The four members of downtown theatre group Goat in the Road Productions (GRP) currently have at least four major projects in the works through 2016, leaving one to wonder if goats ever sleep. 

Houma girl Quvenzhane Wallis didn't collect a little gold statue last night, but she still earned the distinction of being the youngest Oscar nominee for "Best Actress." Check out the Beasts of the Southern Wild star on the red carpet poking fun at Piers Morgan, showing the world her "loser face," and more.  

Houma native and Beasts of the Southern Wild starlet Quvenzhane Wallis has been cast as Annie in the latest production of the classic play. Tonight, nine-year-old Wallis is in the audience of the Academy Awards, anxiously awaiting the result of her Oscar nomination for “Best Actress.” Tomorrow, she begins preparing for one of the most coveted roles among child actresses.

Rather than "what are you wearing?", the question of the night in New Orleans is "where are you watching?" Canal Place, Mannings, the Rusty Nail, and Buffa's are all great places to cheer on your favorite celebrities for the Oscars. 

by Brad Rhines

While the four Oscar nominations are certainly impressive, don’t expect Hollywood to tame Court 13, the New Orleans film collective responsible for Beasts of the Southern Wild. On March 8, less than two weeks after this year’s Academy Awards, the group will return home to showcase their unique vision at the Contemporary Arts Center in the exhibition Beyond “Beasts”: The Art of Court 13.

This week's news about Beasts of the Southern Wild’s four Oscar nominations hasn’t altered much for the Bayou-set film's director, Benh Zeitlin. A native of New York City, the director became enamored with New Orleans and South Louisiana after moving here in his mid 20s. However, Zeitlin says it’ll take a lot more than a couple gold statues to tear him away from the Crescent City. 

Beasts of the Southern Wild director and New Orleans resident Benh Zeitlin has swept the independent awards circuit, but today’s news about the film’s Oscar nominations bumps Zeitlin and his cast into a new category. The Academy seems to have been as impressed as Sundance and Cannes, and Beasts and the movie's cast are up for a number of statues, including Best Picture. 

by Emma Boyce

Innocence Project New Orleans will hold a Rent is Too Damn High Capitol Campaign Kick-off Fundraiser this Thursday from 5:30 pm to 8 pm to raise money to purchase their own building.

Today, a double screening at Mudlark Theatre, a class on using ropes in bondage, and Joseph Scott Morgan discusses his book about being a death investigator in the south. On this day in history, Jelly Roll Morton recorded “Sweet Anita Mine” and “New Orleans Bump” for the Victor Label in 1929. In 1941, the New Orleans piano master died on this day in Los Angeles. Here's more ways to embrace the day:

Things take a little longer to catch on here in Louisiana. As film director Benh Zeitlin put it to NoDef when we caught up with him last week, "Eventually, someone comes by and says, ‘Put down your laptop, get in this boat, we’re going to show you how to hunt alligator.’" After taking Sundance, Cannes and a lot of the rest of the country, Zeitlin's film Beasts of the Southern Wild will finally play on a Big Easy big screen. After months of anticipation and teasers, the same people that welcomed film crews with open boats can finally see the feature that’s making them famous all over the world. Click through for showtimes: