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Sean Hayes–of Will & Grace–Stars in A Musical “Mad Men”

Roger Friedman
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Sean Hayes–of Will & Grace–Stars in A Musical “Mad Men”

Yes, that Sean Hayes, who played Jack on “Will & Grace” and won a lot of Emmy Awards. He’s headed to the Tony Awards next after his triumphant Broadway debut last night in “Promises, Promises.” He’s going to give veteran Nathan Lane from ‘The Addams Family” a run for his money as Lead Actor in a Musical. (We’ll watch for the Outer Critics Circle nominees this morning, too.)

If you want to know where “Mad Men” got its inspiration, look no further than this show. “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner clearly took the name of Peggy Olson, the secretary at Consolidated, for the now famous Elizabeth Moss character on the TV show. Well done!

The revival of the 1969 musical is a smash at the Broadway Theater, with co-stars Kristen Chenoweth, Tony Goldwyn (anew surprise Broadway star–great voice) and knockout scene stealer (and previous Tony winner) Katie Finneran. Let’s just say that the latter appears at the start of Act II and takes no prisoners in one of the memorable performances of any season.

But it’s Hayes who’s a bit of a surprise, and he pulls it off. As C.C. Baxter, the newcomer who’s trying to get ahead at Consolidated Life in 1962 Manhattan, he carries the entire musical. This is no small task, as the book is by Neil Simon and the songs are by no less than Burt Bacharach and Hal David. And Hayes’s predecessor 40 years ago was Jerry Orbach.

And while Hayes is the circus ringleader, it’s Chenoweth who has the toughest task: she gets to sing the Bacharach-David hits, “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “A House is Not a Home,” and “I Say A Little Prayer.” She does so with aplomb, maybe getting the songs better than she does the character of a suicidal ingenue who’s having an affair with a married man. As Fran, Chenoweth is a little stiff. You’re not sure why CC is pursuing her and not the vivid Marge played by Finneran. It seems like a no-brainer.

Still, Neil Simon‘s original book from December 1968 remains an Erector set of splendid one liners. It’s so interesting to hear it now because almost nothing was changed, Hayes told me. And it works like a beauty: you see and hear Simon at his best.

And the music is just so impeccable. Bacharach was not expected to be here from Los Angeles. But he came, looking a little frail but feisty and proud. Of course Hal David was front and center. The songs are timeless and extraordinary. They so fit their era but have lasted 40 years. I have never been at a performance like this, where a song–“I Say A Little Prayer”– got applause before it was sung, as if it were a famous actor!

And yes, the premiere was filled with stars: Hugh Jackman, Alfred Molina, John Stamos, David Hyde Pierce, T.R. Knight from “Grey’s Anatomy,” the magnificent Mary Kay Place (who’s shooting episodes of “Bored to Death” on HBO) with famed record producer Russ Titelman, Brooke Shields, legend Geoffrey Holder, Harvey Weinstein (busy on his Blackberry), Lee Pace, Neil Patrick Harris, Nora Ephron and Nick Pileggi. I asked Alan Cumming why he dropped out of “Spider Man.” He said, with a twinkle in his eye, “It was a scheduling problem. Didn’t you read the press release?”

Trump Clue: Bret Michaels Ironic Situation in Celebrity Apprentice

Roger Friedman
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Trump Clue: Bret Michaels Ironic Situation in Celebrity Apprentice

SPOILER SPECULATION ALERT

Don’t keep reading if you don’t want to know what I’m told may happen on what has been a hot season of “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

Sources say that Bret Michaels‘ terrible sudden illness–he is in critical condition because of a brain hemorrhage–is a terrible irony, especially if he’s in for a long recovery.

Donald Trump praised Michaels on Friday, calling him “a great competitor and champion.” The wording was the tip off. Champion means victor, not just “great player.” If they had clues like that on “Lost,” the show would have been over two years ago.

Currently, Michaels is one of the two last men remaining on the show. Celebrity chef Curtis Stone is the other.

But I am told that in the end it’s more likely that Stone’s future with Trump is cooked like a Thanksgiving goose. Michaels. they say, is the odds on favorite to be named the men’s winner. That would make him one of the two finalists for “The Celebrity Apprentice.” This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise; viewers know that Michaels is in the lead.

The shows were pre-taped weeks ago.

“Celebrity Apprentice” is scheduled to air a two hour live episode on Sunday, May 23rd. The last two contestants, one each from the men’s team and the women’s,  have to demonstrate why he or she should be the winner.

Another source admitted, “I know it’s Brett and two others toward the end.”

I do know that on the May 9th installment, there’s a big twist in the women’s story. I won’t say what happens.

While everyone hopes for Michaels’ speedy recovery, it might take a miracle to get him back in front of cameras by May 23rd. And how Michaels’ situation progresses has to be handled delicately by NBC. The Poison rock star’s health is at stake, as well as the show’s future and reputation. But if Michaels can make it to the finale, imagine the drama and the ratings. TV execs would sell their children for such an episode.

People do recover from brain hemorrhages. Gifted pop singer Phoebe Snow had one on January 19th of this year, and fell into a coma. Last week, her manager posted a message on Snow’s website saying she was awake, and making progress. Here’s hoping each of these stars makes a swift recovery.

Spitzer Documentary “Client 9”: Gov Had Mystery Call Girl as Steady Sex Mate

Roger Friedman
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Spitzer Documentary “Client 9”: Gov Had Mystery Call Girl as Steady Sex Mate

Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was not so involved with hooker Ashley Dupre as we’ve been led to believe by the New York Post and other tabloids.

According to a new documentary, called “Client 9,” Spitzer’s steady call girl used the name “Angelina.” (She is played in the doc by actress Wrenn Schmidt.)

Director Alex Gibney has plenty of other revelations in “Client 9.” which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival last night. In new on camera interviews with Spitzer, he elicits from the disgraced politician an admission. “I brought myself down,” Spitzer says in response to Gibney’s suggestion that it was the governor’s enemies who conspired against him.

In fact, from the dozens of interviews in “Client 9”–it’s a massive documentary that could use a little trimming–Spitzer’s enemies were just laying in wait, readying themselves for a chance to pounce on the crusading liberal’s wars on Wall Street. What does seem clear is that they were often doing more than just waiting. Gibney suggests that the wealthier Wall Street types may have had private detectives dogging Spitzer, looking for dirt.

The sure found it.

Among those who make rare and candid appearnaces in “Client 9” are AIG’s Maurice “Hank” Greenberg and financier Kenneth Langone, once head of the New York Stock Exchange. To say that they despise Spitzer is an understatement. They don’t hold much back in their interviews. Of course, Gibney points out that until his sudden demise, Spitzer was on their trail. He anticipated the AIG meltdown of 2008, to no avail. He had his own meltdown to deal with.

“Client 9” is referred to as the “Untitled Eliot Spitzer Film” in the Tribeca schedules. But it’s really called “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer,” the title that appears at the start of this exhaustively researched film. Gibney has covered as many bases as he could, including long and amusing interviews with the head of the escort service that provided Spitzer with his call girls. This woman, Cecil Suwal, acts ditzy but in fact has a better grasp of the situation that you might think. “He could not control himself,” she says of a governor who paid for sex with money orders.

Most interesting for New Yorkers who’ve been inundated by sleazy Ashley Dupre, mascot of the New York Post. It turns out she only encountered Spitzer once, according to Gibney. Her recent blast of publicity, he suggests, is being backed by anti-Spitzer conservative forces who seek to continue his humiliation. This makes some sense since the woman has no obvious talents besides those otherwise employed. Even so, Spitzer shouldn’t get too excited. Despite his desire to re-start his political career, it’s just not going to happen.

By the way, Gibney says Spitzer has not seen the film yet.

PS No thanks to Spitzer, who left us with David Paterson. The most mocked, worst governor in New York history, looks especially bad in the film during (thankfully) silent cameos.

Bret Michaels Update: “He Had The Worst Headache Ever”

Roger Friedman
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Bret Michaels Update: “He Had The Worst Headache Ever”

Here’s an update on Bret Michaels: He’s in a Los Angeles hospital undergoing tests, treatment and observation for a brain hemorrhage.

“He was at home and started complaining about a bad headache,” a source tells me. “He said it was like someone hitting him on the head with baseball bats. They called an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital. That’s when they found the blood on his brain.”

Michaels, who suffers from diabetes, was already recovering from an appendectomy. That medical crisis had happened while he was on tour in San Antonio, Texas on April 12th, just two weeks ago. After the operation, he returned to L.A. and the private care of his physician. But he was told it would take at least six weeks to recuperate from that ordeal.

Michaels hasn’t had an easy year physically. Last June 7th, 2009, he was hit by a piece of heavy scenery while performing on stage at Radio City Music Hall for the Tony Awards. http://tinyurl.com/lvwk9b. He broke his nose, and subsequently had a CAT scan. Reports now are that the brain hemorrhage is related to his diabetes. But there will certainly be speculation that it’s  somehow connected to the accident.

CBS Gets Schizo; All the News Fit to Repeat; Murdoch Melt Down

Roger Friedman
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CBS Gets Schizo; All the News Fit to Repeat; Murdoch Melt Down

CBS is acting a little schizo now. They’ve decided to air the Daytime Emmy awards. Of course, they’ve canceled two legacy daytime dramas, “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light.” They only have two left, “The Young & the Restless,” and “The Bold & the Beautiful.” Is this a way to launch that new “View ” type show? And will there be a special salute to “World Turns”? A: yes. B: no…

…This week, we were appropriated from (ahem) quite a bit!

Today the New York Post trumpets an interview with Oprah’s aunt Katherine Esters as the first of its kind. Readers of this column know that isn’t true. We did the first interview with Mrs. Esters on April 14th. You can read it from the highlighted picture link next to the logo…

This week Page Six made passing mention of rumors of Gwyneth Paltrow coming to Broadway. They read it here, this week…

And Deadline Hollywood yesterday had a piece about Katherine Heigl changing publicists. That story ran more extensively right here 24 hours earlier…

Entertainment Weekly tried to debunk our “Men in Black 3D” story, suggested it was premature, and then concluded it would happen. I guess someone gave writer Nicole Sperling a dose of the neuralizer…

…And what about this weird news? On Wednesday, James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of Murdoch’s newspaper empire, burst into the offices of rival editor in chief of the Independent and began berating the man. Their beef was a wrapper around the Independent criticizing Rupert Murdoch for trying to manipulate the British elections. First: is there no security at The Indepedent? Can anyone just walk in? And second: a few months ago Murdoch’s son-in-law Matthew Freud gave the New York Times a rogue quote. Now Murdoch’s son is showing strange behavior? The strain seems to be getting to them. Who’s next? http://tinyurl.com/24g7f3h

Stephen Sondheim: Send in the Shrinks

Roger Friedman
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Stephen Sondheim: Send in the Shrinks

Stephen Sondheim has some serious mother issues. He didn’t like her, and she sure didn’t like him. At a tender age she dumped him with the neighbors–luckily, they were the Hammersteins. Oscar was a famous musical writer with Richard Rodgers. Years later, when she was receiving a pacemaker, mom wrote Stevie that he had been a mistake and an encumbrance. It’s no wonder that Sondheim, as he tells it, didn’t fall in love until he was 60. Presumably, mom was gone.

Well, all that aside, “Sondheim on Sondheim” which opened last night at Studio 54, is just great. It’s a musical revue of 80 year old Sondheim’s brilliant career as a songwriter. It’s also a live documentary– a first, I think–with the subject telling his life story in video clips from screens above a cast of singers that includes (the very hot) Vanessa Williams, Barbara Cook, and Tom Wopat. They, plus five more accomplished singers, get the cool task of performing some of Sondheim’s best and least well known numbers.

There are plenty of highlights including Cook, who’s a Broadway and cabaret legend at 82, getting in the penultimate word of the night with “Send in the Clowns.” It’s a gorgeous moment, but Cook has several including a duet of sorts with Williams when the former sings “Not a Day Goes By” in counterpoint to Williams’ “Losing My Mind.”

There are lots of other great moments, too, from all of Sondheim’s shows from “West Side Story” to favorites like “Follies” and “Company” to relative flops like “Bounce” and “Assassins.” My only disappointment was almost nothing from “Sweeney Todd.” I kept expecting cast member Matthew Scott to break into “Joanna.” But aside from Tom Wopat‘s excellent take on Sweeney’s “Epiphany,” there was nothing else.

“Sondheim on Sondheim” feels like a great summer hit. The music is just endlessly good; the show is kind of a respite from the outside world. The premiere certainly brought out the hardcore Broadway crowd: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Tovah Feldshuh, Amy Irving, Dana Ivey, Blythe Danner, and F. Murray Abraham, the only Best Actor Oscar winner (“Amadeus,” 1984) I can think of who never had a follow up hit or even critical success of any kind. Very, very strange.

PS No sign of the man himself. Sondheim was absent from the opening night activities. It’s hoped that he was home, writing new songs.

Chris Noth Confirms He’s Headed to Broadway

Roger Friedman
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Chris Noth Confirms He’s Headed to Broadway

Last night, “Sex and the City” star Chris Noth gave me the secret ending to the new movie, due at the end of May.

“We all die,” Noth cracked wise after stopping by Elaine’s for drinks with pals. He was wearing a gray and white track suit, and showed off pictures of his two year old son.

Actually, Noth did confirm for me that he’s planning to take Broadway by storm sometime this year. My pal in London, Baz Bamigboye, first broke the story in the Daily Mail that Noth would appear in a production of “Born Yesterday” with British actress Hayley Atwell.

Chris says the play will be directed by Broadway vet Doug Hughes. and will happen as soon it’s clear what his schedule is with hit TV series, “The Good Wife.” and other movies. “Born Yesterday” could be on the boards by the fall or in early spring 2011.

Meanwhile, Chris–one of the good guys–commutes back and forth to his native New York from Los Angeles, where he’s been living of late. The Elaine’s regular just missed famed writer and Paul Newman (and Hemingway) biographer A. E. Hotchner, as well as former Police Commissioner to the country (NYC, LA, Boston) Bill Bratton and TV personality/lawyer wife Rikki Kleiman, plus a bevy of Broadway heavyweights including Jimmy and Margo Nederlander. Noth did get to see legendary flack  Bobby Zarem, who’s visiting from Savannah, Georgia this week.

Any “Sex and the City 2” tidbits at all from Chris Noth? What about John Corbett, I asked? “Oh, his part was totally cut,” he replied with a grin. One thing he did concede: “This one is a much better movie than the first one.”

Carly Simon Ups the Ante in Starbucks Lawsuit

Roger Friedman
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Carly Simon Ups the Ante in Starbucks Lawsuit

Famed singer songwriter Carly Simon has still not been appeased by Starbucks or its owner, Howard Schultz. Her attorney, David Boies, has filed an amended complaint in Simon’s lawsuit against Starbucks asking for a jury trial.

At issue: Simon was signed to Starbucks’ Hear Music record label in 2007. She released an album of new material, called “This Kind of Love,” in April 2008 five days before Starbucks abruptly pulled the plug on Hear Music without telling Simon.

Hear Music had previously released a few albums by artists like Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell. They had all been promoted in Starbucks stores and carried there on the shelves.

What’s interesting about this amended complaint is the revelation that Hear Music never had a written deal with Starbucks stores to carry its albums. They shared executives, but nothing else. That may be key in Simon’s case because she says she was enticed to sign with Hear Music because the execs promised her that she’d be highly touted by Starbucks as a result.

In fact, this lure sounds like it was based on an assumption but not by anything else. Starbucks, it’s alleged, was not required to help Hear Music. Only: Simon did not know that when she signed on. And by the time Starbucks abruptly shut down Hear Music, the label’s CDs–including Simon’s new release–were gone from the stores. The whole reason Simon had signed with Hear Music was because of the promise of Starbucks’ marketing power. And suddenly it was no more.

The new complaint also reveals that the Hear Music execs had no prior knowledge that Starbucks was cutting them off. The label’s chief, Ken Lombard, was actually removed from his office by security guards. (Maybe they were afraid he was going to steal a lot of cardboard cup holders as retribution.)

It boggles the mind why Howard Schultz continues to let this case with Simon fester. A jury trial, open to the public, cannot be good for the beleaguered coffee chain. Schultz — a cousin of sax expert Kenny G. — certainly is not doing his artist-friendly New Age like gestalt any favors.

Robin Hood Screens in NYC For First Time

Roger Friedman
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Robin Hood Screens in NYC For First Time

Ridley Scott‘s “Robin Hood” screened in New York last night for the first time. I’m told it was for an audience of junketeers and maybe some “real people” in a focus group.

The verdict? It works. This will be good news for Universal Pictures and Ron Meyer. This movie has cost so much to make that I’m told it might need to make as much as $500 million to earn out. (It cost at least $250 mil.) At that rate, Robin Hood will have to rob the rich (everyone at the box office) to help Universal stay solvent.

Don’t forget: it had many expensive lives before Scott and Crowe went to work on it. All those costs are charged to the film. For example, Brian Helgeland is credited with the screenplay. But Tom Stoppard did a polish on it. And Helgeland was preceded by others.

Another big expense: moving the press junket to Los Angeles and New York from London because of the Iceland volcano.

A decidedly subjective audience member does say that the there was much appropriate laughter during the screening. Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett have good chemistry, they say, Oscar Isaac, as Prince John, got high marks as a breakout actor. Altogether: “Robin Hood” looks poised for a big opening following its premiere in Cannes on May 12th.

Ex Spy Valerie Plame Puts Rupert Murdoch On the Peace Train

Roger Friedman
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Ex Spy Valerie Plame Puts Rupert Murdoch On the Peace Train

Valerie Plame Wilson: you remember her. She was outed as an undercover CIA agent by now-deceased journalist Robert Novak. He’s in jail. Valerie was married (and still is) to diplomat Joseph Wilson, who was critical of Bush/Cheney. The reveal was said to be retribution against Wilson. This all happened in the beloved Cheney administration.

Now Plame has a lot going on. The Doug Liman directed film about her life, called “Fair Game,” will debut in Cannes next month. Expect a lot of heat.

Plame and Liman were guests last night at a screening of a new documentary about nuclear disarmament called “Countdown to Zero.” It’s directed by Lucy Walker and produced by Lawrence Bender, who’s mounting a massive online and college campus campaign akin to his “Inconvenient Truth.” This gang is going all out to spread the word about the scary realities of nuclear war.

www.takepart.com/zero

Plame was drafted into the cause because her specialty at the CIA was working on whether or not Iran had a nuclear weapon. Now hat’s ex-CIA, Plame can talk about the dangers of nuclear weapons, who has them, who’s trying to get them, and why it all has to stop now. She’s an effective speaker–it turns out she’s also a knockout–and communicates well on film and off.

During a Q&A after dinner at the Plaza Athenee dining room–in front of a room of media types and politicos–Plame introduced herself as “no longer the scandal girl.” She was “outed” in 2003. She’s finally been able to move on. “I’ve had a lot of time to get used to not being with the CIA,” she told me.

Interestingly: in this crowd of liberal minded types were Rupert and Wendi Murdoch. Mrs. M. heartily congratulated Walker when the film finished. (I wonder if Murdoch will start pushing peace on Fox News. After all, James Baker is in the movie.)

Other guests included famed attorney David Boies (he argued for Al Gore in front of the Supreme Court), Sports Illustrated editor Terry McDonell; Queen Noor of Jordan; advisor to everyone David Gergen; CBS’s Bob Simon; media expert Gerry Byrne; veteran network journalist Bob Jamieson; writers Susan Brownmiller and Alix Kates Shulman; directors Bob and Leslie Zemeckis; and Participant Films’ Jeff Skoll, who underwrote the film.

:Countdown to Zero” will open July 9th in a limited run. It’s a terrific film, must-see viewing this summer. No one likes to think about nuclear weapons and war, but Walker makes the subject clear and fascinating. More on “Countdown” closer to release day.

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