South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone Crash NYU Class to Give Storytelling Tips

How come nobody this cool every dropped in on my classes when I was in college?

Trey Parker and Matt Stone went from being cable TV’s darlings to Broadway superstars after The Book of Mormon swept this year’s Tony Awards and has been sold out for every performance through the end of this year.

Of course, the South Park pair have also had hits in the cinema as well with not only the South Park movie but the War on Terror puppetry send-up Team America: World Police.  So obviously Parker and Stone could teach a lesson or two about how to succeed in the entertainment business, which is precisely what the duo did when they made a surprise appearance as instructors at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

The class of 25 freshmen were treated to a lesson on “Storytelling Strategies” by Parker and Stone, including tips on how an outlined episode of South Park should flow from one story beat to the next.  Another gem from the Food Channel obsessed Parker about writing was not to use too many ingredients (“Get one piece of salmon and cook it just right.  Boil it down to one thing”) or else you’ll risk over-complicating the story.  

Didn’t get accepted into NYU this semester?  No worries — the Parker and Stone lesson was taped for Stand In, an MTVu show in which celebrities take over a college class.  It will air on October 3, two days before the second half of South Park‘s fifteenth season debuts on Comedy Central.

You can check out a bit of the lesson below.   Read more

Robber Gets Caught Stealing From A New York City Street Performer

Fortunately, New York street performer Kid Lucky doesn’t also play an instrument, because if he did, he may have been too preoccupied to notice a thief taking off with his group’s collection box.

The foiled burglar watched Kid Lucky and two other beat boxers for about 40 seconds before bending down, pretending like he was putting money into their box and taking off with a handful of cash, according to the New York Daily News website. He then proceeded to run into “the biggest dude in the audience,” according to Kid Lucky, who also had a hand in restraining the man and forcing him to return the stolen money.

“I had already got caught him,” he recalled. “We took him, put him down on the ground, told him, you know, “Just leave the money,” let him back up and let him go. The rapper then “went back to performing again, because that’s what I do.”

Video after the jump.   Read more

Watch: 14 Year-Old Anne Hathaway’s First Commercial

Every actor gets their modest start somewhere. 

For One Day  star Anne Hathaway it was a commercial back in 1997 where she first began perfecting her craft and those teary scenes.  Before becoming a household name somewhere between The Princess Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada, Hathaway appeared in a Real Estate commercial for Better Homes and Gardens. 

In the video clip (that has made its way mysteriously back in rotation) the in demand star is seen overcome with teenage angst, and a style that screams the 90′s.

Pointed out by The Huffington Post, the video’s YouTube description “says the clip was shot in 1997 and according to [Hathaway's] mom on the set, it was the first time she was ever in front of a camera.” 

Watch the video below.  Read more

Watch: Spider-Man’s Reeve Carney, Bono and The Edge in the Music Video for “Rise Above”

We’re still talking about Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark?  The big Broadway musical that could is still in the news these days, selling lots of tickets despite so-so reviews and the fact that the “new and improved” safer show has more-or-less eliminated the what were once daily accidents that people seemed to buy tickets just to catch a possible glimpse of.  Maybe this Spider-Man kid has a future in showbiz after all.

Still, the recent strong ticket sales doesn’t mean the show — along with the recently released original cast recording soundtrack — couldn’t use a bit of promotion so in a rare move a music video of one of the show’s signature songs, “Rise Above 1″, has been created.  The video stars Reeve Carney, the on-stage Peter Parker, along with songwriters Bono and The Edge of U2.  In fact, you may not notice that the video is actually a duet between Carney and Bono since Carney sounds remarkably like the U2 frontman, which goes to show you that if his Broadway career doesn’t work out Carney could also make a few bucks in a U2 tribute band.  It also shows some behind-the-scenes footage of the cast soaring through the theater, and thankfully there’s no accidents here.  Although Bono and The Edge aren’t typically at the Foxwoods Theater performing with Carney, it’s a great way to promote the show (yet I’m pretty sure anyone who wants to know already knows that the U2 duo wrote the show’s songs).

Check out the new music video below!

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Watch A Theater’s 25 Hour Transformation!

For a performing arts theater, a theater without a production means the venue is losing money.  That’s why production crews — including scenic, props, lighting, and sound crews — often have to work long, strange hours in between productions in order to prepare for the next show.  And when those productions are in a theater festival that only lasts for a summer, time is even more of a luxury that crews don’t have.

Thanks to YouTube, this video showcases the intense behind-the-scenes work that goes into a changeover between productions.

This time-lapsed clip shows the changeover between productions of A Street Car Named Desire and One Slight Hitch from the Williamstown Theatre Festival, which has taken place every summer for over fifty years in Williamstown, Massachusetts.  This year the festival is showcasing eight plays in ten weeks, which doesn’t give the crew much time to transition between productions.  Thank goodness the festival has such a hardworking crew!

Check out the clip below, which is a wonderful way to recognize the hard (and usually thankless) work that production crews are responsible for.  In addition, check out the website for the Williamstown Theatre Festival here! One Slight Hitch, which is written by comedian Lewis Black, ends July 17, so if you’re interested you better get your tickets fast!

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15 Backstage Speeches from Golden Globe Winners: Al Pacino, Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Chris Colfer and more!

What do the winners of a Golden Globe do after they’ve snagged their awards? They go backstage and talk to the press. Here are 15 award winners talking about their win, their roles, acting and more!

Check out Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, the cast of Glee and The Social Network and a ton of others after the jump!

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Chronicles of Narnia’s Georgie Henley & Will Poulter on working with Michael Apted

It’s scary when I watch a video and the kids who are interviewed seem more articulate than you. Like this video of Georgie Henley (Lucy) & Will Poulter (Eustace) of the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

They talk about the techniques that director Michael Apted used to help them bring their characters to life, working with green screen and how they’ve been fortunate to work with the cast and crew. “Everything I’ve learned about acting, I’ve learned working on Narnia,” says Henley.

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Liam Neeson describes working on ‘Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’

Liam Neeson discusses how he went on safari to Tanzania to shape his voice for the role of Aslan, in the Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

He also talks about the process of voicing the character and more!

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Dick Van Dyke on his new musical, ‘Step in Time!’

The great Dick Van Dyke (who is 85 by the way – 85!!) is back on the stage at LA’s Geffen Playhouse in a new career-retrospective musical, Step in Time!

Yup, I’m gonna see this.

For tickets and show times, click here

Video after the jump.

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Katie Couric interviews Matthew Morrison

Katie Couric interviews Matthew Morrison about his life, career and plans for the future.

Its got a bunch of clips from his Broadway shows (6 shows in 10 years!) and follows him around as he visits his old school.

Although this is a crappy version of the video, it’s still great to watch.

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