Finally, the movie stills that Marcus Perry had sent me, are up and alive in the Razor Sharp album. Click on the thumbnails for the large versions.
A huge 'Thank You' to my friend Renate, mastermind behind the Sean Bean site BeanLand, who did the work on the pictures, for all her efforts!

The official site of Razor Sharp is beginning to show signs of life, but no new contents so far, as the creators are still busy with preparations for the premiere screening in January. But I was assured, that as soon as this work is done, they'll begin to load the website.

On Dec 6, 2006, during the Art Basel, Michael T. Weiss attended a cocktail party in honor of artist Guillermo Kuitca, hosted by Craig Robins in Miami Beach, Florida, where Guillermo Kuitca's new public art project "Aquarelle", located in front of the Spear and Chatham Buildings at 202 Aqua Avenue, was unveiled.
Photo of Peter Hawrylewicz, Michael T. Weiss and Ken Lieber from the event by Chris Ford/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images.

Both amazon.com and Barnes & Noble have announced that the two Pretender movies Pretender 2001 and Island of the Haunted will be released on DVD in the US (together on a single disc it seems) on March 13, 2007.
Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC ; English ; Pre-ordering ia already possible. Price $18.99 (amazon) or $21.58 (B&N). No further information so far.
TV-ShowsOnDVD.com has now also picked up on this. And they mention me in their article: Thanks to Evie Finsterer for the heads up. We'll post artwork as soon as it's released.

In case you have no other plans for tonight, why don't you commemorate this day by watching "Jeffrey" again, the film that not only gave us some memorable sights on Michael, but also some insights on HIV infection and on Aids.

From Marcus Perry, writer/director/co-producer, who kindly gave permission to use his words here:
"Razor Sharp" just took best drama and best in fest at the Wizard World Film Festival in Dallas, Texas over the weekend of November 11-12, 2006. This comic book themed festival was a great exhibition ground for the film's subject matter, and fortunately the crowd responded well to it - and especially to Michael!
More on the win here.
As part of the prize for winning, "Razor Sharp" will be shown at the Wizard World Los Angeles Film Festival March 15-18, 2007, in the Staples Convention Center.
The official website for "Razor Sharp" is coming soon, so check back often for these goodies: It will have a ton of production photos from the film, as well as a comprehensive "making of" special broken down into 13 chapters which features footage of Michael on the set.

About the story, and how it all came about:
Set in a near-future world where corporations master the globe, "Razor Sharp" follows the adventures of corporate thief Veronica Sharpe (Cassidy Freeman) as she is hired by her underworld boss Rory Dex (Michael T. Weiss) to steal an exotic codebreaker from a high-security skyscraper. However, business turns anything but usual once she has breached the tower's defenses and fought off its SWAT trained security forces. Veronica's morality and skill are put to the ultimate test when she is confronted with the dark reality of the codebreaker itself. Far from a piece of hardware or a digital code, it is a 12 year-old girl (Skye McCole Bartusiak) who is being held hostage in the building's fortified vault. Not only must Veronica rescue this girl, but she is forced to make the most difficult decision of her life: whether she will hand over the child to Dex, or if she will protect her and become a most reluctant hero. The film is loaded with humor, special effects, and tons of action, and is tonally a cross between "Die Hard" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
Michael was an incredible addition to the cast, providing the perfect foil for the film's hero. This was my fist time in the director's chair, and having Michael on set gave me such a huge comfort zone, he's unbelievably talented and professional. He was able to capture the playfulness of the script while maintaining a sinister edge - not an easy balance to hit. This role also showcases what an amazing chameleon Michael is as an actor. He puts a fantastic Billy Idol-esque spin to the dialect, and creates a truly unique metro-sexual villain. It was always our idea to treat Dex as a Hollywood agent of the criminal underworld, and that's exactly what Michael delivers. He's a wolf in high-fashion clothing. A really memorable performance.
"Razor Sharp" was an idea I started kicking around in college, but it really firmed up once "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" went off the air. I'm a huge geek for that show (as well as comic books) and with it gone, there just wasn't a role like that for women that worked. I felt like there was room for a strong woman with some real vulnerability and humanity. So that's what I wanted to try and create with Veronica Sharpe. She's not a bullet-proof, one-dimensional "tough chick." She's human, and she's a little klutzy, and she gets in way over her head when it comes to her adventures. Sure, she wins in the end, but it's a bumpy ride. I also loved the idea of basically starting her off as a villain and putting her in a situation where her morality would be forced to bubble to the surface. She's a reluctant hero, which to me makes her a lot more relatable - after all, the right thing and the easy thing are rarely the same, and I felt like people would be able to identify with her crisis of conscience. Plus, there's plenty of action in the film for all the genre fans too! So I guess the short answer is "Buffy" made me do it.
As far as Michael goes, it was a total coupe getting him. My casting director, Brad Gilmore, had auditioned him for a few other projects and they had a good relationship, so he just sent the script and a production art book that I had put together for the film over to him. Fortunately, Michael really connected with the character, and agreed to do it - for nothing, really. The budget of the film was tiny, most of it done on favors, but Michael liked the material enough to take a chance on it. And he was amazing.

Marcus has also sent me some very yummy photos of Michael, that are currently prepared for uploading to "Ask Dr. Mike". Really - we are working on them! Really!

On 1-2-06 I had posted the following (now in the Archive) as Unknown projects:
"The Huntington Theatre has added the casts biographies to their website, and they have two projects listed in Michaels bio, that I had never heard of before (or maybe they have only slipped my memory), and that are not listed at the IMDb. Excerpt from Michael's bio at About the Company: ... Mr. Weiss' yet to be released films include Iowa, Marmalade, Fade, P.T.A., and Razor Sharp*. ...
Not even Huntington's public relations office knows much about them: Sorry, I don't have information on those projects. The biography was supplied to me by Michael, I didn't write it. JMK
*According to Michael's agent, "Razor Sharp" is a short film, but he doesn't know who will distribute it."

Now "Razor Sharp" is listed at the IMDb. Written, directed and produced by Marcus Perry ; with Cassidy Freeman as Veronica Sharpe, Adam Gregor as Bryce, Skye McCole Bartusiak (who in 2001 played Michael Douglas' daugher, that was kidnapped by Sean Bean in "Don't Say A Word") as Isis/Ice-6, and Michael T. Weiss as Dex ; the production company is M-Pact Films.
According to Skye McCole Bartusiak's official website it was filmed in August 2005 in Los Angeles, and she has some photos of her and Cassidy Freeman, and director/writer Marcus Perry (2nd from last) during filming it here. And I even found a photo of Michael rehearsing with Cassidy Freeman. Ok, he is shown from almost his back, but the jawline is unmistakingly his: Razor Sharp.

Just got off the phone with the Agency for the Performing Arts. I learned that they and Michael had parted ways sometime in early summer 2006. But since they are very friendly folks, they kindly put me in touch with Michael's management.
So I called them and, yes, they do not only handle the management aspects of his career, but will also take care of his fanmail.
So from now on all mail should go to:

Michael T. Weiss
c/o Robert Stein Management
345 North Maple Drive, Suite 317
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
USA

And while I had that lady on the phone, I took the chance and asked about his future plans, whether stage or screen. She didn't gave away concrete information, only answered: "You'll see soon".

In early 2005 Michael appeared in the episode 1#4 'HBO' a.k.a. 'Gigi Gets a Job' of Canadian comedy series G-Spot, loosely based on the experiences in movie business of its creator, writer, and star Brigitte Bako, longtime friend of Michael.
The description of this episode reads as follows:
Gigi is pulled out of her depression when a call from her agent brings news of a job - a gig for a cable network movie shooting in the Rockies. Not realizing she is merely the movie's required Canadian content, Gigi ventures north in search of a break from Los Angeles and her ex-boyfriend Payne. Her wish comes true when she meets (and beds) Bo, the Olympic bobsledder - only to find out later he's an anti-Semite. Michael is listed as playing 'Himself', btw.
The series is currently reairing each Friday at 10pm ET/PT on Canadian Showcase Channel.
Unfortunately I can't figure out through their website whether this episode has already been aired recently. So good luck in finding out about that in your local TV programme magazine.
To wet your appetite, here are a few screencaps, thanks to Amélie, a bit blurry, but better than nothing. [Password = Pretender]

This Forum was created for people who saw "Iowa" at the festival and want to share their opinions. Beware of spoilers of the story.
And: This film is not for the faint hearted!

Iowa won for 'Best Picture', Diane Foster won for 'Best Actress', and Michael T. Weiss won for 'Best Supporting Actor' at the Midwest Independent Film Festival, in Chicago, IL.

November 7, 2006 - Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll ... in Iowa?!?
Darren Afronsky's "Requiem for a Dream" enjoys a special place in our DVD collection. It was one of those films that was superbly put together, but because it was so well done, we find it hard to just sit down and casually watch. It is the East Coast - here's your brain on drugs - film.
Tonight at the Midwest Independent Film Festival, the Midwest is responding with our drug film in the form of Iowa. Iowa is a feature-length film that portrays the methamphetamine epidemic in the Midwestern small town and how drugs screw with people. The film was written by Midwest native Matt Farnsworth and features an unusually strong cast, including John Savage (The Deer Hunter) and Michael T. Weiss (NBC's "The Pretender"). The movie will be shown tonight at 7:30 p.m. after a panel on "Bringing Hollywood Talent to Midwest Films" at the Landmark Century Theater at 2828 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL.
Posted by Chris Karr

First Tuesdays with The Midwest Independent Film Festival ...
"Iowa" Arrives, Best of the Midwest Nominees Announced!
The 2006 Midwest Independent Film Festival will bring a sledgehammer of a film to its audiences when "Iowa" arrives on Tuesday, November 7th. Combining exceptional Midwest and Hollywood talent, Iowa/Illinois native Matt Farnsworth has crafted an entrancing cautionary tale of love, crime, fantasy, and addiction. Click here to enjoy the trailer!
An Official Selection of the Tribeca Film Festival, Iowa features searing performances by film veterans John Savage (The Deer Hunter, The New World), Rosanna Arquette (The Executioner's Song, Desperately Seeking Susan, Pulp Fiction), and television's star of The Pretender Michael T. Weiss. The film also offers breakthrough performances from newcomers Farnsworth and Diane Foster as well as terrific cinematography from Iowa City native John Naughton.
An unflinching look at the crystal meth epidemic in the Midwest and its devastating effect on the lives of users and the people around them, Iowa is notable for its restraint and compassion, and merits comparison with Requiem For A Dream.
On Tuesday, November 7th, the Pre-Show Social, sponsored by Goose Island Brewing Company, begins at the Landmark Theater, 2828 North Clark, at 6 p.m. Our Pre-Show Panel, "Bringing Hollywood Talent to Midwest Films," begins at 6:30 pm in the theater. Then join host Mike McNamara as our screening of Iowa begins promptly at 7:30 pm. Projection services are provided by sponsors Resolution Digital Studios, Mimi Productions and Zacuto. Post-screening reception will be held at Sausalito, 543 West Diversey. For more information, please visit www.midwestfilm.com.

IOWA. A cautionary tale of love, crime, fantasy, and addiction, Iowa follows two young lovers who decide to go into the "batch" business-cooking their own methamphetamine-only to watch it burn a jagged hole in their lives. Starring newcomers Matt Farnsworth and Diane Foster, Iowa also features searing performances by film veterans John Savage (The Deer Hunter, The New World) and Rosanna Arquette (The Executioner's Song, Desperately Seeking Susan, Pulp Fiction), and television's star of The Pretender Michael T. Weiss.

I'd prefer to have no news than bad news, but:
We apologize for the delay in getting back to you regarding your inquiry about The Pretender.
Unfortunately, TNT no longer has the broadcast rights to The Pretender and will not be able to re-air the series or made for TV movies produced by TNT.
You will have to contact the distributor NBC about any future DVD distribution plans.
TNT Viewer Relations
404-885-4538
Thank you for Watching TNT

Some more photos of Michael T. Weiss from the opening night of "Fences" from Sept. 1, have appeared.
You can now see all of the ones I could find so far in ADM's Picture Gallery.

From Todd Grossman, producer of Sledge : The Untold Story, in which Michael playes the relatively small part of a drug lord with a huge porn star moutache:
Sledge - Trailer 1: A mockumentary about the life of an exotic dancer turned action star. Frank is back!. This video features interview bits by Eric Roberts and Ernie Hudson, as well as spoofs of 'Matrix' and 'Flashdance', along with the already known one of 'Rambo'.
Sledge - Promo 1: A preview for the upcoming film 'Sledge: The Untold Story'. This video features interview bits by Carrie-Ann Moss and Angelina Jolie, and some more by Eric Roberts and Ernie Hudson.
No sight of Michael in either one though. :-(

On September 1, Michael T. Weiss attended the opening party (and quite possibly also the premiere) of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Fences" by the late August Wilson, directed by Sheldon Epps, and starring Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne.
The play is running at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, CA, till October 4.
The party took place at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, 369 East Colorado Blvd.
You can now see several photos of Michael in ADM's Picture Gallery.

Movie review: 'Iowa'
1 1/2* rating (out of four)
by Michael Wilmington - Tribune movie critic
"Iowa," a Chicago premiere, is a flashy-looking low-budget indie about drugs, love and crime in small-town Iowa. But, speaking as an ex-small-town Midwesterner, I found it hard to buy.
Writer-director-star Matt Farnsworth, making his directorial feature debut, presents the town as a contemporary hellhole out of one of David Lynch's lesser nightmares, mixed with doses of Quentin Tarantino, "Requiem for a Dream" and a weird "Clockwork Orange" allusion (Farnsworth's bowler hat). An ex-Midwesterner whose family home is in Centerville, Iowa, Farnsworth plays Esper Harte, an angry young outsider slated to inherit his dad's life insurance swag. Along with his lover, Donna--played by Farnsworth's wife and co-producer Diane Foster--Esper starts up a crystal methamphetamine business that puts him on the bad side of his loose-living mom, Effie (Rosanna Arquette), her crooked parole officer boyfriend, Larry (Michael T. Weiss), and Donna's dad, Irv (John Savage), not to mention the audience.
Director Farnsworth has an eye for landscapes and a taste for the bizarre--and wife Foster has real camera presence. But, next time out, he needs to find a writer or co-writer. Despite a loose semi-factual inspiration, "Iowa's" script is a mish-mash of familiar cinematic would-be jolts and shocks that don't convince for a more than a moment or two. Also, for a movie about crystal meth, the actors' pace is sometimes torpid.
mwilmington@tribune.com
----
'Iowa'
Runs Fri.-Thu. at Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. Call 773-281-4114 or visit www.facets.org/cinematheque. No MPAA rating. Adult (for nudity, sexuality, language, drugs and violence).

No earth shattering news, but proof that the guys are still working hard to get the films ready for release:

From Anthony Stagliano, mastermind behind Fade:
Hello Evi,
We've been slaving away at the final bits of post for a while. Soon, we'll have a final version to show people. I'm reluctant to put deadlines on myself, since all the wild unknowns that pop up in film tend to slow these down.
But, I am confident that it will be soon.
About the website. Once the new web-people take over, there will be more constant attention paid to both the official website and the MySpace page.
Best,
Anthony

From Todd Grossman, producer of Sledge : The Untold Story:
Hello Evi,
We had to push the release for marketing purposes so we're looking at the fall right now. I'll try to make sure and update you as soon as the date is locked. Making a movie is a web of politics, some good, some bad, but we're working hard to lock that date.
Take care,
Todd

On August 15, Michael T. Weiss attended the opening night party (and quite possibly also the premiere itsself) for the Los Angeles premiere of the musical "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" hosted by the Venice Magazine at the Memphis Bar on 6541 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, CA.
He looked very tan and relaxed, so enjoy the photos!
It might also be a good idea to check the upcoming issues of this magazine for more photos and some insight scoops.

I've contacted TNT again on behalf of the rumors about a 3rd "Pretender" film, and here is their answer:
The rumors are false. TNT has no plans to produce any more Pretender movies at this time.
TNT Viewer Relations
404-885-4538
Thank you for Watching TNT

I have added some new Affiliates to this site:
Well, one is another sid(t)e of me, aptly named My Other Site & Blog, where I can bragg and bubble about everything (even about Michael T. ;o) ) that I'm interested in and that doesn't fit here on "Ask Dr. Mike." Thanks to Katha for the banner!
Another one is the award-winning film Earthlings, about the (ill-)treatment of animals and the environment, and possible ways of changing that.

The Pretender: Season 4 DVD Clips
From: Fox Home Entertainment ; via Digitally Obsessed!

Clip 1 - Chip Greenfelt
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Clip 2 - Evolving
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Clip 3 - Functional Lonely People
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Clip 4 - Mr. Lyle
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Clip 5 - Pushing the Boundries
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The Pretender - The Complete Fourth Season
DVD Review by R.J. Carter ; Published: July 17, 2006
Country: USA
Release Date: July 18, 2006
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Grade: A

Cast:
Michael T. Weiss
Andrea Parker
Patrick Bauchau
Jon Gries
Jamie Denton
The fourth season of this groundbreaking drama from Greg van Sickle and Steven Long Mitchell opens where the third season's cliffhanger left off -- with Jarod (Michael T. Weiss, Justice League) captured and once again in the hands of The Centre.
But it's not back to the same old Centre you've come to know and fear. Mr. Parker (Harve Presnell) is on the run from the Triumverate. Mr. Raines (Richard Marcus, 24) has found religion. And Mr. Lyle (Jamie Denton, Desperate Housewives) has his thumb -- or lack thereof -- on every operation, including the physical and mental torture of Jarod.
Fortunately for everyone's favorite genius, who has the unique gift to become anyone he needs to become, Jarod manages to escape his captors, and the hunt is on once more, with the tough-as-nails Miss Parker (Andrea Parker, Less Than Perfect) leading the charge, and Sydney (Patrick Bauchau) and Broots (Jon Gries, "Napolean Dynamite") in tow.
Once away from The Centre -- which is more a freakshow than it has ever been -- the series gets back on its original footing, with Jarod once again looking for his family: his father, Major Charles (George Lazenby, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service") and his sister, Emily (Marisa Parker). Along the way, Jarod does what he does best: helps the weak and abused, and brings justice to those who would otherwise get away with injustice.
During the course of his adventures, Jarod crosses paths more than once with his Centre pursuers -- but also with those he's met before: Agent Bailey Malone (Robert Davi) in another crossover with the series Profiler, for instance, only this time with Jamie Luner playing profiler Rachel Burke who took over the series from Ally Walker. The racist Bartlett (Jeremy Roberts) also rears his ugly head when Jarod tries to prevent white supremacists from murdering a Georgia pastor's family. And for a touch of lightheartedness, Leland Orser reprises his role of Argyle, getting Jarod in trouble in Las Vegas (while Broots has a fantasy-turned-nightmare involving himself, Miss Parker, and Mr. Raines!)
This season also sees Jarod find love in the arms of a young woman who has learned she has cancer. Zoe (Lisa Cerasoli, Port Charles) naturally gets left at the end of the episode, but returns during the two-part season (and series) finale.
Jon Gries puts in some directorial time this season, being both in front of and behind the camera for the episode "School Daze" in which Jarod plays a substitute teacher in order to locate and protect a student (Michael Welch, Joan of Arcadia) compromised by a leak in the witness protection program.
Amid all the different adventures, however, the mythology of The Centre deepens and darkens. Miss Parker discovers exactly how twisted her brother Lyle is when it comes to his treatment of Asian women (he apparently finds them quite tasty), and begins to see the ghost of her dead lover, Thomas. Parker's visions in the episode "'Til Death Do Us Part" may seem incongruous with the rest of the series, but as the finale approaches we learn that she may be a bit of a "ghost whisperer", as was her mother -- and as is Ethan (Tyler Christopher, General Hospital), the half brother she and Jarod learn they have in common. The Centre also gets a new player in the game in the form of the morbidly creepy Mr. Cox (Lenny von Dohlen) who makes Mr. Raines seem warm and cuddly.
The bonus features on this disc include two featurettes on the mythology of Jarod, made up of interviews with van Sickle, Mitchell, Denton, Weiss, Parker and several others. Pretender fans will remember that the series ended on an explosive cliffhanger, only to have the season cancelled (and now I have new reason to dislike WWE's Vince McMahon, since it was his half-baked XFL Football idea that was at the root of the cancellation), only to be followed by two Pretender TV movies. Those fans can take heart as van Sickle expresses his hopes that there will be yet another Pretender movie to finally wrap things up -- as he says, the fans deserve it.
Also a nice touch in the bonus area are the creator commentaries, including commentary with Andrea Parker on "'Til Death Do Us Part" and Michael T. Weiss on "Cold Dick". Writers and directors can give a ton of insight into a script, but it's so much more fun when the actors who brought the script to life participate in the process.
And who is the mysterious Chip Greenfelt who was behind the scenes, operating furtively with each season? You'll have to pay attention to the last featurette to find out that secret!
Audio settings on this set include English/French/Spanish Dolby Surround, with optional subtitles in English or Spanish.

The Pretender - The Complete Fourth Season
Disc Guide:
Disc 1A
01. The World's Changing ; 02. Survival ; 03. Angel's Flight ; 04. Risque Business
Disc 1B
05. Road Trip ; 06. Extreme
Disc 2A
07. Wild Child ; 08. Rules of Engagement (commentary by van Sickle, Mitchell, Lawrence and Thompson) ; 09. 'Til Death Do Us Part (commentary by Van Sickle, Mitchell, Thompson and Andrea Parker) ; 10. Spin Doctor
Disc 2B
11. Cold Dick (commentary by Van Sickle, Coto, and Michael T. Weiss) ; 12. Lifeline
Disc 3A
13. Ghosts from the Past ; 14. The Agent of Year Zero ; 15. Junk ; 16. School Daze
Disc 3B
17. Meltdown ; 18. Corn Man a Coming
Disc 4A
19. The Inner Sense, part 1 ; 20. The Inner Sense, part 2
Disc 4B
Bonus Features:
"Jared's Mythology" part 1 (10:05) [Jared?? - I always thought his name is Jaord ...]
"Jared's Mythology" part 2 (8:05)
"Looking for Chip Greenfelt" (9:10)
Copyright © 1997-2006 Burlee LLC. All rights reserved.

From tonight on, little known German TV channel Tele 5 (T5) will air "The Pretender" weekdays on 19:20 - 20:15 Uhr, with a repeat on the following afternoon 16:05 - 17:00 Uhr.

From Tele 5:
Ab 17. Juli, Mo-Fr, 19.20 Uhr
Sci-Fi/Mystery/Thriller, USA 1996-2000
Reguläre Darsteller:
Michael T. Weiss (Jarod Russell)
Andrea Parker (Catherine Elaine Parker)
Patrick Bauchau (Dr. Sydney Green/Jakob)
Jon Gries (Broots)
Jarod Russel hat eine ungewöhnliche Vergangenheit. Als Kind mit einem Intelligenzquotienten jenseits der Messbarkeit wurde er unter der "Obhut" einer Geheimorganisation großgezogen, die sich das 'Center' nennt. Dem Jungen wurde alles beigebracht, was möglich schien. Befähigt, sich in jede Rolle hineinzu-versetzen und jeden Beruf ausüben zu können, wurde er so zu einem willkommenen Instrument der Organisation. Doch ihm selbst blieben diese Umstände lange Zeit verborgen. Erst als er erkennt, dass er ein Spielball höherer Mächte ist, nutzt er seine umfassende Ausbildung dazu abzutauchen und sich der Organisation zu entziehen. Doch das 'Center' ist dem Abtrünnigen bald auf den Fersen und das Katz- und Mausspiel nimmt seinen Lauf ...
'Pretender' startete in den USA als Serie parallel zu 'Profiler' und 'Dark Skies' und war mit diesen als Trilogie konzipiert. Zwar wurde das Konzept nicht bis zur letzten Instanz durchgehalten ('Dark Skies' wurde vorzeitig eingestellt). Doch gab es zwischen 'Pretender' und 'Profiler' mehrfach inhaltliche Überkreuzungen. Dieses interaktive Moment verrät viel über den experimentierfreudigen Produzenten Steven Long Mitchell, der das Serienkonzept mit diesem Kniff um eine raffinierte Dimension erweiterte.

Several new mixed media art pieces have been added to Michael's own official website Michael T. Weiss Fine Art. You have to inquire for prices, although I doubt that the provided email address and phone number will lead to his own home, rather to an office where some staff members will take care of inquires.
Artist's biography, taken from the website:
In a stunning look at repression Michael T. Weiss incorporates various mixed media often including combinations of photography, ink, colored pencil, oils, and digital manipulation, to explore how we as socialized beings sublimate our intrinsic anima.
Images of the human figure in various forms of restraint are bound with layer upon layer of dense webbing. Wrapped in this binding Weiss often includes images of religious iconography to represent how religion and society repress our basic primal urges. Hidden below the surface is a haunting glimpse of our interior nature. The result is an evocative, strangely beautiful work of rich depth.
Michael T. Weiss has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California, studied Art History at Harvard University and is continuing his artistic studies at Otis College of Fine Art & Design.
He is also well known as an accomplished film, stage and television actor as well as a playwright. He resides in Venice, California and New York City.

7-18-06 - Update about prices and shipping:
Thank you for your interest in Mr. Weiss' artwork.
All pieces are 8x10 inches and are $1200 framed.
Shipping charges would be somewhere around $150 depending on location.
We require a credit card payment for all overseas transactions.
Please contact us if you have any further questions.
~ Michael T. Weiss Fine Art

To commemorate the upcoming US DVD release of the 4th season of The Pretender on July 18, some websites run competitions, where you can win such DVD sets:
MovieWeb and andPOP.
For rules, check their sites.
For contents of the DVD set, see 4-19-2006.

"Iowa" will open on Friday, June 23, 2006 at the Carousel Grande Cinema 15, 1305 Battleground Avenue, Greensboro, NC, 27408. (336) 2301620
Showtimes so far: (12:05), (2:30), (4:45), 7:10, 9:30, 11:55
"Iowa": Writer/producer/director/leading man Matt Farnsworth's debut feature focuses on the allure - and the mounting dangers - of the methamphetamine trade. Diane Foster, Rosanna Arquette and Michael T. Weiss co-star. Greensboro only.

Indie film about meth and those who use it fails to fly
Thursday, June 22, 2006
by Mark Burger - Relish staff writer
As the writer, producer, director and star of the independent drama Iowa, Matt Farnsworth's ambition is undeniable.
So, for the most part, is his inexperience. Iowa is too uneven to really work, but it has moments of vivid expression that indicate a burgeoning talent.
After the death of his father, Esper Harte (Farnsworth) and his girlfriend, Donna (Farnworth's real-life wife, Diane Foster), decide - rather impetuously and unwisely - to pick up where Dad left off, manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine.
But, like dear old Dad, Esper and Donna also have a tendency to indulge in the product - the first of many bad decisions made by Esper and Donna, who aren't particularly careful about the illicit and destructive nature of their "venture."
If that weren't enough, Esper must also contend with a slatternly mother (Rosanna Arquette) and her sleazy boyfriend (Michael T. Weiss), a corrupt probation officer whom she allows to blackmail her son. (The specific reason why is one of many unanswered questions in Farnsworth's script.)
The characters in Iowa aren't particularly smart and they're not particularly likable, a lethal combination that would ruin a lesser film and does significant damage to this one.
In addition, too much of the plot is left unresolved. Some characters are introduced out of nowhere, and others vanish inexplicably from the narrative for long stretches, if not altogether.
Characters leave weapons within easy reach of their adversaries, and evidently there's only one way out of town.
Although Muse Watson is given prominent billing as the town's sheriff, he's nowhere to be found amid the illegal goings-on.
Filmed in Centerville, Iowa, the film has a deceptively bucolic look to it, Andrew Parke's cinematography being one of the film's few consistent attributes.
The more hysterical the film's tone - as in hysteria and not hysterically funny - the more effective it is.
The film's most arresting and effective segments are those depicting the hallucinatory effects of narcotics upon the user.
It's clear that Farnsworth is attempting to fashion a middle-America version of Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream (2000) or, perhaps, an "Americanized" Trainspotting (1996).
It's a laudable aspiration and earnestly attempted, but for all its good intentions the film struggles to come to life.
Ultimately, it all boils down to that age-old adage - crime does not pay. In Iowa, it doesn't play, either.

Iowa
** (out of four)
Stars: Matt Farnsworth, Diane Foster, John Savage, Michael T. Weiss
Director: Matt Farnsworth
Rating: Not rated, contains adult situations, nudity, violence, language, drug use and disturbing imagery
Running time: 105 minutes
Showing: Carousel Grande
Burger's opinion: Well-meaning but not entirely successful chronicle of methamphetamine addiction.
mburger@wsjournal.com

The "2006 Spotlight Spectacular!" benefit event was held at the Westin Copley Place Boston on Monday, April 24th, 2006, and Michael T. Weiss had donated his painting "Rapture" for their auction.
I couldn't find anything about the events of that evening on the internet or the website of the Huntington, so I contacted their press office about it. And here is their answer from May 30, 2006:
We don't have specific information available for the individual auction items. The Spotlight Spectacular raised nearly $500,000 for Huntington programs.
Stories on the event have run in the 'Improper Bostonian', and will run next month in 'Boston Magazine' and in 'Boston Common' in the fall edition.
John Michael Kennedy
Director of Public Relations and Interim Director of Marketing
Huntington Theatre Company

Here is a scan of the mentioned article from the Improper Bostonian.
It seems that Michael didn't attend this year.

Meth-matics: 'Iowa' doesn't add up
by Bruce R. Miller, Journal staff writer
You won't recognize the Iowa you know and love in "Iowa," a high-pitched drama about the state's growing methamphetamine problem.
Part "Pulp Fiction," part "Reefer Madness," it follows a slacker (Matt Farnsworth) and his girlfriend (Diane Foster) as they get caught up in the lucrative, addictive world of meth. Friends show how easy it is to make and, before you know it, they're cookin' with crank.
Meanwhile, a sadistic parole officer (played to the hilt by Michael T. Weiss) wants to get his hands on the $200,000 the slacker is supposed to inherit when his father's insurance policy pays out. The young man's mother (an overwrought Rosanna Arquette) figures she'll collect when her son is out of the picture. So, a cat-and-mouse game between officer and client begins.
Foster has pulled away from her father (John Savage), a woebegone sort who just wants what's best for his daughter. While he's fretting in his downtown office, she's romping with a stripper from Des Moines and a meth head friend from God knows where.
Naming this "Iowa" is utterly misleading. Several times Farnsworth, Foster and Weiss lapse into weak Southern accents; repeatedly the sleepy streets of Centerville are aroused by roaring car chases and last-minute gunplay.
To send the message -- meth is everywhere -- Farnsworth, who also wrote and directed the film, needed less melodrama, more Iowa. It's like he has two films on his hands -- one set in the heightened world of Quentin Tarantino, the other in "Field of Dreams." David Lynch -- a man who knows a thing or two about quirks -- visited the state for "The Lawnmower Man" and came away with the right mix. This is two Sudafed packages short of a killer meth recipe.
What "Iowa" needs is an everyman quality -- Farnsworth's Esper and Foster's Donna need to lead relatively uneventful lives by day. Instead, they're racing down the street, creating scenes at the local bar and romping in the back of a pickup truck. If any of that went on in a typical Iowa town, everyone would know. These two couldn't escape the attention of everyone within a five-mile radius, much less the radar of a next-door neighbor.
As a director, though, Farnsworth has a sure hand. He attempts things (animation, special effects, car chases) that work well. But the ambition is tempered by a screenplay that's elementary at best. It's not subtle; it's hard to imagine "real" people saying some of these things. Sensing as much, Weiss goes way over the top and comes away a winner. He gets good camera angles, too, and a sense of respect that doesn't come from anything his character does. Arquette needs more direction; Savage looks like he's just clocking in.
Foster does a nice job (even though she's denied an arc of scenes) and Farnsworth hits and misses with his own work.
If Farnsworth didn't seem so passionate about the subject matter, you could dismiss "Iowa" as a vanity project. There's a thread of concern, though, that runs through the crazy quilt of cinematics. It's too bad it wasn't tended into something more.
Unrated, "Iowa" features nudity, profanity and violence.

Finally some photos from this event, held on February 18, 2006, at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, CA, where Michael T. Weiss, James Denton, Andrea Parker and other actors from "The Pretender", were reading from this screen play, written by Eric Zudak to benefit Cure Autism Now:

Page 1 and Page 2. Thanks to Kelly for taking time out of her hectic schedule for creating these pages!

Depending on the size of your screen, and the browser you use, it is possible that the pages that host the photos from this event look a bit weird, i.e. the pictures are out of the frame. And also the 'Back' button might not work ok, so you have to close the open image first, before you open the next one. We've tried everything we could think of to solve the problem and to get them to work properly on the server, but with no apparent results. :(

A little report on the events of that evening by Becci B, first published on the MTWFC board, reprinted here by permission:
The evening started with George and I (the friend I went with) arriving at the Sportsman's Lodge at about 6:30 pm. First order of business was finding the room where the event was being held, which turned out to be very easy. Ran into a couple of people I knew from the Pretender Con in Los Angeles 5 years ago "Living the Dream" (side note: that part was rather funny, since no one recognized me at all. At the Con I was a bit heavier then I am now, and I had curly blonde hair ... I now have dark red straight hair.)
All of the stars were running late**, so we were standing around in the hallway just outside the room. Which lead to one of the funnier / cool moments of the evening ... I was standing there with a couple of friends and I saw Michael walk into the area where all the conference rooms are, as I watched him walked across the main area, I could tell he was unsure as where to go, he started to walk right pass the room and I called out to him "Excuse me, you want this room right here" and pointed down the hallway. He smiled that huge wonderful smile of his, thanked me and headed into the room. Everyone standing there, laughed at it because I guess I was the only person who thought of saying anything to him. (After that it seemed that I became the directions gal, since I ended up directing all of the stars which way to go.)
Once the doors were "opened" to us, we all filed in, and got our programs, and goodie bags (which contained something called hint water, a highlighter (?), a CAN pin, udderly smooth hand cream, udderly smooth foot cream, cliff bars, and the 3rd season of tP.) They were serving snacks, the bar was already open and the stars were mingling. George and I quickly found a table with a good view of the "stage" area, and set down our stuff.
Just then I noticed Michael across the room from me chatting with some people so I took a deep breath and headed over there to see if I could catch him. Which I did. I stopped him with "Hi Michael, my name is Becci, I just wanted to tell you I'm a huge fan." He smiled, shook my hand and thanked me for that, and also for being there. That's when I said "One of the other reasons I wanted to talk to you, is that a friend of mine, Kelly who runs the MTW fan club on Yahoo wanted me to ask you a couple of questions." I then asked him about ECO, and he said yes he is still working with them. And then I asked about Nip / Tuck and I explained about the interview that stated it was him as producer. He laughed and said "No, that's not me. Although it is a nice idea, they are more then welcome to send me the residual checks." And then he asked me to tell Kelly something, "please tell Kelly thank you for all the wonderful gifts and work she does for me and ECO" -- that right there made me even more of a fan.
After that, it was time to get the reading started, so we all took our places and that's when things got a little ... well I guess messed up would be the best way to say it.
See the room we were in, was right next to a birthday party. But it wasn't just any kind of birthday party, it was a Quinceanera party. For those of you who don't know what one is, think the biggest most expensive sweet 16 party in the history of the world and then times it by 200 ... and they had a live band, with a LOT of bass and the soundproofing on the walls was ... well if they had any I'm still a blonde. So needless to say we could barely hear some the actors over the music.
But honestly all of that aside, the script was one of the best I've ever heard in my life, it was funny, touching, sad, all rolled into one.
Michael had a small part as "skip" a baseball coach that he was reading, and of course his voice was as perfect as always.
I don't know if he had something else that he was doing that evening, or if it was the music that drove him away, but he did leave as soon as his part was finished. I'm sure he has very good reasons for doing so, but I do feel bad for the fans that were there who didn't get a chance to chat with him. He wasn't mingling at all, and honestly I was lucky that I stood up and spoke to him when I did. But all of that aside, he was very warm and charming when I did talk to him, so I'm glad I did.
As for the rest of the event, it was unbelievable! I met Andrea Parker, *squee* and she was as warm, friendly, and charming as she is beautiful.
And so many others, it was an amazing evening and it was for such a worthy cause it just makes it even better.
And I think this is long enough, so ending it now.
Becci B.
** On Michael's defense from another attendee: ... Michael was on time at least for the reading. Maybe he was supposed to get there by 7 for the photos or something. That never occurred to me. He got there about 7:15 or so. ...

Thanks to Amelié, I've got a few screencaps of Michael T. Weiss from the episode #9 "Save Situation" [Password = Pretender], of the short lived baseball related series "Clubhouse", originally announced to air in November 2004, but was re-aired May 7, 2006 on cable channel HDNet.

'Iowa' gives horrifying look at meth
It shows the state's dark side, where addiction scars individuals, families and communities.
By Bill Reiter, Register Staff Writer
May 26, 2006
Matt Farnsworth's new film opens with a quaint familiarity that lasts about 30 seconds: A tractor plodding along a field, an Iowa image as innocent as sweet corn or pigs.
Then "Iowa," which opens at the Fleur Cinema and Cafe today, moves to a darker place, revealing several snapshots that signal you're in for a movie both maddeningly negative and brutally believable.
A body. A bloodied face. Tears. A widow. A casket.
The message is clear.
This isn't the Iowa made famous by "Field of Dreams," a relatively happy place of hopes and memories. It's a place equally familiar — the green fields, the wind-swept small town, the aged and solitary barn — but brutally dark, a state that in 2004 ranked fourth in the nation in meth use and saw 5,900 adults and almost 300 juveniles seek treatment for meth addiction.
In Farnsworth's film, meth has replaced baseball as the unseen force that shapes Iowa. It's where dreams go to die, not where they're relived on a baseball diamond.
"Meth is not a pick-me-up thing, it's not a pick-me-up topic," the 30-year-old writer-director-actor said. "It's a very dirty, very dark subject."
Farnsworth plays Esper Harte, a blue-collar, misunderstood Iowan who, with girlfriend Donna Huffman (Diane Foster), becomes addicted to meth and watches his life spiral out of control.
The filmmaker started writing "Iowa" in 2002, after coming to Centerville for his granddad's funeral.
"Everyone was talking about meth," he said. "I just thought, this is so interesting because as a kid I remember Iowa being so wholesome and safe and apple pie. It really compelled me to make a film."
The movie, which was filmed in Centerville, has its share of weaknesses. Its characters are so cliché-ridden, it's hard not to roll your eyes. There's the crooked cop with the God Complex, the evil, oversexed mother who really just wants to be loved, the kind but weak father, the doomed friend and the sexually promiscuous, drug-addicted hanger-on.
But strong performances make the characters believable. Michael Weiss, from NBC's "The Pretender," plays evil corrections officer Larry Clarkson with fire, guts and much-needed humor.
Farnsworth turns in the best performance. His powerful — at times stunning — acting calls to mind what you'd get if you put Brad Pitt in a Martin Scorsese movie.
It's enough to overwhelm a movie that moves so slowly through so much horror. At times you wish the filmmaker would either roll the credits or just kill off the characters and put them out of their misery.
Farnsworth, for his part, doesn't apologize for any of it — not the rape scene, nor the suicide, nor the man whose crotch is burned away, nor any of the other moments that offer a vision of hell if it were relocated to Iowa.
He says everything in the movie is based on true events that have happened in the state because of meth.
Some viewers, though, may not like the Iowa he portrays.
"There's a lot of good movies about Iowa — "Field of Dreams" is one — and that good stuff is true, but this is true, too, and we can't overlook that."
Those who work with meth addicts agree. Some, including Penny Bassman, director of the Powell Chemical Dependency Center at Iowa Lutheran Hospital, says recent laws to prevent people from buying the ingredients for meth don't address addiction.
That means the horror that stems from addiction is still out there.
"Here at Powell, we haven't seen any decreases at all," Bassman said.
"I don't know that you can overdramatize it," said Vicki Sickels, a 42-year-old recovering meth addict who works for Iowa Health Des Moines doing clinical trials on meth addiction. "I personally went to two funerals of people who hanged themselves after using meth. You can't make it too dark ..."
Sickles, who hasn't seen the film, says sometimes the media focus on the negative without stressing that there is hope.
For Farnsworth, the line starts with making movies emotionally powerful enough to make people see the horror of meth. If nothing else, "Iowa" does that with disturbing success.

Talk about it:
"Iowa" opens today at the Fleur Cinema and Café at 4545 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, IA. The movie about Iowa’s meth problem touches on a number of issues — addiction, crime, the lives and families and communities it affects. Talk about the movie and the meth issue in an online discussion.

From a recent email from Todd Grossman, producer of Sledge : The Untold Story:
Hello Evi,
We've sold many international DVD rights and are looking domestically at this fall. I'll update the site as soon as it's locked in stone.
Thanks,
Todd

Antony Stagliano, the director of Fade has informed me that ... Fade has a MySpace page now, which can be found at Fade-MySpace. We'll be updating that page regularly and it will also have a link to our proper website, which should launch soon. ...
The Story of FADE
Fade is about personal identity, marriage, and death. Sometimes all at once, sometimes separately.
The first stirrings of the story come from a real, but strange illness; Fatal Familial Insomnia, when it appears, keeps a person awake round the clock until his body no longer functions and he dies.
We used this as our starting point to look into the corners of strained relationships and see what dust death kicks up there. We want to see how wide the gulf between two people can get before they are finally on opposite sides. Death has its way of widening gaps, opening wounds.
Our narrative technique is one of angles; we like to look at scenes sideways, from above or below, but never straight on. The effect is closer to a nightmare than to a bedtime story.
Fade is a story of sleeplessness, told through a nightmare; the nightmare of dissipation, sorrow, and early death.

And here are the first stills of Michael as Dr. McCabe.

It also seems that this film is not alone in dealing with the story of Heloise and Abelard recently:
The UK Sunday Times 'culture' magazine from Jan 15, 2006, had an article that the play "In Extremis" by playright Howard Brenton will be staged in London's Globe theatre this season. Mr Brenton's literary agent Tom Erhardt confirmed, that "it is scheduled to open at the end of August 2006, although it was not commisioned for this theatre."

For more on FADE see also the 2005 News Archive from 10-17-05, 6-29-05, 6-20-05, and 6-6-05.

It opens tomorrow, Friday May 12 at the 'Campus 3 Theatre' in Iowa City, Iowa. 201 S Clinton, Iowa City, IA 52240. Phone: 319-337-7484
For more info visit Campus 3.

From: Ask Stacy, Jenel Smith, Sunday, April 30, 2006:
Dear Stacy: I sure miss "The Pretender." What is Michael T. Weiss doing now? Making any more TV programs? — Elaine J. in Newark, N.J.
Dear Elaine: Since the end of his series, Weiss has kept busy with theater work and roles in a number of smaller movies.
He provided the voice of Tarzan in "The Legend of Tarzan" series and took a recurring role on "Crossing Jordan." His most recent projects include the independent flick "Iowa," the cartoon "Justice League," for which he provides voices, and the recently wrapped horror movie "Fade.

Fom: TV Pipeline, by Jay Bobbin, Zap2it, posted on Sun, Apr. 30, 2006:
Q. What's been happening with Michael T. Weiss since "The Pretender" ended? – Larry Hettick, Visalia, Calif.
A. He's been doing series guest roles. He did several episodes of "Crossing Jordan" and one of the short-lived "Clubhouse," and he also has supplied voices for the animated "Justice League Unlimited."

Episode #9 "Save Situation", apparently featuring Michael T. Weiss in an unknown part, of the short lived baseball related series "Clubhouse" from 2004, produced by Mel Gibson, starring Jeremy Sumpter (Peter Pan), Dean Cain (Superman), and Christopher Lloyd (Return to the Future), will air this Sunday, May 7 on cable channel HDNet:
Episode number: 1.09
Episode Title: "Save Situation" ; originally announced to air in November 2004.
Synopsis: When Lou Russo [Christopher Lloyd], the equipment manager invests in a real estate deal, Pete [Jeremy Sumpter] wants to get a piece of the action.

... [Steven Arnold] Janssen has taken the art world into his own hands by opening his own gallery in Palm Springs, California, simply named, "Janssen Art Space". It opened it’s doors April, 15th 2006 with a packed house and sell out sales for Janssen attracting such celebrities as Kirsten Dunst, Lucy Liu, Michael T. Weiss, Alan Cumming and Elizabeth Shue. ...

From an email from FOX, Tue, 18 Apr 2006, 08:10:28:
Hello,
We have a release date of July 18, 2006 (Season 4). Thank you for contacting us!
Thank you,
Fox Consumer Service

More about it from 'TV Shows on DVD':
This 4 disc set will contain the final 19 episodes of the series (1031 mins), including the double-length finale, "The Inner Sense".
The set doesn't include the two TV movies which aired after the series ended on NBC, but we've been told Fox has plans to release them, though they aren't on the schedule yet.
The set will sport an Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) transfer, along with Dolby Surround audio tracks in English, French and Spanish, with Spanish subtitles. The set will sell for $39.98 US, or $54.98 CAN. Amazon.com is already taking preorders for the set, which is currently announced for $27.99.

Contents of the DVDs:
Disc 1 Side A:
The World's Changing ; Survival ; Angel's Flight ; Risque Business

Disc 1 Side B:
Road Trip ; Extreme

Disc 2 Side A:
Wild Child ; Rules Of Engagement ; Til Death Do Us Part ; Spin Doctor

Disc 2 Side B:
Cold Dick ; Lifeline

Disc 3 Side A:
Ghosts from the Past ; The Agent of Year Zero ; Junk ; School Daze

Disc 3 Side B:
Meltdown ; Corn Man

Disc 4 Side A:
The Inner Sense

Bonus features will include:
Commentary on "Rules Of Engagement" by Craig Van Sickle, Ethan Lawrence, Steven Long Mitchell and Tommy Thompson
Commentary on "Til Death Do Us Part" by Craig Van Sickle, Andrea Parker, Steven Long Mitchell and Tommy Thompson
Commentary on "Cold Dick" by Craig Van Sickle, Michael T. Weiss and Carlos Coto
Farewell The Pretender (10:00)
Jarod's Mythology Part 1 (9:39)
Jarod's Mythology Part 2 (12:00)
Looking for Chip Greenfelt (9.56)

Artwork of the cover, again not very catchy.

'Iowa'
The pace is frenetic, the cast is twitchy and the dialogue is unwittingly funny in "Iowa."
by Sam Adams, Special to The Times
It ain't "State Fair." The chirruping yokels in Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical may have been fed on Iowa corn (not to mention her barley, wheat and rye), but it's clear that Matt Farnsworth, the writer, director and producer of "Iowa," was raised on a different diet, equal parts "Cops," "Badlands" and "Requiem for a Dream."
Farnsworth's frenetic, often hysterical first feature tries desperately to find a style, or styles, to call its own, but there's never a moment that doesn't feel as if it's been chewed up and spit out a dozen times before.
Farnsworth, who evidently makes up in self-love what he lacks in ingenuity, stars as muscle-bound, muddle-headed Esper Harte.
Finding a cache of methamphetamine among his recently deceased father's effects, Esper and his girlfriend, Donna (Diane Foster), take a test snort and rapidly become addicts, their meth-fueled binges accompanied by stock-footage nightmares and "Requiem"-style montages.
The well-documented damage meth wreaks on the body is nowhere to be seen, but Esper and Donna's minds dissolve almost instantly. "I love this gun," Donna coos. "Can we drive to Egypt?"
Farnsworth's script is larded with such unintentional howlers, delivered by a twitchy cast that includes John Savage as Donna's hapless police chief dad, Rosanna Arquette as Esper's floozy mother and Michael T. Weiss as his corrupt parole officer. Although his handlebar mustache is unsuited to twirling, Weiss' vicious, snarling villain is the stuff of vaudeville, even if his profane dialogue would have gotten him the hook.
As the lovers run in circles, hatching a plot to manufacture their own meth, Esper's mother and his parole officer are conspiring to bump him off, the better to claim his father's life insurance settlement. But there's no way out for anyone, unless you count the audience fleeing up the aisles.
MPAA rating: Unrated
Full Fathom 5 Films. Writer-director-producer Matt Farnsworth. Directors of photography Andrew Parke, John Houghton. Editor Robert Brown.
Running time: 1 hour, 44 minutes.
Exclusively at the Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500.

'Iowa'
The way in which crystal meth takes over small towns throughout the Midwest is matched only by Wal-Mart. After a trip back home, Iowa native Matt Farnsworth decided to make a film about it, and so comes Iowa, written and directed by Farnsworth and starring himself and his wife, Donna Huffman, as a young couple caught up in the drug trade, turning from using to dealing with alarming speed as they leave behind any vestiges of their former lives. But just because the filmmakers have their roots in the Midwest doesn’t give them a pass when it comes to their stereotypical rendition of small-town people and ways, chock-a-block with sadistic cops, shotgun-toting locals, and strippers from up in Des Moines. As director, Farnsworth lets tricky visuals run roughshod over dramatic unity, while as a performer, his lack of screen presence makes him seem sullen and uninterested instead of darkly charismatic. The cast is rounded out by veterans Jon Savage, Michael T. Weiss and Rosanna Arquette, who has recently made frequent mention of the lack of roles for women of a certain age. If this is the best part she can find, as Farnsworth’s treacherous mother, clad in a series of skimpy leopard prints and forced to sell such lines as “Take me, Don Juan,” things are even worse than she has let on. (Sunset 5)
(Mark Olsen)

Michael has donated one of his paintings to the auction for the Huntington Theatre's upcoming "2006 Spotlight Spectacular!" benefit event, that will take place at the Westin Copley Place Boston on Monday, April 24th at 6:00pm.
Description: You've seen Michael T. Weiss' talent on stage. Now appreciate his artistry through another medium.
Own this unique piece of provocative artwork titled Rapture [Passwort = Pretender], composed with mixed materials on paper, by the celebrated actor last seen at the Huntington as Le Vicomte de Valmont in this season's production of Les Liaisons Dangeureses.
Weiss also starred in the Huntington's 2005 production of Lanford Wilson's Burn This. Catch his soon-to-be-released film festival hits Iowa and Marmalade. Best known for the lead role as Jarod on the NBC television hit The Pretender, Weiss is a playwright, artist, and environmental activist.
Item Number: 173
Donated by Michael T. Weiss
Opening Bid: $2,000.00
Estimated Value: Priceless
Leading Bid: Be the first to bid!
Number of Bids: 0 [as of April 11, 11:30am EST]
Time Left: 10 days 5 hours 22 minutes
Online Open: Mar 27, 2006 9:00am EST
Online Close: Apr 21, 2006 5:00pm EDT
Special Instructions: This item is available both online and at the event.
Live Event: After the online close, this item will be going to a Live Event for further bidding. Absentee Bidding offered.

Plays for pleasure
by Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff / April 8, 2006
Actor Michael T. Weiss knows he'll have to work tonight in the reading of Valerie Martin's play "Property," which is part of the Huntington Theatre's Breaking Ground Festival of New Readings. But his trip to Boston is mostly about pleasure. "For something like this, it's just a chance to work with playwrights at an early stage in the work," said Weiss, who appeared in two Huntington productions in the last two seasons. "It's the opportunity. It's not the same as a full production, so it can be more fun than work." He added, "I really like Boston. I really like the Huntington." Weiss is probably best known as the star of TV's "The Pretender." He will appear along with Pamela Gray and Will LeBow in the reading of Martin's play, which is based on her 2003 novel of the same name.
The festival, at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, concludes tomorrow with two more readings, one starring Campbell Scott.

From a recent email from Ms Jill Sorensen, co-writer and star of Marmalade:
Hi,
Thank you so much for your interest. Unfortunately we haven't been able to sell Marmalade anywhere. It recently screened at a Texas film festival.
Thanks again -
Sincerely,
Jill Sorensen

Movie Review: 'Iowa'
by Ron Wilkinson Mar 31, 2006, 14:38 GMT
Matt Farnsworth’s narrative feature debut, “Iowa” is a bold look at a place film makers fear to tread—the Midwest. Generally ignored by urban dwellers on the east and west coasts, America’s heartland is making news in a big way with a methamphetamine habit as high as an elephant’s eye.
As the family farm continues to die a slow death in the wake of mechanized hi-tech agro-business, poverty is becoming more the rule than the exception among the salt of the earth. “Poor man’s dope” is powerful and cheap and easy to produce. Its stinky production is favored by the wide open spaces of the Midwest and the ready availability of anhydrous ammonia, one of the main ingredients. The chemists are bored, smart, teenagers seeing nothing ahead but tedious and demeaning factory work. Their one time dream of owning their own land and their own business has sank into the mire of the rich getting richer and poor getting stoned.
Farnsworth and his wife Diane Foster play Esper and Donna, two kids without a plan, hoping to use the money from Esper’s father’s insurance policy to start a new life somewhere else. The fact that they don’t know where they are going or what they will do seems strangely realistic within the “Bonnie and Clyde” framework of the screenplay. They are on the run even when they walk down the dusty, sleepy streets of Centerville. When they stumble onto Esper’s dad’s meth lab they think they have a way out. While a crooked parole officer (Michael T. Weiss) and Esper’s desperate mom (Rosanna Arquette) plot to steal the insurance settlement, Esper and Donna take on the paranoid roles of drug dealers out to make the last big drug deal before the curtain falls.
Farnsworth did not choose either the location or the subject by chance. The subject of the film follows directly from the die cast by his earlier documentary, “Poor Man’s Dope” featuring the first hand accounts of Amber McNeely who was nearly killed in a meth lab explosion. The director/screenwriter saw the compelling change that was taking place in his town when he returned for his grandfather’s funeral in 2001. He knew there was a story stirring in the isolated meth labs and the skeletal remains of humans reduced to lunacy by the corrosive and intensely addictive drug. The background scenes of the stark Midwest canvas have attracted Farnsworth since his father gave him his first Super-8 camera when he was five. He actually shot all of the background in digital video on various trips to the region long before principal shooting and his love of the elements in the Midwest shows. The result is a thoughtfulness and intensity in the background shots that brings to mind the deserted and lonely feeling of films such as the recent “Capote.” The graininess of the film echoes the dusty and wind-blown hopelessness of the depression-era dustbowls. Insurance salesman Irv Huffman played by John Savage and Pastor Krause played by John Bliss represent the good that is left in the traditional family values and work ethic of the Midwest. But they are old and the future does not bode well as their son’s and daughters become increasing disillusioned with life’s limited promise.
A cautionary tale of the horrors of getting rich quick in the drug trade, “Iowa” is compared to Darren Aronofsky’s classic “Requiem For A Dream.” Although it falls short of the multi-faceted dynamic of “Requiem” this first major work of Farnsworth does an amazing job with far fewer resources. It is, above all, a love story that raises the human spirit above the weakness of the flesh as in the recently released “Half-Nelson” with Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps and the ultra-indie “On the Outs” with Judy Marte. The characters of Esper’s trailer-trash mom and her crooked cop boyfriend have a spark of Tarantino in them in spite of the fact that the writer has a ways to go in coming up with consistent sharp and edgy dialogue. Neither Esper nor his tweaked out lab partner compare to Vincent D'Onofrio’s Pooh-Bear in “The Salton Sea.”
A thoroughly grounded effort, the film doesn’t stray into the fantastic as in Asia Argento’s recent “The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things,” based on the book written by the fictitious JT Leroy. This story and the characters in it are as real as the day is long and faithful to all that is good and bad about growing up with ever shrinking horizons. Apparently unrated at this point, this film is in solid “R” territory. Although it doesn’t exploit the violence and sexual excesses that are part of its landscape, it does portray them in unflinching realism. For mature audiences only.
US Release: 2006-03-31
UK Release: TBA

'Iowa'
by Michael Atkinson - March 28th, 2006 2:02 PM
Midwestern DIYer Matt Farnsworth wrote, directed, produced, and stars in his first feature, Iowa, and though it's clear he's far from over himself, his movie has twice the savviness and inventive hostility than you'd expect from a run-of-the-mill vanity indie. Perhaps as a career initiative, the Fox TV–worthy Farnsworth is an avenger for those ravaged by small-town crank addictions (his previous featurette was a junkie doc), and Iowa traces the descent of a disillusioned young couple (Farnsworth and Diane Foster, whose huge anime eyes are too far apart by an endearing inch) as they first succumb to cheap highs and then set up their own meth lab. Cautionary tales with specks of noir pepper on them do well at fests; Farnsworth further fires things up with a murder plot directed at the surly, inheritance-anticipating hero by his own slattern mom (Rosanna Arquette) and the local sadist-monster cop (Michael T. Weiss).
It's to Farnsworth's credit that the obviously lifted fingerprints of Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream - down to the crazily edited dope-up montages and jittery panic-dollies - don't obscure the presence of John Savage as Foster's reticent lawyer dad or Amanda Tepe as a goth stripper whose worldliness sees its limits in the hothouse of amateur drug manufacture. The violence is often over the top (a finger gets snipped late in the game, when another disaster was not necessary), but the underpopulated middle-class-wasteland setting, where no one seems to ever leave their weather-worn tract homes, is evocative. It's hardly a refreshing pulse in the vein, and doesn't know all get-out about tolerable song-interlude choices, but Farnsworth brings a smidgen of scary energy to the social hellfire, and his newbie cast often out-act the pros.
'Iowa', Written and directed by Matt Farnsworth, opens March 31, New York, Village East, 181 2nd Avenue.

The official website of IOWA has been updated with more photos (still no Michael), and the announcement that it will open in Los Angeles (West Hollywood) in Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., on April 14th.

Looking Back at The Pretender with Michael Weiss
Interview by Troy Rogers, contributing editor for UnderGroundOnline
The ability to become whatever you want is both alluring and helpful, especially if you have to re-invent yourself to maintain your freedom. As one of the best chameleons on the small screen in recent years, Michael T. Weiss returns as Jerod*, the master of disguise, in The Pretender: The Complete Third Season on DVD. After four successful seasons from 1996 to 2000 and a reunion show in 2001, Michael Weiss left a lasting impression on TV and now we sit down with The Pretender himself to get the lowdown on the series, his character and what he's been up to.
UGO: During the first two seasons, it seemed like everyone was discovering the show, just like Jerod discovered the world. What was the production mindset heading into the third season?
MICHAEL T. WEISS: Overall, going into the third season we were happy because we already had three years under our belt and we knew the show was working. The third and fourth seasons were the most fun because the pressure was off a little bit and you could sort of enjoy the process.
UGO: What did the discovery of Jerod's father plus Jerod's clone give the character and the show?
MICHAEL: I guess it would probably freak out anybody to find their clone, and it would be very disturbing I would imagine. I thought that was actually a fun episode and all the intrigue started paying off in the third season. In the first season you try to figure out what you're doing. The second you try to set up all of the plot points and in the third season they started answering some of the questions and leading you down roads that they didn't have answers to.
UGO: What was it like having George Lazenby (the second James Bond) playing your father on the show?
MICHAEL: I had James Bond, and I had Darth Vader [Jake Lloyd]. The little boy was Darth Vader in one of the episodes too, so it was great. He was a great guy. I worked with James Bond, how cool is that? James Bond was my dad, that made it all the more fun.
UGO: How was Jerod's quest similar to your own personal journey as an actor?
MICHAEL: I think we are always discovering in life. Every day is a new discovery and if you stop using that sense of childlike wonder, you might as well cash it in.
UGO: Jerod's personal life was vastly different from his public persona, almost like two different characters. How did you approach that aspect of the character?
MICHAEL: On one end, the thing that attracted me to Jerod in the first place was his childlike innocence. On the other side, he was completely dark and revengeful and I felt that both polarities of that were really fascinating to play. As human beings we all have both sides anyway, but with Jerod it was very black and white.
UGO: What did you find fascinating about the relationship between Jerod and Sydney from a conflict standpoint?
MICHAEL: Well, it was a completely dysfunctional relationship, but he was like his father, the only father figure he ever had. He became his mentor and he had a love/hate relationship with him. I should say "father figure" because, basically, he was Jerod's father and captor at the same time. UGO: How was that different from Jerod and Miss Parker?
MICHAEL: I think they both have a love/hate relationship as well. Jerod sees through to Miss Parker's truth. We still don't know what happened and something must have happened between the two of them at some point that she turned on him. Still, we don't know what that is exactly because as children they were meant to be together.
UGO: Jerod pretended to be so many things. You must have learned a lot about different fields and professions.
MICHAEL: I did, I just learned. Every day that I got on the set I was in a different world. It was just like a different class every week, it was amazing. I call it Action Hero 101, to be every kind of action hero there was.
UGO: Because of that, do you think you inadvertently WERE Jerod on some personal level just because of what the role called for?
MICHAEL: It was funny because I was sitting out in my yard one day and the house across the street caught on fire and I immediately ran over and ran up the stairs to help the people, and I didn't even think about it. So, some of the character did rub off on me.
UGO: Looking back, why do you think the show has such a cult following?
MICHAEL: I think it appeals to everybody's sense of the ability to reinvent yourself, to want to be somebody different and to not always have to be the same person with the same life. I think it appealed to everyone's fantasy of, "I wish I could be somebody different today."
UGO: Is there anything that you wish you could have done with Jerod that you didn't get a chance to explore?
MICHAEL: I think if we had gotten a fifth season we would have done some pretty wacky stuff, so I hope that some day we'll get to do a final movie and wrap it all up.
UGO: You've also done voice work on the Justice League Unlimited. How did your weekly idenity changes on The Pretender help you with the role of Jason Blood/Etrigan?
MICHAEL: Oh right, because he was the half-demon guy. It was great, it's always fun and I love playing demons and bad guys with the deep crazy voices. He was a great character too, with total duality. He was kind of dark, but he was also a hero in a weird dark way.
UGO: What can you tell us about the upcoming horror film Fade?
MICHAEL: I can't tell you too much about it, because they haven't released it yet and they are pretty quiet about the plotline.
UGO: What about your character, Doctor McCabe?
MICHAEL: I play a doctor, an old-fashioned doctor, I guess. It's an interesting story and I guess they're trying to keep it secret. I'm not even sure if they've finished post-production yet.
UGO: Do you have anything else on the go?
MICHAEL: I just wrapped a play that I did in Boston called Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and now I'm just two days back from that, so I'm looking to work on the next gig.

*Their typpos, not mine!

Scott, O'Hare, Sills, White [and] more slated for Huntington's "Breaking Ground Fest" Readings
By Ernio Hernandez - 23 Mar 2006
Campbell Scott, Denis O'Hare, Douglas Sills, Julie White and Michael T. Weiss are among the stars slated for The Huntington Theatre Company's 2006 "Breaking Ground Festival" of new play readings.
The event runs April 6-9 at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. A new musical is included with new plays by Theresa Rebeck, Noah Haidle, and Ronan Noone.
The 2006 "Breaking Ground Festival," at the Carol Deane Rehearsal Hall at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont Street (between Clarendon and Berkeley St.) in Boston, MA is free (a suggested donation of $10 per person) but seating is limited and reservations are highly recommended. Call the Huntington Theatre Company Box Office at (617) 266-0800. For more information, visit www.huntingtontheatre.org.

"Property" (Sat, April 8, 8 PM)
by Valerie Martin featuring Michael T. Weiss, Pamela Gray and Will LeBow
Peter Schneider directs the scribe's tale based on her 2003 novel about a white woman and her black chambermaid who are linked by slavery and one man. Weiss ("Les Liaisons Dangereuses", "The Pretender") stars.
Michael T. Weiss was last seen in Boston portraying Le Vicomte de Valmont in the Huntington Theatre Company's "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" this season. He also starred in the Huntington's 2005 production of Lanford Wilson's "Burn This." His film credits include the hit "Jeffrey," "Freeway" opposite Reese Witherspoon, and the soon-to-be-released film festival hits "Iowa" and "Marmalade." Best known for the lead role of Jarod on the NBC hit "The Pretender," Weiss is a playwright, artist, and environmental activist. Television and theatre regular Pamela Gray was last seen in the Huntington's 2003 production of "Butley" with Nathan Lane. Local theatre favorite Will LeBow was last seen in the Huntington's productions of "Sonia Flew" (2004) and "The Rivals" (2005).
Play synopsis:
The year is 1828. Manon Gaudet, who came as a bride to her husband's sugar plantation north of New Orleans, bringing a prized wedding gift, her slave Sarah, to the union, is now trapped in a loveless marriage with a man she despises. Her husband has fathered two children, a deaf son and a baby daughter, by Sarah. Though everyone knows the children's father is also their master, it is forbidden to acknowledge the fact. Manon has one wish: to leave her husband and return to her home in New Orleans. Unbeknownst to her, Sarah also nourishes dreams of escape. Whispers of a slave rebellion grow louder, exacerbating the domestic nightmare of jealousy, possession, obsession, and fear.
This antebellum drama pits two women on opposite sides of the racial divide. Manon, a white woman, and Sarah, her black chambermaid, are linked by the social structures of slavery and the fact that they share Manon's husband. An uprising at the manor prompts Sarah's escape, but will Manon allow her to find freedom-and new love-so easily?
Martin is the author of several novels including "Mary Reilly" and "The Great Divorce."

The long announced official website of Matt Farnworth's movie IOWA is finally online. It has a trailer that features Michael, some images (no Michael), cast biographies, a synopsis, and the announcement that it will open in New York's City Cinemas Village East (181 2nd Avenue) on March 31.
It will then move to Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, San Fransico, and the midwest.

The short lived baseball related series "Clubhouse" from 2004, produced by Mel Gibson, starring Jeremy Sumpter (Peter Pan), Dean Cain (Superman), and Christopher Lloyd (Return to the Future), and featuring Michael T. Weiss in episode #9, will re-run on the HDNet cable channel, beginning this Sunday, March 12th with the pilot.

The IMDb lists its episodes as follows:
11 episodes were filmed. The first five episodes aired on CBS in the fall of 2004. The five episodes the CBS aired were the Pilot, "Breaking the Slump", "Chin Music", "Trade Talks", and "Spectator Interference". In 2005, all 11 episodes were purchased by the HDNet cable channel and were aired.

Sun., Mar. 12th - 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT (60 min)
Pilot - In the premiere episode, Pete Young is elated to be a part of the Empires, but he soon finds out that life in the big leagues is not quite the joyride he expected. Pete gets caught in the middle of a ball player's steroid scandal and faces the toughest decision of his life.
Sun., Mar. 19th - 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT (60 min)
Breaking the Slump - Pete risks losing his dream job when he attempts to save star player Conrad Dean from a bat corking scandal.

If HDNet continues with this schedule, the episode with Michael will air on Sunday, May 7:
Episode number: 1.09
Episode Title: "Save Situation" ; originally announced to air in November 2004.
Synopsis: When Lou Russo [Christopher Lloyd], the equipment manager invests in a real estate deal, Pete [Jeremy Sumpter] wants to get a piece of the action.

Even as Michael wasn't at the Oscars, some other equally environmentally conscious actors used similar cars like he has, to get to the event:
Oscars' Wheels: Who Drove What to the Academy Awards
Los Angeles — Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal and George Clooney stepped out of green vehicles and onto the red carpet at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday here. But others, including Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, showed up in a stretched version of the Chrysler 300C, the automaker said in a statement.
Cathy Schulman, the executive producer of the Best Picture winner Crash, was shuttled to the ceremony in a Mercury Mariner hybrid.
The Associated Press said 25 VIPs, including Best Supporting Actress nominee Frances McDormand (North Country), participated in the 4th annual "Red Carpet, Green Cars" event sponsored by Toyota Motor and the environmental organization Global Green USA. Jennifer Aniston, George Clooney, Joaquin Phoenix and Gyllenhaal arrived in Toyota or Lexus hybrids, including the Toyota Prius, Lexus RX 400h, and hybrid Toyota Camry. The program began with just four participants in 2002 but has grown rapidly since then.
Cadillac used a fleet of 2007 Escalades to pick up and drop off celebrities.
What this means to you: What you arrive in for the Academy Awards is rapidly becoming a key part of the style equation.

The print issue of Huntington’s newsletter for December 2005 had 'A Moment with Michael T. Weiss' compiled by M. Bevin O'Gara, which quoted: "... Recently he moved behind the camera to co-produce the hit show Nip/Tuck ..."
On Nip/Tuck's official website, 'a' Michael Weiss is credited for the pilot as exec. producer, and for season 1 as co-producer.
Also, Michael's name has disappeard from ECO's website, and there were no public signs of him doing work for this or any other environmental organisation lately.
So, at the recent reading of "Out at Short" Becci B. took her chances and approached Michael about these items: "... I then asked him about ECO, and he said yes he is still working with them. And then I asked about Nip / Tuck and I explained about the interview that stated it was him as producer. He laughed and said "No, that's not me. Although it is a nice idea, they are more then welcome to send me the residual checks." ...". Thanks to Becci B. for letting me use her words.

For the full text of the article from the Huntinton newsletter see news from 1-31-06, and Becci B.'s report about some of the events on the evening of February 18, 2006 at the "Out at Short" reading can be found on the board of the Michaeltweissfanclub, message #2344.

Btw, photos from this event will be added to this site in the next days.

Sorry for the short notice, but confirmation just came in:
According to the talent coordinator of the event, Michael is definitely partcipating in the reading of "Out at Short" along with Jamie Denton, Andrea Parker, Richard Marcus, Doug Savant, Ron Glass, Jon Polito, Michael B. Silver, Katie Mitchell and members of the Second City comedy troupe.

"Out at Short"
Saturday, Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Sportsmen's Lodge , 12833 Ventura Boulevard , Studio City , CA 91604
Tickets: $175 each; All proceeds benefit Cure Autism Now

Ticket reservations have to be in by February 16!

To reserve tickets, e-mail your name, phone number and the quantity of tickets you'd like to purchase to CANbenefit@hotmail.com or to Sandi. Payment is accepted by check or money order and is tax-deductible [for US citizens]. (Cure Autism Now Tax ID: 95-454-2637.)

NEWS 2-16-06: Carmen Electra has joined the cast, and chances are good that you'll get to see at least snippets of what went on, because both 'Access Hollywood' and 'Extra' are supposed to be there, as well as a professional photographer.

For more information check James Denton's official website, and see news from 2-8-06.

From an email from Paul Washburn, 1st AD of FADE:
Hi Evi,
We are currently working on a new cut, Anthony has some wonderful new ideas for the structure and we should have it ready in the next few months. The web site will likely change hands soon, I don't have the time/skill to do it justice and we are likely going to find another designer. Thanks for the interest!
Paul

Its writer and director Anthony Stagliano was kind enough to answer another batch of questions regarding the movie, and Michael's involvement, added here with permission. But I do think that the answers are very well tought of!
Dear Evi,
Sorry about the delay. It has been busy here, lately.
I will get you photos as soon as time allows.
Here are some not very well thought out answers to your questions.
Q: What was your inspiration for writing the script? (In case you can answer this without revealing the story.)
A: I was inspired to write the script by a mix of personal history, cultural memory, and news articles I had accumulated. No single facet seemed to be a prime mover in the script’s main content, but the news articles spurred the first writing, in long hand, on lined paper.
Q: How did you come up with the names for your characters?
A: This is a great question, coming from Germany, where the character names appear more obvious and heavy-handed than they probably do here. I think a character named "Art Dichter" experiencing what he experiences in the film says something about the condition of creativity in the current world. In English, "Poet" and "Artist" are nonexistent as family names; Dichter at least sounds plausible to me. I have no idea if it actually occurs as a name.
Q: Did you already had have certain actors in mind when you wrote it?
A:No.
Q: Did any of the actors, particularly, Mr. Weiss, bring anything to their roles that was a pleasant surprise?
A: Yes.
Q: Why did you choose the actors, and Michael T. Weiss in particular, for FADE?
A: I was fortunate enough to have made a contact with his manager during the casting process. It was a great boon to us to have him be interested in us.
Q: How was it to work with Mr. Weiss?
A: Fantastic. He is a talented and thoughtful actor who brings much to a role that is written sometimes between the words, things that are hard to verbalize but need to be.
Q: Are you planning to ask Mr. Weiss to work in another of your future projects?
A: I would love to. Perhaps you’d be willing to help me raise the money? [ I'd love to help. Only I don't know how :(( ]
Q: Did making this movie inspire any future projects that you might not have in mind before making it?
A: Yes, but maybe not in the way you might expect. I think it is a surprise to make a film for the money we made ours, in terms of what things are possible and what things simply are not. In that regard, many things became accessible to me *for future use* that hadn’t been for this film.
Q: Will there be any premier showings ...?
A: ... I should like to have a public screening, but at present one is not planned. I will let you know ...
Q: How is the outlook on distribution?
A: Since this is the best film ever made, distribution should be a walk in the park. I am sure they will be begging to get FADE an IMAX screening the moment they see it. ;-)
But really, who knows such things ahead of time? I put all I’ve got into this; I have avoided clichés and tried to add something to cinema, but it isn’t up to me to decide whether that was successful.
Distribution, these days, is a measure of a film’s marketability and potential for financial success. I want the world to be able to see this, but one should always worry oneself about artistic success first.
In reality, though, we will have a fully functioning website up quite soon, which will have a trailer on it (Yes, I will send you the trailer. Yes, I would be delighted if you’d link or post it from your website) and much more to look at. And we should be in some festivals later in the year.
I hope these are sufficient answers.
Sincerely,
Anthony

For the first batch of questions and answers, and more information about FADE see also the 2005 News Archive 10-17-05, 6-29-05, 6-20-05 and 6-6-05.

Previews of commentary clips with the series' creators/producers from the season 3 set:
Co-Creators discuss the evolution of Michael T. Weiss' hair:
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The co-creators talk about Michael Weiss' hair again, then tell a funny story about how he had auditioned for them years ago for a pilot called "Wilde Life":
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The co-creators discuss one of the opening shots of the episode "Crazy" and how it was shot on a sound stage that Fox is currently shooting 24 on:
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Craig Van Sickle explains how they were purposefully ambiguous when naming things in the Centre like the 'Renewal Wing':
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Steven Mitchell explains how they always tried to hook Ms. Parker back into Jarod's story emotionally:
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If the links won't work, please go to TVShowsonDVD.

What the critics said about "Les Liaisons Dangereuses":
"Forget the Super Bowl ... the really big games right now are being played in the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses!" - Variety
"Smolders with passion and desire!" - Boston Herald
"A stylish, sexy production! A cruelly clever tale of revenge." - The Boston Globe
"Grandeur, delicious depravity, and chilling amorality!” - Boston Phoenix

So I couldn't resist: I flew to Boston to see the play and Michael T. Weiss myself, and brought back memories of wonderful moments and my own review. It can be found in the Specials section.

Press Release - James Denton Leads All-Star Lineup for "Out at Short" Event:
James Denton and Doug Savant (Desperate Housewives), Michael T. Weiss (The Pretender, Crossing Jordan, Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Andrea Parker (Less Than Perfect, The Pretender), Richard Marcus (The Pretender), Ron Glass (Barney Miller), Jon Polito (The Big Lebowski), Michael B. Silver (Seabiscuit), Katie Mitchell (Veronica Mars) and members of the Second City comedy troupe will read the original screenplay "Out at Short" on Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, CA. Tickets are $175 and all proceeds benefit Cure Autism Now.

"Out at Short" is a comedy-drama, written by Eric Zudak and two other writers, about the accidental "outing" of baseball's greatest player, Rick 'Wheels' Wieland. James Denton and friends will read the screenplay for an intimate audience and join guests for cocktails after the show. It is certain to be an unforgettable evening of laughter and good sportsmanship with additional celebrities to be announced.

"Out at Short"
Saturday, Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Sportsmen's Lodge , 12833 Ventura Boulevard , Studio City , CA 91604
Tickets: $175 each; All proceeds benefit Cure Autism Now
Cocktail reception with the cast following the show. Joining the cast members at the cocktail reception: Jon Gries (Napoleon Dynamite, The Big Empty, The Pretender), Sam Ayers (Numb3rs, The Pretender).

Each person attending this event will receive "The Pretender - The Complete Third Season" on DVD, compliments of FOX Entertainment (a $39.98 value)! Once you receive your free DVD set, you can get the people from the cast of "The Pretender" who will be there to sign it for you, making it not only something you will enjoy, but a terrific collector's item as well. But: Bring your own Sharpie pen for autographs :-)

To reserve tickets, e-mail your name, phone number and the quantity of tickets you'd like to purchase to CANbenefit@hotmail.com. Payment is accepted by check or money order and is tax-deductible [for US citizens]. (Cure Autism Now Tax ID: 95-454-2637.)

For more information check James Denton's official website, see news from 11-24-05, or contact Sandi.
The answer to the most frequently asked question is: No, you may NOT take photos during the reading. However, you MAY take photos at the reception.

Bonne Anniversaire -
Michael turns another year younger today. You have a wonderful day!
Just as Oscar Wilde once said: Those whom the gods love grow young.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses
(Boston University Theater; 890 seats; $70 top)
A Huntington Theater Company presentation of a play in two acts by Christopher Hampton. Directed by Daniel Goldstein.

Le Vicomte de Valmont - Michael T. Weiss
La Marquise de Merteuil - Tasha Lawrence
La Presidente de Tourvel - Yvonne Woods
Madame de Rosemonde - Alice Duffy
Emilie - Jennie Israel
Cecile - Louisa Krause
Le Chevalier Danceny - Jeff Barry
Madame de Volanges - Ann Talman
Azolan - Seth Fisher
Major-Domo - James Bodge

Caption of the accompanying photo of the bed scene: Louisa Krause is the innocent object of Michael T. Weiss' libertine Le Vicomte de Valmont, in the Huntington Theater's 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses.'

By Frank Rizzo
Forget the Super Bowl, celebrity poker and the Olympics. The really big games right now are being played in the Huntington Stage production of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," where sex, deceit and revenge add up to the ultimate contact sport. This oft-reheated passion play has its hits and misses, but overall the wicked manipulators in Christopher Hampton's adaptation of the 1782 novel by Choderlos de Laclos are just too much fun to miss.
The deliciously naughty, haughty work can be taken only so seriously, after all. Give it too much gravitas and it loses its satirical edge against a corrupt privileged society in pre-revolution Paris. Make the work too arch or silly and it can veer toward camp. Helmer Daniel Goldstein comes close to finding the right balance in his nervy but uneven production, which abandons propriety, period and even accents. (Goldstein's aesthetic seems to want to make it a statement about today's mores; while this idea doesn't really take, it has its playful side.)
Production's major coup was bringing in Michael T. Weiss, who scored well in another charismatic turn at the Huntington in last season's "Burn This!" Here Weiss taps into more of his persona from TV's "The Pretender." With his basso growl, sly smile and his mod court look, he is an assured fellow with charm, grace and just the right amount of bad-boy danger.
Weiss is less successful, however, when, late in the play, he loses his heart and evil ways to the pious, porcelain beauty Madame de Tourvel (Yvonne Woods), a woman he originally intended to seduce merely for the challenge.
As Valmont's libertine partner in sexual manipulation, the Marquise de Merteuil, Tasha Lawrence's difficulties are the reverse. Thesp begins with a too-obvious villainy, even commonness -- so much so that one questions the loyalty, the interest and the sexual attraction Valmont still has for his ex-lover. In an early scene, plentiful double entendres are played with such sophomoric subtlety that one wonders if these are aristocrats or "The Aristocrats" of the dirty-joke film.
However, as the spider's web becomes more tightly woven, Lawrence finds power in her private pauses, daggered looks and deadly intentions.
Woods makes for a fragile, sympathetic and torn Madame Tourvel -- a decidedly different dish who turns Valmont's heart inside out. As the about-to-be-ex virgin Cecile, both Louisa Krause's sweetness and her sensuality veer toward the cartoony. Jeff Barry, as a man wooing Cecile, and Alice Duffy, as Valmont's rich and loving auntie, are standouts. Jennie Israel has fun as one of Valmont's good-time girls.
Goldstein also scores with the design and sound elements of the show. Erin Chainani's splendid costumes appropriate haute style from a variety of periods. Valmont looks more attired for an after-Oscars party, while Merteuil looks like she's going to a dominatrix ball at court.
James Noone shows a slightly abstract touch with his grand staircases, flickering candles and glistening columns. The underscoring and musical cues by composer Loren Toolajian and sound man Benjamin Emerson give the production a sense of cinematic sweep.

Sets, Jim Noone; costumes, Erin Chainani; lighting, Mark Stanley; original music, Loren Toolajian; sound, Benjamin Emerson; production stage manager, Stephen M. Kaus. Opened Jan. 11, 2006. Reviewed Jan. 24. Runs through Feb. 5. Running time: 2 hours, 15 min.

Date in print: Tue., Jan. 31, 2006, Gotham [New York]

From the print issue of Huntington’s newsletter for December 2005:
"If the role is really good and well written and challenging," says Michael T. Weiss, "I want it."
It’s one of the reasons he decided to enter the power-driven, scandalous world of pre-revolution France to play Le Vicomte de Valmont in the Huntington’s production of Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Audiences will remember Weiss from last season’s Burn This, in the role of the brooding Pale, a part for which he received crictical praise. Director Susan Fenichell was completely taken by him. "He’s a lovely actor, incredibly spontaneous and incredibly precise at the same time," she says. In his much-anticipated return, Weiss will take on a role even more potent and virile.
Catching the acting bug early, Weiss, a Chicago native, appeared in a number of local commercials and studied with the Second City comedy troupe while still in high school. He later trained at the esteemed University of Southern California School of Drama, where his classmates included Anthony Edwards and Ally Sheedy.
"I did a lot of theatre in those days, and then I got on the road to film and television," Weiss says. He certainly can charm the lens, with roles in such films as Freeway, Jeffrey, Bones, and Net Worth. He also lent his richely-toned voice to Tarzan for the animated Tarzan & Jane, and the television series The Legend of Tarzan. He’s been seen on the small screen in Dark Shadows and 2000 Malibu Road, but he is most often recognized as Jarod, from NBC’s The Pretender. Recently he moved behind the camera to co-produce the hit show Nip/Tuck.**
Weiss has a life beyond the accolades of audiences. Using his fame to help protect the planet, he serves on the board of directors for the Earth Communications Office. There, he lends his face – and recruits other renowned faces – for public service announcements promoting awareness of how human actions take a toll on the environment.
For the second year in a row, Huntington audiences will have the pleasure of seeing Weiss on stage, the chance to stand again before the footlights is one Weiss has been waiting for. "Being on stage for the Huntington, there is a much more immediate reaction from the audience. It's a lot scarier [than working on film]. But I love it!"
-M. Bevin O'Gara

** On Nip/Tuck's website, 'a' Michael Weiss is credited for the pilot as exec. producer, and for season 1 as co-producer.

I received an email from TNT about a 3rd movie for "The Pretender":
Unfortunately TNT no longer has the rights to produce movies for The Pretender.
TNT Viewer Relations
404-885-4538
Thank you for Watching TNT

This exhibition was first mentioned in two articles published for the premiere of "Les Liasions Dangereuses":
Sandy MacDonald - January 02, 2006, Theatermania.com
.... In Boston, he's car-free, instead patronizing the subway system. He does so not only to conserve energy but also because, as a photographer, he loves studying faces. (His show at a Hollywood gallery last spring was a near sell-out.) ....
----
William Henderson - January 04, 2006, In News Weekly
.... While his play "Streams of Consciousness" was produced at The Met Theater in Los Angeles recently, and his one-man photography and art show "sold out in almost four hours," he said, he is solely focused right now on bringing to life one of history's most unlikable yet strangely sympathetic villains, or tragic heroes, depending on your point of view. ....

So I contacted the showroom of Los Angeles-based furnishings and interior designer, Carol Kipling (6710 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038), to ask if the Michael T. Weiss, whose URL for 'Michael T. Weiss Fine Art', leads to their site, is the same man?
And this is their answer:
Dear Evi
Yes, the Michael T. Weiss, actor is the artist as well. We had a show of his work last spring and it sold out immediately. We have also been selling his work in our studio as he produces it, of which that also sold out. Michael is working on new works now, and he will be creating additional work when he returns from performing in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the date of his next show will be posted on his web site, which will hopefully be sometime in spring.
Thank you,
Angel.

Two great shows are onstage right now in Boston, both well known stories but they couldn't be more different.
"Little Women: The Musical" comes to the Hub from Broadway, along with star Maureen McGovern. It's the same touching story you remember: four lively sisters coming of age during the Civil War. In this case, though, the story is set to music, joyful and at times, heart-achingly beautiful music. The show is playing at Boston's Opera House through Sunday. If you have time, check it out.
"Little Women" runs through Sunday at the Opera House, 539 Washington St., Boston. Tickets cost $25 to $87.50, and are available through Ticketmaster.com, by calling (617) 931-2787 or visiting the box office.

In a completely different vein, the wicked, sexy and funny "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" starring TV star Michael T. Weiss ("The Pretender") is on stage at the Huntington Theatre.
With a lavish set and dazzling costumes rooted in both the 1780s and 1980s (weird how well the two periods can merge), it's a visually stunning piece.
Weiss' deadpan humor and a devilishly well-cast ensemble make for a greatly entertaining show on par with the movie version starring John Malkovich and Glenn Close.
"Les Liaisons Dangereuses" runs through Feb. 5, at the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Tickets are $15 to $70. Available at Huntingtontheatre.org or BostonTheatreScene.com, by phone at (617) 266-0800, or in person at the Boston University Theatre box office, 264 Huntington Ave., or the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St.
Rosemary Ford is an arts and entertainment reporter for the Eagle-Tribune Publishing Co.

Full article is from Eagle-Tribune Online from Friday, January 20, 2006.

It's dangerous to trifle with 'Les Liaisons'
By David Brooks Andrews, Standard-Times correspondent
There's no beating around the bush with a play like Christopher Hampton's "Les Liaisons Dangereuses." It exists for one thing and one thing only. Well, actually two things.
The first is to titillate audiences with its cruel seductions, otherwise known as sex as a weapon of revenge. And the second is to turn a profit. The problem with titillation — whether you take the high or the low road — is that it always promises more than it delivers. And you've parted with your money before you remember how much titillation inevitably lets you down.
All of this makes "Dangereuses" an odd choice for a theater with as substantial a reputation as the Huntington Theatre Company, except for the fact that the play is a proven moneymaker. The only thing odder is the flippant, carefree style in which Daniel Goldstein has directed it.
"Dangereuses" is a story that revolves around a late-18th-century French aristocrat, La Marquise de Merteuil, and her former lover, Le Vicomte de Valmont, a man with a reputation for sexual conquests. Seeking revenge on a lover who left her to marry a young virgin, Merteuil persuades Valmont to seduce the virgin before the wedding takes place.
This seems like such an easy task to him that he also takes on the more difficult one of seducing La Presidente de Tourvel, a young woman who's adamantly faithful to God and her marriage vows. Valmont doesn't want to break down her beliefs, but rather get her to betray them against her own better judgment. If he succeeds and gets written proof of it, Merteuil promises to spend a night with him. This is his greatest desire and he's willing to destroy anyone and their feelings to achieve it.
The only problem is that in seducing Tourvel he begins to feel something resembling love himself. He becomes confused about how to reconcile his vicious predatory sexual games with the glimmers of love in his own heart. And how to choose between his perverse attraction to Merteuil and his budding love for Tourvel. All the while, time is running out.
This, of course, is the same story that Mr. Hampton adapted for the 1988 film version of "Dangereuses" starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer. The story is based on Choderlos de Laclos' only novel, published in France in 1782, causing considerable controversy.
Instead of directing his cast to perform it in an elegantly restrained 18th-century style with flashes of passion occasionally breaking through, Mr. Goldstein has them act as if they're bored Hollywood stars in 21st-century America. It's not a bad insight that such trifling with other people's emotions often grows out of boredom. But it makes for a terrible acting choice. It saps the production of all dramatic tension and makes one wonder whether the characters are bored with their lives or whether the actors are simply bored with the play itself, or perhaps both. If either the characters or actors care so little, why should we care one whit? Unfortunately, we don't.
Michael T. Weiss, best known for his work on "The Pretender" TV show, plays Valmont as a preening, self-satisfied Hollywood hunk. Tasha Lawrence as Merteuil elongates the final vowels of her words, creating a sense of a whining, wealthy American. When the two finally turn against each other, they seem more annoyed with each other than furious.
Yvonne Woods makes Tourvel too wooden in her primness to seem of real interest to Valmont, even when she finally succumbs to him.
A brief moment of exuberant nudity and a less revealing and more jaded touch of it may help sell tickets, but they certainly don't resurrect the show.
The highlight of the evening is clearly Erin Chainani's elegant costumes, which are rooted in the 18th century with a contemporary flair. And James Noone's set with its palatial staircases, chandeliers and flickering candles.
Mr. Goldstein's directorial choices — particularly the staging of the sword fight and having characters symbolically appear to indicate what's going on in someone's head — make the show seem something like a romantic fairy tale. It avoids the raw ugliness of the characters' actions that you're forced to face in more traditional productions, like the far better conceived and acted one that's currently being performed at the Hovey Players, a community theater in Waltham. Avoiding the raw ugliness only makes the play less moral and justifiable, if you can imagine that.
However it's directed, the play is destined to remain at the level of titillation. That's because it doesn't reveal anything but the obvious about heartless seductions and cruel sexual games. Is there anything other than the obvious to reveal about them?
In the hands of the Huntington, the play would be better titled "Les Liaisons More Disengaged Than Dangereuses."

Article is accompanied by a b&w photo by T. Charles Erickson where Valmont (Michael T. Weiss) hands Merteuil (Tasha Lawrence) the much sought-after letter which seals the deal on their dastardly plot in the Huntington Theatre Company's production of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," playing through Feb. 5 at the Boston University Theatre.
Date of Publication: 01-19-2006

Another review from the same writer, favouring the production of the same play by a group of community theater actors, the Hovey Players, performing at the Abbott Memorial Theatre in Waltham with an infinitely smaller budget than the Huntington’s, from Metro West Daily News.

A wicked good time at the Huntington
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Eighteenth-century games of love, lust and betrayal are currently heating up the Huntington Theatre as the Boston company stages Christopher Hampton's "Les Liaisons Dangereuses." As cast member Alice Duffy - who plays Madame de Rosemonde [Valmont's aunt] - sees it, however, the story isn't just a period piece that played out in the Parisian bedrooms and salons of the 1780s.
"It's set in the 18th century, but it's really a universal story about immoral, amoral, hedonistic people who are participants in their own destruction," explained Duffy by telephone recently from her Hingham home. "At one point my character says it surprises her how little things change. And I think she is right."
One of the things that doesn't change is the kindly woman's devotion to her nephew, the rakish Vicomte de Valmont, played by television and film actor Michael T. Weiss, who partners with a former flame to seduce her former lover's bride-to-be in this adaptation of the original novel by Choderlos de Laclos.
"My character is a counter-balance to all the wickedness around her. She's just a nice old lady. Madame loves her nephew who is this handsome, dashing, lecherous, immoral and amoral man with great charm. She looks for the good in him, however, because she is his protector. Madame is a great lady and a very wealthy woman who never had any children of her own. She has been very close to her nephew since his infancy. She loves him dearly and, as such, is willing to turn a blind eye on occasion. Madame is not stupid. She is just a realist," says Duffy, 77, who has previously appeared at the Huntington in "A Month in the Country," "Dead End," and "Heartbreak House." "She well understands the libertine nature of the society in which she lives."
That society was first described in the novel published in 1782 which Hampton adapted for a 1987 Broadway production starring Alan Rickman. The following year, Hampton adapted his play for the Academy Award-winning film version starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Keanu Reeves, and Uma Thurman. Helping the Huntington convey its own highly stylized and stylish view of that society is a team led by director Daniel Goldstein, set designer James Noone, costume designer Erin Chainani, composer Loren Toolajian who provides an original score, and a cast of 10. Creative teams may alter the look of the piece, but the story remains the same.
"This is a complicated play about some very wicked people who ultimately get what they deserve. Goodness knows, we live in a naughty world. We always have," says Duffy. "There really isn't anything too strange about what these characters are doing. Every generation has these sorts of people."
"Les Liaisons Dangereuses" is being presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston, through February 5. For tickets and information, call 617-266-0800 or visit www.huntingtontheatre.org

The Boston Herald; 1/15/2006; Dana Bisbee
Two novel plays:
Two classic novels, both adapted many, many times to film, are now stage plays in Boston. Both opened Wednesday night.
"Les Liasions Dangereuses" is an 18th century French novel by Choderlos de Laclos that has been filmed 11 times since French director Roger Vadim embraced it first in 1959.
Playwright Christopher Hampton wrote the 1987 stage version and adapted that into the screenplay for the 1988 film. That stage version starring Michael T. Weiss is at the Huntington Theatre.
It was also opening night for the Broadway musical version of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" starring Maureen McGovern at the Opera House. ...
Meanwhile, the Huntington's "Les Liasions Dangereuses" party was a pre-performance supper at the Colonnade Hotel for 180 trustees, overseers and major donors.
Costume designer Erin Chainani attended with mother-in-law Sheila Chainani and spoke briefly to the dinner guests rushing to eat in time to get to the theater.
Guests included Huntington managing director Michael Maso, board chairman J. David Wimberly, trustees Carol Deane Susan Kaplan and Cokie Perry and overseer Caroline Collings and her daughter-in-law, also named Caroline Collings.
Copyright 2006 Boston Herald

According to its official website, the late summer of 2006 will see "Sledge : The Untold Story" released worldwide ... check back for dates.

In 'Liaisons,' web of intrigue is stylish, but doesn't seduce
By Louise Kennedy, Globe Staff - January 13, 2006
Daniel Goldstein's stylish, sexy production of Christopher Hampton's play "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" has more on its mind than style and sex. In Goldstein's hands, this isn't just a cruelly clever tale of revenge in the ancien regime; with a Chanel logo here, a Lagerfeld boot there, and broadly American accents all over the place, Goldstein and his team make sure we see the parallels between decadent 18th-century French aristocrats and those closer to our own lives.
The question, though, is just how precisely this production, which opened Wednesday night at the Huntington, means to sound those echoes. Sometimes the allusions feel more off-the-cuff amusing than richly enlightening. Are we supposed to think of rich Texans, perhaps? Or rich New Yorkers, or maybe even Parisians? Or just rich people in general? And once we've thought of them, what are we to do with the thought? To note that wealth creates cruelty and selfishness in any age, not just in prerevolutionary France, is hardly complex or profound, and to hint at parallels without really pushing to see how far they'll go can feel more superficial than smart.
Still, it's a thought worth having, and certainly one that's justified by Hampton's witty 1986 adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos's only novel. (The 1782 novel has also spawned several film versions, including the 1988 "Dangerous Liaisons," which Hampton wrote.) As the Marquise de Merteuil inveigles her former lover, the Vicomte de Valmont, into seducing another ex's virginal fiancee -- only to have Valmont up the ante by promising another seduction, of a pious wife, if Merteuil will share her favors once more -- we can enjoy the game even as we nod sagely with Valmont's matriarchal aunt, who sees the whole intrigue as just one more example of how little the world changes.
As for the characters themselves, sometimes the costumes -- brilliantly conceived by newcomer Erin Chainani -- seem to have more on their minds than the actors do. Michael T. Weiss's Valmont and Tasha Lawrence's Merteuil are both suitably feline, by turns purring and clawing. But their malice too often devolves into something close to soap opera; one evil cackle or slangy "gonna" too many, and you can find yourself yanked out of Paris into Dallas -- or, more precisely, "Dallas," and its cheesy cousin, "Dynasty." Lawrence, in particular, channels Joan Collins a little too often. And Weiss sometimes lets Valmont's vanity upstage his raw animal appeal; he should be more a barely tamed leopard than a preening cat.
Meanwhile, as the ingenue Cecile, Louisa Krause gives us Sandra Dee a la francaise. She's very amusing, particularly once she surrenders her virtue and discovers the joy of vice, but how did we get from the '80s to the '50s? Yvonne Woods provides a more subtle, understated vision of Valmont's ultimate conquest, the faithfully married Presidente de Tourvel. Prim, even awkward, at the outset, Woods slowly warms and blooms, though she's never a raging beauty. That gives Valmont's passion for her all the more unexpected force.
In supporting roles, Jennie Israel presents a cheerfully depraved courtesan (and, along with Krause, some of the nudity and adult situations the Huntington's website warns about); Alice Duffy is heartbreakingly wise as the aunt, and Jeff Barry makes a suitably bumbling Chevalier Danceny, another pawn in Merteuil's plot.
When it comes to support, though, the outstanding performance is by set designer James Noone. From the first sparkling image -- twinkling candles and weblike chandeliers, a delicately printed pastoral scene on a scrim, "marble" walls that look as cold and synthetic as the marquise's heart -- to the last, chilling tableau, in which all the pieces fall with startling inevitability into place, Noone has given Goldstein the ideal board for his game. If only Goldstein had explored a little more thoroughly just what he wanted that game to be.
Louise Kennedy can be reached at kennedy@globe.com.

Another, only lukewarm review from Boston Herald by Terry Byrne.

The Huntington Theatre has made the announced video clips available on their website. You need Real Player to watch them.
Clip 1:
Le Vicomte de Valmont (TV and film star Michael T. Weiss) explains to La Marquise de Merteuil (Tasha Lawrence) how he plans to seduce a prim and proper woman for his amusement. (1:18 minutes)
Clip 2:
Young suitor Danceny (Jeff Barry) engages in a sword fight with Valmont. (1:06 minutes)
They can be watched here.

The Huntington Theatre has added a batch of new photos taken by T. Charles Erickson during the play to the two previouly released promotion stills of Michael T. Weiss as the Vicomte de Valmont with Louisa Krauss as Cécile.
Very large versions of these yummy photos (especially the one of the bed scene) can be downloaded here.

From 'Boston Where', Jan. 2006 print issue:
January Top 10 - Notable things to see and do this month, listed by date:
-All month: Turtle Trek, New England Aquarium
-Jan. 5 - 9: The New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend
-Begins Jan. 6: "Les Liaisons Dangereuses". Actor Michael T. Weiss stirs up scandal as Valmont in this Huntington Theatre production, B.U. Theatre
-Begins Jan. 7: The One & Only Boston Chocolate Tour
-Jan. 13 - 15: "Beethoven's Fifth", Symphony Hall
-Jan. 13 - April 7: The Boston Wine Festival, Boston Harbour Hotel
-Jan. 19 & 30: Billy Joel's "My Lives" Tour, Banknorth Garden
-Jan. 20 - 22: Mark Morris Dance Group, The Wang Theatre
-Jan. 27: 21st Annual Gala Festival of Food & Wine, Seaport World Trade Center
-Jan. 29: "From The Top", NEC's Jordan Hall

Michael T. Weiss
c/o Agency for the Performing Arts
9200 W Sunset Blvd., Suite 900
West Hollywood, CA 90069-3604
USA

If you ask for an autograph, and write from within the US, you should add a self-addressed and stamped envelope to your short letter. If you write from outside the US also add a self-addressed envelope, and one or two International Reply Coupons for postage as a courtesy to the agency.

It means bad luck in theatre when you wish one 'good luck' (almost like sending carnations), so I only wish you, Michael and the rest of the cast 'toi-toi-toi' and all the best for the first show of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" tonight, and a successful run. The official premiere will be on Thursday, January 12.

For all those who won't be able to see the play live, a friend who prefers to stay unnamed, got some good news from the Huntington:
Hi, Due to union regulations we are not able to record and/or sell videos of our productions. We will, however, have a few minutes of streaming video from a performance of Les Liaisons Dangereuses on our web site. Keep an eye out for it late next week!
Webmaster, Huntington Theatre Company

... "Basically," she [Jennie Israel - Emilie] said, "I'm the favorite, paid lover of Le Vicomte de Valmont," performed by stage and screen star Michael T. Weiss, who earned positive reviews in last year's production of "Burn This" at the Huntington.
"Valmont is definitely a manipulator," said Weiss during a recent press conference. "But I also think he's insecure and wants to be loved, but doesn't know how to go about getting it," said the actor best known for the lead role of Jarod on the NBC hit "The Pretender." ...
... "It is dark and sexual, and that's how we're staging it," noted Weiss, 43, who spent part of last summer in Cambridge, taking an art history course at Harvard.
"I was definitely the oldest student in the class. The kids didn't even really care who I was," he said. "They were focused on studying and their grades. It was really a liberating experience to just study and drink in all this amazing knowledge. And I got a 98 on my final! I was calling my mom ... 'Hey, I got a 98 on my final! At Harvard!'" ...

Full article by Susan Daniels / Correspondent is from Arlington Advocate from Thursday, January 5, 2006.

The full range of Michael T. Weiss
William Henderson - January 04, 2006
Star of film 'Jeffrey' returns to Boston's Huntington Theatre to play seductive Valmont in the steamy 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses'
"Les Liaisons Dangereuses," the novel written by Choderlos de Laclos, has inspired countless reimaginings on stage and on screen. There was "Dangerous Liaisons" featuring John Malkovich and Glenn Close attempting to one-up each other in games of love and seduction; "Valmont," featuring Colin Firth and Annette Benning; "Cruel Intentions" ("Liaisons" light) with Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe, and even a well-reviewed adult film released this past summer.
But the reason Michael T. Weiss (most commonly remembered as Jarod from the television series "The Pretender," and from his roles in the films "Jeffrey" and "Freeway") is in Boston and again working with the Huntington Theatre Company (he was last in Huntington's staging of "Burn This" at the beginning of 2005), is the award-winning Christopher Hampton's stage adaptation "Les Liaisons Dangereuses."
While the story is well known - the beautiful and cunning La Marquise de Merteuil enlists her partner-in-crime Le Vicomte de Valmont (played by Weiss) to seduce her lover's bride to be. Valmont soon becomes caught up in an intrigue of love and lust and seduction which eventually leads to his death and the Marquise's humiliation and fall from social grace - the Huntington staging, with its stylish, non-classical approach, and its use of an array of mirrors, staircases, and spirals, promises something for everyone, even those familiar with the other adaptations.
When Weiss strolls into a room at the Huntington's administrative offices, he's wearing a blue sweater, a tan vest, a golden scarf tied just-so around his neck, and a cap. He hasn't shaved in a couple of days, though his sideburns are long and appear carefully groomed and he's sporting a weeks-old soul patch on his chin. While he drinks his coffee black, throughout this late December interview, he plays with the proffered sugar packets and creamer container.
He has opinions on the current political regime and the ripples he predicts will lead to a better government, eventually. And while he imagines that there are obvious links between the politics of the 18th and 21st centuries, he's not here to stump for any specific political ideology and attempts, more than once, to steer the conversation back to the show itself.
"It's a classic. It sort of transcends time," he says. "It's about human relationships and the manipulation of such for personal gain. It's about men and women and the sexual game we tend to play with each other, but shows how nobody wins in the game of love."
He thinks Valmont is the most difficult role he's played - calling it sexy and challenging and something from which he is learning daily. Just four days into rehearsals and he already has hours of fencing under his belt with countless more to go to ensure audiences believe the show's sword fights look realistic.
While there is nudity in the play, "Liaisons" does not have GLBT content per say (as opposed to "Cruel Intentions" which did include an out character played by Joshua Jackson who "tricks" pivotal information out of a trick for the movie's Valmont character), Weiss is no stranger to the GLBT community. His role as a gay man in "Jeffrey," he said, released in 1995, brought with it the usual spotlight focused on straight actors playing gay roles, but such attention wasn't exactly unexpected.
"It was cutting-edge at the time," Weiss said, "but, as an actor, I believe the full spectrum of humanity should be imagined."
Weiss is coy about the play's promised nudity, declining to comment on whether it is he who goes full Monty, but he laughs at the thought that someone would choose to come to the show solely to see skin. Come for the sexy adaptation or for the bitter rivalries, come for the seduction or for the attempt at equalizing the sexual power of the two genders, but don't just come for the nudity.
As this is his second stint at Huntington, Weiss is finding himself more and more drawn to Boston and its thriving arts community, he said. He spent a portion of this past summer at Harvard taking an art history class and it was during this time, after already accepting the role of Valmont, that he began researching this specific time period of history.
And the Huntington, for its part, was pleased to get Weiss to return to its stage.
"I have always loved this brilliant, sensuous play," said Nicholas Martin, the theatre's artistic director, "and Michael T. Weiss starring as the dangerous Vicomte Valmont, hot on the heels of his remarkable performance in 'Burn This,' is a coup for the Huntington."
What Weiss next plans to do remains unclear, though he hints at a show in New York. While his play "Streams of Consciousness" was produced at The Met Theater in Los Angeles recently, and his one-man photography and art show "sold out in almost four hours," he said, he is solely focused right now on bringing to life one of history's most unlikable yet strangely sympathetic villains, or tragic heroes, depending on your point of view.
"This adaptation is remarkable and concise and people are in for a great night of theater," he said. "Valmont appears to be an angel on the outside but is a devil on the inside, like anyone who sets out to break someone's heart. I'm drawn to characters that have different layers, and especially to Valmont, who becomes ensnared by his own manipulations."
"Les Liaisons Dangereuses" runs from Jan. 6 to Feb. 5 at the Boston University Theatre, 264 Huntington Avenue, Boston. Performances are scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. (except Jan. 17), Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m. (Jan. 8 and Jan. 22 only). Matinees are scheduled for Wednesdays, Jan. 18 and Feb. 1, at 2 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., (except Jan. 7 and 8). Ticket prices range from $15 to $70 and can be purchased online at Huntington Theatre Company or at bostontheatrescene.com, by phone at 617-266-0800, or in person at the Boston University Theatre Box Office, 264 Huntington Ave., or the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street, Boston.

And now also the secret what Michael was doing this past summer is revealed ;)

Weiss cranks up the heat again at Huntington
By Terry Byrne - Wednesday, January 4, 2006
After coming on hot and heavy last season in "Burn This," actor Michael T. Weiss returns to the Huntington Theatre Company on Friday to play a different kind of heartthrob.
"When I played Pale I thought he was a devil on the outside and an angel on the inside," says Weiss, best known for his starring role in TV's "The Pretender." But in "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," Valmont is the exact opposite."
In Christopher Hampton's sharp drama, the Vicomte de Valmont engages in a sexy and sinful game with his friend La Marquise de Merteuil to seduce her former lover's innocent bride-to-be. As they plot and plan, deception and attraction merge in a story line that becomes as much thriller as love story.
Weiss says director Daniel Goldstein is turning the play's 17th-century setting on its ear. "We're doing a sexier version of the story, and the costumes move from the 17th and 18th centuries to modern dress and also work in nudity, tattoos and leather," he says. "There's also lots of kissing, so if anyone gets sick it will go through the cast like wildfire."
Although he's accustomed to playing handsome heavies, Weiss says Valmont is a challenge.
"I've always wanted to play this role," he says. "He's deliciously manipulative and swashbuckly, but he's also more effete than most of the guys I get to play."
But Weiss seems able to maneuver Hollywood typecasting fairly well. He's got no less than five films waiting for release in which his characters range from a drug lord to someone involved with the fashion industry. With a busy schedule on the West Coast and a possible New York play in the offing, how does Weiss fit in work at the Huntington?
"I fell in love with Boston when I was here for "Burn This," which was the first time I'd been on stage in more than a decade," he says, "and I just wanted to get back here."
He was so eager, he enrolled at Harvard last summer for an art history course. ("I got an A-, too," he says proudly.)
"You don't appreciate it when you're here all the time, but it was just so cool to be on that campus in Cambridge," he says. "And, as an actor, all those cliches about Boston audiences turn out to be true. They're smart, they listen, they get it."

"Les Liaisons Dangereuses," presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Boston University Theatre, Friday, Jan. 6 - Sunday, Feb. 5.
Schedule: Tuesday 7:30pm / Wednesday 7:30pm / Thursday 7:30pm / Friday 8:00pm / Saturday 2:00pm & 8:00pm / Sunday 2:00pm
Tickets: $15-$70. Call 617-266-0800 or go to bostontheatrescene.com.

The Huntington Theatre has added the casts biographies to their website, and they have two projects listed in Michaels bio, that I had never heard of before (or maybe they have only slipped my memory), and that are not listed at the IMDb.
Excerpt from Michael's bio at About the Company:
... Mr. Weiss' yet to be released films include Iowa, Marmalade, Fade, P.T.A., and Razor Sharp. ...
Any ideas about "P.T.A." and "Razor Sharp"*?
Not even Huntington's public relations office knows much about them: Sorry, I don't have information on those projects. The biography was supplied to me by Michael, I didn't write it. JMK
*According to Michael's agent, "Razor Sharp" is a short film, but he doesn't know who will distribute it.

Only a few days into rehearsing the Huntington Theatre Company's upcoming production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Michael T. Weiss, who plays the evil Vicomte de Valmont, was already drawing parallels between France on the eve of the Revolution and the Bush administration. "There is absolutely a political message in this play," says Weiss, best known for his work in the TV series The Pretender and in the film version of Jeffrey. "We in America are the global aristocracy. We're such a consumptive culture. If we each took small steps to lessen that, the impact would be enormous."
But theatergoers shouldn't fear that they're in for a political diatribe. "It's deliciously sexy and dirty," says Weiss of the play, which begins performances on January 6. "It's all about the decadence going on behind the facade." Speaking of decadence, the actor has been dazzled by Erin Chainani's contempo-classic costuming -- Valmont's wardrobe is said to echo the Karl Lagerfeld look -- and he alludes to the fact that the production will contain some nudity.
As part of his preparation, Weiss has delved into the original 18th-century novel, which he describes as "a series of letters written between various lovers in various degrees of undress. It's all about human relationships, how we tend to manipulate people for our own personal gain, and how that can bite us in the tuchis," he says.
When it comes to the subject of our present-day consumptive culture, Weiss is hardly all talk; he's on the board of the Earth Communications Office (ECO), dedicated to disseminating information to improve the global environment, and he personally does his part by driving a "guilt-free" Prius in SUV-saturated Los Angeles. ("You can get just as lucky in a Prius as in a Hummer," he jokes.) In Boston, he's car-free, instead patronizing the subway system. He does so not only to conserve energy but also because, as a photographer, he loves studying faces. (His show at a Hollywood gallery last spring was a near sell-out.)
This is Weiss's third Boston-area sojourn in the past year. He played Pale in Burn This at the Huntington last fall, and he recently studied art history -- the work of 18th-century French court painter Fragonard, to be precise -- as "the oldest co-ed" at Harvard Summer School. "I got a 98 on my midterm and immediately called my mom," he brags. If he appears to be following in the footsteps of John Malkovich, who originated the role of Pale on Broadway, played Valmont in the film version of Liaisons, and now lives in Cambridge, Weiss says it's mere happenstance. "He just has very good taste," he remarks.
-- Sandy MacDonald

This article has a dangerously gorgeous photo of Valmont and Cécile not featured on the Huntington website! :)))))