CelebWatch: Stardate 09.18.08

Hiya, folks! Did you miss me? This week’s Watch covers about two weeks worth of news, including: Patrick Stewart’s new play selling out faster than the RSC can say “Engage;” Avery Brooks pitching Death of a Salesman; Jeri Ryan showing off her baby’s nursery; Anthony Montgomery joining NCIS; Zoe Saldana going fashion crazy; Zachary Quinto doing the Robot Chicken; and, oh, so much more.

Stewart play tickets sell fast + opens children’s hospital ward
What happens when you put Doctor Who (David Tennant) and Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) together in a Shakespearean play? The Royal Shakespeare Company found out on Friday when they started issuing tickets for the Novello Theatre run of their new production of Hamlet starring the fandom twosome. According to The Telegraph, within minutes of making the tickets available for purchase, the official RSC website crashed due to high demand. In the meantime, fans jammed up the RSC’s telephone hotline trying to order tickets, while hundreds of of people waited in line at the Novello – some of them having camped out on the street over night. It was like Phantom Menace all over again — you know, before people found out it sucked. Even with the website down, tickets for all 23 performances of Hamlet were sold in two hours, according to News.Scotsman.com. So, if you live in London and were hoping to see Tennant and Stewart grace the stage when Hamlet came to the Novello in December, you’re out of luck – unless you want to buy them from one of the unofficial site selling them for some £1,000 — more than ten times their face value. The choice is your’s. Speaking of Patrick Stewart, the actor took some time off from the aforementioned Hamlet to open up a children’s ward at Warwick Hospital, according to Coventry Telegraph.

Stewart prays that his fans outnumbered Tennant’s fans leading to the sell-out

Brooks pitches ‘Salesman’
In a new behind-the-scenes interview, Avery Brooks (Ben Sisko) discusses his role of Willy Loman in the Oberlin College production of Death of a Salesman, which, by the way, started today! Brooks also discusses some of his past roles, including that of DS9’s Captain Sisko. The full, uncut, 40-minute interview – in which Brooks is joined by Salesman director Justin Emeka – is available on YouTube in seven parts, the first of which can be found here. (Thanks to Michael Patti for the heads up on that!) Emeka and Brooks also talked a bit with Cleveland.com about the play, which runs until September 21st, so get out there and see it if you can!

Attention must be paid… hey, are you listening to me? Avery Brooks (seated, right) ignores fellow cast members in Death of a Salesman.

Zoe hits Fashion Week
New York Fashion week wrapped up last weekend where the top designers showed off their Spring 2009 collections, and Star Trek’s new Uhura Zoe Saldana was there every step of the way. WireImage has shots of Zoe attending shows every day, and of course she had a new outfit for every one of them (sometimes three outfits in the same day). Zoe clearly has a thing for fashion. Here are the shots.

 
 
Zoe strikes a pose, and a pose, and a pose, and a pose, and a…
(click to enlarge)

Inside Ryan’s baby’s nursery
Are you the least bit curious to see what Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine)’s daughter’s nursery looks like and the thought processes behind its design? Really? you were? Well, you’re in luck! Celebrity Baby Blog sat down with the lovely Borg mom to discuss all the intricacies that went into the design and layout of the nursery for her now 6-month-old daughter, Gisele. Ryan designed much of the room herself and in addition to a nifty crib fit for a princess (albeit, a little one), there’s furniture galore, including a bed for her for when she grows up and can sleep without the assistance of a cot mobile. All joking aside, the nursery looks very nice and comfortable without being over-the-top baby-ish, which is what mommy and daddy were going for… but I’m not going to describe it all to you; you can check it out for yourself at the link provided.

Jeri Ryan with baby Gisele (inset) and the nursery she designed… it even has a chandelier, what the crap??

Transporter Chief Forte joins Academy Chief Perry for some ‘Payne’
Marlene Forte, the Cuban-American actress who plays a transporter chief in 2009’s Star Trek, will be joining the cast of Tyler Perry‘s hit series, House of Payne. According to Contacto Magazine, Forte will be playing Rosalita Hernandez, the mother of the Latin family moving next door to the Paynes. Incidentally, the show’s executive producer and frequent writer/director, Tyler Perry, also appears in 2009’s Star Trek as the chief of Starfleet Academy. Hey, two actors who played two different chiefs on Trek now working together on a popular sitcom. What are the odds?

Perry and Woodard talk ‘Family That Preys’
Speaking of Tyler Perry, the big time writer/producer/director’s latest film, The Family That Preys, opened this past weekend and earned a respectable $17.4 million in ticket sales, which landed it at #2 behind the Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading (source: Box Office Mojo). It is also Perry’s best-reviewed movie to date, with a 52% rating on RottenTomatoes (still rotten, though). In the weeks leading up to the films release, both Perry and the film’s star, Alfre Woodard (Lily Sloane in Star Trek: First Contact), gave interviews discussing and promoting the film. You can check out some of these interviews at the following links: Perry: Artist Direct, Afro American, Cleveland.com, NewsBlaze, ReelzChannel, Access Atlanta, WJZ Baltimore,
Woodard: LA Times, Premiere, MyFox Kansas City)

More Woodard
Speaking of Alfre Woodard, the actress will be honored at this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival, according to SF Gate. She will also be attending the festival for onstage interviews and conversations. Also, according to the LA Times, Woodard appeared on The Morning Show on Wednesday to promote The Family That Preys. Lastly, UrbanMecca spotted Woodard at the Tribecca Grand screening for the film Appaloosa in NYC on September 9th.

“How much longer do I need to stand like this? I would like to see the damn movie!

Pegg’s nationality an issue?
Simon Pegg (the new Scotty) is British. According to Bob Weide, the director of Pegg’s new film, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, that may be a problem when it comes to promoting their movie. After all, Pegg is a huge star in the United Kingdom, but in America, he apparently only has a small cult of devoted fans. Weide tells Reuters he is a bit worried “because it’s out of my control and therefore frustrating.” He also says:

I’m hoping this film will do for Simon what ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ did for [Hugh] Grant and, during a previous generation, what ‘Arthur’ did for Dudley Moore. But we’ve also surrounded Simon with a lot of very talented actors to help that process along.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, which also stars Kirsten Dunst (Hedril in TNG’s “Dark Page”), hits US theaters on October 3rd.

At least Quinto has ‘Chicken’…
Zachary Quinto (the new Spock) parodied his Heroes character when he voiced Sylar in a skit from the latest episode of Robot Chicken. Check it out below!

De Lancie rules two ‘Worlds’
John de Lancie (Q) is directing Howard Koch’s infamous 1938 radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds for presentation at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts on October 26th, as reported by Playbill. It will be presented along with de Lancie’s adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. The cast members involved in these productions include Josh Clark, best known as Lt. Joe Carey on Star Trek: Voyager, and Jerry Hardin, who has appeared twice on TNG (notably as Samuel Clemens in the “Time’s Arrow” two-parter) and once on Voyager. Oh, and in case you missed it from our last report, de Lancie’s Lost World will run as part of the LA Theatre Works’ 2008-2009 season May 13-17, 2009.

McDowell becoming a dad again
In other Trek-related baby news, OK! Magazine revealed that 65-year-old actor Malcolm McDowell (Dr. Tolian “Oh, my God, you killed Kirk! You bastard!” Soran) and his wife Kelley are expecting their third child, a boy. The newcomer will actually be McDowell’s fifth child, including a son and daughter from a previous marriage to actress Mary Steenburgen. McDowell told OK! that they have settled on a name for the baby, but refuse to reveal it as that would be bad luck. Regarding fatherhood, McDowell had this to say:

I’m a very active father of two — soon to be three — boys. They should be my grandchildren, but they’re my children, so go figure. It’s a very loud household!

In other McDowell news, the actor will be among those receiving a lifetime achievement award at the Savannah Film Festival, according to Variety. The festival runs from October 25th through November 1st and will include screenings of McDowell’s films A Clockwork Orange and Never Apologize.

Montgomery does “Damage” on ‘NCIS’
Holy crap, Anthony Montgomery‘s acting on TV again! The actor, who you will remember played Travis Mayweather on Enterprise, has filmed a guest spot on the CBS series NCIS. According to announcement on his official site (actually posted on September 11th, not August 11th as it says on the site), Montgomery plays Marine Corporal George Linden in an episode entitled “Collateral Damage.” The episode is part of the show’s sixth season, which premieres September 23rd; there is no word yet on exactly when Montgomery’s episode will air.

We will Ruck you
Did you see Alan Ruck (Capt. Harriman) guest-starring on last week’s summer finale of Psych? Yeah, neither did I, but he apparently played an armed bank robber; you can read a review of the episode at IGN. If you’re feeling bad about missing that, you can still see Ruck as a “ghost dad” in the film Ghost Town. which opens this weekend. Up next, Ruck will be starring in a TV show called Persons Unknown, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Bakula storms SAG
For months the Screeen Actors Guild has been in dissaray as it attempts to negotiate a new contract with the studios. The guild has been divided into two factions: the ‘Unite for Strength’ group led by Tom Hanks and the ‘Members First’ Group led by Martin Sheen, which includes in its members Star Trek Enterprise’s Scott Bakula. And today Bakula has just been elected to SAG’s national board in order to help his faction, but unfortunately for him the ‘Unite For Strength’ group got a slim majority. Bakula will be joined on the board by fello ‘Members Firster’ (and former Enterprise guest star Keith Carradine), who was also just elected. More info at the LA Times.

Bakula and Carradine together again and in a new kind of fight

TrekBits

• Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) will be at Czech Trek in Prague, which runs September 19-21. (DeniseCrosby.net)
• Tim Russ (Tuvok) will be performing at “Rhythm and Ribs” in Sacramento on September 20th at 6pm. (Tim Russ Web Page)
• Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) will be attending the Horror/Sci-Fi convention in Sacramento, California, called From the Land Beyond, on September 26th and 27th. (WWdN: In Exile)
• Michael Dorn (Worf) voices a character called Maero in the video game Saints Row 2, which arrives in stores next month. (Game Focus)
• Donna Murphy (Insurrection‘s Anij) will take part in the fourth annual “New York Times Great Read” to be held on October 5th. {MarketWatch)
• J.G. Hertzler (Martok, Laas) is playing the role of Miss Prism in a production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at the Cornell Schwartz Center for the Performaning Arts. (The Cornell Daily Sun)
• James Cromwell (Zefram Cochrane, etc.) took part in the 2008 Chabad “To Life” Telethon earlier this week. (Lubavitch.com)
• Actress-turned-writer/producer Nancy Hower (Samantha Wildman on Voyager) is developing an animated comedy series with Jeff Foxworthy and John Lehr about a dysfunctional family set in the world of NASCAR. (Variety)
• Speaking of the Wildman family, Scarlett Pomers (Naomi Wildman) will be speaking about her battle with anorexia at a conference hosted by National Eating Disorders Association in Austin, Texas, on September 20th. (MarketWatch
• Ruth Williamson (the spherebuilder primary on Enterprise) is currently starring in previews of a production of The Women at the Old Globe in San Diego; the show officially opens September 21st. (Playbill)
• Steven Culp (Major Hayes on ENT) and Jeffrey Nordling (Tahna in DS9’s “Past Prologue”) can be seen in the pilot episode for The Mentalist, premiering on CBS September 23rd at 9PM EST. (The Hollywood Reporter, CBS.com)
• Tom Hardy (Shinzon) is expected to attend the opening of some Alfred Dunhill house in London. (PRNewswire)
• Tony Todd (Kurn, adult Jake Sisko, etc.) discussed the recent Candyman remake rumors as well as a potential follow-up to his own Candyman movies in an interview with Shock Till You Drop.
• Wallace Shawn (Zek) joins the cast of Gossip Girl (Inconceivable!) for a multi-episode arc as Cyrus, the father of Serena’s new boyfriend, Aaron. And I have no idea who any of those people are. (Entertainment Weekly)
• Daniel Dae Kim (ENT’s Corporal Chang) has pleaded no contest to drunken driving charges and was ordered to pay a $500 fine, $212 in court fees and perform 72 hours of community service. (The Associated Press)

The Trek Continues…
TrekMovie.com wishes a belated happy birthday to actress/director Roxann Dawson (B’Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager), who turned 50 on September 11th. We would also like to send belated birthday wishes to Walter Koenig (Chekov), who turned 72 on September 14th; Bruce Hyde (Lt. Kevin Riley), now 67; and Tom Hardy (Shinzon), now 31. Among those Trek luminaries adding another candle to their birthday cake in the coming week are: actor Jason Alexander (Kurros, VOY: “Think Tank”), 49; actor Victor Brandt (Watson in “Elaan of Troyis” and Tango Rad in “The Way to Eden”), 66; actress Rosalind Chao (Keiko O’Brien), 51; actor Henry Gibson (Nilva, DS9’s “Profit and Lace”), 73; screenwriter John Logan (Star Trek Nemesis), 47; actor Kenneth Tigar (Margan in TNG’s “Symbiosis” & Dammar in VOY’s “Displaced”), 66; and director Anson Williams (DS9’s “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” etc.), 59. To these and everyone who isn’t listed here, TrekMovie.com wishes you all a very happy birthday!