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Sunday, April 6, 2025
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Broadway: Spider Man Limbers Up; Al Pacino Too

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Here’s some news from Broadway:

Julie Taymor and U2 are limbering up for “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark.” Rehearsals begin shortly, Taymor says. She is thrilled, and so are we. At last, “Spider Man.”

Taymor says only two actors went to Las Vegas to have flying lessons–so I am correcting the previous item. She says, “We did our flying here. We have our own flying instruction.”

The sets are loaded into the (corporately named and easy to confuse) Hilton Theater, and everything is a ‘go.’ Previews will begin in October. An opening date has not been finalized. But it could be as late as Christmas week..

Meanwhile: Al Pacino‘s run in “The Merchant of Venice” has been a gigantic success for the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park. The rumor now is that Pacino and company will transfer to Broadway soon after Labor Day. Nothing is confirmed, but this is what all parties want, so it will probably happen. Cross your fingers: it’s good news for theatre audiences and for the Public, which always needs to raise money.

PS Al will need a short break so he can pick up his Emmy on August 29th for Best Actor in a TV movie for “You Don’t Know Jack” on HBO–his Dr. Kevorkian movie. Barry Levinson will get Best Director and Best TV Movie. It’s a tour de force.

Already announced: James Earl Jones and Vanessa Redgrave are coming to Broadway in “Driving Miss Daisy.” People are going to be climbing over each other to see this production, which opens October 25th. Location is the John Golden Theater, where “Red” just finished its short but award winning run.

Keith Richards’ Book Will Set the Rolling Stones’ Record Straight

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Keith Richards is just this week starting to go over the galleys for his memoir, called “Life.” It’s coming in late September from Little, Brown.

The Rolling Stones’ guiding light and lead guitarist and songwriter is bracing for publication. He was paid $7.1 million to try and reconstruct the last 66 years.

What we’re getting, I am told, is not a list of drugs he took or how he survived taking them. Rather, Richards plans to set the record straight on a number of subjects, especially recent scandals like allegedly snorting his father’s ashes, and falling out of a tree on Fiji.

He may also address the famous myth that he had his blood changed in Switzerland in the 1970s in order to get off heroin.

What Richards definitely talks about: Anita Pallenberg, a little about Brian Jones, a great deal about writing and making music with Mick Jagger.

“Life” will not be a traditional publication. Right now, I am told, Richards and co. are considering offers from various magazines for excerpts.

“But it’s not the kind of book where you can take different chapters and send them around,” says a source.

Jane Rose, Richards’ manager, did not want to talk about the book when I ran into her last night. But she and Richards and Johnny Depp are also working on a documentary about the unsinkable Stone.

Richards is also issuing a second “Wingless Angels” album on September 23, the same week as the book’s publication. But you can hear it and read all about it right here at http://www.winglessangels.com/explorethemusic.htm

PS Keith is NOT touring with Ronnie Wood and the Small Faces this summer.

Here’s the best solo record by Keith:

Helen Mirren Getting Naked: “I Didn’t Think It Was Such a Big Deal”

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Oscar winner Helen Mirren posed semi-naked in a bathtub shot last week in New York Magazine. Immediately, there was a big brouahaha.

Last night, Helen–who stars in the excellent “Love Ranch,” opening today in limited release–told me at the film’s premiere: “I didn’t think it was such a big deal. I couldn’t believe the reaction. I didn’t show very much.”

A friend reminded her: “This is America, Helen. Everything is a big deal.”

Mirren responded, after thinking about it: “No one in Europe or Britain would have cared.”

Mirren has been suddenly very controversial. After making comments criticizing British Petroleum for their travesty in the Gulf of Mexico, she got trashed in the UK press yesterday.

On David Letterman‘s show, she called BP “Bloody piss poor.” Good for her! Here’s the video. Check it out at 6:20.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fguOkKn1HlE

The premiere of “Love Ranch,” a movie that’s had an unfair financial history, was pretty interesting, however. Among the guests were Mirren’s husband, the great Taylor Hackford, who directed the film; co-stars Sergio Peris-Mencheta and Elise Neal, as well as financier Henry Kravis and his philanthropist wife Marie-Josee Kravis, who’s among other things president of the Museum of Modern Art; plus Jane Rose, who’s managed Keith Richards and worked with the Rolling Stones for eons; “Hotel Rwanda” director Terry George; bestselling crime writer Phil Carlo; restaurateur/actor Paulie Herman; and famed director Julie Taymor, in whose film version of Shakespeare’s “Tempest” Mirren will shoot for an Oscar nomination this fall.

Who wasn’t there? Why, Joe Pesci, who co-stars in “Love Ranch” with Mirren as the owner of the original legal Nevada brothel. This is Pesci’s first movie in 10 years. But he was in New Jersey tending to his ill, elderly mother. He sent in his place his sister, his daughter, and the very cool Tommy DeVito, an original member of Frankie Valli’s Four Seasons.

After the screening, a group headed down to Il Cantinori in Greenwich Village, where former congressman Harold Ford, Jr. was very thrilled to meet Mirren and Hackford. There was also much discussion of the remake of “Arthur,” which Mirren starts shooting shortly all over the city. She plays Hobson, Arthur’s nanny, the role made famous by John Gielgud in the original. Russell Brand is Arthur; Jennifer Garner picks up Liza Minnelli’s role of Susan.

“Love Ranch” opens today, and then goes wider a week from Friday. Don’t miss it. No, there are no vampires in it. And Tom Cruise doesn’t ride around on a motorcycle with a shit-eating grin. “Love Ranch” is inspired by a true story. Sergio Peris-Mencheta comes from Madrid, and he’s from the same acting teacher as Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. This is his American debut.

Both Gina Gershon and Taryn Manning are terrific as working girls on the ranch. Pesci is a lunatic, and we love him. But Mirren is a standout, as usual. It’s just fascinating to watch the wheels turn in her head as she works out a scene. And the story–of how her character, Grace, falls for a younger boxer–is powerfully handled by Hackford.

Scandal at the Hotel du Cap! Legendary Manager Accused of Embezzlement

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There’s a scandal at the Hotel du Cap, the beloved, fabled, famed,  hotel resort in Cap d’Antibes. Hotel du Cap is the favorite of movie stars for decades, and it’s the central meeting place for stars and movie execs during the Cannes Film Festival.

On Thursday, the former director of the Hotel, Jean Claude Irondell, is going before a judge in Grasse, in the South of France. He’s accused of massive embezzlement, with a number put at, at least, $1 million. Irondell was legendary at the Hotel, and its seaside adjunct hotel and restaurant/club, the Eden Roc. He ruled with an iron fist and kept the place in pristine, exclusive condition.

For years, though, until very recently, the Hotel du Cap and Eden Roc accepted only cash. No credit cards, no matter who you were. If you were going there, you had to wire money ahead. American celebrities like Bill Cosby and Johnny Carson always used to brag about this method of payment.

Now Irondell is being accused, according to reports in French newspapers like the Sunday Journal (story by Thierry Boinet), of skimming like crazy off the top. Reports say he’s accused of essentially keeping double books, charging the extremely well heeled guests more than the charges recorded at the hotel, and collecting fees under the table, so to speak, for things like access to the magnificent pool and even for ice deliveries to the cabanas.

One of the accusations is that Irondell ran a whole separate system for himself when it came to the off-campus villas that surround the main hotel. The villas are like small mansions, usually rented by the very rich and famous. They are also often vulnerable to robberies. (A few seasons ago, movie producer Graham King and his guests were thoroughly cleaned out.)

Irondell worked at the du Cap for 51 years, 35 of which he was general manager. He has denied all the accusations. He now lives in a luxurious villa with a great view of the stunning Mediterranean and the Eden Roc. (Not to hype this too much, but if you’ve been lucky enough to go to the Eden Roc just for lunch, it’s Paradise. Hotel rooms start at $1,000 and those are the size of a Smart Car.)

But according to the newspaper account, Irondelle may even have been living like his billionaire guests, running up expenses that startled auditors from private dinners to expensive Champagne. Even Irondelle’s dogs are said to have profited from his alleged malfeasance–eating prime boeuf dinners every night. Zoot alors!

Steve Carell: His Exit Could Mean the End for “The Office”

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Is it the end for the folks at Dunder Mifflin?

Steve Carell says he wants to leave “The Office” after next season, the seventh — and maybe the last.

Without Michael Scott, NBC and the show’s producers will have to decide whether they can replace Carell and go on. It’s not so easy. Some hit shows have been able to replace secondary characters skillfully and move on. The example is “Cheers,” which brought in Kirstie Alley for Shelley Long after Long’s five years was up. “Cheers” went on for seven more seasons with Alley.

But could “Cheers” have replaced its lead, Ted Danson, and had the same success? Probably not. In the same way, “MASH” was very good at trading supporting players–Wayne Rogers, Larry Linville and MacLean Stevenson were succeeded by Mike Farrell, David Ogden Stiers, and Harry Morgan without any trouble. But could Alan Alda have been subbed? The answer is: no.

If 2011 is the end of “The Office,” it’s not such a bad idea. Most TV series go on way past their prime–take “Murphy Brown” or “Frasier.” Sometimes, the seven year contract that binds actors is a good thing. Mary Tyler Moore always had it right– go out on top. Don’t wait–as in the case of “Scrubs”– to be pounded into dust and then blown away.

With “The Office,” two of the supporting players are ready to leave anyway. Both John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson are setup to do anything they want in TV or film. B.J. Novak is good to go, and Jenna Fischer just had a nice turn with Michael Douglas in “Solitary Man.” And Ed Helms seems like he’s everywhere except “The Office” lately.

How will we live without “The Office”? I never watched “Parks and Recreation” before my flight home from Los Angeles last week. (American Airlines’ selection of movies is so bad, that you get stuck watching TV.) I always thought it was a pale imitation of “The Office.” But it’s pretty funny. Amy Poehler is always good, and I was happily surprised to see that Paul Schneider–so underrated from “The Assassination of Jesse James” and “Lars and the Real Girl”–is the male lead. By the time Dunder Mifflin closes its Scranton branch, “P&C” should be ready to take over.

And Steve Carell–after “Dinner with Schmucks” this summer, he’s got another comedy done with Julianne Moore. He also has a half dozen films in development. And no one is more ready to host the Academy Awards. Long after Michael Scott is promoted to a high paying, powerless position at the company, Carell will always be around.

Mickey Rooney: Michael Jackson Used to Sing to Me Over the Phone

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Mickey Rooney called me on Monday night with his talented wife, Jan. I was thrilled to hear from them. I told them I was worried this year because I hadn’t seen them at the Oscars. Our meetings on the red carpet are a tradition.

“We were there!” Mickey and Jan said in unison. “We missed you, too!” They’ve been touring, doing their musical sketch show everywhere.

Do you understand that Mickey will turn 90 in September? He is the elder statesman of Hollywood. When Mickey was a kid, he was Justins Bieber and Timberlake, Michael J. Fox, and a little David Spade all rolled into one. He was Warren Beatty before there was Warren Beatty. I mean, the boy got around!

So Mickey wanted me to tell everyone that at Saturday’s Michael Jackson event at the Bev Hilton, it was his devoted Jan who knocked everyone out. “I just introduced her. She sang “You Are Not Alone,” Michael’s song, and Charlie Chaplin‘s “Smile.”

Jan said: “You know, Michael used to call us up and sing with us on the phone.” She got a little teary. “His death is such a tragedy.”

The Rooneys are busy, busy. They were recently guests at an intimate dinner thrown for them by Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw. The other guests were J.J. Abrams and his wife, Katie.

In the last week, they were also part of a surprise birthday for 50s bombshell and Howard Hughes hottie Jane Russell. The other guests included Esther Williams and Debbie Reynolds. According to the imdb.com, Russell just turned 89 on June 21st. God bless them all, having surprise parties! How cool is that?

Here’s Mickey as Andy Hardy with Judy Garland. There’s nothing like it:

Michael Jackson: Moonies Want Millions from His Parents

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As usual, everyone has this wrong.

Michael Jackson‘s parents have been sued once again by a newspaper called the Segye Times in South Korea.

But the Segye Times is a front for Reverend Moon’s Unification Church. The church owns the paper, just the way they did the Washington Times.

This financial back and forth between the Moonies and the Jacksons has been going on since 1990. The Jacksons had not toured since the Victory Tour ended in 1984. Here’s what happened:

The Moonies wanted to underwrite a Jacksons tour of South Korea with Michael. According to sources, they contacted Joseph and Katherine Jackson and members of the Jackson family. They gave them all gifts and cash, ranging from Rolex watches to luxury cars. At one point, the group’s representative went to Frank DiLeo, Michael’s manager and brought two casher’s checks for $500,000 apiece. DiLeo refused to accept the money. He said, “If Michael wants to tour South Korea, we’ll call you.”

The truth was, DiLeo and Jackson did not want to be involved with the Unification Church.

The Moonies meantime made a deal with Joseph Jackson and the ever astute Jermaine for the tour. When it didn’t materialize, they sued for their money and gifts to be returned.

In the lawsuit, the Moonies claimed they were out $5.5 million. To avoid losing their Encino home, the Jacksons transferred ownership to Michael. (That’s the short version. The long version, including the parents suing LaToya, is too hard to explain here.)

Michael Jackson settled with the Moonies in 1992. But his parents were separate defendants, as was a concert promoter named Kenneth Choi. They never showed up for trial. In 1994,  a trial judgment was filed against them totaling $4 million. In 1996, the Moonies filed to take possession of the home. That’s when they transferred it to Michael. Since then, the Moonies have just waited. And with interest, they say they’re up to $13 million.

This is interesting: according to sources, because of this judgment, neither Katherine or Joseph Jackson uses credit cards or can get credit. “Everything they do is in cash,” the source says. The judgment was reportedly part of the Jacksons’ 1999 bankruptcy filing for $24 million.

Now, of course, with Michael’s estate being the subject of so much press–and proclamations of earning so much recently–the Moonies are back to get their dough.

Really, you can’t make this stuff up.

Jack Abramoff-Kevin Spacey Redux: “Casino Jack” is a Fine Film

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I wrote this back on March 10th after seeing a screening of George Hickenlooper’s “Casino Jack.” It’s a terrific little film, with Spacey spot-on and ready for an Oscar nomination. It’s very funny that everyone’s carping about a lack of Oscar nominees this year. Here’s one all set to go:

Former ” ‘and disgraced ‘ Congressman Tom DeLay thinks the unemployed should just buck up and take it.

“You know,” Delay said on CNN recently, “there is an argument to be made that these extensions, the unemployment benefits keeps people from going and finding jobs. In fact there are some studies that have been done that show people stay on unemployment compensation and they don’t look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out.”

Ok, so no one likes him. Now George Hickenlooper’s new film, “Casino Jack,” won’t do much to improve this idiot’s status. DeLay, you see, enabled former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff to loot and pillage Washington while George Bush was president. Abramoff was in jail when I saw the film, but is now out and working at a pizzeria in Baltimore.

Kevin Spacey seems like he was born to play Abramoff, a so-called devout Jew with a non-Jewish wife and very blonde little girls. “Casino Jack” isn’t necessarily good for the Jews but it’s not good for anyone else either, like the Christian right.

That Spacey plays disingenuous’and creepy well is no surprise, but the film does have its surprises nonetheless. Barry’Pepper is a revelation as Abramoff’s main associate. Jon Lovitz is pond scum personified as a mattress’dealer-slash-thug’and con man who allowed himself to be a front for Abramoff’s’stealing.

I saw “Casino Jack” last week in Hollywood. It reminded me of “GoodFellas.” Not so good people discover evil, sell out, and lose everything.’It’s quite a story. And the really funny part is that Abramoff is only serving six years. When he gets out, he’ll be rich. And he plans to move to Hollywood and become a film’producer. Why the hell not?

Now Hickenlooper will take his film to festivals and find a distributor to’release “Casino Jack” in the fall. There will be Oscar nominations for Spacey and Pepper, certainly. And a lot of screaming from Oliver Stone, as “Casino Jack” is really a contemporary version of “Wall Street.”

I say this now in June, after seeing “Wall Street 2”: “Casino Jack” is the perfect complement to “WS2” for this fall. Whoever picks it up will do well, maybe better because of the Oliver Stone film opening September 23.

Michael Jackson’s Mother, the Estate, and Money–the Real Story

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After a weekend of wrong headed reporting and terrible TV specials that didn’t get much right–like ABC’s ridiculous “20/20” extravaganza and Ian Halperin‘s hideous “documentary”–here’s the real story of Katherine Jackson, Michael’s estate, and money.

Mrs. Jackson went behind her own lawyer’s back–that’s Adam Streisand–and signed a contract with Howard Mann, the Toronto entrepreneur. Mann has said on TV that his deal with Mrs. Jackson makes her a wealthy woman. But that’s not exactly true.

According to the contract between Mann and Mrs. Jackson, which I’ve seen, Katherine Jackson is getting $10,000 in advance and 10,000 a month for promoting audio and video recordings that could be turned into a book or biography called “The Katherine Jackson Story.” The contract was signed on February 3, 2010 and witnessed only by Sonia Lowe, Mann’s collaborator. Streisand has never seen the contract. “The Katherine Jackson Story” became her book, “Never Can Say Goodbye.”

“My expectation is Katherine nets $10 million,” says Mann of Mrs. Jackson’s participation in the project. He thinks “Never Can Say Goodbye” will sell a million copies. So far it’s sold between 25,000 and 50,000.

The contract for these “performances” states that Mrs. Jackson will receive $5000 for promotional appearances. In other words, she was paid for showing up at the Jackson family event on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton. That may be why she agreed to return from Indiana on Saturday morning to promote “Never Can Say Goodbye.” Those audio recordings, transcribed and written by Sonia Lowe, became the copy for the book. The video interview was used in part for the NBC “Dateline” show on Friday night.

Insiders are scratching their heads wondering Mrs. Jackson entered into such an agreement, especially without legal representation. Going along proper channels, Mrs. Jackson could have picked up a seven figure advance from any New York publishing house.

“we did the deal between us,” Mann says. “Who was she going to call? Adam Streisand? He’s paid by the estate.”

Indeed, until the estate is settled–there are still outstanding claims–Michael’s estate is paying his mother’s lawyer’s fees. But that is not unusual.

And it’s not like Mrs. Jackson needs the money. According to those familiar with the as yet unsettled estate, Mrs. Jackson’s financial life since Michael died has been an easy one. Before he died, she was constantly in debt with the threat of foreclosure.

But since then, the Jackson executors have paid off the $5 million mortgage on the Encino estate known as Hayvenhurst (and always owned by Michael, not his parents); given Mrs. Jackson a new $90,000 Cadillac Escalade; paid salaries for everyone at the house including private chefs and Mrs. Jackson’s secretary, Janice; and all of her needs separate from funds which the children receive.

“She’s never been denied one thing she’s asked for,” says an estate source.

But Howard Mann insists that Mrs. Jackson is receiving “only” nine thousand dollars a month. It’s not enough, he says, to cover her expenses in Encino and at homes she maintains in Las Vegas and Gary, Indiana.

As for the children attending private school this fall, my sources say Mrs. Jackson has never even asked the estate for help or guidance.

Altogether, I am told, approximately $8 million has been spent on Mrs. Jackson this year including the buying out of the mortgage. So where has it all gone? And why would she make a deal for $10,000 a month to be in business with a total stranger?

The overriding theory: that Joe Jackson–who has no income and has tried to get an allowance of his own from the estate without success–is prevailing upon his much beleaguered wife for funds. He lives in Las Vegas, for example; Mrs. Jackson does  not.

Daytime Emmys: “World Turns” Gets Last Laugh on CBS

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CBS may have cancelled the 54 year old soap, “As the World Turns,” but the show got the last laugh at the network’s expense tonight. It picked up three of the four major acting awards for Michael Park, Maura West and Julie Pinson in Best Actor, Best Actress, and Supporting Actress.

Even though CBS carried the Daytime Emmys, they still managed to kick dirt in “World Turns” direction. They ran a sad, minute long tribute to the show rather than focus attention on its cruel exit from TV. The acting awards will be a nice consolation to the cast and crew. But really: this Daytime Emmy show was an ad for Las Vegas. The soaps were an after thought.

If only Procter & Gamble, the main sponsor of “World Turns,” cared about the show.

coincidentally, CBS soaps won all the big awards for the night, including Best Daytime Drama and Best Writing to the otherwise incoherent show “The Bold and the Beautiful.”

For the umpteenth time in a row, the Daytime Emmys screwed Regis Philbin, even though they needed him for ratings as host of the awards show. He lost Best Talk Show to Dr. Oz and Best Talk Show host to Ellen DeGeneres. Boo-hiss. Sorry, Reege, you were robbed!