Two gentlemen who have trod the boards more than a few times in their careers are part of the ensemble of the wine themed film "Bottle Shock" opening today. The movie's just so-so (my review's on LA.com), and neither Alan Rickman nor Bill Pullman have to work especially hard.

I interviewed both men separately during the "BS" press junket, and, as I tend to do when the situation warrants, I asked them a number of stage related questions. Which, I suspect, neither of them were expecting.

Both men are kept rather busy with film (Rickman especially, who, between indies and Harry Potter ain't available much), but they keep their respective toes in. After finishing the "Bottle Shock" publicity duties, Rickman returns to his native London to direct the August Strindberg three-hander "Creditors" at the Donmar Warehouse.

Know the play? I don't, but Rickman says attention should be paid (and given that he's directing it, what else would he say?)

"Strindberg calls it a tragic comedy," he told me. "I can't promise, but I think it's probably very funny. We'll have to wait and see as to whether that comes out of it. It's incredibly relevant in terms of control and who has the power in a relationship and how does it get exercised and who's manipulating whom."

About the Donmar Warehouse: "It's a great space and weirdly, what's extraordinary is reading Strindberg's introduction, I think it's to 'Miss Julie,' and he talks about in such kind of long terms. He says, 'One day, there will be a theater in a small room and it will be dark and we won't have to have painted bookshelves and the audience will be looking at the actors above the level of their knees and actors won't wear makeup and they'll turn sideways, not act everything out front.' I was thinking, 'You poor sod! The Donmar Warehouse came too late for you.'"

Most of us know Alan Rickman as cinema's Serverus Snape or the villain of the first "Die Hard," but the guy has had a pretty amazing career. He was the first Vicomte de Valmont in "Les Liasons Dangereuses" and lit up both the West End and Broadway in a revival of Noel Coward's "Private Lives." Filmwise, folks should check out, in no particular order, "Galaxy Quest," "Truly, Madly, Deeply" and "Snow Cake."

Bill Pullman, meanwhile, is another one of those everyguy looking actors who has had a long and pretty decent career. Back in my younger days, I saw him in three or four playsat the old Los Angeles Theatre Center. He went on to score some acclaim in a pair of Edward Albee plays, "The Goat: or Who is Sylvia?" and, more recently, "Peter and Jerry."

Pullman's nothing if not plain spoken, somewhat dissing both the Geffen Playhouse ("It feels weird, like a 1920s tourist theater") and the Mark Taper Forum. He almost didn't do "Bottle Shock" because he was in the middle of directing his own play "Expedition 6" at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco during the shooting. The "Bottle Shock" team was savvy enough to get someone to drive him between Sonoma and the Bay area so he could fit in both projects.

Had to ask him about "The Goat," one of the weirder and more disturbing plays you'll ever see. He didn't see the production at the Taper, but called it one of the tougher experiences of his career. Apparently, Pullman's understudy in "The Goat" got to play the role three times in three theaters, after three actors "cracked up" and couldn't do the role.

"It's hard to be the goat-(expletive)," Pullman said.

"I think the play is amazing," he continued. "I'll never have another experience like that, and I ache because I think, 'Oh maybe I'll never get another one that will test me so completely as a person and as an actor. Theater's always hard and humiliating and humbling, but that was some white knuckle stuff, not knowing if you're going to come through it or not."

When you ask people theater questions at a movie junket, BTW, sometimes people are thrown. I complimented Chris Pine on his work in "Fat Pig" at that same Geffen Playhouse, and Pullman later asked me if I had really seen the production. I could have shown him my review.

Admittedly, cyberspace is littered with reasons -- both legitimate and lazy -- for neglected blogs, and I've got a history.

I could talk about having been on vacation, being sick, moving house (all of which are happened). I could go on about my messy desk (looks bad. We're going to have to move here too), or a general state of summer malaise.

Sometimes, though, you just have to shut the flock up and get back to it.

I did spend a couple of days in New York at the end of July, my first time back in the city in more time than I'd care to mention. Took my wife, kid and nephew to "Marry Poppins" which was very slick, very colorful and coming to the Ahmanson, gosh, like the end of 2009 or something as part of the national tour. Original Broadway stars Ashley Brown (as Ms. Poppins) and Gavin Creel (Bert the Chimney Sweep) will be touring with it. Why, I couldn't say, but it will be cool to see them.

Kinda interesting to see actors I've seen before on L.A. stages in their native habitats, as it were. Rebecca Luker, who has stepped out of her ingenue roles and plays Mrs Banks (earning a Tony nomination, thank you very much), I had seen in "Time and Again" and "Harmony" down in San Diego, and interviewed in a crappy little rehearsal space in Burbank before her turn in Reprise's "She Loves Me." Nice lady. Good actress. If I had had one more day in NYC, I might have tried to catch her husband Danny Burstein who is apparently tearing it up in "South Pacific."

J.R. Henerson, age 9, stayed awake through the entire performance, although he fidgited mightily. Poor kid. What I put him through. His cousin, Andrew Silverman, age 10, had no such problems.

Also caught Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines in the Arthur Laurents' directed revival of "Gypsy" which was wicked cool, largely because I suspect Ms. LuPone's performance is one I will tell my grandkids about. Interesting the things they do on Broadway. The pre curtain announcement, which included the standard "turn off your bneeping devices," "don't unwrap candy," etc. also informed us that Ms. LuPone had injured her foot recently and would be wearing a special kind of shoe. Why announce that, I wonder? Who's looking at feet? I guess it might have been different if she had had to perform the role with a cane or something.

BTW, those STUPID audience members who whisper and crinkle their stupid candy wrappers are to be found on Broadway just as often as in L.A. I think they deliberately follow me.

The just announced 2008-09 Falcon Season will include -- better be sitting down -- FIVE COMEDIES! Yes, positively shocking that the theater run by Garry Marshall should tab its season "Bringin' the Funny," but there you have it.

I don't mean to wax sarcastic, really I don't. It's just that comedy is what the Falcon always does. I've dogged some of the company's fluffier works, and bemoaned the lack of a "Cobb" or "Groovaloo" which were part of the Toluca Lake theater's early subscription season. Maybe drama doesn't sell. Truth be told, though, I suppose the Falcon programs what it thinks it does best. So who's to quibble.

No Falcon season is complete without a Troubadour Theater Co. visit. Or, in this case, two. The aforeblog-predicted "As U2 Like it" Plays Aug. 14 to Sept. 13, presumably slipping into rep with the Troubies' summer show, "Alice in One Hit Wonderland II: Through the Looking Glass." I might get tiffed over the fact that their holiday show is a bring-back were it not for the fact that "It's a Stevie Wonder-Ful Life" (Dec. 12-Jan. 4, 09) was one of their funniest.

"An Act of Love" playwright David Lanberg is back with a world premiere called "Surviving Sex" (sounds funny, doesn't it?). That's Feb. 6-March 1, 09. And Marshall himself has a new play, "Everybody Say 'Cheese!'" synopsized thusly: "Harriet Keenan decides it's time to join the women's movement before it stops moving. But her liberation requires the help of her husband, Leo, whose greatest ambition in life is to die before something happens to him." That's March 20-April 11.

I didn't expect "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks" to come back to a major Southland house. Not after it came to the Geffen Playhouse some seven years ago with David Hyde Pierce and Uta Hagen in one of her last roles as an old lady who takes dance lessons from a prickly hoofer, but here it is, back for another, er spin, at the Falcon: Oct. 31 to Nov. 23. (Jeez do they really open on Halloween?).

(818) 955-8101, www.FalconTheatre.com for more info.

Come summer, I never seem to be able to leave Shakespeare festival-related news for very long, particularly not when presented with what can only be described as festival oddities.

I've now told you about two "As You Like It"s, and a trio of "Taming of the Shrews." Well, what's a summer, I always say, without a bunch of Dromios and Antipholi.

OK, I would never always say that.

Two productions of "The Comedy of Errors," arguably Shakespeare's dippiest comedy (two sets of twins, masters and servants, each with the same names) will be here. Their appearance will prove conclusively that pretty much anybody can label anything a "festival" if the term sells.

Which apparently it does in, gulp, Frazier Park California where "Errors" will run in rotating rep with "You Can't Take It With You" at the third annual Mountain Shakespeare Festival.

This from the Mountainshakes pitchperson: "Mountain Shakespeare Festival was founded by experienced theatre professionals and it is rapidly achieving their goal of creating a prestigious and entertaining festival similar to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. "

Ambitions are well and good, but I have been to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and I have been to Frazier Park (although not to the Mountain Shakespeare Fest). Good bloody luck.

Does two plays a festival make? Apparently so at the Pine Mountain Club were visitors are invited to drink in the mountain air and recreational amenities along with their Bard cultcha starting Jul 5 and running through July. www.Mountainshakes.org or call (661) 242-6904.

I promised two "Errors." The second arrives at -- ta-dah!-- the Open Fist Shakespeare Festival in Hollywood July 12 in a production directed by Ron West. For the fest, West also directs _ and scripts _ a new musical comedy "deLEARious" somewhat inspired by that laugh riot "King Lear."

Here's the description: "Ron and Phil, two composers in Los Angeles, are writing about King James I and Shakespeare, who are writing about the legendary King Lear. Phil gets sick of Ron's laziness and womanizing; King James gets sick of Shakespeare and demotes him to working on the Bible; and King Lear gets sick of everyone and goes crazy. Hilarity ensues. And, believe it or not, in this version, there's a happy ending."

Uh, right.

Well, "deLEARious" and "Errors" run in repertory which apparently makes this, yep, another Shakespeare Festival.

(323) 882-6912, www.openfist.org

Yeah, yeah, it's a little later for a Tony Awards post mortem. There weren't truthfully a lot of surprises, and the shows/actors with southland ties weren't exactly big news either.

"Cry-Baby" -- which started life at the La Jolla Playhouse -- won nothing and has closed. "A Catered Affair -- originating at the Old Globe in San Diego -- will fold July 27.

I would have predicted "Cry-Baby" to have a longer life than "Catered Affair." Based on a John Waters movie, "Cry-Baby" was good, nasty, high energy rockin' fun with a great turn by Harriet Harris. "A Catered Affair" is a chamber piece, nearly brought down by co-creator and star Harvey Fierstein.

Shows you what I know. "Cry-Baby" played 68 performances (it may yet tour); "A Catered Affair" will end at 116.

"Curtains," the backstage mystery with David Hyde Pierce that opened in 2007, (out of town tryout at the Ahmanson), will top both "Affair" and "Cry-Baby" with more than 500 performances when it shuts this weekend. Pierce, bless his non Niles Crane heart, has stayed with it the entire way. How this beast will look on tour without DHP is a question, indeed.

...was 9 year-old Jeremy Henerson at the opening night of "Shipwrecked: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont" at the Geffen Playhouse. Hell of a good Donald Margulies play that had played earlier this season At South Coast Rep.

His father, me, was enthralled. My review runs tomorrow in the Daily News (or check out www.la.com). You can bring the kids.

The picture is starting to come into focus on the national tour of "Spring Awakening" which hits the Ahmanson Theatre at the end of October. I've been blogging about this Duncan Shiek/Steven Sater musical -- based on the 1891 Frank Wedekind play -- for awhile now, or at least since it took last season's Tony Award for best musical.

Not that that makes me especially prescient. I gather that people have been drooling over this musical -- about hot and bothered kids in a German prep school -- as a genre changer since it was in workshops.

Before it officially opens its national tour in San Francisco, it will have a "pre-tour" run at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego August 15-31. As it happens that I will be vacationing in San Diego during the run, I will try to interview a cast member or two in person. Maybe check out the show, too. Dunno yet.

Anyway, for the tour, they've plucked two of the current Broadway company members to play Moritz and Melchior. Blake Bashoff (Moritz) had a recurring role on "Lost." Canadian musician Kyle Riabko (Melchior) has an album, "Before I Speak," and has toured with Maroon 5 and Jason Mraz and John Mayer.

No casting on the girls yet, but we can rest assured the role of Wendla will not be played by original company member Lea Michele. Michele will in fact be out our way doing a cabaret Aug. 15-16 at Mark's Restaurant in West Hollywood (www.inticketing.com/evinfo.php?eventid=25950.). She'll also be part of the concertized "Les Miserables" cast at the Hollywood Bowl playing another doomed heroine, Eponine, Aug. 9-10 opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell, Rosie O'Donnell, John Lloyd Young et al. www.hollywoodbowl.com.

There's a little bit of irony in the "Les Miz" gig. Michele had done the workshops of "Spring Awakening" well before it moved on to become a hit. She was reportedly offered the role of Eponine in the Broadway revival of "Les Miz" but turned it down to stay the course with "Awakening." Smart lady.

Anyway, if anyone out there simply can't WAIT to get into this tale, s/he can catch the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble's production of the Wedekind play ("Spring's Awakening." This is NOT the musical) at the Powerhouse Theatre, July 3-26. (310) 396-3680 x3, www.latensemble.org.

I might of thought that Idina Menzel's moment to capitalize was a couple of years ago, back when "Wicked" was white hot rather than just regular hot. Menzel, the play's first green witch Elphaba, won a Tony award, made the movies "Rent" and "Enchanted" returned to "Wicked" in London and even fit in another play, Michael John LaChiusa's "See What I Wanna to See."

...OK, when I put it that way, it's not like Menzel has been sitting around doing nothing. And pity the fool who underestimates the power of green. During the Tonys telecast last week, Menzel's very appearance during the "Rent" reunion drew the typical girlish shriek from the audience (fellow "Wicked"-teer Kristin Chenoweth, less soo). I did see Menzel play "Wicked," BTW, when the show was in its pre Broadway tryout in San Francisco. And, yes, she was pretty terrific.

She's got a new album out, "I Stand", and she'll be in concert at the Wiltern Theatre Aug 15. No way to get tix yet, but Menzel fans can check out www.idinamenzel.com for more info.

You may have noticed that if I find two productions of the same play in close proximity to each other, it constitutes an L.A. theatre trend. Hey, my blog, my rules, right?

And, granted, it's not so eye openingly amazing to find a whole rash of productions of "As You Like it" or "Taming of the Shrew" as I have done in recent posts. (A reader even added a third "Shrew" that I had forgotten at Rep East Playhouse in Santa Clarita is doing "Shrew" as part of Shakespeare in the Park, the weekends of 6/21 and 6/28 (see comments), and thanks much for that, Daniel Faigin.

Now we've got a couple of companies saying, "I'll see your Shakespeare and raise you a pair of Pinters." Two productions of Pinter's "Betrayal" are about to open. The play was written 30 years ago, so I guess it's anniversary time.

"Betrayal" is a three character play that travels backward in time, chronicling a seven year adulterous love affair. Husband, wife, lover. Produced on Broadway in 1980, the Peter Hall directed production starred Blythe Danner, Roy Scheider and Raul Julia. A 2000 revival featured Liev Schreiber, Juliette Binoche. It was also a movie starring Jeremy Irons, Ben Kingsley and Patricia Hodge.

I know, I know, get to the CURRENT news, Henerson.

First up is the Andak Stage Company production opening June 28 at the New Place Theatre in NoHo. It stars Nike Doukas, Leo Marks and Dan Reichert. Andak, incidentally, is the company run by Dakin Matthews and Anne McNaughton. June 28-Aug. 3. (866) 811-4111, www.theatermania.com, www.Andak.org.

Next up is The Playground's production of "Betrayal" opening July 10 at the Matrix Theatre for a three week run through July 27. This one's got TV folks Henry Simmons (of "NYPD Blue"), Sophina Brown (of TV's "Shark") and Rick Wasserman.

The folks who informed me about the Playground production didn't provide me with any more who/what or contact info . A look at the Matrix Theatre website indicates that the Paul Mazursky directed "The Catskill Sonata" will be up at the Matrix July 6 through Sept. 2. I don't recall the Matrix having more than once performance space, so not sure what's going on here. Check back in a day or two and I should have better info.

I do suspect, however, that entirely un Pinteer-ian "The Catskill Sonata" will not be in mass re-production any time soon.

I thought it was "As you Like it." Turns out "Taming of the Shrew" is getting a couple of local workouts, too.

We've got Shakespeare Festival/ L.A. which _ as their moniker might suggest _ tailors Shakespeare works to Los Angeles and the Southern California area. Not sure what this means for the company's modern L.A-set "Shrew" opening July 9 at Cathedral Our Lady of the Angels (and then playing July 23-27 at the South Coast Botanic Gardens), but director Ben Donenberg knows his stuff and usually serves up something interesting.

The SF/LA "Shrew" promises to "examine Angelenos' negotiations with transportation, relationships and commerce."

The food donation admission charge for the Queen of Angels run is a pretty cool thing as well. (213) 975-989, www.ShakespeareFestivalLA.org.

Closer to home (if you live in the Valley) is Shakespeare in the Park-ing Lot Sunday morning production of "Shrew" that runs July 13 through Aug. 17. No description of any special concept-izing, but there will be Renaissance music. (866) 811- 4111 or www.theatermania.com.

Given that the Park-ing Lot "Shrew" plays at 10 a.m. and Sf/LA goes up in the evening, I guess it's even possible to see both in one day on. Not that any sick, "Shrew" obsessed individual would actually attempt such a thing.