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Sienna Miller’s Brave Leap to Broadway

Roger Friedman
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58715126Sienna Miller and Jonny Lee Miller hit Broadway last night with a bang. They co-star with Marin Ireland (she was so good in “reasons to be pretty“) in Patrick Marber’s “After Miss Julie,” an update of Strindberg’s “Miss Julie.” It’s not an easy play. For what seems like an eternity, not a word is said on stage while Marin Ireland’s character does chores on stage as she waits for the Millers (who are not related in real life or fiction) to return from a dance. At one point her character falls asleep on stage. The actress told me later she’s incredibly tense she herself will doze off, too. “Luckily, Sienna wakes me up. I always know she’s coming to do it!”

But the three actors (pictured), especially glamorous Sienna ‘ who continues to impress as a serious actress ‘ pull it off. If you can make it through the second half of this 90-minute play, the rewards are vast.

The stars got a lot of attention last night at their premiere. Claire Danes and newish husband Hugh Dancy were right there to cheer them on, as were Jill Clayburgh and David Rabe, actress Rachel McAdams, Vogue magazine’s Anna Wintour and even one of the vampires from “Tru Blood” ‘ the tall and very tan Alexander Skarsgard. (Did you know his father is the excellent Swedish actor, Stellan Skarsgard?) Gossipeuse Cindy Adams was there, too, with her friend, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, the sister of the Donald and aunt of the about to be married Ivanka. (The Orthodox Jewish wedding to Jared Kushner is this weekend in New Jersey. I’m told mom Ivana got just 10 seats for her friends.)

Sienna’s dad and stepmom were in the audience supporting her, too. After the show, the actress was glowing, and with good reason. Yet again, she’s beaten the tabloids and the odds makers and pulled off a little coup. Brava!

P.S. Jonny Lee Miller is no slouch, either. The first husband of Angelina Jolie, he’s been biding his time in British theater and on American TV in “Eli Stone.” He’s the real deal.

Michael Jackson: This Is Really ‘It’ Until February

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” opens worldwide in theaters on Wednesday. But you won’t be seeing it on DVD until February.

That’s because the movie studios have a deal with DVD companies. There has to be a 90-day window after the movie has played in theaters before it’s available in stores.

“This Is It” is set to play for two weeks, from Oct. 28-Nov. 13. Sony won’t admit it, but if it does well, the documentary could get a one or two week extension in theaters.

Either way, count 90 days from the end of its theater run before you can buy it as a DVD. That means no Michael Jackson Christmas. The earliest it would turn up is Feb. 13.

That nugget of info should create even more demand for tickets to the theater run. Even this reporter assumed “This Is It” would be the stocking stuffer of all time. But sources inside say no, and that’s it. Fans will have to rely on the collector’s item soundtrack CD featuring the songs from the movie in their original recorded versions.

Exclusive: New Track from Sting “The Burning Babe”

Roger Friedman
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Here’s an exclusive track from Sting’s new album, “If On A Winter’s Night.” The album drops on Monday, October 26th,the day before a bunch of other releases including the Michael Jackson album and Rod Stewart’s CD of soul song covers. Don’t get them mixed up!

I really love this track, called “The Burning Babe,” and asked for it especially to be released to us at showbiz411.com. All the tracks on “If On A Winter’s Night” are exceptional, rethought Christmas-type tales that make you want to put on the CD, pour some wine, and get into the holiday mood. But this one, and “Christmas at Sea,” Sting’s take on Robert Louis Stevenson, are examples of how this musician continues to grow and experiment successfully. Sting’s intrepid musicianship, his willingness to explore and expand, is quite frankly missing from the current generation of “rock stars.” They should take a lesson from people like him, Paul Simon, and David Byrne.

Last month, Sting and his band recorded “If’ On A Winter’s Night” live at Durham Cathedral in Britain. The DVD gets released on November 23rd, and three days later, on Thanksgiving, the whole concert plays on PBS’s “Great Performances” across the country. Sting also turns up next Thursday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows as the special guest of Stevie Wonder.

And watch this space: I do hear that Sting will be bringing the live show to some more venues soon to be announced.

In the meantime, enjoy “The Burning Babe,” based on a poem by Robert Southwell (1561-1595), with music by Chris Wood. I just read on Wikipedia that Ben Jonson, Southwell’s contemporary, was jealous of this poem. He had good taste!

Dear “Glee”: Madonna Didn’t Write All Her Hits

Roger Friedman
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Big announcement last night that Madonna has “turned over her entire catalog” to the show “Glee” for covering.

Okay, that’s nice. Only one thing. Madonna didn’t write all her songs. The “entire catalog” does not include “Like a Virgin,” “Dress You Up,” “Borderline,” “Holiday,” or “Material’ Girl,” for example.

Most of the others that “Glee” would want to cover were “co-written” by Madonna with either Patrick Leonard, Steven Bray’or William Orbit. “Ray of Light.” for example, was, ahem, sampled from a song by Christine Leach and two partners, then “reworked” by Madonna and her composer at the time, William Orbit.”Celebration,” her latest release, comes from Paul Oakenfold’s catalog with two other writers and Madonna tagged on. “Justify My Love” is a Lenny Kravitz song. “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” was written for the group Rose Royce by Miles Gregory in 1978. There’s still some question about who wrote “Lucky Star.” And so on.

Madonna operates like a lot of today’s singers. When she’s ready to make an album, a call goes out to songwriters and producers to send in their best stuff. Madonna sifts through it with a producer, picks out what she likes, and then adds her own sensibility ‘ and her byline ‘ to it. Really, the only top singer of this generation who doesn’t do that is Whitney Houston. If she had done that from the start, she’d be a lot wealthier now.

So it’s lovely that Madonna is bestowing her songs on “Glee,” but in reality, they are not just her songs, they belong to lots of other people. And in some cases, they aren’t her songs at all.

Don’t get me wrong: Madonna is a spectacular, hard working performer and a force of nature. She’s a fashion icon and she knows how to cause a commotion. So let’s give the credit where it’s due, but let’s not pretend she’s Lennon and McCartney. “Glee” will be gleeful for a lot of songwriters if they use Madonna’s hits in the show.

Hall & Oates: They’re Back After a Mid-80s Career Suicide

Roger Friedman
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I come now to praise Daryl Hall and John Oates, without their ampersand. Listen, if you grew up with this stuff playing in the background, you hated it after a while. But now there’s a box set in release called “Do You Want, Be What You Are.” That was a song title from H&O long ago. But I would have named the box set after one of my favorite H&O songs, “It’s A Laugh.” But they are not a duo with much of a sense of humor.

Like most duos, H&O fought all the time. Things finally unhinged when, in the 80s, Daryl Hall started bragging about his voice. Then Lynn Hirschberg nailed them in a 1985 Rolling Stone piece and the party was over. This is what you didn’t say in an interview in 1985, but Daryl said it anyway. The conversation was about gossip that he and Oates had been lovers (they weren’t):

“”The idea of sex with a man doesn’t turn me off, but I don’t express it. I satisfied my curiosity about that years ago. I had lots of sex between the ages of three or four and the time I was fourteen or fifteen. Strange experiences with older boys. But men don’t particularly turn me on. And, no, John and I have never been lovers. He’s not my type. Too short and dark.”

It got worse. “It’s weird,” Hall told Hirschberg. “I’m just about the best singer I know, and it’s time for everybody to say that. I have total facility with my voice. And for some weird reason, critics don’t talk about it. Americans think that if you’re popular there must be something wrong with you. To me, the best music now is music that everyone’s listening to. Obscurity is just obscurity. There’s no romance in obscurity.”

Could there be more? Uh huh. ‘I think we’re the Eighties Beatles,’ Hall said. ‘If we had been born twenty years earlier, maybe the world would have seen that. There’s something about our personalities that is very Lennon-and-McCartneyesque. And there is something about the body of work that we both have that’s similar. I know people will have trouble accepting that. But I don’t have any trouble accepting it.’

Yikes. I have to stop there. Hirschberg was not arrested for murder because the Culture Police ruled it suicide. Read on in the story. Fifteen years down the drain.

So now to the box set. I have always held great affection for the second H&O album, “Abandoned Luncheonette.” It was produced magnificently on Atlantic Records by the legendary Arif Mardin. It’s a gem, a classic that contains the duo’s wonderful R&B hit, “She’s Gone.” It has the promise of so much.

But then Hall & Oates moved on to RCA, where they got commercial. Lots of hits followed, including some that I have enjoyed hearing again: “Your Imagination,” “It’s A Laugh,” “It’s Uncanny,” “Rich Girl.” There are also a pair from later in their hit run: “Out of Touch” and “Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid.” The latter should be a reference to that interview. Too bad they didn’t take their own advice.

Well, it’s water under the bridge. H&O were humbled for their hubris. After Hirschberg, the hits dried up. At one point, Daryl sang on an Elvis Costello record for cred. It didn’t help anyone. He does have a beautiful voice, as does Oates, and they always complimented each other well. You hear them more on “She’s Gone” and “Sara Smile” than on later records where the sound is pumped up for radio action. Listening to the box set, putting aside the interviews and the videos (they didn’t help ‘ you wanted to run from them in the 80s), Hall & Oates made a lot of really nice music. Not in the realm of the Beatles. (Ahem, who knows what fueled that conversation?) But it’s nice to hear it all one more time.

Alicia Keys � What Else? � Debuts Another Big Hit for NYU Students

Roger Friedman
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Alicia Keys went to college yesterday ‘ and made a menschy appearance at New York University’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music.

Keys took questions from students ‘ aspiring songwriters ‘ and then put on a half hour show with her full band at NYU’s Skirball Center. Her set included two songs from her forthcoming December album, set to be called “The Element of Freedom.” The first single, “Doesn’t Mean Anything,” is great but sounds slightly like her other big hit, “No One.” That’s fine. But a new song, called “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart,” has all the earmarks of a smash. You heard it here first. Or rather, the 800 or so people at the Skirball heard it first. This is a song we’re going to be hearing through all of 2010 and right until the Grammys in 2011.

The other songs in her set were just the hits: “Fallin’,” “You Don’t Know My Name,” and “If I Ain’t Got You.” Keys is without a doubt the music star of her generation, a’ true phenomenon.

Keys told MTV interviewer Sway, who emceed, about her college days: “The only person you can shortchange is yourself,” she advised the students. “I will never forget trying to balance everything. It’s just about choices, you have to make choices.”

Keys said the making of her “As I Am” album two years was very difficult because she was dealing with personnel changes. “I kind of had to find the snakes in the grass,” she revealed ‘although she’s still with longtime manager Jeff Robinson and J Records, so the snakes, we surmise, were personal. “It’s hard to be the one to change, to end relationships you had for years. I was really trying to find myself. I tend to be a very optimistic person, but I was snappy, and mean. My grandmother was very sick, I was watching her pass away and taking care of her. I was just very, very confused. [Making the record] was very, very difficult for me.”

She overcame it, though. Keys, by the way, named writer-producer Linda Perry as one of her favorite collaborators. And she lavished praise on Stevie Wonder as her musical hero. When asked for tips about how to write a hit song, Keys sang a couple of lines from Bill Withers‘ classic, “Ain’t No Sunshine.” “Just keep it simple,” she advised. “Every time I go into the studio, I don’t know what to do. I say Alright, how I do this again? Part of songwriting is the journey.”

Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” Dedicated to His Children

Roger Friedman
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When audiences finally see “This Is It” next week, they will also have a lump in the throat moment at the end: a dedication of the movie to Michael’s kids, Prince, Paris, and Blanket.

I’m told the decision was made to dedicate the film that way by Jackson’s executors, John Branca and John McClain. They are also the film’s executive producers.

Also, the Jackson brothers who added vocals to Michael’s Paul Anka song, “This Is It,” get credit as back up singers.

Sony is also releasing a companion album to the movie next Tuesday. But it won’t contain any of the live music played during rehearsals in the film. Instead, it’s an album “inspired by the film.” In other words: it will contain the known studio recordings of songs included in the movie like “Human Nature” and “Billie Jean.” Fans who expected a true “live” album from Jackson may be a tad disappointed. The album does include the title song, however. That’s something!

Meantime, here’s the latest clip from the movie. Jackson is thin, no question. But he’s also in charge, giving instructions on how to perform his songs to director Kenny Ortega. And his voice sounds perfectly Michael, lovely and all there.

And flash: Jackson’s kids will finally see the movie either today or on Saturday, sources tell me. The producers of the film have been offering tickets to the family for the last couple of weeks, but there had been no response. Now, they say, Prince and Paris saw “This Is It” trailed on TV and asked when they were going to see the movie. It’s unclear who else from the family will see it with them.

Can Hilary Swank Make It Three Oscars?

Roger Friedman
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58696633Hilary Swank has tossed her hat back in the Oscar ring playing legendary pilot Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair’s new film called, of course, “Amelia,” from Fox Searchlight.

Last night “Amelia” got its big premiere with tons of celebs and VIPS including the cast: Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor, Joe Anderson. Mariska Hargitay, who came with actor husband Peter Hermann, brought a little gift for Hilary, too: a keepsake picture book she made of the two pals. You see, stars really are like regular people!

Also in the audience: Fox Searchlight’s dynamic honcho Nancy Utley, director Ang Lee, Sony Pictures Classics’ co chief Tom Bernard, Harry Connick Jr. and wife Jill Goodacre, Julia Ormond, Carey Lowell (aka Mrs. Gere) and, of all people, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Not to mention there was also Mira Nair (pictured with Hilary Swank), whose films “The Namesake” and “Monsoon Wedding” are among the best of the last two decades.

But Nair had problems when she made “Vanity Fair” with Reese Witherspoon, and some of those problems persist here. While Swank and co. are just fine, the script doesn’t help Nair. She’s constantly working in spite of it to make Earhart’s trajectory a richer one. It’s tough going.

Swank, who’s won two Oscars ‘ for “Million Dollar Baby” and “Boys Don’t Cry” ‘ could certainly be nominated again. She’s got “it,” whatever that is. Amelia Earhart is probably unknown to people under the age of 40, but she’s going to be indelibly impressed as this commanding female pilot now for generations to come. Swank plays it simple, which always works. Even as Amelia becomes a national celebrity, commercial endorser, lover of Gore Vidal’s real life father, wife of a wealthy publisher, Swank keeps her grounded.

By the way: in real life, Earhart did have an affair with and married George Putnam, whose grandfather founded G.P, Putnam’s Sons publishers, now known as Putnam Penguin. Putnam’s original father-in-law was the creator of Crayons. Who knew? In the movie, Earhart and Putnam break up because she is seen having an affair with Gore Vidal’s father, Gene. But in a local Florida paper recently, George Putnam’s granddaughter said it never happened.

Jennifer Hudson Circling Winnie Mandela Project

Roger Friedman
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Oscar and Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson’s supercharged appearance last night at Denise Rich’s annual Angel Ball gave rise to talk about her next project.

Hudson, who won the Academy Award for “Dreamgirls” and was so good in “The Secret Life of Bees,” is now rumored to be in talks for an indie biopic about South African leader Winnie Mandela. Winnie was a winner during her years as wife of Nelson Mandela during his 27-years of illegal incarceration. But in later years she lost her way, getting into legal trouble and becoming a pariah. She and Mandela have been divorced for some time.

The word is that either the terrific Derek Luke or actor Idris Elba might be up for the part of Nelson Mandela. Details are still sketchy.

Winnie Mandela is all of a sudden a hot topic in movies. This summer, Oscar nominee Sophie Okenedo played Winnie in a BBC film.

Meanwhile, Hudson’s two-song cameo at the Angel Ball ‘ held at Downtown Cipriani ‘ was sensational. Introduced by Clive Davis, Hudson sang her signature hit, “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” with just piano accompaniment. The audience ‘ which included lots of celebs and big name players ‘ rewarded her with whoops and hollers and a standing ovation.

The audience also rewarded Rich’s charity, Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation, by raising just under $4 million for cancer research. About 76 cents of every dollar from the foundation goes to funding research in memory of Rich’s daughter Gabrielle.

As usual, Rich had tons of stars in the very packed Cipriani ballroom including her pal Natalie Cole, never looking better, recovering from a year of illness and death. Natalie is about to host a Christmas TV special and then get back to recording and touring, she told me. Also on the scene: Robin Thicke (who also gave a tune) and actress wife Paula Patton, the gorgeous actress from “Precious”: plus Alan Cumming, who did some emceeing; sensational Lorraine Bracco, who just filmed a new pilot for HBO, with “Chicago” producer Marty Richards; Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kodb, Nikki Haskell, lucky “Gossip Girl” stars Penn Badgley and Blake Lively (they’re real!); Ivana Trump, Star Jones, Buzz and Lois Aldrin, Howard Stern, Sherri Shepherd, and Deborah Norville ” a natural, I should think, to replace Diane Sawyer on “Good Morning America.”

…Meanwhile, if Diane S. was wondering where her hubby was, Mike Nichols was down at Soho House for a screening of the late great Louis Malle’s “My Dinner with Andre.” That movie’s stars, Andre Gregory and Wally Shawn, were there along with the night’s host, Candice Bergen. Even though Bergen has been married for some time to Marshall Rose, she’s been doing a lovely job honoring Louie. It was just a few weeks ago in the Hamptons that she hosted a screening of “Au Revoir Les Enfants.” We miss Louis Malle! Thanks, Candice…

Tom Cruise Gives Squirrels A Bad Name

Roger Friedman
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Now Tom Cruise doesn’t like squirrels.

In a new online report from US Weekly, Cruise is overheard calling protesters outside a big Scientology gala in England “squirrels.”

The diminutive star of “Lions for Lambs” and “Valkyrie” attended the annual fest for the religious sect with wife Katie Holmes, a former devout Catholic, and their overpublicized three year old daughter, Suri.

Also at the event were John Travolta and Kelly Preston, on leave from their trial in the Bahamas against two people they claim tried to extort money from them after their son Jett died at the beginning of this year. The Travoltas’ presence certainly shows that rumors of their potential withdrawal from Scientology aren’t true. For years the Travoltas refused to admit that Jett was autistic, claiming he had Kawasaki’s Disease. It was only revealed in police reports after Jett’s death, and during the trial via Travolta’s testimony, that Jett was indeed autistic. Scientology has troubling policies regarding psychiatry and mental illnesses.

According to US Weekly, Cruise spoke with his usual fervor to the assembled followers, much like previously posted videos on YouTube. Afterward, he was heard “angrily” calling protestesters outside “Squirrels.” Cruise told a fellow American they were:’ “Stuck in an electronic incident. It makes me so angry!”

Cruise does not like anyone who questions the controversial group. In a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, he told writer Neil Strauss: “Who are those people that say those things? Because I promise you, it isn’t everybody. But I look at those people and I say, ‘Bring it. I’m a Scientologist, man. What do you want to know?’ I don’t mind answering questions.”’

Interestingly, both Rolling Stone and US Weekly are each owned by Jann Wenner, Cruise and Travolta’s former close pal. In days of yore, Rolling Stone always got first crack at magazine covers for either star. But since the 2004 Strauss piece, those relationships seem to have cooled considerably.

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