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Michael Hurst Now.com

This website was created to showcase the post-Hercules career of New Zealand actor and director, Michael Hurst.  We will also announce the professional activities of Michael's wife, Jennifer Ward-Lealand . . . More


CURRENT PROJECTS INDEX
(click a title below for more info)

* BITCH SLAP
* CHRIST ALMIGHTY!
* HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS
* LEGEND OF THE SEEKER
* LE SUD
* MADDIGAN'S QUEST
* Q THEATRE
* SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND

ARCHIVE INDEX
See our new ALPHABETICAL INDEX to quickly find information, pictures, programs, etc. for Michael's earlier projects.

WHAT'S AVAILABLE ON DVD?

  

WHAT'S NEW ON THE SITE?


Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced that it will re-release Hercules: The Legendary Journeys season 1 dvd's on 20 April 2010.  Click here for details.  Michael starred as Iolaus, with Kevin Sorbo as Hercules.





FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!
Find out when the site is updated & other news on our new Twitter feed.  See our most recent Tweets below:


WHAT'S NEW ON THE SITE
Click links below to access respective pages.

4 February  Added pics from Spartacus "Shadow Games" and Legend of the Seeker "Hunger", and new episode titles for Spartacus and Seeker, plus UK dvd release date for Bitch Slap dvd, to homepage

25 January  Added Spartacus in the UK to homepage

23 January  Added episode titles and airing dates for Spartacus episodes to homepage

21 January  Added Denver dates to Bitch Slap on homepage

20 January  Added link to the first episode of Spartacus on the Starz website

19 January  Added Bitch Slap in new cities and Spartacus on-demand to homepage

16 January  Added Spartacus on Starz Play and Netflix to homepage

12 January  Added info on re-issue of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys season 1 dvd's to homepage

11 January  Added press release for Le Sud and new pic of Jennifer as Dominique Le Bon to homepage

10 January  Added Q Theatre progress to homepage

9 January  Added Bitch Slap dvd release info to homepage

7 January  Added Spartacus early showings info to homepage

2 January  Added Maddigan's Quest in Australia and America Olivo's Bitch Slap interview on AUSXIP to homepage

25 December  Created Christ Almighty! page

22 December  Added Christ Almighty! pic to homepge

21 December  Added Spartacus season 2 announcement to homepage

20 December  Added Le Sud, link to Erin Cummings interview on AUSXIP and new Spartacus image to homepage

19 December  Added new Gage character photo to Bitch Slap on homepage

12 December  Added info on Spartacus airing in Canada to homepage

7 December  Created Killer Joe page; added Lisa Chappell interview to homepage

5 December  Added Legend of the Seeker ep. 2.12 title and airing date to homepage

3 December  Created Loot page with program, pics, etc.

30 November  Added Spartacus behind the scenes to homepage

29 November  Added Michael's directing credit for Spartacus 1.13 to homepage; added great new pics to Four Dramatic Poems page (2006)

17 November  Created Silo Season Launch page

11 November  Added Cabaret and Happy Days to Future Projects

7 November  Created Jill Marshall book launch page

26 October  Created page for Legend of the Seeker panel at Armageddon Expo; added Armageddon pic to homepage

21 October  Added Jessica Marias' comments on Michael as director of "Denna" to homepage

18 October  Added link to Bitch Slap Twitter feed

30 September  Added Twitter feed

27 September  Added link to MHNow on Twitter to homepage

18 September  Created NZ On Screen page

16 September  Created Creditors page with program, reviews and photos

15 September  Created Life is a Dream page with info, program, reviews, and photos showing this dramatic production that Michael directed in March 2009

14 September  Added rehearsal video to Blackbird page, including a powerful scene from the play

7 September  Created New Zealand Film & TV Awards page

26 August  Created Epsom Girls Grammar School Gala page

9 August  Created Big Night In page

25 July  Created Read with the Stars page

22 July  Added premiere date, pic, and link to updated Spartacus official site to homepage

19 July  Created Sassy Songs & Sexy Shakespeare page

27 June  Created Armageddon Expo in Wellington page

28 May  Created She Stoops to Conquer page

25 May  Added Spartacus to homepage

7 May  Added Spartacus to Future Projects

25 April  Created Shakespeare's Birthday page; created The Eight: Reindeer Monologues page

14 April  Created Xena convention cabaret photo gallery page

9 April  Created Voopa the Goolash page

8 April  Added screen caps, cast list, director's commentary, etc. to The Last Magic Show page

5 April  Created Venus and Adonis interview page

30 March  Created Armageddon in Christchurch page

16 March  Created Peter and the Wolf page

2 March  Created Xena con Q&A photo gallery

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE, DETAILED SITE HISTORY


This is not an official site, but we will keep it current with news of Michael's professional activities, as well as an archive of his projects.  We will also announce the professional activities of Michael's wife, Jennifer Ward-Lealand; see her official site for more on her career.

See also:  Michael's curriculum vitae on his official website: www.michaelhurst.co.nz and his listing on IMDB.  Michael is represented by Johnson & Laird Management.

 

 JENNIFER TO STAR IN LE SUD

JENNIFER TO STAR IN LE SUD

Jennifer will play Dominique Le Bons in the Dave Armstrong comedy Le Sud for Auckland Theatre Company, 11 February-6 March 2010 at Maidment Theatre.

From the ATC brochure:

"Playwright Dave Armstrong takes revisionist delight in imagining a different turn of events at Akaroa in 1838.

South Zealand, or Le Sud, is now an independent, prosperous French-speaking socialist nation where people work only 30 hours a week, enjoy long wine-fueled lunches, and the popular Prime Minister, Francois Duvauchelle, is a renowned womaniser.

Meanwhile, English-speaking North Zealand is starved of electricity.   So its Prime Minister, Jim Peterson, leads a delegation south to persuade the rich neighbours to get the goodwill - and electricity - flowing north.

Part farce, part satire, all comedy Le Sud has played sell-out seasons around the country."

From the press release:  "Had The French Come, Christchurch Would Be Chic. Cut from the same fabric as Catherine Deneuve, Jennifer Ward-Lealand saunters on to the stage as Dominique Le Bons, the elegant Foreign Minister in Le Sud by Dave Armstrong, at the Maidment Theatre from 11 February".  Read the rest here.

Direction by Raymond Hawthorne, design by Tracy Lord Grant, also starring George Henare. See ATC's website for more information and to book.

On 4 February, Raymond Hawthorne was on "Upbeat" on Radio New Zealand Concert talking about Le Sud and his long career in Auckland theatre.  Listen to it here.


SPARTACUS EP. 1.5 "SHADOW GAMES" TO AIR 19 FEBRUARY

Michael directed episodes 1.5 "Shadow Games", which will air on the Starz cable channel in the US on 19 February 2010 at 10 p.m.  Episodes will also be available on Starz Play and Netflix on the same day they air on the Starz channel.

Michael also directed ep. 1.9 "Whore" (scheduled to air 19 March), and 1.12 "Revelations", plus the splinter unit for episode 1.13.


Peter Mensah and Andy Whitfield in "Shadow Games"

Spartacus is showing in Canada on The Movie Network/Movie Central.  And according to The Sun (UK), Spartacus is "set for a UK screening this summer".

Starz has posted a Spartacus behind-the-scenes show on You Tube; see it here.  See the Spartacus: Blood and Sand website for the trailer, information on cast and characters, downloads, etc.

21 December:  Starz has now officially announced season 2 of Spartacus, tentatively titled Spartacus: Vengeance.  Production of the 13 episodes is expected to begin in New Zealand in the first quarter of 2010.  Read the full press release here.


LEGEND OF THE SEEKER EP. 2.12 "HUNGER" TO AIR 20 FEBRUARY

Michael directed episode 2.12 "Hunger" of American tv series Legend of the Seeker.  He also directed ep. 2.2 "Baneling" which aired in November.  He is currently directing episode 2.17 "Vengeance", and will also direct episode 21. 

See the show's official website for time and channel finder.


Tabrett Bethell and Craig Parker in "Hunger".

In the first season, Michael directed three episodes, 1.8 "Denna", 1.10 "Sacrifice", and 1.22 "Reckoning," and appeared as the wizard Amfortas in 1.13 "Revenant".   DVD's of the first season are available in the US (region 1).

In the commentary on the episode "Denna," Jessica Marais (who played Denna) talks about working with Michael:

"Michael Hurst is the director of this amazing episode . . . and he was the most enthusiastic, incredible director to work with, he has such a sense of drama and build and character, and he had really done his research.  He knew the books and the characters, you know, inside out"."I think that was actually one of the last scenes that we shot.  It's so funny trying to sort of grade a performance and you hardly ever work to sequence in this industry, and really trying to remember--and I guess that's again testament to Michael, he always made sure we knew exactly where we were and what had just happened."

"So Michael Hurst . . . the other thing where I think he's just perfect, I think the scenes are so well edited as well, and he's really had a sense of building".


MICHAEL IS GAGE IN BITCH SLAP

Michael is starring in the American feature film Bitch Slap playing Gage, a notorious underworld kingpin.  The film also stars Julia Voth as Trixie, Erin Cummings as Hel, and America Olivo as Camero.  Michael's Hercules co-star Kevin Sorbo will also appear, with cameos by Xena co-stars Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor.

Bitch Slap had a limited theatrical release in NYC, LA, and San Francisco in early January 2010 and is now available on Video On Demand.  

It will be released on region 1 dvd in the US on 2 March 2010 (details here) and in the UK on 22 March (details here).

You can follow Bitch Slap on Twitter, see the official Bitch Slap website, or the BitchSlapMovie channel on You Tube.


Michael teaches "Bitch Slap 101"

Bitch Slap is described as an exploitation film--with a healthy dose of comedy; a "thinking man’s throwback to the “B” Movie/ Exploitation films of the 1950’s-70’s as well as a loving, sly parody of the same.  . . . Bitch Slap will mix girls, guns, outrageous action and jaw-dropping visuals with a message… don’t be naughty!  . . . What makes Bitch Slap different is a complicated 'B' story device that runs throughout the film to illuminate character, backstory and relationship histories not previously revealed."  Read the full synopsis here.

Stunts are being coordinated and performed by Xena stunt double Zoe Bell, and the film is written and produced by Eric Gruendemann and Rick Jacobson; Jacobson is also directing.  Gruendemann was Co-Executive Producer of Hercules, Xena, Young Hercules, Jack of All Trades, and Cleopatra 2525, and Jacobson directed two episodes of Hercules and twelve of Xena. See an interview at Comic Con 2008 with Eric Gruendemann and Rick Jacobson.  They talk about the origins and ideas behind the film and what they were hoping to accomplish.  See images from Bitch Slap here.  Read an interview with Rick Jacobson on Zoe Bell Fans on LiveJournal.

*          *          *

ERIN CUMMINGS AND AMERICA OLIVO TALK ABOUT MAKING BITCH SLAP

Recently Erin Cummings and America Olivo were interviewed by AUSXIP.   Erin talked about working with Michael:  "Being in the same room with Michael Hurst is like taking a master class in acting".  Read the whole interview here

And America told the story of Michael's run-in with the police during the Bitch Slap shoot; read it here.


MICHAEL AS ANGEL GABRIELLE IN CHRIST ALMIGHTY!

Michael was one of the actors to portray Angel Gabrielle (sic) in the rotating cast of 40 for Christ Almighty! at The Basement in December.  Michael's was the "cross-dressing, chain smoking" Gabrielle (the other Gabrielle's all were women).  From the New Zealand Herald review:  "Michael Hurst brilliantly captured the brittle emotions of a wayward angel locked into a love-hate relationship with his Creator".

The hilarious show had full houses every night with additional shows added in the final week.  We now have a couple of pics from the production, with more to come (check back; or follow us on Twitter for updates).  For now, check out the pic below of lovely Gabrielle.  And see our Christ Almighty! page for program, cast, reviews, etc.


MADDIGAN'S QUEST IN AUSTRALIA

The Nine Network is re-running kidult tv series Maddigan's Quest on Saturday mornings at 11.  Michael played the cyborg Maska who was trying to thwart the efforts of a travelling band of circus performers, including young Garland Maddigan (Rose McIver), on a secret mission to save their civilization.  See pics, info here.


Q THEATRE PROGRESS

The official groundbreaking for Q Theatre was held on 10 December 2009.  The picture below was taken 10 January--the old warehouse is gone!  It's great to see progress on this project that has been a focus for so many in the Auckland theatre community, including Michael and Jennifer, ever since the Watershed Theatre was torn down in 1996.  Read the history of Q Theatre here.


 

 

 

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Note: We try to ensure that everything here is correct, but mistakes do happen,
and things can change, so please contact the venues directly for verification.

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We believe that everything on this web site falls within the legal description of "fair use".
The site has no formal affiliation with Michael Hurst.

For site update history, click here (latest update 4 February 2010).

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