Mark Rylance makes it up on the fly in 'Boeing'

Robert Kahn; Verne Gay; Glenn Gamboa

July 27, 2008

Rylance makes lines up on the fly

More from the Perils-of-Live-Theater Dept.: During several performances this month of "Boeing-Boeing," Tony winner Mark Rylance saw that a horsefly had made its home in the Parisian apartment that is the play's set. One night, the imposing bug finally landed itself a place in the dialogue.

During a second act scene where the famous farcemeister is seduced by a sexy stewardess, the fly showed off its stage chops, climbing up the actor's arm ... and into his drink. Rylance ad-libbed in the direction of the pesky pollinator, demanding aloud: "What exactly do you want?"

Shortly thereafter, actor Bradley Whitford ("The West Wing") entered from offstage, not realizing that the fly had won the hearts of audience members in the first few rows. When the insect then landed on his chair, Whitford smashed it into the afterlife.

Staying in character, Rylance mournfully picked up his fallen comrade and moaned: "You killed the fly." "No problem," Whitford replied. "We'll just throw it out the window." With that, he took the dead bug, moved toward the apartment "window," and tossed it into the audience.

-ROBERT KAHN

Prequelstar ÂGalactica’

So, what exactly did happen in our universe 50 or so years before untold billions of people were wiped out and our evil mechanical twins - the Cylons - took over? As if "Battlestar Galactica" - with just 10 episodes left before it wraps forever - doesn't have enough other questions to answer first.

But come December, Ronald Moore, the creator of this sci-fi masterpiece, will, in fact, take a giant step backward when he explores the pre-"Galactica" universe and the roots of how it ever got into such a sorry state in the first place.

Moore discussed the plot of this forthcoming Sci Fi series at the recent TV critics' press tour in Beverly Hills. In fact, the prequel has elements of Beverly Hills - a place full of rich, decadent, pampered people attended to by a vast "service class" of workers.

The prequel, "Caprica," will star veteran actors Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales and Polly Walker (most recently as Atia of the Julii, the sinewy seductress of "Rome").

Caprica? That's the planet everyone lives on. But don't expect an elaborate apocalyptic sci-fi shoot-'em-up here. Moore described a series that sounds like it has more in common with "Mad Men" than "Mad Max." "I was particularly attracted to the idea of doing a science-fiction piece that was not built on the foundation of action adventure," he said. "It wasn't about Vipers and it wasn't about the Cylons attacking every week. It was really a drama that you can infuse with a lot of political commentary and a lot of religious overtones and really dig into a people and a society and how and why it all came unglued."

No wonder Walker's attached. Besides Beverly Hills, sounds exactly like "Rome," too.

-VERNE GAY

What’s playing in the movies?

When the folks behind the new Will Ferrell comedy "Step Brothers" wanted to make their upcoming movie seem a bit edgier, they turned to LCD Soundsystem's "North American Scum," one of last year's best, yet undiscovered, songs, as their anthem. When the "Pineapple Express" guys looked to reach a hipper audience for the Seth Rogen film opening Aug. 6, they picked up M.I.A.'s great "Paper Planes" single for their campaign.

It's a matchmaking trend born from Apple's iPod commercials' successes and the failures of commercial radio and major labels. When big advertising campaigns can generate unexpected hits for the likes of Yael Naim and the Ting Tings, it becomes pretty clear that what those songs (and so many others) needed was exposure for success, not different music. And exposure is supposed to be the one thing major labels can bring to new artists, with the help of their relationships in commercial radio, that the Internet distribution companies can't.

The success of these indie-leaning songs points out an even bigger problem with commercial radio, though. What does it say about their folks who are supposed to be finding great new music for their listeners when it turns out that advertising folks and marketers often have better ears for mainstream hits than them?

-GLENN GAMBOA