1. James McAvoy has joined a stunning list of actors and directors who will take part in productions on London’s West End next season. McAvoy will take the lead role in “Macbeth,” directed by Jamie Lloyd. McAvoy played Macbeth once before, in a modernized BBC version in which the character is transformed into a chef. Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Daniel Radcliffe, Ben Whishaw, and Jude Law will also be involved with productions during the upcoming season, as well as Sam Mendes, who is staging a musical production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” [Deadline]
2. Two new works by choreographer Trisha Brown to premiere in January will be the final works of her career. Brown, who last performed with her company in 2008 before suffering from health problems, will premiere the new dances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and will remain the company’s artistic director, according to a spokesperson. Aside from the two new dances, B.A.M will also stage older works from Brown’s career, including a “reconstruction” of “Newark,” a 1987 collaboration with the artist Donald Judd, and “Set and Reset,” a 1983 collaboration with Laurie Anderson and the artist Robert Rauschenberg. [Artsbeat]
3. More changes are coming to “Up All Night” as NBC continues to tinker with the struggling show. Showrunner Tucker Cawley is departing the show and will be replaced by Linda Wallem, the co-creator of “Nurse Jackie.” This comes after the news in October that the show would be taking a hiatus while it was revamped as a multi-camera sitcom. The changes are not just creative – the move to a multi-camera format will cut costs, according to the network. [Hollywood Reporter]
4. Jonathan Demme has backed away from his planned adaptation of Stephen King’s “11/22/63,” the author’s latest novel. The book, which deals with time travel and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, is just one of the many King projects currently in development. “I loved certain parts of the book for the film more than Stephen did,” Demme explained. “We’re friends, and I had a lot of fun working on the script, but we were too apart on what we felt should be in and what should be out of the script.” [Vulture]
5. Stephen Malkmus played the entirety of Can’s “Ege Bamyasi” last weekend at the Week-End Festival in Cologne, Germany, celebrating the album’s 40th anniversary. Malkmus, who once said he played the album before he went to sleep for three years straight, was backed by local band Von Spar. The festival plans on releasing the entire performance as a full-length some time in the future, but you can watch two songs from the set below. [Pitchfork]
Previously: Johnny Depp, NYC Opera, Casey Affleck, Mike Judge, M.I.A
Image: James McAvoy/Dave Hogan/Getty Images
