Acting

Members of the Utah Shakespeare Festival Touring Company perform “Romeo and Juliet” on Thursday at Ogden High School. (NICK SHORT/Standard-Examiner)

Ogden High theater students enjoy a taste of the Bard of Avon

OGDEN — Ogden High School theater students spent the day in their element Thursday as they got to work one on one with professional actors from the Utah Shakespeare Festival touring group.

The 35 students in the workshop formed a huge circle in the school’s black box theater and interacted with each other, learning different kinds of stage-combat and warm-up exercises.

Before the workshops, junior high and high school students from across the district were treated to a live performance of “Romeo and Juliet,” followed by a question-and-answer session with the actors.

Frank Gerrish, of Fruit Heights, is acting in Hollywood. (Contributed photo)

Fruit Heights actor follows dream to 'Go On' to Hollywood

From college professor to “bingo caller” in a few short months.

Frank Gerrish, of Fruit Heights, could not be happier about where his career is taking him.

After his job teaching acting and film at Salt Lake Community College ended, Gerrish took a few months to consider what to do next. With the blessing of his wife and five children, he set out for Hollywood.

NICK SHORT/Standard-Examiner 
Richard Sharrah leads an acting workshop at Viewmont High School recently in Bountiful.

Viewmont High School hosts first back-lot film festival

BOUNTIFUL — For the last few years, the drama department at Viewmont High School has experienced a significant decline in participation as the graduation credit requirements have increased, resulting in less free time for students to take elective classes.

Ace Williams, 8, of Lomond View Elementary plays the title character in the Ogden School District's production of "Peter Pan." 
KERA Williams/Standard-Examiner

Ogden students get hooked on acting

OGDEN — Acting has been a learning experience for the young cast of “Peter Pan,” a show produced by the Ogden School District with support from RAMP.

Mykala Mikesell (left) and Brandee Ryan act out a scenario during an improv workshop taught by the Utah Shakespeare Festival educational tour at Ogden High School on Monday.  KERA WILLIAMS/Standard-Examiner)

Acting troupe teaches teens to think on their feet

OGDEN — Amy James stood before her angry boss, trying to come up with an excuse for why she would be 18 hours late for her shift as a theater concession stand worker.

“Pirates stole my ... comb?” Amy guessed, trying to take cues from her concession co-workers, who were acting out the excuse behind the boss’s back.

“No, my hair dryer,” Amy corrected. Then, after more wild gyrations and jumps from her friends: “And then the pirates forced me to walk the plank!”

Miranda Hoyt is Red Riding Hood and Kate Baker is her mother in a scene of their French version of Little Red Riding Hood at Fairfield Junior High School in Kaysville on Thursday. (KERA WILLIAMS/Standard-Examiner)

Students add foreign flavor to fairy-tale skits

KAYSVILLE — Students of the Spanish and French languages put their knowledge on display Thursday morning, performing fairy-tale plays for their peers.

Fairfield Junior High students, who are in their third year of studying the languages, have been working on the foreign language fairy-tale theater for several months.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson set for WWE return

PHILADELPHIA -- Dwayne Johnson's latest movie just topped $300 million in worldwide grosses. He's laid the smack down on Hollywood and become an in-demand action star for hire.

Lisa Davis and Ian Abercrombie (center) pose for a photograph with Emmy-nominated actor Ian McShane during the British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences third annual Emmy Nominees Tea Party on Sept. 17, 2005, in Los Angeles. Abercrombie, who played Elaine's demanding boss, Mr. Pitt, on "Seinfeld" died Thursday at age 77. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Ian Abercrombie, actor who played Elaine’s boss on 'Seinfeld,' dies at 77

LOS ANGELES — Ian Abercrombie, 77, the British character actor who played Elaine’s demanding boss, Mr. Pitt, on “Seinfeld,” died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his friend Cathy Lind Hayes. He suffered complications of kidney failure and recently had been diagnosed with lymphoma.

NANCY VAN VALKENBURG/Standard-Examiner
Teacher Eric Jensen coaches Heritage Elementary School student Gage Dowdy, 8, how to improvise in dramatic fashion Monday.

Students get lessons in comedic improv

OGDEN -- When Heritage Elementary School Principal Vincent Pascal Ardizzone brought in a veteran actor to teach improv classes and direct a play, he expected his students to benefit from exposure to the lively arts.

Attorneys using actors to prepare for witnesses

NAPLES, Fla. -- For his role as a nationally renowned cardiologist and researcher, actor Tom Riska read his 100-page script for roughly three hours, stumbling on a few medical words. After boning up during a lunch break, Riska, 60, was confident with his script's medical jargon -- and his part as Dr. Rajendra H. Mehta went off without a hitch.

This wasn't a medical TV show or soap opera. Riska was "testifying" as an expert witness in court, where a surgeon and his physician assistant were on trial in a medical malpractice case.

Andy Whitfield

'Spartacus’ star Andy Whitfield dies of cancer at age 39

LOS ANGELES — Andy Whitfield, who played the title role in the hit cable series “Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” has died at age 39, say representatives and family.

Whitfield died Sunday in Sydney, Australia, 18 months after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said manager Sam Maydew.

(Courtesy of Brian Nicholson) Bernie Diamond died of pneumonia Thursday.

Bernie Diamond dies of pneumonia at 89

OGDEN -- Bernie Diamond, a co-founder of the Management Training Corporation that runs Clearfield Job Corps, and who once estimated he brought 10,000 jobs to Weber County during his career in business and with the then-Ogden Chamber of Commerce, died Tuesday. He was 89.

Diamond also is known to fans of the former TV shows "Everwood" and "Touched by an Angel." After he retired from business, he took up acting, appearing in a wide range of TV shows, films and commercials.

Diamond's daughter, Judie, said Tuesday he was preparing for a role in an upcoming film about the New Testament being made by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Schwarzenegger puts acting career on hold to focus on 'personal matters'

LOS ANGELES -- Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is putting his acting career on hold while he focuses on his personal life, according to a statement released by his entertainment advisers.

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