If Jennifer Hudson made albums like she did the video, with no hip hop and straight ahead actual songs, she’d be considered by everyone the best singer of this generation. Listen to this. Magic.
Julia Roberts Jennifer Aniston Movie Set for Disastrous $8 Mil Weekend
Eight million dollars? That might pay all of Julia Roberts fee and half of Jennifer Aniston’s. But it won’t help their movie Mothers Day which is bombing at the box office this weekend. The total take is expected to be 8 million or under. If you gave your mom a gift like that, she’d exchange it.
The Jungle Book is still number 1.
DOA: “Criminal” is a bust for LionsGate. And here’s an irony: Tom Hanks (with Rita Wilson) produced Nia Vardalos’s “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.” They’ve made $80 million worldwide. Not bad! On the other hand, Hanks’ own film, “A Hologram for the King,” is a stiff. What can you do?
Yale Students Want $250 Mil Dorm Renamed for Aretha, Not Benjamin, Franklin
This is a true story.
Students at Yale are demanding that a newly endowed $250 million dorm be named for Aretha Franklin, not Benjamin Franklin.
Billionaire Charles Bartlett Johnson, Yale ’54, has been an active and generous donor to his alma mater for years. He recently earmarked $250 million for a new residence hall. But he wants it to be called Benjamin Franklin College. This is the single largest donation to Yale ever. Bartlett, whom I’ve reached out to, reveres Benjamin. The elder Franklin is Johnson’s “role model.” I’m not sure what he knows about Aretha.
Yale students, however, are saying they want it named Aretha Franklin College, after the legendary singer and writer. They’re circulating flyers all over campus, making t shirts, and basically causing a ruckus.
Benjamin Franklin received his honorary degree in 1953. He invented the lightning rod and discovered electricity.
Aretha Franklin received her honorary degree from Yale in 2010. She was named the greatest singer in the world by Rolling Stone, has dozens of Grammy Awards, hit records, and has performed for the Pope, presidents, and royalty. She’s also, uh, the Queen of Soul.
The Queen of Soul is on her way to Washington for the White House Correspondents Dinner and a jazz performance at the White House. I’ll let you know what she thinks when she surfaces.
UPDATE 5:46PM FRIDAY Aretha has sent a text: “Wowwaa unbelievable !!!!!ilove it yay to the Y,,,A,,,L,,,,,,E”
Photo courtesy of Yale News and Rachel Treisman
(Tip of the hat to David Friedman, and to Maya Sweedler)
David Gest: No Hollywood Stars or Famous Musicians Attend London Funeral of Michael Jackson’s Best Friend
David Gest was one of the creepiest people I ever wrote about. And I wrote about him a lot during the height of Michael Jackson’s infamy. They were best pals. Gest produced Michael’s 30th anniversary solo shows and wound up marrying Liza Minnelli. Then it all came crashing down.
Gest’s funeral yesterday was attended by people you and I have never heard of– British reality stars from cheesy TV shows. Gest moved there several years ago and became a celebrity weirdo in the UK tabloid press. They liked the fact that he looked like Mr. Potato Head.
But in the US, Gest’s calling card for years was being buddies with aging Hollywood stars and retired R&B singers. He’d been the publicist in its latter days for Hi Records, where he represented Al Green and Ann Peebles. He was like a tour master for State Fairs later. At the Minnelli wedding, he brought in a slew of them.
None of them showed for the funeral, however. According to reports, even his sister didn’t come. It’s an ignominious ending for David Gest, who ran a charity here called the American Cinema Awards and listed dead people as officers to grab tax free salaries. He was a great character to write about because he had no conscience but he always had a scheme.
The British papers say he spoke at his own funeral. How appropriate. Who better to eulogize David Gest than David Gest?
Good characters are good copy. He will be missed.
Tony Awards Shoot Down “Shuffle Along,” Classified Original, Will Lose to “Hamilton”
“Shuffle Along” is cooked at the Tonys. The Tony committee has announced they consider the George C. Wolfe musical new and original, not a revival. That puts “Shuffle Along” in direct contention with “Hamilton,” which will just about everything. While “Shuffle Along” will get a lot of nominations, their best best is maybe Best Actress in a Musical– Audra McDonald– and Best Choreography– Savion Glover. But even those are long shots. With McDonald leaving mid June for three months off, “Shuffle Along”– a pricey show– is now facing a long hot summer.
The Best Musical nominees should be:
Hamilton
Shuffle Along
School of Rock
Waitress
Kelly vs. Michael: Coincidence That It’s Timed With TV’s May Sweeps Ratings?
Yes, Kelly Ripa brought up Michael Strahan’s divorce today on their show. But the show was taped yesterday. It’s much ado about nothing. The show is WRITTEN. Strahan knew they were going to discuss “bird nesting.”
I think it’s more interesting that this is all happening exactly as the May sweeps start in TV ratings. Kelly’s Tuesday return spiked the ratings. The next day the sweeps period began. Now they’re going to do a big finale with Strahan on May 13th in the middle of the ratings period.
Sweeps occur in February, May, July, and November. That’s when nighttime TV shows give you cliffhangers and guest stars. Soap operas kill or marry off characters to stir interest. And Kelly and Michael snipe at each other.
In the old days, publicists used to plant items in the supermarket tabs that Regis and Kathie “hated” each other. In fact, they were best of pals, and dined together on weekends.
Watch social media, etc get ginned up to a fever pitch over the next two weeks. This is genius old fashioned publicity. Everyone is talking about this show. It’s not an accident.
Paul Simon Drops a Couple of Ironic F Bombs in Great New Single “Cool Papa Bell”
Paul Simon drops a couple of F bombs and the word ‘shit’ in his new single “Cool Papa Bell.” The single is from Simon’s new album “Stranger to Stranger,” due June 3rd. Like its predecessor, “Wristband,” this song is bass heavy with an unusual construction that echoes Simon’s songs stretching from “Cecilia” to “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” to “Boy in the Bubble.” The cursing is ironic. Simon probably thinks he can’t get played on radio anymore so why not do whatever he wants. What can I say? I think he’s brilliant, one of the greatest artistic innovators.
“Cool Papa Bell was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues from 1922 to 1950,” Simon observes in the album notes. “He was considered one of the fastest men ever to play the game. Legend has it that Bell could turn off a light switch and be in bed before the light went out. He once bunted a triple. A friend gave me a painting of Cool Papa Bell, and somehow he found his way into a song.”
Pop: Drake Zooms to Number 1, Knocks Off Beyonce “Lemonade” and Prince Catalog
Well, it’s been a week since Prince died and his catalog of albums overwhelmed the top 10 on iTunes.
Then Beyonce released her album on Monday morning, and she knocked Prince off handily. Beyonce put a bunch of tracks on the singles chart, and went into a tug of war with Prince.
Now it’s Friday morning. At midnight, Drake’s “Views” was released just to iTunes and went straight to number 1. Bang! Zoom! Just like that. This is all in the space of eight days. Crazy, huh?
“Views” has helped push Drake’s latest single, “One Dance” up into the top 5. The album also contains “Hotline Bling,” Drake’s seminal track from this last year. It’s the last of 20 titles on “Views.”
No one can say the record business isn’t hopping! But where is it hopping? Albums are dropping without notice, or just on some services and not on others. It’s all kind of random, which makes marketing hard. What’s next? Alicia Keys is playing a new song next Saturday on “Saturday Night Live.” Maybe she’ll surprise release it.
But all this digital releasing means there really is no physical product anymore. The CD has become an adjunct. The digital download isn’t even important. Very, very weird.
PS At least Drake is on iTunes and not Tidal. The one album that’s really screwed up from all this chaotic mess is Kanye West’s “Life of Pablo.”
But just think — it’s the end of April and we already have potential Grammy nominees in Adele, David Bowie, Beyonce, Kanye, Rihanna, and Drake. That part is pretty exciting.
Review: “Shuffle Along” Is the Black “42nd Street” with No Plot and a Star Who Leaves in June
The official title of the new musical “Shuffle Along: Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and Everything that Followed” is just about as long as the show itself. Tonight’s reviews are omitting one salient point– the show clocks in at three hours. The first act is very good, and you could easily leave at intermission and never miss a thing. But with ticket prices up around $200, you’re going to come back and see what happens.
This is what happens: all these people we love from Broadway– George C. Wolfe, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Savion Glover, not to mention Eubie Blake– they’ve thrown themselves into a huge freakin’ mess of a show that could use another few months to sort itself out before the reviews come in. And you know, everyone in the theater community loves these guys, so no one is going to say it. But “Shuffle Along etc.” has no actual story or plot, undeveloped characters, and a lot of historical lectures.
It also has a star– Audra McDonald– who radiates on stage. You can’t get enough of her. The show’s website and the ads, etc splash her name everywhere. But she is leaving in six weeks for the summer. She doesn’t return until mid September. So good luck with that.
In Wolfe and Glover there is talent and genius to spare. Considering what they were given– a big history lesson and no idea what to do with it– they stage “Shuffle Along” as brilliantly as they can. And in the first act, which tells the story of how all these people put on the first ever real black musical in 1921, they just shine shine shine. We get the entire saga of how hard it was to bring “Shuffle Along” to New York in 1921, how they chose a theater on West 63rd St., how Blake and his songwriter partner, and the producers, were in debt and doubt.
And then the final number of Act 1– “Wild About Harry”– Audra McDonald brings down the house, “Shuffle Along” is a hit. George Gershwin even comes and nicks a few notes for his songs. Good night, and good luck.
But you spent $200 or more including the sitter and parking, etc. So you do come back. Act 2: After “Shuffle Along” became a hit, all of the people involved fought with each other. They had failures. Nothing lived up to their great success. The show grinds down and down until finally, the five leads– each of whom has to have a big number of their own– turns to the audience and tells you when and how they died. I am not kidding. It’s like “Our Town,” the jazz version. The show ends with a lecture about black history. Eubie Blake (the excellent Brandon Victor Dixon) reveals that he wasn’t actually 100 when the world celebrated his centennial, he was really 96.
If you love tap dancing and syncopation (and need a primer about how they began) then “Shuffle Along” is the show for you. Savion Glover’s numbers– and there are a lot of them– make this the black “42nd Street.” Some numbers run back to back because there’s no story. But that’s ok. All of them are wonderful, especially the ones that use hard wooden luggage for percussion. I only wish they’d put one of these numbers at the very end, so you could leave the theater humming or tapping.
The importance of “Shuffle Along” is that like an August Wilson play or “Hamilton,” it fills in a big blank. Like much of black history in America, it’s unknown. So we’re relieved it’s finally being told. And yes, these performers are the creme de la creme. You can’t do better. Brian Stokes Mitchell? He’s like buttah. Also, you get this great extra book with the Playbill– a replica of the 1921 program with all kinds of extra information. It’s very helpful.
But this is not “Hamilton.” I have no idea who or what I was supposed to root for– for the show to go on? For Audra McDonald to get over the flu? (She’s missed a lot of performances.) For a list of songs to be provided? (Not in the Playbill.)
And is this a revival or original show? It’s original because really no one alive ever saw the original “Shuffle Along.” The whole thing is brand new as far as I’m concerned.
As for the length: keep cutting. The night I went, someone who works in theater told me: “Before our break, the show was three hours and ten minutes. I’m sure it’s shorter now.” It ain’t, by much. And it still needs an ending. But go, and be razzle dazzled by these players and the sheer ingenuity of how this has been attempted.
PS Like all Scott Rudin produced shows, there is no real opening night, no press invited, no photos, it’s all done in a kind of mean secrecy. So The Crucible, Blackbird, and The Humans all got this treatment this season. I paid $80 for two tickets to “Shuffle Along” on its Actors Fund night, and I’m glad I did.
Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson: 3 Female Movie Stars Headed to Box Office Disaster
Who will see “Mother’s Day” this weekend?
So far, Garry Marshall’s star studded comedy is rating a 10 on Rotten Tomatoes, and sinking fast. Apparently it’s not very funny, and incredibly perfunctory. Are we shocked? No.
But the star power of Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, and Kate Hudson was what put this film together. And now the three ladies– who could make a red carpet ablaze in lightbulbs– are about to go down with the ship.
Toronto Sun: “Mother’s Day seems more like a contractual commitment than a creative exercise.”
IndieWire: “Mother’s Day doesn’t feel like a movie so much as it does a cinematic adaptation of Walmart.”
Variety: “Atrociously written, begrudgingly acted, haphazardly assembled and never more backward than when it thinks it’s being progressive …”
And get this: there are 29 producer credits listed on imdb. Luckily there will be no fight over who accepts the Oscar. Just the Razzie.
Stay tuned for Saturday morning numbers. Aniston and Roberts get big paychecks. Like $5 million. Hudson didn’t do it for free. Jason Sudeikis gets a nice chunk of change. And Garry Marshall probably has a good quote. If they needed 29 producers, the budget for this is much higher than it should be. Uh oh. And Roberts has her three kids in there as credited small parts. Good lord.