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Green Day, Cate Blanchett, Denzel Among Tony Awards Stars

Roger Friedman
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Green Day, Cate Blanchett, Denzel Among Tony Awards Stars

The Tony Awards won’t be boring this year, that’s for sure.

The June 13th telecast on CBS will feature Green Day, the punk group that inspired Best Musical nominee, “American Idiot.”

Plus, the Tonys just announced they’re bringing back performances from the Best Plays — new and revived. This will include Denzel Washington and Viola Davis from Fences; Justin Bartha, Anthony LaPaglia and Tony Shalhoub from Lend Me a Tenor; Jan Maxwell and Rosemary Harris of The Royal Family; Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson from A View from the Bridge; Laura Benanti and Michael Cerveris from In the Next Room or the vibrator play; Patrick Breen and Patrick Heusinger of Next Fall; Laura Linney and Brian d’Arcy James from Time Stands Still; and Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne from Red.

The show will also include Antonio Banderas, Cate Blanchett, Michael Douglas, Scarlett Johansson, Lucy Liu, Helen Mirren, Chris Noth, Bernadette Peters, David Hyde Pierce and Raquel Welch. Plus Catherine Zeta Jones and Kelsey Grammer will perform, respectively, from A Little Night Music and La Cage Aux Folles.

Viola Davis is going to win Best Actress in A Play, but if Cate Blanchett’s “Streetcar Named Desire” had been on Broadway– and not at BAM in Brooklyn–things might have been different. That would have been some campaign!

One name I don’t see yet: Valerie Harper, nominated for “Looped” as Best Actress, playing Tallulah Bankhead. Harper, a four time Emmy Award winner as Rhoda Morgenstern, should be a presenter.

But don’t expect to see Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth from The Addams Family. They weren’t nominated and neither was the show. There will be no snapping at this year’s Tonys. And yet: the terrible musical continues to gross an average of $1,2 million a week. It gets the Tony for Most Critic Proof Show in Broadway History!

Michael Jackson Fans: Oxman Released Trust Documents

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson Fans: Oxman Released Trust Documents

Michael Jackson‘s ardent fans are in an uproar. They’ve put up an internet petition asking Thomas Mesereau, Jackson’s criminal attorney from 2005, to step in and help them.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/mr-mesereau-you-are-the-chosen-one-will-you-be-there

The fans are speculating additionally that Jackson family leech, Brian Oxman, an attorney on probation who speaks 24/7 on the subject of Jackson, was the source for the release of private trust documents to a British tabloid last week.

Oxman is now reduced to giving interviews to obscure radio and TV  shows. On this link, you can hear him complaining about the lack of released documents in the Jackson case. The interview aired a day before the trust papers suspiciously appeared in the British press..   http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/7314075

The papers specified the trusts set up by Michael in 2002 along with his already published will. Each of his children are to receive $33 million apiece. Some of his nephews will get bequests as well. But by and large the revealed papers showed nothing new, just that Michael Jackson cut most of his family out of his estate.

Dates to remember: June 14th, Dr. Conrad Murray comes to court in Los Angeles. June 25th: the anniversary of Jackson’s death.

Jane Lynch of “Glee” and “Best in Show” Fame–NY Times Exclusive on Her Wedding

Roger Friedman
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1
Jane Lynch of “Glee” and “Best in Show” Fame–NY Times Exclusive on Her Wedding

Jane Lynch, one of the funniest women to walk the planet, got married over the weekend. Paula Schwartz of the New York Times was the only reporter on the scene, and got the exclusive. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/fashion/weddings/06JLYNCH.html?ref=style

Lynch plays wild Sue on “Glee,” but most of us know her from Christopher Guest‘s hilarious films like “Best in Show” and “For Your Consideration.” On Saturday she married Dr. Lara Embry at the Blue Heron Inn in Sunderland, Massachusetts. All of a sudden People and US Weekly are tripping over themselves issuing stories about the nuptials. But Schwartz and the Times got the real story.

Schwartz is one of the hidden treasures at the Times. There almost 30 years, the intrepid reporter went to Hollywood this winter for the Oscars and the Golden Globes. Any time an actor mentioned they might be getting married, Schwartz simply offered to cover the ceremony. The result was gold with Lynch, who’s the star of the hottest TV show. “Glee” is a “Fame” for the 2010 set.

Conan O’Brien: Mocks Leno, Brings Famed Bear and Dog to Radio City in Comeback

Roger Friedman
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3
Conan O’Brien: Mocks Leno, Brings Famed Bear and Dog to Radio City in Comeback

The best thing that ever happened to Conan O’Brien was getting fired.

{Proof of this was shown last night at Radio City Music Hall as Conan returned triumphantly to Rockefeller Center, home of NBC. He mocked Jay Leno, brought on his Masturbating Bear (now the Self-Pleasuring Panda) and Triumph the Comic Insult Dog. He also featured some famous young actor friends–John Krasinski, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader— and sidekick Andy Richter. There was an appearance by an indie rock group called Vampire Weekend.

Later, both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert joined O’Brien for some silly sketches, all in good fun, and enough to make the rapt audience even more appreciative of being loyal to the fired “Tonight Show” host. This included a Dance-Off that concluded with Stewart being shot on stage. “That’s with limited rehearsal,” O’Brien said later. “Those guys showed up ten minutes ago.”

But mostly Conan’s show at Radio City was all about… Conan. He was on stage for the first 40 minutes without a break, doing stand up comedy, song and dance. The sold out room sizzled with excitement and five thousand mostly youngish white people. (The lack of diversity was commented on a lot from the stage.)

If anything, being fired and going on a live tour has probably done a world of good for Conan. When he returns to the talk show format in November on TBS, the result of this experience should be an even more confident, matured performer. Certainly, before the Jay Leno mess of this spring, we’d never have expected Conan to be able to play Radio City for 90 minutes and be the focus of the show. But anger is a great motivator, and so is revenge. And while O’Brien’s stage show is low on vitriol, it’s clever enough to get the point across.  In the process, O’Brien is building massive good will among members of a new audience, and a younger generation.

It couldn’t have worked out better.

Liz Taylor Reveals Burton Wanted Her Back, Eddie Fisher Pointed a Gun at Her

Roger Friedman
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3
Liz Taylor Reveals Burton Wanted Her Back, Eddie Fisher Pointed a Gun at Her

Elizabeth Taylor has revealed for the first time her love letters from Richard Burton. They’re in the new issue of Vanity Fair.

I can only imagine what VF had to pony up for the historic papers between the two superstars of the 60s and 70s. Liz and Dick were Brangelina-plus. No couple was ever bigger in the celebrity world. (Imagine what the supermarket tabloids of 2010 would do to them! Wow!)

It’s the second time in a few months that editor Graydon Carter has put nostalgia on the cover instead of a current movie star. What does that tell us about our current culture? In the spring his Grace Kelly cover was a monster hit.

Taylor reveals to VF that days before he died Burton sent her a letter saying he wanted her back. The letter was mailed on August 2, 1984, three days before his death. Taylor didn’t receive it until she returned to her Los Angeles home from Burton’s memorial service. She keeps it in her bedside table. It was the one letter that she didn’t show to VF but she read it to the magazine’s editors. (He was not unhappy, the author say he wrote to Taylor, but he had been happiest with her. No one else could know what their lives had been together. Was it possible? Could there be another chance? For him? For them? Burton’s widow will be thrilled, no doubt, to hear this.)

All the letters come a soon to be published book called “Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century.”

Taylor reveals that when news of her affair with Burton broke, she awoke one night to her then husband Eddie Fisher pointing a gun at her head. That’s when she gathered her kids and took off. (Carrie Fisher will no doubt have something funny to say about this–maybe she can add it to her great one woman show!)

Burton’s letters are typically dramatic and purple in their prose. But he does tell Liz about a misunderstanding: “You must know, of course, how much I love you. You must know, of course, how badly I treat you. But the fundamental and most vicious, swinish, murderous, and unchangeable fact is that we totally misunderstand each other … we operate on alien wavelengths. You are as distant as Venus—planet, I mean—and I am tone-deaf to the music of the spheres. But how-so-be-it nevertheless. (A cliché among Welsh politicians.) I love you and I always will. Come back to me as soon as you can … ”

Paul Simon May Record with Bob Dylan, Taking Catalog Back to Sony

Roger Friedman
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10
Paul Simon May Record with Bob Dylan, Taking Catalog Back to Sony

Paul Simon is going back to Columbia Records.

After three decades with Warner Music, Simon tells me he’s moving his whole solo catalog back to Sony/Columbia Records. That’s everything from 1972’s “Paul Simon” album through his most recent, “Surprise” CD. As a solo artist Simon was with Columbia Records from 1972 until 1980’s “One Trick Pony.” But he’d also been at Columbia through his entire career as half of Simon & (Art) Garfunkel, from 1965 through 1970, ending with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

When I ran into Paul last Friday night at Yankee Stadium he told me, “I’ve been trying to get my catalog back in the same place as Simon & Garfunkel for a long time.” He is thrilled that it’s happening.

At the same time, Simon is finishing a new album with long time producer Phil Ramone. “It’s the best work I’ve done in 20 years,” be told me, which is a lot since Simon is not one for hyperbole.

Who will issue the new album is still up in the air. It will not be Warner Music Group, which bungled his last couple of CDs including the brilliant “Surprise.” Simon says he’s got a couple of offers, but no deal has been struck yet. He’s thinking of asking Bob Dylan, with whom he’s toured, “to sing something on it.” Simon and Dylan are lifelong peers and colleagues, perhaps the most influential American pop rock songwriters of all time. Such a duet would be quite a milestone.

And there’s more: On June 17th, Simon gets the Towering Song award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame for “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” He’ll be there for the ceremony at the Marriott Marquis. Simon told me he can’t wait to see SHOF president Hal David, author of dozens of classic hits with Burt Bacharach.

“We wrote a song together 40 years ago that I don’t think anyone’s ever heard,” Simon said.

By the way, in case you’re wondering about the passage of time: Simon has been married to singer songwriter Edie Brickell for almost 20 years. Their eldest child is now a high school senior and looking at colleges.

And PS: Canadians are the lucky ones this summer. Simon & Garfunkel tours the northern continent this summer, after a successful trip to Japan.

Can A Month of PR Stunts Undo Tom Cruise’s Five Year Slide?

Roger Friedman
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4
Can A Month of PR Stunts Undo Tom Cruise’s Five Year Slide?

Tom Cruise is back. Well, he obviously wants to come back. So badly it hurts.

A month before James Mangold‘s “Knight and Day,” returns Cruise to the big screen on June 25th, the star’s p.r. machine is purring and humming.

Right now, we’re inundated with Cruise doing promos for the MTV Movie Awards as his “Tropic Thunder” character, Les Grossman. It’s not so funny, but Cruise is milking it. They’ve even combined it with a parody of “Risky Business.” Cruise wants to remind the world that before he jumped on couches, suddenly found Katie Holmes, and made promotional videos for Scientology, he was just a fun guy in Ray Bans and tighty whiteys.

And Tom is on the cover of Esquire, giving minimal answers to softball questions. He’s blaming his deadbeat father for everything. Poor Mr. Mapother cannot defend himself, and no one else will do it. Mr. Mapother as bad dad is an excellent excuse for all of Cruise’s reent nuttiness.

Also in the last weeks, we’ve seen Tom in two “viral” videos–one with Cameron Diaz from “Knight and Day” that’s more staged than a Broadway play. And there’s also Tom’s “impromptu” dance with Katie, the tape of which “leaked” to the web. There will be more leaking of Tom Cruise being “spontaneous” in the next few weeks than leaks on the Titanic.

But this is how it is. In 2005, a terrible episode began in Cruise’s life as he ditched his longtime flack, Pat Kingsley, for his sister. The Katie Holmes business started, followed by the couch jumping and the fight with Matt Lauer on the “Today” show. Then Sumner Redstone ended Tom’s relationship with Paramount. Cruise has gone through several more publicists since then, including a few at Rogers & Cowan and now the gang at 42West.

Cruise’s last two movies were the unwatchable “Lions for Lambs” and the egregious, “Valkyrie.” If you’re 17 this summer, you were 12 when Cruise imploded. Teenagers it can be argued have no attachment to “Risky Business” or “Top Gun” or even “Jerry Maguire.” They just know the YouTube videos of Cruise looking like he’s at a Nazi rally, wildly praising Scientology’s much criticized David Miscavige and someone named “LRH”– L. Ron Hubbard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFBZ_uAbxS0

If “Knight and Day” is a stiff, then Cruise may be in some trouble. How could it be really bad, though? Mangold makes good movies–“Walk the Line” was terrific. Cameron Diaz seems like gold insurance as the co-star–she can be very funny, and sexy. It’s her second film with Cruise, so they have a rapport. The supporting cast looks great, too– Viola Davis, Peter Saarsgard, Marc Blucas, and Paul Dano are quite a quartet.

Keep this in mind, though: at least eight writers have worked on the “K&D” script not counting Mangold himself and the usual assertion that Cruise did, too. And the movie is more expensive than anything Mangold’s ever done, with lots of locations and exotic fauna which will either add to the madness or be a cover for chaos.

“K&D” opens June 25th. Let the June circus begin! Look for Tom Cruise everywhere there’s a promotional opportunity, from (I predict) co-hosting with Kelly Ripa to something no doubt very annoying around Father’s Day.

Or, as Tom says in the video link above: “You on board or you’re not on board.”

Starr Gave No Hint of Trouble to Clients Day Before Arrest

Roger Friedman
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1
Starr Gave No Hint of Trouble to Clients Day Before Arrest

The Ken Starr scandal is going to be far reaching and affect not just big name celebrities but plenty of small investors.

One producer of more than two dozen “classic” films of the modern era met with Starr, his financial manager, last Wednesday, the day before Starr was arrested. The producer’s elegant wife was also at the meeting.

“Everything was fine, we had a nice time,” the wife told me yesterday. “He didn’t show any sign of trouble.”

And yet, the next day Starr was arrested by government agents after the SEC filed a massive fraud complaint against him in Manhattan Federal Court. The SEC puts the value of Starr’s misbehavior at $30 million.

Many news organizations have the names wrong of Starr’s victims. This couple’s name has not yet been revealed. There will be more like them.

The couple is visibly shaken. “Is it possible it was just a mini Ponzi scheme?” the wife asked me.

MIA aka Edgar Bronfman’s Daughter-in-Law: Phony, Yet Catchy

Roger Friedman
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1
MIA aka Edgar Bronfman’s Daughter-in-Law: Phony, Yet Catchy

I can’t overemphasize how much I loved Lynn Hirschberg‘s piece on rap singer M.I.A. in the May 25th New York Times Magazine. It is a must read. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/magazine/30mia-t.html?pagewanted=1

Maya Arulpragasam is depicted as a conniving, calculating, manipulative, aggressive, ambitious pathological liar who has crept into the American culture by presenting herself as a Madonna in waiting. Lady GaGa has nothing nothing on her. It is interesting though that Madonna has spawned these two daughters. And they each come from Interscope Records, where Jimmy Iovine has made survival in a dying business in art form. The tension levels in his offices must be off the charts, but the records are on them so what the hell?

The greatest thing about this story is what Hirschberg only hints at: Maya has inveigled herself into the very wealthy Bronfman family, of Seagram’s fame. She’s technically the daughter in law of Edgar Bronfman, Jr., the man who bought and wrecked Warner Music. (Her boyfriend and father of her child is Bronfman’s eldest kid, Ben.) I have often criticized Bronfman about how he’s handled WMG. But but now I feel some pain for him. You never know what’s going on in someone’s family. Edgar has a grandchild whose mother is a walking billboard, made herself a target for no reason to Sri Lankan terrorists, lies about her background and parentage, and still has a taste for posh Brentwood, California and Givenchy.

Hirschberg is a killer. She gets to the worst parts of a subject’s inner life, unless, of course, she’s obsessed with them (Jerry Seinfeld, Sofia Coppola, hello). Hall & Oates were nearly destroyed by her. The late Bernie Brillstein probably lived on Mylanta for a month after she executed him. But Hirschberg is an artist, and her M.I.A. piece should be framed. I had to lie down after reading it. Her next subject should be Justin Bieber.

As for Maya, it turns out her music is pretty good. Hirschberg depicts it as being constructed by many producers and musicians. Maya is more of a supervisor. Whatever she is, there’ s denying that the new songs “Born Free” and “XXXO” are catchy and well made. The irony is that she’s signed to Interscope, which is part of Universal and not Warner Music. She’s exactly the kind of artist Bronfman’s WMG never developed but needed so desperately. Like all else in the Edgar Bronfman world, she’s spending his money, not making it. I’d love to be a fly on the wall at Thanksgiving.

PS Maya, of course, is not happy about the Times piece. Check out her blog at http://neetrecordings.com/blog/node/50

Ollie (Ali) Woodson, of the Temptations, Dies at 58

Roger Friedman
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13
Ollie (Ali) Woodson, of the Temptations, Dies at 58

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPUsQDm-HQY

Ollie (Ali) Woodson of the Temptations died on Sunday. He was 58 and had been suffering from leukemia.

Woodson was not an original member of the group. They were David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams. Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams. Only Williams survives from that era beginning in 1960.

Ollie joined in 1984, and sang lead on the Temps’ last real hit, “Treat Her Like a Lady,” in 1985. He took breaks, but lasted until 1997. He was a class act, and a great performer and soul singer.

Rest in peace, Ollie. Say hello to the boys for us.

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