UPDATE: “Scandalous” will close on Sunday after all. Kathie Lee Gifford made a good effort, but the show was not good, and the audiences just weren’t there. See more below.

From Tuesday morning: The really not very good musical “Chaplin” has finally put up a closing notice for January 6th. How they made it this far is a mystery. “Scandalous” can’t be far behind. The Kathie Lee Gifford musical played at 37.6% capacity last week, taking in just over $370,000. Granted, the box office was up from prior weeks, but not remotely enough to keep going without tremendous problems.

I told you about the whole financial backing of “Scandalous” a couple of weeks ago: http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/11/20/scandalous-musical-backed-by-amway-family-and-christian-right-barely-holding-on. Then the New York Times, perhaps in an homage to this column, did the same thing. “Scandalous” is backed by money from the billionaire family that owns Christian right wing-pitched pyramid direct sales company Amway. Its other backer is the Foursquare Church founded by the musical’s subject, Aimee Semple McPherson.

There does seem to be a limited audience for “Scandalous,” which might have been better off pared down and playing in an off Broadway theater. At this rate een Amway reps won’t be able to keep it alive on the Great White Way. Expect a closing notice right after Christmas. A good try by Kathie Lee in the long run. And the Amway family, called Devos, won’t even miss the money. If only they’d included Milton Berle as a character. Now that would have been scandalous!

EXCLUSIVE by PAULA SCHWARTZ, special to Showbiz411– Sunday night Hugh Jackman sang Amanda Seyfried the sexiest, most luscious and gorgeous rendition of Happy Birthday imaginable and then he gave her a lap dance.

First, following a private screening of “Les Misérables” at a private soirée at Porter House in Manhattan, Jackman announced, “Tonight is a special night and I am going to sing one song.” Guests squealed and oohed and aahed and moved quickly to get as close to the Jean Valjean actor as possible without getting thrown out by security.

“It is the birthday of Amanda Seyfried. Amanda, come up here,” Jackman told his Les Miz co-star, who plays his adopted daughter Cossette. “Sit here Amanda,” Jackman said in sultry, silken tones, and half straddled her. “I once gave Barbara Walters a lap dance, and I promised her I would never do that again but seeing that she’s not here tonight,” Jackman purred, running his hand down Seyfriend’s dress. The piano chords began to play the familiar birthday song, and Jackman crooned, “She’s very innocent this girl…Amanda…Cossette…Yes it’s one of those father-daughter relationships,” he purred.

“Les Miz” co-stars Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Sacha Baron Cohen, director Tom Hooper, producer Cameron Mackintosh and lyricist Alain Boublil hooted and cheered, along with celebrity guests who included Lorraine Bracco, Tony Danza, Michael Kors, Anna Wintour and Chelsea Clinton.

After being in the spotlight, Seyfried moved into a quiet corner of the room. After we wished her Happy Birthday, she said. “Well almost. It’s in 2 ½ hours.” She told me she was delighted and happy by Jackman’s serenade but not surprised. “He’s so generous nothing he does surprises me, but I really appreciate him singing one last song.”

It was nearly midnight when Jackman and Russell Crowe  (who has a buzz cut for “Winter’s Tale,” which he is shooting in New York) hugged and we overheard them make plans to meet and bring their guitars.

Tom Hooper — who’d been in Hollywood on Saturday night for the Academy Governor’s Ball– looked tired from non-stop promoting of “Les Miz,” which opens Christmas Day. (“The King’s Speech” also opened wide on Christmas Day two years ago.) I’ve already seen “Les Miz” twice I told him. “Seriously? Were you made to or did you do it by choice?” he asked seriously. As to what he hopes people will take from the musical, he said, he hopes they will “think about some of the bigger issues it talks about, the suffering around the world, but also close to their hearts, about parental love and personal transformation and redemption.”

More from the “Les Miz” party to follow…

I was a little worried last week when the Sundance Film Festival annouced its competition films. The slate didn’t look so strong. But now the premieres out of competition and the documentaries are really star studded. The documentary part features films by Barbara Kopple, Alex Gibney, RJ Cutler and even Dave Grohl. The fiction films, as it were, have loads of bold face names. I’m a little concerned though that the Steve Jobs movie, Jobs, starring Ashton Kutcher, is a non starter. It’s been slated to close the festival. Closing night films are never good. And no one stays at Sundance until the last day unless they’re out of their minds. It’s all about the first five or six days at most. Make of it all what you will. But movies that play the last weekend at Sundance are usually marquee productions that piffle out in the end. Maybe “Jobs” will break the rule. Let’s hope.

PREMIERES

A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated dramatic films of the coming year. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.

A.C.O.D. / U.S.A. (Director: Stuart Zicherman, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks.  When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke.

Before Midnight / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Linklater, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater— We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Ariane Labed, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick.

Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas.

Breathe In / U.S.A. (Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones) — When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis.

Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown.

The East / U.S.A. (Director: Zal Batmanglij, Screenwriters: Zal Batmanglij, Brit Marling) — An operative for an elite private intelligence firm goes into deep cover to infiltrate a mysterious anarchist collective attacking major corporations.  Bent on apprehending these fugitives, she finds her loyalty tested as her feelings grow for the group’s charismatic leader. Cast: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez, Patricia Clarkson.

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete / U.S.A. (Director: George Tillman Jr., Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust.  A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright.

jOBS / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Michael Stern, Screenwriter: Matt Whiteley) — The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently. Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine. CLOSING NIGHT FILM

The Look of Love / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton.

Lovelace / U.S.A. (Directors: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman, Screenwriter: Andy Bellin) — Deep Throat, the first pornographic feature film to be a mainstream success, was an international sensation in 1972 and made its star, Linda Lovelace, a media darling. Years later the “poster girl for the sexual revolution” revealed a darker side to her story. Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Hank Azaria, Adam Brody, James Franco, Sharon Stone.

The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman / U.S.A. (Director: Fredrik Bond, Screenwriter: Matt Drake) — Traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying. Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Til Schweiger.

Prince Avalanche / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Gordon Green) — Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. Cast: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch.

Stoker / U.S.A. (Director: Park Chan-Wook, Screenwriter: Wentworth Miller) — After India’s father dies in an auto accident, her Uncle Charlie comes to live with her and her mother, Evelyn. Soon after his arrival, India suspects that this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives but becomes increasingly infatuated with him. Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, Nicole Kidman.

Sweetwater / U.S.A. (Directors: Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Screenwriter: Andrew McKenzie) — In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory. Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Steven Rude, Amy Madigan.

Top of the Lake / Australia, New Zealand (Directors: Jane Campion, Garth Davis, Screenwriters: Jane Campion, Gerard Lee) — A 12-year-old girl stands chest deep in a frozen lake. She is five months pregnant, and won’t say who the father is. Then she disappears. So begins a haunting mystery that consumes a community. Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Holly Hunter, Peter Mullan, David Wenham. This six-hour film will screen once during the Festival.

Two Mothers / Australia, France (Director: Anne Fontaine, Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton) — This gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship charts the unconventional and passionate affairs of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s sons. Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frechevile.

Very Good Girls / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Naomi Foner) — In the long, half-naked days of a New York summer, two girls on the brink of becoming women fall for the same guy and find that life isn’t as simple or safe as they had thought. Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin.

The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James.

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES

Renowned filmmakers and films about huge subjects comprise this section highlighting our ongoing commitment to documentaries. Each is a world premiere.

ANITA / U.S.A. (Director: Freida Mock) — Anita Hill, an African-American woman, charges Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in explosive Senate hearings in 1991 – bringing sexual politics into the national consciousness and fueling 20 years of international debate on the issues.

The Crash Reel / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker) — The jaw-dropping story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snow boarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. An epic rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. SALT LAKE CITY GALA FILM

History of the Eagles / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Ellwood) — Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music.

Linsanity / U.S.A. (Director: Evan Leong) — Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway.

Pandora’s Promise / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Stone) — A growing number of environmentalists are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that the most feared and controversial technology known to mankind is probably our greatest hope.

Running from Crazy / U.S.A. (Director: Barbara Kopple) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate.

Sound City / U.S.A. (Director: Dave Grohl) — Through interviews and performances with the legendary musicians and producers who worked at America’s greatest unsung recording studio, Sound City, we explore the human element of music, and the lost art of analog recording in an increasingly digital world.

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks / U.S.A. (Director: Alex Gibney) — In 2010, WikiLeaks and its sources used the power of the Internet to usher in what was for some a new era of transparency and for others the beginnings of an information war.

When I Walk / U.S.A., Canada (Director: Jason DaSilva) — At 25, filmmaker and artist Jason DaSilva finds out he has a severe form of multiple sclerosis. This film shares his personal and grueling journey over the next seven years. Along the way, an unlikely miracle changes everything.

Which Way is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington / U.S.A. (Director: Sebastian Junger) — Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington’s work across the world’s battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession.

The World According to Dick Cheney / U.S.A. (Directors: R.J. Cutler, Greg Finton) — How did Dick Cheney become the single-most-powerful nonpresidential figure in American history? This multi-layered examination of Cheney’s life, career, key relationships and controversial worldview features exclusive interviews with the former vice president and his closest allies.

“Zero Dark Thirty,” Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal’s film about the hunting down and killing of Osama Bin Laden, was chosen today as Best Film by the New York Film Critics Circle. Bigelow won Best Director as well. The rest of the choices by the NYFF are really all over the place. The biggest surprise is Rachel Weisz for Best Actress in a movie no one has really ever seen, called “The Deep Blue Sea.” The more likely choices were either Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook” or Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty.”

As we’ve proved in the past, these critics prizes in each city are grest but have little to do with the Oscars. They’re voted on in committees. Politics play a big part in what goes on. Also the critics groups try to pick the “intellectual” choice where it’s highbrow (Zero Dark Thirty) or amusingly kitsch (Matthew McConaughey in the ridiculous but fun “Magic Mike”).

And really– Best First Film wasn’t “Beasts of the Southern Wild”? Hmmmm….

Here’s Paula Schwartz’s take on the winners:

The New York Film Critics Circle has named Zero Dark Thirty the best film of the year.

But jeez, waiting for the New York Film Critics Circle to announce their awards is an all-day affair. Film geeks tweeted about their anxiety and frustration at the glacial pace at which the New York Film Critics Circle announced their picks. The pre-eminent critics group announced their choices by Tweets and posted on their website, (http://www.nyfcc.com/awards/) one by one, as they chose. But you have to hand it to this group: they know how to build up suspense!

Best Picture: Zero Dark Thirty.

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty.

Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner for Lincoln.

Best Actress: Rachel Weisz for The Deep Blue Sea. The group is known for following its own beat. Blue Sea, which was released in March of this year, is directed by Terence Davies and is adapted from Terence Rattigan’s 1952 erotic play of adultery and romantic obsession. Weisz won an Oscar-winner in 2006 for The Constant Gardener (2006) but her performance in Blue Sea has received virtually no awards buzz.

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln. Last week at the Gotham Awards Matt Damon said Day-Lews was one of his favorite actors.  The method actor is the Oscar frontrunner this year, and every year, when he’s in a movie (except for 2010 when he starred in Nine.)

Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field for Lincoln.

Best Supporting Actor: Matthew McConaughey. For Bernie and Magic Mike. Last week the actor received two Independent Spirit Award nominations for Killer Joe and Magic Mike. The actor is on a roll. Last week Jack Black on the red carpet singled out his “Bernie” co-star for his ensemble work and said of McConaughey, that he “was on fire as he has been this year in four different films, kind of an incredible born to do it kind of performer. Even in rehearsals I was watching him, ‘You are having so much fun doing this’ and that’s the secret, I think, to his magic. He truly loves it. Some people are out there just punching the clock, but he’s really feeling it.”

Best Animated film: Frankenweenie. Tim Burton’s stop motion-animated black-and-white tale about a boy and his beloved dog Sparky. The dark film comes from Disney. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cqI6hPra7c&noredirect=1.

Best Foreign Film: Amour. My favorite film of the year, by 70 year-old Austrian director Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon, Funny Games, Cache), stars octogenarian actors Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist, Z, A Man and a Woman) and Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima Mon Amour) as a longtime happily-married couple now facing the end of their lives.

It won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and just yesterday at the European Film Festival in Malta won the big prize, for best feature, and awards for Haneke and the film’s stars. Amour is the frontrunner for best foreign film Oscar and Trintignant and Riva both deserve Oscar nominations.

When the film was shown at the New York Film Festival, the director said of his stars, “I wrote the screenplay for Jean-Louis Trintignant. In fact, I wouldn’t have shot the film without him. Not only is he a superb actor but also he exudes the human warmth that was necessary for the role. It was different with Emmanuelle Riva. I’d seen her as a young man in “Hiroshima My Love,” I was immediately smitten by her, but I’d lost her from sight over the years. So when I came to that part I did a normal casting in Paris, I met with all the actresses of the appropriate age. It was clear from the first audition with Emmanuelle that she was ideal for the part. Not only because she’s a wonderful actress but also because she and Jean-Louis Trintignant from a very credible couple.”

Announced at noon:

Best Cinematographer. Greig Fraser. Zero Dark Thirty. The film, shot in documentary style, is the worthy follow up to Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker.

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary): The Central Park Five, Co-directed by Ken Burns, David McMahon and Sarah Burns. The film follows the events of April 1989, which led to the wrongful imprisonment of five teenagers for the infamous Central Park jogger rape. The film provokes equal parts rage and despair, especially since the exonerated, now in their 30’s, have yet to receive any financial compensation from the State of New York for their wrongful imprisonment. Some of them served jail time for more than a decade.

Best First Film: David France’s How to Survive a Plague. In a upset, the film has bested frontrunner Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild. Last week at Fox Searchlight’s holiday party I spoke to a member of the pre-eminent critics group and he told me he liked Zeitlin’s film but it wasn’t his favorite, so this should have been a tip off.

Best Film Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Screenplay Tony Kushner (Lincoln)

Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Actress Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea)

Best Foreign Language Film Amour

Best Animated Film Frankenweenie

Best Supporting Actor Matthew McConaughey (Bernie, Magic Mike)

Best Supporting Actress Sally Field (Lincoln)

Best Cinematographer Greg Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary) The Central Park Five

Best First Film David France (How To Survive A Plague)