Support independent journalism, free from the trades and other publications that are part of the tinsel town machine.
For 12 years, Showbiz411.com has been covering Hollywood, Broadway, the music business and the business of celebrity. Ads are our main source of funding, but contributions (not tax exempt) from readers who enjoy the scoops, exclusives, and fact based reports are always welcome and very appreciated. To inquire about ads, email us at showbiz411@gmail.com.
Very strange story in the New York Post now: that morale at MSNBC is terrible and that CNN is somehow stealing their thunder.
This is actually the opposite of what is true. But seems like the Post is writing this on behalf of Fox News for Rupert Murdoch et al. Literally everything in the article is the reverse of reality.
Maybe Fox News is worried that MSNBC is growing its audience quickly. It’s doing far better than CNN. In fact, MSNBC has literally double the numbers of CNN at every hour.
I don’t know about “morale.” But I’m sure the MSNBC people are happy to have healthy ratings.
Mosr CNN shows average between 600,000 and 700,000 people watching them. Head to head MSNBC comes in between 1.1. million and 1.3 million.
At 9pm, CNN’s host-less hour is trounced by MSNBC’s Alex Wagner, who replaced Rachel Maddow and is starting to find a following.
Of course, Fox News remains the titan all day and night, spewing out misinformation and crank opinions, hoping the elderly or uneducated audience buys whatever they’re selling. But the Murdoch empire must be a little nervous if they’ve turned their aggressively awful PR team on MSNBC. That audience is not going to believe a word from News Corp. They’re too smart.
The biggest problem I could see last night with Valerie Simpson’s insanely jubilant show at Sony Hall was that every song sounds like it’s the grand finale– that’s because every number is a huge hit.
Simpson mostly performs at her own small gem of a venue, the Sugar Bar, on the Upper West Side. But last night was the second time she’s recently performed her new, thrilling show that recalls the massive number of hits she wrote with late husband, Nik Ashford, for Motown in the 60s and then as a successful R&B duo Ashford and Simpson.
This show wasn’t “off Broadway” it was really under it, at the terrific Sony Hall in the basement of the Paramount Hotel in Times Square on West 46th St. With the exits of theaters like BB King’s and the Highline Ballroom, Sony Hall has really become a tremendous location for star performers. And this room — which is large– was packed solid, shoulder to shoulder with fans who love Ashford and Simpson’s music and know a big secret– Valerie Simpson at 76 sings like a rock star.
Simpson is about five feet tall, but on stage she’s a foot taller at least when she’s shimmying in a black and gold couture dress. Always cute, with a cherub face, she can belt out any number and hold her own with the best. (A few years ago, she even played Mama Thornton in Broadway’s “Chicago.”) She’s a dynamo, and if it weren’t for her occasional solo outings she might be forgotten as a singing, not just writing, star. (SImpson did have a solo album on Motown 40 years ago that’s worth checking out.)
Last night, Simpson ably proved herself with a set of hits that’s unrivaled. I particularly liked her rendition of “The Boss,” which she and Nik wrote for Diana Ross and never recorded on their own. (She should record this show immediately.) The show is book-ended with two different takes on the Motown national anthem, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” — one in the Ross edition, the other Jocelyn Brown’s disco take on the original Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell record. There was also “Your Precious Love,” “You’re All I Need to Get By,” Simpson, alternately playing piano (she’s the original Alicia Keys) and boogeying across the stage, conveys infectious romance and joy.
Then there are the crazy, even bigger hits: Ross’s “Reach Out and Touch,” Chaka Khan’s (and Whitney Houston’s) “I’m Every Woman,” and the A&S classic, “Street Corner” (the latter from an album I think wore the grooves down on a long time ago). Any one of these would be a showstopping end number, but Simpson wraps it up with A&S’s beloved, funkaliciously delightful “Solid (as a Rock).”
Of course, keeping it a taut 90 minute show, Simpson leaves out a lot of songs we’d like to hear, from “Send It” to “Is it Still Good to Ya.” But there is nothing like hearing her start “I’m Every Woman” at the piano and then having the crowd explode into dancing when the beat changes. It didn’t matter that there was no possible social distancing either (you couldn’t have this show with masks). She also has a crack band on stage with the great Felicia Collins on lead guitar.
By the way, how influential do Ashford and Simpson remain? Valerie joked on stage that “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” had to made it to a Taylor Swift remix. “What’s that song called, girls?” she asked her two adult daughters from the stage. They shouted back, “Anti-Hero!” Indeed, “Mountain” is the basis of a popular remix of Swift’ enormous current hit. Simpson responded with the usual twinkle in her eye, “I got the check!”
It would be grand if an expanded version of this show had a limited Broadway run, or off Broadway, or right there in Sony Hall. It’s the most entertaining musical of the fall season. There’s even a little scripted part with one of the backup singers playing Berry Gordy, who flew the couple out to Detroit in the mid 60s after hearing their Ray Charles hit, “Let’s Go Get Stoned.” Ashford, Simpson recalled, almost walked out of the meeting, but Gordy ran after him, and the rest is music to our ears.
Adele finally opened her Vegas shows at Caesar’s Palace a year late. She got rave reviews, of course, and people paid thousands of dollars to see her. Her Weekends With Adele goes on through next year. She reportedly told the crowd she was very excited about Sunday night’s series finale of “The Walking Dead,” so I guess no one’s told her there are a bunch of spin off shows coming set in New York, Paris, and god knows where else– Duluth, maybe.
The set opens with “Hello” and includes “Skyfall” and “Rolling in the Deep” and someone like you. What it doesn’t include, strangely, are her two big songs from her first album: Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love,” and her own “Chasing Pavements.” If I’d spent $20,000 on a pair of tickets, I’d like to hear those songs. I’d ask for a rebate!
Anyway, Adele will now rake in gazillions. Her next album will probably come in 2028. So don’t hold your breath!
SUNDAY UPDATE: Total comes to $2.25 million. That’s it. So Peacock wouldn’t be a bad idea.
UPDATE “She Said” made $670.000 on Friday for an “opening” of $830,000. Not great, certainly. But the movie and its subject and purpose are serious and not be dismissed. I got yelled at a female friend yesterday for the story below. She said I made it sound like this was a trifle. Certainly not. After New Year’s, I think Universal would be smart to put “She Said” on Peacock or even Hulu so it can find a wider audience.
FRIDAY ORIGINAL STORY
The Beatles once sang, “She said, I know what it’s like to be dead.”
Now the makers of the movie, “She Said,” know what it’s like to be dead at the box office. The movie, about the New York Times investigation into Harvey Weinstein’s sex scandals, is DOA. It made $160,000 last night in previews.
Our Leah Sydney gave it a very positive review, and all told reviews are very good. Carey Mulligan is said to be terrific, as is Patricia Clarkson.
But “She Said” is like “Bombshell,” the movie about Roger Ailes’s sex crimes. Outside of a small group of media people there is no audience for this kind of thing on the big screen. Universal would be smart to just “Bombshell” had big star like Nicole Kidman and even that didn’t help.
This is also not “Spotlight” or “All the President’s Men,” other award winning hits about reporters tracking a story. The stories those movies followed were about important issues that affected a lot of people– the Catholic church. the whole country, etc. The victims in “She Said” are niche, at best. There isn’t a wide concern about what Weinstein did, except among the women and his financiers.
“She Said” will get a couple of acting accolades, but that’s it.
“The Conners” has roared back in the ratings, unexpectedly. After making the dreadful mistake of moving the “Roseanne” spin off to 9pm on Wednesdays from 8pm on Tuesdays, ABC wisely moved the show back to 8pm.
And voila! The ratings are up, up, up. This Wednesday, “The Conners” had its season rating high at 3.960 million viewers. That was up 12% in the key demo and over 7% in total viewers. The focus this week was on Bev, Roseanne and Jackie’s mother played by 94 year legend Estelle Parsons.
Now there’s a promise from showrunner Bruce Helford that a male character from the old “Roseanne” show is about to make a return. He won’t say who it is, but the odds are on George Clooney, who was in Season 1 and 4 of “Roseanne” as Booker Brooks, the supervisor/foreman of Roseanne and Jackie when they worked at Wellman Plastics, He appeared in eleven episodes of the series.
Whatever happened to George Clooney and Booker? We may find out soon enough. My guess is ABC will hold that appearance for February, a sweeps month for ratings. Maybe Booker owns Wellman now, or has become a tech tycoon. Clooney is on a roll right now with the hit movie, “Ticket to Paradise.” He loses nothing by returning to “Roseanne” and only gains more fans. Let’s hope it works out!
PS There are some who think Tom Arnold may be the mystery guest from the past. When he was married to Roseanne Barr in real life, he played Arnie. But bringing him back would seem like an unnecessary slap at Barr.
For Adele, she’s rolling in the dough as her Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas residency begins tonight.
On the Ticketmaster site, the best seats are going for $23,500. More reasonably priced seats are around $10,000.
Listen, for that much money, come over to my place, I’ll give you Dom Perignon, seats by the window, and Adele karaoke.
Seriously, if you’ve got twenty three thousand dollars to spend on Adele, save it and give to charity.
Adele, of course, abruptly cancelled 26 Vegas shows last winter when she panicked and pulled out. But now she’s been properly medicated, and the money is flowing.
Taylor Swift is usually on social media all the time, speaking directly to her fans.
But now she is radio silent as Ticketmaster has screwed up sales and sales of tickets for her Eras Tour has been cancelled.
This is a blow to Swift fans, certainly, who reportedly sent in 14 million requests for 1.5 million tickets. Ticketmaster blames fan demand, but it’s really bots and resellers who blasted the system hoping to scam millions from fans.
So where is Taylor? She’s gone off the grid. She must be furious about what’s happened, but so are the fans who’ve deluged what’s left of Twitter with complaints.
Meanwhile, Swift’s album, “Midnights” is nearly 2 million in sales.
UPDATE Taylor Swift posted something on Instagram Story a little while ago. Is it me? Or is this the most obtuse way of issuing statements? She didn’t even put it on regular Instagram. There’s no press release. It’s not on Twitter or Facebook. It’s made to be uncopy-able. With Instagram story the thing disappears before it can be read. I find this type of thing passive aggressive, and a way to say something but not say something. Anyway, here is this feeble announcement:
EXCLUSIVE Happy Birthday, Martin Scorsese. The famed director turned 80 last night in style. Leonardo DiCaprio hosted a big secret A List birthday party for him at the very snazzy Casa Cipriani ballroom — the same place where Clive Davis celebrated his 90th back in April.
The guest list — you can imagine. Writer/director Paul Schrader, who’s made many films with Marty including “Raging Bull” and “Taxi Driver” — posted a picture. If you had to guess who else was there– Spielberg, De Niro, Keitel, Beinco del Toro, hundreds more stars. Van Morrison performed songs from all of Scorsese’s movies since the beginning. Margot Robbie got down there after their Q&A. No press allowed, so if you know anything, email us at showbiz411@gmail.com
I’m told the COVID protocol was very strict, with people who showed up unaware sidelined until they were cleared. So how did Van Morrison, who’s anti vax and COVID rules, make the cut? Guess they kept him away from everyone else. I’m told Morrison was introduced by The Band’s Robbie Robertson.
On Sunday, Scorsese interviews George Harrison‘s widow, Olivia, on stage at the 92nd St Y. He made a terrific doc about George with Olivia a few years ago. Scorsese is our Orson Welles, only more successful. From “Taxi Driver” through “The Irishman,” he’s made classic film after classic film. His “New York New York” is being turned into a Broadway musical for next spring. He’s working on a new film now with DiCaprio and De Niro. He’s a New York landmark!
UPDATED Most of the 500 people who filed into historic St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue today were still in shock after losing beloved friend, husband, father Doug McGrath. Last week just before he was supposed to go on stage to perform his one man show, “Everything’s Fine,” McGrath died suddenly of a heart attack. He was 64.
His beautiful service at St. Thomas and reception next door at the University Club were attended by his wife Jane Martin, their son Henry, Doug’s brother and sisters, as well as an array of grieving showbizzers including his Princeton classmate writer producer David E. Kelley (who also served as an usher) and wife Michelle Pfeiffer, Sigourney Weaver and husband Jim Simpson, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, humorist and former “SNL” creator Alan Zweibel, famed talent agent Boaty Boatwright, a very shocked John Lithgow– who directed “Everything’s Fine,” plus even Billy Bush of “Extra.” He was one of a group of students Doug tutored years ago during high school, and they all came to pay their respects.
Some flew in for the occasion. “Schitt’s Creek” star Catherine O’Hara made it in from Los Angeles. Woody Allen and Soon Yi Previn flew in over night from shooting Woody’s latest movie in Paris. They sat quietly in the back row. O’Hara told me she knew Doug from his one year at “SNL” in 1980-81. (She came with friend Robin Duke, another “SNL” cast member from that era.) “I was in the cast for a month and never got on air,” O’Hara revealed. Luckily, she’s had a stellar 40 year career since then and always stayed in touch with McGrath.
Doug’s brother and sister each spoke of their brother growing up in Midland, Texas. He had a habit of rocking back and forth so he got a job in a hospital rocking newborn babies to sleep. As an adult, he remained unpretentious, the opposite of anything Hollywood. He was known for helping groups of homeless people with cash and clothing, and inspired his young son to do the same. Does this sound too good to be true? It wasn’t. Doug McGrath was incredibly successful but also completely self-effacing. That’s why 500 people showed up today, out of respect.
“Everything is Fine,” of course, has ended its run with Doug’s death. It was not filmed because as Lithgow said, “We thought we had all the time in the world.” The hope is it will be published in book form, and one day another actor can reproduce the magic that McGrath and Lithgow made on stage. It would be a shame if it were lost to the ages.
RIP Doug. You must have been smiling in heaven today.
“Babylon” is here. It’s really Hollywood Babylon, sort of referencing Kenneth Anger’s famous book about Tinseltown before talkies made everyone so serious. It was a time of bacchanalias, sort of “The Great Gatsby” on the west coast.
No reviews yet– the movie doesn’t open until December 23rd. But director Damien Chazelle — he of “Whiplash,” “La La Land,” and “First Man” — brought his all star cast to New York yesterday for two screenings and two Q&As after showing it to the folks in actual Hollywood a couple of days ago.
Present at AMC Lincoln Square were members of the Producers Guild as well as some notable actors like the great Cherry Jones and Barbara Barrie. The latter is a youthful 91 years old and a sprite. She came to the screening on her own because no one in her family was around to accompany her!
What am I allowed to tell you? Well, this is the Era of Jean Smart. She plays a gossip columnist who is dogging a movie company trying to get info. This is before Louella Parsons or Hedda Hopper, and she’s based on a real person. Smart is riveting all through the film and then has a scene with Brad Pitt — not sexual, cut it out — that may land them each Oscar nominations in the supporting categories. The movie is sumptuous. And that’s all I can say for now.
On stage the cast was charming and happy to be with each other. That included Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Diego Calva, who makes an impressive debut as Chazelle’s Nick Carraway. Pitt was especially fun, nearly falling when his chair on stage actually collapsed, then doing pratfalls, and finally tossing his microphone out when it didn’t work and getting lots of laughs. Pitt announced on stage that he was waiting to make the next Damian Chazelle movie, so that’s a good sign.
“Babylon” clocks in at a little over three hours and it is never boring. Any attempts to nod out are challenged by a fascinating film. So hold on!
