Alec Baldwin will read the Tony-nominated play “Speed the Plow” by David Mamet as part of “An Evening at Rockwell Hall With Alec Baldwin” tomorrow night at Buffalo State College. Regular seating for the event, which will benefit Road Less Traveled Productions, costs $40-$55. There are also tickets available for a private reception with Baldwin for $175.

In a statement about the event, Baldwin said, “I mean, Buffalo’s a big town,” Baldwin said. “It’s not, you know, Utica. Buffalo is a big town, and it deserves to have an off-Broadway space.” Utica’s mayor, David Roefaro, called Baldwin’s comment offensive, adding “We already have the best theater in New York state [The Stanley Center for the Arts],” Roefaro said. “We’ll just have to shame Mr. Baldwin to coming to Utica so he can get his facts straight.”

An Evening with Alec Baldwin
Saturday, January 31, 8PM
Rockwell Hall @ Buffalo State College
www.ticketguys.com or 716.878.3005
-reception tickets by phone only-
www.roadlesstraveledproductions.org

In last week’s episode of Big Love (episode 30, “Come Ye Saints”), the Henrickson family takes a cross country road trip to the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, New York. The Hill Cumorah Pageant is held every year in July to commemorate Pioneer Day. The upstate NY location was chosen because Mormons believe this is where Joseph Smith found the golden tablets on which the Book of Mormon was written. During the pageant, actors perform scenes from the book of Mormon using Hollywood style effects and lighting.

As for The Henricksons, many secrets were unraveled as they made the trek across country. Guess we’ll have to tune in next week to see the fallout. If you want to catch up with America’s favorite polygamists, check out HBO.com’s programming schedule.

Mickey Rouke may not have received an Oscar Sunday night but Utica did get a shout out in The Wrestler. In one scene, where ”The Ram” decides he is not going to continue wrestling due to his failing heath, he calls a promoter and tell him he won’t be able to attend any upcoming matches, including one in Utica. Granted, Rouke’s character doesn’t specify he’s talking about Utica, NY but given upstate NY’s connection to wrestling, not to mention that Mickey was once an upstate NYer, we’re going to assume he was talking about this Utica!

In last week’s episode of The Office, Pam and Michael hit the lecture circuit and visited several Dunder Mifflin branches, including the Utica branch! In the background, during Michael’s awkward banter, upstate New Yorkers may have noticed a few Utican props decorating the set. For instance, we noticed a Utica phonebook and a picture of the Gold Dome Bank. Did you catch anything else we may have missed?

 If you haven’t seen the episode you can watch it now on NBC.com.