Alan Rickman - Something the Lord Made - Part 2

A blast from the past... Valentine's Day at Quellek's! Looks like fun... see you there!

Yay! Party at Quellek's! I've missed his soiree's!

Nice to see all the guys ready for a good do!

Party on!

*wheeeeee* I love dancing!

Are we going for a 24 hour party?

Come rain or come shine!

Lovely! This way no matter what part of the planet you are on, we can Par-Tay!

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

So much fun!!!! I love these...not only are the individual Alans amusing but put together,they're magical. I swear there's a face (and film role) for every mood possible.

Wouldn't mind a spin around the floor with the Man,myself.

Yep, there seems to be an Alan for every occasion!

What a fun bunch to wake up to! Good morning, Alans!

Happy Valentine's Day ladies! And gentlemen!

Oh wow! Gorgeous card MMD! I love antiques!

MMD... I love the antique cards, too (as you might have guessed!). Here's one I really liked. It just worked with the Colonel.

The big Alan news today is that he will be leaving Seminar on April 1, and Jeff Goldblum will be taking over the role of Leonard. Actually I can see Jeff G. doing the role very well, but with a different slant to the character, of course. Articles appear on:

Broadway World, which announces:

Two-time Tony Award nominee, Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Alan Rickman (Private Lives, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the Harry Potter franchise) will play his final performance on Sunday, April 1 in SEMINAR ...

Variety says:

Jeff Goldblum will take over the lead role in Broadway play "Seminar" in April, when current topliner Alan Rickman exits the production. . . Rickman ends his run in "Seminar" April 1, with Goldblum stepping into the part starting April 3.

Playbill comments:

Academy Award nominee Jeff Goldblum will return to the Broadway stage in Theresa Rebeck's comedy Seminar this April, succeeding Alan Rickman in the role of surly teacher Leonard.

Goldblum first announced plans to join the Broadway production during his Feb. 13 appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Tony nominee Rickman (Private Lives, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, "Harry Potter") and his fellow cast members will play their final performances April 1. Goldbum is scheduled to begin April 3.

Interesting! Thanks for the update - would be interesting to see the way he takes it.

I really have enjoyed the lovely cards, and will love going back & looking at them later!

Seminar stage door photo by Lapinambur

Valentine's Day (Alantine's Day) is always enjoyable. I had fun looking through my computer at some of the former cards, plus the five new ones created for this year's fest!

Alan's name is out there today mainly in similar articles about Jeff G. coming in to do Seminar in April. No word yet about what Alan will be doing next (probably a vacation first!).

Inside Higher Ed offers an article about writing workshops, with some Seminar inserts, including:

Funny it is, even mesmerizing – Leonard is played by the incomparable British actor Alan Rickman, who manages to make (roughly) credible not only the existence of a character like Leonard, but also the notion that anyone would pay to put up with him. (“See you next week, cowards,” Leonard remarks at the end of one less-than-successful session..

"World's Best Potion Master"... an amazing piece of fan art by Red Passion. You can see a step by step video of it being created here.

Today's Theater Talk has an excellent interview with Alan, Lily R, Hamish L and Teresa R.

Funny! There are two new "Happy Birthday, Alan" videos just uploaded to youtube, both of which use the birthday card I made last year among their pix. One used it as the title piece, the other as the closing piece. Amazing how stuff gets around! here and here.

Now... today (Sunday) I just found my Alanland map on Twitter/Tumblr.... anonymous celebrity of some sort, I guess!

In time for Alan's upcoming birthday... Mindful Mum shares English boys' names and their meaning, including:

Alan
Handsome one, rock. The name is of Celtic or Gaelic origin, and was introduced to England by followers of William the Conqueror. Famous people named Alan include the actor Alan Rickman and the comedian Alan Carr.

Alan's listed in several "birthday of the week" columns today, but this one in The Londonist really put things in historical perspective. Check out this week's important history!:

•Monday – 20th February 1913: Two suffragettes set fire to the tea pavilion at Kew Gardens at around 3am, destroying it completely.
•Tuesday – 21st February 1946: Alan Rickman is born in Hammersmith. He would become a multi-award-winning film, television and stage actor.
•Wednesday – 22nd February 1807: A huge crowd gathers outside Newgate Prison to witness the hanging of convicted murderers John Holloway and Owen Haggerty. In the crush and chaos, as many as one hundred people are killed through trampling or suffocation.
•Thursday – 23rd February 1633: Samuel Pepys is born in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. His detailed private diary from the 1660s would become well-known when published in the 19th century.
•Friday – 24th February 1987: The London Daily News, a newspaper owned by Robert Maxwell, is launched. Intended to rival the Evening Standard, it would collapse just five months later.

Yeah, we all know what was the most important!

Today's Broadway Review comments on Seminar as a "must see":

As always, Alan Rickman who plays the professor, Leonard is a true thespian as he gives light to the play.

The Kentucky Kernel continues the lament in talking of the Oscar nominations this year:

However, lurking within these great choices is, in my opinion, one of the greatest Oscar snubs of all time.

Alan Rickman's lack of credit for one of the most iconic roles of our generation is appalling. He IS Snape in the Harry Potter series.

The next time you see a trailer for whatever his next role is going to be you’re not gonna say “Hey look it’s Alan Rickman” you’re gonna say, “What up Snape!”

Aging the same time as the three main characters has been a truly unique experience for me and for those my age, and Rickman’s role in the Harry Potter series was tremendous.

Just because a movie is a multimillion-dollar blockbuster doesn’t automatically mean the talent should go unnoticed.

I am not exaggerating when I say this is the biggest Oscar snub of all time.

That’s my rant for the day, and I’m sticking to it.

Interesting interview with Hamish Linklater on Broadway.com today, including:

Have you learned anything about playing a writer from being married to one [playwright/screenwriter Jessica Goldberg]?
I've been doing some writing, too. Jessica and I wrote a pilot [Prince of Motor City] for ABC that they made about four years ago. That got me started, and now I have a couple of plays—funny, tight little chestnutty plays. Doing [Seminar], I thought I should try to be “method” and I gave Alan [Rickman] one of my plays—at his request—and he was really generous and thoughtful; not like Leonard in the play at all. So all the method stuff fell on its face.

What’s it like to spar with Alan Rickman onstage?
It's fantastic. He's incredibly generous and thoughtful, on stage and off. When you see a player of that skill and experience, you just want to rise to the level of his game. The more you rise to it, the more you learn. It is that parallel of the play: Here is this writing teacher, Leonard [Rickman], with all this experience and all this stuff to offer, but you are only going to learn from him if you are as brutally honest with yourself as he is brutally honest with you. Then here is this actor with all this experience and all of this talent but you are only going to get something from working with him if you are as honest, open and free as he is.

Happy Birthday, Alan Rickman!

What a shock to see a quote from the University of Kentucky's student newspaper! Usually the topics are either sports or outrage about cost increases.I'm glad to see a protest against the Oscar snub but I doubt in the future AR will only be associated with the Snape role. Youth can be so myopic.

glad your art work is out there for all to see,Always, but I think I can guess a possible source for the cyber leak...now that HPANA is closed it's hard to keep an eye on those who poached ideas in the past.

It's all fine. These days I have started adding a small "Always" somewhere in the pic as a signature, but as long as no one's claiming the work as their own (or selling it), the Internet is pretty much fair game for "sharing"!

I actually was quite pleased with that particular card (above). It was quite complex with a whole lot of elements in it. The only thing I'd change now is to remove the little kid pic down in the lower corner. I've since found that the original photo was incorrectly id'd as Alan... but he's cute and can serve as Alan's stand-in! (These days I do add a small "Always" as a signature in my photoshops just as my own "tag line".)

Oh, yes, I think we all know who stole your stuff, Always.

That isn't Alan as a boy? Who would know either way but you figuring it out? Yes, he's a cute kid as a stand in!

Alan is such a diverse actor, I thought maybe he could escape the forever Snape but after reading the above, well, not a bad way to be remembered. At least others have an idea of his diversity.

Hope he has a great day wherever he is !

Photo by Jeremy Daniel

Broadway.com takes us backstage celebrating Seminar's 100th performance (Feb. 15).

Wired.com wishes Happy Birthday, Alan Rickman and Anthony Daniels! in a cute but weird mixmaster article blending the two guys (born on the same exact day/year):

Picture a world where the man inside the C-3PO suit, and the man providing his voice, is Alan Rickman.

Now imagine a warped universe where Anthony Daniels plays not just endless spin-offs of his famous golden protocol droid designed to serve humans, but also portrays the Sheriff of Nottingham, Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus and Severus Snape.

OK, that might be a very silly universe. But the fact that the stars of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Galaxy Quest and Harry Potter — and the star of Star Wars — were born today, on February 21, 1946, forces me to find some possible connection between the two men. Or some fate that would bring them together.

Posted on the Seminar facebook page:

Laura Burkhardt
OMGOSH....my sister and I just got back to our hotel after having seen Seminar! It was absolutely fantastic guys...really! Wonderfully written, perfectly played...incredible!!! The entire cast was so sweet and patient, all signed autographs! Mr. Goldblum was in attendance as well!!! Afterward, when Alan came out, everyone sang happy birthday to him. A few people had gifts for him too. I had a bot...tle of "The Creator" cabernet for Jerry since his birthday was only a few days ago; only 635 cases made of that; and a bottle of Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and a Chateau Montelena Cab for Alan; both of which they accepted graciously. Alan didn't open the packages (no time for that!) but I hope he likes them. Oh people, it was just brilliant!!! Can't wait for the matinee show tomorrow!

Glad the crowd sang Happy Birthday to The Man! After all, the poor guy had to work on his birthday.

MMD... That is one great birthday cake! Cool!

The Internation Business Times offers a birthday salute to Alan with a slideshow of 7 photos over the years. Actually it's a rather odd selection for a tribute, but ah well... If I had to pick 7, there'd have been a few differences...

Great updates,Always.

Including your "signature" name is a good idea.But I'd recognize your style anywhere.

I don't randomly wander around the internet looking for celebrity news, but are there many other actors who get the kind of following (with humor and joy) as AR does?

Photo by Viper


Photo by Dazlious

Two photos taken last night (Alan's birthday) at the Seminar stage door. One fan who was there said the security guy came out with two big bags of "stuff" and a very large cake, so looks like there was some celebrating going on. After the show Jerry O'C came out and prompted the crowd to sing happy birthday... the guy is a major fanboy for sure!

Maxe... well, I think pretty much any celebrity or show has some sort of online following, some more than others, though I agree Alan's band of true fans seems to be extremely devoted (I'm discounting the silly young Snapey fangirls here... I think most of them will drift away eventually). I've been involved with Jerry Lacy's fandom for over 40 years now (yikes!) and even though he hasn't been acting much in recent years, he still has a devoted, if relatively small, band of fans. We actually do a lot of joking around with Jerry. He has a great sense of humor and prefers the term "friends" to "fans" (he really means that, too). My best gal pal is a fan of Robert Beltran (Chakotay of Star Trek Voyager) and since she's not on the internet (by choice), I've also done some RB hunting for her. He's considerably harder to find info on and doesn't seem to go for an online presence. Let's see, courtesy of facebook "likes" and twitter "follows" I also get updates on some others I like. Some interact more with their fans than others. Interacters and frequent posters: Kevin Sorbo, Sam O'Neill. Frequent posts/updates: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Matt Lewis, Warwick Davis (he dropped off for a while but seems to be back now-- acting folks do get busy now and then!), Lucy Lawless. And I go to Jonathan Frid's website now and then to see what he's up to. Alan's always my prime focus and is really the only one I search out news and info on, but I enjoy reading updates on others as well. It's just fun to see what folks are up to!

I suppose what I'm really asking is with other celebrities are the roles they play part of the fan fun (a la our own Alanland parties)

I can see some fans carrying on about Shatner's Captain Kirk but who's going to fantasize about T J Hooker?

Maxecat wrote:I suppose what I'm really asking is with other celebrities are the roles they play part of the fan fun (a la our own Alanland parties)

I can see some fans carrying on about Shatner's Captain Kirk but who's going to fantasize about T J Hooker?

Gotcha. I don't really see that much from that viewpoint. Fan fiction, yes, that's out there by the ton for some of those folks, plus photoshopping with adding captions and the like, but I've never seen multiple characters played by one actor brought together for fun such as we do in Alanland. I think, perhaps, that is unique! As well it should be, since Alan is unique! Honestly, too, as much as I enjoy other performers, none of them (in my mind) has created a variety of characters who each have a reality of existence to them. They may well have done so with ONE character, but not anything like Alan has done with each and every role he's played.


Photo by Viper