Alicia Keys — Grammy winner, newcomer from a decade ago–has really spread her wings in showbiz. She’s now writing music for the new Broadway play “Stick Fly.” Keys had already signed on as a producer of the play by Lydia R. Diamond. “Stick Fly,” directed by Kenny Leon, stars Dulé Hill (“Psych,” “The West Wing”) as Kent “Spoon” Levay, Mekhi Phifer (“ER,” 8 Mile) as Flip Levay, Tracie Thoms (“Cold Case,” Rent) as Taylor, Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Seven Guitars, Lackawanna Blues) as Joe Levay, Rosie Benton (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Accent on Youth) as Kimber and Condola Rashad (Ruined) as Cheryl. Here’s Alicia’s official statement: “As someone who walked up and down this boulevard as a young girl, I cannot describe the thrill of having the opportunity of composing songs for a Broadway show. It’s honestly been a dream come true. I love the humor and humanity of Stick Fly, and I’m so excited to be a part of the emotional journey this show will take audiences on.”
SNL’s Kristen Wiig: This Could Be Her Last Season
Kristen Wiig–who’s become a hot commodity with “Bridesmaids” this year–has wrapped her latest film in time for the new season “Saturday Night Live.” It may also be her last season, I’m told by a source. Wiig, along with Jason Sudeikis, has enough of a film career to graduate at the end of this season. “Imogene,” a movie I announced her exclusively last spring, costars Annette Bening. Matt Dillon and Darren Criss. “Imogene” is produced by Trudie Styler and Celine Rattray‘s Maven Pictures with some new partners 10th Hole Productions joining Anonymous Content’s Alix Madigan, Gambit Productions, and Ambush Entertainment. Kristen, by the way, also has a co-starring role in Jennifer Westfeldt’s excellent comedy “Friends with Kids,” to be released by Lions Gate.
Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick Hunt Dinosaurs
Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick learned a lot about dinosaurs last night. So did about 200 people who came to the American Museum of Natural History to support Mike Nichols and Cynthia O’Neal‘s 20 year old charity, Friends in Deed. Legendary composer Stephen Sondheim created a treasure hunt game with the museum folks, and he was there to watch as all of us scurried through the various dino halls to figure out answers to things like “parrot beak” and “giant sloth.” Once you found the appropriate fossil and filled in the blanks of its name on clue cards, the answers were then drafted down to a single sentence. Team Number 8–with writer Patti Bosworth, Broadway legend Phyllis Newman, and man about town Joe Armstrong–kept colliding with Team 4– SJP, Broadway star John Benjamin Hickey, and Bravo’s Andy Cohen. Phyllis Newman, luckily, goes back a long way with Sondheim so she knew how to play the game. She guessed the answer early, but everyone was too excited to pay attention. The winning team got to take home a Motorola Xoom tablet. Later everyone dined in the Planetarium and listened to songs from Broadway stars Melissa Errico (who has a new album coming out next week produced by Phil Ramone) and Raul Esparza.
James Franco’s Father Passes Away Suddenly
Doug Franco, actor James Franco’s dad, passed away suddenly last week. He was 63. The news was just released by the family late tonight. Doug had a Harvard MBA and was a long time entrepreneur in the Silicon Valley. He leaves his wife Betsy, mother of James, actor Dave and brother Tom. Doug Franco, who was of Swedish and Portugese descent, was one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. He was also extremely proud of his sons. He told me during Oscar week how awed he was by James’s recent accomplishments and whirlwind of activity– a nomination, the hosting, the school stuff, all of it. And it was with Doug that I happened to walk up the stairs to the stage of the Kodak Theater when the Academy Awards ended this year. He was so eager to congratulate James and take family pictures. A lovely guy, gone way too soon. Condolences to the Franco and Verne families.
Hitler-Friendly Lars von Trier Stays Away from “Melancholia” NY Premiere
Danish director Lars von Trier did everyone a favor Monday and stayed away from the New York Film Festival premiere of “Melancholia.” After making his infamous Hitler and Nazi remarks in Cannes last May, von Trier knew better than to poke around in churning waters. Stars Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Alexander Skarsgard showed up, which was just fine. Dunst won Best Actress in Cannes, and certainly merits awards attention this season. “Melancholia” is a very good film, and one that is hard to shake from memory. Kirsten looked terrific, and told us at the DeLeon Tequila after party at Stone Rose Lounge in the Time Warner Center that once she finishes “Bachelorette,” she’s taking the holidays off before starting another film. Skarsgard is off to shoot “The East” before returning to “True Blood.” When I asked him how he was handling being the object of so much female attention, he just smiled and said, “I’m enjoying it.” He’s a nice guy…
“Gotti” Movie Must Meet Financial Deadlines This Week
As I’ve reported, the “Gotti” movie to be directed by Barry Levinson is problematic at best. Produced by a former federal felon with close mob ties, “Gotti” — according to sources– must meet financial deadlines this week or it won’t be happening. This is a key week, I am told, for Marco Fiore aka Marc Fiore. He has to come up with a lot of money for star John Travolta, director Levinson, and even bigger star Al Pacino. So far there’s no production office for “Gotti” and no sets are being built. The movie remains hypothetical.
“If Marc Fiore doesn’t come up with money this week, and doesn’t show that more is coming, and that he’s really secured financing, it could all fall apart,” says a source.
Last week, Fiore announced that screenwriter James Toback was being made executive producer, along with a man named Salvatore Carpanzano. Toback, the source says, is just window dressing because he’s already associated with the film and has a name that carries weight for the filmmakers. Carpanzano seems to be a friend of Fiore from New Jersey, with no film history and a long list of problems with the law and the courts.
“If Barry leaves, he takes Al Pacino with him,” says an observer. “And after that, it’s over.” Also to be noted is Travolta’s famous “perq package”–which is rumored to run 30 pages and can cost a producer millions for private chefs and personal gifts. If Fiore isn’t ready to accommodate Travolta on that level, he could lose his star.
And yes, Joe Pesci is still suing Fiore for breach of contract.
http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/09/27/gotti-casts-for-80-roles-including-sammy-the-bull-and-veal-chop
Roman Polanski: After Confinement, a Movie Set in One Room
Roman Polanski, no matter how you feel about him, is one of our great directors. From “Rosemary’s Baby” to “Chinatown” to “Tess” to “The Pianist,” he’s made a significant and lasting contribution to cinema. Now, after his famous home imprisonment, Polanski decided to film the Broadway play “God of Carnage.” He’s turned a two act play into a 79 minute film about claustrophobia. “Carnage” opened the New York Film Festival on Friday night with stars John C. Reilly and Jodie Foster present, and Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet absent. Also absent, of course, was Polanski, who will probably never be allowed to enter the United States again as long as the farce in the Los Angeles court system continues.
I had the good fortune to sit next to Angelica Huston during the screening; she’s an old friend of Polanski although she said she hasn’t seen him in years. Otherwise, the opening of the Film Festival was not particularly star studded. Indeed, after last year’s “Social Network” premiere, this was kind of an odd choice–two stars only, and only one of them–Reilly–mixed with the after crowd at the Harvard Club. Foster remained aloof in a second floor room, and left early.
“Carnage” is a solid effort, but I wonder who will see it. If it’s Polanski’s musing on being locked up, it works. (This is a common theme in his films–think of “The Pianist” or “Rosemary’s Baby.”) The two couples in “Carnage” are trapped by their own volition in a small but extremely well decorated Brooklyn apartment. Reilly and Foster are hosting Waltz and Winslet, whose child attacked theirs with a stick. Now the two “pc” couples are trying to come to terms with a sort of surrender between the playground antagonists. Reilly, picking up the role James Gandolfini played on Broadway, steals the movie. Kate Winslet comes in second. Waltz, fresh from “Inglorious Basterds,” is still new to everyone, but boy is he good. He has the delicious part of a lawyer who is always on his cell phone, is completely self absorbed. Only Foster seems a little out of place, extremely strident and shot especially badly.
By the way, getting from Alice Tully Hall to the Harvard Club in a driving rain wasn’t so easy. There were no cabs, but plenty of well heeled, well dressed types hailing them in vain. Our friend (writer for this site sometimes) Regina Weinreich had a great idea. “Let’s take the bus,” she said. An M5 bus pulled up in front of Alice Tully. A gang of us clambered on and headed downtown from 65th and Broadway and 44th and Fifth. The bus driver looked surprised to see the formally attired, especially those of us who actually carry MetroCards!
Sting Celebrates 60 With Bruce, Gaga, Stevie, 32 Hero Bagpipers
Exclusive: Sting’s 60th birthday party at the Beacon Theater was a four hour celebration of the rock star’s career and songs with his own band and almost a dozen famous musicians performing his music. They included Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Herbie Hancock, Lady Gaga. Branford Marsalis, will.i.am, Mary J. Blige, Chris Botti, Jimmy Nail, and Met Opera star Bryn Terfel. The latter opened the second act of the show with a rendition of “Roxanne” certain to become part of pop history–it was hilarious and serious at the same time, and showed how Sting’s punkiest new wave music has resonance in many forms.
There were many extraordinary moments on stage and off, where documentary maker Joe Berlinger brought the primary member of the just released Memphis 3, Jason Baldwin. And there were also Robert Downey and his wife Susan (Downey was also in the show), Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Tom Brokaw, Jake Gyllenhaal, directors Bennett Miller (“Moneyball”) and Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”), actresses Lorraine Bracco and Melanie Griffith, Fisher Stevens, and Harvey Weinstein, Donna Karan, as well as Patti Scialfa (Mrs, Springsteen), designer Kai Milla Morris (Mrs. Wonder), and Alexa Ray Joel with her dad’s new girlfriend. Michael J. Fox and wife Tracy Pollan attended the afternoon run through only.
It was family night for Sting, too, with his brother and both of his sisters, plus, of course, the magnificent Trudie Styler (Mrs. Sting) radiant in a slinky Pucci gown, and all six of their kids including Sting’s eldest Joe Sumner, who sang with his father on the poignant “Why Do I Cry for You?” dedicated to Sting’s late father. Also present were about a dozen or so of Sting’s pals from his early days in Newcastle, England including the musicians who played with him in jazz groups like the Phoenix Jazzman and Last Exit.
Some highlights: Springsteen gave extraordinary reinterpretations of “Fields of Gold” and “I Hung My Head”– so good that he brought out new meanings in both. He should consider recording them. Stevie Wonder, looking slimmer, played harmonica on “Brand New Day” and then sang a gorgeous version of “Fragile.” Lady Gaga wore one complete concept costume at afternoon rehearsals, then came in a completely different one to the real show. She and Sting finally perfected their duet on “King of Pain.” Gaga continues to impress by showing substance–her voice is terrific–over style. “If You Love Somebody Set them Free” was resurrected as a jazz jam, and Sting rendered an acoustic “Message in a Bottle” as a poignant finale. Robert Downey, Jr, of all things, sang a credible rendition of “Driven to Tears.”
The evening was capped with a surprise for Sting–Styler flew in the 32 member Royal Scots Dragoon Guards–they’re soldiers who’ve completed missions in Afghanistan. She and Sting had seen them this summer in Edinburgh. “They’re incredible heroes,” Styler said, and she’s right. “We’re very proud of them.” The Dragooners’ appearance added a moving finale to an already stunning evening.
Still in all, the evening raised $3.7 million for the Robin Hood Foundation, which disburses funds to impoverished New Yorkers. I’m told that the show was filmed to be part of a free app launching in November.
photo c2011 showbiz411-ann lawlor
Motown’s Secret Weapon, Marv Tarplin, 70, Wrote Hits with Smokey Robinson
Marv Tarplin is a name you do not know. He co-wrote at least a dozen hits for Motown with Smokey Robinson, was an official member of the Miracles, and the guitar sound on many more hits. He died on Friday at age 70. Tarplin often toured with Smokey’s solo act; he was featured when Smokey played Carnegie Hall in June 2006. Among the hits he co-authored: “Tracks of My Tears,” “Going to a Go Go,” “The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage,” and “My Girl Has Gone,” as well as “Cruisin’.” He also co-wrote early Marvin Gaye hits with Smokey like “I’ll Be Doggone” and “Ain’t That Peculiar.” He was considered Motown and Smokey’s “secret weapon,” not only for composing hits but for making others’ hits memorable with his guitar. It was his riffs that made Smokey’s hits so sensational, although Marv was never part of Motown’s Funk Brothers. He was Smokey’s guy, on “My Girl” and “You Really Got a Hold On Me” among others. RIP Marv Tarplin, another one of Motown’s lost legends.
Conrad Murray’s Bad Doctoring: Like Father, Like Son
I wrote this on July 23, 2009 in this column. But it seemed appropriate to recall in light of the current trial.
Michael Jackson’s Dr. Conrad Murray, now under investigation by the LAPD for possible manslaughter in Michael’s death: medical malfeasance may be in his genes.
Dr. Murray’s biological father, whom he met at age 25, was the late Dr. Rawle Andrews of Houston, Tex. Dr. Andrews died in 2001, but was a respected Houston physician. Both Dr. Andrews and his son, Dr. Murray, are graduates of Nashville’s Meharry Medical College.
However: Dr. Rawle Andrews medical license came under review and was ‘severely limited’ according to the Texas Medical Board, from 1994 to 1999.
Dr. Andrews was found to have prescribed “controlled substances and substances with addictive potential to [two patients, names reduced to initials] for extended periods of time without adequate indication.”
The board particularly cited four “dangerous” drugs in their order:
Stadol — a powerful pain reliever used for migraines after surgery” connected to Demerol
Nubain–another powerful pain reliever, delivered through IV, equivalent to morphine and used as a supplement to anesthesia;”
Talwin –yet another monster pain reliever/narcotic used before surgery and anesthesia
Phenergan — a more moderate pain killer but also an antihistamine used for itching and swelling.
If any of these turn up in Michael Jackson’s toxicology report, the parallels may be more than just a coincidence. What probably killed Jackson was an overdose or misuse of anesthesia-based drug Diprivan. Certainly, Dr. Murray knew that his father had had disciplinary action taken against him for prescribing and administering similar drugs.
The citation reads: “Agreed Order entered restricting license for 5 years for prescribing or administering a drug or treatment that is non therapeutic in nature or non therapeutic in the manner the drug or treatment is administered or prescribed.”