North American VA Update - Spring 2011 (Part 1)

Hi there, readers! Here are some updates about the English language voice actors before I head off to Sakura Con later this week.

Liza Balkan will be directing "Dustings" (which she also created) at the Canadian Stage Festival of Ideas & Creation. The festival runs from May 9-21 with most events being free and open to the public. Fans can catch "Dustings" on Saturday, May 21st at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Street Theatre in Toronto. It is described as "The dust we collect. The dust we let go of. The dust we hold on to. These are excerpts of a larger project in development by creator/director Liza Balkan and Composer Glenn James. The entry point for this particular excerpt is familial flotsam and jetsam and the rest is… history." (from CanadianStage.com)

Spyburbia is a new TV series about a team of spies posing as an ordinary family. The animated series is currently in pre-production. It features Susan Roman (Sailor Jupiter) as the voice of Mom and Vince Corazza (Alan/ Tuxedo Mask #3) as the voice of Jay-R.

Tony Daniels (Jedite/Wiseman) plays Fred in the animated series Stella and Sam, which premiered in January. The series is about "Stella, the irrepressible redhead, and her slightly apprehensive little brother [who] take on the wonders of the world and explore the endearing, intimate scenes of young childhood."(description from IMDb)

Stephanie Beard (Rini #2) has been busy! She appeared in an episode of Darla, a satirical web show, as a "Stacey" (the type of woman that Darla considers unusually cruel and self-centred). The series is about a nerd named Darla who is a serial killer that takes out annoying females in her neighbourhood (description from IMDb). Fans can catch the episode featuring Stephanie here.

50/50 now has a release date of September 30th, 2011. Stephanie plays a character named Susan in this film that we previously reported was titled Live With It. 50/50 is "a comedic account of a 27-year-old guy's cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease." (description from IMDb)

Stag, a film is set to release on September 25th, 2011 is about a man named Ken Andrews who has been responsible for elaborate hazing pranks at all of his buddies' stags. Now the time has come for Ken's stag and he nervously awaits the payback. Stephanie Beard (Rini #2) will be appearing as Mary and Tracey Hoyt (Rini #1) will be appearing as Biker Chris.

Sabrina Grdevich (Anne/Lizzy/Sailor Pluto #1) appeared in an episode of The Listener as Sarah Mirtschin. The season premiere episode, titled "Lady in the Lake" aired on February 8th. She also appeared in two episodes of the new teen series Skins as Renée: "Tony," the premiere episode, and "Eura/Everyone," which was episode 10. The series is about a group of teenagers in Baltimore.

Julie Lemieux (Sammy) joins some of her former castmates in The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That. She appeared in recent episodes as Ziggy, Clarabelle, Grayson's Mom, and other characters.

Dennis Akiyama (Malachite) appears in She's the Mayor as Mr. Lee, a Korean former spy who guards the mayor, Iris, with his life. The series is about Iris, a 64 year old former principal, who runs for office and surprisingly wins. More details about the show are on the official website.

You can also see a short clip of Dennis as Mr. Lee below:

We now have more details for a couple of David Huband's (Serena's Dad) upcoming films. We previously reported that he will be appearing in Running Mates, as Father McDonough and in Dream House, as officer Nelson. Running Mates is set to release this year (no confirmed date yet) and is about two best friends who run against each other for mayor of their home town. Dream House is about "a family who learns of a brutal crime committed against former residents of their new, seemingly idyllic home" (description from IMDb) and is set to premiere on September 30th. David has also made some recent television appearances. He played The Ghost/Joshua Crane in episode 10 of InSecurity, a Canadian comedy about a group of spies. He also played a judge in an episode of Republic of Doyle, called "Don't Gamble with City Hall," which was episode 11 of season 2. The Canadian series is about Jake Doyle and his father, who run a P. I. agency in St. John's, Newfoundland.

David Fraser (Grandpa Hino) appears in the comedic series Papillion as Cal, who seems to be a primary character. No description or premiere date available for this series yet, but we will provide more details when possible.