Thursday, November 18, 2010

Nelsan Ellis of HBO's 'True Blood' finds road from Bessemer to Hollywood

HUNTSVILLE, AL. - When he was younger, Nelsan Ellis, one of the stars of the HBO hit series "True Blood," moved from Chicago to Bessemer, went to school there and eventually worked at Larry's Fish Pot & Barbecue.
But he always had a dream.

A dream to discover the wide world of theater out there.
Now, it looks like he's found it. Besides the role of Lafayette Reynolds in "True Blood," Ellis had a supporting role in "Secretariat" and was also in "The Soloist," which starred Jamie Farr and Robert Downey Jr., and "The Express," a movie about former Syracuse football star Ernie Davis.
Ellis left Bessemer and returned to Chicago when he was 14, eventually attending the prestigious Juilliard School of Arts in New York. From there, patience and hard work has made him a hot commodity in Hollywood and he's coming here tonight to talk about it.

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‘Dracula’ Will Rise Off Broadway, With a Count by Way of Italy Michel Altieri

New York theater’s last major attempts at vampire shows — the Elton John musical “Lestat” in 2006, “Dracula, the Musical” in 2004, and the musical “Dance of the Vampires” in 2002 — were among the biggest Broadway flops of that decade. But the monster success of the “Twilight” book and film series — about young love between a well-coiffed vampire and a pretty, sulky human — since 2008 has led to a host of movies, television series, and books featuring vampires.
Now Off Broadway is giving vampires a go. “Dracula,” the 1927 Hamilton Deane-John L. Balderston play based on Bram Stoker’s novel, which had a hit revival on Broadway in 1977 starring Frank Langella, will have a 13-week run at the Little Shubert Theater starting Dec. 14, with an opening night scheduled for Jan. 5, 2011.
George Hearn, a Tony Award winner for “Sunset Boulevard” and “La Cage aux Folles,” will play the vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, and film actress Thora Birch (“American Beauty,” “Ghost World”) has been cast as Count Dracula’s love interest, Lucy Seward.

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True Blood Music Video of the Day: The Women of Trueblood


True Blood: The Women of Trueblood