Alicia Keys is producing a Broadway play. Why not? She’s conquered pop music, that’s for sure. The play, “Stick Fly,” will star Ruben Santiago Hudson, Mekhi Phifer (“ER”), Tracie Thoms, and Dule Hill (from the show “Psych”). Lydia Diamond wrote the play, which will be directed by Kenny Leon. Santiago-Hudson is one of the best actors of his generation, so this is particularly exciting. That Alicia has gotten involved in this also shows how interesting her career has become. The lead producers are Nelle Nugent, Alicia Keys, Samuel Nappi, Reuben Cannon, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia Klausner, Huntington Theatre Company, Dan Frishwasser, Charles Salameno in association with Joseph Sirola & Eric Falkenstein. “Stick Fly” opens December 8th at the intimate Cort Theater on West 48th St.
Jane Fonda: Hot Movie Goes to Toronto, Book Hits Top of Best Seller List
Jane Fonda has gotten the last laugh on QVC. This week her book, “Prime Time,” hits number 2 on the New York Times Best Seller list of hardcover tomes on advice. Remember when QVC dropped her at the last minute? Now “Prime Time” is a huge hit and Fonda is hard at work on the sequel. She’s still making appearances for it though. Watch her “Charlie Rose” interview on YouTube, it’s fascinating.
Meanwhile, Fonda is heading to Toronto next week for the premiere of her new film, “Peace, Love and Misunderstanding.” Distributors are lining up to see this Bruce Bereford directed family saga that co-stars Catherine Keener, Kyle Maclachlan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Elizabeth Olsen–the latter is hot right now from her upcoming “Martha May Marcy Marlene.”
Fonda plays Grace, a hippie, pot smoking mom who is reunited with her adult daughter (Keener) and her kids after Maclachlan leaves them. Fonda’s role is hilarious and just right for her. She tells me: “Catherine’s character shows up with her kids. They haven’t spoken in 2o years since my character got caught selling pot at her wedding.” Fonda’s Grace is her daughter’s polar opposite, too. “She sleeps with all the good looking guys in town!” Jane told me.
“Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding” has quite a pedigree coming into Toronto, too: Beresford’s many films include the award winning “Tender Mercies.” “Crimes of the Heart,” “Breaker Morant,” and “Driving Miss Daisy.” He’s been nominated for two Oscars and four Palm D’Or at Cannes. Fonda only has two Oscars and countless nominations.
But: “This is NOT my comeback!” Jane says. “That was ‘Monster in Law.” This is just a movie I’m very proud of. We had a great time making it, too. I like movies that are upbeat, and about love and happiness.”
P.S. If you order “Prime Time” electronically, through amazon or ITunes, it comes with a bunch of digital extras including 50 photos and videos not included with the hardcover. Very cool.
Adele Gets Huge Sales Boost from VMA Appearance
Adele is just having the best year any pop star could. Her appearance on last week’s MTV Video Music Awards was a resounding success. She came out and sang, simply, “Someone Like You” with a piano accompaniment. The result? She sold upwards of 150,000 more copies of her “21” album and finished at number 3. So easy when you’re talented! Beyonce and Lady Gaga got small bumps from their appearances, and Beyonce got a baby bump. All of Lady Gaga’s theatrics didn’t amount to much saleswise. Adele had the clearer message. The number 1 album for the week was Lil Wayne‘s “Tha Carter IV.” It sold a staggering 800,000 or more units. (And really, who cares? Wayne, fresh out of jail, is still rapping about being high.) Number 2 is the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album from Warner Music. Len Blavatnik must be thrilled to see the Warner name on the charts after paying so much money for it. He was probably wondering about that. Kanye West and Jay Z are hanging in at number 4, but with quickly diminishing returns. But really, 2011 is all about Adele. We could have the Grammys now and get it over with.
Eddie Murphy Gets Oscar Gig, Anderson Cooper Gets Winehouses
Eddie Murphy is the official host of the 2012 Oscars. The Academy named him today much to the delight of producer Brett Ratner. Ratner and Murphy will have had a big movie opening in November, “Tower Heist.” Surely a hit, the film will be wave they can ride right into the February proceedings. Why announce this so early? It helps promote “Tower Heist.” And it eclipses what the Golden Globes will do with Ricky Gervais. I’m excited because with tributes to Oprah Winfrey and James Earl Jones, the Oscars will finally feel like a ceremony for everyone. It’s about time. Here’s hoping, though, that Billy Crystal will be involved, too, more than last time. The Oscars are already shaping up like a great night and we don’t even know which movies will be nominated. (Well, we have an idea.)…
…Anderson Cooper kicks off his syndicated talk show next week. His first guests will be Amy Winehouse’s family. That should be something. Will the Winehouses become the new generation Jacksons? The cash-in is right around the corner…
Erika Slezak Agrees to Star in Online Version of “One Life to Live”
Erika Slezak, the star of “One Life to Live,” has agreed to go with the show to its new online incarnation. Prospect Park Productions, run by Jeff Kwatinetz and Dick Cook, just announced that they’ve reach deals with Slezak, Ted King, Kassie dePaiva, and Michael Easton to continue with the show. “One Life” leaves ABC on January 20, 2012. Prospect Park will bring it on line soon after, and maybe on cable TV. They’re also negotiating with “All My Children” actors and star Susan Lucci. This announcement should help a lot to calm everyone down about the future of the shows. Slezak is a multiple Emmy winner and has been with “One Life” since 1971 as Victoria Lord, the principal character. Will the Prospect Park model work? Who knows? But it’s worth trying. Prospect Park still has about thirty more actors to lock down from both shows including Robin Strasser and Robert S. Woods from “One Life” and Michael E. Knight from “All My Children.”
James Franco: Cancelled Broadway Play Not His Fault
I read with some amusement in the last few days that Oscar nominated actor James Franco “backed out” of doing “Sweet Bird of Youth” on Broadway this fall. This isn’t exactly true. This column broke the news exclusively that Franco was set for “Sweet Bird” with Nicole Kidman back on November 30, 2010. I thought I’d try and add some reality to this latest chapter. http://www.showbiz411.com/2010/11/30/nicole-kidman-may-get-james-franco-as-broadway-co-star
Franco told the producers of “Sweet Bird” that he could only do the show this fall if it coincided with his famous school schedule at Yale. This was before he agreed to shoot “Oz, the Great and Powerful,” currently in production in Detroit. As his work schedule kept changing, insiders say, Franco asked that the play be moved to January rehearsals with a pre-Tony spring opening.
But then came “Oz” and other projects that interfered, as well as school. I told you on January 3, 2011 that Franco planned to direct both William Faulkner‘s “As I Lay Dying” and Cormac McCarthy‘s “Blood Meridian.”
But the latter, as well as “Sweet Bird” and another movie–that didn’t happen–are all from Tony winning producer Scott Rudin. It may have been a case of too many eggs in one basket–I’m told it was getting confusing because Rudin wanted Franco to do some of the projects, and Franco wanted to do others. In the end, communications snafu’d in all directions.
So “Sweet Bird” may or may not get done. In the meantime, Rudin will bring Philip Seymour Hoffman to Broadway in “Death of a Salesman” this spring, and they will rack up some more Tony Awards. His “Book of Mormon” is sold out every night until 2019 or something. Franco has lots of projects, and no doubt will work with Rudin in the future.
PS Rudin also took a gamble this past season and won big with an original play, which is a rarity–“The Motherf—– with the Hat” on Broadway. The play caused a sensation, made money, got great reviews, and lots of Tony nominations. It also was a tremendous step for actor Bobby Cannavale. “Mother-f” is already starting to get regional productions. Not bad.Â
Pathetic MDA Telethon: No Tote Board, No Jerry, And Lots of D Listers
The MDA telethon: if you fast forward the six hour show to its last few minutes, there’s a very brief and pathetic montage of Jerry Lewis clips. There’s no voice because the producers decided to set it to an instrumental version of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.” Sad. It makes it seem, like the aborted tribute at the front of the show, like Lewis died. What was worse: just as the end credits roll, the show’s announcer tries to say “We missed you, Jerry” and is cut off by the director. The six hour telethon, cut down from overnight and 21 and a half hours, was a bland parade of D listers and taped segments. All the personality that Jerry Lewis gave MDA over 45 years was just chucked out the window.
The show was so badly produced that the end credits started to run 46 minutes before the show was supposed to end. The hosts looked like they’d been embalmed. The women were bad enough, but what the heck was “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe doing? He did manage to get taped messages from Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest and Steven Tyler. But no Jennifer Lopez. Maybe she’s a Jerry Lewis fan. And for the first time, no tote board. Did they make money? Who knows? The drama, the pathos, the investment in any of this — all gone.
Instead we got a frightening rock band of soap actors, Maureen McGovern, and audience that looked like they’d been worked on by taxidermists. One bright spot: Richie Sambora was great singing “Livin’ on a Prayer.” He looked good, too.
The Labor Day telethon was always cheesy but in the end, it had heart. This was a soulless exercise. And from the looks of the mail we got, MDA has set itself back tremendously. However Lewis feels about how he was treated tonight, I’m sure he is torn: he loved those kids.
Jerry Lewis: MDA Hosts Just Lie, and Tell Audience He Retired
UPDATE: The hosts of the MDA Telethon just lied to the audience and told them that Jerry Lewis had retired. Do they think the viewers live under a rock? Everyone knows that Lewis was ousted. I’m told that “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe is basically running the show. “It’s all Idol people backstage,” says a source. Lythgoe told the audience in opening remarks that Lewis told him he was retiring. This was echoed by the other hosts. Lewis must be seething, and with good reason. They made it sound like he’d died. Unbelievable.
http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/09/05/pathetic-mda-telethon-a-parade-of-d-listers-and-taped-segments
http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/09/03/jerry-lewiss-name-still-being-used-by-mda
Doris Day Tells Paul McCartney: Que Sera Sera
Doris Day is pretty reclusive and doesn’t give interviews. But she’s given one to Paul McCartney, who went to see her in Carmel, California. The occasion is her “new” album which comes out next week, called “My Heart.” The interview appears in the UK newspaper The Telegraph. Paul and Doris, who’s 87 now, talk about animals rights, her late son Terry Melcher, her signature song “Que Sera Sera,” and Alfred Hitchcock.When McCartney mentions Melcher, he comments that Day’s son “didn’t push himself too much.” He adds: “I didn’t either, come to think of it.” Paul, surely you jest! Anyway, it’s great to hear from and see Doris Day again. Doris, about ten different important awards shows and events want to honor you, if only you’ll say yes–from the Grammys to the Oscars to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.