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Broadway Report: R&B Great Usher, Broadway Legend Savion Glover Honor The Great Ben Vereen with Chita Rivera Award

Regina Weinreich
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Broadway Report: R&B Great Usher, Broadway Legend Savion Glover Honor The Great Ben Vereen with Chita Rivera Award

What in the world would bring R&B superstar Usher to NYU’s Skirball Center?

Answer: Tony winner Ben Vereen, who last week received a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the Chita Rivera Awards.

Usher, you may not know, is Vereen’s godson. The alaways hot Usher recounted Vereen’s valuable efforts to straighten the young man’s path when he was young. And what was the message of the night, loud and clear at the Chita Rivera Awards to dancers, choreographers, musical ensembles: The Arts Must Be Protected.

Who else was there for Vereen, who will always be remembered for “Pippin,” among other shows: another Tony winner, Savion Glover, who tapdanced his heart out.

Vy Higginsen’s famous Sing Harlem Choir performed “Let the Sunshine In/ This Little Light of Mine.”

When they finished, Vereen exclaimed, “We had Chuch!” removing the R.

Vereen could not have paid higher homage to his late friend, Chita Rivera, who used to say her favorite place to be was a roomful of dancers.

He also carried the message that our country is in trouble; we must take this upon ourselves to keep the lifeline of dance and all the arts pulsing.

At the Skirball Center, there were dancers galore! And wonderful performances: from “Boop! The Musical,” Jasmine Amy Rogers and Ainsley Melham’s “Where I Want to Be.”

Two time Emmy winner and comic writer Bruce Vilanch introduced a dance from what he called the “Godzilla” of mothers, Mama Rose, from “Gypsy.” The Mothers theme became a “Mom Medley” for Laura Bell Bundy, Kerry Butler, and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

Kevin Csolak, who plays Tulsa in the revival starring Audra McDonald, performed “All I Need is the Girl,” channeling Gene Kelly. Csolak went on to win the award for Outstanding Broadway Dancer, shared with Robyn Hurder from “Smash.”

From “Swept Away,” an underappreciated musical (The Avett Brothers), Adrian Blake Enscoe and Cameron Johnson performed movement inspired by the play’s theme, a deadly shipwreck. Yes, that fine chamber play about sacrifice and salvation at sea featured sailors vying for survival amidst turbulent waters, with beautiful work by choreographer David Neumann, was awarded the Douglas & Ethel Watt Critics’ Choice Award.

Bob Fosse’s spirit was never far away. And neither were his children with dancer Gwen Verdon: Nicole and Noah Fosse introduced Khori Petinaud in a balletic “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries.” For entertainment, you could not have a better benefit event. For philanthropy, you could not have a more meaningful cause than the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation Scholarship Program and its latest creation, the new Chita Rivera Training Scholarship.

As to the winners:

BROADWAY

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN A BROADWAY SHOW
Joshua Bergasse, Smash
Warren Carlyle, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
**Patricia Delgado /Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Shannon Lewis, Just In Time
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical
Rickey Tripp / DeWitt Fleming, Jr., A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical

OUTSTANDING DANCER IN A BROADWAY SHOW
Angélica Beliard, Buena Vista Social Club
**Kevin Csolak, Gypsy
Carlos Falú, Buena Vista Social Club
DeWitt Fleming, Jr., A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
Jonathan Groff, Just In Time
**Robyn Hurder, Smash
Héctor Juan Maisonet, Buena Vista Social Club
Ilda Mason, Buena Vista Social Club
Marielys Molina, Buena Vista Social Club
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE IN A BROADWAY SHOW
A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
Boop! The Musical
**Buena Vista Social Club
Death Becomes Her
Just In Time
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Smash

OFF-BROADWAY

OFF-BROADWAY SPECIAL RECOGNITION

The Awarding Committee of the 2025 Chita Rivera Awards celebrates excellence in Off-Broadway musical theater by presenting a special award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Choreography.

**Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles, Cats: “The Jellicle Ball”

FILM & DOCUMENTARY

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY IN A FEATURE FILM
A Nice Indian Boy, Choreographers: Ziana D’Mello, Breanna English, Christian Lagasse
Emilia Perez, Choreographer: Damien Jalet
**Sh’ma: A Story of Survival, Choreographer: Suki John
Snow White, Choreographer: Mandy Moore
Wicked, Part 1, Choreographer: Christopher Scott

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A DANCE DOCUMENTARY
**A Resilient Man, Director: Stephane Carrel
Better Man, Director: Michael Gracey
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, Director: Bruce David Klein
Two Roads, Director: Susan Wittenberg
Who Cares About Pal Frenak, Director: Gloria Halasz

Trump Posts Memorial Day Presidential Message of Hate, Calls Non-Believers “Scum,” Invents “Mentally Insane”

Roger Friedman
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Trump Posts Memorial Day Presidential Message of Hate, Calls Non-Believers “Scum,” Invents “Mentally Insane”

Read Donald Trump’s holiday message of hate.

He calls everyone who doesn’t follow him “scum.”

He’s an illiterate, sick man who has debased the presidency, lowered the discourse to lying and professing vulgarity.

He claims 21 million people have entered the country illegally. Many of them he says are “mentally insane.”

He’s such an illiterate that he can’t recognize redundancy. Are there immigrants who are “physically insane”? Artistically insane? Financially insane.

If you’re insane, you are insane. He is, and doesn’t even know it.

Trump continues to try and punish Harvard, likely because son, Barron, was rejected. Where is Barron, by the way? At NYU? Attending classes? He’s very tall so it’s hard to hide him. But there’s no evidence of his being in an NYU building. Maybe Reddit knows.

Trump spoke to West Point graduates this week, then swiftly left to play golf. He did the same thing with his own memecoin dinner, leaving investors without the pleasure of shaking his sweaty little hand.

Today he’s giving a speech at Arlington National Cemetery. He’s incapable of just graciously placing a wreath. He must upstage the dead.

to be continued…

“Lilo,” “Mission” Combine for $260 Mil Memorial Weekend, Higher and Lower than Expected

Roger Friedman
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“Lilo,” “Mission” Combine for $260 Mil Memorial Weekend, Higher and Lower than Expected

The four day Memorial Day weekend — really a five day weekend counting Thursday — brought surprises.

“Lilo & Stitch” over performed like crazy. Disney racked up $183 million domestically. With international, $304 million. And no Marvel characters!

It’s been 23 years since the original film. I guess people were waiting very patiently.

The total is a lot higher than expected.

“Mission Impossible Final Reckoning” has a total of $77.5 million if the numbers hold up. Today marks a 25% drop from Sunday, which is not good. Maybe word of mouth is not working since every day has seen a decline.

The trades are celebrating that “Final Reckoning” did better than “Dead Reckoning.” But the latter was really a bust, so the bar is low. For $100 million in publicity, international premieres, Cannes, etc, the movie should have made $100 million on its first weekend.

The two films together made $260 million in the US. Add the three Warner Bros movies — “Minecraft,” “Sinners,” “Final Destination” — and there’s another $60 mil from Friday to Monday.

The worst showing was “Hurry Up Tomorrow” from the Weeknd aka Abel Tesfaye. Still hasn’t cracked $5 million. Per theater average is $96. They must be die hard fans. “HUT” lost 500 theaters between weeks 1 and 2. Expect another severe cut for this Thursday.

Bruce Springsteen’s Manchester “Treasonous Trump” Speech Album, “Land of Hope and Dreams,” Huge Hit, Number 2 on iTunes

Roger Friedman
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Bruce Springsteen’s Manchester “Treasonous Trump” Speech Album, “Land of Hope and Dreams,” Huge Hit, Number 2 on iTunes

Who woulda thunk it?

On May 14th, Bruce Springsteen opened his show in Manchester, England with this speech:

“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n’ roll, in dangerous times. In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration. Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against the authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”

The speech caused such a ruckus that Donald Trump denounced Springsteen as a “dried up prune.” It was hilarious.

Sony and Springsteen reacted quickly, issuing an EP with the speech (and one more) plus a couple of live performances from the night.

Now the EP, called “Land of Hope and Dreams,” is number 2 on iTunes. Bravo!

PS If you’ve heard this anywhere on the radio, drop a line to showbiz411@gmail.com.

Guest at Memecoin Dinner Says He Paid $480K, Got a Baseball Cap, Trump Spoke Briefly, Didn’t Even Stick Around (Watch)

Roger Friedman
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Guest at Memecoin Dinner Says He Paid $480K, Got a Baseball Cap, Trump Spoke Briefly, Didn’t Even Stick Around (Watch)

Watch this video.

Donald Trump’s multimillion dollar for his fake memecoin was not a success.

According to this post, Trump spoke to the assembled investors for “exactly 23 minutes.” He did not stay for the dinner.

Trump has so much contempt for his followers and backers he left them at the White House and flew off to Mar-a-Lago for another $3.1 million weekend. Who picks up the tab? Taxpayers. MAGA. They don’t care.

This is eye opening. Is this blockchain? Or blockhead? When will they learn?

Is This Tom Cruise’s Final Reckoning? Steep Declines Every Day for “Mission Impossible” Spell Trouble

Roger Friedman
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Is This Tom Cruise’s Final Reckoning? Steep Declines Every Day for “Mission Impossible” Spell Trouble

Tom Cruise is not having a good weekend.

Each day of this weekend so far “Mission Impossible: FInal Reckoning” has had steep declines at the box office.

After making $24 million over Thursday and Friday, “FR” dropped to $20 million on Saturday and just $18 million on Sunday.

The result is now $63 million total. “FR” will be lucky to hit $75 million for Memorial Day weekend.

That sounds like a lot but it isn’t for a movie with a $400 million price tag.

The only glimmer of hope is that the international numbers are good, with $127 million coming in already. South Korea ponied up $5 million this week. They loved it! For them the movie has ‘s(e)oul’!

Paramount will need all the foreign countries it can find to make “FR” work to turn a profit.

Another light in the tunnel: this “Reckoning” is running considerably ahead of “Dead Reckoning,” although the first one cost a little less. I didn’t remember exactly how badly “DR” did until looking back at the numbers.

So, what’s going on here? The film’s three hour length certainly makes turnaround difficult. Maybe the basic premise — the AI thing no one understands called The Entity — is losing interest. There’s also no big romantic finish. Cruise and Hayley Atwell do not get together. They are extremely chaste. It’s the opposite of, say, a “Fast and Furious” film which would end with a big congratulatory scene, Champagne bottles popping.

Again, it’s a long summer. “FR” will stick around for some time and may turn out to be a long distance runner.

Cannes Awards: Palme d’Or to Iranian Dissident, JLaw Overlooked for Best Actress, Brazilian Film Scores Big Time, Iraqi Film Gets Prize

Roger Friedman
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Cannes Awards: Palme d’Or to Iranian Dissident, JLaw Overlooked for Best Actress, Brazilian Film Scores Big Time, Iraqi Film Gets Prize

The awards ceremony in Cannes is going right now after an electrical outage in the city that lasted four hours.

For some reason, John C. Reilly is singing the English version of “Ma Vie En Rose.”

The Palme d’Or to Iranian dissident Jafar Panahi for IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

The Cannes Grand Prix (2nd place) goes to Joachim Trier for SENTIMENTAL VALUE.

Best Actress: Nadia Melliti for THE LITTLE SISTER

Best Actor: Wagner Moura for THE SECRET AGENT

Best Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho for THE SECRET AGENT

Best First Film: Hasan Hadi for THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE

No Americans made the cut. Juliette Binoche led the jury. Jennifer Lawrence was overlooked for her strong performance in “Die My Love.”

Hollywood Has a New Power Player: Streamer MUBI Picks Up 9 Cannes Films, Owned by Actual Young Turk Efe Cakarel

“Mission Impossible” Scores $24 Mil Thurs-Fri, Looking at Low-ish $75 Mil Opening Weekend

Roger Friedman
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“Mission Impossible” Scores $24 Mil Thurs-Fri, Looking at Low-ish $75 Mil Opening Weekend

Is the mission impossible?

“Final Reckoning” only made $16 mil on Friday night. Adding the $8 mil from previews, opening comes to $24.8 mil.

It’s good but not great.

Projections would put the holiday weekend at $72-$75 million, well below the hoped for $80-$85 million.

With $400 million at stake, international receipts will have to exceed expectations. Most of those numbers won’t come in until Monday/

For “Final Reckoning” to be booming, a $100 mil holiday would have been preferred. You’d think with a rainy weekend, audiences would be flocking in. Let’s give them a chance. The weekend is young.

“Final Reckoning” is being seriously outpaced by Disney’s kids movie, “Lilo & Stitch,” which has kicked up $55 mil in two days. They will crack $100 mil with no problem.

Stay tuned…

Jake Tapper Can’t Get Ratings Up for TV Show Despite 24/7 CNN All Day Shilling for Biden Attack Book

Roger Friedman
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Jake Tapper Can’t Get Ratings Up for TV Show Despite 24/7 CNN All Day Shilling for Biden Attack Book

Jake Tapper can’t seem to get it up — ratingswise — since his Biden attack book was released.

Tapper’s CNN show, “The Lead” actually got 1.1 million viewers back on March 18th. That’s his peak over the last three months.

On May 2nd, six days before Tapper started promoting his book, “Original Sin,” he was down to 462,000. To say he was flailing is an understatement.

The 24/7 shilling of the book by CNN began on Wednesday, May 8th. That was the day the wheelchair story went viral, followed by George Clooney’s claim that Biden didn’t recognize him last year at a fundraiser.

On Thursday, May 9th, Tapper spiked at 740,000 viewers. Throwing Biden under the bus and backing up over him did the trick. Initially viewers were fascinated. The book fuels the hate of right wingers toward Biden. It gives Democrats a reason for Trump winning.

It took a few days to let what Tapper had done to Biden sink in. By May 14th, Tapper was back to 515,000. On Tuesday this week Tapper’s numbers rose slightly to 570,000 as he and the network continued to scapegoat Biden mercilessly.

CNN viewers are not happy with the situation. A quick search of Twitter comes up with tens of dozens of complaints about Tapper’s character assassination of Biden. “Original Sin” is a hit, but not with Tapper’s viewers. He’s been appearing on conservative radio and podcasts constantly stoking the Fox News crowd. At this point, CNN would be better off to let him join the rival right wing network.

PS Jimmy Kimmel isn’t too pleased with Tapper, either. Kimmel canceled his show with Tapper as a guest on Monday using the excuse that his daughter was giving birth. The next night Kimmel apologized just to guest Seth Rogen but didn’t even mention Tapper.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/24/joe-biden-town-hall-original-sin-00368995

Kanye West Says He Wishes Kid Cudi — Who Claimed Diddy Blew Up His Car — Hadn’t Testified Against Him

Roger Friedman
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Kanye West Says He Wishes Kid Cudi — Who Claimed Diddy Blew Up His Car — Hadn’t Testified Against Him

This week rapper Kid Cudi testified in the trial against Sean Puffy Diddy Combs.

Cudi said that among other things, Diddy blew up his Porsche with a Molotov cocktail because Cudi was dating Diddy’s ex-girlfriend and alleged victim, Cassie Ventura. He also said Diddy broke into his house.

Now Cudi’s long time collaborator has something to say.

Kanye West, who this said he was “giving up antisemitism,” said this morning on Twitter he wished Cudi hadn’t testified against “Puff.”

He wrote: “I wish Cudi hadn’t testified against Puff.We need to not be locked in white systems. Praying for Puff and his family. Praying for Puff Daddy and the Family”

Kanye is always on the wrong side of any subject. He’s been sticking up for Combs since this whole odyssey began. I guess he’s not paying attention to the testimony so far that’s so gross you can’t discuss it in polite society. Mostly, it’s allegations of brutal rape and sex trafficking. Even if Combs were somehow acquitted, he’d never get over it in this lifetime.

Congrats to Kanye!

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