WWI History Comes Alive -- Evergreen Cemetery Walk Begins This Weekend

The annual cemetery walk that brings together the McLean County Museum of History, Illinois Voices Theatre and Bloomington's Evergreen Cemetery is almost here. In the past, the walk has centered on the Civil War and Illinois State University, but this year, eight characters from Bloomington-Normal history will be brought alive to tell about their involvement with World War I. That includes soldiers and nurses as well as those who supported the Great War on the homefront.

On the walk, you'll meet Ethel Hamilton Hanson and Julia Holder, both active with the Red Cross and other important volunteer war efforts in McLean County, along with nurse Carolyn Schertz Geneva, who served at home and abroad, including joining an Army medical unit that was sent to England during the war.

Jennifer Maloy will play Hanson, Abby Scott will take on Holder, and Ann White will play Geneva. All three actors are joining the cemetery walk for the first time, although they are familiar faces to local audiences.

You will also see three military men who faced great challenges just to serve. Brothers Edward and Lincoln Bynum fought together to great acclaim in an African-American unit in France, while Roland Read, rejected multiple times by the United States Army because of his poor vision, ended up serving with French and Serbian forces to do his part.

The Bynum Brothers will be portrayed by Emmanuel Jackson and Timothy Jefferson, with Brian Artman as Roland Read. And they, too, are newcomers to the walk with a variety of credits in local theaters.

Prominent members of local society Carl and Julia Scott Vrooman will round out the parade of World War I participants. Both were actively involved in the war effort, Mr. Vrooman as Secretary of Agriculture under Woodrow Wilson and Mrs. Vrooman as the driving force behind a jazz band put together to entertain troops in Europe.

Dean and Cyndee Brown will portray the Vroomans this time out. Cyndee Brown has performed in this program before, but her husband Dean is a first-timer. Carl and Julia Vrooman were last portrayed in 2008.

If you would like to take part, you have a choice of group tours beginning at 11 am and 2 pm on Saturdays and Sundays for the next two weeks. This is a walking tour and you will be on your feet for approximately one-and-a-half to two hours. Some wheelchairs and walking canes are available at the cemetery, but the number is limited and it is much wiser to bring your own if you need one.

The dates for tours are September 30 and October 1, and October 7 and 8, with, again, start times at 11 am and 2 pm.

Because this is a popular event, you are advised to buy your tickets ahead at the Museum of History or Casey's Garden Shop in Bloomington or the Garlic Press in Normal.

For more information, including bios, pictures and a map, click here.

Shepard's LIE OF THE MIND Opens Tomorrow at ISU

When playwright Sam Shepard passed away in July, Illinois State University theatre professor Lori Adams decided it would be an appropriate memorial to direct one of his plays as part of the fall ISU season. Adams chose A Lie of the Mind, one of Shepard's best.

Shepard specialized in family drama threaded with dark, cynical humor, and that is certainly true of A Lie of the Mind. The play involves two families linked by a dysfunctional marriage and defined by a history of violence.

There's Jake, a man so consumed by jealousy and rage that he lashes out with his fists, and his wife, Beth, the person he lashes at. When the play opens, Jake has beaten Beth so badly he isn't sure if she's alive or dead. She is alive, but she has serious brain damage. By the end of the play, the reverberations of Jake's violence split the families and their secrets wide open.

On Beth's side, we see her father, Baylor, mother Meg, and brother Mike. They are ill-equipped to deal with her condition, with very few emotional tools of their own, except, of course, rage. Her dad also has a gun and he really likes to shoot things. Jake's side isn't any better -- he has a smothering mother, Lorraine, a sister, Sally, hiding family secrets, and a brother, Frankie, who has a kinder nature than the other toxic men in the play, but also a bad habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

After auditions last month, Adams' cast included Parker Carbine as Jake, Gina Sanfilippo as brain-damaged Beth, Dylan Dewitt and Elena Sasso as her parents, Raul Marron as brother Mike, a chip off Baylor's block, Abby Langner as Jake's mother Lorraine, Betsy Diller as sister Sally and Everson Pierce as sweet brother Frankie.

On the production side, Emily Kinasz is costume designer, Kayla Brown has lights, Morgan Hunter is in charge of sound, and Nick Kilgore and John Stark were listed as co-scenic designers.

A Lie of the Mind officially opens at the ISU Center for the Performing Arts at 7:30 pm tomorrow night, with performances continuing through a 2 pm matinee on October 1. For tickets or information, contact the CPA box office at 309-438-2535 between 11 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday.

If you'd like to see a sneak peek, the cast will also offer a short scene from their production on the ISU Quad as part of the SEVEN kickoff program. SEVEN is a wellness campaign bringing together a variety of campus groups and resources, including the College of Fine Arts. As their contribution, actors from A Lie of the Mind will perform a short "teaser" scene at Schroeder Plaza on the Quad sometime between 11 am and noon, while other SEVEN activities are taking place. For more information on the SEVEN kickoff, click here.

BBC Top Film Comedies Tonight on TCM

Today is an interesting day on Turner Classic Movies. This morning, they've gone with something of an otherworldly lineup, what with Angel on My Shoulder (featuring the Devil), Angels in the Outfield (divine assistance helps a baseball team), The Heavenly Body (an astrologer gives Hedy Lamarr a reading), Topper and Topper Returns (with ghosts) and I Married a Witch, which has, as you might imagine, a witch. It's a fine batch of movies -- I especially like Fredric March and Veronica Lake as the bewitched couple -- but I don't really know why TCM chose today to spring it. Vernal Equinox?

But it's tonight when things really start to pick up. Or fall down. Or dress in drag, pack a crowd of crazies into one stateroom, turn the volume up to 11, take a ride around giant gears, or put Jack Benny in Hamlet's tights. No supernatural beings, just a lot of super comedy. In fact, TCM is showing five of the best-ever comedy films in existence, all of which appear on a recent BBC list of the "100 greatest comedies of all time."

The movies range from Some Like It Hot, starting at 8 pm Eastern/7 Central, to the original version of To Be or Not To Be at 3:30/2:30 am. In between, there's A Night at the Opera, This Is Spinal Tap and Modern Times. In order of viewing, that's a 1959 caper with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe in an all-girl band in the 1920s; the Marx Brothers debating the existence of a Sanity Clause as they mess with an opera company in 1935; a 1984 "mockumentary" about a very bad heavy metal band; a silent film from 1936 with Chaplin in his Little Tramp persona; and a dark comedy from 1942 with a troupe of Polish actors who end up impersonating Nazis (including Hitler) when they get invaded. If that doesn't sound funny, let's just say it has Lubitsch touches all over it.

In terms of the BBC list, these films represent Nos. 1 (Some Like It Hot), 9 (Spinal Tap), 12 (Modern Times), 13 (To Be or Not To Be) and 39 (Night at the Opera) on the list compiled from votes by 253 film critics – 118 women and 135 men – from 52 countries and six continents.

I might argue that A Night at the Opera should be higher than No. 39, but Duck Soup is there at No. 5, and I have a feeling that's getting the most Marx Brothers love, pushing Opera down a bit.

Quibbling about the numbers aside, that is a dandy lineup. As different as these films are from each other, they're each gems. Every single one is worth your time and attention. And repeat viewings.

Charlie Chaplin takes a ride in Modern Times

IWU Theatre 2017-18: LUGHNASA and SOUTH PACIFIC Casts, Lab Theatre Info

The new season for Illinois Wesleyan University's School of Theatre Arts will bow in October, so this is a good time to fill in some blanks on the whos, whats and wheres.

IWU previously announced the main part of their season, with four shows set for the Jerome Mirza Theatre in MacPherson Hall.

Beginning October 3, we'll see Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel's memory play about five sisters trying to stay together and find some measure of happiness in a small village in rural Ireland in the 1930s. IWU Adjunct Instructor of Theatre Arts Michael Cotey will direct, with a cast that includes Cadence Lamb, Kamilah Lay, Hailey Lechelt, Cami Tokowitz and Libby Zabit as the Mundy sisters, with Tuxford Turner as Michael, the narrator who steps back in time to tell us about his mother and aunts, Sam Hulsizer as Gerry, a charming man who waltzes in and out of youngest sisters Chris's life, and Will Mueller as Father Jack, the older brother who has returned quite changed from a mission in Africa. Dancing at Lughnasa will play for five evening performances at 8 pm October 3 through 7, with a matinee at 2 pm on the 8th.

The classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific will take the stage November 14 to 19, with Emily Hardesty and Madison Steele alternating in the role of cockeyed optimist and Navy nurse Nellie Forbush; Timothy P. Foszcz as planter Emile de Becque, the handsome stranger Nellie meets one enchanted evening; Holden P. Ginn as Lieutenant Cable, a young Marine called by the mysterious power of Bali Ha'i; Megan Lai and Juna Shai alternating as Liat, a beautiful young Tonkinese woman who complicates Cable's life; Paola Lehman and Kira Rangel alternating as Bloody Mary, Liat's wheeling and dealing mother; and Connor Widelka as Seabee Luther Bills, another wheeler and dealer who has a way with a coconut bra.

As we move into 2018, Eugène Ionesco's absurdist Rhinoceros, about the dangers of conformity and groupthink, will be performed February 27 to March 4, with Xanadu, a fantastical musical involving a Greek muse who visits Earth and gets into roller disco, with music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar and book by Douglas Carte Beane, scheduled for performances April 10 to 15.

And what about the E. Melba Johnson Kirkpatrick Laboratory Theatre?

There's an October option there, too. Fault Lines by Ali Taylor, described as a "razor-sharp new comedy that exposes the dilemmas of working in charity today," is scheduled for performances October 27 to 29, with a cast that includes Andrea Froehlke, Morgan McCane, Emily Strub and Braden Tanner.

The Girl Who Fell Through a Hole in Her Sweater, a "witty adventure for young audiences" written by Naomi Wallace and Bruce McLeod, closes out the Lab Theatre season, with performances March 15 and 26.

Tickets for shows in the Jerome Mirza Theatre range from $10 to $12 for plays and $12 to $14 for musicals, with a season package option as well. Lab Theatre shows are $3 for general admission and $2 for students. For advance purchase for Fault Lines in the Lab Theatre, tickets will become available October 19 and for The Girl Who Fell March 8, 2018.

For information on the entire Mirza season, click here. For the Lab Theatre, click here.

Arts@ICC Theater Season Opens Sept 29

Illinois Central College will open its 2017-18 theater season on September 29, when Steve Martin's crazy comedy The Underpants begins a six-performance run in the ICC Performing Arts Center.

Martin based his boisterous farce play on a 1910 satire of middle-class mores written by German playwright Carl Sternheim. The Underpants involves what happens after Louise Markes, the wife of a puffed-up civil servant, loses her undies as she's attempting to get a better look at the king during a parade. Her husband fears his reputation and his career are toast because of his wife's errant intimate apparel, while Louise is starting to get a lot of attention from smitten men who saw her panties drop in public. Those men include two would-be boarders in the Markes household. And hilarity ensues.

Tim Wyman directs The Underpants at ICC with a cast that includes Nathanael Anderson as the king, Darrell Kimbro as Louise, Noah Lane as Theo, Dylan McDonell and Creighton Peacock as the two men who want to rent rooms to pursue Louise, Max Rutschke as an elderly scientist and Adyson TerMaat as the upstairs neighbor.

Tickets for The Underpants are $8 for the general public and $6 for students and senior citizens. Performances run from September 29 through October 8, with Friday and Saturday shows beginning at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm. The show is rated PG for "mild adult situations."

In November, ICC Theatre will offer a dinner-theater option with Bullets for Broadway by David Landau, billed as "an audience participation whodunit that combines music, food….and murder!" Look for Bullets for Broadway and its "The Sopranos meet The Producers" antics November 10 to 19 in ICC's studio theater. The food will, of course, be Italian.

And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank by Jim Still is up next. This multimedia experience is "part oral history, part dramatic action, part remembrance" as it focuses on the world of Anne Frank, seen through the eyes of two Holocaust survivors. And Then They Came for Me will play for six performances between February 23 and March 4, 2018, in ICC's mainstage theater. Rated PG for intense material.

Keeping up the intensity level, Martin McDonagh's biting, bitterly funny The Cripple of Inishmaan comes to ICC's studio theater from April 13 to 22, 2018. This tragic comedy centers on an Irish boy whose body holds "a host of troubles." He is a square peg in his small village but dreams of becoming a movie star in Hollywood when a documentary film crew (Robert J. Flaherty's real venture to film The Man of Aran in 1933) comes calling. Let's just say things don't turn out the way "Cripple Billy" hoped. Rated R for adult language.

Both individual and season tickets are available to these shows. To get all the info on ordering, check out ArtsAtICC.com or call the ICC Performing Arts Center box office at 309-694-5136.

EMMY AWARDS 2017

Unlike the presidency, Emmys go to the winners of the popular vote... Did not expect to see Sean Spicer, I'll tell you that. I'm fine with Stephen Colbert's performance so far. Political, but funny and Emmy-related.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us
Michael Kelly, House Of Cards
John Lithgow, The Crown
Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

I was rooting for Ron Cephas Jones, but I think we all kind of knew this was going to Lithgow, a perennial Emmy favorite.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Vanessa Bayer, Saturday Night Live
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Kathryn Hahn, Transparent
Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live
Judith Light, Transparent 
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

Another no-brainer. She won last year and was even better this season.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Regina King, American Crime
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies
Judy Davis, Feud: Bette and Joan
Jackie Hoffman, Feud: Bette and Joan
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies

This category was a little harder to predict, but I think it's very well-deserved. And it may portend a good night for Big Little Lies.

Random presenter note: Three smoking red dresses in a row. Nicole Kidman, Gina Rodriguez and Issa Rae all looked fantastic.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Jamie Babbit, Silicon Valley
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Mike Judge, Silicon Valley
David Mandel, Veep
Morgan Sackett, Veep
Dale Stern, Veep

Glover is also nominated for a writing Emmy for Atlanta. Hmmm... Can he take that one, too?

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Billy on the Street
Documentary Now!
Drunk History
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live
Tracey Ullman's Show

Yeah, no surprise there.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things
Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, The Americans
Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, Westworld
Bruce Miller, The Handmaid's Tale
Peter Morgan, The Crown
Gordon Smith, Better Call Saul

Expecting to hear a lot from Handmaid's Tale tonight.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Louie Anderson, Baskets
Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Tony Hale, Veep
Matt Walsh, Veep

This is four awards for actors from SNL (counting Dave Chappelle and Melissa McCarthy, who won last week during the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony) plus the Variety Sketch award above.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Noah Hawley, Fargo
Ryan Murphy, Feud: Bette and Joan
Ron Howard, Genius
James Marsh, The Night Of
Jean-Marc Vallée, Big Little Lies
Steven Zaillian, The Night Of

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies David Thewlis, Fargo
Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan
Stanley Tucci, Feud: Bette and Joan
Bill Camp, The Night Of
Michael Kenneth Williams, The Night Of

OUTSTANDING WRITING IN A VARIETY SERIES
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee  
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver 
Late Night With Seth Meyers 
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert Saturday Night Live

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things  
Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Chrissy Metz, This Is Us
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale 

I'm still bitter about the dearth of honors for The Leftovers, but there's no question Ann Dowd deserved and deserves awards for both her stint on that show and her work on The Handmaid's Tale. She knows how to do evil, that's for sure.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Aziz Ansari and Lena Waithe, Master of None
Alec Berg, Silicon Valley
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Stephen Glover, Atlanta
Billy Kimball, Veep
David Mandel, Veep

I admit I think Master of None is a better show (or at least a funnier show) than Atlanta, so I'm not sorry Donald Glover didn't get that second Emmy for this. The writing on Master of None really is spot-on.

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Project Runway
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice

Random production note: Why are they playing Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years" after a win by The Voice? Or is there no connection? Because I don't exactly think Walter Becker or Donald Fagen would've done well on that show. Yeah, I think it's just a coincidence, but not very good planning. It wouldn't have gone any better with any of the other choices.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Stephen Daldry, The Crown
Kate Dennis, The Handmaid's Tale
The Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things
Vince Gilligan, Better Call Saul
Lesli Linka Glatter, Homeland
Reed Morano, The Handmaid's Tale
Jonathan Nolan, Westworld

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror: San Junipero
Jaffe Cohen, Michael Zam and Ryan Murphy, Feud: Bette and Joan
Noah Hawley, Fargo
Ryan Murphy, Feud: Bette and Joan
David E. Kelley, Big Little Lies
Richard Price and Steven Zaillian, The Night Of

A bit of a surprise, I think. And this may just mean that Feud and The Night Of are shut out. You never know about Jessica Lange and Emmy voters, though.

Production note: The In Memoriam reel is always tough, but this one... Right at the heart. And closing with MTM closing the door at WJM. Wow. Beautiful performance by Christopher Jackson as well as a proper amount of celebration of the departed. Well done, Television Academy.

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Andy Fisher, Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jim Hoskinson, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Don Roy King, Saturday Night Live
Jeremy Konner and Derek Waters, Drunk History
Paul Pennolino, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
Late Late Show with James Corden
Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Real Time with Bill Maher

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson, Blackish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Zach Galifianakis, Baskets
Donald Glover, Atlanta
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

I am not sure Donald Glover is the best actor in that bunch. I have that problem with the Comedy category fairly often, however.  

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Pamela Adlon, Better Things
Tracee Ellis Ross, Blackish
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Allison Janney, Mom
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Whatever points the Academy got for not going with Jeffrey Tambor again (I get really tired of Emmy repeats and threepeats and fourpeats...) they lost with this one. Don't get me wrong -- I love Julia Louis-Dreyfus. But she's been honored PLENTY. And then some. Let's not always see the same hands. I guess she can only win one more for Veep, anyway.

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Atlanta
Blackish
Master of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Lying Detective 
Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies
Ewan McGregor, Fargo
Geoffrey Rush, Genius
John Turturro, The Night Of

Can't argue with that! 

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Carrie Coon, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies

I sometimes kvetch about movie stars winning Emmys when they do TV, but Kidman absolutely deserves this. No kvetch.

OUTSTANDING TV MOVIE
Black Mirror: San Junipero
Dolly Parton’s Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Sherlock: The Lying Detective
The Wizard of Lies 

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
Big Little Lies
Fargo
Feud: Bette and Joan
Genius
The Night Of

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Anthony Hopkins, Westworld
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us

Not gonna lie -- very happy about this. Sterling K. Brown has been outstanding on This Is Us, elevating everyone around him. Extra credit for a wonderful acceptance speech, mentioning Andre Braugher, Bryan Cranston and Jon Hamm and their indelible characters from shows past.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Claire Foy, The Crown
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Keri Russell, The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Not a surprise. And she knows who Dick Whitman is, too.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Westworld
Stranger Things
This Is Us
Better Call Saul
House of Cards

Margaret Atwood on stage? Holy smokes! 

All in all, I would say that was a spiffy show. Mostly the winners were fine by me, Rachel Bloom was fun, the Westworld robot bit was nicely done, it all moved well and I enjoyed seeing Carol Burnett, Norman Lear and Oprah. In a year when we lost TV royalty like Mary Tyler Moore, I'm glad to touch base with those three. And Margaret Atwood!

Emmy Awards: Part Two

In addition to all the "creative arts" Emmy Awards given out last Saturday, another slew of gold statues were handed out on Sunday by the Television Academy. This time, guest actors, hairstylists and costume designers were among those honored.

Here's the whole list of Emmy Award winners from Part Two of the Creative Arts ceremony.

Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer on SNL

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live
 
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series 
Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid’s Tale

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series 
Dave Chappelle, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series 
Gerald McRaney, This Is Us

Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Kim Estes, Dicks

Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series 
Jane Lynch, Dropping the Soap

Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series
Veep

Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series 
Stranger Things 

Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie or Special 
Big Little Lies 

Outstanding Children’s Program 
Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas 

Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie 
The Night Of 

Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series 
The Ranch 

Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) 
Veep 

Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) 
The Handmaid’s Tale 

Outstanding Commercial 
Calling JohnMalkovich.com 

Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Series, Limited Series or Movie 
Big Little Lies 

Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Within a Scripted Program 
Westworld 
 
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Limited Series or Movie 
Feud: Bette and Joan 

Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series 
Westworld 

Outstanding Main Title Design 
Stranger Things 

Outstanding Makeup for a Limited Series or Movie (Non-Prosthetic) 
Feud: Bette and Joan 

Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) 
Westworld 

Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series 
The Big Bang Theory 

Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score)
Fargo 

Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)
House of Cards 

Outstanding Music Supervision 
Big Little Lies 

Outstanding Original Interactive Program 
The People’s House – Inside the White House with Barack and Michelle Obama

Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music 
Stranger Things 

Outstanding Period/Fantasy Costumes for a Series, Limited Series or Movie
The Crown 

Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour or Less)
Veep 

Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More)
The Handmaid’s Tale 

Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Period Program (One Hour or More) 
The Crown 

Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special 
American Horror Story: Roanoke 

Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training 

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series 
Master of None 

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series 
Stranger Things

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Limited Series or Movie 
The Night Of 

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special 
The Night Of 

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series 
Stranger Things 

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation 
Mozart in the Jungle 

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) 
Westworld 

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie 
The Night Of 

Outstanding Special Visual Effects 
Westworld 

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role 
Gotham 

Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy Series or Variety Program 
Shameless

Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie 
Marvel’s Luke Cage

Emmy Awards: Part One

The Television Academy gives out so many Emmy Awards for excellence in primetime television that they have to split them into three separate nights, with 93 different categories of "creative arts" divided into two early ceremonies and the rest -- big awards like Best Actor, Director and Drama -- reserved for the fancy ceremony a week later.

All of those "creative arts" Emmys were handed out over the weekend, honoring everything from guest actors, casting directors and editors to animation programs, documentaries, variety specials and informative shows. Here are Saturday night's 28 winners (29 if you count the tie for Outstanding Choreography):

Outstanding Special Class Program
70th Annual Tony Awards

Outstanding Variety Special
Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2017

Outstanding Short Form Variety Series
The Daily Show – Between the Scenes

Outstanding Interactive Program
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Outstanding Documentary Filmmaking
LA 92

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
Planet Earth II 

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special
13th 

Outstanding Informational Series or Special
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath

Outstanding Animated Program
Bob’s Burgers

Outstanding Short Form Animated Program
Adventure Time

Outstanding Structured Reality Program
Shark Tank

Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
United Shades Of America: With W. Kamau Bell

Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series
Viceland at the Women’s March

Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program
Born This Way

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance
Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy

Outstanding Choreography
(tie) Mandy Moore, Dancing with the Stars, for "On Top of the World" and "Carol of the Bells," and Travis Wall, So You Think You Can Dance, for "The Mirror," "Send in the Clowns," and "She Used to Be Mine."

Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program 
Planet Earth II: Islands

Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program
Born This Way

Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Programming
RuPaul’s Drag Race

Outstanding Directing for a Nonfiction Program 
O.J.: Made in America 

Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special
The Oscars

Outstanding Hairstyling for a Multi-Camera Series or Special 
Hairspray Live! 

Outstanding Host for a Reality/Reality-Competition Program
RuPaul Charles, RuPaul’s Drag Race

Outstanding Narrator
Meryl Streep, Five Came Back

Outstanding Makeup for a Multi-Camera Series or Special (Non-Prosthetic) 
Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
"Letter to the Free" by Common, Robert Glasper and Karriem Riggins for 13th

Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program 
13th

Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Next up: Guest actors, cinematography, editing, stunts and lots, lots more...

PBS Fall Schedule Starts in September

PBS has announced its upcoming season, offering new and returning series, miniseries, special events and performances. And that season includes some of my favorite things.

One of the biggest new stories about the new season is the ten-part documentary miniseries from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. Episodes of The Vietnam War are set for September 17 to 21 and 24 to 28 on WTVP in Peoria or WILL in Urbana. These episodes will include "testimony from nearly 80 witnesses, including many Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as Vietnamese combatants and civilians from both sides."

If you're a genealogy buff -- or even if you aren't -- you'll find the October 3 season premiere of Finding Your Roots of interest. Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosts this fascinating search into the family history of an intriguing group of people that includes actors Aziz Ansari, Lupita Nyong’o, Paul Rudd and Scarlett Johanssen, writers Ta-Nehisi Coates, Garrison Keillor and Janet Mock, musicians Carly Simon and Questlove, TV hosts Dr. Phil and Bryant Gumbel, director Ava DuVernay, athlete Carmelo Anthony, and a host of other celebrities.

Great Performances comes back in October, as well, with the effervescent Broadway musical She Loves Me, starring Laura Benanti and Zachary Levi, up first on October 20, followed by Noël Coward's classic comedy Present Laughter, which won Kevin Kline his third Tony, on November 3. They'll bring Indecent, a new play from Paula Vogel about a real incident in theater history, to our TV screens on November 17, with Holiday Inn, the stage version of the Bing Crosby/Fred Astaire movie musical, on November 24. Two Lin-Manuel Miranda-related encores -- performances mixed with behind-the-scenes documentary info for In the Heights -- Chasing Broadway Dreams and Hamilton's America -- finish up the Great Performances schedule, broadcast on November 10 and December 1.

For all the details on these programs as well as more Great Performances, American Masters, Frontline, Live from Lincoln Center, Masterpiece, Nature, Nova, Space and special events like David Letterman receiving the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize on November 20, click here to see the whole line-up.