Yesterday, Meryl Streep was a presenter at the Casting Society of America’s 30th annual Artios Awards, honoring achievement by casting directors, a decidedly less widely appreciated bunch than actors and directors. A special award, for contributions to the New York entertainment industry, went to Rob Marshall. First his sister, the theater director and choreographer Kathleen went onstage to talk a bit about her brother, then Christine Baranski, who played the wicked stepmother in Mr. Marshall’s latest film, “Into the Woods,” took over. “His actors feel like happy children playing together,” she said, and added later, “When some of the actors heard I had been cast as a presenter, some of them suddenly became available not just to put themselves on tape, but to show up,” Ms. Baranski said before launching into a surprise number. She was quickly joined by Tracey Ullman and Meryl Streep to perform a medley of songs – riffs on numbers from “Into the Woods,” with lyrics like these, to the tune of “Stay With Me:” Work with Rob and John and you will see; Actors who will slave and work for free.” Pictures from the ceremony have been added to the image library with many thanks to Claudia for her help with HQs.
