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It wasn’t the greatest weekend at the box office with no real new releases, just leftovers.
Still. “Bullet Train” with Brad Pitt took in just over $13.4 million as it chugged along a lonely track. Customers are still boarding even if they’re not going anywhere.
“Top Gun Maverick” is still in theaters! In the next day or so the Tom Cruise blockbuster will hit $675 million.
DOA: Poor “Easter Sunday,” it’s over, there’s nothing else to say. Universal should put it on Peacock.
Lions Gate opened a film called “Fall,” and took in $2.5 million. It has something to do with climbing up and down a mountain. That’s all I know.
In more encouraging news, the 40th anniversary release of Steven :Spielberg’s “ET: The Extra Terrestrial” made $1 million over the weekend, If it’s playing near you just go see it, this is what a great movie was in the heyday.
It’s not often that CYNDI LAUPER makes personal concert appearances for charity. But last night in the Southampton village of Water Mill, Lauper and her band rocked out a tentful of high paying guests who came to support the Katz Institute of Women’s Heath at Northwell Health’s new Manhattan women’s center.
Cyndi, dressed in a leopard print outfit and sporting pinkish tinged hair, opened her set repeating John Lennon’s once famous announcement to a crowd of royals: “Rattle your jewelry!”
Lauper and her crack band opened the set with “She Bop,” and by the time she hit her second number, “Time After Time,” suddenly the entire guest list was up and dancing across the floor of the dazzling tent set against a spectacular sunset thanks to host Vicki Moran Furman.
Cyndi didn’t mince words about the current state of abortion laws in this country and the need for girls and women to get more help than ever. She punctuated her comments by playing her moving anthem, “Sally’s Pigeons.” In the fall she said she’ll be launching a new foundation to bring OB GYN care to women who can’t afford it across the country.
She wrapped the set with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” — which sent the crowd swirling in dance with hands raised above their heads — and “True Colors.”
What impressed me is how beautifully executed Lauper’s set was. She is a consummate musician, and her band is formidable. Not only has her voice grown over the years, but the richness of the songs has never aged either. The Tony winner (“Kinky Boots”) is prepping another hit Broadway musical, based on the movie “Working Girl,” with a book by Theresa Rebeck. (Yes, she’s also won an Emmy and a couple of Grammy awards).
Fox5’s star anchor Rosanna Scotto emceed the night, titled “SHE: Summer Hamptons Evening” which raised almost $1 million and was produced by Lawrence Scott Events, who should get a Tony Award for his stunning projects…
It was a crazy busy night in the Hamptons, the height of the long summer. Over at Herrick Park in East Hampton, the town library returned to full function for the annual writer’s event. Four dozen or so authors were gathered under a huge white tent, sitting at tables and signing their books. Sales of the books go directly to the Library.
Among the authors: Katie Couric, Tovah Feldshuh, Robert Caro, Nelson DeMille, Jeffrey Lyons, Monte Farber and Amy Zerner, Alan Patricof, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Mike Lupica, Marie Brenner, Bill Boggs, Cati Marton, David Maraniss, Tina Brown, and Robin Baker Leacock were among those who greeted crowds of excited fans, a lot of whom were well known or famous in their own right. After the signing, a total success, guests peeled off for dinners at private homes where they got all the good gossip. You know, East Hampton is just like any other small town in America!
PS TOVAH FELDSHUH joins Lea Michele in the relaunched “Funny Girl” on Broadway September 6th. She told me she’s already met Lea — “love her!”- and rehearsals begin Tuesday. See her signing books below.
BACK IN MONTAUK…gifted local artist Anne Raymond opened a new show at the startup Lucore Gallery. What a treat. You can see her latest paintings — titled Skyfall– on her website. I’ve no doubt the whole lot sold out quickly. I could have moved furniture in and lived in that room of her work. Raymond’s skies are filled with vivid colors and abstract notions immediately welcoming no matter if they’re cheerful of turbulent. And Raymond, who I wanted to meet, turns out to be a dynamic force who started out in Dallas but moved to New York as soon as she could. Can you blame her?
And that’s all she wrote for Jeffrey Toobin at CNN. He’s announced he’s leaving the network after 20 years.
Toobin does not get a happy ending with CNN. He was suspended for months following his New Yorker Zoom scandal. The New Yorker already fired him.
During the pandemic, Toobin was caught pleasuring himself during a Zoom call with New Yorker colleagues. He was ousted fairly quickly after that.
Now he says he’ll concentrate on a book about the Oklahoma City bombing.
No word on what happened since Toobin returned under the Jeff Zucker regime. But my guess is the new Warner Discovery people were not keen on keeping him around.
Friends, I’ve decided that, after 20 years, I’m leaving @cnn after my vacation. Was great to spend my last day on air with pals Wolf, Anderson and Don. Love all my former colleagues. Watch for my next book, about the Oklahoma City bombing, coming in 2023 from @simonandschuster
A year ago, Anne Heche had the time of her life in the Hamptons.
She was a guest for a week at the Southampton home of cosmetics king Peter Thomas Roth. Today, he is grieving for his friend.
Roth tells me he and Heche “actually met on Raya,” the dating app. He appeared on her podcast. “And then I invited her out to my house.”
Roth recalls it was a great week. There was no sign of Heche having any problems. There was no issue with drugs. Other people were guests in the house as well.
“We really had a great time. We went out every night. We went to the polo match [hosted by Maria Fishel and husband Kenneth on their grounds] and to a magazine party. Plus she was working hard. She did two interviews for work. And she was on the phone or on Facetime with her kids every day. She was a very good mother.”
Roth is shocked and saddened by Heche’s death. It doesn’t make any sense.
“I didn’t see any of the stuff [people are talking about.] She was on vacation. And she had such a good time she came back in September to New York for Fashion Week.”
Photo of Peter Thomas Roth, Anne Heche, Maria Fishel c2022 Showbiz411 by Norah Lawlor
Last month, Jon Batiste announced he was taking the summer off as Stephen Colbert’s band leader.
Last night, Colbert dropped the other show: Batiste is not coming back. Colbert was his usual gracious self, wished Batiste well, said he hoped he was leavinb to make a new record win more Grammys.
In January, Batiste won Album of the Year at the Grammys. He’s got an Oscar, too, for “Soul.” So has matriculated, graduated, and is off to be a star.
Louis Cato takes over the Colbert band.
PS Batiste has a new record out called “Sweet” with Diane Warren and Pentatonix. See below.
Anne Heche’s close friend, philanthropist Nancy Davis, has posted a memorial tribute to the actress. According to sources as well as Davis’s post, Heche has officially passed away.
On a personal note: I knew Anne from New York in the 1990s. In 1997 at the Vanity Oscar party I — and my friend, Norah Lawlor, and actor Vince Vaughn — introduced Anne to Ellen DeGeneres. It was as if lightning struck. Over the years, whenever I saw Anne she was delightful and fun, and smart. She never caused harm to anyone, and only wanted good things. This is a terrible tragedy. I am sorry for her kids and friends. She will be sorely missed.
Davis wrote: “Heaven has a new Angel . My loving , kind , fun , endearing and beautiful friend @anneheche went to heaven. I will miss her terribly and cherish all the beautiful memories we have shared . Anne was always the kindest, most thoughtful person who always brought out the best in me. She was so supportive with anything she could do to help @racetoerasems and would always say yes when she knew she could contribute something with her time, talent and creative genius to help find a cure for MS . My heart is broken”
Rushdie was once under an Iranian “fatwa” for his novel, The Satanic Verses. He always had security with him for public appearances in case a crazy person attempted something like this. It’s unclear if his attacker was motivated by religious zealotry or was just violent and insane.
JUST IN: Author Salman Rushdie’s alleged attacker has been identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, officials say. Rushdie was stabbed “at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen.” https://t.co/TML9Ty3QS0pic.twitter.com/3W3xcZtZUs
I first saw Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe perform together at Boston’s Orpheum Theater in 1978, Mink Deville was also on the bill. At time, Lowe was producing Elvis’s albums– he’d go on to do quite a few– and his own hit record, “Pure Pop for Now People” –titled “Jesus of Cool” everywhere but America.
Last night the pair reunited under a magical full moon at Pier 17’s rooftop venue at the South Street Seaport. (May I say that I’ve never encountered as friendly a staff as the one at Pier 17? They seem to be on happy pills.)
I think the only other time I saw Elvis and Nick together was in 1989 at CW Post College on Long Island. So it’s been a while. (I was in grade school and had to get up early!)
These guys are not kids anymore. Lowe is 73 and sporting a full wavy head of gray hair. Costello turns 68 later this month. Costello’s band, the Imposters (formerly the Attractions) are his contemporaries. Additionally, Costello is promoting an EP of six songs with his teenage bandmate from 1972, Alan Mayes, who’s English but lives in Austin, Texas and plays the bar circuit there.
So it was a night of reunions, young men who have aged into fine musicians, showing off skills that are almost as lost as scriveners’ penmanship or competition kite flying.
Lowe and his group (oddly masked, not for COVID, don’t know why) Los Straitjackets turned in a relaxed but enthusiastic set that included some of his nicest songs. “Cruel to Be Kind,” a song I heard in 1978 faster and poppier, has taken on a kind of elegance. “You Inspire Me,” from a later period, remains a stunning ballad. Where Lowe was once “the Basher,” meaning he thrashed his guitar to make power pop, he’s now more comfortable almost as a crooner. (Oh, for his rockabiliy days with Dave Edmunds as Rockpile!)
Costello and his gang — Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher, plus their ringer, so to speak, Texas guitarist Charlie Sexton — are indefatigable. They handle punk, new wave, jazz, country and R&B without missing a beat. Newer songs like “Hetty O’Hara Confidential” continue to grow in richness. Somehow they also find nuances in “Watching the Detectives” that expose what we couldn’t get in 1977 when it was released, the underpinnings of all those genres. And the Raymond Chandler riff — “She’s filing her nails while they’re dragging the lake” — is still pungent.
Costello has added Nicole Atkins, a terrifically talented female vocalist to his latest album, “The Boy Named If.” Her voice recalls Carlene Carter combined with Bonnie Raitt. When they sang a duet called “Still Too Soon to Know,” the audience, not knowing that well — an obscure track from the 1994 album, “Brutal Youth” — and waiting for a greatest hit. was swooped up by the emotion.
The show was punctuated by Lowe returning for duets on “Indoor Fireworks” and his own “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding” the latter was much more deliberate and detailed than Costello’s usual pounding reverie. I missed the trademark drum thunder, but this version served Lowe well since he is the actual author.
Mayes also made an appearance as Costello is over the moon about their reunion. They sang two Nick Lowe songs from their EP, “Surrender to the Rhythm” (a catchy precursor to Lowe’s later standard, “So It Goes”) and a very Poco-esque number called “I’m Ahead If I Can Quit While I’m Behind“that kind of captures Lowe’s love of country music and the irony of clever lyrics.
There were no songs from Costello’s Grammy winning masterpiece, “Look Now,” or his all time great album, “Imperial Bedroom.” He such a big, deep catalog that if you want to hear songs like “All This Useless Beauty” or a favorite rocker like “Clubland,” you;ve got to find it for yourself. Luckily he’ll return next February for 10 shows at the Gramercy Theater, where he promises to play 200 different songs.
In the meantime, don’t miss this chapter in the long, brilliant Costello saga.
Was Eric Adams preparing for a day dealing with murder, homelessness, a failed economy? Was he persuading commercial landlords to lower their prices so retail stores would return to the city? Was dealing with a homeless drunk woman defecating on a Greenwich Village stoop? (I was, thanks, Eric.)
No, Eric Adams was partying hard at 1 am this morning at a place called Bar 13. It’s a multilevel lounge on East 13th St. and University Place where young people go to dance and date. (Is he married? I’m a little unclear about that.)
Bar 13 features reggae on one floor, rap on another, and last night a private birthday party on the 3rd floor. And that’s where Swaggering Eric had his picture taken. He’s wearing a track suit, just like Ed Koch, Mike Bloomberg, and John Lindsay used to do when they were out clubbing at 1am.
We are in a lot of trouble. PS I’m sure that’s a cup of water in his hand.
Cinematic icon and long time animal activist Diane Keaton got her hands and feet cemented in the forecourt of the famed TCL Chinese Theater Thursday morning. The 1978 Oscar winner for Best Actress in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall.” Keaton currently is seen in the film “Mack & Rita” and is reuniting with her “Book Club” pals Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen for “Book Club 2-The Next Chapter” which will be open Mother’s Day Weekend in May, 2023.
Keaton, accompanied by her children — son Duke, 22, and daughter, Dexter, 27– was effervescent even in the blazing hot sun. And, of course, Diane was still ever the fashionista in black and white with a black hat, carefully taking off her shoes which she quipped were “too expensive to get dirty” showing her way cool polka dot black and beige socks. Diane joked about the oppressive heat, but then true to form, she gamely dunked her feet in the famed, famous cement.
Keaton is a long time animal activist. She’s on the board of the Social Compassion In Legislation, aka SCIL, which promotes legislation to protect animals. She’s needed now more than ever following the collapse and beating in NYC this week of carriage horse Ryder. Ryder collapsed from the oppressive heat, was beaten by his driver, all the while being filmed and yelled at by passersby.
The video of the incident has gone viral, sparking outrage. Animal advocates have long called for the horses, whom they rightly say have been suffering for years, be replaced with electronic vehicles. Mayor Eric Adams has said he does not support a carriage ban. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio had said he would ban it but never came through on his promise. The video is trending and Kendall Jenner, with her 253 million followers on Instagram, just ramped up the furor with her post.
Jenner is not the first celebrity to point out the issues of horse carriages in New York. Many years ago, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger protested the continued use of horses dragging tourists around in extreme heat and cold. For a long time this column was ambivalent about the horses as long as they were well cared for. But time has passed, and this incident with Ryder is the breaking point. It’s time to retire the Central Park horses, put them out to pasture, and stop abusing them as playthings for tourists. There is no actual New Yorker who takes those infernal carriage rides anyway. It’s time to put this to an end.
