayMakers website.

A.O. Scott

Photo credit: nytimes.com

A.O. Scott is a film critic at the New York Times.  Before joining the New York Times in 2000, Scott wrote for Newsday, Slate and the New York Review of Books.

Scott writes fantastic reviews.  His writing is crisp, his opinions are well founded and most importantly, his reviews show that he really does love movies.  This is the most important requirement for the job.  You must love films to be a film critic.  And A.O. Scott definitely does.

In the introduction for the “Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made” on the New York Times’ website, Scott writes that the purpose of reviews is to start arguments, rather than settle them.  He says that arguments are “one of the solemn duties of criticism and, most importantly, one of the great pleasures of movie-going.”  That said, Scott doesn’t believe in sugarcoating.  His writing is brilliant because it isn’t reigned in.  Scott writes what he thinks and if it’s going to start controversy, then all the better.  Controversy, according to Scott, is every great critic’s goal.

But Scott doesn’t try to pretend that his reviews aren’t biased or flawed; rather, he embraces the fallibility of his writing and the writing of other critics like him.  He understands that while films may survive the test of time, individual critics most likely will not.  And this is how it should be.  After all, as Scott notes, “While film critics are only human, the movies are divine.”

For a taste of A.O. Scott’s writing, you can refer to his review of Midnight in Paris.

"Henry IV" and "Henry V"

Meredith Parks, a junior dramatic art major, has been doing theater for a long time.  But she’s always been on stage, not off it.

That changed last week when Parks began working as a crew member for PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of “Henry IV.”  “Henry IV,” which runs Jan. 28 to March 4 in rotating repertory with “Henry V,” is Parks’ first experience working behind the scenes of a professional production.

“I’ve acted for a long time, but my crew experience was pretty limited,” Parks said.  “Crewing with PlayMakers has helped me to realize that there’s so much more that goes into a production than what’s on stage.”

The Department of Dramatic Art requires all undergraduate dramatic art majors to take a practicum in production with PlayMakers Repertory Company in costuming, scenery, lighting or sound.  The goal is to give dramatic art majors an appreciation and understanding of the functions of a crew member of a professional theatrical production.  

But most students dread the PlayMakers practicum because of the extreme time commitment it requires, Parks said.

“At first, I was very skeptical and apprehensive about it,” Parks said.  “But now I’m starting to see that the practicum is a really good experience for those interested in doing theater after graduation.”

Parks said she has enjoyed being a crew member because she’s been able to get to know a lot of the actors and the stage manager of the production.  Parks said her first few days as a crew member were hectic because she had a lot to learn, but now she’s starting to have fun being on the crew.

That's a good thing because the time commitment for “Henry IV” is especially great, given the show’s long running time, Parks said.

“'Henry IV' is super long,” Parks said.  “The directors have made a lot of cuts to the show to shorten it, but it’s still three and a half hours long.  It has two intermissions.”

Despite the length of the production, Parks said she thinks audiences will be engaged and attentive throughout.

“I think that audiences will really enjoy it,” Parks said.  “It’s going to be a really fun show to watch.  There’s a lot of comedy, a lot of action and a lot of drama.”

“Henry IV” is a coming-of-age tale of Prince Hal’s rise to power as King Henry V.  The play leads into “Henry V,” which takes place almost a decade after “Henry IV.”  Parks said the plays are not usually performed together.

“’Henry V’ is a totally separate show, so it’s really unusual that they’re performing them at the same time.” 

Parks will be a PlayMakers crew member until the production closes in March.  She said she has already learned a lot, and she expects to learn more. 

“It’s been a great learning experience,” Parks said.  “And it’s a stepping stone for realizing what my career could be like if I continue to do theater after graduation.” 

"Henry IV" and "Henry V" will run until March 4 in rotating repertory in the Paul Green Theatre.  Shows are at 7:30 p.m with additional 2 p.m. weekend matinees. For a complete calendar of show times, refer to the PlayMakers calendar. 

Tickets range from $10 to $45.  To purchase tickets, call PlayMakers' box office at (919) 962-7529, or visit the PlayMakers website.

Entertainment Sites

Here are five entertainment and celebrity news sites that I frequent.  Check them out!

Variety

Variety, as its twitter bio states, has been the premiere source of entertainment news since 1905.  It is my go-to site for film, television and music news.  The site lists the weekend’s top box office successes, most-viewed T.V. shows and top songs and albums of the day.  It also provides international entertainment news.  Variety keeps me updated on entertainment all over the world, not just in the United States.  For that reason, it is one of my most frequented entertainment news sites.

New York Magazine

If I could work for any magazine, it would be New York Magazine.  I love the accessibility of its website, the boldness of the writing and its devotion to all things culture: restaurants, entertainment, fashion, etc.  Its subsection "Vulture" is my favorite part of the magazine's website.  Vulture has the most relevant news, interviews and videos of the week’s top entertainment and cultural events. 

The New York Times

I read the the New York Times for both entertainment and non-entertainment news.  I feel confident knowing the information I read on its website is credible and accurate.  The theater and film reviews are sophisticated and stylish and the critics present professional, knowledgeable opinions.  I aim to model many of my film and theater reviews after the New York Times' reviews.  A.O. Scott is my favorite movie critic on the website.  His writing is sharp, witty and well paced.  You can see his review of The Descendants, which I critiqued in my last post, right here: 

The Descendants Movie Review

E! Online

Alright, so this one is a little embarrassing.  E! Online is what many would call a “trashy” Hollywood gossip site, and they wouldn't necessarily be wrong.  Reading celeb gossip is a guilty pleasure of mine, but E! Online isn’t a mere gossip site.  Its movie reviews, though not to be thought of as exceptional pieces of writing by any means, are blunt and to the point, without all the beating around the bush that the The New York Times or New York Magazine’s reviews tend to have.  Its reviews reflect more of what the average moviegoer wants to see in a film.  I appreciate E! Online’s candor, even if its site is peppered with silly who’s dating who info or “PDA of the day” nonsense.

Playbill

And last, but certainly not least, there is playbill.com.  Playbill.com is my go-to theater site.  It has the latest information on up-and-coming plays, musicals and other performance events.  It covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional/Tours, and International theater and has links to buy tickets to shows near you.  It has photo features and interviews with playwrights, directors and actors and, not to mention, also lists a lot of great entertainment jobs and internships in New York City that I plan on applying for!