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Radio City Spring Spectacular Is Finally Exactly That, Thanks to Harvey Weinstein

Roger Friedman
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Radio City Spring Spectacular Is Finally Exactly That, Thanks to Harvey Weinstein

You want bang for your buck? We got it last night at the opening of Radio City’s Spring Spectacular starring Laura Benanti, Derek Hough, Lenny Wolpe, and the Rockettes. Wow. In a word, wow. This is not supposed to be Sondheim, or even a subtle Broadway musical. It’s called a “spectacular” for a reason. It’s for tourists, and it’s for families. It’s supposed to be big and brassy, outsized in every way. You were looking for “Into the Woods”? It’s not here.

The Spectacular is just that: set after set of huge pieces that fill Radio City’s block long stage. Grand Central, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Yankee Stadium, the main Library, Times Square, the Metropolitan Museum– complete with paintings and the outside fountain– all the New York icons are reproduced sort of stunningly, with 3D effects and amazing videography.

The show is purposely interactive and ornamented with references to things kid will understand while at the same time occasionally wink-winking to the parents. The story is simple and convoluted at the same time. Derek Hough (known to all from “Dancing with the Stars”) is an Angel sent to Earth to stop billionaire businesswoman Jenna– played by Broadway and “Nashville” favorite Laura Benanti– from turning the city into a digital ruin.

Also involved in this is Bernie, played lovingly by Lenny Wolpe. He’s sold his tour company to Jenna, who plans to make him into an avatar.  He’s going to convince her not to do all these terrible things by showing her the sights of New York. There’s a nod to Easter, but this show is the “Spring Spectacular,” not the Easter show. Still, the Easter segment is grand.

This is a HUGE show by all means. Many millions have spent on the technical stuff, particularly life like robotics that are kind of jaw dropping. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler voice the lions that sit outside of the 42nd St. library. They, like some others I won’t reveal, are just great.

As for the actors: Laura Benanti can do anything. She’s beautiful, smart, has the most enchanting voice, and even dances. You almost wish she were in a “real” Broadway musical, but this will do. She lights up the stage. Derek Hough is a capable dancer, with a big following. Acting is not his strong suit, but he’s not required to do a lot of that. Lenny Wolpe makes up for that as Bernie. He’s so ingratiating you almost want him to end up with Jenna. And then there’s tap dancing great Jared Grimes, who’s worth almost the whole ticket. Keep your eye on him.

Is this theater? In a way. It’s entertainment. That’s all the Radio City shows are supposed to be. In that it succeeds. Harvey Weinstein stepped into produce the show this year when Cablevision’s Jim Dolan asked for help. I think they’ve come up with a winner. And when the story arrives in Times Square, it’s pretty clever how they’ve positioned some sponsors, and Weinstein’s “Finding Neverland” on the set as product plugs. This is not, let us remember, a charity.

In the audience last night, an eclectic group: everyone from comedian Robert Klein to Gayle King, Regis and Joy Philbin, Donald Trump (who’s in the show– don’t ask), Clive Davis, actress Patricia Clarkson, Liv Tyler and “Downton Abbey” escapee Dan Stevens.

 

 

Jay Z Launches Tidal Streaming Hi Def Music Service Today

Roger Friedman
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Jay Z Launches Tidal Streaming Hi Def Music Service Today

Jay Z is launching his streaming music service, called Tidal, on March 30th in the US. This is the service I told you he successfully bought from Swedish investors. Then, on the Friday before the Grammy Awards, Jay summoned a bunch of contemporary stars to a private meeting in Pasadena to discuss Tidal and how they could participate. That group included Madonna and Kanye West, Daft Punk, wife Beyonce, Chris Martin and others.

Read: http://www.showbiz411.com/2015/03/13/exclusive-jay-z-had-secret-pow-wow-with-music-superstars-including-beyonce-madonna-kanye-coldplay-to-start-renegade-streaming-service

“American Idol” Ratings Collapse Without “Empire” As Bait– Significantly Off as Contest Narrows

Roger Friedman
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“American Idol” Ratings Collapse Without “Empire” As Bait– Significantly Off as Contest Narrows

You’d think that as the contest narrows and the singers are zeroing in on the end,  “American Idol” would increase its ratings. It was doing a little better for a while.

But now, with “Empire” gone as its follow up, “Idol” is in trouble. Last night they scored a mere 8.34 million total viewers, and a 1.7 in the key demo.

Just two weeks ago, with “Empire” at its zenith, “Idol” had almost 10 million viewers and a 2.7 in the key demo.

Where did everyone go? It seems like the “Idol” viewers were just waiting around for “Empire” and now that it’s gone, so are they.

And it’s too bad because there are good contestants this season. But the party may be over.

 

“Downton Abbey” Will End With The Next Season

Roger Friedman
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“Downton Abbey” Will End With The Next Season

“Downton Abbey” is coming to an end. The PBS phenom will have one last season that broadcasts this fall in the UK and in January 2016 here.

Here’s the official statement:

“Millions of people around the world have followed the journey of the Crawley family and those who serve them for the last five years,” said executive producer Gareth Neame. “Inevitably there comes a time when all shows should end and Downton is no exception. We wanted to close the doors of Downton Abbey when it felt right and natural for the storylines to come together and when the show was still being enjoyed so much by its fans. We can promise a final season full of all the usual drama and intrigue, but with the added excitement of discovering how and where they all end up…”

The story of the Crawleys will come to an end in 1925, when the 20s are still roaring and no one knows the bad things that are coming in just a few years. You can sort of guess what will happen: Matthew Goode’s Henry Talbott will marry Lady Mary, Maggie Smith’s Violet will make one more nasty quip and her servants will kill her; Edith will move to London with Marigold and take many lovers; Branson will return from Boston married to someone named Bouvier or Fitzgerald; Rose will come back from New York now as an Orthodox Jew. Downton will be carved up into small lots, with Lord Grantham selling used cars.

How will PBS keep people from watching the UK feed? No one’s going to wait for January.

Hyatt Hotel Heir’s $100 Million Never Seen, Unfinished Jazz Movie Re-shooting Again This Spring

Roger Friedman
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Hyatt Hotel Heir’s $100 Million Never Seen, Unfinished Jazz Movie Re-shooting Again This Spring

You wouldn’t think this is possible. But Dan Pritzker’s $100 million jazz movie “Bolden!” is re-shooting again. Pritzker is from the Hyatt Hotels family and has money to burn. In the mission of making his epic masterpiece, a “Citizen Kane” of jazz, he’s spent well over $100 million to make a movie about obscure jazz legend Buddy Bolden.

Originally, Anthony Mackie starred as Bolden. He shot an entire movie with Pritzer. But then Pritzker took so long to put the movie together– and then didn’t like it–that Mackie was too old to come back for re-shoots. So Pritzker started all over again, this time with Gary Carr, the actor who played the jazz musician in “Downton Abbey.”

Now Pritzker is looking for an actor to play the older Buddy Bolden. Instead of getting a great makeup artist, Pritzker is looking for someone who resembles Carr at age 65. If they find the actor, he’ll play a scene in which Buddy Bolden is an insane asylum. Sounds like fun!

The “Bolden!” adventure began in 2007, when George W. Bush was president of the United States and “Empire” was just a diner on the West Side. In June 2014, I told you that Pritzker–whose cousin Gigi Pritzker has made 15 movies since then ranging from good (Rabbit Hole, Way Way Back) to the awful (Mortdecai) to the well intended (Rosewater)– was looking for actresses who had a  “fearless acceptance of full nudity” “simulated sex acts.”

I guess to be admired is Dan Pritzker’s persistence. Maybe this is how the pyramids were built.

 

 

Exclusive: Viola Davis On Break from “Murder” Will Play Judge in James Lapine Film

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Viola Davis On Break from “Murder” Will Play Judge in James Lapine Film

How to get away with making a movie during hiatus: much awarded actress (two Tonys, one SAG Award) Viola Davis is jumping back into movies before she returns to Shonda Rhimes’s hit show. She’s going to star in “Custody,” directed by James Lapine, the famed author of “Into the Woods.”

Lapine has not directed a feature film since the clever Michael J. Fox film “Life with Mikey” back in 1993. But he’s been steady winner and nominee at the Tony Awards over the last 30 years. He also won the Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for writing “Sunday in the Park with George” for Stephen Sondheim.

Davis is enmeshed in nefarious activities on “Murder,” but she’s going to get a change of pace in “Custody.” She plays Judge Martha Sherman, who presides over the custody case of a young woman (Catalina Sandino Moreno, Oscar nominee for “Maria Full of Grace”) trying to keep her children. Casting has begun to put together the large cast, including the judge’s husband.

Lauren Versel and Katie Mustard are producing with Davis’s production company, Juvee, run by the star’s astute husband Julius Tennon. Juvee has a lot of other projects coming, including one for Davis to play beloved Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

I’m for anything with Viola Davis. She’s in the Top Five of all actresses anywhere.

Coyote Ugly: Real Coyote Pelts Cover Chairs at Luxe New Baccarat Hotel, $900 Drinks at Bar

Roger Friedman
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Coyote Ugly: Real Coyote Pelts Cover Chairs at Luxe New Baccarat Hotel, $900 Drinks at Bar

Is it 1985 all over again? Luxe is back in Manhattan, the over the top gross kind that led to the 1987 stock market crash and a whole re-thinking of our lives.

Luxe is certainly back at the new Baccarat Hotel, into which I stumbled yesterday. Owned by the people who make the crystal, this amazing ode to opulence features $20 million in Baccarat crystal chandeliers and other pieces.

But what stands out in the massive lounge and lobby area on the second floor are a dozen or chairs covered in coyote. I do not mean faux coyote. I mean, real coyote pelts, whole ones, like you’re sitting on a full sized coyote’s fur.

Creepy? Yes. And not just because of animal rights. First of all while the pelts are soft, the chairs are hard. It’s not so comfortable. Second, yes, ok, the idea of sitting on a murdered animal in this way is even different than, say, sitting on a leather couch. Leather is at least processed and tooled, tanned, etc. This is really like sitting on an animal sans his body.

I asked someone who worked for the hotel about this. “Well, coyotes aren’t so nice,” he said.

In the bar, where the gigantic Baccarat chandeliers hang, I asked a woman who was sitting with friends what she thought about all this. She told me that Baccarat is going to open another hotel in Manhattan “that’s all green, and very PC. This one, though, I imagine that PETA is coming any minute.”

The Baccarat Hotel is on West 53rd St. between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has a recessed entrance, and a fire burning next to its door in a set back window. There’s no name, and no flags. The smallest rooms start at $814.

The real affront is that the hotel took the place of the 53rd Street Library, a popular branch of the NYPL. Under an agreement with the city, Baccarat is adding a tiny version of the old branch downstairs and next door.

Meanwhile upstairs, they’re serving a two ounce glass of Macallan M single malt scotch for $900– Nine hundred dollars, yes. So far, says the bartender, no one’s ordered it. But the hotel has only been open one week.

Just the idea of someone sipping a $900 drink on a dead coyote is hilarious and awful and completely detestable. And that this replaced a building of ideas makes it all the worse. But this is what life was like in the mid 80s. People have short memories.

photo of Coyote chair c2015 Showbiz411

Elton John and Aretha Franklin Have the Same Birthday, Of Course

Roger Friedman
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Elton John and Aretha Franklin Have the Same Birthday, Of Course

There must be some special magic set aside in heaven for March 25th. Both Elton John and Aretha Franklin were born on this day. Kind of amazing! Happy birthday to both of these great, ageless musical geniuses!

To honor Aretha, pick up a copy of her Divas album. For Sir Elton, make a donation to the Elton John AIDS Foundation. And listen to good music all day long!

 

Debbie Harry, 69, Shows Madonna, 56, How to Age Gracefully with Cabaret Debut

Roger Friedman
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Debbie Harry, 69, Shows Madonna, 56, How to Age Gracefully with Cabaret Debut

Debbie Harry, aka Deborah Harry, is going to be 70 years old on July 1st. She could teach a thing or two to Madonna, who’ll be 57 this summer, about aging gracefully and still appealing to fans of all ages.

Last night, Debbie opened her first ever cabaret stint at the Cafe Carlyle, legendary home of the late Bobby Short and Elaine Stritch (and where the cheesecake melts in your mouth). The frontwoman for Blondie appeared only with a keyboardist/programmer/guitarist named Matt Katz-Bohen, who works on and off with Blondie. Debbie, with those stunning cheek bones and a full mane of blonde hair, wore a simple long back skirt, pleated, and a chic black jacket. Otherwise it was just her voice, and the smallest room she’s worked in since CBGB back in the day.

The trick to Debbie’s set, which excluded all Blondie hits, was a repertoire of songs pulled from later, less well known solo albums and the last, forgotten Blondie CD (which was excellent but murdered by its distributor). Her dreamy, ethereal voice, which sometimes finds unexpected deepness, was in fine form.  So was the singer, who has a natural nonchalance, and quick irreverence. With so many hits and many cult followings, Debbie Harry has nothing to prove. And yet she proved a lot.

Debbie is an astute curator of songs. She offered a couple of her minor solo hits– “French Kissing in the USA” and “In Love with Love,” as well as “Strike Me Pink” (which someone should cover again– it’s a really good single). Did you know “French Kissing” was written by TV Producer Chuck Lorre when he was known as Chuck Levine? Really.

She told the audience, “We’ve been rehearsing a lot, I’m a little rough around the edges.” Nonsense. Harry has a nice, effortless quality that will serve her well during her Carlyle run. I wouldn’t mind going back in a few days to see how she’s doing. I really enjoyed a song called “Kiss and Tell,” and another one called “Lucky Jim,” which she explained was not named for Kingsley Amis’s novel. There was also a clever and poignant medley of “I Cover the Waterfront” mashed up with Moby’s “New York, New York.”

Harry stayed away from Blondie, although I might suggest one or two songs from that catalog. Julia Fordham recently turned “Call Me” into a slow jazz number; Harry could try it. And “Sunday Girl” seems like the perfect cabaret song. But it’s her choice, and she could teach a few things to Madonna– whom she preceded by many years as the Queen of Downtown music–how to age and get away with it: Keep it simple, and aim to your peers. Debbie Harry sings and speaks from a reality and honesty; you get it right away. There’s no artifice. I’ll bet we hear an album connected to this show in the near future. It would be welcome.

 

photo c2015 Showbiz411

Madonna “Rebel Heart” Drops 80% in Second Week– Second Biggest Chart Fall

Roger Friedman
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Madonna “Rebel Heart” Drops 80% in Second Week– Second Biggest Chart Fall

Madonna didn’t beat herself this week. Her “Rebel Heart” dropped 80% in its second week on the charts, falling from number 2 to number 16. “Rebel Heart” sold 22,800 copies the week after its debut. When it launched, it sold around 120,00 copies. Her last album, “MDNA” had an 86% drop in its second week. So it’s a win-lose situation. This is the second biggest chart drop. On this week’s hitsdailydouble chart, Luke Bryan’s latest album dropped 63%

“Rebel Heart” suffers from the same problem as its recent predecessors– no hit single. The songs are good, and well produced. But no one’s looking for a hit. Madonna was once queen of the pop singles. But that’s when she had real tunesmiths writing for her. I heard her tell Howard Stern that she didn’t go back to songwriters like Billy Steinberg and Tom   Kelly, who wrote “Like a Virgin” because she didn’t like their other songs. How utterly ridiculous. They had a dozen other hits without Madonna.

But gone gone gone are Patrick Leonard, Steven Bray, William Orbit, and all the people who made hits for Madonna. In their place now are production teams who come and go, and have no vested interest in her success. They are also not radio friendly. After Daft Punk did so well with Nile Rodgers, who produced “Like a Virgin,” she should have asked him to come back. “Rebel Heart” has interesting lyrics, but you can’t sing along or dance to them.

Madonna’s total sales this week were 24,761. On the total chart, including all streaming etc, she finished at number 19.

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