Barbara Walters retired… from The View… on May 16th. Today is June 9th. She has come out of retirement. If she ever was in it. Walters will interview Peter Rodger, father of Elliot Rodger, who killed all those people in Santa Barbara. The interview will air on “20/20” when ABC doesn’t care how old the correspondents look. They just wanted her off The View, where young people buy stuff from ads. Barbara has not retired, and will not retire. She will interview people until she stops breathing, at which time an Avatar or Hologram will take over. ABC News does not know what they’re dealing with. Cue Jennifers Holliday and Hudson: “Am I telling you I’m not going.” Get it, Ben Sherwood? You know Putin is next.
Watch the Tony Awards “In Memoriam” Which CBS Cut from Broadcast
CBS cut the In Memoriam segment last night from the Tony Awards. Dead People don’t get ratings! There was rapt applause in Radio City for all of these people, especially Philip Seymour Hoffman. I am particularly sad about him, and about Kathleen Raitt, a wonderful, elegant woman who worked with the Nederlander Organization was a sparkling presence at opening nights. She was married to John Raitt, and was Bonnie Raitt’s stepmother. Everyone here will be missed, except at CBS:
Charts: Rap is All But Dead as Led Zeppelin’s 40 Year Old Albums Sell 60,000 Copies
What happened to rap? It’s off the charts with two minor exceptions: a sluggish new album from 50 Cent, and an oldish album at the bottom of the charts by SchoolBoyQ.
What’s in? Pop, Pop R&B, white kids, black kids who sound white. Led Zeppelin reisssued its first three albums from 196-1972. They are all in the new top 40 albums and sold a total more than 60,000 copies total. Yikes.
Is rock back? Heavy rock too?
Not selling: Mariah Carey’s “Me I Am Mariah” and Michael Jackson’s “Xscape.” The latter at least had a couple of good weeks. Mariah’s CD, with great reviews and terrific tracks, has gone nowhere.
Country albums take four of the top 10 spots this week: Miranda Lambert is number 1, followed by Brantley Gilbert and Lucy Hale. A country compilation, “Now Country 7,” is also in the top 10.
So is the soundtrack to “The Fault in Our Stars,” which will finish in 2nd place this week.
But real rap? It’s been on the downslide for a while. Jay Z had a hit only with Justin Timberlake singing around him last winter. No one knows how many copies Jay Z’s “Magna Carta” actually sold because it was given away with Samsung phones.
Kanye West’s “Yeezus” really yielded no actual hits, but was a loss leader for his tour.
Missy Elliott’s been missing a long time. Rappers like Lil Wayne have come and gone.
Maybe the rap audience tired of their stars singing about “Mo Money, Mo Problems” during a recession, no jobs, etc. It’s hard to sympathize with someone who’s complaining about their Bentley.
Next major sort of rap release: Common, the very talented actor and composer, on July 22nd.
Gladys Knight Rocks the Tony Awards, Next Stop: Apollo Theater 80th Anniversary
Did you see and hear Gladys Knight last night? She rocked the Tony Awards with Patti LaBelle and Fantasia! Gladys joins the Broadway show “After Midnight” in mid July. Stars Dule Hill and Karine Plantadit are very excited– not just about Gladys but about Patti, too. She starts with the show tonight.
Last night at Rick Miramontez’s swanky after party at the Carlyle Hotel, Karine– a wild one, maybe the best dancer on Broadway, a real unknown star–was so happy she nearly jumped out a 28th floor window! (Just kidding– but we were “worried”!)
TOMORROW night– Tuesday June 10th– the legendary Gladys headlines the Apollo’s 80th anniversary with Natalie Cole, the Isley Brothers, Wayne Brady emceeing, plus Joss Stone is coming from the UK, and Ray Chew’s band is playing. This is the night of nights in New York, the only place to be. I have no idea if there are still tickets, but call them up. Go to a scalper. Do what you must! The Apollo is the cornerstone of Harlem, one of the dozen or so most important institutions. Jonelle Procope knows what she’s doing up there!
And what a music week in NYC! Aretha Franklin plays Radio City on Saturday and Sunday nights. We are over the top in classic soul. Treasure it while you can !
Exclusive: Idina Menzel Used a TelePrompter to Sing “If/Then” Song on Tony Awards
There were lots of performances last night on the Tony Awards, all live, none lip synched. Everyone sang songs from the shows they’re in for 8 shows a week. Some people sang songs they’d never sung before, like Jennifer Hudson introducing a number from the still cooking “Finding Neverland.”
Only one performer used a TelePrompter, however. Idina Menzel read the words to the turgid “Always Starting Over” as they scrolled by in HUGE letters. I know, because I was sitting just to the side of the TelePrompter, which was otherwise used to cue presenters and remind them of what they were doing.
Of course, the screechy “Always Starting Over” isn’t a song as much as it’s a filibuster, a speech, a declamation, and a bore in my opinion. Maybe Idina can’t remember all those words. Maybe she’s too busy getting ready for her one woman show next Monday at Radio City, which she’s fitting in between performances of the dreadful “If/Then” to capitalize on her “Frozen” success.
Hyatt Heir’s $100 Mil Jazz Movie Is Back, Looking for Actresses with a “Fearless Acceptance of Full Nudity” And More
“Bolden!” is back. The $100 million plus movie about obscure jazz musician Buddy Bolden is going to be re-shot this fall. The “Citizen Kane” type producer-director-writer of this fiasco is Dan Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt Hotel chain.
He shot the entire movie, starring Anthony Mackie, seven years ago. But then he didn’t like it, and decided to re-shoot it.That was a problem, however, since Mackie has become a big star, and was busy doing other things. The actor declined an offer to return. Pritzker had to recast, so he hired Gary Carr, the unknown actor who played a jazz singer last season on “Downton Abbey.”
Now a source tells me the casting call for this fall’s re-do, and it comes with something I’ve never heard expressed quite this way before. All the women being sought must have “fearless acceptance of full nudity” and not only that. They must also have “fearless acceptance of simulated sex acts.”
The warning to casting agents, says my source: “Don’t submit anyone who’s uncomfortable with this.”
All this to depict the life of Buddy Bolden, who must be heaven telling Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and Duke Ellington this story with great bemusement. I’m sure they’re getting a kick out of it, too. Apparently, in the new version of the film Buddy will have a a quartet of “ravenous women” who are loyal followers and sexual partners. (In real life, Buddy Bolden spent his post jazz years, 1907-31, in a sanitarium, where he suffered from alcoholism and schizophrenia.)
All of this is going to be directed toward Carr, who somehow doesn’t exude this voracious ladies’ man quality. But Pritzker obviously knows what he’s doing.
Tony Awards: Audra McDonald Wins 6th Tony, Carole King Gets with the Program
What a night for the Tony Awards! Audra McDonald won her sixth statue, this time for Best Actress in a Play even though it was a Musical but it’s okay because everyone loves her.
“I’m a little out of it,” Audra said at the Plaza Hotel, where the big fancy Tony after party was hotter than ever this year. “If my daughter asked for keys to the car I’d say yes,” Audra said, laughing. Is she old enough to drive? “No, she’s only 13. But that’s the way I feel right now.” Husband Will Swenson, nominated for playing a very dark and intense Javert in “Les Miz” this season, took it all in stride.
And Audra? No more “Private Practice” type shows. “Hey I loved those people,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Tonys went pretty much as everyone thought, with “Gentleman’s Guide” winning Best Musical, “All the Way” getting Best Play, “Hedwig” receiving Revived Musical and “Raisin the Sun” earning best Revived Musical. All the actors except for McDonald were new to the winner’s circle if not Broadway itself: Jessie Mueller, Neil Patrick Harris, Bryan Cranston, Sophie Okonedo, James Monroe Iglehart, Lena Hall.
Not only were the winners talented but the runners up were all top notch too, like LaTanya Richardson, Tony Shalhoub, the guys from “Gentlemen’s”– Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham, Nick Cordero, and so on.
Jessie Mueller won Best Actress in Musical playing Carole King in “Beautiful.” Remember the whole story about Carole not coming to opening night, and saying she didn’t want to be involved? Uh, last night Carole got on stage and played the piano and sang with Jessie at Radio City. Now that the show’s a hit, she’s come around. Also on hand were the rarely mentioned ‘others’ from that show– Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. They wrote “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”
I ran into the Manns on the red carpet, along with Patty Clarkson, Candy Spelling, Sting and Trudie Styler, and Rosie O’Donnell. Sting wowed the audience later with the title song from his musical “The Last Ship,” which starts previews in Chicago on Tuesday. Watch for it next year at the Tonys.
More from the Tonys in the AM…
Warren Beatty Wraps 74 Day Shoot on Howard Hughes Movie
Good news: Oscar winner and legend Warren Beatty has wrapped principal photography on his Howard Hughes movie. Total shoot came to 74 days according to sources. The much anticipated film stars Beatty, Lily Collins and a big cast including Annette Bening, Taissa Farmiga, Candice Bergen, Matthew Broderick, Chase Crawford, and Martin Sheen. No one knows the exact plot line, but apparently it’s about Hughes’s late in life affair with a young girl (Collins, daughter of rocker Phil in real life).
I’m told that as fitting every Beatty project, “there were a lot of takes per scene.” Beatty also joked on set that shooting is done, but now starts a year of editing. Let’s hope not. If I were a betting man, I’d say the “Howard Hughes” movie would debut in Cannes, May 2015.
Beatty hasn’t made or been in a movie since he directed himself in “Town and Country” in 1991. What a shame, too. He missed 15 crucial years of face time. He was reportedly offered “Kill Bill Pt. 1” by Quentin Tarantino, but turned it down. Otherwise, he’s been busy raising kids and talking politics.
Crossing fingers, sending prayers, and good vibes…we need this movie to be good..What to do until then? Watch “Reds,” and “Heaven Can Wait” and “Shampoo” and “Bonnie and Clyde”…
Tom Cruise Finishes 3rd with “Edge” But It’s Actually A Pretty Good Opening for Him
Tom Cruise did finish in third place this weekend with “Edge of Tomorrow.” But at $29.1 million, “Edge” is his second best opening weekend in 8 years. How do you like that?
Since 2006, only “Oblivion” has given Cruise a better opening weekend with $37 million. “Jack Reacher,” “Knight and Day,” and “Valkryie” all opened in equivalent numbers of theaters on three day weekends and did far worse. Indeed, all three were kind of stinkers. None of those releases made close to $100 million domestically, finishing in the 70s and 80s.
“Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol” can’t be counted because it had a weird platform distribution when it opened. For its first week it played in only 425 theaters.
“Edge” will likely hit in the $80-$90 million finish zone. That would be on a par for all Cruise movies that weren’t a “Mission” sequel or Steven Spielberg’s 2005 “War of the Worlds,” his biggest hit ever with $235 million domestic.
The next step for Cruise is to try and find a “Jerry Maguire”-like romcom or something where he’s not repelling off a building. One of the nice parts of “Edge” is that his character is a bit of a coward who has to be persuaded into action. This little character point made the movie eminently more interesting.
Tony Awards: Carole King Will Be There Tonight as “Beautiful” Could Win
Carole King wouldn’t come to the opening night of “Beautiful,” a musical based on her life and classic songs. She finally did see the show, of course, after her absence became a news peg. She loved it, ‘natch. Tonight she’ll be in the audience at the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall, of course. There’s no doubt she’ll make it onto the stage if “Beautiful” wins Best Musical. At the very least, King should be pleased if any of the actors from the show win their categories, Jessie Mueller especially.
“Beautiful” is not a “new” musical like “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.” But it is a great musical because of the songs. King wrote most of the hits in the show other than a few other classics by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. King’s songs from that era were largely collaborations with Gerry Goffin, her husband for almost a decade. They made such a great team that when the Beatles came to America they said they wanted to be like Goffin and King. They assumed King was a man.
As a composer and a musician, few can stand up to Carole King. She wrote the music. And while Goffin’s lyrics are soulful and touching, it’s the melodies that have kept her catalog going. King won the Gershwin prize a few years ago. She deserved it. And not just for those “Beautiful” hits and “Tapestry.” She has a whole batch of hits that aren’t even covered in the musical, and could be woven into their own show.