Odds & Ends: First Wives Club Could Be Broadway-Bound, Philip Seymour Hoffman on Happiness & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you may have missed today.

First Wives Club Could Be Broadway-Bound
The stage adaptation of the hit 1996 movie First Wives Club, which didn't make it to Broadway after a San Diego run back in 2009 starring Barbara Walsh, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Karen Ziemba, is once again eyeing the Great White Way. This time the tuner is aiming to open on Broadway in fall 2015, following a spring engagement in Chicago. An equity casting notice reveals that Simon Phillips is on board to direct the tuner, which has music and lyrics by Motown's Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland, along with a book by Linda Bloodworth Thomason and Rupert Holmes.

Penny Dreadful, Featuring Broadway Vet Reeve Carney, is Renewed
Penny Dreadful, the thriller series featuring former Spiderman Reeve Carney as Dorian Gray, has been picked up by Showtime for a second season. Deadline reports that filming will go into production later this year and shoot on location in Dublin prior to a 2015 launch. Penny Dreadful stars Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton and Eva Green.

Actress Anna Berger Dies at 91
Stage and screen actress Anna Berger has died aged 91, according to The New York Times. Her Broadway credits included Unlikely Heroes, The Rose Tattoo, Gideon and Twilight Walk. She was perhaps best known for her work on screen for The Sopranos and in Woody Allen’s Crime and Misdemeanors.

Philip Seymour Hoffman's Reflections on Happiness
The below video is eerie, touching and well worth watching. Acting legend Philip Seymour Hoffman had taped some reflections on the meaning of happiness with the philosopher Simon Critchley just a year before his untimely death in February aged only 46. The recently released interview has been made into the most extraordinary animated short by Patrick Smith and David Gerlach, with at one point the Oscar winner and Tony nominee admitting: “There is no pleasure that I haven’t actually made myself sick on.” Heartbreaking.