Billy Joel’s old friend and original bandmate, Jon Small, died this week. They performed as the Hassles in the late 60s before Billy hit it big with “Piano Man.”
Fans who watched the excellent HBO documentary about Billy know that he regretfully broke up Jon’s marriage, saying he’d fallen in live with his pal’s wife, Elizabeth. Billy married Elizabeth but that ended in acrimony over finances.
Still, Billy and Jon patched things up. Billy’s letter here is poignant. Condolences.
Lots of theater news this morning.
Adrienne Warren, who the Tony for playing Tina Turner, is back!
Warren still in a musical version of the film “Imitation of Life” this fall at the mysterious theater The Shed in Hudson Yards. (I’m very happy they finally hired a real PR company, Polk & Co.)
John Legend — whose new single I told you about the other day — has written the original score.
Lynn Nottage wrote the book, and Whitney White is directing.
“Imitation of Life” has had a lot of variations over the years. But the Douglas Sirk movie from the 1950s is the template. It’s about two single mothers and their daughters in circa 1920 Atlantic City and 1930s New York. One is Black, the other is white. Casting of the white mother will be interesting.
Very cool project for a six week run. But maybe that will hasten a trip to Broadway in the spring.
Other news: now two jukebox musicals will close on January 3, 2027. “& Juliet” is throwing in the towel after four years. “Six,” already announced the same day for their closing.
At the box office, “Hamilton” led the way this past week with $2.1 million. “The Lion King” and “Wicked” always remain top tickets. “Harry Potter” took in $1.8 mil as they wait for Rupert Grint to come in as adult Ron Weasly.
The next fatality might be “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” which has to be losing money. It only played to 67% capacity last week. Too bad, because if you’re a fan of the TV show, the Broadway one is a lot of fun.
Harry Styles is about to make the biggest coin of his life.
He’s just announced stadium dates across the US for 2027 extending his already massively successful “Together Together” tour. There will be two shows in each city, and then three when he gets to the finale at Wembley Stadium in London.
He’s also announcing a fair ticket price scheme so that fans can actually see him without getting cleaned out on the secondary market. The 2027 run will introduce “Unpredictable Fun” Tickets, a new initiative designed to make Together, Together shows more accessible to fans. A limited number of tickets will be available for $20 in North America, £20 in the U.K. and €20 in Europe, with additional details on availability to be announced soon.
Unlike his current 30 show sold out at Madison Square Garden, this tour will have opening acts.
They include Kylie Minogue, Lainey Wilson, LCD Soundstage, Tinashe, and the amazing Womack Sisters (I guess he knew how find them). Then, Tears for Fears will open the Wembley shows.
Oddly, the tour — which sells out everywhere — has had little effect on sales for his most recent album. Only “Sign of the Times,” from 10 years ago, continues to rank on charts. The rest of “Disco All the Time. Kiss Occasionally” has not seemed to register.
But don’t worry. You know there will be a concert film and DVD package when this is all over.
This is one of the most well-planned tours I’ve ever seen.
All the dates, locations, and prices are available by clicking here.https://www.hstyles.co.uk/TOUR
HARRY STYLES: TOGETHER, TOGETHER 2027 TOUR DATES:
Fri, Apr 2 — Phoenix, AZ — State Farm Stadium *
Sat, Apr 3 — Phoenix, AZ — State Farm Stadium *
Fri, Apr 9 — Dallas, TX — AT&T Stadium ^
Sat, Apr 10 — Dallas, TX — AT&T Stadium ^
Fri, Apr 23 — Los Angeles, CA — Rose Bowl Stadium +
Sat, Apr 24 — Los Angeles, CA — Rose Bowl Stadium +
Fri, May 7 — Toronto, ON — Rogers Stadium ~
Sat, May 8 — Toronto, ON — Rogers Stadium ~
Fri, May 21 — Atlanta, GA — Mercedes-Benz Stadium =
Sat, May 22 — Atlanta, GA — Mercedes-Benz Stadium =
Fri, May 28 — Chicago, IL — Soldier Field #
Sat, May 29 — Chicago, IL — Soldier Field #
Fri, Jul 2 — Berlin, DE — Flughafen Tempelhof >
Sat, Jul 3 — Berlin, DE — Flughafen Tempelhof >
Fri, Jul 16 — Paris, FR — Plenitude Arena %
Sat, Jul 17 — Paris, FR — Plenitude Arena %
Fri, Jul 30 — Madrid, ES — Riyadh Air Metropolitano <
Sat, Jul 31 — Madrid, ES — Riyadh Air Metropolitano <
Sat, Aug 7 — Rome, IT — Circo Massimo &
Sun, Aug 8 — Rome, IT — Circo Massimo &
Wed, Aug 18 — Dublin, IE — Croke Park $
Fri, Aug 20 — Dublin, IE — Croke Park $
Wed, Aug 25 — London, UK — Wembley Stadium Connected by EE @
Fri, Aug 27 — London, UK — Wembley Stadium Connected by EE @
Sat, Aug 28 — London, UK — Wembley Stadium Connected by EE
Jimmy Kimmel is interviewing Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico Thursday night.
But the interview won’t air on ABC during Kimmel’s late night talk show.
Instead, it will appear on the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel.
The inference is that ABC and Disney wouldn’t allow Kimmel to have a political candidate on his show. ABC is already having a war with the FCC over licenses and whether or not The View is politics or entertainment.
Stephen Colbert went the same route last February with Talarico when CBS insisted he also interview Jasmine Crockett. Instead, Colbert put the interview on YouTube. The interview has so far scored 9.5 million views – more than 4 times the number who would have seen it on CBS.
The minute Kimmel-Talarico is available, we’ll have it right here!
I’ll say this for Scott Rudin: he knows how to sell tickets to theatergoers.
When they go sale later in October for next winter’s all star “Small Mouth Sounds” — starring Julia Roberts, Paul Rudd, and Sarah Paulson — prices will be so high they will spark an outcry from the press and regular fans.
But Rudin is also producing a play starting next month that isn’t so sexy. It’s called “Downatate,” and it takes place in a group home for four men convicted of sex crimes against minors. Cheery, right? “Downstate” features the great Lisa Colon-Zayas, from “The Bear,” and Thomas Sadoski.
Not exactly “Pretty Woman.”
So Rudin has worked out a deal. For two weeke beginning Thursday at noon, if you buy a ticket to “Downstate” for $150, you’ll get a code. With the code, you can buy a $250 ticket to “Small Mouth Sounds.” It won’t be fourth row center, but you’ll in the room where it happens. You can buy up to four of each, but no “Small Mouth Sounds” without “Downstate.”
Very clever. “Downstate” should sell out its limited run pretty fast. “Small Mouth Sounds” will fill up its balcony. Then, in a couple of weeks, the $700 tickets will kick in for the good seats.
And there’s one thing no one’s mentioned: “Small Mouth Sounds” features an actor — in this case it will be Isaac Powell — with brief full frontal nudity. It’s your judgment whether that’s worth an extra 500 clams.
PS No phones in the theater for “Small Mouth Sounds.” Yondr packs will be mandatory and you’ll get yours unlocked at the end of the show.
Here’s a link to the explanation of this unusual ticket situation. Total $400 for two plays, which will each be top notch. And you’ll have a few dollars left over for a Coke and M&Ms.
Chrissi Poland is one of this country’s most in demand backup singers. She’s performed with every class act.
Now she’s got her own album reflecting her soul background. “Forever Muscle Shoals,” is a title referring to one of the great homes of soul music, Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
These performances are really sensational. I was particularly happy to hear her version of “Hold On, I’m Coming” since she sang it behind Sam Moore for a long time. Also. she’s got Ryan Shaw with her on the Staples Singers’ “Respect Yourself.”
It probably won’t happen, but this album should be in the Grammy category of Traditional R&B. It’s a winner. This is actual music!
Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson kicks off “Saturday Night Live” season 52 as show host on September 26th.
KPop group Katseye is the musical guest.
That’s the first of four shows announced today.
October 3rd brings Dakota Johnson as host, and a severe rock group Turnstiles. I’ve never heard of the latter, but fun fact: a former member is on trial for murder. Cool!
The next week marks the return of Shane Gillis, who has had a Renaissance at “SNL” after famously getting fired there years ago. Rosalia is the musical guest.
Finally, Halloween arrives with “Obsession” horror film star Inde Navarette and Gracie Abrams.
At first glance none of these pairings look like ratings blockbusters, but we’ll wait and see how it goes. The Turnstiles booking seems the oddest since they’re pretty hardcore. But they must have fans who will tune in and watch them.
Who would I have guessed as a musical guest this fall? Magnus Ferrell, the son “SNL” alumna Will Ferrell, who has chart hits and seems like he’s going to have a career. Maybe one side or the other thinks it’s too soon, too “nepo.”
Here’s a little Turnstile to get us ready:
Bruce Springsteen has sent us all a gift — the first of many.
He and director Thom Zimny filmed the final show, in Philadelphia, of the Land of Hopes and Dreams Tour. The shows were sensational, historic, and not to be missed.
Today they’re dropping the first seven songs from that show for free onto YouTube and other platforms. Free! The rest of the Philadelphia Freedom show will come out in three additional, in-sequence segments through the end of the year.
I saw two shows on this tour. They sizzled. Amazing stuff considering Bruce has been serving up raw, spectacular rock and roll since at least when we all met him in 1973. A lifetime.
Tom Cruise is coming in “Digger” next month.
The final trailer for the Alejandro Innaritu film has dropped. It feels like “Dr. Strangelove” meets “The Hudsucker Proxy.” Tom resembles Slim Pickens, the one of the stars of the former film. The shots in the boardroom with John Goodman are reminiscent of the latter.
It also seems like the plot centers on Tom’s character flooding the world. That feels awkward considering the massive flooding in Nepal and dozens of other places recently.
“Digger” remains a mystery even after watching this trailer. But Innaritu is a master filmmaker, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Otherwise, this might be slim pickin’s after all.
UPDATE Kimmel came back on fire tonight, no mention of the contract or end of show. Monologue video below.
This is exclusive.
The sources I’ve spoken to are as inside this game as they could be.
Each one is certain that the story about Jimmy Kimmel ending his show next May is not true.
Page Six may have confused the end of the contract with the end of the show.
But Source #1 says: “This happens every year at this time when Jimmy’s coming back from vacation.” This is a person of power in Hollywood who would have been advised of this situation before the Post.
Source #2: Another person inside the world of late night, and very much so. If Kimmel didn’t tell them what was going on, or hadn’t spoken to them by 10:23pm, it’s not true.
Source says: ” I don’t think so. I don’t think he’ll leave until Trump is out. It will look like he caved. But this will get him the respect of fighting for the man. Take a few years victory lap. Like Colbert.”
Many things are possible for why the story was planted. It could be just to goose ratings tonight, a reason to check in on Kimmel’s return. Also, I can’t imagine Disney not keeping Kimmel until the Nov 28 election.
Also, this Sunday is the Emmy Awards, where Kimmel could win. He’ll definitely be on the show. Can you imagine the scene on the red carpet? ABC says it’s inaccurate, and for now, that’s it.