Wednesday, April 1, 2026
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Plop Go the Weasels: Korean K Pop Band BTS Not the Beatles of 2019, Album Was a One Week Sales Phenom in the US

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Can you remember what happened in the last two weeks in the pop world? We were inundated with Korean K Pop group BTS. Remember? They were compared to the Beatles. There was a media frenzy.

And now, it’s over.

Two weeks ago, BTS released a new album in America called “Map of the Soul: Persona.” It’s distributed by The Orchard, formerly known as Sony-Red. The Orchard is part of Sony Music.

By the publicity, you’d have thunk BTS sold a million copies in the first week. According to Buzz Angle, they sold 160,000 albums. Add another 30,000 from streaming. That’s it.

Now we’re in the second week, which ends tomorrow. Total sales so far this week: 4,300. With streaming: 11,200.

Are you thinking what I am? That BTS is somehow gaming us with numbers? That they’re actually not so popular? Mmm hmmm.

“Map” is currently number 7 on iTunes, which doesn’t say much for how many downloads it takes to make that position.

Curiously, a similar situation happened last summer when BTS suddenly burst onto the charts with its last album, “Love Yourself.” After a big two day splash, the whole week ended with just 48,868 albums sold and streamed. The second week dropped to 5,161. Total sales of that album since last September are just 235,456. That’s not even “gold.”

 

Cha Cha Cha: Madonna Drops Expensive Looking Six Minute Four Second Video for “Medellin”

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Hard to say what the heck is going in Madonna’s new video for “Medellin.” It’s six minutes, forty seconds long and looks very expensive. It’s a slow, slow, song– I don’t know what dance clubs will do with it, except maybe speed it up. To me, this is like “Havana” as a senior social. The imagery is brilliantly filmed, but it also looks like stuff we’ve seen before. I don’t know why but the words Gogo Bordello came to mind. On You Tube one of the commenters said Maluma, her latest Spanish boy toy, has the face a guy who bullied you in school. Interesting.

Anyway, here’s “Medellin,” which has nothing to do with Medellin. I thought Madonna had spent all this time in Portugal. It would have been more interesting to see a Portugese-influenced song.

Madonna fans: Don’t you like what’s below better?

“Avengers: Endgame” Non-Spoiler: First of Marvel’s 23 Movies to Not Have Post-Credits Scene

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Here’s a non spoiler for Marvel fans chomping at the bit for “Avengers: Endgame.”

I may be wrong, but this is the first Marvel movie with no post- credits scene.

At the press screening yesterday, everyone waited faithfully through the long end credits for some kind of sign of life Marvel. Usually there’d be a funny or mysterious scene indicating something in the future.

We waited and waited through Alan Silvestri’s score. And then, nada. Nothing. Just the Marvel logo.

Some people claimed to hear an audio snippet, like a clanging. But it was pretty clear from Marvel. This was the end.

Is it the end, though? There are “Spider Man” movies coming. And Scarlett Johansson might get her own movie, although it seems doubtful. There’s certainly going to be two sequels to “Black Panther” and “Captain Marvel.” Also, one Avenger gets a promotion at the end of “Endgame” that could lead to movies for him/her (not saying gender so as not to spoil it).

But for now, it’s dead silence. End of an era.

 

RIP Ken Kercheval, JR Ewing’s Arch Rival on “Dallas,” Dies at Age 83, Played Wiley Coyote to Larry Hagman’s Road Runner

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As any “Dallas” fan can tell you, Ken Kercheval’s Cliff Barnes was really always the star of the show. Sadly, reports come today that Kercheval has died at age 83. He was a fine actor who lasted the entire 14 seasons of the series. He got his start in early TV and on New York soap operas.

Cliff Barnes was the bane of JR Ewing’s existence. Cliff blamed JR for the death of his father, and for beating him out of countless oil deals. He was a ridiculous character on the surface, but Kercheval infused him with humor and just enough nuttiness that you had to root for him. You wanted Cliff to win so badly, and it was awful when JR would give him just enough rope to hang himself. All of Cliff’s women eventually slept with JR, too, and turned against Cliff, which was hilarious.

Kercheval really played a version of Wiley Coyote to Larry Hagman’s Road Runner. I hope they’re happy in heaven, smoking cigars and having a good laugh. Their TV relationship is recalled for me now in the one between Axe and Chuck Rhoades in “Billions,” who are carrying on their tradition.

RIP Cliff Barnes.

 

Kardashians Ratings Crushed by “Game of Thrones,” Motown Special, Fall Well Under 1 Million Again this Season

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Those krazy Kardashians. Their ratings are slipping fast now.

With “Game of Thrones” back on HBO at 9pm, the Ks are suffering. This past Sunday they had just 895,000 viewers. Two weeks ago they had 1.12 million. Their fans are not sticking around like they used to.

The million mark is precarious for the Kardashians. Under 900,00 is even worse. Alas, Kardashian fans are probably turning to “GoT,” where the stakes are a bit higher even if the wars are not as bloody.

Are the K’s coming to the end of their ride? The E! channel still needs them until they can find something else to replace them. But their day in the sun is in decline.

 

“Tootsie” Comes to Broadway and Brings the A List Including Carol Burnett, Debra Messing, Kristen Chenoweth, Harvey Fierstein, Clive Davis and More

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“Tootsie” has arrived on Broadway to great reviews and lots of laughs in the airport terminal like Marriott Marquis Theater last night.

Before the show even started, the fun was on the red carpet where I hung out with Gossip Queen Cindy Adams. Oh, the stories you won’t hear!

But what a gang! Carol Burnett, Debra Messing, Kristen Chenoweth, Harvey Fierstein, Clive Davis, Valerie Simpson, Michele Lee, Sandra Bernhardt, Richard Kind with his 14 year old son, Brenda Vaccaro, Desmond Child, Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne, and Ryan Eggold– star of NBC’s “New Amsterdam” — were among the parade of A listers who held the show’s curtain from going up for at least a half hour. That’s the way we like it!

Here’s a little scoop: Eggold tells me he can sing, and he’s considering doing a Broadway musical. It will not be called “Sutures and Slings.” Also interesting: even though “New Amsterdam” had a title change from “Bellevue,” the actual New York hospital it’s based on, they shoot some of the show there.

But back to “Tootsie”: I had the honor sitting in the top row with Shubert Organization president Phil Smith. We could hear the roars of laughter as they rolled up from the orchestra level. The big star of the night was Sarah Stiles, known to TV audiences from the show “Billions.” (A lot of the cast was there to support her.) Stiles plays the Teri Garr role, Sandy, from the 1982 movie, and steals the show right from the second number. The Tony Award category of Best Supporting Actress is going to be very competitive, what with Amber Grey (Hadestown) and Leslie Kritzer (Beetlejuice) also at the top-top-top of their games.

Santino Fontana takes the Dustin Hoffman role as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels, updated of course, and Lilli Cooper has the Jessica Lange part of Julie. The show has been revamped significantly from the movie, with the soap opera setting exchanged for a Broadway musical about Juliet’s nurse from “Romeo and Juliet.” Reg Rogers is hilarious as Dabney Coleman-inspired producer who’s hot for Julie, Andy Grotelueschen is the best friend played by Bill Murray (and now more Seth Rogen-ish), and Julie Halston is a new character– the rich widow who financially backs the show.

In this plot, updated from 1982, the Charles Durning character (Julie’s dad) is gone, and the word ‘lesbian’ is used a couple of times (not in the movie). It’s Very Modern, which resonates with the 2019 audience. My only complaint about Robert Horn’s book is that there is no scene in which Michael gets the idea to become Dorothy. After many career frustrations as an actor, Michael simply appears as Dorothy without explanation.

Fontana, who’s been in countless Broadway shows, is a star as Michael/Dorothy, very winning and wholly in charge of the stage. But he’s playing it very close to Dustin Hoffman at all times. No one should forget that Dorothy is Hoffman’s invention, from the wigs to the accent. Over the last two years, Hoffman has gotten slagged in the #MeToo movement. But he has been a genius inventing characters, with Dorothy at the top of the list.

 

Review: Three Hour Marvel Epic “Avengers: Endgame” is an Entertaining but Talky Goodbye for Some, Promise for Others

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For fans of the Marvel comics movies, “Avengers: Endgame” is everything you hoped for and then some. At three hours’ length, there is little left out. Talk about a kitchen-sink-too movie. We see everyone, and meet people we didn’t know even existed. If you’re not satisfied by “Endgame,” I don’t know where else you could go.

I will try to tell you about this movie without giving SPOILERS. But you do know what happened at the end of the last Avengers movie, it was pretty bad, and kind of wiped out a lot of people we’d come to love.

In “Endgame,” the people who were left behind have to pick up the pieces. Robert Downey Jr is still with us as Iron Man, although his rein is coming to an end. Gwyneth Paltrow, as his wife, Pepper Potts, is studying composting. (Maybe she’ll start a Goop-type website.) The rest of the surviving gang is Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Brolin, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Paul Rudd, Tessa Thompson, Karen Gillan, and Zoe Saldana. Bradley Cooper is snarky as ever as the voice of Rocket. That’s a lot of cast, and they comprise the first 90 minutes of “Endgame” as various plot points unfold.

They are all standout actors, and everyone has been accommodated by the writers with big moments. I must single out Chris Hemsworth as Thor, however. He’s been given a funny storyline, and he plays it to the hilt. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha shows that she should be driving movies on her own. (She delivered my favorite line: “Nothing surprises me. I get emails from a raccoon.”) Mark Ruffalo brings a new aspect of Hulk. And Josh Brolin as evil Thanos is really doing something great here.

The first half of “Endgame” is talky. There’s lots of exposition. Not to say that nothing happens– plenty does, do’t worry, but the Russo brothers don’t really step on the gas until the halfway mark and then really go for it in the last 45 minutes to an hour. There are surprising battles and explosions, and lots of character development and soul searching.

I wish I could tell you what happened to the Avengers from “Infinity.” I wish I could tell you who lives and dies. One Avenger gets a nice surprise elevation at the end– maybe we can talk about that on Monday. This is “Endgame” for some, but not for all. This isn’t even a spoiler. It’s just that you can see how Marvel will move into the future. Clearly, Brie Larson (Carol Danvers) and Tom Holland (Spider Man) figure in that equation.

And yes, Stan Lee makes his final cameo, posthumously, it’s lovely. Also I was intrigued by Alan Silvestri’s score. It has a very “Mission Impossible” feel to it, with some nice jazz and bongos.

Pop And Fizzle: Madonna’s Fans Didn’t Show Up For “Medellin,” Total Sales Came to 16,000 Including Streaming

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Madonna’s fans send me nasty tweets, claiming that I’m bashing the Queen of Pop for no sales on her new single, “Medellin.”

This morning, BuzzAngle reports that “Medellin” has 16,000 copies including all streaming since its release one week ago, last Wednesday.

The fact is, Madonna’s fans– while they love her– did not show up for “Medellin.” Unfortunately, most former pop divas– including Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez– are in the same boat. Their fans adore them but are not interested in paying for new music. The fans want to hear the hits and that’s that.

Mariah Carey, for example, according to Buzz Angle, sold just 66,000 copies of her album, “Caution,” since last November, with 30,000 more in sales from streaming. And that’s a lot these days. But it’s a far cry from her sales of 4 million for albums from the 90s.

Alas, it’s a new generation, kids. We are in the world of Beyonce, Pink, Ariana Grande, Kacey Mugraves, and so on. And it’s not easy for them, either. Concert tours are where the money is. When Madonna hits the road as Madame X, she’ll sell out arenas. But it won’t be songs from “Madame X” that will fuel those audiences. It will be “Ray of Light” and “Like a Virgin.”

Broadway Triumph: Annette Bening, Tracey Letts, Benjamin Walker On Fire in Sensational New Production of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons”

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What a relief to see a real play. Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” is back, directed with new insights by Jack O’Brien, and with sensational performances from Annette Bening, Tracey Letts, and Benjamin Walker, not to mention a newcomer named Hampton Fluker, as well as Michael Hayden.

Last night, opening night, the main performers were on fire. I really thought Tracey Letts was going to self-immolate. Annette Bening, too long not on Broadway, will now be welcomed back constantly. Ben Walker really comes into his own in this presentation. And so on.

So I was quite surprised to see Jesse Green (whom I don’t know) from the New York Times give this show a negative review. He is the only main theater critic who didn’t love it. On the other hand, he loved the grossly awful “Gary” with Nathan Lane. It maybe time for a vacation. The Times is not giving its readers accurate criticism.

“All My Sons” could not be more timely or topical, even though it was published in 1947 and refers to World War II. Joe Keller (Letts) has let his partner in a munitions factory go to jail after 21 pilots died from faulty manufacture. In fact, it was Joe who was responsible. Now the son (Fluker) of his imprisoned partner has come to seek revenge, while Joe’s family– purposely ignorant of his guilt– must grapple with his crime.

Sound like Boeing and their new 737? Or Volkswagen? Or Amtrak? Yep. It couldn’t be more relevant. Want to Make America Great Again? Well, Miller took his story from 1946 headlines, when America was supposedly “great.” People have always been flawed, and self deluded in how they rationalize poor behavior. Joe Keller is at the top of the list.

To make things worse, though, the Kellers lost a son, Larry, in the War. He plane was shot down, but his mother, Kate Keller (Bening) would prefer to believe he may come home again. For Miller, this was his 11th play, his first hit, and preceded his masterwork, “Death of a Salesman,” by two years.  In many ways you can see “All My Sons” as a precursor to “Salesman,” a notebook. The play is a little on the nose, but then far superior to anything else of the time.

The first act is the set up (there are three acts). By the second act, we’re moving, pieces of the backstory are peeled back like an onion skin, the audience is learning what the characters know: they should not be in the same room together. After what’s already occurred, they should remain at a great distance. Instead, it’s like their drawn back to a flame to see if it will kill them. It’s almost like Russian Roulette. And the closer they get to their emotional crisis, you want to jump on stage and advise them to leave.

Again, I loved Bryan Cranston in “Network” and Jeff Daniels in “Mockingbird.” So we’ll add Tracey Letts to the Best Actor in a Play category. He is remarkable. Annette Bening may be a slam dunk for Best Actress. All those Oscar nominations, and now finally she’s back. She’s given Kate her first real, understood delivery maybe ever. Bening is so good, and her show is current, that I do think The Tony Committee should give Elaine May a special Tony for “Waverly Gallery.” (And Joel Grey one for directing “Fiddler” in Yiddish.)

What a night! Bryan Cranston was there. So was Bening’s husband, Warren Beatty, front and center and backstage. Many stars showed up including Miller’s daughter Rebecca (writer and director) with her son Ronan Day-Lewis, Celia Weston, Annaleigh Ashford and actor husband Joe Tapper, Ben Platt, Bill Irwin, Bobby Cannavale, and my old friend Warren Leight, who had great news. After four years away he’s going to back be Executive Producer of “Law & Order: SVU.” His five years there were legendary. Now Dick Wolf is going to have him do seasons 21 through 25, at least. Bravo !