News

1984: Guiding Light's Springfield celebrated Founders Day.

1985: Gh's Anna & Robert plotted to get the Aztec jewels.

1986: Another World's Felicia spoke at Zane's funeral.

1991: Days of our Lives' "Roman" reunited with Marlena."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1977: On Guiding Light, Eve Stapleton (Janet Grey) was released from Cedars Hospital.

1979: On The Edge of Night, Elliott couldn't (Lee Godart) resist Raven (Sharon Gabet) even though he was aghast she left the baby alone.

1980: On Guiding Light, Nola (Lisa Brown) gave Morgan (Kristen Vigard) someone else's I.

Hey NCIS fans. We've got some more pretty interesting news for the upcoming 16th season of your favorite show. CBS recently put out the very first press release for the season 16 premiere episode 1. The press release gives a brief teaser description of the episode, a title along with some guest stars and main cast credits. It turns out that we're going to see Gibbs taking on a new role this season since Director Vance has been kidnapped. Yep, that's right guys. Gibbs will be the new acting director while Vance is missing in action. We're also going to see the NCIS crew go on a major worldwide search for Vance to kick off this brand new season. There's also going to be a little bit of a timeline jump as the season 16 timeline will be set one month after where the season 15 finale episode ended. CBS' official teaser description tells...

1984: Guiding Light's Springfield celebrated Founders Day.

1985: Gh's Anna & Robert plotted to get the Aztec jewels.

1986: Another World's Felicia spoke at Zane's funeral.

1991: Days of our Lives' "Roman" reunited with Marlena."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1977: On Guiding Light, Eve Stapleton (Janet Grey) was released from Cedars Hospital.

1979: On The Edge of Night, Elliott couldn't (Lee Godart) resist Raven (Sharon Gabet) even though he was aghast she left the baby alone.

1980: On Guiding Light, Nola (Lisa Brown) gave Morgan (Kristen Vigard) someone else's I.D. so Morgan could get birth control pills.

Back Stage's intrepid correspondent Jessica Gardner is blogging Live from the San Diego Comic-Con through the weekend. She'll be interviewing actors, directors and fanboy attendees at this year's popular film, TV and comic book expo. For full info on the event, refer to www.comic-con.org, but check in with us all weekend long for acting insights, exciting interviews, videos, and buzz from the Con. Follow The Live Blog At Blog Stage...

Back Stage Features Writer Jessica Gardner moderates a panel with Readers' Choice Favorite Commercial Casting Director Francine Selkirk and Favorite TV Casting Director April Webster.Casting Director Francine Selkirk (Part 1)Favorite Commercial Casting Director Selkirk talks about casting "real people."Casting Director Francine Selkirk (Part 2)Selkirk talks about the importance of commercial classes.Casting Director Francine Selkirk (Part 3)Selkirk talks about how she auditions actors.Casting Director Francine Selkirk (Part 4)Selkirk gives her best overall advice for actors.Casting Director April Webster (Part 5)Favorite TV Casting Director April Webster talks about how to get on her radar.Casting Director April Webster (Part 6)Webster talks about the best way to submit reels.Casting Director April Webster (Part 7)Webster gives her best audition advice.

doorQ.com Contributor John Cleland’s new webseries The Fairy Tales is drawing a lot of attention. The story follows three fairy tale princesses (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella) who find themselves living together under one roof in the Hollywood Hills, with their lives being filmed for Reality TV. Tempers flare and bitchiness ensues as the girls try to find their happily-ever-after in this hilarious, laugh-out-loud, wildly inappropriate series.

I’ve seen the first episode in the series and it’s quite fun, with bitchy remarks, lots of drinking and princes who might also qualify for queendom. The episode quickly attracted the attention of Outfest, the Los Angeles Glbt Film Festival, who will officially debut the episode before a launch on the web.

In a further testament to the quality of the series, John (along with series co-creator Joey Schow), recently announced that former Queer Eye For The Straight Guy...

Join Back Stage at the SAG Foundation to celebrate the winners of Back Stage's Readers Choice Awards. We will be honoring them one-on-one as well as asking them our questions. Back Stage Features Writer Jessica Gardner will moderate a panel of winners, which includes, April Webster (winner, Favorite Television Casting Director) and Francene Selkirk (winner, Favorite Commercial Casting Director).Tune in through our Live Stream!  During the event, you can email questions to the moderator at LiveStream@sagfoundation.org or tweet to @SAGF_Live or use the hashtag, #Sagf.  No RSVP required for online guests. Live Stream will begin at 7:30 p.m. Pst on Monday, June 27.

Dear Jackie:Can you recommend any good areas in the United States, or even Canada, for professional theater? My husband and I are looking to move out of New York City, but I want to keep performing in musical theater. We don't want to live in a city and are looking to live someplace where we can buy a house and commute into a city if needed. We just aren't city people. —Big City BluesDEAR Big:There are wonderful theater communities all over North America. The X factor in choosing among them may lie in your definition of the word "professional." If you are looking to make a living in musical theater—a challenge for any performer—you'll have an even tougher time of it outside a major metropolis. If you want a busy professional life doing only well-paying Equity gigs, you may want to rethink New York, which functions as a...

Back Stage's Jessica Gardner speaks to Golden Globe nominee Jacki Weaver about playing the tough, crazy matriarch in "Animal Kingdom." I almost choked on my coffee when Weaver noted she's been in the business for 48 years! Though I do remember her in the 1975 Aussie classic "Picnic at Hanging Rock," her amazing turn in "Animal Kingdom" made me feel I was discovering a brand new actress. I truly believe she could pull off an upset at the Globes Sunday night and walk away with Best Supporting Actress.Watch The Video At Back Stage's 'Behind The Scenes' Blog...

Listings compiled by Jessica Gardner and Pete KeeleyDEFINITIONS:Membership: Theater maintains an active company or ensemble of actors and generally casts productions from that pool.Open: Each show is cast on an open basis.Limited: Theater casts on an open policy under limited or special circumstances, usually when a part cannot be cast from existing company members.Key To Symbols & Abbreviations: R: Theater is available for rent. R-va: Rental with variable availability. H&R: Headshots and résumés accepted. M: Accepts manuscripts. Include self-addressed, stamped envelope. W: Workshops or classes offered. D: Charges dues.Note: The following sets of listings comprise theater venues and producing companies; often these are one and the same and are listed as such. Producing companies not exclusively associated with any particular venue are included in the "Independent Theatre Companies" listing on page 18. Affiliated companies are listed in parentheses.More Than 499 Seatsahmanson THEATRE135 N. Grand Ave.Los Angeles,...

"You need to use the Internet to have any career at all," says actor David Blue, who plays the recurring role of Cliff, Marc St. James' (Michael Urie) love interest on Ugly Betty. What was once the domain of paper and ink now fills cyberspace. Casting has gone from the hand-to-stack exercise of sorting through headshots to the click-and-scroll of digital images and videos. And in direct response, actors are turning to the Internet for support, social networking, and self-promotion. They are creating new roles for themselves: that of a "cyber self." Blue uses his MySpace page combo-style — personally and professionally. "MySpace has acted as a site where fans and people interested in keeping up with me can hear what's happening on a regular basis," he says. Actor and comedian Jason Stuart, who played the recurring role of Dr. Steven Michael Thomas on My Wife and Kids and co-stars in...