Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt join cast of LA Theatre Works’ “Three Sisters,” April 13-17.

Meet Olga, Masha, and Irina, warm and cultured young sisters who were reared in the exciting hubbub of Moscow, but have been living in the dull, gossipy backwaters of Russia for far too long. With their father’s passing, and the ordinary grip of day-to-day life slowly suffocating them, the urge to return to the city with its rich and exciting life rises to a fever pitch. First performed in 1901, The Three Sisters mixes humor and heartbreak beautifully and is a perennial favorite of actors and audiences alike. In this cast: Marc Halsey, Jon Hamm, Tessa Thompson. Jennifer Westfeldt, Sarah Zimmerman.

More informations and tickets reservations: L.A. Theater Works

Update:
Hamm will play the role of Vershinin, the philosophizing military officer who enters into an adulterous relationship with Masha, played by Jennifer Westfeldt, who happens to be Hamm’s off-screen girlfriend.

L.A. Theatre Works will produce “Three Sisters” as part of its recorded theater series, in which actors perform the play in the manner of a staged reading in front of radio microphones. Directed by Jenny Sullivan, the production will run for five performances from April 13 to 17. In addition to Hamm and Westfeldt, the ensemble cast includes Tessa Thompson, Reid Scott, Sarah Zimmerman and Marc Halsey.

Cathy Reinking, L.A. Theatre Works’ associate producer for casting, said that the Hamm’s involvement in the play was finalized on Tuesday. “Jon was my first choice for Vershinin — the yearning, sexual repression. … I thought he would be perfect for that,” she said.

Reinking said that each actor was cast separately, through their agents. “This has been in the works for weeks and they were the first people I went to for these roles,” she said. Reinking said Hamm’s casting isn’t directly related to the “Mad Men” delay. Hamm and Westfeldt are also costarring in the independent movie “Friends With Kids.”

The production of “The Three Sisters” will use the English translation of the play by Christopher Hampton. The performances will take place at the Skirball Cultural Center.

Source: LA Times
Thanks Joy for the tip!

Despite not having a deal with Mad Men creator-executive producer Matt Weiner yet, AMC is officially moving ahead with a fifth season of the Emmy-winning period drama, exercising its option with the series’ producer Lionsgate TV. (The cable network made a similar move two years ago when, along with Lionsgate, it was again embroiled in difficult renegotiations with Weiner.) Because of the protracted talks with Weiner, referred to in a statement by AMC as “key non-cast negotiations,” the premiere of Season 5 is being pushed from the summer to early next year. Here is the full statement: “AMC has officially authorized production of season 5 of Mad Men, triggering our option with Lionsgate. While we are getting a later start than in years past due to ongoing, key non-cast negotiations, Mad Men will be back for a fifth season in early 2012.”

Weiner is poised to become the highest-paid showrunner on basic cable with a new mega deal that would pay him close to $30 million over two years. But the lengthy negotiations, which have put Season 5′s start of production on hold, may have hit a snag in the final stretch. As we reported last night, Weiner is objecting to three things AMC/Lionsgate are asking for: integrating product placement into the series, cutting two minutes from each episode’s running time in favor of more commercials, and eliminating/reducing two regular cast members to save money.

UPDATE 11AM: The upcoming fifth season of Mad Men is now slated to debut in March 2012. That is 17 months from the series’ fourth season finale. While the protracted negotiations between Mad Men creator/ exec producer Matt Weiner and AMC/Lionsgate TV led to the series’ pushed production start and, in turn, caused the show to miss its original July premiere date, the new March return date is not directly tied to the contract talks. According to sources with knowledge of the negotiations, Weiner had been actually pushing for a shorter gap between Seasons 4 and 5 and had stated that he could get Season 5 produced and delivered on budget for a 2011 premiere. However, I hear AMC’s argument was that it has now 5 original series to accommodate and its next available slot for Mad Men was in March 2012.

Source: Deadline

“Mad Men” Season 4 DVD/Blu-ray has been released today. You can order it on Amazon.

The last news about Mad Men Season 5 situation:
- Mad Mode: Waiting.
- Mad Men Negotiations Standoff Delaying Production.

Update: I added 2 more “Herman Dune” set photos.

Nice little report from Mike The Fanboy:

9:12 p.m. – It’s Jon Hamm! CB runs over shrieking like a schoolgirl or as he calls it stealthy like a ninja. I whip out my Mad Men poster and Jon Hamm is so freaking cool. He signs for pretty much everyone, and then says, “Okay guys, we’re in the middle of traffic so I gotta get in.” Lol…

I added 3 photos of Jon leaving the premiere as well as more photos from the premiere.

Update: Video – Jon Hamm Good Night Kiss at Sucker Punch After Party in Hollywood

I added 44 photos of Jon at the “Sucker Punch” Los Angeles Premiere last night. Update: I added 9 more photos.

I added 1 photo of Jon at the game between Phoenix Suns and The Los Angeles Lakers yesterday in Los Angeles.

On hiatus from Mad Men, Jon Hamm came to Austin last week—not for South By Southwest, but to shoot a music video for the French rock-and-roll band Herman Dune’s new single, “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know,” directed by Toben Seymour. We saw Hamm cuddling an adorable blue puppet (a yeti named Baby Blue) and riding in a white convertible in Austin’s Enchanted Forest, while in the trees behind him, Herman Dune played a secret show of old songs and new ones from their forthcoming album “Strange Moosic.” We caught up with Hamm in his condo on his last day in Texas.

DEENAH VOLLMER: How’s the music video shoot going?
JON HAMM: We finished the video last night around 11:00. We finished by driving with the puppet in the convertible through Austin. It was really fun. I think it’s going to be a really cool video.

VOLLMER: So tell me about how you came to be a part of the Herman Dune music video?
HAMM: I guess it came to me through FunnyOrDie, who I guess is producing it. I had done some stuff with folks over at FunnyOrDie and it just sort of came to me. They said, “Would you want to do this?” I listened to the song, and I looked at the concept, and it seemed kind of cool, and I had no idea South by Southwest was even going on. I just thought, “Cool, I would go down and spend a couple days in Texas and shoot this.” The fact that this was also South By was doubly pleasant.

VOLLMER: Have you done any South By things?
HAMM: My South by Southwest experience has basically been “Welcome to the ’80s.” I saw Duran Duran and I saw The Bangles last night, so it was very back-to-the-’80s for me, which I guess is appropriate.

Read the rest of the interview

I added 5 more photos of Jon on the set of the new Herman Dune video clip, courtesy of Black Dog Films. Update: I added 3 more photos. Also, the video will premiere on Funny or Die in the 3rd week of April.