Archive for Two River Theater Company
Eye Candy – Two River Theater Company Edition
Posted by: | CommentsA huge tip of the hat to the lovely people in Marketing at the Two River Theater Company, who just sent us some super sweet photos of Stephen Colbert from his recent benefit.
I think this one might be my favorite, but you definitely want to click past the fold to see more.
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Eye Candy – Friggin’ Lucky Zoners edition
Posted by: | CommentsI wanted to share these pics, sent to us by some very lucky members of the Colbert Nation, who were fortunate enough to be able to go to the Two River theater benefit at the Count Basie theater last weekend. If you happen to have any other pics, please send them to me as I’d love to add them to this post.
Enjoy!
Elizabeth (narsilicious) and Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert and Mrs Colbert the 2nd
Also, here’s a couple of amazingly unofficial bootleg videos, courtesy of Lockhart43. Although the audio is a bit tough to follow at times (turn on the captions for Video 2 to make the listening a bit easier), make sure to listen around the 3:40 mark in the second video.
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Stephen Colbert at the Two River Theater benefit
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I’m still trying to recover from an excellent night out last night to see Stephen (and a little bit of “Stephen”) at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ. It was a successful night all around — the show was a sell-out, or close to it, so Two River Theater Company gets the financial benefits of a Colbert Bump, and the audience was treated to two hours of fascinating and witty conversation between two old friends. Stephen and his interviewer, Two River Theater’s artistic director Aaron Posner, have a history that goes back to their college days. Not only were they friends and fellow acting students at Northwestern, but Aaron Posner once directed Stephen in a college production.
After Mr. Posner came out and gave a brief synopsis of Stephen’s career, Stephen himself came out to wild applause and did a few flamboyant bows before settling down for the conversation. The first question from Aaron: what were the three or four most important turning points in your life that brought you to where you are today? Stephen’s reply: the first was his discovery of improv, and how that appealed to him so much more than learning lines. The second was his decision to start an acting company with some of his friends, which disintegrated almost immediately. After that, he took some time to travel around Europe, then when he came back, he decided to stick to comedy and set serious acting aside. The third thing was getting a job with Second City. And it wasn’t a performing job at that time, it was some kind of menial clerical job, I think. He actually went on for quite a long time with the answer to this question, and covered a lot of ground. He got especially philosophical when discussing the difference between acting and doing improv.
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Two Rivers theater benefit at the Count Basie Theater – TONIGHT!
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Okay, kiddos, tonight is the NIGHT! The Two Rivers theater benefit at the Count Bassie Theater, featuring an interview with out-of-character Stephen Colbert starts tonight at 7:30p EST. If you haven’t gotten tickets yet, there are a few left, but you’d better act fast!
Since I’m stuck in Dallas and can’t be there, I want to hear all about the event from you lucky Zoners who were fortunate enough to snag tickets. At least two Completists (Ann G. and Lisa) will be at the benefit, as will a good handful of Zoners. I also seem to remember a couple of you even snagging tickets to the VIP Meet and Greet afterwards. So I expect some excellent Return and Report comments in this post! Also, please feel free to e-mail me any pictures or other goodies you may be able to get from the performance. I cannot WAIT to hear reports from this event!
I’ll make sure to send updates as soon as there’s news!
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Stephen Colbert talks to (and does not shout at) NJ.com
Posted by: | CommentsI’m always amused when people seem surprised by Stephen’s mild manners; it takes me a minute to remember that not everyone reads/listens to his out-of-character interviews, and he’s spent the four years of his show’s run cultivating a decidedly bellicose on-air persona (with very convincing results).
In anticipation of his benefit for the Two River Theater, the Newark Star-Ledger recently sat down with Sir Dr. Stephen and discussed some thoughts on the show:
Stephen Colbert interview: Speaking several decibels lower than expected
By Lisa Rose
October 26, 2009, 2:28PM. . .
Q. Does this fundraiser bring you back to your roots?
A. Absolutely. I appeared at a benefit a few years ago, and I gave a speech to thank the benefactors. I wanted them to join me congratulating the courage of the people who’ve made their life in theater. It’s a brave choice to make.
Q. People might not even realize that you have a background in theater.
A. Yup. I’m an actor. I hate to blow everyone’s illusions.
. . .
Q. Do you feel like Obama is doing a good job supplying material for the show?
A. Absolutely. There’s a bit of a grind right now with health care reform. If the story does not change, the challenge is to find fresh ways to go at it. What I do is I deconstruct the news, and then I falsely construct news behavior through my character’s behavior. With the agenda towards health care, it’s like you’re grinding towards this goal post and your arms and legs are snapping as you go towards it.
Q. And there’s no touchdown dance. When one story keeps going on and on, that’s where the challenge comes in?
A. Last week, we talked about weightism. John Ensign co-sponsored an amendment to the health care bill giving lower insurance rates to people who’ve lost weight. That speaks to a pattern of abuse of the overweight.
. . .
Make sure you click through and read the full article; it’s always fun to revisit old some of Stephen’s older Report interviews and to get perspective on his movie career, etc. I’m particularly intrigued by the mention of a new set — what on earth can we expect from that?
(h/t DB!)
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Two River Theater Company asks – What would you like to ask Stephen Colbert?
Posted by: | CommentsI’m sure those of you who weren’t lucky enough to snag tickets to the Benefit for Two River Theater Company at the Count Basie Theatre are wishing there was a way you could participate in this event. Well, friend of the blog Courtney Perez from the Two River Theater Company wanted me to share an opportunity to ask a question of Stephen himself!
Courtney says, “Do you have any questions you would like Stephen Colbert to answer personally? You may be in luck! On November 1, Aaron Posner, Artistic Director of Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, NJ will be conducting a live interview with the out-of-character Stephen Colbert. We are looking for some input on what questions our Colbert fans would like answered.” I’ve been doing this blog for over three years now and an opportunity like this to get a question to Stephen out-of-character is VERY few and VERY far between.
All you have to do is become a fan of the Two Rivers Theater Company Facebook page, and ask the question in their comments thread. Only the questions that are submitted via the Facebook page will be considered.
Make sure to let them know that you’re a Zoner! And in the comments here, give a shout-out if you’re going to the show. (You can share your question here, too, but only the ones submitted on the Facebook page will be considered for the Q&A with Stephen).
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Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – July 27, 2009
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Hey, Zoners! It’s Monday, and you know what that means — new show! While we’re all getting psyched up for that, we can take time for a mad dash through the Colbert newsosphere. Here’s your zeitgeist for July 27th.
Here’s a fun thing that I’ve already seen posted in a couple of places. It’s pretty cool if you’re both a Harry Potter fan and a news nerd:
- Echo Chamber of Secrets: 30 Media Muggles and their Harry Potter Counterparts – Mediaite: You’ll have to go look at the whole thing to see which Harry Potter character is the counterpart of different media personalities, but here are a few highlights:
- Conan O’Brien is Ron Weasley
- Bill O’Reilly is Draco Malfoy (heh)
- Chris Matthews is Mad-Eye Moody
- Anderson Cooper is Fleur Delacour
- Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are Fred and George Weasley (“Extra nerdy parallel: both Stephen Colbert and George Weasley have damaged right ears.”)
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Stephen Colbert to perform for Two River Theater on November 1st
Posted by: | CommentsNice! Those of you who are in New Jersey (or can get there) on November 1st have a rare opportunity to see Stephen Colbert in an out-of-character appearance at the Count Basie Theatre (on behalf of the Two River Theater Company). From the TRTC website:
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
A Candid Conversation with the Real Stephen Colbert
Interviewed by Aaron Posner, TRTC Artistic DirectorA Benefit for
Two River Theater Company
at Count Basie Theatre. . .
How did Stephen Colbert create one of the most intensely theatrical, bitingly satiric, genuinely important and totally original characters on television today? You’ll learn this and more in a rare, out-of-character interview between Colbert and his friend Aaron Posner.
. . .
Speaking from experience, I *strongly* urge any of you who are considering this to stop hesitating and GO. It’s a rare treat to see Stephen in person, and listening to him speak without the usual facade is that much more fascinating. (And, if any of you spring for the premium tickets and the “exclusive reception with Stephen Colbert”, I can only say that I’ll be both thrilled for you and green-eyed with envy.)
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