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For the time ever, Barbra Streisand collaborates with a Beatle.
For her new album of duet, Barbra sings with Paul McCartney on his song, “My Valentine.”
It’s a historic moment helped by a gorgeous production thanks to Peter Asher. Barbra has never sounded better, and the material really suits her. She should do a whole album of McCartney songs.
Barbra’s album, “The Secret of Life, Partners Vol. 2” comes out on June 27th.
Others featured on the album include Bob Dylan, Sting, Hozier, James Taylor, Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande, and more.
Lots of high fives today among “Law & Order SVU” fans. Kelli Giddish is coming back for Season 27.
Giddish played Amanda Rollins for 12 years but got caught in a budget crunch at the end of Season 24. She was replaced by new, younger, and less expensive actors.
But Giddish held on, and came back for guest appearances in Seasons 25 and 26. The Fans love her, and on top of that, her character is married to ADA Dominick Carisi, played by Peter Scanavino. The fans again loved seeing them together.
So now Giddish is back but it’s at the expense of the newer cast members. Last week, NBC announced that Octavio Pisano — who came in strong but was never used effectively — and Juliana Martinez — were leaving the series. No reason was given, but I’m told it was budget.
As shows age the budgets get tighter and more expensive actors are cut. This has happened year after year on “Grey’s Anatomy,” for example. Giddish was just too popular to ignore, plus star Mariska Hargitay loves her
Pisano and Martinez will go on to good things on new shows, and we’ll all say, Oh, look, I know her/him!
Meantime, welcome back Amanda Rollins. Season 27 is going to be a good one!
Comedian Beth Stelling has abruptly canceled her Saturday night shows at the Kennedy Center.
Stelling follows cadres of performers who’ve refused to perform at the Center since Donald Trump took over and kicked everyone out.
Even the touring company of “Les Miserables” — a dozen cast members — on June 11th for a Trump fundraiser.
Today, the remaining Kennedy Center employees from the pre-Trump era have asked the National Labor Relations Board to help them unionize. It may be too late since they’ll probably be fired before anything can happen.
Stelling’s show was announced four months ago. She is a popular comedian with a current special on Netflix.
Exclusive: I had a partial scoop on CNN showing “Good Night and Good Luck.” Instead of after it closes, CNN will broadcast the live June 7th performance, the night before the play closes.
Thanks to the CNN publicist who did not call or text back this morning, so I had to go with what I had.
EARLIER: George Clooney’s Tony nominated play closes June 8th after making millions of dollars on Broadway. Like three or four million a week. Tickets are running $900 a seat.
Now “Good Night and Good Luck” — the stage version — may get a new lease on life after it closes. I’m told there’s a chance it will air on CNN as a nighttime special sometime next month.
Clooney and the writing of the play have both been nominated for Tony Awards.
If this comes to pass, it won’t be a surprise. Clooney and CNN are already pretty cozy as the actor seems to be the source for a headline making anecdote in Jake Tapper’s new book about Joe Biden. Tapper was in the audience on opening night.
Just ten days ago, Wolf Blitzer posted a rave about the play on Twitter X.
It’s a good idea, too. CNN needs viewers desperately. A Sunday night showing of the just closed theatrical experience would bring them in.
My sources say meetings are going on as we speak. The play has not yet been filmed for posterity. But that can happen very quickly.
I don’t understand anything about how Miley Cyrus’s career is handled.
She made a “visual album” that looks from the trailer to be incomprehensible. It will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 6th, and then get a one night only release on June 12th in theaters (June 27th international).
Then I guess it goes to streaming or YouTube.
The movie is called “Something Beautiful,” and it accomanpies an album of the same name due May 30th.
There are 13 songs on the new album, which follows up her massive hit, “Flowers.” Four of the songs have already been released, and they bombed. Too bad because two of them — “More to Lose” and “End of the World” — could have been hits. Alas, they’ve fallen to numbers 98 and 99 on iTunes.
“More to Lose” was originally promoted on Miley’s social media with just her and the piano. It was beautiful. But when it was released, the production was so horrendous that it was unlistenable. Miley’s gorgeous voice was drowned out by really loud strings. Ugh. A big disappointment!
I wish she could go back and fix this before the album comes out. But it feels like “Something Beautiful” is going to be something not so good.
Famed art dealer Larry Gagosian is about to become a bookseller.
Legendary BookHampton bookstore in East Hampton is now his according to its owner, Carolyn Brody. After a long, glorious run, Brody is retiring. Gagosian has an incredible home in East Hampton, and of course, sells art books in his galleries — along with Picasso’s, Schnabels, etc.
BookHampton survives, which is most important. It’s a mecca for the A listers in town and tony visitors who need beach reads.
By the way, there’s an independent book store in every Hampton — South, Sag Harbor, even on Shelter Island — and they are each beloved by their customers!
Here’s Carolyn’s letter to customers:
Dear Reader,
I write today with exciting news about the future of BookHampton! As many of you know, last fall, I decided it was time for me to find the next steward of the bookstore. I opened the store in May 2016, writing then in my very first Dear Reader that it had been a childhood dream to open a bookstore, to live more deeply in the world of books and reading. I felt strongly that I couldn’t live in a place without a bookstore. Indeed, I feel the same way today, perhaps more so.
I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished together in the past nine years. I’ve been heartened by your support, well-wishes, and loyalty. Owning BookHampton has been one of the most satisfying and exciting experiences of my life. It has been an honor and a privilege to be part of this world.
Now with great fanfare, I’m delighted to share the good news that Larry Gagosian is the new owner of BookHampton. Larry, a longtime resident of East Hampton, is equally passionate about books and bookstores. He plans for the store to remain a general interest bookstore, although I am sure we can expect expanded offerings of art and design books! I feel confident that he will carry BookHampton into the future, while preserving and protecting its almost 50-year legacy.
In Larry, I believe I’ve found someone who will bring energy, commitment, vision, and resources to ensure that BookHampton will remain an integral part of the dynamic East Hampton retail environment. I welcome him wholeheartedly and wish him much success! I consider this a win for the Village of East Hampton and the East End. In the face of strong market pressure, an independent bookstore will remain on Main Street. Not a small feat!
Just as a book concludes with acknowledgements, I’d like to thank those who have made BookHampton such a beloved and vibrant place over the past nine years:
you, our loyal customers, whose support has meant everything to me and our booksellers our terrific staff (past and present) — some of the best booksellers any independent bookstore could wish for the many authors who have graciously given their time, words, and personalities to our sought-after events the East Hampton community partnerships whose collaboration and camaraderie have strengthened us all our operating partner, RJ Julia Booksellers, for whom I do not have enough words to express my deep and heartfelt gratitude. They got us launched and shared the journey. BookHampton would not be BookHampton without them! our landlord, the Eastman family, who has enabled us to remain in the heart of the village at 41 Main Street, recognizing the important role that bookstores play in communities, and for investing in and envisioning our little neighborhood as a lively public square. and everyone else — especially those who have provided me with wise counsel, kind words, and good wishes. You know who you are!
In closing, I usually say, “See you in the store.” This will remain true — perhaps not quite as often and not from behind the counter. I’ll miss you. But, like so many of you, I look forward to being a steady and loyal customer. How could I not? It would be nearly impossible for me to break a lifetime habit of reading and seeking out bookstores! With heartfelt thanks,
Tonight comes Abel Tesfaye’s film, “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” It debuts on Rotten Tomatoes at 17%, totally rotten.
Lionsgate had held reviews until the very last minute lest aka the Weeknd has a tsunami of bad notices.
But 30 have been registered, and they are almost all negative. The movie has a 17% rating so far. The critics have severely panned it, calling it “vapid.”
The Rotten Tomatoes Audience Meter began at 83%. But now it’s at 77% and falling.
The film — described by those who’ve seen it as a companion to his album of the same name — looks like it will be as big a loser as Tesfaye’s HBO series, “The Idol.”
The Weeknd is not a movie maker. Someone has to tell him. He wrote the film and Trey Edward Shullts directed it.
Tesfaye is a great singer, however. The “Hurry Up Tomorrow” album didn’t yield any big singles, but it has managed to sell 1 million copies, half of which came from streaming. That’s not bad. Tesfaye is also a huge concert draw.
Hot current stars Barry Keoghan and Jenna Ortega are featured in the film, which we won’t see until it streams or is on a plane.
#HurryUpTomorrow – Easily one of the worst movies of the decade, a movie that can’t even be saved by a powerhouse of a performance by Jenna Ortega. Full review soon pic.twitter.com/5UzS1Im4zj
Actually, a half hour away in Antibes, close to the Hotel du Cap, is Mamo Michelangelo.
The famous Italian restaurant is on a backstreet in Antibes, and If You Know You Know. I’ve been lucky to dine there many times in the past.
Last night the celebrity hang out hosted a dinner for Robert De Niro, Leonardo Di Caprio, and Quentin Tarantino.
Mamo — owner and chef — with his cap of blunt cut white hair — is beaming in the pictures.
And why shouldn’t he? Since his restaurant took off, he’s opened in spots in New York’s Soho, and Miami. They’re quiet gathering places for A listers. They do no publicity.
What does everyone eat? The most delicious Italian dishes. The pizzas– smoked salmon, truffles — are famous all over the Cote d’Azur.
The walls of the bar are covered in framed photos of Mamo with stars. When Clint Eastwood the sheriff in town, he ate there regularly. Al Pacino loves Mamo, who does not speak English much but has a beguiling presence, the last of a breed of chefs and hosts who are in their venue every night.
Bob, Leo, and Quentin — along with Leo’s mom and stepdad — dined together on the second night of the festival. On the first night, Leo presented Bob with his Palme d’or, and Quentin opened the festival. Hard work! They needed some R n R.
Viva Mamo!
PS People and every outlet will pick this up without credit. But remember, you read it here first!
HBO’s “The Last of Us” is having a bad time and may not recover.
This past Sunday, the zombie drama dropped by 100,000 viewers from the previous week. Total linear viewers came to 652,000.
That’s because series lead Pedro Pascal, who played Joel, was violently killed off.
Since then, the show has been turned over to Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey and her pregnant lover, Dina. They’re on a quest for revenge over Joel’s death. At the end of the episode, they beat one of their enemies to death.
This is not the series “Last of Us” fans signed up for, and this is the fallout. By following the video game the show is based on, producers chucked the male lead and put the show in the hands of the young women on horses looking for trouble. What were they thinking?
Even if Pascal asked to leave — and that’s possible considering he wants a movie career — producers should have had a plan in place. They clearly didn’t. With two more episodes left, let’s hope they think of something.
And oh yes — Joel is dead. So Pascal’s appearance in the coming attractions point to a dream. What a mess!
Bruce Springsteen kicked off the new leg of his tour in Manchester, England tonight.
Watch him rail against Donald Trump, calling him corrupt and incompetent.
Bruce says:
“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, that 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 experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!”
