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Harrison Ford Plane Crash Irony: Spielberg Announces New Movie Simultaneously, Written by Star’s Ex Wife

Roger Friedman
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Harrison Ford Plane Crash Irony: Spielberg Announces New Movie Simultaneously, Written by Star’s Ex Wife

The timing could not be stranger. At the same moment that Harrison Ford crashed his plane near Santa Monica Airport, a press release of unusual coincidence was issued.

Steven Spielberg, Ford’s friend, director and close ally in the movie business, announced he was making a new movie written by Melissa Mathison. Spielberg and Mathison last worked together 32 years ago, on the classic “ET: The Extra Terrestrial.”

At the time, Ford and Mathison were engaged; they married in 1983. Ford makes a cameo in “ET” as Elliot’s teacher, although we never see his face.

Ford and Mathison later divorced, with Mathison receiving a reported $90 million. Eight years later, Ford married actress Calista Flockhart.

But a weird juxtaposition. Spielberg and Mathison never collaborated again after “ET.” Today was the first time their names have been linked in three decades. The new movie is called “BFG” and it’s based on a book by Roald Dahl. The funding comes from Walden Media, owned by Philip Anschutz, a well known conservative compared to Spielberg’s liberal leanings.

Meantime, everyone sends prayers for a speedy recovery to Ford, who is still getting over a broken leg he suffered while shooting the new “Star Wars” movie.

TV Ratings: “American Idol” Down 22 Percent Despite Royal Visit from Aretha Franklin

Roger Friedman
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TV Ratings: “American Idol” Down 22 Percent Despite Royal Visit from Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin opened last night’s “American Idol” live from Detroit, and she should have stayed for the whole hour. Despite the royal blessing from the Queen of Soul, “Idol” slipped 22 percent from last week, finishing with a 2.1 in the key demo and just 8.75 million total viewers. Wednesdays are usually Idol’s good day, too. Last night’s show featured the 8 top male singers. Tonight it’s the 8 top female singers.

And Miss Franklin? That voice. Wow. She sang loops around “I Will Survive” and she looked great. Rock on Aretha! Aretha is on the road this month, playing shows in Newark and Bridgeport. Plus she celebrates her birthday in style, as usual, on March 25th!

photo c2015 Showbiz411

LA Theatre: Robards and Burton, Second Generation Theater Royalty, Soar in Arthur Miller’s “The Price”

Leah Sydney
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LA Theatre: Robards and Burton, Second Generation Theater Royalty, Soar in Arthur Miller’s “The Price”

There’s nothing worse for an actor (or anybody) to have your work compared to your parents’. But it’s a thrilling coincidence that the talented adult children of Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall, and Richard Burton, are giving knockout performances this month at Los Angeles’s Mark Taper Forum. Sam Robards and Kate Burton triumph on their own in Arthur Miller’s 1967 play “The Price.”

Los Angeles theatergoers are lucky enough to still be able to catch the ‘The Price,’ which runs until March 22nd. Garry Hyne’s production is a robust, humorous and heartbreaking play. The story is about two estranged brothers, one a policeman who sacrificed his scientific career to care for their father whose life was ruined in the 1929 stock crash, the other a successful surgeon who forged ahead on his own path.

The setting is in the attic of the family brownstone in Manhattan, which is about to be torn down, filled with outdated furniture. The cast is top notch, led by the talented Robards, who gives a complex, anguished performance as Victor, the Policeman who lives in duty, regret and what could have been. The powerful Robards is on stage the entire play and is riveting.

Victor hires Solomon, delightfully played by Alan Mandell, who is an 89-year-old furniture appraiser who has seen it all and provides the wisdom needed as well as the most welcome comic relief.

Kate Burton– whom audiences probably now know better from “Grey’s Anatomy” than from her wonderful theater resume– plays Victor’s long suffering wife Esther. Burton invests the character with compassion, anger, wit and more; this gifted actress always shines.

The other brother, Walter, skillfully played by the polished John Bedford Lloyd, joins them and calls his brother out on his version of their checkered family history. Robards is revelatory throughout, and especially in the second act, when the dust really flies, he is superb. Miller’s ‘The Price,’ is a constant, rewarding haunting kick in the gut theatrical experience.

“YMCA”: Jury Restores Valuable Copyright to Proper Writers, Drops Long Time Credited Co-Author

Roger Friedman
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“YMCA”: Jury Restores Valuable Copyright to Proper Writers, Drops Long Time Credited Co-Author

EXCLUSIVE “YMCA,” a song with many meanings and popular as a mainstream sports arena singalong, has been restored to its proper authors. Since it appeared in 1977, “YMCA” has always had three listed authors– Jacques Morali, Victor Willis, and Henry Bololo.
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But yesterday, after a two week jury trial in San Diego federal district court, Bololo was removed from the copyright. Willis now shares “YMCA” 50-50 with Morali. Attorney Brian Caplan, who handles many intellectual property cases, represented Willis, an original member of the Village People. In addition to “YMCA,” Willis regained half ownership in eleven other songs.

For almost 40 years Bololo maintained that “YMCA” was one of several French songs he repurposed. But after two weeks of testimony, a jury decided that Morali wrote the music and Willis penned the now famous lyrics. The decision, going forward, is worth millions according to Caplan.

“Fish in the Dark” on Broadway: Larry David 7 Years Older than Actress Playing His Mother

Roger Friedman
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“Fish in the Dark” on Broadway: Larry David 7 Years Older than Actress Playing His Mother

Larry David’s Fish in the Dark opens Thursday night on Broadway. It’s all sold out, so there’s no question it’s a financial hit. A critical hit? We’ll see. There are a lot of laughs, but “Fish in the Dark” plays like three episodes of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” woven into one. It works– the final tapestry is one piece– but its seaworthiness as a piece of drama with a capital D is yet to be decided.

One thing worth noting: Larry’s mother in the play is veteran actress Jane Houdyshell. The producers have tried to make her look older. But in real life Houdyshell is 60. Larry Davis is 67. And unless things have changed since the first preview, Larry looks older than Houdyshell, hands down.

But that’s the craziness of “Fish in the Dark.” Ben Shenkman plays Larry’s brother. That’s a stretch, since Shenkman is 46. He looks more like Larry’s son from the audience. Does it matter? No, since the “Seinfeld” and “Curb” fans are there for Larry. These inconsistencies go by the wayside.

I do hope Rita Wilson is cited in the reviews. At first you think she’s playing “Cheryl” from “Curb.” But she’s quite distinctly herself and very very funny. The big surprise of “Fish” is that Wilson may find herself much in demand for Broadway roles. She’s a natural Neil Simon actress, for instance.

The age thing, by the way, is not new. On soap operas, the actors playing parents and children can be as little as ten years apart. On “I Love Lucy,” Vivian Vance was younger than Lucille Ball. But Lucy and Desi wanted Ethel to look older than Lucy, so they dressed her matronly, and made sure she Vance weighed more.

Madonna Gives Kabbalah Center $1.25Mil, More Entrenched Than Ever in Religious Group

Roger Friedman
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Madonna Gives Kabbalah Center $1.25Mil, More Entrenched Than Ever in Religious Group

Madonna’s annual charitable contributions have finally been posted for 2013. Madge is more entrenched than ever with the kooky Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles. Despite numerous scandals and complaints, including the mismanagement of Madonna’s Raising Malawi charity, Madonna gave the cult-like religious group $1.25 million in 2013 from her Ray of Light Foundation.

Madonna made so much money in 2013 that she was able to put $6.5 million into her tax free foundation. Total assets are now $13.6 million. A total of $2.25 mil went to charity including the massive donation to Kabbalah. This is important to remember when you’re giving Madonna money for music or concerts. This is what she’s doing with it.

At least from the Ray of Light Foundation, Madonna gave no money to African causes, or to AIDs organizations.

Her second biggest donation was $471.761 to a New York based charity called Women Deliver. BuildOn in Stamford Connecticut received $218,000. They build schools around the world. It’s a better way of dealing with her interests than the run-amok Raising Malawi, a Kabbalah venture. Another $100,00 went to Americans for Peace Now, a group that lobbies for peace in the Mid East.

One really weird irony: Madonna gave $50,000 to a group in Traverse City, Michigan called On the Ground. I thought it might be because it’s her hometown, and her brother roams around there homeless. Turns out the group is just based there. They help with farming in Ethiopia and Palestine.

Dame Judi Dench, 79, Saves A Second Best Marigold Hotel in More Ways than One

Roger Friedman
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Dame Judi Dench, 79, Saves A Second Best Marigold Hotel in More Ways than One

It was Dame Judi Dench to the rescue last night for the premiere of what is aptly called “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” Dame Judi, who suffers from macular degeneration, came to New York for the premiere at the Ziegfeld even though there was rain, show, sleet and nothing to eat.

Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton couldn’t make it because they’re shooting the new season of “Downton Abbey.” Many of the others were on stage in various places, like David Straithairn, who’s in Philadelphia doing Chekhov. (He told me so in the grocery store last week.) But Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, and Richard Gere were there, so that made up for it. Also, the Oscar winning director John Madden, who’s always a delight to see, and Ol Parker, who wrote the screenplay for Marigold I and II.

The only celebrity outside of the cast who braved the weather was Trudie Styler, just back from visiting husband Sting on his Australian tour with Paul Simon, and a side trip to Tasmania.

Dench came with her boyfriend (he’s 71, but what do you say? manfriend?), who’s very nice and protective and is a good guide through all the crowds she must navigate. Dame Judi has not one but two films coming in 2015– “Tulip Fever,” and “Esio Trot” (which is “tortoise” spelled backwards) with Dustin Hoffman.

The problem with these sequels is that they are not stand alone movies. “Exotic” 2.0 picks up where the first stopped. The characters are all well known, and loved, so it’s not difficult jumping in with them. Madden keeps the action lively, considering the average age is 70, and finds nice moments, of course, for everyone.

Because he’s worked often with Dame Judi, you can see the two of them know what they’re doing. Dench’s yearning romance with Nighy’s character is easily the best expressed and most honest in the film. For a woman who says she can’t see, Dame Judi has the most expressive eyes in show business.

I always think that the first movie was a big hit. Internationally, yes, it made $90 million. But here in the US it was only $46 million. I suppose that will be a similar situation this time around. Ol Parker tells me this is the last installment, and I think that’s wise.

The big star of this film is India. The filmmakers have produced a travelogue that would make you think the whole country has been tidied up by a lovely housekeeper so that it resembles a spa.


Photo: Paula Schwartz c2015 Showbiz411

Paul McCartney, the Great Beatle, Guest Stars on Kanye West Record with “N Word” Repeated 45 Times

Roger Friedman
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Paul McCartney, the Great Beatle, Guest Stars on Kanye West Record with “N Word” Repeated 45 Times

What do I do with this story? Paul McCartney, our beloved Beatle, has made a terrible choice. He’s appearing on a new single in which Kanye West says the “N” word 45 times. The record is called “All Day” and McCartney appears out of nowhere, for no reason, whistling and then playing a snippet of another song. Then “All Day” returns to its to its main theme of repeating the “N Word.”

Why is McCartney involved in this? First he was somehow involved in Kanye’s odd auto tuned ballad called “Only One.” Then he played guitar but didn’t sing on the Kanye-Rihanna single “FourFiveSeconds,” a catchy ditty he obviously wrote since West is not capable of authoring a melody. Now this episode, and it’s unfortunate. A Beatle and the “N” have no business being together anywhere. McCartney is usually smarter than this; he’s undermining a brand he’s worked on for almost 60 years.

McCartney doesn’t need the money. He doesn’t need to be “hip.” I’m very disappointed. Very bad choice.
PS It occurred to me after I posted that McCartney may think this is ok because John Lennon once sang “Woman is the “N” of the World.” It’s not.

WARNING turn the sound down in a public place:

Post by Bilal Harami.

Meryl Streep Drives Herself to Paul Newman Charity Show Featuring Her, Hanks, Clooney, More

Roger Friedman
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Meryl Streep Drives Herself to Paul Newman Charity Show Featuring Her, Hanks, Clooney, More

So how does Meryl Streep get to the Paul Newman charity show at Lincoln Center Monday Night? She joined Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Natalie Cole, Carole King, Aloe Blacc, Danny DeVito, David Letterman and Shaffer by driving herself in from Connecticut, and driving back. No assistant, no driver, no chauffeur. In fact, I’m told no one brought an entourage to the remarkable show produced by famed impresario Lou Adler for Newman’s SeriousFun (formerly the Hole in the Wall Camps) at Avery Fisher Hall.

Yours truly bought a cheap ticket to the show because the publicist said all the press seats had been given away. So how funny was it when I scoped out those seats and there were three, all empty, off the center aisle, row R? Did I move down from the heavens? You bet. I didn’t want to miss a thing. And the ticket fee? Well worth it as a donation to the camps started by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward more than 40 years ago.

Streep kicked off the show, making introductions, etc., reminding everyone that his year Newman, a movie icon and philanthropist, would have turned 90! Ninety! Streep was followed by a smattering of Serious Fun kids, performing Katy Perry’s “Roar” like professionals.

This is where Mr. Entertainment himself, Tom Hanks, the Mayor of Entertainmentland, stepped in and took over. He read a long poignant letter from one mother, then mixed and mingled with kids on stage with incredible ease. The kids are amazing, of course, all suffering from chronic diseases, all thriving because of the network of camps around the world.

During the hour and forty five minute show, we heard Carole King — singing better than ever, like it was 1976 all over again– with new soul sensation Aloe Blacc. King sang “Child of Mine” and played “Beautiful” on the piano, accompanying herself. Later she and Blacc turned out a “You’ve Got a Friend” that was so exciting and soulful that Carole was grinning from ear to ear as Blacc did his best Donny Hathaway.

A total surprise in the middle of the show: David Letterman and Paul Shaffer, maybe introducing their new post- Late Night routine. Dave did some very funny stand up, then he and Paul pulled off a musical top 10 list of parody songs written for Paul Newman movies.

More music– from opera great Renee Fleming, and from Natalie Cole, who turned the place out with a rare rendition of “This Will Be.” (Natalie’s making some nice coin from that song as it’s licensed to eHarmony dating for commercials.)

Yes, there’s a wonderful video from Robert Redford about his long friendship with Newman, and their charitable work, and how they made “Butch Cassidy.” Two of the kids sing– Graham O’Shaunhessy has a rich baritone voice. Sixteen year old Gavyn Bailey confidently leads a bunch of kids through “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.”

And finally it’s George Clooney. Making a speech about the camps and all the countries from a Teleprompter, he fumbles, recovers– about the number of countries in the world– and quips, “My wife is the smart one in the family.” He gets the biggest laugh of the night.

Remember– I’m not even supposed to be there. But at the cocktail party in Avery Fisher Hall, I chat with Adler, who did a superlative job. He produced “Monterey Pop” in 1968, gave us the Mamas and the Papas, and Carole King’s run of hit albums from 1970-77, and delivered “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” to the world. His son, Cisco Adler, just produced the new Cody Simpson album.

Lou told me he is going to release some “Rocky Horror” 40th anniversary outtakes, and a new DVD of recently discovered Carole King performances from Central Park, 1973. He put Aloe Blacc with King last night and found magic. ALoe Blacc, who I keep running into, is going to really break big in 2015. Did he and Carole rehearse? “Oh yes,” he said, shaking his head. “I asked for a lot of rehearsal. She’s one of my idols.”

We end the evening meeting 12 year old Cassidy Reynolds and her mom, Shannon, from Seattle. Cassidy is a product of the Seattle camp, Camp Korey, where she’s a superstar. She suffers from a rare form of dwarfism, her mom says. This will not stop Cassidy, who should have already been a guest on Ellen DeGeneres and wants to meet Jimmy Fallon. She is precocious beyond her years, a dynamo. She wants to have a career– now- as an inspirational speaker.

From behind her big glasses, flashing an endless smile, Cass looks around the room and says, “I’m on celebrity overload.”

Me, too. And I wasn’t even supposed to be there.

UPDATE II: Will Smith “Focus” Did Less Well Than Previously Thought: $18.6 Mil

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE II: Will Smith “Focus” Did Less Well Than Previously Thought: $18.6 Mil

“Focus,” the Will Smith movie that already was thought to have underperformed, did worse than we thought. Paramount gave an estimate of $19.1 million for Friday- Sunday. But “Focus” came in at $18.6 million. Remember, most of the trades and the prognosticators were putting it at $20, $21 million. Not even close. “Focus” is probably very weak going into week 2. Watch it drop more than 50%. This is not one of those situations where everyone’s secretly gleeful at the downfall of a star. Will Smith is well liked. I’d like to see him score again. And soon. Will, call Roland Emmerich, Now.

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