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Broadway will see its first official revival of Richard Greenberg’s “Three Days of Rain” next February..
“Superman” actor David Corenswet, “Heated Rivalry” star Francois Arnaud, and “Handmaid’s Tale” actress Yvonne Strahoski will play the lead roles.
Anna Shapiro is directing.
The original production starred Bradley Cooper, Paul Rudd, and Julia Roberts were the original stars. Off Broadway, the play — shortlisted for a Pulitzer — featured Patricia Clarkson, John Slattery and Bradley Whitford.
The main feature of the play, as I recall, was actual rain pouring down at the end of the second act.
All of these new actors will come to Broadway hoping for Tony Award attention. But they should be on notice since the Tonys do not welcome “Hollywood” actors very often. I should have thought this would be a fall season production, where the odds of failure are lower.
The problem is, this play was not so hot when it opened in 2006. Julia Roberts was eviscerated, and the play itself was not that warmly welcomed. The casting really depends on having a seasoned Broadway actor on stage in any of the three roles. That won’t be the case here.
Chris Evert says her ovarian cancer has returned. See her post below.
Her pal, Martina Navritilova, wrote: “My friend Chrissie is a champion of champions and as such she will slay this monster again. We are all pulling for you, and know you will come out on the other side cancer free again- lots of love, m.”
Speedy recovery! Chris will be sorely missed as a commentator for the next big matches.
Harvey Weinstein will not be tried a fourth time in New York.
The Manhattan DA’s office has dismissed his rape charges after Jessica Mann declined to testify again.
Three times, the DA’s office was unable to get a conviction against Weinstein, who’s been in jail since 2017.
“To be clear, we believe Ms. Mann’s account and her credibility as a witness. This has been an extraordinarily taxing ordeal for her, and she has never wavered while testifying in front of two grand juries and three trial juries over the course of eight years. We thank her for her honesty and her tremendous bravery,” Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
Weinstein’s spokesman said in a text: “He’s relieved. This is what should have happened had the prosecution showed the full extent of the emails, texts, and private messages to the grand jury initially.”
He continued: “Harvey is relieved by today’s outcome. We believe this is the result that should have been reached from the outset, had the grand jury been presented with the full scope of the emails, text messages, and other private communications.
“We will be submitting our sentencing materials in the coming weeks. As we argued following the original trial, we believe the prior sentence imposed by Judge Burke was excessive, and we intend to challenge the prosecution’s sentencing recommendations. Harvey has been a model inmate for nearly seven years, and we believe that record, along with the other relevant factors, should be given significant weight at sentencing.”
The legendary music man Clive Davis passed away just a few days ago at age 94.
Now, one of his “finds,” has died at age 84.
David Clayton Thomas was the blue eyed soul singer whom Davis discovered in 1967 and put on the map with Blood, Sweat & Tears.
A sort of precursor to the group Chicago, BS&T made one landmark album with Al Kooper singing lead. It’s called “Child is Father to the Man,” and it remains a classic. The single, “I Can’t Quit Her,” is a 60s gem.
But then Kooper left the band, and they needed a vocalist. Davis, tipped off by the legendary Judy Collins, went down to Greenwich Village’s Cafe Au Go Go, and hear Clayton Thomas sing. He was knocked out. He wrote in his first memoir:
“He was staggering … a powerfully built singer who exuded an enormous earthy confidence. He jumped right out at you. I went with a small group of people, and we were electrified. He seemed so genuine, so in command of the lyric … a perfect combination of fire and emotion to go with the band’s somewhat cerebral appeal. I knew he would be a strong, strong figure.”
The new BS&T had three monster hits, all of which were played endlessly by wedding and bar mitzvah bands from 1969 to 1972. I actually asked mine not to play “Spinning Wheel,” which to by,this day makes me bark. It was just heard too often. “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” (written by Motown star Brenda Holloway) and Laura Nyro’s “And When I Die,” were more welcome.
The group’s debut album won two Grammys including Album of the Year, beating out the likes of the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” and Crosby Stills, and Nash’s debut album.
Clayton Thomas quit the group in ’71, ending its run of hits. But he returned later to tour with them as an oldies act. When he left, fans were startled and it was big news. But he just burned out on fame, and singing “Spinning Wheel,” because what goes up must come down.
PS Seeing the end coming for BS&T, Clive encouraged another big band with brassy horns, Chicago, to take their place at Columbia Records. It worked out pretty well.
To David Clayton Thomas, whose voice lives on forever, as he says in the song, “Thank you, baby.”
“The Bear” is back today on Hulu and Disney Plus. I guess you can binge it by paying up or wait and see it weekly for free.
Seven of the eight press screeners were dumped on us yesterday. Luckily, the first episode is only 22 minutes. The second one is a little longer.
When season 4 ended, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) told his pals he was quitting because he suddenly didn’t love being in the kitchen. He sure seemed like he did, but hey, they needed a cliffhanger. Also, the digital clock in the kitchen ran down to zero, indicating no more money left.
So we’re back in Episode 1, and it turns out at least the first few episodes, if not all, are just one episode — the story of how The Bear almost goes under but probably gets a Michelin star at the very end.
Creator Christopher Storer depends on clever editing and a crazy good score from the house of Hans Zimmer to create so much tension it may be hard to sleep after watching the show. Carmy is back in the kitchen, but now he’s encouraging Sydney (Ayo Edibiri) to run the show. A wild rain storm is raging in Chicago, attacking their little building with floods and bursting pipes. The electricity is iffy and the reservation system has gone haywire.
The weather is so bad, I’m amazed they’re expecting anyone for dinner at all. Maybe it’s a Chicago thing, to just brave treacherous elements.
Meantime, Emmy winner Jamie Lee Curtis is back, from the get-go as Carmy and Natalie’s (Abby Elliot) mother. Everyone else is, too, except Jon Bernthal as dead Mikey, which may be why the actor — who was in town last week — didn’t come to the premiere.
The editing and the music are essential because, frankly, we’ve been here before, with the restaurant on the precipice of closing and Carmy having an existential crisis. As usual only Sydney seems to know what’s going on. Richie (Ebon Moss Bacharach) is his usual bundle of nerves. Tina (the great Lisa Colon Zayas) is the house philosopher.
Pretty well telegraphed, we’re waiting for Ebraheim (Edwin Lee Gibson) to come up with a solution about franchising the sandwich shop. No one wants to hear it, but the original menu item is what will save The Bear — you can see it coming from a mile away.
And what about Carmy? I have no spoilers because I only watched the first three episodes. Does he announce that he’s a die hard Bruce Springsteen fan and start a franchise in Asbury Park? (This is an inside joke for Jeremy Allen White fans). Does Oliver Platt’s Uncle Jimmy sell the air rights to the building and resolve his financial problems? (Probably.) Does that mysterious diner from Season 4 turn out to be the reviewer who gives “The Bear” its Michelin star? (Likely.)
When “The Bear” began, the whole premise and production were startling and fresh. Now, of course, after all this time, the big surprises are over. Still, the writing and acting remain top notch. My biggest peeve is that “The Bear” is presented as a comedy for awards purposes. It’s just not. It’s a very good drama with some wry humor. But all that’s moot now.
Again, you can binge the first seven episodes starting tonight on Hulu. Or watch the first two tonight on FX, and then once a week until August 6th when we will all see the grand finale together. So it’s like drinking your bouillabaisse from the bowl, or ladling it out.
It seems weird to say that. Seventeen years? Is that possible?
This week, I was standing at a CVS cash register, and “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” came bouncing over the sound system. Young people were mouthing the words. It was as if Michael were alive.
Everything else aside, Michael Jackson remains a phenomenon. No lawsuits or “scandals” can stop him. His biopic, “Michael,” has made $939 million worldwide. Almost a billion dollars! It’s still doing business despite being on streaming platforms.
So here’s the big news. So far in 2026, Michael has sold 2.5 million albums. Of those, a little over 500,000 are downloads, CDs, and LPs. The rest is from streaming.
And he’s been gone for 17 freaking years.
That’s an incredible statistic.
Much of it has to do with the movie. As we all know, the movie brought a lot of controversy. It was going to be two movies, it was held back several times, re-shot and re-conceived. Paris Jackson sued her father’s estate over lawyer’s fees and questioned what was spent.
“Michael” wasn’t even a critical success. It boasts a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes among reviewers. You can’t even say it’s really a movie. It’s almost fact-free as an actual biography. But the part of that shows Michael Jackson’s dazzling performances can’t be beat.
But the movie has already sold almost twice as many records than in 2025. Last year, Jackson’s total sales, according to Luminate, were 1.7 million albums. For the whole year. He’s already ahead of that number halfway through 2026 by 800,000 albums.
So congratulations. Michael. Your life was one battle after another, a catastrophe at every turn. But the payoff has turned out to be a miracle. The legend lives on and on and on.
Carly Simon — who celebrates her birthday June 25th — had a lot of success recording for Clive Davis on Arista Records, but it wasn’t always easy.
She released six albums there, starting with a smash comeback in “Coming Around Again,” in 1986. In 1990, Simon won the Oscar for Best Song, from “Working Girl,” with “Let the River Run.”
But the two type A personalities had to negotiate those successes. Luckily, they’d known each other 20 years earlier, and Clive was an ardent fan. “Coming Around Again” followed Simon’s 15 years at Elektra and Warner Bros. Records that included hits like “You’re So Vain,” “Anticipation,” “You Belong to Me,” and “Jessie.”
Like most Clive Davis recording artists, Carly’s career still rides high. Her first single in 18 years — called “Howl” — has more than 100,000 views on YouTube since its release last week. A new album is set for August.
Carly writes on Instagram:
“Clive Davis was the gentlest, prickliest, most lovable, most ferocious pussycat around. He made me madder than anyone I ever knew, but in the end the things I got so indignant about were transformed into much better records. With Clive, the successes and big awards were worth all that fruitful, back-and-forth. I can still picture him in his office, and his face, his eyes closed, his cupid-bow lips, his arms tightly crossed, deciding whether you and your songs were destined for heaven, hell, or someplace in-between.
“Clive, you believed in music with your whole being. You had the rare gift of hearing not just what an artist was, but what they could become. Somehow, always, you made the impossible feel inevitable. I feel so lucky to have known you, lucky to have worked with you, and lucky, like so many, to have been on the receiving end of your clairvoyant ear.”
Lots of excitement today about the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding.
If it’s really happening at Madison Square Garden — a cultural kitsch moment for the books — the New York Times says the city has been asked to close down streets.
This sounds ominous, but actually only two “streets” could be closed and one of them isn’t even open anyway.
New York cannot close down Seventh Avenue in front of Madison Square Garden, or Eighth Avenue behind it. Penn Station and the Long Island Railroad are not coming to a halt for anyone’s wedding — particularly on the July 4th weekend.
The Garden is bounded by West 33rd St on the north and West 30th on the south. The former is already banned to traffic and paved over as a pedestrian walkway. That’s where rock concerts do their load ins. If anything West 33rd can be blocked off easily,
As for West 30th St, in the middle of the block there’s an unassuming VIP entrance to the Garden. In theory the street could be closed, but there’s a major parking lot there on the opposite side of the street, and some businesses. I guess Taylor could rent out the lot for her guests.
The other VIP entrance is on Eighth Avenue not far from the corner of West 30th St. But using that one might be difficult since people are coming in and out of Penn Station. So the West 30th side is the most likely.
That’s if this wedding is actually being staged at Madison Square Garden, on a Friday night in the middle of July 4th weekend It’s hard to imagine. Is this just a mis-direct? It wouldn’t surprise me.
There will be fireworks on July 4th in San Antonio, Texas.
Noted anti-semite Kanye West, who sells t shirts with swastikas and praises Hitler, is coming to town. In the video below, you can see him tell conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, “I love Jewish people but I also love Nazis.”
Kanye is playing the Alamadome, which is pretty much sold out. According to the box office, there are still some seats available.
The mayor of San Antonio, Gina Lopez-Jones, proposed canceling the show. The city owns the Alamadome, and it’s a bad look for them right after the Spurs lost the NBA finals to the New York Knicks. (Our win is even sweeter now.)
But according to local media, and to the mayor’s office, there weren’t enough votes on the city council against having the show. One of the six council members who did vote for not having Kanye West is said to have also asked for tickets.
San Antonio is famous for the 1936 Battle at the Alamo, a shameful chapter in Texas history in a violent fight with Mexico over the border.
Kanye West is largely known now as antisemitic, and a rapper who spews hatred. He’s been banned by several countries, but has found a way to perform on the edges of American society. He’s also got two shows booked in Tampa, Florida for June 27 and 28th at Raymond James Financial Stadium. Tampa is cool with Kanye. Of note, there is a Jewish population of about 11,000 people in San Antonio. They can’t be happy.
I’m told that the Alamadome will have standing tickets only on the floor, and they are sold out. San Antonionans seem to have no problem with West’s embrace of Hitler, which won’t surprise anyone in a major city. That’s expected. Too bad the city council didn’t rise to the occasion, but they don’t much entertainment I guess. So a rapper who sings “Heil Hitler” is warmly welcomed.
