Baytree

Only some of it?

Katherine Jenkins is Taking part in Dancing With The Stars in the US this year.

F Murray Abraham has joined the cast of Beauty and the Beast. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a368...ay-abraham.html

Were they on the panel in the second series? I don't remember seeing them.

New casting. Still no (Beauty) Princess Grace http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/news/a368...ay-abraham.html

Was the mask making in LA or Vancouver?

Meat Loaf was on the One Show last night. I'm surprised to find I haven't forgiven him fully for deliberately embarrassing Darius on PSTOS. I had to struggle to watch last night.

Hope he's still recognisable with it on. I'm being a wee hypocrite because I wouldn't ever have minded Darius doing Phantom and he'd have to wear a mask for that.

The CW Beauty and the Beast is an update of the successful series with Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton. The ABC Beauty and the Beast appears to be a mystery adventure set in a mythical time and loosely based on the original fairy tale, La Belle et la Bete. It's supposed to be darker than OUAT. It's written by Johnathan Steinberg who is also one of its producers, as is Gary (?) Fleder who's directing the CW pilot!!

The casting director was, I believe, Deb Aquila of Aquila-Wood, very experienced and very well respected. Chris Egan the other actor cast so far, is on a talent holding scheme with ABC. The scheme is a bit like the old studio system but much less draconian and only ties the actors down for a year or two. The network will probably prefer to cast suitable actors from within their own talent pool first.

He's living the dream - HIS dream! He's keeping all the balls in the air ......writing, recording, performing and acting. Better than that, he's well grounded and has a private hinterland centred on family and friends. Whatever success has ever come his way, he's paid his dues and deserves every bit of it. I hope he takes the opportunity to showcase some of the songs from his forthcoming album.

What channel is OUAT on? I didn't know it was showing in the UK. I watched Grimm again last night and the "wolf" on that one gets a lot of comedy one liners. He's a great character. I think as a Meisner trained actor, Darius would voluntarily go a long way for authenticity to get closer to his character in any show/production. I think there'd be a lot of resistance if anyone was foolhardy enough to try to force him to do anything he was dead set against.

I meant post production of the pilot episode. There's a rebellion at the heart of the drama and I'm guessing that means fights and stunts and the director mentioned special effects too. There's all the usual stuff too like checking for sound inequalities, and changing the lighting etc Lots of things are done after shooting the scenes.

Good grief. Pilot casting is a lot tighter than I'd ever imagined. Darius must've acted his socks off. http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/pilots-sea...casting-trends/

Really? I thought you'd earned an A star in that!

Thanks again, Claire. Like many other guys, I'm not sure he's ever really comfortable stopping to pose for the cameras alone.

There's a documentary on tonight I think. It's about his work helping other stammerers. I'm not sure which channel it's on.

I wonder if he'll need to hit the gym to bulk up for the beast role before filming begins. I've no idea how long filming would take. They'll probably need a bit of time afterwards for post production. Whether that would present Darius with an opportunity to tread the Broadway boards will depend, I suppose, on whether he would need to make himself available for pre-publicity. He clearly couldn't do both because he's always had to do TV and radio shows and media interviews, to promote Chicago etc. when he's been in the West End. I'd think Broadway stars would have to do likewise.

The other Beauty and the Beast pilot for the CW network is set in modern times and is an update of that Ron Perlman/Linda Hamilton show from a couple of decades ago. ABC's show, which I've seen referred to as just "Beast" a few times, with Darius as the Beast, is based on the traditional fairy tale but it's an original script written by Johnathan E Steinberg. Steinberg is also exec producer on the show. ABC's current hit Once Upon A Time seems to alternate between the present and fairy tale times of once upon a time and a different fairy tale character is central to each episode. I haven't seen it - sounds like Grimm in the latter respect although OUAT also seems to have an unravelling mystery strand running the whole series too. It's getting really good ratings and seems virtually certain to get another season. It's hoped Beast will complement OUAT. It's been suggested on a few sites that Beast might also jump time and place and it will be darker and shown later in the schedule. One of the strange things about these two pilots is that the director of the CW one is also one of the producers of ABC's. The one with Darius will be directed by a French Canadian director called Yves Simoneau(?)

According to Dean Piper, Darius and Natasha were at Elton John's party. Nina, I think most of the UK press has been OK, article wise. However, the Sun has never credited Darius with any talent whatsoever. If GS is going to reduce Darius's career to reality TV, he might at least get it straight - a reality TV show WINNER, I believe! The said G. Smart may also be 'smarting' because I'm sure he was the journo who dismissively tweeted a couple of weeks ago that he'd bumped into Darius in Vancouver. Maybe if he'd spoken to Darius he might have got a wee clue as to why Darius was there. TBH, at the time, I didn't bother posting because it was round about the time of Natasha's and Darius's first wedding anniversary and I thought they'd gone for a break in Canada. A US acting role for Darius just didn't cross my mind, given that he was really focussed on the album and had Chicago on Broadway coming up. I still can't quite get my head around it.................just wasn't expecting him to play a lead role in anything in the US until he'd done a couple of supporting ones. I wonder if Darius will be at Comic-Con in his own right this year. I'm pretty sure Natasha is going and they're showing an unseen episode of The Secret Circle.

heart - Stars Crash Down

Yokel (Robin Hood)

I agree about Amra. I'm surprised at all the ageist comments I've seen this time around. I think it's the age old problem - those who've seen the film first and are expecting the same from the stage show. In fact, the original Broadway cast were 'mature' actors and actresses. Velma is supposed to be someone who's been around the block many, many times, without ever achieving the recognition or fame she craves. She's worked her socks off in second rate venues. It's her brush with crime and Billy Flynn which propels her to celebrity status at last and she jealously guards that status. The stripped back monochrome production of Chicago - no set, no costume changes bar accessories and a couple of additional jackets, and sparse props - puts all the onus of the show on the cast. Everyone has to be on form to really make it sizzle - the band, the ensemble, the principals.

http://philippacity.com/2011/12/04/review-chicago/

Picture of Jade with Darius in this article http://www.festival4stars.com/wordpress/?p...x-factor-finals