6:15 p.m. From AP: "LONDON -- Kevin Spacey already has two Academy Awards and heads London's Old Vic theater. Now he can add a new title _ Oxford University professor. The Hollywood star has been named Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theater at Oxford's St. Catherine's College, officials there announced Friday." Next, Britney Spears as distinguished visiting professor of music and culture.
I can only add... Rosie O'Donnell to head the metallurgical engineering department?
Let's see, a suceesful career actor(which neither Britney or Rosie can claim to be) gets an appointment to an academic department, which(gasp!)is actually in his area of expertise!
ReplyDeleteNot only that, he has some dramatic experience other than as an actor as well:
Since 2003, he has been artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.
What did he do there?
Not that much, I'm afraid:
The Old Vic
In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres.[6] Appearing at a press conference alongside Dame Judi Dench and Sir Elton John, he promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent.[7] Spacey undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. He thus became the first Artistic Director of the newly formed Old Vic Theatre Company, which stages shows eight months out of the year. Its first season, starting in September 2004, opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews.[8] In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard IIdirected by Trevor Nunn.[8]
After that, in mid 2006, Spacey noted that he was having the time of [his] life working at the Old Vic, and explained that at this point in his career, he felt that he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside himself.[9] He performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry in which he played the role made famous by Cary Grant in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey's daring for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop. However in the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a humiliating failure with a production of Resurrection Blues, a little-known Arthur Miller play, directed by film director Robert Altman.[10] Despite an all-star Hollywood cast (including Neve Campbell and Matthew Modine) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed only a few weeks into its run.[9] Spacey resurrected his game later in the year, starring in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007.
Will wonders never cease!
Next up: Dog bites cat!