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“Wicked For Good,” the sequel to last year’s “Wicked,” scored a total of $68 million between Thursday previews and Friday’s opening night.
The Jon M. Chu movie is headed to a $151 million opening weekend, which would make it the biggest opening of any Broadway musical turned into a film.
The soundtrack for “Wicked for Good” is number 1 on iTunes, and there are four singles on the singles chart. The original “Wicked” soundtrack is in the top 10 as well.
The marketing for “Wicked for Good” has been insane. The cast has been everywhere all at once around the world. It’s obviously all paid off well for Universal Pictures.
The fate of this family devoted to public service is horrific. In her life, Caroline Kennedy has seen her father assassinated. Her mother died relatively young from cancer. Her brother perished in a plane accident. Now this.
Tatiana is a young mother. She was a New York Times reporter. She has/had her whole life to look forward to.
In the essay, she rips her cousin, Robert Kennedy Jr, for being anti-vaccine and shutting down health programs.
She writes: “As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers…”
I can’t help thinking this may have contributed to the absolute craziness of her brother, Jack, on social media. Tatiana says when she needed a transplant, her sister Rosemary was a match. Jack was a half match, “but he still asked every doctor if maybe a half-match was better, just in case.”
Tatiana writes: “My parents and my brother and sister, too, have been raising my children and sitting in my various hospital rooms almost every day for the last year and a half. They have held my hand unflinchingly while I have suffered, trying not to show their pain and sadness in order to protect me from it. This has been a great gift, even though I feel their pain every day. For my whole life, I have tried to be good, to be a good student and a good sister and a good daughter, and to protect my mother and never make her upset or angry. Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
Friday night at the Beacon Theater, the great Patti Smith celebrated the 50th anniversary of the release of her first album, “Horses.”
To a sold out, packed to the edges crowd, Patti performed the whole album, took a break so her band could do some Tom Verlaine songs, then returned to sing her hits including “Because the Night” and “People Gave the Power.” It was an historic night.
Sitting in the third row center, music mogul Clive Davis, now 93 and very active, who signed Patti on the spot in 1975 and released her first three albums. The audience around him broke out in applause and a standing ovation as Davis was seated, and he waved to them.
The show was so vibrant with positive energy it made me think we might survive the next three years after all. Patti will be 79 next month but has the energy and spirit of someone half her age. It’s amazing to think that five decades ago, Davis — already a wildly successful music executive — spotted her unique talent and signed her to his new Arista Records.
It should be noted that Davis danced in his seat, mouthing the words to “Horses,” and Patti’s other songs, as if no time had gone by. He told me that Bob Feiden, who worked for him, saw Smith at CBGB’s and suggested they let her audition. Smith and her band (including her star axe man Lenny Kaye) set up in a small room at Arista and played their songs.
The rest is history.
“I signed her on the spot,” Clive told me.
Tonight, the sound of four or five musicians filled the Beacon with what we then called “punk,” but is a complex melding of doo-wop, symphonic R&B (she’s from Detroit, after all) and blinding rock. They dazzled.
Also in the audience: REM’s Michael Stipe, and the Sopranos star Michael Imperioli. Needless to say, they loved it.
No one asked me, but the Grammy Awards should really showcase Patti and the group’s performance of “Break It Up” and thank her for five decades of genius.
Smith is an Artist, with a capital A. Davis told me recognized that the first time he saw her. Previously, and afterwards, he always made sure albums had radio friendly hits. “Horses” had none. He didn’t care. He paraphrased a famous 1973 lyric from another of his hit acts, Aerosmith. Davis said: “Old Clive Davis said he’d make you a star, just the way you are.”
There’s a second show at the Beacon on Saturday night. Both of the musician children she had with the late Fred “Sonic” Smith were in tonight’s group. Son Jackson is a keen guitarist who plays in the band. Daughter Jesse Smith joined on keyboards for the finale. Smith told me she’s winding down this short victory lap and will tour again with a smaller ensemble.
MTG is going AWOL. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican MAGA Congresswoman from rural Georgia, is quitting Congress.
After a wild couple of weeks that saw her falling out with her buddy Donald Trump, MTG is outta here.
She posted a video (Below) and a statement. What happened? It’s like she suddenly woke up one day and realized Trump was a liar and despot. Then she didn’t know how to handle it. She started screaming for help and no one came to her aid. Did Trump force her out? Her eventual book will a blockbuster, that’s for sure.
So goodbye to Jewish space lasers, and the weather being controlled. We don’t know what we got til it’s gone, as Joni Mitchell once sang.
Pras, one of the trio that makes the Fugees, is going to jail.
For 14 years.
Pras Michel, Wyclef Jean, and Lauryn Hill comprise the hit rap group, the Fugees. Their hits include the famous remake of “Killing Me Softly with His Song.” Pras had his own massive hit with “Ghetto Supastar,” a remake of “Islands in the Stream” written by Barry Gibb.
But Pras now faces a long stretch in jail after a judge sentenced him for conspiracy and illegal foreign lobbying charges.
What a shame. This is a tragic story of a rise and fall.
According to a report:
“His legal troubles stem from a list of allegations that have been building for years. Back in April 2023, Pras was convicted on ten separate counts, including accusations that he interfered with campaign finance laws during Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential run. Prosecutors also claimed he attempted to influence the Trump administration in 2017, painting a picture of a complex network of foreign connections and political maneuvering that ultimately unraveled in court.”
The Universal blockbuster scored $30.8 million in previews. It could reach a $200 million weekend.
This is despite so-so reviews. Fans don’t care. They want to see this movie!
Universal’s endless marketing campaign has worked beautifully. What seemed like “too much” to regular people was just enough for fans champing at the bit to see part 2 of last year’s extravaganza.
And that’s not all. The soundtrack album is number 1 on iTunes. Four of the tracks are on the iTunes singles chart. The soundtrack for the first film is number 11. The album from the TV special is in the top 20. The original “Wicked” is number 2 on home video.
We need “Wicked For Good” in theaters. But while you’re there, take a look at some of the other titles playing. This is movie season!
I told you yesterday that the Kennedy Center’s holiday show, “Noel: Jesus is Born!” was a dud at the box office.
This afternoon, there are 1,350 seats available for December 17th. The show is in less than a month.
Indeed, nothing at the Kennedy Center is selling.
Only the main floor is open for Anthony Ross Constanza’s show in the Terrace Theater on November 30th. Half the seats are unsold.
The Kennedy Center’s website said this morning that the December 20th show for the Andrew Deerin Christmas Spectacular are sold out. Suddenly this afternoon it is indeed sold out after showing many available this morning. Mystery.
The Cincinnati Ballet company’s Nutcracker has 700 unsold seats for November 30th, in case you were wondering. The rest of the Nutcracker run is not much better.
Shamrock Tenors: Christmas in Belfast? You have plenty of opportunities.
I could go on and on. Not any part of the holiday program seems to be popular with prospective customers — not even “Champions of Magic: Holiday Spectacular.”
Donald Trump’s lackey, Richard Grenell, will have a lot to explain if and when they issue and end of the year report, that’s for sure.
“Wicked For Good” has sold out most of its shows in the city.
At Lincoln Plaza, generally the bellwether, all the IMAX, Dolby, and Standard Seating is gone.
There are a few ducats around. The Times Square theaters will be pretty full, too.
Previews begin this afternoon, which is prime time for after school. But the solid sell outs go through prime time hours, too, tonight.
But that’s New York, not the suburbs, where there’s plenty of blue on the map everywhere. So it’s unclear if “Wicked for Good” will just be a phenom in mediacentric areas, or if the spell will spread beyond Oz to the hinterlands.
What’s absolutely true is that there are dozens of showings everywhere. Theater operators have turned over all the real estate they have to accommodate the “Wicked” fans and are hoping for a high turnout.
Meanwhile, all insiders will be watching and waiting for a Cinemascore and other audience reactions at the end of each screening. Tomorrow will be quite the day in movie reporting.
A stooge for Donald Trump, Grenell has seen Kennedy Center ticket sales plummet all year as he’s erased anything interesting from the schedule. Former audience members have left as the Trump era of pandering to the Christian right has unfurled.
But now even the Christians are going. After I wrote that Grenell never fulfilled his promise last winter of a big “Christ is Born” pageant, he had to schedule something overnight.
Hastily, Grenell announced such a show — just one night — of a lame touring show called “Noel: Jesus is Born!”
Grenell made it seem like this was the Second Coming. But so far, no one is coming. Tonight’s seat map reveals an entirely open house. I doubt Trump or any of his goons will show up. If they do, the KenCen will have to eat those tickets.
And Grenell will eat his words on Twitter from yesterday. He wrote: “Last February, the @nytimes mocked our stated goal to bring Christ back to Christmas. Today, the Kennedy Center’s December programming is celebrating Christ’s birth and the Christmas Season all month long.”
PS Hanukkah? Kwanzaa? They don’t exist anymore thanks to Grenell.
Three years ago, legendary music mogul Clive Davis gave notable record producer Mark Ronson a project:
Take all the videos from Davis’s decades of hits and make them into a mega mix movie.
A long version was shown at Davis’s 90th birthday party in April 2022. It was met with applause, but it was also too long.
This past summer, Clive showed a shorter, tighter version at the Bedford Playhouse in Westchester. It was a huge success. Then he went west to Palm Springs and Los Angeles, where invited audiences got a sneak peek.
On Tuesday night, Clive brought “Do You Remember?” to The Iris Cantor Theatre and Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. The room was packed. Mark Ronson came and brought his famous mom, Ann Dexter Jones. A spirited one-hour Q&A moderated by author/music critic Anthony DeCurtis followed.
The audience went wild. I’ve seen “Do You Remember?” and it’s really a hit. I only hope Clive lets a streamer or cable channel show it soon. Ronson’s “visual mixtape” features remixed video clips that are like a Five Star Jukebox. The hits just keep coming from: Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith, Biggie Smalls, Janis Joplin, Barry Manilow, Billy Joel, Carlos Santana, Earth Wind & Fire, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Rod Stewart, Dionne Warwick, Maroon 5, The Kinks, Blood Sweat & Tears, The Grateful Dead, and many more.
Whew!
Next up for Clive: he’s catching Patti Smith at the Beacon Theater this weekend. Back in 1975 Clive signed Patti to his new Arista Records and a star was born, so this makes for a unique moment. Next week he’s hosting a screening of “Song Sung Blue,” with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. He’s also planning his 2026 Grammy party-dinner-concert for January 31st.
Mark Ronson has a novel out, and just produced Miley Cyrus’s theme song for the new “Avatar” movie.
