Saturday, December 20, 2025
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Sting’s Musical, “The Last Ship” Postponed til Later This Year in Washington, DC, Likely in Other Cities for Now

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Sting’s hit musical, “The Last Ship,” is going into dry dock for a bit.

Washington DC’s National Theater just announced the run from March 27th- April 5th will be postponed until later this year.

Other cities, like Detroit and Minneapolis, may do the same. Check local listings.

“The Last Ship” was a huge hit in Los Angeles this winter. It was equally sold out in San Francisco, but stopped early because of the virus panic.

In Washington, it was pretty much sold out for its run. The theater says hold on to your tickets, the ship will sail again!

Unknown still: if Sting’s residency in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace will take off on May 22nd. Caesar’s is so far the only venue still open in Sin City, but that could change. Meantime, we can listen to “My Songs” on CD and streaming, and “The Last Ship,” as well. A lot of those songs are stuck in my head anyway!

 

RIP: “Carol Burnett Show” Star Lyle Waggoner Dies at Age 84, Also Starred in TV’s “Wonder Woman”

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Lyle Waggoner, star of “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Wonder Woman” in the 1970s and 80s, has died age 84.

Waggoner was cast on the Burnett as the handsome but often clueless leading man caught in comic situations. On “Wonder Woman” he was straight arrow Steve Trevor.

A native of Kansas City and St. Louis, Waggoner spent his retirement years as a sculptor in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He appeared in several TV shows before Burnett, but when he arrived there, it was magic. He and the cast — Burnett, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence — gelled into a perfect comedy ensemble. The rest was history.

 Waggoner once even tested for Adam West’s role as Batman/Bruce Wayne:

 

 

Disney Cancels May Releases Including “Black Widow,” “David Copperfield,” Already Postponed “Woman in the Window”

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There’s no spring time for Disney.

They’ve removed their main releases from May dates. Those include Marvel’s “Black Widow,” Searchlight’s “Private Life of David Copperfield,” and the already postponed from a previous date, “Woman in the Window.”

Now no one’s in the window.

“David Copperfield,” directed by Armando Iannucci, starring Dev Patel, is so good and so funny, I kind of wish they’d put it on streaming. But it will be worth the wait in theaters.

Meantime, Universal has released “Cats” on digital platforms. They obviously hate us. No, just kidding. Watch it, it’s not so bad.

Tuesday Virus Entertainment: Watch DA Pennebaker’s Great Short Film, “Daybreak Express,” Set to Duke Ellington

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Just thinking of my late friend and mentor, DA Pennebaker. He’d like it if we watched “Daybreak Express,” which he shot in 1953 on 16 mm Kodachrome on the now demolished IRT Third Avenue Line (“Third Avenue El”) in New York City. A mini masterpiece.

Children’s Books Swamp the Amazon Top 100 Bestsellers as Parents Freak Out During Home Stay, Only 10 Are for Adults

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The top selling book in the US this morning?

“My First Learn to Write Workbook,” by Crystal Radle. No, I am not kidding. Forty four of the top 100 Amazon best selling books are for children. Parents are freaking out during the home stay. They have swamped the bestsellers.

There are only ten of the top 100 for adults. They include “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng, the basis for the new Reese Witherspoon-Kerry Washington TV series. Also, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee.

Number 59 is “The Great Influenza,” by John M. Barry, about the pandemic of 1918.

If you’ve got a grade school kid under 6, read them Dr. Seuss’s “The Sneetches.” Over 6, read them “Harry Potter.” Works like a charm!

 

Tom Brady Says He’s Leaving the Patriots, Going for the Money and Someplace Warm Like L.A. or Florida

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New England is saying goodbye to Tom Brady. The star quarterback is choosing Big Money and Warm Weather now that his contract is up. He’s going to Florida or Los Angeles. We knew this when he bought a mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut.  His announcement came in a very special set of Tweets. In all likelihood he’ll play a couple more years, then segue into TV sportscasting.

 

Amazon Drops All But One Version of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” from Site, But Barnes & Noble Offers More than a Dozen

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Is it really necessary to have more than one version of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” available for sale?

Amazon has finally agreed that the answer is no, and has dropped all but one from its site. The remaining version, translated in 1943, serves as a reminder of what a monster Hitler was. It’s for educational purposes, and in this version shows his lack of education and his crude racism. Ralph Manheim, a respected German translator, made his career by bringing the book into English.

The Guardian first reported that Amazon cleaned house after a number of Jewish groups and Holocaust historical scholars lobbied for the removal since the service started.

Barnes & Noble is a different story. The second most popular online book store currently offers around 18 other versions for sale on line as well as the Manheim version. That’s 18 versions! Is that necessary? Clearly, no. Why is anyone benefiting from the sale of these books? Indeed, why is Houghton Mifflin, the American publisher?

Former Barnes & Noble owners the Riggios were no brain scientists. But now the New York based hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation, which also owns Waterstones in the UK, has bought Barnes & Noble from the Riggios.  Paul Singer runs the hedge fund, and if he’s not aware of the “Mein Kampf” situation, he is now. A number of the directors are Jewish, and I’ll bet they’ll take action once they hear this news. At a time when there is so much anti-Semitism, Singer and co. have a mandate to clean up the B&N inventory.

 

Razzies: “Cats” Wins Worst Movie, Sweeps Awards, John Travolta Takes Worst Actor, Hilary Duff is Worst Actress

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This is what we needed today! “Cats” has swept the Razzie Awards for Worst Picture, Director, Supporting Actor and other categories. Runner up was “Rambo: Last Blood.”

The Razzies also have a positive award, too. This year Eddie Murphy redeemed himself for “Dolemite is My Name.”

James Corden, who was so upset about “Cats” that he wouldn’t appear on stage at the big Lincoln Center premiere, has won Worst Supporting Actor for his role in the debacle. Rebel Wilson, who did come to the premiere but was incredibly rude to everyone, won Worst Supporting Actress.

40th Annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie®) Award “Winners”

WORST PICTURE
Cats

WORST ACTOR
John Travolta / The Fanatic & Trading Paint

WORST ACTRESS
Hilary Duff / The Haunting of Sharon Tate

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rebel Wilson / Cats

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
James Corden / Cats

WORST SCREEN COMBO
Any Two Half-Feline/Half-Human Hairballs / Cats

WORST SCREENPLAY
Cats / Screenplay by Lee Hall and Tom Hooper

WORST DIRECTOR
Tom Hooper / Cats

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL
Rambo: Last Blood

WORST RECKLESS DISREGARD for HUMAN LIFE and PUBLIC PROPERTY
Rambo: Last Blood

RAZZIE® REDEEMER AWARD
Eddie Murphy / Dolemite Is My Name

AWARDS per PICTURE:
Cats = 6 (Worst Picture, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Screen Combo, Director & Screenplay)
Rambo: Last Blood = 2 (Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel & Reckless
Disregard for Human Life & Public Property)
The Fanatic = 1 (Worst Actor, John Travolta)
The Haunting of Sharon Tate = 1 (Worst Actress, Hilary Duff)
Dolemite Is My Name = 1 (Razzie® Redeemer, Eddie Murphy)

Met Ball Cancelled: Corona Virus Stares Down Anna Wintour, Who Endorses Biden, Spring Halloween Party Postponed Indefinitely

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And that’s the way the Ball bounces.

Anna Wintour’s Met Gala is cancelled for May 4th, “postponed indefinitely.” Anna and her Gang will not be putting on their spring Halloween party.

There will no long trains, movie stars dressed clocks or aliens, no gold carpet, no way for Wintour to show her appreciation of the very low and the medium low.

The Met Museum is closed, anyway. The Ball also required the museum to pony up north of $4 million in expenses. They’re better off thinking of smarter ways to raise money for the fall.

Could the Ball come back in the fall? Sure, why? Mid-October? Hang a free appetizer on the museum’s front door, celebs will come dressed as their least favorite director, trust me.

In her editor’s letter in Vogue, Wintour endorses Joe Biden. This is the only thing we agree on. She writes:

Like everyone else, I have been experiencing this COVID-19 crisis as a series of hurtling developments, where one never knows quite what each new day will bring. Through it all one fact, however, remains stubbornly unchanged: President Trump. I, like so many of us, have been appalled by how he has responded to the pandemic—the optimistic and fact-free assurances that all will be fine, the chaotic implementation of travel bans and claims about a “foreign virus,” the narcissistic ease with which he has passed blame to others, his dishonesty with the American people, and worst of all, his shocking lack of empathy and compassion for those who are suffering and fearful. Meanwhile, his administration has been unforgivably slow to provide testing, and to mobilize treatment to all who will need it. These weeks have been a reminder—as if we needed a reminder—that America must choose a new president.

Hollywood’s Beginning of the End: Universal Pictures Will Put Current Releases Online Immediately for Streaming

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The party is over.

With movie theaters in major cities shut, Universal Pictures has taken a drastic measure. They are putting their current releases online for streaming right now.

They include “Emma,” “The Hunt,” “The Invisible Man,” and the upcoming “Trolls World Tour.”

Once this door is opened, it will never be closed. Theater owners must be apoplectic and I don’t blame them.

The studio says this isn’t for the rest of the year, just for the time being while people are quarantined and theaters are closed. But once the audience gets used to this, it will be hard to go back.

Disney should be next with a trio of films they postponed and don’t have much box office potential anyway. They are “Antlers,” “The New Mutants,” and “Mulan.”

Once that happens, really, we are in a new world.