If you haven’t seen already over the last few days, it was announced that the final main role in the the NPH-directed production of Rent has gone to former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. She will play Maureen, alongside already cast Aaron Tveit, Skylar Astin, Vanessa Hudgens, Wayne Brady and more. ContactMusic has a few words from Neil on Nicole’s casting. The ensemble has also been announced, and comprises of Yassmin Alers, Eric B. Anthony, King Aswad, Susan Beaubian, David Burtka, Kathy Deitch, Sam Given, Rachael Harris, Tricia Kelly, Ethan Le Phong, Kristolyn Lloyd, Zarah Mahler, Laura Mixon, Jason Paige, MiRi Park, and Brandon Wardell.

“Nicole had a wonderful audition – she was well prepared, sang beautifully, and had us all laughing. If only she was somewhat attractive and didn’t have two left feet… I’m very excited to have finally finished the casting process, and look forward to rolling up my sleeves and start rehearsing.”

Neil guest co-hosted this morning’s Live with Regis & Kelly alongside Kelly Ripa, sitting in for Regis Philbin. The “host chat” segment is online now – Neil and Kelly discussed David’s surprise birthday party, his decision to cast Vanessa Hudgens in Rent and the Smurfs, amongst other things, and you can watch the video below.

Last week, Neil and David went to see Stuffed and Unstrung, and you can see a gallery of their visit with the cast (both human and puppet) here on Playbill.com.

Posted by: Rach at 2:51 pm | · Filed under: Theatre | Comment
Tags: David Burtka, Directing, Hollywood Bowl, Rent, Theatre, TV: Live with Regis & Kelly |

After some eagle-eyed fans noticed a couple of days ago that Neil’s name had been removed from The Importance of Being Earnest page on the LA Theatre Works website, it has now been confirmed by the theatre that Neil has had to pull out of the production.

Mr.Harris encountered scheduling conflicts due to his hosting duties at the Tony Awards and is no longer able to appear in our production.

Many thanks to automotivesmile at the Church of NPH for getting a definitive answer on that. The Skirball Cultural Center website notes that line-ups are subject to change so it’s unlikely refunds would be given, but if you were planning to attend solely for Neil and want to try your luck, contact either The Skirball Cultural Center, or LA Theatre Works for further information.

Posted by: Rach at 7:38 pm | · Filed under: Theatre | 2 Comments
Tags: Events, The Importance of Being Earnest, Theatre |

Entertainment Tonight talked to Neil, Alyson and Cobie at last week’s Evening with HIMYM, and later in the video they go along with Neil to a very special location to talk to him about something coming up very soon on HIMYM. If you don’t like spoilers, don’t watch past Cobie’s snippet of the interview! For a much less spoilery interview, check out this TV Guide video with all of the cast, mostly talking about about the impending motherhood on set.

We’ve updated the gallery with a few variations of some of the S3 HIMYM promo shots, as well as adding a selection of pictures taken by Danielle Levitt last year in Alaska, for GQ Magazine. This shoot (and one of the outfits!) was also the location for Neil’s photo in the SuperTossers.com [title of show] tribute video.

Posted by: Rach at 11:37 pm | · Filed under: HIMYM | Comment
Tags: Gallery Update, Interviews: Online, Theatre, TV: HIMYM |

The next episode of HIMYM (airing on February 2nd) has had yet another title change! While it was originally known as “Special Skills”, the most recent CBS press release named it “Barney Stinson: That Guy’s Awesome”. Now the press release has been updated with a note making editors aware of the title change, and it’s now called “The Possimpible”.

The Magic Castle website has been update with a few more details on Neil’s hosting job at this year’s Academy of Magical Arts Awards on March 8th.

On the subject of website updates, the Ojai site has been updated with some more celebrity names for next Saturday’s benefit. Neil will be joined in the performance by David Burtka, Dick Van Dyke, Zachary Quinto, Jane Leeves and many more. The show will be followed by a dinner and auction fundraiser. Neil is expected to be providing Magic Castle passes for auction – last year the passes went for almost $4,000 for a package which included Neil hosting for a dinner party of 8 at the Castle. The $65 tickets to “Where’s The Money? Show Me The Money!!” are now sold out, but $85 preferred seats and $200 tickets to both the reading and the dinner are still available.

Neil and David attended the ART LA 2009 Museum Of Contemporary Art Benefit opening night reception on Thursday, and we’ve added a stack of photos to the gallery. While at the exhibition Neil told eonline that he thinks Barney’s next conquest would be former Golden Girl Betty White!

Posted by: Rach at 11:26 pm | · Filed under: Public Appearances | 1 Comment
Tags: Academy of Magical Arts Awards, Awards & Nominations, Magic Castle, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Theatre, Tickets, TV: HIMYM |

L.A. Theatre Works today released details for the 2008/09 season of their “The Play’s The Thing” series. Ten plays will be performed at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles between October 2008 and June 2009, and all ten will be recorded for their nationally syndicated radio series, “The Play’s The Thing” – broadcasting weekly on public and satellite radio.

From June 17-21,  Michael Hackett directs Neil Patrick Harris, Hamish Linklater and Emily Bergl in The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. Showtimes are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 8PM, Saturday at 3PM and Sunday at 4PM. 

For details of the full season, check out BroadwayWorld. Single tickets are on sale from the Box Office area of the LATW website from Tuesday, September 10th, or call 310-827-0889 for more details.

Seasons 2-4 of Doogie Howser are on sale at Amazon.com – seasons two and three are down from $29.99 to $12.99, and season four is down from $39.98 to $15.99.

Posted by: Rach at 6:49 pm | · Filed under: Theatre | 1 Comment
Tags: Merchandise, The Importance of Being Earnest, Theatre, TV: Doogie Howser |