Earlier this evening, December 6th, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey held its first stateside premiere — in New York. At the Ziegfeld Theatre, numerous cast and crew from the impressively-sized ensemble showed up, including Lee Pace (who must have taken a night off from his off-Broadway play, Golden Age). Others in attendance included Elijah Wood (Frodo), Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Liv Tyler (Arwen), Martin Freeman (Bilbo), Andy Serkis (Gollum), Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield), Aidan Turner (Kili), Archie Panjabi, Terry O’Quinn, Patrick Stewart, and director Peter Jackson.

Last night, December 4th, Golden Age – Terrence McNally’s new play – officially opened at New York City Center – Stage I. Numerous photos from the after-party have been added to the gallery, with Lee Pace pictured alongside co-star F. Murray Abraham. I’ll be adding more as they come in, so be sure to check back. In the meantime, you might want to head over to the career portion of LPO to read reviews on Lee’s performance in Golden Age. Check out a few highlights below:

“Lee Pace is an ideal Bellini, charismatic even in self-absorption and gifted with the requisite Byronic handsomeness. Pace excels at communicating Bellini’s often internal emotions and uses an effortless period physicality to good effect.”
- BACKSTAGE.COM

“Even in Bellini’s poutiest, most self-absorbed moments, Pace is never less than charming. He’s the quintessential tortured artist — unabashedly romantic, hair askew, throwing himself about the stage with abandon, and voraciously devouring Sicilian blood oranges (Bellini’s preferred snack). When he gets ahold of McNally’s monologues, Pace can elevate them into arias: ‘People don’t go mad because of a broken heart. They take to their rooms and weep in utter solitude,’ he says, reflecting on mad scenes in operas. ‘There is no cause for high notes when your heart is broken. The very lowest reaches of the voice are what are called for.’”
- ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“Pace has the debonair good looks of a golden-age Hollywood heartthrob. He elegantly underplays Bellini’s exhilarated highs and his depressed lows, and his rapport with Neuwirth is tainted with lovely wistfulness.”
- NEW YORK POST

There are also three new production photographs, which you can view right here.

Check out a new video featuring select moments from Golden Age! Lee Pace (as Vincenzo Bellini) is, naturally, shown a lot throughout; there’s an especially great scene between him and Bebe Neuwirth shown in this highlights reel. Remember: Golden Age opens off-Broadway tonight, so hopefully we’ll be hearing some positive remarks on the production – and Lee – by the end of the evening.

Apparently, Lee Pace is, in fact, in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — but not for long. Despite the original two movies being elongated into a trilogy – with the presumption that Thranduil’s first appearance would be delayed until the second installment of the franchise – a tweeter who attended the New Zealand premiere informed fans and moviegoers alike that Lee would be (briefly) seen as the Elvenking in An Unexpected Journey. Here’s an excerpt from a ComicBook.com article, detailing what to expect (or not):

4. Don’t Expect A Lot Of Thranduil – According to a tweet from a blogger who attended the premiere, Thranduil was only on screen for about three seconds. The good news is that those three seconds were apparently pretty epic, as the blogger also described him as “perfection.”

Six new production photos from Golden Age have been added to the gallery, courtesy of BWW. Lee Pace is prominently featured in many of them, adorning period costume as he portrays Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini in the off-Broadway production. Bebe Neuwirth (Maria Malibran), Will Rogers (Francesco Florimo), Lorenzo Pisoni (Antonio Tamburini), and Coco Monroe (Page) also feature. Golden Age is currently in previews; it opens at the MTC at New York City Center – Stage I on December 4th.

Remember when Lee Pace was rumored to be up for a Marvel movie part? Although nothing ever came to fruition, there is this news: he is currently testing for the lead role in Marvel’s upcoming movie adaptation, Guardians of the Galaxy. This franchise will enter into Marvel’s “Phase 2,” along with The Avengers 2 and others (there is belief that the two teams will eventually collide on screen). Lee is up for the role as the leader of the Guardians, Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, which you can read about below (courtesy of First Showing):

As a child Peter Quill’s father died trying to kill him and his mother was killed by an alien. It’s no wonder he grew up to be an astronaut. But while on a space station, Quill is visited by Master of the Sun and gets transformed into Star-Lord, who is tasked with policing the galaxy. His suit allows him to travel through space, increase his strength and he has a powerful weapon called an element gun which fires earth, water, fire and air. In the concept art release at Comic-Con, he’s carrying Kree sub-machine guns (from the alien race that created his suit), which shoot various types of ammunition, including explosives. He also has a psychic link to a sentient spaceship aptly called Ship.

However, it doesn’t look like it’ll be an easy part to get, as many actors are also in contention. Others reported as testing for the part include Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Jim Sturgess, and Eddie Redmayne. Deadline is reporting that there is interest from Garrett Hedlund, James Marsden, and Sullivan Stapleton as well.

In an interview with The Dominion Post, Oscar-winning makeup and hair designer Peter King talked about The Hobbit transformations. The article goes in-depth on the physical changes the actors faced in order to achieve their Middle-earth characters, including what it was like to adjust to shooting on HD 3-D at 48 frames per second. He even talks about Lee Pace after mentioning Cate Blanchett, complimenting him on his amiable personality and strong elven aesthetic.

To achieve the elves’ flawless skin, [Peter] King applied the foundation with makeup brushes. Making up [Cate] Blanchett is easy, he says, because she has very good skin. “She doesn’t have pores, which is very handy. Beautiful velvet skin makes life a lot easier.”

Blanchett, he says, is also the most fantastic person to work with.

“For her high profile and everything else she does, she is one of the most down-to-earth actors I have met. She is divine,” he says. “And Lee Pace, who plays Thranduil the Elven king. He’s a male version of Cate Blanchett: beautiful, enthusiastic and fantastic. He gets what everyone is trying to do. He’s an elf with attitude. He has this fantastic icy stare but, as soon as the cameras stop, he’s such a nice guy. It’s the elves you see in the end; they are perfect beings.”

There’s an amazing special feature on The New York Times about Lee Pace and his trip to Sicily last month. He went to visit the Italian city to research the man he’s currently portraying on stage: the opera composer, Vincenzo Bellini. NY Times asked Lee to document his experience, providing photographs that he took (he’s quite skilled!) along with what he learned on his trip. You can read the article here, then check out the slideshow featuring Lee’s work. Both the text and photos have been added to the press archive and gallery, respectively.

Golden Age is currently having its first preview – right now! – but for those who can’t make it to New York, here’s a nice little video. A behind the scenes look shows Lee Pace, Bebe Neuwirth, and Will Rogers during a photo shoot for the new Terrence McNally play. There’s also clips from interviews with the actors and playwright throughout, giving a better insight into the production about Vincenzo Bellini. The video has been added to the gallery, but you can also watch it here.