One of the big topics last night at the Tony Awards: word that Matthew Broderick will replace Harry Connick, Jr. in a long planned “new” Gershwin musical. “Nice Work If You Can Get It” was announced a couple of years ago as a project for now newly minted Tony winner Kathleen Marshall, director of “Anything Goes.” Marshall left the project at one point, but now I’m told she may be back in. This is considered a “new” Gershwin musical because, like “Crazy for You,” it’s assembled from Gershwin songs with a new book. Originally Connick was going to play the lead. But I was told last night by several sources that Matthew Broderick, so great in “The Producers” (Tony nomination) and many other shows, is replacing him. More info as it comes, but expect “Nice Work” for next year’s Tony Awards….And one nice thing for Matthew: he was denied a Tony for “The Producers” because Nathan Lane was partnered with him and the more flamboyant role of Max Bialystock. Broderick was just as good. This time, he’ll have a clear shot.
Carl Gardner, Leader of the Coasters, Dies at 83
The great rock and roll and R&B singer Carl Gardner, Sr., leader of the Coasters, died yesterday at age 83. “Carl was one of the great lead voices of the early rock and roll era,” says Sam Moore, his Atlantic Records labelmate. Gardner was also a leader in the effort to combat fake groups using the names of early groups. He fought to keep the Coasters name away from pretenders. It was a good thing, too, since the Coasters had lots of good will built up from their hits like “Charlie Brown,” “Poison Ivy,” “Yakety Yak,” “Youngblood,” “Searchin,” “Love Potion No. 9,” and “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” most of which were written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYnlVu9z1UM Gardner and the original Coasters are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in its early days.
Backstage at the Tony’s: Christie Brinkley Wins A Diamond Watch
What a scene backstage at the Tony Awards, in a room next to the cramped Beacon Theater. Audemars Piguet watches had a contest for the celebrity presenters–stick your hand in a bowl of keys, pick one out, and then open a locked cubby. If the key worked, you got a solid gold diamond encrusted watch worth, like, a lot of money. Christie Brinkley turned her key once, and it failed. But a photographer asked her to try again, and voila! The “Chicago” star, dazzling in a floor length blue gown, walked away with a new timepiece. Word came back that Hugh Jackman had also won one.
“Wait a minute,” said Matthew Broderick, who’d come to the gift suite, he said, because he knew no one sitting around him in the theater. SJP was home with their three kids. “Something’s fishy,” he joked. Broderick got to hang out a bit with Daniel Radcliffe, who’s now playing his old role in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Joel Grey accepted kudos for his early direction of “The Normal Heart.”
Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin chatted up a very young brunette, Paul Shaffer introduced his teenage daughter around, Robin Williams came roaring in from the stage with his big white beard. Everyone got boxes of very dry cookies from Armani. Kelsey Grammer and his new wife, Kayte, met Daniel Radcliffe.
Elsewhere there was much the public didn’t see, including Vanessa Redgrave stopping to shake hands and take pictures with senior citizens in the West 74th St. Nursing Home. She was the only celebrity to do so, even though everyone had to pass this group assembled in front of their entrance on the way into the Beacon. The Brooke Shields saw what was happening, so she stopped, too. Redgrave is a mensch.
Inside the theater, during a commercial break, Frances McDormand got locked out in the lobby. She told me then–before winning–she didn’t have a speech and didn’t know what to say if she did win. Then we had to convince a security guy to let her back into the theater. “She’s nominated for Best Actress,” I said.
Up in the loge is where you’d find the press–not bad seats, all things considered. But what was Andrew Lloyd Webber doing all the up there with us?
Best line of the night, from Whoopi Goldberg when we said hello on the red carpet: “I have hot dog breath.” We love Whoopi.
In the party at the Plaza Hotel: McDormand and husband Joel Coen chatting with playwright David Rabe and now famous actress daughter Lily Rabe (whose mom and his wife was the great Jill Clayburgh). Jerry and Kate Hathaway, parents of Anne Hathaway–who’s in London filming “The Dark Knight Rises,” came to hang with out one of the “War Horse” producers. Best actor winner Mark Rylance showing us the print out of the Louis Jenkins poem he read as an acceptance speech. He read a Jenkins poem when he was last Tony, too, for “Boeing Boeing.” (The poem is “Walking Through Walls” http://www.louisjenkins.com/Louis_Jenkins/Poems.html)
And: Tamara Tunie, of “Law & Order: SVU” and “As the World Turns” fame, chatting up the parents of famed director/choreographer siblings Rob (“Chicago,” “Pirates of the Caribbean 4”) and tonight’s Tony winner Kathleen Marshall. Tamara and Rob were college pals at Carnegie Mellon.
Chris Rock and Annabella Sciorra, co-stars of “The Motherf—- with the Hat,” exiting the Plaza, he with wife, she with boyfriend: “See you… in 48 hours.” The party’s over, the show must go on.
Jon Cryer Still Hasn’t Heard from Charlie Sheen, Doesn’t Know Who Ashton Kutcher Will Play
Believe it or not, Jon Cryer still hasn’t a word from his former co-star, Charlie Sheen. Cryer and Sheen were co-stars for eight seasons of “Two and A Half Men.” But since Sheen’s unwinding this past winter and spring, Cryer tells me there’s been no communication. “He has my number,” Cryer told me last at the Tony awards. “I don’t have his.” That’s because, Cryer says, Sheen has changed his number so many times. Cryer also told me he still has no idea what or who Ashton Kutcher will be playing on the show. “They haven’t told me anything,” he said. “But I think I have good chemistry with Ashton.”
The season begins shooting on August 1st. Cryer does know that the writers met this past week. “Chuck [Lorre] called to say they have great ideas,” said Cryer, who also told me he never had any concept that Sheen’s behavior would grow into such a major disaster. He said Sheen had had episodes before, and they’d all been weathered. Meantime, he’s happy to say that so far Angus T. Jones, the 17 year who plays his son on the show, has not outgrown him yet. “He had a big growth spurt and then he stopped,” said Cryer, indicating around his own height. “So I think I’ve won my bet. But his father is very tall, so it could still happen.”
Jon, if you don’t know, comes from a showbiz family. His father was an actor. His mother, Gretchen Cryer, launched a famous off Broadway show in 1979 called “I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it On the Road.” It played for over a thousand performances at Joe Papp’s Public Theater. Next weekend, there’s a revival of the show and a showcase of a new one by Jon’s mom. But Cryer can’t be there, he said. “We’ve got, you know, little kids at home in L.A.” Oh yes, kids!
http://tinyurl.com/5shpqaf
Exclusive: Springsteen Sax Man Clarence Clemons Said Seriously Ill from Stroke
Exclusive: We’re sending prayers to The Big Man, Clarence Clemons He is said to be seriously ill after a stroke at his home in Florida. The legendary, magnificent saxophone star of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band has had health complications in the past and overcome them. But this situation, as described to me this evening, sounds pretty dire. I am told that members of the E Street Band were advised to get down to Florida as soon as possible. Clarence has a history with Springsteen going back to the early 70s. It’s his trademark sound on “Rosalita” and other songs from “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle” that established Bruce, and moved him from singer songwriter to R&B aficionado. By the time Clarence’s sax is heard on “Born to Run” in 1975, Springsteen’s entire trajectory is changed. More recently, in addition to working with Bruce, Clarence can be heard all over Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way” album.
PS Thanks to everyone who gave us credit for this sad scoop–except of course the hacks at the Hollywood Reporter.
Broadway: After Tony Awards, Born Yesterday May Be Gone Tomorrow
Tonight: the Tony Awards on CBS. Don’t miss ’em. You’ll see the best of the past Broadway season. But once the parties and fun are over, get ready for closing notices. “Million Dollar Quartet” has already announced it’s closing today.
I’m told that the highly praised revival of “Born Yesterday,” with Jim Belushi, Robert Sean Leonard and breakout star Nina Arianda, is likely to be the first casualty. Producers have already discussed this with the cast, I’m told. The play took in only $216,000 last week.
“Born Yesterday” is not alone. “Bengal Tiger,” with Robin Williams, is already set to close on July 3rd. The revival of Tom Stoppard‘s “Arcadia”-also so good–will go, too, next Sunday.”The Normal Heart”–which should not be missed–ends next month, as do “The Motherf—- in the Hat,” “The Importance of Being Earnest.” and John Leguizamo’s “Ghetto Klown.”
Right now the best deal on Broadway has to be “The House of Blue Leaves” with big stars Ben Stiller, Edie Falco, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The show, ending its limited run on July 23rd, is only selling at 69% of capacity. It’s frequently for sale at half price at the TKTS booth on 47th Street. That closing date is still a way off, and seats have to be filled.
August is going to be a quiet month on Broadway. With all these shows closing, though, it may be a good sign for “Baby It’s You,” the fun musical about Florence Greenberg and how she discovered the Shirelles and other groups. We’ll cross our fingers.
Jennifer Hudson’s Big Movie Making Summer
Once Jennifer Hudson gets over her food poisoning–she really got hit with a bad bout of it yesterday–she’s got a busy summer making movies. While her Winnie Mandela movie, “Winnie,” is being readied for film festivals, Hudson has two big summer projects. First she plays a nun in “The Three Stooges,” which should be a hoot despite the strange casting of the main guys. (Sean Hayes? Really?) Then in August Hudson will star in “Mister and Pete,” directed by George Tillman, Jr. and produced by Alicia Keys (among others). This indie film will show Hudson in a gritty role, as a mother who goes to jail and leaves her two young sons to care for themselves. And then, of course, there should be a Grammy push for her latest album and hit single, “Where You At?” She deserves to be not just in best R&B vocal, but Best Female Vocal period. Hopefully, J Records will release one of the there Alicia Keys-penned songs from the album as the next single–considering how much trouble those songs caused in the first place. (That’s another story.) Hudson, I think, is the best singer of her generation, and needs to be treated by the Grammys like a new generation Aretha Franklin. (PS–Get Aretha’s new album on the Walmart website. It’s great.)
James Franco Gets His MFA from Columbia University
Oscar nominated actor James Franco has received his Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University. His diploma–it’s real–is right here. This is quite an accomplishment for anyone, but a working actor with a tough schedule–this is near impossible. Franco is currently enrolled in Yale University’s PhD program. This summer he’ll take classes at Warren Wilson College before heading back to Yale. Franco’s educational journey began with him completing UCLA while he was shooting “Spider Man 2.” Mazel tov!
And no,Franco is NOT making an album of experimental music with anyone. That story, like many about Franco, is untrue. And yes he did look at Earth art out west on a recent road trip. But I am advised that this means Michael Heizer’s “Double Negative” in Nevada, Robert Smithson‘s “Spiral Jetty” in Utah and Walter de Maria’s “Lightning Fields” in New Mexico. The latter work is said to have inspired part of Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian”–a novel Franco had hoped to direct on screen.
Joan Jett Sues to Stop Charity Tribute Album
Joan Jett may be very charitable but not–her detractors say–when she doesn’t approve it. Jett and former Runaways partner Cherie Currie are now suing MainMan Records to stop them from distributing a charity tribute album of Jett/Runaways songs. The album, “Take it Or Leave It,” features Runaways covers from The Donnas, Shonen Knife, Bebe Buell Band, Care Bears on Fire. members of the Beastie Boys and others. MainMan’s Keith Roth had planned to give proceeds to the American Cancer Institute in memory of Sandy West, the Runaways drummer. But apparently, according to sources, Jett’s manager Kenny Laguna didn’t like the project because he wasn’t involved in it. Now Jett and Currie have filed suit using law firm Baker Hostetler to enjoin the release. Ironically, I’m told, Currie actually sings on one of the tracks–“American Nights” the one Roth produced with his own band, Frankenstein 3000. http://tinyurl.com/3ow37wp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf49Ti7wMRg
PS A source says all the songs were cleared for use. If so, it sounds like Jett and Laguna may just have to endure having good artists play their music for charity. Yikes.