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Jennifer Hudson’s Wrap Gift to Herself After Playing Aretha Franklin in “Respect”: A Hammond 1968 Organ

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Hudson’s Wrap Gift to Herself After Playing Aretha Franklin in “Respect”: A Hammond 1968 Organ

 Jennifer Hudson has just wrapped “Respect,” the biopic of Aretha Franklin. You can tell she’s overcome from the shoot and doesn’t want to let it go. She announced on Instagram she bought herself a Hammond 1968 organ, the kind we hear on so many of Aretha’s classic soul tracks. I have a lot of faith that “Respect” will be a tremendous moment for JHud, and for Aretha. The movie, previously scheduled for released in August, is now on deck for October and Oscar consideration. This spring, we’ll get the Discovery channel mini series about Aretha starring Cynthia Erivo. I know Aretha is enjoying all this attention. Her friends miss her terribly.

Listen to Jennifer sing a little bit of “Think” while they test the organ out in the Chicago showroom.

 

“My @respectmovie wrap gift to myself is an Hammond 1968 organ . After all the live music , with real musicians . Real singing and real praise in real churches , I couldn’t help but be inspired and fell in love with the organ . This is my “Aretha Franklin” organ . This was the first thing I did after I got home from wrapping on the @respectmovie . To think Hammond organs were originated in my hometown chicago ! It will make it just in time for her birthday March 25th . Thank u @daveshand my md for help picking it out . #hammondorgans #think #church #respect look for @respectmovie out October 9th , 2020″

Broadway Mystery: 18 Year Old Star of “Beetlejuice” Sophia Anne Caruso Exits Show Abruptly, Rumors Abound

Roger Friedman
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Broadway Mystery: 18 Year Old Star of “Beetlejuice” Sophia Anne Caruso Exits Show Abruptly, Rumors Abound

It’s been a long, cold winter on Broadway. Not much has been happening besides “West Side Story” opening to vicious reviews. (The Wall Street Journal called it “Worst Side Story.”)

So a little brouhaha has gone a long way. Sophia Anne Caruso, the 18 year old star of the hit musical, “Beetlejuice,” left the show this past Wednesday without so much as a goodbye. She simply posted news of her exit on Instagram and was gone. Caruso originated the role of Lydia Deetz, the role made famous in the film by Winona Ryder.

The press agent for the show said in a statement that Caruso had taken advantage of an “out” in her contract so she could do TV work. But that makes little to no sense. For one thing, it’s unlikely she had an “out” in the 11th month of the show’s run. Also, “Beetlejuice” is set to close in June. For another thing, it’s not like Caruso as a TV career to go to. And leaving a hit show– “Beetlejuice” makes more than $1 million a week– under a cloud isn’t a good way to start any career, on TV or Broadway.

A source with the show told me, “No one knows what’s going on. Usually when a star of a show leaves there’s notice, and a party, at least a cake, and a goodbye. She is just…gone.”

There are plenty of rumors on the ‘net of Caruso being fired, not getting along with her co-star Alex Brightman, who plays Beetlejuice, and so on.

Caruso’s understudy, Presley Ryan, will step up and play Lydia for the time being. She should just get the role at this point. If anyone knows more, please email me at showbiz411@gmail.com.

 

Justin Bieber Hits Number 1 with “Changes” But Sales Dropped 65% from Last Album Debut Five Years Ago

Roger Friedman
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Justin Bieber Hits Number 1 with “Changes” But Sales Dropped 65% from Last Album Debut Five Years Ago

Yes, Justin Bieber’s “Changes” is number 1 for the week. Hitsdailydouble.com says it sold 212K copies including streaming. Actually, physical sales were slightly higher than streaming.

Miraculously, Justin had a late week sales surge, since his real time numbers through Wednesday suggested total sales of around 140,000. But all of a sudden, around a hundred thousand people more wanted those “Changes.”

Still, “Changes” sales are off around 65 percent from the “Purpose” album in 2015. That album had sales of around 620K including streaming. More than half the audience is gone. And that’s reflected in the slow sales of his tickets.

Is his reign in pop over? I’d say so. With “Changes” he didn’t move the ball forward, just tossed it up in the air. And I say that with the best of Intentions. Get it?

TV: HBO Ponies Up At Least $20 Million for “Friends” Reunion Show to Launch Reruns on Streaming Service

Roger Friedman
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TV: HBO Ponies Up At Least $20 Million for “Friends” Reunion Show to Launch Reruns on Streaming Service

“Friends” is the gift that keeps on giving.

HBO Max, the streaming service of HBO, has ponied up at least $20 million film a “Friends” reunion show. This will be like a talk show with clips, it’s a reunion episode that updates the characters. It will be the six main actors– Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc– reminiscing about their years making the hit series.

HBO Max will use this to launch their streaming reruns of “Friends,” all ten seasons, for which they paid gazillions of dollars and ruined Netflix’s day. The reruns launch on May 1st, which means this reunion show will be taped soon, produced and directed by Ben Winston, James Corden’s producer and now the hot guy in Hollywood. (He’s also taken over the Grammy Awards.)

The special will be taped at Warner Bros, at the same location the show filmed at for all those years.

What can I say? I am probably the wrong generation for “Friends.” “Seinfeld” was my show. “Friends” seem like a pale imitation. It wasn’t particularly good as a comedy. It was almost like a soap opera, I thought. The two main stories were Ross and Rachel, and whether Matthew Perry would make it through another season. The latter’s weight changed so dramatically from season to season, you wondered why none of his so-called friends never did anything about it.

Now that the show is in reruns around the clock on many platforms, I’ve watched it again, sort of passive aggressively. I always thought Lisa Kudrow was the underrated star. But because Phoebe wasn’t in a romantic pairing, you could feel the writers straining find places to put her. Courteney Cox– always had a crush on her. Her Monica is the most interesting because she’s got the past of being overweight and now is OCD. David Schwimmer also seems underrated, in hindsight. He was like Dustin Hoffman’s Benjamin from “The Graduate.”

With paychecks for the special of between $2 million and $4 million per person, this cast really lucked into the deal of a lifetime 25 years ago. And the money for the special doesn’t include what they get with each new deal.  There used to be a monkey in the first couple of seasons. I doubt he’s getting a cut.

 

Justin Who? KPop Group BTS Fills Top 20 Slots on iTunes without Any Streaming: Are They Gaming the Chart (Again)?

Roger Friedman
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Justin Who? KPop Group BTS Fills Top 20 Slots on iTunes without Any Streaming: Are They Gaming the Chart (Again)?

Justin who?

Korean KPop group BTS has somehow taken over the iTunes charts. All 20 songs from their new album are now lodged at numbers 1 through 20. This is, insane. Maybe it’s “Parasite” fans, who knows?

The top two songs are “On” and another version of “On” with Sia as the featured singer. Justin Bieber’s song, “Intentions” has been knocked down to number 26.

BTS has done this before with iTunes, and it’s always been questioned.  Are their fans gaming the system? So far, none of those songs has turned up on Apple Music’s streaming service, which makes me wonder: who’s exactly listening to this stuff? If it’s not streaming at all, it could mean the fans are just “stuffing the ballot box” as it were, and jamming iTunes with multiple sales.

A lot of money is invested in the success of BTS. We’ll see how long this latest incursion lasts. Real numbers will be available by Sunday.

 

 

 

Justin Bieber’s Pop Reign Over? New Album Ousted from #1 by KPop Group BTS, Concert Tickets Not Selling Well

Roger Friedman
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Justin Bieber’s Pop Reign Over? New Album Ousted from #1 by KPop Group BTS, Concert Tickets Not Selling Well

One week and it’s all over for Justin Bieber’s “Changes.” The biggest changes, he may find, is that his audience has been cut by 500,000.

This morning “Changes” is number 7 on iTunes, an ignominious fall after one week (really six days). The new number 1? K Pop group “BTS.”

Bieber’s top streaming single from “Changes,” called “Intentions,” is number 8 on Apple Music’s chart. It’s a catchy song, too!

Even appearing on James Corden’s late night TV show all week hasn’t helped “Changes.” (Maybe he shouldn’t have dressed like a homeless person.) So far this week the sales number stands at around 120K. Bieber’s last album, at the height of his career, was “Purpose” with 666K copies sold in its first week.

What’s happened? Bieber’s audience has finally grown up and moved on, at least in the US. This is very alarming for his concert tour, which begins on May 14th in Seattle and proceeds through America’s heartland through the summer. For every show on Ticketmaster there are huge chunks of seats unsold so far. The blue areas below are all for sale including, as you can see, floor seats and those expensive premium seats that include a Meet and Greet package with the Biebs.

Concert venues are going to hope for last minute purchases, walk up business, and kids suddenly being out of school with nothing else to do. This is always the dilemma when an album comes out and fizzles before a tour begins. Bieber may have to structure his shows as “best of” situations to get his previously teen fans back in the seats. But the next Justin Bieber tour isn’t going to be stadiums, that’s for sure. Watch for Stub Hub to go crazy on this one!

Deceased British TV Personality Caroline Flack Makes A Brief Appearance in Steve Coogan Movie “Greed” About Moguls Like TopShop’s Philip Green

Roger Friedman
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Deceased British TV Personality Caroline Flack Makes A Brief Appearance in Steve Coogan Movie “Greed” About Moguls Like TopShop’s Philip Green

I wouldn’t have realized that Caroline Flack was in Michael Winterbottom’s “Greed” but her name is first in the credits on the end crawl. (That’s her in the photo, on the left.)

Flack, who sadly committed suicide last week in Britain, makes a cameo as an employee of self promoting billionaire played by Steve Coogan.

It’s an odd hook for an even odder movie, a satire of moguls who’ve become wealthy in the garment world of Zara, H&M, and so on. Coogan’s McCreadie reminded me of Philip Green, whose TopShop/Top Man stores were launched with great fervor and then died in the US and UK, losing hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Greed” reads like a Robert Altman movie scripted by Armando Iannucci. The problem is, just when you feel Winterbottom has the whole thing in hand, he kind of blows. He screws the pooch, jumps the shark, whatever. But for 80 minutes or so leading up to his mistake, “Greed” is trenchant.

This is in large part due to Steve Coogan as Sir Richard McCreadle, a kind of horror story of a self made man who builds his empire on a house of cards. Also, everyone who works for him hates him. His youngest son does, too. Fans of “Succession” will enjoy the McCreadle family, which is so dysfunctional you wonder how they got this far.

Isla Fisher is wonderful as  McCreadle’s ex wife, who is still part of the business and is attending his Malcolm Forbes-like blowout 60th birthday part on Mykonos. Sir Richard is actually pricing celebrity performers like Elton John and Shakira, while at the same has reconstructed his own Greek theater and imported a real lion to fake eat warriors.  A really funny touch is the addition of Brit actress Shirley Henderson as McCreadle’s Lady McBeth-like mother. (The joke is that Coogan and Henderson are the same age.)

There are plenty of subplots including a reality show in which Sir Richard’s daughter is participating with her fiancee, who, of course, turns out to be gay. Sir Richard is also being followed around by a hired biographer, who is treated badly and sees all the horrors of his subject. He witnesses the worst as Syrian refugees come to occupy the public beach adjancent to the gala, and Richard orders them removed.

“Greed” had a lot of potential. But things turn sour once Coogan’s character is moved off the story. And then the movie, which is self-explanatory is in its satire of the horrible rich eating their own, is kind of wrecked by a tag at the end which spells out — almost in power point style– facts about the poor, immigrants, sweatshop conditions, etc. Is this a movie or a news doc? The spell of the fiction is broken. It’s wholly unnecessary.

 

Review: No Snap in New “West Side Story,” A Convoluted Mess That May Be a Rare Failure for Some Top Producers

Roger Friedman
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Review: No Snap in New “West Side Story,” A Convoluted Mess That May Be a Rare Failure for Some Top Producers

Producer Scott Rudin has joined forces with two Hollywood powerhouses, David Geffen and Barry Diller, to produce the new “West Side Story,” which opened tonight at the Broadway Theater. The only living member of the triumvirate that created “West Side Story” in 1957, Stephen Sondheim, 85 and ailing from a fall, has been paying close attention to what’s going on. I can only imagine the money he was paid to allow the cutting of his song, “I Feel Pretty,” and the changing of Jerome Robbin’s choreography.

I saw “West Side Story” in December, but I held my tongue because the show had a very long preview period anyway– two months, not including the extra two weeks– and I’d reported that Sergio Trujillo had come in to help cutting edge choreographer Anna deKeersmaecker try to make her work less abrasive to Robbins fans.

Tonight, the show finally opened officially with few changes, I surmise, from what I saw several weeks ago. The New York Times panned it, quite rightly. Though Rudin loves to deluge local New York TV with ads, this may turn out to be a rare failure for Diller and Geffen, who like to back winners. Even though the show has sold out for weeks, its success will depend now on the reviews.

There are no sets, just a black brick unadorned stage. Cut into the back wall is a set that we can’t really see. It’s used by the videographers who go back there and transmit the action to the Drive in like back wall of the theater, now a massive projection. When I saw the show, sometimes no one was on stage, it was all taking place on video. It was annoying and depressing. von Hove, who used a lot of video projection for “Network,” has gone whole hog with it here. The videos are constant, and moving. I felt like I needed a Dramamine. Maybe that’s been changed. Also, they were supposed to be street shots of Hell’s Kitchen. They looked like Long Island City.

The videos are more distressing than the changes in the choreography. The dances now are just underwhelming. They aren’t bad. They just lack Robbins’ passion. There is no snapping. If you’re seeing “West Side Story” for the first time ever, you won’t know the difference. Later, if you see the movie, you’ll smack your forehead and wonder what the heck these people were thinking. There’s also no balcony– meaning a fire escape– for the singing of “Somewhere.” This is true. This is supposed to the retelling of “Romeo and Juliet.” The fire escape evoked Juliet’s balcony. But it’s gone in this version

Isaac Powell was excellent in the show I saw, so were Shireen Pimentel, Ben Cook, Yesenia Ayala and Ramasar. Powell is not performing matinees from what I’ve been told. Cook is gone. Are they as good as the cast I saw a decade ago when co-author Arthur Laurents was still alive? No. Did I miss Karen Olivo as Anita? A lot. And the Robbins dancing? Yes. I remember that cast sailing through the air, they were wondrous. But you don’t miss what you don’t know. I thought the biggest mistake, aside from no ‘balcony,” was the Officer Krupke number now inflected with violence. What a shame.

This version of “West Side Story” is finally out on its own. I’m curious to see how it will do now that everyone knows the truths of the production. (PS You know it’s bad when the NY Post thinks it’s a “triumph.”)

This piece was adapted from one I wrote on Monday.

Whitney Houston’s Remaining Relatives Cash in On What’s Left of Her with Crass Hologram Tour

Roger Friedman
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Whitney Houston’s Remaining Relatives Cash in On What’s Left of Her with Crass Hologram Tour

Whitney Houston has no immediate relatives. Her Estate has no reason to make money, actually. Her only real heir was her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and she’s dead. As we all know.

But lack of immediate relatives hasn’t stopped her remaining family– two brothers, and a sister in law was her manager and now executor — from crassly cashing in on this tragic woman.

“An Evening With Whitney Houston” was announced a tour yesterday featuring a hologram of the late singer. Macabre? Maudlin? Yes. Bottom feeding? Absolutely. I defy Whitney’s “Estate” to explain any reason beyond avarice to set this plan in motion. Whitney has no children to feed. It is hoped that her brothers are taking care of her mother, Cissy Houston. (Their father is even dead, relieving them of that responsibility.)

Whitney would never approve of this. There’s no spin they give this stupid idea to make it seem palatable. Whitney knew her family was only interested in living off of her. But the Estate– brothers Gary and Michael— have clearly been identified in two documentaries and many articles as the ones who introduced Whitney to drugs. And now that she’s dead, they will profit off of her?

I remember my visit to Whitney’s New Jersey mansion back in 1989. The whole family was there. They had no independent life. Four years into Whitney’s career, they were all in. No one had an outside life, or a job. It was all based around Whitney.

When the tour– which starts in Europe on February 25th– comes to the US this fall, please do not give them money. Boycott this, and all hologram tours. They are so deeply disrespectful to the artists.

Jennifer Lawrence’s Return to Work Will Be to TV in Adam McKay Netflix Comedy, “Don’t Look Up”

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Lawrence’s Return to Work Will Be to TV in Adam McKay Netflix Comedy, “Don’t Look Up”

The last few times we saw Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence on screen, it was a rough go. Lawrence was in a group of duds including “Red Sparrow,” “Passengers,” and “Dark Phoenix.” The worst was Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother,” which in retrospect we should say never happened.

Now word is Jen will make two movies with “Big Short” director Adam McKay. One of them, about Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos debacle, was already announced.

But now it seems Lawrence’s immediate return to work since her wedding and a short break will be McKay’s Netflix movie called “Don’t Look Up.” This is really a return via TV, something a lot of actors are doing lately for movies that won’t get real theatrical releases. (Ben Affleck is in one right now on Netflix called “The Last Thing He  Wanted.”)

“Don’t Look Up” is written and directed by McKay, following two low-level astronomers who embark on a media tour to warn mankind of an approaching asteroid that will destroy planet Earth.

Lawrence is best known for her trio of David O. Russell movies– “Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle,” and “Joy” — as well as the “Hunger Games” movies. The won the Oscar for “Silver Linings” and she will likely win a few more over time. She’s still not 30. God bless.

 

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