Stage Door: "The Little Foxes" doubles The Lovely Laura Linney

Nathaniel R on one of the season's biggest Tony nominees and the most important for Actressexuals

Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes first debuted on the New York stage in 1939 with instantly classic characters, most notably the spiteful Regina Giddens and mousy drunk Birdie Hubbard, who Regina's brother married for her considerable fortune. The show was a hit and immediately scored a classic film version, released in 1941. In the intervening years the show seemed to disappear from the public consciousness a wee bit, despite being revived several times. It didn't help that the awesome 1941 film version was out of print for a long stretch. It's always a treat for fans of actresses since the roles are tailor made for starpower divas...

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Doc Corner: An American Tragedy in 'Casting JonBenet'

By Glenn Dunks

Casting JonBenet is a dozen films in one. At only 80 minutes, that’s a lot; and yet it never feels over-stuffed, overwrought, or like it is collecting and abandoning subplots (a frustrating trend of some recent documentaries). At its most basic level, Kitty Green’s film is a documentary about the casting of a film about JonBenet Ramsey. It is also a documentary about the Ramsey family and an investigation, of sorts, into the case. It’s a prank, a look into the making of a (seemingly) fake movie. But that's not all...

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Happy Birthday, Rosario Dawson!

Chris here, showering love an underpraised actress. It's Rosario Dawson's birthday! Dawson is always everywhere and usually when you least expect her - this year alone she's popped up on your TV screens (various Netflix Marvel shows), in animation (The LEGO Batman Movie), and some good old schlock (Unforgettable). Those may be more populist fare, but she's always been something of an indie darling ever since her debut in the controversial Kids (1995), effortlessly charming no matter the genre or budget. By now after working with majors like Tarantino and Danny Boyle, you would think she would have some awards love somewhere to go with a tireless career. Nope, not even a Globe nomination for being the best part of Rent. I'd imagine once she lands in a major awards contender, that will quickly change.

Perhaps that omission is due to what a natural, unshowy presence Dawson is onscreen regardless of genre or degree of difficulty, or maybe that wretched fate of playing supportive girlfriends that befalls too many strong actresses? Quick: name another performer who can emerge unscathed from an occasional turkey with a solid performance (she's pretty solid in Unforgettable, guys). She's smart, unflappable, and dryly funny, always so real that you buy every word. And let's not forget, she's also pretty badass.

For her best work, I'd offer either Trance (which works precisely because of her watchability and believability despite being silly) or Top Five, one of our most underrated recent romantic comedies. What's your favorite Rosario Dawson performance?

Today's 4: The Golden Girls, Vertigo, etc...

Our new tradition. We select four or five showbiz anniversaries and give you homework to go with them. It's our way too elaborate affirmation exercize because who doesn't need to keep their spirits up these days!?

Today's Four Anniversaries (May 9th) as Mood Boosters

2005/1987 The Zeéeee marries Kenny Chesney. Just four months later she seeks an anullment for "fraud" but then asks people not to theorize about what "fraud" means. Understandably no one obeys her and rumors explode. On this same day 18 years earlier, another much-gossiped about marriage that ends in weird bitchy rumors: Tom Cruise and Mimi Rogers! 

In honor of these odd affairs: have a self-deprecating laugh at a big relationship failure rather than being sad about it. We all stumble in love! 

1992 Happy 25th anniversary to the finale of The Golden Girls after a super successful 7 year / 11 Emmys-winning run (one of the rare shows that managed to give one Emmy to each principle, like the entire industry pow-wowed as to who to vote for each time) These girls... Angels, all of them!

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The Furniture: The Salesman Crafts His Own Stage

"The Furniture" is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail. Here's Daniel Walber...

Asghar Farhadi's Oscar winning The Salesman begins with a set. The opening credits appear over the quiet stage of a small Tehran theater, nearly ready to debut a new production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. We see the bed before the actors who will lie in it, neon lights illuminated for an empty house. It is a quite literal setting of the stage before the drama begins.

It’s not a play adaptation, but it often feels like one. There are few locations and the cast is small. And, as in many play adaptations, the production design does a lot of heavy lifting...

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