Friday, December 19, 2025
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Cannes: Robert DeNiro Tribute and Screening of Roberto Duran Boxing Movie Added

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Cannes: “Hands of Stone,” the movie about boxer Roberto Duran, has been added to the Cannes screenings.

Robert De Niro, star of the Weinstein Company movie, will be getting a tribute and special dinner celebration.

Venezuelan director Jonathan Jakubowicz directed the film which also stars Edgar Ramirez as Duran. “Hands of Stone” is one of the Weinstein Company’s big potential Oscar films. It’s going to be released in August. The movie is about the common history of Panamanian boxer Roberto Duràn (Edgar Ramirez) and manager and coach Ray Arcel (Robert De Niro) who is going to take him to the highest worldwide successes of the ring in the ’70s and ’80s, including legendary fights against Sugar Ray Leonard.

Tony Awards: “Hamilton” Scores Big Time with 16 Nominations

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The Tony nominations are out and “Hamilton” has scored 16 of them. That’s more than 1 in some categories. “Hamilton” is on its way to Best Musical.

“Shuffle Along” scored several including Best Musical, meaning it will lose to “Hamilton.” The producers of”Shuffle Along” wanted to go into the revival category. Alas, it was not to be.

The main actors in “Shuffle Along” were NOT nominated including Audra McDonald, the most awarded actress on Broadway.

“American Psycho” and “Tuck Everlasting” were hurt the most with fewest nominations. They were blocked in most major categories.

Full list of nominees…

Best Play

Eclipsed
The Father
The Humans
King Charles III

Best Musical

Hamilton
Shuffle Along
Waitress
School of Rock – The Musical
Bright Star

Best Revival of a Play

The Crucible
A View From the Bridge
Blackbird
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Noises Off

Best Revival of a Musical

The Color Purple
Fiddler on the Roof
She Loves Me
Spring Awakening
Dames at Sea

Best Book of a Musical

Bright Star, Steve Martin
Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda
School of Rock—The Musical, Julian Fellowes
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, George C. Wolfe

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Bright Star
Music: Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
Lyrics: Edie Brickell

Hamilton
Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda

School of Rock—The Musical
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Glenn Slater

Waitress
Music & Lyrics: Sara Bareilles

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Gabriel Byrne, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Jeff Daniels, Blackbird
Frank Langella, The Father
Tim Pigott-Smith, King Charles III
Mark Strong, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Jessica Lange, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Laurie Metcalf, Misery
Lupita Nyong’o, Eclipsed
Sophie Okonedo, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Michelle Williams, Blackbird

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Alex Brightman, School of Rock—The Musical
Danny Burstein, Fiddler on the Roof
Zachary Levi, She Loves Me
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Laura Benanti, She Loves Me
Carmen Cusack, Bright Star
Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple
Jessie Mueller, Waitress
Phillipa Soo, Hamilton

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Reed Birney, The Humans
Bill Camp, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
David Furr, Noises Off
Richard Goulding, King Charles III
Michael Shannon, Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Pascale Armand, Eclipsed
Megan Hilty, Noises Off
Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans
Andrea Martin, Noises Off
Saycon Sengbloh, Eclipsed

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Daveed Diggs, Hamilton
Brandon Victor Dixon, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress
Jonathan Groff, Hamilton
Christopher Jackson, Hamilton

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton
Jane Krakowski, She Loves Me
Jennifer Simard, Disaster!
Adrienne Warren, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Beowulf Boritt, Thérèse Raquin
Christopher Oram, Hughie
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
David Zinn, The Humans

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Es Devlin & Finn Ross, American Psycho
David Korins, Hamilton
Santo Loquasto, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
David Rockwell, She Loves Me

Best Costume Design of a Play

Jane Greenwood, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Michael Krass, Noises Off
Clint Ramos, Eclipsed
Tom Scutt, King Charles III

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes, Tuck Everlasting
Jeff Mahshie, She Loves Me
Ann Roth, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Paul Tazewell, Hamilton

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Natasha Katz, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Justin Townsend, The Humans
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Ben Stanton, Spring Awakening
Justin Townsend, American Psycho

Best Direction of a Play

Rupert Goold, King Charles III
Jonathan Kent, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Joe Mantello, The Humans
Liesl Tommy, Eclipsed
Ivo Van Hove, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge

Best Direction of a Musical

Michael Arden, Spring Awakening
John Doyle, The Color Purple
Scott Ellis, She Loves Me
Thomas Kail, Hamilton
George C. Wolfe, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed

Best Choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton
Savion Glover, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Hofesh Shechter, Fiddler on the Roof
Randy Skinner, Dames at Sea
Sergio Trujillo, On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan

Best Orchestrations

August Eriksmoen, Bright Star
Larry Hochman, She Loves Me
Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton
Daryl Waters, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Sheldon Harnick
Marshall W. Mason

Special Tony Award

National Endowment for the Arts
Miles Wilkin

Regional Theatre Tony Award

Paper Mill Playhouse; Millburn, NJ

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award

Brian Stokes Mitchell

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre

Seth Gelblum
Joan Lader
Sally Ann Parsons

Kelly and Michael Thank the Emmys for their Award; Kelly Ripa Wins Best Actress

NOW: Kelly Ripa wins Best Actress as a Talk Show host who’s angry but just got an Emmy she has to share with her departing co-host to whom she’s not speaking.

She was alone in the category.

This morning Kelly and Michael Strahan are on their “Live” show, thank everyone for the Emmy Award they won last night at the Daytime Emmys. It’s ironic since Strahan is leaving in ten days, and Ripa is barely speaking to him.

So far she’s all smiles, and no one has said anything biting or snarky. But they did give away the “Game of Thrones” spoiler of the day — Jon Snow is alive!

And it all happened in sweeps!

Congrats to Michael Gelman. I know it looks easy to produce a live one hour show every day with crazy people, but it isn’t.

Anna Wintour’s Swanky Met Ball Loses $3 Million Catering to All Those Celebrities

EXCLUSIVE The first Monday in May is here. And with it comes Anna Wintour’s annual bat mitzvah, the Met Ball. Thrown as a party for the Costume Institute, which is now named for the Vogue editor, the Met Ball is as assemblage of high (Oscar winners) and very low culture (Kardashians) all selected by Wintour herself.

A new documentary shows the gritty underside, in which Wintour handpicks the guests and mocks them at the same time. (The film, “First Monday in May,” grossed just under $300,000 since its release on April 15th. Not exactly a must-see.)

But what is the cost of this thing? I just looked back at the last three tax filings for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and it’s pretty interesting.

The Ball brings in a steady amount of donations to the Museum every year– around $11 million. After the museum contribution is deducted from the tickets, the Ball made $119,500 in 2013 (that’s the last public record– there’s nothing posted so far for last year or the year before).
metball 2013
But wait just a minute: the Met Ball in 2013 had direct expenses of $3.2 million. That’s the actual cost of putting this extravaganza on. (Unknown is what costs are hidden. In the clip below, one of Wintour’s aides talks about “how expensive” it is to host Rihanna, for example.) Gross receipt were $11.9 million.

Suddenly the Ball itself is a red carpet made of red ink.

Indeed, the costs have gone up a lot in the last few years while those Museum donations have remained constant. On the 2012 report, for example, direct expenses were $2.45 million. Gross receipts were $11.7 million.
metball 2011
For 2013, the Museum had seven fundraisers altogether. The total direct expenses were just over $4 million. Almost all of it was attributed to the Met Ball.

Of course, the Met Ball brings a lot of publicity to the Museum, which isn’t bad. And that steady stream of $11 million in contributions is handy since the Museum itself was down by $16 million from 2012 in 2013 in overall public support. Anna’s numbers aren’t going up, but it’s not clear that she cares. I’ve heard of people offering top dollar for tables only to be rejected because Wintour doesn’t approve of them.
public support
So Monday night we’ll be treated to lots of famous women dressed as peacocks, with a huge emphasis on the kind of low life that probably makes Wintour’s Vogue predecessors like Diana Vreeland, Leo Lerman, and Alexander Liberman twirl in their graves. (I knew the latter two and cannot imagine describing some of those people to them.)

With so much attention focused locally here in New York on this event, you’d think this was the only event on Monday night. But I’ll be at Steven Tyler’s charity show at Lincoln Center– much more fun!

TV: Jon Snow is Alive, Kelly and Michael Win Daytime Emmy, So Does “General Hospital”

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Lots happened on TV tonight and in the TV world:

The biggest surprise: Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan won Best Talk Show hosts. Just as they’re splitting! LOL! Now what will they say? And will Strahan ever win another Emmy?

On HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” Jon Snow is alive! The worst kept secret in history is over. Kit Harington never left. He had no place to go. Everyone lied, but it didn’t count because it’s not TV, it’s HBO. It’s also pretend life. Welcome back, Jon!

“General Hospital” won Best Daytime Drama. Why not? It’s pretty good. There are only three others, and two of them are really bad. Their directing team also won, and one of their actors, Tyler Christopher, won Best Actor.

“The Good Wife” had a great scene between Julianna Margulies and Michael J. Fox. Chris Noth gave a great speech.

Empire Crumbling? Season 2 Soundtrack Is Second Failure In a Row

The folks at the fictional Empire Records would know what to do about this: “Empire” the TV show, as a phenomenon, is crumbling.

Last year, the soundtrack for Season 1 debuted at number 1 with 110,000 copies sold. We were all excited because it nosed out Madonna’s “Rebel Heart.”

Well, the excitement is over. The season 2 soundtrack volume 1 sold just 39,000 copies when it was released last November.

Now the volume 2 of season 2 was released on Friday to apathy. On iTunes, it’s number 45. On amazon, the digital download is number 117. The physical CD is 170.

The songs are not being played.

Meanwhile, on TV, “Empire” is holding steady even though it’s down significantly from last year. The saga of Cookie and Lucious Lyon is having a sophomore slump on all fronts. The magic may be gone.

The biggest problem is that the show moves too fast, and the story lines are not developed. Like all soap operas, “Empire” got ridiculous– but it got that way too quickly and stayed there. Soaps have to pace themselves to stick around. “Empire” may not make it past season 3 at this point.

As for the music– it’s good! Timbaland is the producer. The songs are strong. I don’t know why they’re not being played on the radio. Something has disconnected with Columbia Records. “Freedom” and “Hemingway” are very good singles.

Exclusive: Watch Bono Move in “Mysterious Ways” At Nile Rodgers’ Charity Dinner

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This is how you make an exit from a filled ballroom: Bono sang a bunch of U2 songs with Nile Rodgers and Chic on Friday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. The occasion was Rogers’ and Nancy Hunt’s annual We Are Family Foundation dinner. The night was a huge hit with an appearance by former President Jimmy Carter as well. When Bono launched into “Mysterious Ways,” he also launched into the audience, as you’ll see. His disappeared for a couple of seconds, but security followed. He popped up at the back of the theater, finished the song, and made a magical exit. Very cool. Chic went on with a Studio 54 rave of hits with Kathy Sledge.

Bono Helps Nile Rodgers Raise $1 Mil for Charity, Performs U2 Songs Solo, Then Dives into Crowd and Disappears

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nile and nancyFriday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom: Nile Rodgers and Nancy Hunt’s annual We Are Family Foundation dinner was in high gear with presentations to both former President Jimmy Carter and U2’s Bono.

Bono performed a bunch of U2 songs with Rodgers’ amazing Chic band including “In the Name of Love,” “Beautiful Day” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”

Bono, honored for his humanitarianism, almost never sings without at least The Edge if not all of U2. It was a rarity, especially when the compact front man dove into the audience during his last number and sang himself out of the Manhattan Center. Talk about a great escape! His security guys came running from every direction as we he was literally swallowed by the crowd!

Turns out Bono has been long time fan of Rodgers and Chic, by the way. Nile told the crowd that whenever they play in Dublin or London, he looks over and sees the Hewson family (that’s Bono’s real name– Paul Hewson) dancing to “Le Freak.”

bono nile and student winnerBono was preceded in the awards by Carter, who really looks great up close (we shook hands!) considering he’s just survived brain cancer at age 90! Carter saluted WAFF’s late standard bearer, thirteen year old Matti Stepanek, and his incredibly courageous mom, Jeni Stepanek, who was also honored. (Jeni is now in a wheelchair with a ventilator, suffering from the same disease that killed her four children.) Carter said that he’d met kings and queens, the Pope, jimmy carterheads of state, and no one ever impressed him more than Mattie Stepanek. (Frankly, seeing a video of Mattie– who died of a rare muscular disease– I could see it.)

The evening ended with Nile and Chic rocking out a dance party for donors to Chic’s greatest hits. Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge fame, was the surprise vocalist on “We Are Family” and the place went wild. kathy sledge

Nancy Hunt and Nile Rodgers started WAFF right after September 11, 2001, motivated by the tragedies. They immediately recorded an all star version of Nile’s song “We Are Family” for charity and never looked back. They raised $1 million on Friday night including the sale of a Grammy artist signed guitar that went for $100,000.

WAFF has turned out to be one of the best “new” charities by expanding into TEDxTeen, encouraging young people around the world to become civic minded. On Friday we met the enterprising and articulate future leader Ellen Chilemba, of Malawi, now studying at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts. She’s raising money for her organization called Tiwale in Malawi. They’re building a women’s center and are trying to raise $20,000. They’ve got $5,000 so far. Hey, Oprah, Whoopi, Gayle King, Beyonce–take a look. Very impressive!

 

Photos c2016 Showbiz411

White House Correspondents Dinner: Helen Mirren, Aretha Franklin and Will Smith Make Up for a Lot of D List Celebrities

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Thank goodness for Helen Mirren. If she and Taylor Hackford hadn’t gone to the White House Correspondents Dinner, the night would have been pretty lame.

They were the biggest stars of the night, along with Aretha Franklin, Will and Jada Smith, Bryan Cranston, and Kerry Washington. The latter came with a phalanx from Shondaland, TV shows made by Shonda Rhimes, including Tony Goldwyn (who is actual Hollywood royalty). Goldwyn got a selfie with Aretha Franklin and posted it to Instagram: “Okay now I can die and go to heaven.”

But my has this thing devolved. You know things are bad when Arianna Huffington brings a horror of a “celebrity” who calls himself the Fat Jewish and wears a spike of hair standing straight up on his head. Pathetic.

So many reality stars, models, and low level TV stars clogged the red carpet it was a little jaw dropping. And sad. What happened to Oprah? All the Hollywood heavyweights who backed Barack Obama? Most of the ballroom at the Washington Hilton looks like a casting call for “Hollywood Squares.”

It’s almost more interesting who ISN’T there: Sting was in Washington for a Jazz at White House show. He didn’t stay. Bono is on the East Coast– I saw his amazing performance Friday night for Nile Rodgers’ We Are Family Foundation.

Granted, the Boston Globe reporters brought their corresponding actors from “Spotlight.” That was a nice touch. But mostly is the presence of people like Omarosa from Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” who kind of summarized the climate.

You know, Tom Brokaw boycotts the WHCD. He doesn’t think journalists should mix and mingle with people they cover. He has a point.

Stay tuned to see what Larry Wilmore has to say about all of this…

Exclusive: Jeremy Irons Will Bring Batman’s Alfred to “Justice League of America”

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This is news to me. Maybe the fanboys and girls know it. But Jeremy Irons is bringing Batman’s butler Alfred to Zack Snyder’s “Justice League of America.”

Irons mentioned this to me the other night as I was congratulating him on yet another wonderful dramatic performance, this time in “The Man Who Knew Infinity.”

Irons just finished “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” outside of London, where he got rave reviews. (He took in Gabriel Byrne playing the same role this week on Broadway.)

Jeremy is a busy guy. A consummate actor of the top rank, he’s always been able to mix low and high culture in his films. He’s often a villain. But he’s clicked as Batman/Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred, succeeding Michael Caine, Michael Gough and of course, the late great Alan Napier.

The new Alfred is becoming more and more like M from the Bond movies, moving from serving tea to Aunt Harriet to triangulating virtual lasers and configuring the Batmobile. Irons looks like he’s secured the Alfred role for the run of Snyder’s time. After “Justice League,” he’ll come back in the Ben Affleck-directed free standing “Batman” movie. And if Matt Damon doesn’t play Robin in that one, well, it won’t be fair!