Thursday, December 18, 2025
Donate
Home Blog Page 1126

Nathan Lane, Other Actors Tortured in Simply Awful, Torturous “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Nathan Lane, Other Actors Tortured in Simply Awful, Torturous “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”

I don’t blame Nathan Lane. He’s a comic giant, along with Kristine Nielsen and Julie White. They are the best actors Broadway can summon. But Taylor Mac’s “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus” is utter crap. They are tortured on stage by a playwright who’s given them some of the worst material I’ve ever seen on a stage, Broadway or otherwise.

Do not trust the NY Times review except for one line: he doesn’t know if “Gary” will last a month. I do. It won’t. The audience fled from the performance I saw. If there had been an intermission for this 90 minute play, no one would have returned.

No one likes “Titus Andronicus.” It’s not a play that needs a sequel of any kind. Of all Shakespeare’s plays, you’d be best off to just leave it alone. But this Taylor Mac won’t do that. He thinks it’s funny that after the big battle at the end of the play, the curtain would rise on a mound of dead warriors (made from puppets) with flapping penises. Enter Nathan Lane as a former clown who is now a maid assigned to clean up the mess. Kristine Nielsen, who I adore, is already there. She’s in charge. For about ten minutes they do some shtick, they’re very funny, and you calm down. This may work out.

Nielsen is teaching Lane, who sports a Harpo Marx horn with a big red ball he can squeeze, how to remove the gas and feces from the dead bodies. That’s funny, very briefly. But then what? What is the point of this play? No one knows or cares about “Titus Andronicus.” And soon the pair are talking about absolutely nothing. Nothing. All the mugging and carrying on will not save them. Not even Julie White, who appears at midpoint, and distracts from the main problem: there is no play.

Nathan Lane has soared on Broadway. In “It’s Only a Play,” I was crying for laughing. Nielsen was a genius in “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” Genius. Julie White can do no wrong. I felt for them on the stage at the Walter Kerr. There is just nowhere to go except in the abyss. If only they could remain on that stage and do something else. Anything else. Please. Just talk to the audience. We’d understand.

The author, Taylor Mac, has won a MacArthur Genius Grant, which puts that whole enterprise into question. He’s also won a Doris Duke Award, which I assume is named for the late, completely crazy heiress who used to give birthday parties on her front lawn for her llama. Now that would have made a great scene in “Gary.”

Want to see real play on Broadway? See “The Ferryman.”

 

 

Aretha Franklin, With Pulitzer Prize Win, Proves to be a Box Office Draw: “Lost” 1972 Gospel Concert Film “Amazing Grace” Is a Hit

Roger Friedman
-
0
Aretha Franklin, With Pulitzer Prize Win, Proves to be a Box Office Draw: “Lost” 1972 Gospel Concert Film “Amazing Grace” Is a Hit

She didn’t want it released. She had her reasons.

But lo and behold, Aretha Franklin’s “lost” gospel film is a hit. Fresh off her surprise Pulitzer Prize award this week, Aretha’s “Amazing Grace” is drawing nice crowds.

This week, the film made by Sydney Pollack in 1972 made $591,642. The total take so far is $1.3 million. Aretha and Sydney must be applauding from heaven.

“Amazing Grace” was bought from Pollack and freshened up by Allan Elliot, son of a former Atlantic Records executive. Then he fought and persisted to get it released. Part of that project was synching up the vocals and the video. He and his team did it, but Aretha kept saying no. Once she passed last August, her estate said yes.

The result is a document that anyone who loves R&B or gospel and especially Aretha, must see. And they’re turning out. If only Elliot had waited to let the film be eligible for this year’s Oscars. But he put it in for 2019, too late, and the film was overlooked. So it won’t win an Academy Award. But it will be a permanent testament to the power, magic, and brilliance of Aretha. Say amen, everyone.

This Week, Another Johnny Depp Movie Went Straight to Video: “The Professor” Continues Losing Streak for Former Box Office Star

Roger Friedman
-
0
This Week, Another Johnny Depp Movie Went Straight to Video: “The Professor” Continues Losing Streak for Former Box Office Star

This weekend, Johnny Depp opened in “The Professor,” directed by Wayne Roberts. Did you see it?

The answer, for most, is No.

“The Professor” went straight to video and Direct TV. It’s not playing in movie theaters. For Depp, this is a pretty big comedown, but not unusual of late. The star of all those “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies is now on a downward slide that shows no immediate sign of recovering.

Another recent film, “City of Lies,” was pulled from distribution last year, and remains unreleased. It may never see the light of day.

“London Fields” was finally released last year, and sank like a stone.

Depp also starred in “Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindewald,” the first Harry Potter-related film to be a relative disaster. Although “Grindewald” ground out $159 million in the US, it cost well over $200 million. Luckily, international audiences pushed its worldwide total to $654 million.

Depp is still in the middle of a scandalous divorce case with ex wife Amber Heard, lobbing accusations back and forth in court and in supermarket tabloids. He’s also been revealed to be in financially dire straits, which will push him into Nicolas Cage territory. He’s got two more films in the can, as they say, and then his future remains a mystery. A really good Peak TV series would seem like a solution, since his box office draw had dried up for the moment.

The Exclusive Inside Story of Sunday Night’s Motown 60 Special on CBS: Why JLO?, Diana Ross Says No to the Supremes, No Mention of Michael Jackson, and Mary Wilson’s Eventual Triumph

Roger Friedman
-
0
The Exclusive Inside Story of Sunday Night’s Motown 60 Special on CBS: Why JLO?, Diana Ross Says No to the Supremes, No Mention of Michael Jackson, and Mary Wilson’s Eventual Triumph

Tonight’s “Motown 60” special on CBS is a mixed bag. It’s certainly worth seeing, but what went on backstage and in the negotiations is far more interesting.

Back in 1983, the 25th anniversary of Motown was the place where Michael Jackson did his Moonwalk to “Billie Jean,” and became a monster celebrity forever. Contrast to this show, where Michael isn’t mentioned and the Jackson 5 are a footnote. It’s jaw dropping. In the Seventies, Motown lived off Michael and the Jacksons.

“Motown 60” features a repeat of Jennifer Lopez’s god awful Motown medley from the Grammy show in February. If you didn’t like it then, you won’t like it now. But to get Lopez, a “contemporary” star, on the Motown special, the producers had to give her a spot on the Grammys.

Ditto Diana Ross, who got a big spot on the Grammys and no one could figure out why. That was her trade off for doing the Motown show. Ross, even at 75, doesn’t want to seem like an oldies act– even though she is one. (A good one, mind you.) And her contribution to the Motown show was NO SUPREMES. So Diana sings from “Lady Sings the Blues.” She doesn’t go near the Supremes. (One Supremes song is sung in a medley by Meghan Trainor.)

But Ross’s NO SUPREMES decree may have backfired. During the taping, we saw clips from an interview with beloved ex-Supreme Mary Wilson. When the interviews were taped, Mary wasn’t dressed properly, had no make up or stylist. Mary, however, really knows the Motown history. Producer Ken Ehrlich saw that, and invited Mary back to L.A. from Las Vegas. Wise Ken re-interviewed Mary all dolled up, and paid all her expenses. We may see the fruit of that interview Sunday night.

What a nice thing to do considering Mary was among many Motown performers who were left out of the 60th anniversary show entirely. Some of them were in the audience– like Mary, Otis Williams of the Temptations, Scherrie Payne, who sang with the Supremes from 1973-78 — but were seated far away from Diana Ross and Motown founder Berry Gordy. Duke Fakir, the only living member of the original Four Tops, wasn’t even invited to the taping– and he was in L.A. Insane! Mary and Otis were treated very badly at the taping. They got their revenge last month when “Ain’t Too Proud,” Otis’s musical about the Temptations, opened on Broadway. Mary came in, too, and was given a huge shout out from the stage.

There’s no denying Berry Gordy’s amazing contribution to our culture with Motown. It’s astonishing. Gordy is 89, and he deserves a Kennedy Center honor. But Motown suffers from revisionist history all the time. If you want to know the real stories, you have to read out of print books like Gerri Hirshey’s “Nowhere to Run” or Mary Wilson’s “Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme.”

We’ll see what made the final cut for Sunday (tonight’s) show.

Oscar Nominee Writer-Director John Singleton Said to Suffered a “Minor Stroke,” Hospitalized and Doing Rehab in Los Angeles

Roger Friedman
-
0
Oscar Nominee Writer-Director John Singleton Said to Suffered a “Minor Stroke,” Hospitalized and Doing Rehab in Los Angeles

John Singleton is said to have suffered a minor stroke, possibly on a flight from Costa Rica back to Los Angeles. His family says he noticed a weird weakness in his leg, and went right to Cedars Sinai Hospital, where he’s doing rehab. It sounds like he caught it in time and did all the right things. Thank goodnews.

Singleton, 51, has two Oscar nominations for writing and directing “Boyz in the Hood” in 1991. He’s been a prolific movie and TV director ever since, with credits that include “Poetic Justice” and “Shaft (2000).” He has two recent Primetime Emmy noms for directing, and he also directed a key episode of “The People vs. OJ Simpson.” He also has several important producing credits including “Hustle and Flow.”

John’s one of the good guys. So glad to hear he’s on the mend. All his friends are sending out Get Well Tweets. I’m sure he’ll bounce back fast.

UPDATE: Madonna’s Comeback Fizzles as “Medellin” Drops off iTunes Chart After 5 Days, Gets No Streaming Love on Spotify

Roger Friedman
-
0
UPDATE: Madonna’s Comeback Fizzles as “Medellin” Drops off iTunes Chart After 5 Days, Gets No Streaming Love on Spotify

MONDAY, 1:50PM: “Medellin” has dropped off the iTunes top 100 after five days.

UPDATE SUNDAY NIGHT: “Medellin” has dropped to number 87 on iTunes top 100. It could be off the chart completely by tomorrow.

Original story: April 19th, 10am: Madonna had a big build up for “Medellin” single this past Wednesday. She premiered it at noon with Zane Lowe on Apple’s Beats 1 Radio like it was the second coming.

The song turned out to be a snooze, written and sung with Colombian Reggaeton star Maluma.

But 1, 2, cha cha cha, “Medellin” failed to catch on. It rose to number 9 on iTunes briefly. and now sits at number 24 32 now number 43 as of 9:45pm Saturday.

On Spotify, “Medellin” has yet to chart on any of the US charts. It’s parked at around number 3o on streaming chart from Colombia.

“Medellin” was supposed to the big lead in for Madonna’s “Madame X” album coming on June 14th. The lack of interest in “Medellin” should be worrying.

Madonna’s last several albums of new songs were all flops. She gave some of them away with concert tickets to inflate sales figures. I have to say, I was surprised “Medellin” was so bad. It was as if she was trying to do Camilla Cabello with “Havana” but wound up on a cruise playing shuffleboard. “Medellin” has no life to it. I can’t imagine that she thought young people were going to be singing along to “1 , 2, cha cha cha.” If she’s smart, she’ll get an upbeat remix out right away.

Meantime, Beyonce’s “Homecoming” album, released the same day, has sold or streamed a total of 43,000 copies in 48 hours.

Singer Adele Divorcing Husband, Who Runs Failing UK Charity; Upside is Now She’ll Have Material for Songs on New Album

Roger Friedman
-
0
Singer Adele Divorcing Husband, Who Runs Failing UK Charity; Upside is Now She’ll Have Material for Songs on New Album

Adele is getting a divorce from her husband, one Simon Konecki. Sounds sad, which is good. Now she will material for songs on a new album. Her last album, “25,” came out five years ago. Breakups are what fueled her prior hit records. Misery is the most popular subject in pop music.

It’s good news for Konecki, too. He runs a modest, kind of failing charity that’s supposed to bring water to parched Africa nations. Drop4Drop, according to the British Charity Register, has assets of only 59,000 British pounds, or $77,000.  In 2018, they gave grants of 219,000 British down from 332,683 Sterling in 2017.

Meantime, Adele is probably worth around $50 million, and that’s a low estimate. Her records, especially “25,” have sold millions and millions. Her 2016-17 world tour grossed around $220 million, according to reports.

She married Konecki in 2016 after she had their baby in October 2o12, Konecki will not only be rolling in the deep, but rolling in the dough for some time to come. That divorce should be the stuff of supermarket tabloids for the rest of the year.

Remember, all the great divas have had several husbands. Adele now joins that group.

Oscar Winning Director Roman Polanski Sues Motion Picture Academy Over Expulsion: Claims He Never Had Notice or Fair Hearing

Roger Friedman
-
0
Oscar Winning Director Roman Polanski Sues Motion Picture Academy Over Expulsion: Claims He Never Had Notice or Fair Hearing

Oscar winning director Roman Polanski, 85, has filed suit against the Motion Picture Academy for his 2018 expulsion.

Polanski became a member of the Academy in 1968 and continued until he says he received an unsigned letter from them on May 3, 2018. He says he asked the Academy for reconsideration. A panel was convened on January 26, 2019, at which neither Polanski or his attorney appeared. They declined to re-instate him.

Polanski is suing on the grounds of not having a fair hearing or even any notice that he was being expelled.

Attorney Harold Braun represents Polanski. They are asking for a copy of the full administrative record from the meetings at which Polanski was ousted.

Polanski won Best Director for “The Pianist” in 2003. He was nominated in 1975 and in 1981, respectively, for directing “Chinatown” and “Tess.” In 1969 he was nominated for his “Rosemary’s Baby” screenplay. The “Tess” nomination and the “Pianist” win, as well as Adrian Brody’s Best Actor win in 2003, came years after his famous scandal over his arrest and charges of having sex with a 13 year old girl, which was well known to all Oscar voters.

In 1977, Polanski was arrested and pleaded guilty in 1978 to to the charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse.  He served 42 days in Chino State Prison was released pending a hearing at which his lawyers were assured he would receive probation. When he learned that would not be the case, Polanski fled the U.S. He has lived in France ever since then. His “victim,” Samantha Geimer, who was then 13, has since argued publicly for the case to be dismissed.

Tonight, Geimer Tweeted: “Off to my mom’s 80th birthday party, are any of you old enough to remember when she was called a gold digging whore? Think of that when you still need to shit on Roman 41 years later. Ugly is as ugly does, and neither my family or his is that.”

 

National Enquirer Sold for $100 Million to Hudson News, Which Can Give It Prominence on Their Newsstands

Roger Friedman
-
0
National Enquirer Sold for $100 Million to Hudson News, Which Can Give It Prominence on Their Newsstands

So Hudson News did buy the National Enquirer, the Globe, and something called the National Examiner. Jimmy Cohen paid David Pecker, publishing’s lone wolf survivor, $100 million for garbage, basically.

Pecker is a genius. I’m not kidding. He unloads lawsuits, federal investigations, and the stink of all the bad juju that comes with the Enquirer. He’s out of the newsprint business.

Pecker can now concentrate on his Wenner mags– US Weekly and Men’s Fitness– plus his Bauer Brands like InStyle and Closer, and his own Star magazine.

Cohen’s Hudson newsstands will now be featuring totally Fake News in every airport, train station, supermarket they can get their hands on. Maybe he can cross pollinate with his wife, Lisa Cohen’s, upscale Galerie Magazine, or his partner Sandow Publications’s Luxe magazine.

And now Pecker has $100 million to on the hunt for more upscale brands himself. He nailed this one, boy. Bravo!

Cannes 2019: No Tarantino So Far, But Elton John “Rocketman” Will Debut with Rock Star Present, a Piano on Stage if “He Wants to Play”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Cannes 2019: No Tarantino So Far, But Elton John “Rocketman” Will Debut with Rock Star Present, a Piano on Stage if “He Wants to Play”

Thierry Fremaux and Pierre Lescure announced the selections of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival this morning. It’s so far very light on Hollywood films and stars. Elton John bio pic “Rocketman” will be there. But Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a  Time in Hollywood” is so far not ready and not announced. I was first to tell you this would happen.

“It’s not ready. We hope it will be ready,” says Fremaux. The post production isn’t finished. Also James Gray’s “Ad Astra” isn’t ready.

They first discussed the new poster, featuring the recently gone Agnes Varda taken when she was just 26 years old. She was the first female director of the French New Wave. The photo is an icon of Cannes. They also talked about celebrating the 72nd year of the Cannes film market. Fremaux thanked Christine Aime, who is moving from dealing with the press to a new role of heading Archive and Memory.There was also mention of Claude Lansmann, director of “Shoah,” who recently passed away. Fremaux said the theme of this year is many thing including love and revolt. This year, he says, is very important because it’s the anniversary of the Festival that didn’t happen, in 1939, because of World War II.

This is 90% of the official selection. Some films aren’t ready, cross your fingers they’ll be ready. He’s referring to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which this column was FIRST to report is not ready so far and can’t be announced.

Opening film is Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die,” which will open in the Cannes on the same day it opens in France. This is the biggest American film, with Bill Murray, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, and Adam Driver— who’s had his Broadway schedule rearranged so he can be there.

Terrence Malick – “The Hidden Life,” about World War II.  No American actors, and Malick will not be there, or if he is, we won’t see him.

Pedro Almodovar– “Pain and Glory” with Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.

Ira Sachs — “Frankie” Isabelle Huppert stars with Marisa Tomei, Greg Kinnear, and Brendan Gleeson.

Marco Bellocchio – “The Traitor”

Dardennes Brothers — “The Young Ahmed”

Claude Lelouch– Out of competition. An update of “A Man and a Woman” starring Monica Bellucci.

Nicolas Winding Refn — Two episodes of a new TV series.

Werner Herzog — a documentary.

Abel Ferrara — sent a film from Rome. Willem daFoe stars in not a documentary but a “realistic” movie (good luck with that)

 

“Atlantique”

Xavier Dolan — “Matthias and Maxime”

“Les Miserables”

 

 

 

1...1,1251,1261,127...2,323Page 1,126 of 2,323

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com