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Tony Awards: Renee Fleming Comedy Closing After Shut Out, More to Come

Roger Friedman
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Tony Awards: Renee Fleming Comedy Closing After Shut Out, More to Come

The comedy “Living on Love” starring opera great Renee Fleming has posted a closing notice for May 3. They were shut out of any Tony Awards nods this morning. More shows will follow. “The Heidi Chronicles” had already announced their early closing.

The very expensive musical “Doctor Zhivago” won’t be far behind, unfortunately. The revival of “Gigi” and the original musical “It Shoulda Been You” will also have trouble surviving without the public relations box office bounce of Tony nominations in their ads.

Another show that got no love from the Tonys, “Finding Neverland,” will continue on because of its main star’s following. Matthew Morrison, coming from the TV show “Glee,” has kept the box office up over $1 million a week so far. Good word of mouth will also help. “Neverland” may not be a Tony show but it’s a crowd pleaser.

Some of those shows that came in for Tony deadline should have been mounted in the summer or fall when there is less competition. “Zhivago” for example would have benefited from not being in the Tony mix.

It’s the single toughest thing to do — putting on a Broadway musical. All the chemistry has to be right. And the show, of course, has to be good. The biggest loss of this season was “The Last Ship,” which was undone by poor marketing. Still, Sting’s score was nominated today and could win. “The Last Ship” had the best songs of 2014-15.

NFL Will Give Up Tax Free Status So They Can Hide CEO and Exec’s Gigantic Salaries

Roger Friedman
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NFL Will Give Up Tax Free Status So They Can Hide CEO and Exec’s Gigantic Salaries

The NFL has decided to hide information about its executives bloated salaries legally. They’re giving up their federal tax status as a non profit organization, thus removing all transparency about the group. All foundations and charities file Form 990s in which compensation of top execs must be noted.

Last year, there was shock when it came out that in 2012 Roger Goodell, commissioner of the NFL, took home $44 million in salary and bonuses. The year before that Goodell’s salary had been $29 million.

This was after many bungled decisions and scandals including Ray Rice and domestic abuse, and concussions, among other scandals such as deflated footballs.

Goodell isn’t the only wildly overpaid NFL exec. In 2012 as well EVP of Media Steve Bornstein got $26 million. Five other execs also received healthy seven figure salaries.

Goodell, according to Bloomberg News, says he discussed changing the NFL’s tax status with team owners in March. Letters were sent out this month. It’s unclear how this will affect the groups that received money from the NFL Foundation. But it will ensure that the company’s business will no longer be public.

The NFL’s 2014 Form 990 has not yet been made public.

(Watch) Glenn Close Name Checks Robin Williams in Moving Speech About Mental Illness at Variety Lunch

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) Glenn Close Name Checks Robin Williams in Moving Speech About Mental Illness at Variety Lunch

Please do watch Glenn Close’s beautiful speech about mental illness at last week’s Variety lunch for Power of Women. Other speakers and honorees included Lena Dunham, Whoopi Goldberg, Rachel Weisz, and Kim West. But it was Glenn’s speech that really touches the heart. Variety filled midtown Cipriani and did a brilliant job– kudos to Michelle Sobriano, Claudia Eller et al. Rosie Perez and Emmy Rossum were among the guests, as well as Caroline Hirsch (Caroline’s Comedy Club, and Stand up for Heroes), “Selma” star Carmen Ejogo. I got to meet Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe of Uganda, who you can (and should) follow on Facebook.

Broadway: Tony Awards–Alan Cumming, Kristen Chenoweth To Host Show, Noms Include Helen Mirren, Bradley Cooper, Something Rotten, Sting for Best Score

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: Tony Awards–Alan Cumming, Kristen Chenoweth To Host Show, Noms Include Helen Mirren, Bradley Cooper, Something Rotten, Sting for Best Score

Tony nominations this morning excluded Larry David’s Fish in the Dark, Matthew Morrison in Finding Neverland and the musical version of Doctor Zhivago. The lion’s share went to Something Rotten, Fun Home, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Helen Mirren was nominated for Best Actress in The Audience as Queen Elizabeth II, making it possible for her to become the first actress to get a Tony for the same role she won an Oscar for in a movie. Bradley Cooper was nominated for The Elephant Man. For a new musical Sting was nominated for– and should win–for “The Last Ship.”

Alan Cumming and Kristen Chenoweth are hosting the show on CBS, June 7th.

keep refreshing…

Nominations for the 2015 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards®
Presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing
Best Play
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author: Simon Stephens
Producers: Stuart Thompson, Tim Levy for NT America, Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures,
Nick Starr & Chris Harper for NT Productions, Bob Boyett, Roger Berlind, Scott M.
Delman, Roy Furman, Glass Half Full Productions, Ruth Hendel, Jon B. Platt, Prime
Number Group, Scott Rudin, Triple Play Broadway, The Shubert Organization, The
National Theatre
Disgraced
Author: Ayad Akhtar
Producers: The Araca Group, Lincoln Center Theater, Jenifer Evans, Amanda Watkins,
Richard Winkler, Rodger Hess, Stephanie P. McClelland, Tulchin/Bartner Productions,
Jessica Genick, Jonathan Reinis, Carl Levin/Ashley De Simone/TNTDynaMite
Productions, Alden Bergson/Rachel Weinstein, Greenleaf Productions, Darren
DeVerna/Jere Harris, The Shubert Organization, The David Merrick Arts Foundation
Hand to God
Author: Robert Askins
Producers: Kevin McCollum, Broadway Global Ventures, CMC, Morris Berchard,
Mariano V. Tolentino, Jr., Stephanie Kramer, LAMS Productions, DeSimone/Winkler,
Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Timothy Laczynski, Lily Fan, Ayal Miodovnik, Jam
Theatricals, Ensemble Studio Theatre, MCC Theater
Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Co-Authors: Hilary Mantel and Mike Poulton
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis & Nick
Salmon for Playfull Productions UK, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Jam Theatricals, Ron
Kastner, Kyodo Tokyo, Inc., Tulchin Bartner Productions, WLE MSG, Jane Bergère,
Scott M. Delman, Rebecca Gold, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Kit Seidel, Triple Play
Productions, Gabrielle Palitz, Georgia Gatti, Jessica Genick, Will Trice, The Shubert
Organization, The Royal Shakespeare Company
Best Musical
An American in Paris
Producers: Stuart Oken, Van Kaplan, Roy Furman, Stephanie McClelland, Darren
Bagert, Carole L. Haber, James Nederlander, Five Cent Productions, Michael Leavitt,
Apples and Oranges Studios/Dominion Pictures, Roger Berlind/Arch Road, Simone
Genatt Haft/Marc Routh, Triptyk Studios/Spencer Ross, Ed Walson/Peter May, Adam
Zotovich/Celia Atkin, Eugene Beard/Julie Boardman/Kalish-Weinstein, Stuart
Ditsky/Jim Herbert/Sandy Robertson, Suzanne Friedman/Independent Presenters
Network/Wonderful Productions, The Leonore S. Gershwin 1987 Trust/Jenkins-
Taylor/Proctors, Harriet Newman Leve/Jane Dubin/Sarabeth Grossman, Caiola
Productions/Jennifer Isaacson/Raise the Curtain, Elephant Eye Theatrical & Pittsburgh
CLO, Théâtre du Châtelet
Fun Home
Producers: Fox Theatricals, Barbara Whitman, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Tom Casserly,
Paula Marie Black, Latitude Link, Terry Schnuck/Jack Lane, The Forstalls, Nathan
Vernon, Mint Theatrical, Elizabeth Armstrong, Jam Theatricals, Delman Whitney,
Kristin Caskey & Mike Isaacson, The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Patrick Willingham
Something Rotten!
Producers: Kevin McCollum, Broadway Global Ventures, CMC, Mastro/Goodman, Jerry
& Ronald Frankel, Morris Berchard, Kyodo Tokyo Inc., Wendy Federman, Barbara
Freitag, LAMS Productions, Winkler/DeSimone, Timothy Laczynski, Dan Markley,
Harris/Karmazin, Jam Theatricals, Robert Greenblatt, Jujamcyn Theaters
The Visit
Producers: Tom Kirdahy, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Tom Smedes, Hugh Hayes, Peter Stern,
Judith Ann Abrams, Rich Affannato, Hunter Arnold, Carl Daikeler, Ken Davenport,
Bharat Mitra & Bhavani Lev, Peter May, Ted Snowdon, Bruno Wang Productions,
Taylor Cleghorn, Sandi Moran, Mark Lee & Ed Filipowski, Blodgett Calvin Family,
Gabrielle Palitz/Weatherby & Fishman LLC, Marguerite Hoffman/Jeremy Youett, Carlos
Arana, Veenerick & Katherine Vos Van Liempt, 42nd.Club/Silva Theatrical, Kate
Cannova/Terry Loftis, The Shubert Organization, Williamstown Theatre Festival
Best Revival of a Play
The Elephant Man
Producers: James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Catherine Adler, Roger Berlind,
Caiola Productions, Patrick Catullo, Roy Furman, Larry Hirschhorn, Jeffrey Finn
Productions, Van Kaplan, Edward M. Kaufmann, Hal Luftig, Arielle Tepper Madover,
Peter May, Stephanie P. McClelland, The Shubert Organization, Douglas Smith,
Jonathan M. Tisch, WLE MSG, LLC., Scott & Brian Zeilinger, Williamstown Theatre
Festival
Skylight
Producers: Robert Fox, Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Roy
Furman, Jon B. Platt, The Shubert Organization, Stephanie P. McClelland, Catherine
Adler, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Scott M. Delman, Heni Koenigsberg, Spring Sirkin,
Stuart Thompson, True Love Productions, The Araca Group, Carlos Arana, David
Mirvish, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson
This Is Our Youth
Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Jon B. Platt, Roy
Furman, The Shubert Organization, Ruth Hendel, Scott M. Delman, Stephanie P.
McClelland, Sonia Friedman, Tulchin Bartner, The Araca Group, Heni Koenigsberg,
Daryl Roth, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Catherine & Fred Adler, Joey Parnes, Sue
Wagner, John Johnson, Steppenwolf Theatre Company
You Can’t Take It with You
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Jam Theatricals, Dominion Pictures,
Gutterman & Winkler, Daryl Roth, Terry Schnuck, Jane Bergère, Caiola Productions,
Rebecca Gold, Laruffa & Hinderliter, Larry Magid, Gabrielle Palitz, Spisto & Kierstead,
SunnySpot Productions, Venuworks Theatricals, Jessica Genick, Will Trice, Roundabout
Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers
Best Revival of a Musical
The King and I
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Adam Siegel, Hattie K. Jutagir,
Ambassador Theatre Group
On the Town
Producers: Howard and Janet Kagan, Severn Partners Entertainment, Bruce Robert Harris
and Jack W. Batman, Paula Marie Black, Nigel Lythgoe, Michael J. Moritz,, Jr.,
Mahoney/Alden/Badway, Ambassador Theatre Group, Margie and Bryan Weingarten,
Kim Schall, Michael Rubenstein, Terry/Louise/Chris Lingner, Brunish & Trinchero,
Stephanie Rosenberg, Laruffa & Hinderliter, Rubinstein/Handleman, Lizbeth Bintz, Riki
Kane Larimer, 24 Hour Adventure Production, A&A Gordon, Matt Ross/Ben
Feldman/Pamela Cooper, Barrington Stage Company
On the Twentieth Century
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy,
Sydney Beers
Best Book of a Musical
An American in Paris
Craig Lucas
Fun Home
Lisa Kron
Something Rotten!
Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell
The Visit
Terrence McNally
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Fun Home
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics: Lisa Kron
The Last Ship
Music & Lyrics: Sting
Something Rotten!
Music & Lyrics: Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
The Visit
Music: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Steven Boyer, Hand to God
Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
Ben Miles, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Bill Nighy, Skylight
Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Geneva Carr, Hand to God
Helen Mirren, The Audience
Elisabeth Moss, The Heidi Chronicles
Carey Mulligan, Skylight
Ruth Wilson, Constellations
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris
Brian d’Arcy James, Something Rotten!
Ken Watanabe, The King and I
Tony Yazbeck, On the Town
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Leanne Cope, An American in Paris
Beth Malone, Fun Home
Kelli O’Hara, The King and I
Chita Rivera, The Visit
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Matthew Beard, Skylight
K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway
Richard McCabe, The Audience
Alessandro Nivola, The Elephant Man
Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Micah Stock, It’s Only a Play
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Annaleigh Ashford, You Can’t Take It with You
Patricia Clarkson, The Elephant Man
Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Sarah Stiles, Hand to God
Julie White, Airline Highway
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!
Brandon Uranowitz, An American in Paris
Max von Essen, An American in Paris
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Victoria Clark, Gigi
Judy Kuhn, Fun Home
Sydney Lucas, Fun Home
Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
Emily Skeggs, Fun Home
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Bob Crowley, Skylight
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Rockwell, You Can’t Take It with You
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, An American in Paris
David Rockwell, On the Twentieth Century
Michael Yeargan, The King and I
David Zinn, Fun Home
Best Costume Design of a Play
Bob Crowley, The Audience
Jane Greenwood, You Can’t Take It with You
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Zinn, Airline Highway
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Something Rotten!
Bob Crowley, An American in Paris
William Ivey Long, On the Twentieth Century
Catherine Zuber, The King and I
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Paule Constable and David Plater, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Natasha Katz, Skylight
Japhy Weideman, Airline Highway
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Donald Holder, The King and I
Natasha Katz, An American in Paris
Ben Stanton, Fun Home
Japhy Weideman, The Visit
Best Direction of a Play
Stephen Daldry, Skylight
Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Scott Ellis, You Can’t Take It with You
Jeremy Herrin, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Hand to God
Best Direction of a Musical
Sam Gold, Fun Home
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
John Rando, On the Town
Bartlett Sher, The King and I
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Best Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, On the Town
Christopher Gattelli, The King and I
Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-Time
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Best Orchestrations
Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, An American in Paris
John Clancy, Fun Home
Larry Hochman, Something Rotten!
Rob Mathes, The Last Ship
* * *
Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Tommy Tune
Special Tony Award
John Cameron Mitchell
Regional Theatre Tony Award
Cleveland Play House, Cleveland, Ohio
Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award
Stephen Schwartz
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Arnold Abramson
Adrian Bryan-Brown
Gene O’Donovan
* * *
Tony Nominations by Production
An American in Paris – 12
Fun Home – 12
Something Rotten! – 10
The King and I – 9
Wolf Hall Parts One & Two – 8
Skylight – 7
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – 6
Hand to God – 5
On the Twentieth Century – 5
The Visit – 5
You Can’t Take It with You – 5
Airline Highway – 4
The Elephant Man – 4
On the Town – 4
The Audience – 3
The Last Ship – 2
Constellations – 1
Disgraced – 1
Gigi – 1
The Heidi Chronicles – 1
It’s Only a Play – 1
This Is Our Youth – 1
#TonyAwards
www.TonyAwards.com

Mick Jagger Posts Tweet on Deceased Fiancee’s Birthday

Roger Friedman
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Mick Jagger Posts Tweet on Deceased Fiancee’s Birthday

Mick Jagger remembers L’Wren Scott on her birthday. She committed suicide on March 17, 2014. I think it’s LOL that Johnny Pigozzi got a photo credit as large as the rest of the message. Billing is everything, I’m sure someone once said.

“General Hospital” Wins 3 of 4 Main Acting Daytime Emmys But ABC Doesn’t Let Actors on CBS “The Talk”–Plus, Charo is Still Alive

Roger Friedman
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“General Hospital” Wins 3 of 4 Main Acting Daytime Emmys But ABC Doesn’t Let Actors on CBS “The Talk”–Plus, Charo is Still Alive

Nice to see that ABC Daytime is still a reasonable place: three of the four main acting prizes on Sunday night’s Daytime Emmys went to ABC’s “General Hospital.” So what did ABC do? They refused to allow Anthony Geary, Maura West and Chad Duell appear on CBS’s “The Talk” special devoted to the soaps yesterday. Why? ABC’s “The View” is losing viewers to “The Talk.” Really, this is what goes on in daytime television. “Tootsie” and “Soapdish” were mild when you think about it.

“General Hospital” should have won for Best Writing and for Best Daytime Drama. Somehow it keeps missing the mark. There was a tie for Best Soap– “Days of our Lives,” which is psychedelically bad, and “The Young and the Restless,” which is sort of like a slow moving virus, each won. “The Bold and the Beautiful,” a show about hair extensions and incest, won Best Writing and Best Directing.

There isn’t much actual good acting on soaps. We know that. The best actors were on the New York soaps, which don’t exist anymore. Some of those actors went west and got jobs. One of them was Maura West, who was on “As the World Turns” for a long time and won two Emmys. She won Best Actress again on Sunday for “General Hospital,” where she slinks around like a combination of Jean Harlow and Carole Lombard. I met Maura West for two seconds last September in Toronto. Her son was in “Boychoir,” the Dustin Hoffman movie recently dumped by its distributor. She seemed like a lot of fun. Congrats to her. Next year, if her character miraculously outlives cancer, she’ll have competition from Gina Tognoni on “The Young and the Restless.” She’s worth watching at all times.

I watched the Daytime Emmys on DVR and fast forwarded as much as possible. (On Sunday night it conflicted with “Mad Men” and the Mariah Carey single launch.) What a nutty show. Has Tyra Banks had a total face lift? Do all the outfits come from Kohl’s? Can’t they raise the mics when tall people win?

I discovered that Charo is still alive! She’s only 69 years old. (I thought, yeah, she was long gone, along with Topo Gigio.) This means she was a wise and prescient 21 when she married band leader Xavier Cugat in 1966. He was 66. (He was literally born on the first day of the 20th century. Cool.) Cugat, a real life Ricky Ricardo, died 14 years later and must have left young Charo in good shape financially. Charo has been famous her entire life and she still has a good figure. I’m not sure what she was doing on this show. But hey, why not?

Betty White got the Lifetime Achievement Award. She is now 93 and pretty much cogent and mobile. God bless her. She’s a total invention of television, literally, having started on the tube in 1949.

Men are pretty much like furniture on soap operas. They just move around the women, who generally lead the stories. The men are usually like Kevin Kline in “Soapdish.” They get killed off, they come back even if they’re decapitated. On Sunday night Anthony Geary, who’s been on soaps for 40 years, won another Emmy. He plays Luke of the famous (from the 80s) Luke and Laura. Laura is frozen somewhere. Geary just keeps on going. It’s quite an achievement. He’s played every story you can imagine. And it never gets old.

My hat is off to all these people. They all keep straight faces. I just hope this isn’t the stuff they’ve been watching on Mars all this time.

Nirvana: Kurt Cobain Doc Filmmaker: “You can’t celebrate with this. There is a pall of sadness that hangs over it.”

Leah Sydney
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Nirvana: Kurt Cobain Doc Filmmaker: “You can’t celebrate with this. There is a pall of sadness that hangs over it.”

Frances Bean Cobain made a rare public appearance last week at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood for Brett Morgen’s compelling and haunting documentary, about France’s late father, “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck.” The film shows this week in New York and L.A., and on HBO on May 4th.

Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, famously killed himself in 1994 when Frances, his only child, was only 20 months old. At the Egyptian, Frances, a visual artist, took the stage in a Goth outfit–to the director’s surprise– after Morgen spoke to the audience. She eloquently told the crowd that, “When I first met Brett, I told him to do what he was going to do as a filmmaker, but to keep it honest. That trust and respect is priceless. This was a serious labor of love for him; it’s been eight years. That’s why I wanted to come up here. I thought I’d only see it once, but I’ve seen in six times. There are extremely dark parts, but this does provide Nirvana fans all over the world, about who he was without the romanticism. I didn’t know Kurt, but I feel he would have been proud of this film.”

At the after party I asked Morgen how he approached this weighty subject and all that goes with it.

“When I went into this film, I figured that it would be all Kurt, that there wouldn’t be interviews with anybody else,” the director said. “I realized I couldn’t do that, with the exception of Rolling Stone’s David Fricke’s interview, which runs through the movie. But in all the others, he was too distant. I kind of freaked out. I called my line producer and said how much money did we spend already? Cause I wanted to give the money back, it was six and a half years into the project. I wanted to stop it. I didn’t think we could do the film the way I envisioned it. I never experienced this as a filmmaker. It was a really tough time, because I was so into it. I was at a loss, I didn’t know how to make the film. Then I started to talk to the people in his life and it all came together.“

I told him he looked surprised when he saw Frances come up to the podium.

Brett replied, “I had no idea that Frances wanted to speak. Frances agreed from the beginning that she would take one picture backstage at the premiere of the film. That was her only obligation. Since she saw the film, within 10 minutes she tweeted it out and has been completely supportive ever since. When I first met Frances she took my hand and said, “ I just met you, but I already know you more than I know my father.” This film has been cathartic and therapeutic for both Frances and [her mother] Courtney [Love], and the relationship between them even with Frances and her father.”

I asked him what the biggest surprise for him was as a filmmaker?

He answered, “I had no idea at any point in making this film that Kurt connected with as many people around the globe than he did. That has been absolutely humbling. It’s a pretty aggressive movie and I thought it would be polarizing. But the response has been beyond what I ever expected. You make a movie like ‘The Avengers,’ and the film opens and you high five each other and drink champagne. You can’t celebrate with this. There is a pall of sadness that hangs over it. I’ve spent four months traveling with this film and every time the movie is over, people are quiet. As a filmmaker, when the credits come up people are just stunned.”

“Mad Men” Final Episode is Titled “Person to Person” as Sterling Cooper Wraps Up

Roger Friedman
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“Mad Men” Final Episode is Titled “Person to Person” as Sterling Cooper Wraps Up

May 17th: the final episode of my beloved “Mad Men” is titled “Person to Person.” The two episodes between now and then are called “Lost Horizon” and “The Milk and Honey Route.” (Maybe Don is opening an office in Israel.) Last night’s pivotal ep was called “Time and Life,” which referred to SCP leaving the Time Life building after all these years, and changes in the company’s– and personnel’s — time and life.

SPOILERS Bigger even than SCP being absorbed into McCann Erickson was Peggy’s admission to Stan that she had a baby and gave it up for adoption. Peggy and Pete also had a rare moment of connection. Will this be all we hear about that baby, who is now about 10 years old? Or will Matt Weiner do something else? Remember, in 1970, finding a baby or a biological parent was nearly impossible. So this may be the last word.

The five partners of SCP are going to McCann as top execs, but they’re not happy about it. This is the defeat of Sterling Cooper, as Pete says, “the only place I’ve ever worked.” Joan knows as a woman she will never be taken seriously by the chauvinistic executives who run the company. Lucky for her, wealthy Bruce Greenwood is coming to town. That marriage seems inevitable.

Roger worries that with the end of SCP the Sterling name will disappear. He reminds Don he only has a daughter, Margaret. What about his illegit son with Joan, little Kevin? Hmmmm…

Ken Cosgrove gets his revenge against Roger, refusing to bring Dow Chemical to an SCP West. This may have been his eye patch exit.

Ted is in love with an old girlfriend. He doesn’t say her name. Maybe it’s someone we know already. (Could be.) He ran into her on Third Avenue. Could it be Diana, the woman Don is searching for? Yes, Don is searching for “Di.” Could be short for death, or with Matt Weiner, “dayenu.”

And what of Don? His secretary reminds him that in two weeks he’ll have nowhere to live and no office. We know he has zero interest in going to McCann Erickson. Isn’t there a loop hole? Won’t he walk out of there with a bang? Stay tuned…

 

Mariah Carey’s “Infinity” Tells Nick Cannon “You Just Lost the Best You Ever Had”

Roger Friedman
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Mariah Carey’s “Infinity” Tells Nick Cannon “You Just Lost the Best You Ever Had”

I told you last week that Mariah Carey’s new song “Infinity” would be a hit. Great music and clever lyrics drive this single. Mariah tells someone– is it Nick Cannon?– to close the door, lose the key, leave my heart on the mat for me…” She also reminds him that “you just lost the best you ever had” and “everything you own boy you still owe…” Ouch!

keep refreshing…

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/mariah-carey/id91853

MARIAH CAREY

INFINITY

why you mad
talking bout you mad
could it be
that you just lost the best you ever had
that’s yo bag
yep that’s too bad
show is over you ain’t gotta act

name hold weight like kilos
boy you actin so corny like fritos
wouldn’t have none of that without me tho
ain’t none of my business this tea tho
outta ammo
gotta reload
if life was a game you a free throw
s’nothing that you don’t already know

close the door
lose the key
leave my heart on the mat for me
i was yours
eternally
there’s an end to infinity
to infinity

how I say this
fact that you still exist
no disrespect
on second thought it truly, truly is
truthfully I’m thru with this
why are we still doing this
answer the phone like who is this
take your head and knock some sense

you no comprehend
ain’t no compliments
ain’t no being friends
ain’t no false pretense
ain’t no make amends
ain’t no come agains
that’s the story ain’t no happy ends

close the door
lose the key
leave my heart on the mat for me
i was yours
eternally
there’s an end to infinity
to infinity

is it lack of ice got you so cold
have you ever felt this on your own?
while you trying to play like you’re so grown
everything you own boy you still owe

close the door
lose the key
leave my heart on the mat for me
i was yours
eternally
there’s an end to infinity
to infinity

Monty Python Weekend in NYC: Group Tells the Real Stories Behind Their Movies

Paula Schwartz
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Monty Python Weekend in NYC: Group Tells the Real Stories Behind Their Movies

The Monty Pythons took Manhattan this weekend and received a rock star reception. The British comedy troupe attended the Tribeca Film Festival to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the their classic, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” with a screening of the film and a Q&A moderated by HBO’s John Oliver that turned out as comic absurdist as their films.

The five surviving members of British comedy troupe – Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese and Terry Jones (Graham Chapman died at age 46 in 1989 of cancer) – now septuagenarians, still have their comic mojo and behave like total goofballs.

The fun began Friday morning at press conference for the Pythons at the SVA Theater on West 23d street. Entering the stage, Idle blurted, “Oh well! We’re in the wrong fucking theater!” Cleese did a dramatic pratfall as he walked into the theater and landed on Palin’s lap where he sat for a good five minutes.

They continued to get silly and giddy as they riffed on the past, favorite sketches and their 2014 reunion shows at London’s vast 02 Arena. The preparation and staging of their performance at the 02, which featured reunion shows some of their most famous skits – like the dead parrot routine – is the subject of the documentary, “Monty Python – The Meaning of Life,” which screened this weekend along with “Life of Brian.” The documentary is a total high, and proves wit and curiosity don’t have to fad with age. The doc’s catch phrase is, “One down and five to go.”

The full house at the Beacon Theater clapped and howled at every comic vignette in the film, which was a total joy to watch on a large screen in a theater as beautiful as the Beacon. The movie holds up well after four decades. King Arthur (Chapman) and his men pretend to ride horses, while a servant smacks coconuts together to imitate horses galloping. The routine is still hilarious even after you’ve seen it a dozen times. And the bloody attack of the killer bunnies that forces King Arthur and his men to retreat is still hysterical. On the red carpet outside the Beacon, Idle assured me that “no bunnies were hurt, only actors.”

The Pythonesque silliness was in full swing on the red carpet where the septuagenarians horsed around with journalists and each other.

Asked about the blood and gore in their films and if anyone did it as well today Idle replied, “Al Gore. He does it the best.” Idle patted Jones’s head and murmured, “This is my twin. We were separated by birth … and rather badly.” He swaying slightly, “Also we should never have stopped for the beer.”

They look like they still have a blast performing together, so why stage these reunions every two years I asked Idle? “Every three months we’ve decided, “ Idle replied. “We’re going to take the bus on the road again, very soon.”

Asked about how being a Python helped his career, Gilliam noted, ““It taught me never to work with the other Pythons,” Gilliam said. “That was the most important thing in my career because they were obviously holding me back for all those years. Luckily once I got away from them my career shot up.”

At one point Cleese stuck his eye against a camera lens and peered at the cameraman on the other side, who tried to focus on his job but cracked up. Soon after that a publicist corralled all the Pythons to take them inside for the screening.

What followed the screening was less a Q&A than a Pythonesque free-for all, manic and magical. Behaving like rambunctious school children on a sugar high. Idle and Jones switched chairs. Cleese wandered around the stage and disappeared. Gilliam made fart noises into the microphone.

Off the bat Oliver asked the Pythons why they thought “The Holy Grail” lasted so well after four decades, “other than being f….g great?”

Palin replied, “Probably that’s the only reason… it’s just f….g great!”

When the film came out in New York they had an unusual advertising campaign Idle recalled. “We had a guy go down here in New York walking around as a knight.” He was tailed by someone who “clicked coconuts and held a banner that said ‘Come see Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The first 1000 customers will be given free coconuts,’” Idle said. “They all turned up!”

“For ‘Life of Brian’ did you give out free nails?” asked Oliver. “It was a free bris,” Idle replied.

Asked about preparations at their 2014 reunion show at the massive 02 Arena, Cleese mentioned Eddie Izzard saw the show 6 or 7 times. The Pythons messed up their sketches and when Izzard came backstage Cleese apologized. “The audiences have seen you doing the sketches correctly. It’s much more fun when you f…k it up,” Izzard said. “We f…d it up every night,” said Cleese.

Oliver read written questions from the audience, which turned out to be duds.

“There’s a question here from Stacy,” read Oliver. “Which Python will live the longest?”

“Which Python has the longest?” Idle pretended he didn’t hear the question correctly.

The audience laughed for five minutes.

Oliver read another question. “Which one of you is Michael Palin?” He looked up. “That’s a genuine question here.” He lambasted the audience for their “shit” questions.

Idle replied, “The answer is… me.”

Oliver read off a few more “shit” questions from the audience and then hustled off the stage to see if he could do better by going up the aisles. He didn’t succeed, but the Pythons riffed, played musical chairs, made farting noises.

Cleese got up and walked off stage. “He’s walking down Columbus Avenue, speaking into the microphone still,” said Oliver a few minutes after Cleese’s exit.

.

When Cleese returned he had an extra chair. The Pythons shifted positions on the stage again. Cleese shoved the whole top of the microphone into his mouth and nearly sat on Oliver’s lap, who deadpanned, “You’ve always had a fundamental, healthy disrespect for authority.”

Palin told the audience the “Ni” sounds the knights make in “The Holy Grail” are based on the sound his high school teacher made every time he located a book in the library. Some years later he ran into the teacher who asked if the noise the knights made in the film was inspired by his “ni” sounds in the library. “’No, not at all,’ I told him and he said, ‘What a pity. I loved them,’” said Palin.

Oliver brought up the rumors in the English tabloids that the Pythons don’t get along. “It’s almost as if people don’t understand how comedians talk to each other,” that they “take the shit out of each other out of respect,” said Oliver.

Idle replied, “That’s always been true of us.” He noted that when they were writing the script for “Life of Brian” in Barbados, one day at breakfast there were some black birds singing. “Michael, you said, ‘There’s some were some blackbirds singing. And he said, ‘Good morning, black bird.’ And I said, ‘Good morning white c…t!’” We always had a go at each other. It’s more healthy than saying, ‘I think you’re so lovely, I think you’re just adorable…you c-t.’”

After the laughing died down, a member of the audience asked if they ever discussed another ending for “The Holy Grail.” Palin replied, “There are about seven endings” already.

Idle added, “We could never do endings. My daughter hates me forever cause of that ending. She said, ‘Is that the ending?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I wrote it.’ Her comment was, “That was shit!’

A woman in the audience asked if they could share their fondest memory of George Harrison.

“I think she’s trying to make you cry,” Oliver said.

Idle recalled meeting Harrison at the end of a screening with Terry Gilliam of “The Holy Grail” at the Directors Guild in Hollywood. “He suddenly showed up at the end, said, ”I’m Georgie, I really loved that. Do you want to go and have a reefer in the screening room?” He added, “We went off from there for two or three days I think.”

Harrison later put up five millions dollars of his own money to get “Life of Brian” made. He mortgaged his house. When Idle asked Harris why he would do that, Harrison replied, “Well, you now, I just wanted to see it.”

Idle’s Liverpool accent was spot on.

Another hand raised in the audience. “A question from an American blond John hasn’t married,” Idle cracked. Cleese has married and divorced three times, two of them Americans.

What comedy did they find funny today someone asked?

Idle and Jones said they liked “Silicon Valley” and “Veep.”

Someone else asked if there was anything in ‘The Holy Grail,” they wished they could change?

“The title,” Cleese cracked.

After a few more dud questions from the audience, Oliver scrambled back on stage for one final observation about the Pythons.

“Look, we’ve established there’s nothing less funny than sincerity but you’re the f…g greatest!”

 

Photo c2015 Showbiz411 by Paula Schwartz

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