Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” trailer is here, and it looks very, very good. The film launches on September 16th, which means a Toronto Film Festival premiere is likely. That’s where they will get the biggest bang. Also because it’s in Canada, maybe Eddie Snowden himself will show up! (Unlikely. Look what happened on “The Good Wife.”) Nicolas Cage is featured in his first decent movie in 20 years. Exciting.
You know, I’m pretty fair to most Broadway musicals. I wasn’t wild about either “American Psycho” or “Waitress,” but there were excellent things about each that mitigated the problems. Let them live, not everything can be “Hamilton.”
But in a season of “Hamilton,” to see an effort full of cliches, riffs on other shows, ham-fisted treacle– come on, there’s only so much I can take. “Tuck Everlasting” is not very good, it’s just inches from terrible.
The only things that separate it from total disaster are some of the cast. Carole Carmello and Fred Applegate are stars, and they shine even when the material is working against them. Terrence Mann is the A Rod of Broadway musicals.
They barely survive this show. Mann, in particular, seems to have been recycled in scenes from “Pippin” and “Into the Woods.” (Was he also in “Seussical”?) I couldn’t tell sometimes if director Casey Nicholaw, who made “Something Rotten” a fresh show and a send up simultaneously, was trying for some kind of satire.
But I think he’s serious with “Tuck,” based on a novel and two movies about wood nymphs who discover magic water that lets them live forever. This is both a blessing and curse, as they have witnessed a century of friends and family coming and going.
The show felt like a century, what with tired, retreaded songs (some of the worst I’ve ever heard, my least favorite since “The Bridges of Madison County” and “If/Then.”) They’re uninspired, corny, and tuneless.
Some of the performers were wooden than the woods they traipsed around in). (Good sets, I will concede.) I won’t name names. But maybe there are so many shows running that producers can’t find really good singers. I was shocked by the range here from wonderful (Carmello, Michael Park, and newcomer Sarah Charles Lewis) to the other extreme. The actor who plays Tuck– Andrew Keenan Bolger– may be playing Tobias from “Sweeney Todd.” (He’d be very good in that role.) He looks like he’s about to burst into “Not While I’m Around.”
The plot doesn’t help. The non-aging family sets its sights on Lewis’s Winnie, who is 11. (And 11 in real life, too.) You’ve got Tuck, 17 on stage (but 30 in real life, 103 in nymph years) lusting after her. Very very creepy. Michael Park’s Angus also seems inappropriately matched to her. (He’s around 45.)
When Winnie goes missing, her stern recently widowed mother (who looks way too old to have an 11 year old) and her caricature of a nutty grandmother send a detective (Fred Applegate, who steals the show) and his bumbling son to find her. Cliches smack into each other from every direction. It doesn’t help that the choreography looks like summer stock.
Nicholaw’s edgy and sophisticated work is just thrown out the window. Maybe this is the season of homespun, corny, hackneyed material. (God help us.) But these shows cost $150 and up for tickets. You can’t compare this to something like “Hamilton,” work of genius. It’s like three giant steps backward.
Who was there? Ron Howard. Don’t know why. Alfred Molina, with girlfriend Jennifer Lee (“Frozen” the movie and the forthcoming musical). Michael Urie. WABC Radio host Joan Hamburg. The producers didn’t want press at their after party at Tavern on the Green, and I don’t blame them.
Tonight’s New York Times review is by Charles Isherwood, who’s been handing out positive reviews to shows that Ben Brantley would murder if he had the chance. I don’t know what’s going on– is it an advertiser thing? But his review tonight worries me.
One last thought: why can’t Carolee Carmello have a great show, and win a Tony? She’s too good for this stuff.
Michael Strahan is out.
He’s leaving “Live with Kelly” on May 13th. They’re getting a quickie divorce for the sake of the audience.
I’ve known Kelly Ripa since she started with Regis. I don’t believe for a minute that she was mean to Strahan or forced him out. Michael Gelman has been a steady force at that show for over two decades. This is not their fault.
I think Strahan probably felt constrained and wanted to do different things. The whole thing has been handled as badly as Ann Curry’s exit from Today, or a dozen other instances. All that PR expertise and no one knows how to take care of these issues. Amazing.
The search for a co-host can go on all summer and into the fall. Ripa can do the show blind-folded. If she were really smart, she’d ask Regis to come back and help out, make a big deal of him. He and Gelman are still very friendly. Getting Regis back even for a bit would be the coup of the century.
I told you two days ago that Prince had no will. Now CNN Money reports from Minneapolis that Prince’s sister has filed to open probate. She says no there is no will.
It is beyond amazing that Prince had no plan for his estate, his archives, his business. He was incredibly litigious. He sued record companies, he sued fans for downloading, uploading. And all those lawyers who came and went — none of them managed to get a will drawn up.
Prince’s memoir goes into the probate case. The deal he signed with Spiegel and Grau at Random House is now part of his Estate. Until an executor is named, and the estate is settled, there’s no book.
Ditto for everything else. Warner Music and all the other record companies will just make their payments into the Estate until it’s settled. All those crazy clickbait stories you read around the web– ignore them.
The lemonade is sweet this morning.
Beyonce Knowles can say she has the top 6 singles on iTunes. Two more in the top 10, make 8 out of 10 all together.
Not bad.
The “Lemonade” album finally hit number 1, succeeding Prince’s greatest hits. But Prince still has a bunch of albums in the top 20. And a a dozen or so single tracks.
At this rate, her fans will be able to sing along with the new songs when Beyonce starts her tour tomorrow. I wonder if she’ll bring her bat?
Kelly Ripa is back at work. After Le Scandal of ABC not telling her they were moving Michael Strahan to “Good Morning America,” Ripa has cooled off. Now she knows how Johnny Carson felt when Joan Rivers didn’t tell him she was leaving for her own talk show.
Did Ripa overreact? A little. ABC can’t cancel “Live.” It’s a syndicated hour. The affiliates will not give it back for “GMA” to be extended. Also, with Disney, “Live” is too solid a long term hit. Disney doesn’t want that bad publicity. Ripa has been with them since she was about 21, on “All My Children.” Squandering her would be a huge mistake. I think she should be thrilled. She gets rid of Strahan, who she didn’t like, and can bring in guest hosts from now til the fall. When she and Michael Gelman choose a replacement, it will be big ratings again. I think it’s win-win for her. And Strahan? At GMA, he will be a feature reporter. He’s not replacing George Stephanopolous.Â
Here is what she said:
“Guys, guys, guys. Guys, guys, guys, our long national nightmare is over. Please, be seated. Look, I am not — I’m going to be completely honest. I’m fairly certain that there are trained professional snipers with tranquilizer darts in case I drift too far off message. OK. I first want to honestly, sincerely thank you for welcoming me back to the show. The show of support through this bizarre time has been really overwhelming. I really — I needed a couple of days to gather my thoughts after 26 years with this company, I earned the right and let’s be honest. I know half of you called in sick to be here, so we get each other.”
She didn’t stint on taking her time to give an opinion. “I gained some perspective. I always speak from the heart. I didn’t want to come out here and just like say something I might regret,” she told viewers. “So what transpired though over the course of a few days has been extraordinary in the sense that it started a much greater conversation about communication and consideration and most importantly, respect in the workplace. And since we’re being honest, I don’t consider this just a workplace. This is my second home. This is a place that I’ve devoted myself to not just because of you, our loyal viewers, but because of all of the producers and the crew who work on this show. We have an incredible team.”
Ripa added: “We are incredibly devoted to one another. We are family,” she said. “Apologies have been made and the best thing to come out of all of this, you guys, is that our parent company has assured me that Live is a priority.”
The crowd applauded. “Guys, calm down. They didn’t say anything about Christmas bonuses. But there is a commitment to this show and that the people that work here and most importantly to you, the viewers, who have watched us every day for 30 years. I am thrilled for Michael. I’m thrilled for you. This is a tremendous opportunity and I couldn’t be and we couldn’t be prouder of you. And everything we accomplished together. So back to the show, this is entertainment. It’s supposed to be entertaining. So let’s get back to what we do best and start the show. Oh, wait. Incidentally, I just want to say one thing. My dad who was a bus driver for 30 years thinks we’re all crazy. And I think he’s right.”
Hannah Ford Welton, the drummer for 3RdEye Girl and the wife of Joshua Welton, Prince’s producer for the last couple of years, has posted a statement to Instagram.
The Weltons were part of Prince’s inner circle recently, but haven’t said anything so far about his untimely death. Hannah is pregnant with the couple’s first child, a girl due in September.
Prince never let anyone produce his albums in the past. But Joshua Welton became his de facto producer for the HitnRun, Phase 1 album. Welton got co-songwriting credit on most of the songs, too. He also co-produced Art Official Age and worked on 3rd Eye Girl’s PlectrumElectrum album.
(Yes, Prince was wildly productive in the last two years, issuing 4 albums.)
What a break for such a young guy!
Welton may know more about what was ailing Prince but so far he’s remained silent.
EXCLUSIVE It’s war over documentaries being made about the late, great Whitney Houston.
In early March, Showtime announced that Nick Broomfield was working on one for them. Broomfield’s made a few music docs including a controversial one about Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love.
But I’m told the Whitney Houston estate was already working with a famous filmmaker to make their own documentary. The rumor is that it’s Oscar winner (“One Day in September,” 2000) Kevin MacDonald, who recently directed the mini series “11-22-63” on Hulu.
Everyone ever connected to Houston is being told to ignore Broomfield’s pleas for interviews. Sources say Broomfield will be blocked in any attempts to license audio or video of Whitney from Sony-RCA-BMG-Arista. Whitney’s reps will likely shut down all requests for clips from Houston’s movies like “The Bodyguard” or “Sparkle.” Whitney’s mentor, Clive Davis, is said to be only participating in the official film.
At the recent Arista Records reunion, the word was being spread to anyone who worked with Whitney not to sit down with Broomfield. One former exec may not have gotten the message in time, however. Sources say Broomfield is offering to pay for interviews.
The Estate doc, I’m told, will not stint on the gory details of Whitney’s tragic rise and fall from diva to drug addict. But the fear is that Broomfield will sensationalize the story. Anyway, without music or video clearances, he’s going to have a tough time.
photo of Whitney c2016 Showbiz411
David Lynch says these are all the people who are in the reboot of “Twin Peaks.”
Some actors from the original show are missing, and it doesn’t matter if their characters were dead or alive since Sheryl Lee, who played the very dead Laura Palmer, is back.
Missing are Michael Ontkean, Piper Laurie, and Joan Chen. Piper Laurie told me back in February that she’d never been contacted. Ontkean is in a self-imposed retirement in Hawaii. (He made a weird cameo in “The Descendants.”) Age can’t be an issue with Laurie because Warren Frost is on the list, and he’s 90. (He’s also the father of producer Mark Frost.)
Also, if this list is correct, being dead in real life doesn’t matter since Catherine Coulson, who played the Log Lady, passed away last September.
Loyalty to Jay Z’s Tidal is killing sales for his musical recording act friends.
This has happened very quietly: sales of Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” have dissolved without a physical CD or an actual digital download available on iTunes or Amazon. It’s still streaming on Tidal, Jay Z’s service, where it’s being promoted. But Tidal “sales” are not enough to stay charted.
In its first week of availability as a stream only, “Pablo” registered 90,000 copies two weeks ago. This morning, the numbers indicate that last week’s streams dripped to 33,760.
“Pablo” can only be downloaded on West’s own website for 20 bucks. But not in any of the online stores, and there’s no physical CD.
All the data shows that everyone wants streaming over digital downloads or CDs. But not so fast.
Beyonce should see this as a lesson. Her “Lemonade” just hit iTunes for a whopping $17.99 after only being available on Tidal’s streaming service. (It’s number 4, held back by Prince albums.) “Lemonade” has also just hit Amazon for downloading, also at $17.99, but hasn’t made their chart yet. The CD can be pre-ordered for May 6th, a week from this Friday.
“Lemonade” will not be on any other streaming services besides Tidal. And Tidal doesn’t really make streaming numbers jump– Kanye learned that when he finally moved to Spotify and AppleMusic, the streaming part of iTunes.
If Beyonce is smashing things with a bat now, wait til someone explains to her that Tidal will squeeze “Lemonade” dry.
Meantime, Kanye– a rabid Tweeter– has not posted anything to Twitter in ten days, since April 15th. Maybe he’s with Rupert Murdoch!Â