Our own Adam “The Rock”-enberg holds a chemistry class tonight on J. J. Abrams‘ mysterio-historico-detectiva series ALCATRAZ. Maybe he’ll force the tomboyish and perky Sarah Jones to down a cup of hemlock for corrupting the youth of Haight-Ashbury. Tune in to find out!

And is it too much to ask that the soundtrack be by Poison? Probably.

ALCATRAZ, Episode 01-17: “Johnny McKee”

A KILLER CHEMIST REAPPEARS
ON AN ALL-NEW “ALCATRAZ”
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, ON FOX

Madsen and Hauser hunt down Johnny McKee (guest star Adam Rothenberg), a former Alcatraz inmate and vicious killer with a background in chemistry. It’s a race against time before McKee horrifically poisons more innocent victims. Meanwhile, more details emerge about Madsen’s grandfather in the all-new “Johnny McKee” episode of ALCATRAZ airing Monday, Feb. 20 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (ALC-104) (TV-14 D, L, S V)

Cast: Sarah Jones as Detective Rebecca Madsen; Jorge Garcia as Dr. Diego Soto; Sam Neill as Emerson Hauser; Parminder Nagra as Lucy Banerjee; Robert Forster as Ray Archer; Jonny Coyne as Warden Edwin James; Jason Butler Harner as Associate Warden ED Tiller.

Guest Cast: Adam Rothenberg as Johnny McKee

Adam is appearing again at the Massachusetts-based summer festival, this time as Krogstad in the Henrik Ibsen classic, A Doll’s House. Tickets are on sale now.

July 20-31
A Doll’s House

Written by Henrik Ibsen
Translated by Paul Walsh
Directed by Sam Gold
With Adam Rothenberg, Josh Hamilton, Zainab Jah, Matthew Maher, Chris Messina, Lily Rabe, Lili Taylor

Nora Helmer has everything an affluent housewife could want: beautiful children, an adoring husband, a bright future. When a carelessly buried secret rises to the surface, her well-calibrated, though artificial, domestic ideal begins to crumble. Terrified by this new reality, Nora must choose between outward perfection and inner truth. Still bracingly relevant, Ibsen’s masterpiece, in a striking contemporary translation, offers no safer conclusions today than when it stormed stages of 19th-century Europe.

We’ve got a big backlog of Adam photos, videos and press to wade through, so July should be a big Adam month for everybody. Stay tuned.

We at the Apple have been extremely remiss in our Adam news duties. We’ve got a big ol’ pile of Adam business to get to, but, while we sift through it, we’d like to direct any Los Angeles-area fans to his current appearance in the Lanford Wilson classic Burn This, running through the month of April.

March 23 – May 1
Burn This

Written by Lanford Wilson
Directed by Nicholas Martin
Set design by Ralph Funicello
Costume design by Gabriel Berry
Lighting design by Ben Stanton
Sound by Cricket S. Myers
Original music by Peter Golub
Fight direction by Steve Rankin
Mark Taper Forum at the Music Center, Downtown Los Angeles

Anna is a dancer-choreographer who has lost Robbie, her best friend and collaborator, in a tragic accident. Pale is Robbie’s brother, a powder-keg lost in his own way, who arrives at her doorstep in the middle of the night. Pale is dangerous, sexy, raw and demanding, and he interrupts the course of Anna’s existence bringing major changes in her life.

This passionate modern classic, by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lanford Wilson (Talley’s Folly), features original music by Peter Golub, and is directed by Nicholas Martin (Dead End at the Ahmanson, The House of Blue Leaves at the Taper) and features Brooks Ashmanskas (Julie & Julia), Ken Barnett (Puccini for Beginners, The Producers), Zabryna Guevara (Marley & Me, All Good Things) and Adam Rothenberg (Mad Money, The Ex-List).

Burn This, which had its world premiere in CTG/Mark Taper Forum’s 1986-87 season, moved to Broadway in 1987, and helped to ignite the careers of John Malkovich and Joan Allen. Newsweek said of the play, “[It] has a voracious vitality and an almost manic determination to drive right into the highest voltage that life can register.”

Above: Adam Rothenberg in rehearsal; photo by Craig Schwartz.

The world premiere of actress and playwright Heidi Schreck‘s There Are No More Big Secrets features our own Adam Rothenberg and is currently in performance at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.

Here’s the skinny:

Schreck, a Theatre World Award winner for her performance in Circle Mirror Transformation at Playwrights Horizons, authored the play based on her experiences in Russia. Kip Fagan stages the work that opens Nov. 14 and will run through Dec. 12.

The cast features Nadia Alexander, Dagmara Dominczyk (Enchanted April), Gibson Frazier (Telephone, God’s Ear), Christina Kirk (A Lifetime of Burning, Well) and Adam Rothenberg (A Steady Rain, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea).

According to Rattlestick, “Charles and Maxine haven’t heard from Gabe since he fled the country to start a new life in Moscow in the early ’90s. When he returns almost 20 years later with his Russian wife — a journalist seeking asylum in the United States — he seeks refuge and much more in the home of his once dear friends.”

For tickets phone (212) 868-4444 or visit rattlestick.org. The Rattlestick Playwrights Theater is located at 224 Waverly Place (between West 11th and Perry St.

It’s another chance to get up close and personal with our show-biz hero!

But please don’t try to talk to him while he’s performing; apparently, it’s distracting! We learned that the hard way (sorry, Adam)….

The Apple is thrilled to report that Adam will be returning to the New York stage later this month in the New York premiere of Daniel Goldfarb’s The Retributionists at Playwrights Horizons. Tickets are available now for this limited run and we know all Adam fans will want to observe our man in his natural habitat once again, so check it out.

The Retributionists
August 21 – September 27, 2009
Mainstage Theater

The New York Premiere of a new play by Daniel Goldfarb
Directed by Leigh Silverman

Cast: Hamilton Clancy, Adam Driver, Rebecca Henderson, Margarita Levieva, Cristin Milioti, Adam Rothenberg, Lusia Strus
Scenic Design: Derek McLane
Costume Design: Susan Hilferty
Lighting Design: Peter Kaczorowski
Sound Design: Jill BC DuBoff
Original Music: Tom Kitt
Production Stage Manager: Bess Marie Glorioso

Spring 1946. The plan was simple: a German for every Jew. Its execution would be swift, clean, its impact undeniable. In this daring new romantic thriller inspired by actual events, a band of Jewish freedom fighters attempts to avenge a society’s wrongs – if they can keep from tearing each other apart.

Hard on the heels of Tennessee‘s limited release to theaters this past weekend comes the news of its impending DVD release on September 1st. Pre-orders may be placed through Amazon for $18.99. No word on any special features yet. While we at the Apple are disappointed at the lackluster reception this film released, we’re thrilled that Adam fans everywhere will finally get to see his nuanced and compelling performance soon. It’s been a long ride.

Thanks to MCODB Mariah Carey for the heads up.

The long-anticipated theatrical debut of Tennessee, Adam’s star turn, is finally upon us. As noted below, the film’s website has a list of venues, so check it out and check the film out. It’s a must-see for all Adam fans.

Adam fans will also want to check out this new interview in the Jewish Exponent, where he talks, all too briefly, about his recent projects, his past projects and even the Apple. The writer notes of Adam’s work in Tennessee that “Carter’s complexity is crafted so elegantly by the actor that no seams show,” and we heartily agree.

Tennessee

Two brothers. Three paths. One destination.

Carter (Adam Rothenberg) and his younger brother Ellis (Ethan Peck) embark on a journey from New Mexico to Tennessee to find their estranged father — a trip which might hold Ellis’s life in the balance. Along the way they meet Krystal (Mariah Carey), an aspiring singer who flees her controlling husband (Lance Reddick) to join them on their journey.

Cast: Mariah Carey, Ethan Peck, Adam Rothenberg, Lance Reddick, Bill Sage
Director: Aaron Woodley
Producer: Lee Daniels
Writer: Russell Schaumberg

“… you utterly believe the bond between the siblings, and Rothenberg excels in his role of a protective older bro who also happens to be a haunted binge drinker.”
– Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly

“Rothenberg gives a touching and perfectly nuanced performance as a man who clearly knows he gave up a future for the sake of family, only to have deep regrets about the road not taken.”
– Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com

“… the naked pain of (Rothenberg is) quite affecting.”
– Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer

This is gonna be a quick hit, but big, big news. All thirteen episodes of Adam’s sadly short-lived CBS series, The Ex List are now available for purchase at Amazon On Demand and iTunes. Still no sign of a DVD (with extras, please), but this’ll do for now. Fire up those interwebs, everybody.

On a technical note, we’re having some issues with the site, but we’re working our little fingers off to resolve the problem with the archives and comment pages. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Hey gang,

The Apple just wants to give y’all a heads up about this week’s super sweet screenings of HORSEFINGERS 3: STARFUCKER at the Slamdance festival.

Is anyone in Utah right now? Maybe for that “other” festival? If so, peep the details below. It’s the CITIZEN KANE of movies about women with hoofs for hands.

And I can verify that the platters of spaghetti and meatballs you see being consumed on screen are indeed meatless.

So… That’s been cleared up….

"Horsefingers 3: Starfucker"

Emma, dressed as the mythological Horsefingers, bumps into Lem, a minor movie star, at a local bar. He doesn’t remember having met her before, but he does like the cut of her hoof. No one is what they appear to be in this disquieting tale of animal attraction. Maria Thayer (Tamela from “Strangers With Candy”) and Adam Rothenberg are right on target, playing it utterly straight as this strange and sexy story gets increasingly surreal. Thayer’s increasing discomfort as Rothenberg pressures her to play horsey in a restaurant is painfully raw. (Paul Sbrizzi, Gallery Host, Co-Chair Shorts Programming)

Director: Kristin Kearse

Showtimes:
     Monday, January 19th at 8:30 PM
     Thursday, January 22nd at 12:30 PM

Location:
     Treasure Mountain Inn – Main
     255 Main Street
     Park City, UT 84060

"Horsefingers 3: Starfucker" is a 13-minute short film playing with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead. Advance sale tickets are available at the Slamdance site.

For more information:
     official website, featuring additional stills
     trailer
     Slamdance page, featuring trailer and additional stills

According to a report by Access Hollywood, Tennessee‘s release date has been pushed off from this Friday, December 19th, to a later release, tentatively scheduled for March.

The film has had a couple of festival screenings so far as well as a one-week run at the beginning of December to qualify for Oscar contention, largely in the hopes of getting a nod for co-star Mariah Carey’s “Right to Dream,” listed among five front-runners by the Los Angeles Times:

THE POP STAR

Mariah Carey’s “Right to Dream.” In need of a guitarist for “Right to Dream,” Carey aimed high, going straight to country legend Willie Nelson. Written for ” Tennessee,” in which Carey plays an aspiring singer, “Right to Dream” is restrained elegance, with some light, finger-picked guitar flourishes and a dash of late-night soul. “I was humming different melodies while I was on the set and stuff,” Carey says. “I was just thinking that Willie Nelson would be somebody fabulous to collaborate with. I reached out to him, and we met after one of his concerts.”

Thanks to commenter Jeane for the heads up on the For Your Contention ad from the December 3 Los Angeles Times and h/t to the Mariah Daily Journal for the scan.