American teen star Abigail Breslin, 13, recently debuted in the challenging role of an on-stage Helen Keller in New York.
The star of Little Miss Sunshine and My Sister’s Keeper was in a position to compare work on the big screen to that on the stage. She said: ‘The difference between doing film and doing Broadway is, obviously, in film you can get as many takes as you need. In this, you don’t. You get one take every night – that’s it.’
Breslin appears in the New York Broadway revival of The Miracle Worker with Alison Pill, Matthew Modine, Jennifer Morrison and Elizabeth Franz. The play is having preview runs and opens at Manhattan’s Circle In The Square Theatre on Wednesday.
She added: ‘We really just go through a lot of emotions in this play, and I really just think that it has a million different ‘colours’ to it.’
Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com

Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle (Broadway and 66th Street) has announced its calendar of March public events.
On Monday, March 1 at 7:30pm, Caroline Rhea, Carol Kane, Katie Finneran, and Lucy Devito will discuss and sign the book, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which is the basis for the hit Off-Broadway play.
On Friday, March 12 at 5pm, Abigail Breslin and Alison Pill, stars of the current Broadway revival of William Gibson’s The Miracle Worker, will join the show’s director, Kate Whoriskey, for a discussion of the classic play and signing of the script.
On Monday, March 22 at 7:30pm, actor Malachy McCourt will take part in Nifty After Fifty. On Wednesday, March 24 at 6pm, some of America’s finest folk singers, including D.C. Anderson, Christine Lavin, and Victoria Shaw, will be on hand for a performance entitled In My Room. On March 24, at 7:30pm, actress Jennifer Love Hewitt will be on hand for a discussion and signing of her now book The Day I Shot Cupid. Read more… »

Kelly Osbourne has hit out at claims she didn’t get on with Abigail Breslin at a recent fashion show.
Osbourne, 25, was sat next to the 13-year-old actress, who has starred in movies such as Little Miss Sunshine, at the recent Nanette Lepore show in New York.
Reports claimed that the pair looked as though they didn’t get on after a snap was taken but Osbourne has dismissed the comments.
She recently wrote on Twitter: ‘This is BS, she was sweet to me as I was to her.’
Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com

At the young age of 13, actress Abigail Breslin is already a film veteran with a slew of films to her name including ‘Signs’, ‘Definitely, Maybe’, ‘My Sister’s Keeper’, and the bittersweet ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award. But it may be Breslin’s latest challenging role, that of the deaf-mute Helen Keller on Broadway’s ‘The Miracle Worker’, which may redefine the young actress’ already-high artistic reach.
In a story in the New York Times, writer Patrick Healey speaks to Breslin on the demanding and exhausting role that is Keller, one which relies solely on physicality to bridge the emotional connection with the audience. Of the role, Breslin says, “I’ve always wanted to play Helen, ever since I read a kid’s biography of her, one of those learning-to-read books – it was 20 pages, and I read it seven times in two days,” she says. “But when I read a script, I’m not thinking about my, you know, my image, I guess you’d call it. I don’t feel any pressure to think about that. I’m kind of a very boring person. I don’t think anyone would have any fun paying attention to me.” Read more… »

The 50th Anniversary production of William Gibson’s Tony Award(r) winning THE MIRACLE WORKER, directed by Kate Whoriskey and starring Academy Award(r) nominee Abigail Breslin and Tony Award(r) nominee Alison Pill, plays its first performance tonight, Friday, February 12, ahead of a Wednesday, March 3 opening at Circle in the Square Theatre (235 West 50 Street).
Staged in the round for the first time ever, THE MIRACLE WORKER also stars Golden Globe(r) and Emmy Award(r) nominee Matthew Modine, Jennifer Morrison , and Tony Award(r) winner Elizabeth Franz, with Tobias Segal, Daniel Orsekes, Michael Cummings, Simone Joy Jones, Yvette Ganier and Lance Chantiles-Wertz.
Set in Tuscumbia, Alabama in the 1880s, THE MIRACLE WORKER tells the story of the young Helen Keller, who became blind and deaf after a childhood illness, and the extraordinary woman, Annie Sullivan, who taught her to communicate with the world.
Get a special behind-the-scenes sneak peek of THE MIRACLE WORKER with the new teaser trailer, featuring interviews with the stars and director: http://www.miracleworkeronbroadway.com/. Read more… »

Abigail Breslin shows off her straight straight hair in this new shot from the February 2010 issue of Nylon mag.
The 13-year-old actress makes her Broadway debut in The Miracle Worker, an updated version of the William Gibson play. Abigail plays Helen Keller, the deaf and blind activist and author who learned to communicate with the help of her teacher, Annie Sullivan (Alison Pill).
Abigail shared, “Helen Keller is one of my heroes. When I got a call asking if I would play her, I said, ‘Heck, yes!’”
Even though she’s working on Broadway, she’s still a teen girl at heart. Which means, she’s obsessed with Twilight. “I’m a crazy, obsessed fan. I went to see the first movie on opening day. But I felt left out because everyone in the audience had Twilight t-shirts and I didn’t. So I have Twilight T-shirts now. And have you seen those Twilight water bottles? I have one of those,” she said.
Check out Abigail’s full interview in the new issue of Nylon mag — out on stands NOW.
Read more: http://justjaredjr.buzznet.com

Added screencaptures from Abigail in the movie Signs (2002):
Enjoy!

Full casting has been announced for the Broadway revival of William Gibson’s Tony Award-winning play The Miracle Worker, which is set to begin performances on February 12 at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theater. The show, which will open on March 3, will be directed by Kate Whoriskey.

The work, which debuted on Broadway in 1959, tells the real-life story of Helen Keller, who was born blind and deaf, and Annie Sullivan, the teacher who taught Keller to communicate with the world.

In addition to Abigail Breslin, who will play Helen, and Alison Pill, who will play Annie, the cast will include Jennifer Morrison, Matthew Modine, Elizabeth Franz, Tobias Segal, Daniel Oreskes, Michael Cummings, Simone Joy Jones, Yvette Ganier, and Lance Chantiles-Wentz.

source: theatermania.com

Here’s an article from villagevoice.com:

Abigail Breslin made a spectacular child star at age 10 in the Oscar winning Little Miss Sunshine, and she’s now onto a full-fledged career as an adolescent, making even more movies than La Streep and heading to Broadway in a Miracle Worker revival that could turn her into the new Patty Duke.

Macaulay Culkin was also a fine young star at 10 when he helped make Home Alone a monster hit, though his Edvard Munchian open-mouth pose unfortunately made him fall prey to Michael Jackson’s friendship advances. (Kidding. Mac has nothing bad to say about Jackson. Or nothing much to say about it at all.)

But my top child movie star of all time has to be the obvious one–Shirley Temple, with her dimpled face and curly top twinkling so winningly in a succession of films that made her a veritable Duse of cuteness.

Child stars don’t get any better than that, though they often grow up to be Republicans.

Your favorite child star, boo-boo-pee-do?

Broadway bosses have appeased campaigners for disabled actors by casting a visually impaired girl as ABIGAIL BRESLIN’s understudy in THE MIRACLE WORKER, after the star’s appointment as a deaf and blind girl was met with criticism.
The Oscar nominee, 13, will make her Broadway debut next year (10) as Helen Keller in the revival of William Gibson’s play, about a youngster who is taught how to communicate by her instructor.
Campaigners for impaired actors at the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts hit out at Breslin’s casting, insisting a disabled actress should have been considered for the starring role.
The Miracle Worker’s producer, David Richenthal, took note of the advocacy group’s comments and invited the Alliance’s executive director, Sharon Jensen, to hold auditions for a suitable understudy.
Ten-year-old Kyra Ynez Siegel, who suffered an injury to her right eye at the age of nine which left her with only partial sight, will now stand in for Breslin if the star is forced to miss a performance – but the producer insists she won the role based on her talents alone.
Richenthal tells the New York Times, “Kyra gave the best audition, showing real acting talent and physical skill and physical stamina. We were aware she had significant vision loss, but I can’t say that influenced us one way or another. I’m pleased we found a brilliant young actress as a result of this outreach.”
The Miracle Worker is set to open on 3 March (10), marking the 50th anniversary of the show’s Broadway debut.

source: contact music