Copious Notes

Ashley Judd stars as an ex-CIA agent searching for her son in Europe in the new ABC drama "Missing." © ABC photo by Larry D. Horricks.

Well the NCAA presented the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team’s No. 1 fan, Ashley Judd, with a bit of a quandary Thursday night: Watch her new show, Missing, at 8 p.m. on ABC or her beloved Cats in their first game in the  NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky is supposed to tip off at 6:50 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday night’s game between Western Kentucky University and Mississippi Valley State. So, the choice is the Cats or watch Judd kick some butt as an ex-CIA agent on a desperate search for her son.

On the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Q, heard locally at 2 p.m. weekdays on WEKU-88.9 FM, host Brent Bambury asked Judd which she would choose to watch.

“What a pickle,” Judd replied. “Are you kidding? I’m going to watch Kentucky Wildcats.”

Bambury pointed out that Judd has already seen the show.

Before the Cat quandary came up, Judd talked about the physical task of filming the action drama, which has her doing stunts such as jumping into the Seine River for a swim and running a lot.

Judd said her husband, Indy race car driver Dario Franchitti, teased her about the running, which she apparently does not do much.

“My husband, when he saw the show, said, ‘Look doll, evidence. You were filmed running. It has happened before,’” Judd recalled.

Click here to hear the interview.

Correction: The original version of this post misstated the time of the Missing premiere.

Steve Kazee in his dressing room at Studio 54 in New York during the Spring 2007 run of "110 in the Shade" on Broadway. © Herald-Leader photo by Aaron Lee Fineman.

Kentucky native Steve Kazee has enjoyed modest success on and off Broadway since he discovered acting when he was a student at Morehead State University in the mid-1990s. His turns have included starring opposite Audra McDonald in Roundabout Theatre’s revival of 110 in the Shade and replacing Hank Azaria as Lancelot in Spamalot.

Sunday (March 18) will be the biggest night of Kazee’s career as he takes the stage of Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York as the lead in Once, a new musical based on the 2006 movie that boasted the Oscar-winning song Falling Slowly. The show tells the story of an Irish musician and Czech immigrant drawn into a complicated relationship by their mutual love of music. The film was adapted to the stage by playwright Enda Walsh and the original Once musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová.

The latest evidence of Kazee’s rising star is he was featured in Sunday’s New York Times Style magazine sporting polka dots – of course, very fashionable, stylish polka dots.

But you need look no further than Kazee’s Twitter account to see he is still in touch with his old Kentucky home. Following Sunday’s loss in the SEC Championship game, he tweeted: “I am actually happy UK lost. Need to get their damn heads out of their asses and play like the beasts they are. Number 1 ain’t s—.”

Here’s hoping Kazee has a great weekend in a variety of ways.