“Mad Men” is coming. There are no spoilers, no official clues. For the Los Angeles premiere, people are being sworn on their deceased relatives’ graves not to say a word about what they’re shown. No one knows if there’s a New York premiere or even screening DVDs. I think it’s great. But you know, we are able to divine a few things. First of all, star Jon Hamm directs episode 3 called “Tea Party.” Episode 1 and 2 are a two parter on opening night, March 25th, called “A Little Kiss.” Hmmm…A little kiss between divorced Don and Betty Draper? Could be. You never know. The second week comes “Tea Leaves.” Episode 4, in the third week, is called “Mystery Date.” No director is listed. “Signal 30″ is the title of Episode 5, which I’ve written about on Showbiz411 at http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/01/11/first-mad-men-clue-some-kind-of-accident-in-episode-5 . The production has been very scarce with details, but one: Pete and Trudy Campbell have had their baby since we last saw them, and it’s a girl named Tammy. (So Trudy.) A pair of twins have been hired to the play the baby. How long this season before Trudy discovers Pete already has a child, with Peggy? And: that “little kiss”– I will still bet good money that Don marries Megan and that ex wife Betty is a season long interference. Gotta have friction in the drama, kids.
Exclusive: 92 Year Old Pete Seeger’s New Video Could Make Him Oldest Star on Charts
Just below in our video player, watch Pete Seeger sing Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.” Seeger is 92 years young. If the single is downloaded enough times, it could hit the charts and make him the oldest star ever with a hit single. Martin Lewis co-produced this with Mark Hudson for Amnesty International’s “Chimes of Freedom” album. We got an early link to it. Bruce Springsteen loves Seeger of course. In his remarks last night at SXSW, Bruce gave Seeger (and Sam Moore and a few others) big shout outs.
Meryl Streep Will Show Off Her Singing to Sting and Friends
You don’t get to hear Meryl Streep sing very often, but she’s done it a bit on stage and in movies like “Silkwood” and “A Prairie Home Companion.” Come April 3rd we’re going to hear her really warble live at Carnegie Hall. Streep, now a three time Oscar winner (yay), will join Trudie Styler and Sting’s biennial Rainforest Foundation concert. She’s just been announced on a list of performers including old timers to the RF as Elton John and James Taylor. New to the show this year will be opera star Bryn Terfel, who sang “Roxanne” at Sting’s 60th birthday show last October, plus Jennifer Hudson, Bruno Mars and Roseanne Cash, as well as Vince Gill.
The theme of the night is “Songs from the Silver Screen” so maybe Meryl will sing “As Time Goes By” or “When You Wish Upon a Star.” With all hope, no one will sing “My Heart Goes On” from “Titanic” or the Phil Collins song from that Disney movie.Sting, you know, has contributed several songs to movies, so he has a lot to choose from.
Trudie Styler is quite wise and had this idea a while ago, so you know it’s going to be good. What always come from the Rainforest show is a sense of family and camaraderie, and the feeling that three decades of helping maintain the Rainforests indigenous population and educate people about them has done a lot of good. You can read more about this at www.rainforestfund.org
PS Sting is still on tour somewhere–Paris, London, then Johannesburg on his “Back to Bass” tour, sold out all over the world. Trudie is producing movies under the moniker Maven Pictures. Her first one with partner Celine Rattray is “Imogene” starring Kristin Wiig.
Michael Douglas May Be Heading to “Last Vegas”
Michael Douglas–looking better than ever–may be ready for his comeback. In addition to his planned biopic of “Liberace,” the Oscar winning Hollywood is wanted by producer director Jon Turteltaub for “Last Vegas.” Turteltaub told our LEAH SYDNEY recently: “Fingers crossed my next movie is called “Last Vegas,” to hopefully shoot in the fall. It’s a very funny coming of age story of four men in their seventies. One guy is getting married for the first time and he brings his three buddies together for a crazy bachelor party. It’s a hilarious script by Dan Fogelman. If all goes well I’ll be standing with Michael Douglas. But if I tell you who my dream cast is, and I don’t get them, then the guys I do get will be mad at me. That’s why you never tell your wife about the girl you went to the prom with. Even worse, never tell your wife about the girl you wanted to go to the prom with but didn’t.”
I like Jon Turteltaub. His 1996 film with “Phenomenon” with John Travolta and Kyra Sedgwick was a little gem.
Leah met up with him at a charity event called the Venice Family Clinic, supported for a long time by Warner Bros. chairman Barry Meyer and his wife Wendy. Their Silver Circle Gala raises funds for their mission of providing health care to people in need.
“Philanthropy has always been very important in Hollywood,” Meyer told Leah. “Especially at Warner brothers, we feel strongly about it. It’s not something you have a choice really, you’re supposed to do it. It’s a responsibility we have for people at our company as well as in our community.”
Is Meyer looking forward to the new year of Warner Brother movies? ”I’m excited about everything we do. I’m Warner Brothers true blue down to my core.”
Also at the event: writer-director Tom Shadyac, who’s had a lot of hits with Jim Carrey and his own hit documentary called “I Am.”
“I’m writing a book that’s coming out in the fall,,” Shadyac said. “And I’m working on three films that I’m either producing or directing. And I’m going to be hosting a talk show soon based on the conversation that I started in the documentary ‘I Am.”
And you thought James Franco was busy….
Rolling Stones: Get Carnegie Tribute with Marianne Faithfull and Ronnie Spector
None of the Rolling Stones showed up, but the 50 year old greatest rock and roll band in history got a sweet tribute last night at Carnegie Hall. Produced by Michael Dorf, the show presented the group’s greatest hits album, “Hot Rocks,” from 1971, in order, with different guest performers taking on each song. “Hot Rocks” was a double album released by Allen Klein on ABKCO as the Stones left him in ’71 for Ahmet Ertegun and Atlantic Records.But it stands to this day as the best example of the Stones at their peak. It even includes two songs that started the Atlantic phase–“Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses”–which the Stones had recorded while still under contract to Klein.
As usual with these things, some worked, some didn’t. Some were good surprises, some weren’t. I still remember when the late Phoebe Snow simply rattled the house and stole the entire show when Dorf did a tribute to Elton John and Bernie Taupin. By the time Phoebe finished “Empty Garden,” the audience was levitating.
At this show, I had my own preferences. Marianne Faithfull was featured, singing “As Tears Go By” and “Sister Morphine.” She’s timeless. The Stones wrote the first song for her in 1964, and she had a hit with it. She co-wrote the latter with Jagger. They were famously lovers, It’s all in Keith’s amazing memoir. Also on the bill, coming up second and just hitting a home run, was the immortal Ronnie Spector on “Time Is On My Side.” She could have done the whole show, frankly.
Featured throughout were some big names: Jackson Browne, Rickie Lee Jones, Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn, and John Sebastian on harmonica. They were all just fine; Cash was especially good. The New York Dolls’ David Johansen, aka Buster Poindexter, sort of the punk Mick Jagger, made “Get off My Cloud” swing with some vibrancy. Taj Mahal turned “Honky Tonk Woman” into a New Orleans blues. He said, “The thing about the Rolling Stones songs is you can deconstruct them back to their blues and country roots.” Amen.
Some standouts: Glen Hansard, of “Once” fame, took on “Under My Thumb” with just himself on guitar and a bass player. He said. “Imagine what headspace they were in when they wrote this. It must be a Keith song.”
Actress Juliette Lewis was not so lucky trying to preen around and Move Like Jagger on “Satisfaction.” But I liked the Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Mountain Goats, Jovanotti with members of TV on the Radio. Art Garfunkel took off his toupee to sing “Ruby Tuesday,” and Steve Earle was pungent on “Mother’s Little Helper.” Angelique Kidjo continued to defy logic–she should be a superstar.Why isn’t she? Her “Street Fighting Man” was a tour de force.
No celebs in the audience to speak of. I ran into Keith’s longtime manager Jane Rose, who said she liked the show but thought Keith “might find it difficult” to listen to all those different interpretations. The Stones celebrate their 50th anniversary next January. Soon we’ll have news of celebration-related items. Until then, this will have to do.
Eddie Murphy Career Bust: We Told You on December 26th
Suddenly everyone’s writing obits for Eddie Murphy’s career. I told you on December 26th that this would happen: http://http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/12/26/tower-heist-failure-is-that-the-end-of-eddie-murphy
So what? “A Thousand Words” got a Zero on Rottentomatoes.com. My friends, Eddie doesn’t care. He’s over it. He’s had bigger failures. He’s loaded. He does what he wants. He walks out of the Oscars. He walks out on the Oscars. He doesn’t do publicity. He’s laughing right now. He is LOADED. Do you get it? “Dreamgirls” was the closest he was going to get to anything. That’s over.
It’s worse for Dreamworks and Paramount that “A Thousand Words” got not one decent review. They couldn’t even get one from the usual shills. The studios lose. Eddie got his money.
From London: Nicole Kidman Headed Back to Theater
Baz Bamigboye reports exclusively in the Daily Mail that Nicole Kidman is heading back to the theater. Remember last year I told you that Nicole would appear on Broadway in “Sweet Bird of Youth” with James Franco. That plan fell apart, but Nicole has been looking for another project. Now Baz reports that Kidman will appear in Terrence Rattigan’s “After the Dance” either in spring or fall of 2013 on Broadway. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2112368/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-Nicole-Kidman-dances-stage-14-years.html. Apparently there was an excellent production in London in 2010 with a locally known actress. But producers want a name well known in America. Kidman last appeared on Broadway in “The Blue Room” fourteen years ago, to much acclaim.
Lionel Richie. Bette Midler, Etta James All Getting Special Awards
No, Bette Midler does not write songs. But she’s getting the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June, just announced. The award goes to a performer who’s responsible for covering lots of songwriters and establishing them. Midler has been a major force in this department, deploying her magnificent voice on dozens of hits like “Do You Wanna Dance?,” “Friends,” and songs by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and plenty from the 40s, 50s, and 60s–as well as “Wind Beneath My Wings” and “From a Distance,” her two biggest hits….
Meantime, the Apollo Theater Foundation has just announced its inducting Lionel Richie and the late Etta James at their annual gala, also this spring. They follow people like Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Quincy Jones in the Legends Hall of Fame. All great choices. It’s a shame Etta won’t be here to accept the honor. Plus CitiGroup will get a corporate honor. Their retiring leader, Dick Parsons, has been a major force in keeping the Apollo alive and thriving the last few years. And the Apollo has never looked or sounded better. Plus, the neighborhood around it has grown and flourished as a retail bonanza.
Meryl Streep’s Husband Don Gummer Fetches High Price
New Oscar winner Meryl Streep does have a successful husband, you know. Don Gummer is a big deal artist, painter, sculptor. At this week’s big Art for Water charity event for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Waterkeeper Alliance, a framed Gummer print was literally peeled off the wall for upwards of $10,000. Famed art collector and museum leader Agnes Gund even had her picture taken next to the piece of art. Most of Gummer’s work consists of big metal sculptures that sit on the manciured lawns of estates or in fancy office plazas. So whoever got this piece was lucky, lucky, lucky. The event, at Matthew Marks Gallery, also brought out John McEnroe, famed artist Chuck Close, Kennedy and his galpal actress Cheryl Hines, Nicole Miller, and actors Jane Seymour, Giancarlo Esposito and Gloria Reuben. Close rode around in his very modern wheel chair that looks like it’s built on a Segway. As a bonus, Debbie Harry of Blondie sang. The other artists featured included Marina Abramovic, Dan Colen, Gregory Crewdson, Willem de Kooning, Olafur Eliass
on, Donald Judd, Alex Katz, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Longo, Sarah Morris, Catherine Opie, Raymond Pettibon, Laurie Simmons, and Josh Smith. PS Agnes Gund also drove up the bidding on a Donald Baechler print. Like she needs it!
The Whole Story About Whitney Houston’s Last Will and Testament
Whitney Houston updated her will in 2004. All reports otherwise today are wrong. The will names daughter Bobbi Kristina as her sole heir and mother Cissy Houston as executor. Today in Atlanta probate court, I am told by insiders, the family agreed to let Pat Houston, Whitney’s sister in law, become executor. Cissy Houston was appointed co-trustee. The 2000 codicil from “Inside Edition” picked up by the New York Post “is not her latest will.” Neither will — the 2000 or the 2004 update– left anything to Bobby Brown, that is true. But no longer serving as trustees are Whitney’s other brother Michael or his wife, Donna. I am told the court action in Atlanta went smoothly, with everyone agreeing that Whitney would have wanted Pat Houston to take over as executor.
This is a big shift in power in the Houston family. In the 80s and 90s, it was Donna Houston who was close to Whitney. But Whitney’s half brother Gary married Pat in 1994, and things shifted. Now Pat Houston has convinced Whitney’s mother Cissy to be the executor. Families are a tricky business.
Here’s the official statement that was exclusive to us at Forbes.com and Showbiz411.com:
Kenny Meiselas of Grubman Indursky Shire and Meiselas P.C., long term media and
entertainment attorneys for Whitney Houston, confirms that today in Fulton
County Probate Court in Georgia, Marion P. Houston (Pat Houston) was appointed
as Administrator of the Estate of Whitney E. Houston. Bobbi Christina Brown is
the sole beneficiary. (see copy of order attached)