If you’re a Barbra Streisand fan, you know she stands up for all good causes.
She’s just issued a recorded statement urging support for Ukraine. She couldn’t be more right. The US Congress must approve funding for aid to Ukraine or they will fall to Russia. That would be tragic.
Call your congress person!!
Call together a top notch group from the Hamptons and you learn a lot.
That’s what happened at the Rainbow Room last week, at the annual gala for East Hampton’s cultural locus, Guild Hall.
Guild Hall Academy of the Arts President, the painter Eric Fischl got to hone his comedy chops at this year’s spring gala, fashioning a speech on a string of cliches created by AI. That set the night off in good spirits, against The Rainbow Room’s customary spectacular panoramic views of the city now fogged in, but as Board Chair Marty Cohen observed, “When it comes to Guild Hall, there’s no such thing as bad weather.”
Sure enough, we were expecting no-shows but most everyone showed: Neil de Grasse Tyson, Sunny Hostin, Fern Malis, Fischl’s poet wife April Gornik, artist Ross Bleckner, and a robust theater crowd. They were there to celebrate Daryl Roth, producer mother of Jordan Roth, head of Jujamcyn Theaters.
Jordan was clad in one of his typically elegant ensembles accessorized with his grandmother Sylvia’s matching clutch. He opened his speech with, “My mother loves gay people.” That broke the ice, as a proud, even gleeful son spoke of his mom’s collection of 13 Tony Awards and counting.
Daryl has just signed Julianne Margulies and Peter Gallagher to a show adapted from Delia Ephron’s novel, “Left on Tenth.” She’s hoping to stage it in the fall, with Tony winning director Susan Stroman — who was also present– directing. But it’s not so easy, even for Roth, who has a theater named for her in Union Square.
When I congratulated her, Roth pulled me aside with the latest update: she has yet to find a theater! Ah, the perils of producing!
Roth’s pal, Bernadette Peters, took the stage to sing two numbers from Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” Instead, she started with a joke about a frog who, upon getting a kiss from an elder gentleman, promised to turn into a gorgeous blonde who would make love to him every night for the rest of his life. The man took the frog home and went to bed, explaining that at this point in life he preferred to have a talking frog.
The jokes did not end there. Howard Marks, who with his wife Nancy were honored for philanthropy. Marks told one about a boy who got a part in a school play. His mother asked, what part? The Jewish husband. Her reply: Couldn’t you get a speaking role?
It was that kind of a night.
I told you Bonnie Tyler was going to benefit from the eclipse.
Right now, Bonnie’s 1984 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is Number 1 on the iTunes top 100 singles.
Imagine how many people bought it in the last 24 hours to hit the top spot!
Meanwhile, Pink Floyd’s 1972 “Dark Side of the Moon” is number 3 on the albums chart– behind J Cole and Beyonce.
Eclipse music fans would be smart to check out The Police’s “Invisible Sun” and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” in which the subject takes his Lear Jet to Nova Scotia to see a total eclipse of the sun.
As I said the other day, Tyler doesn’t get much out of this development since performers aren’t paid royalties on radio play. She’ll get a little from sales. But writer Jim Steinman’s estate will clean up.
Here’s what it looked like through my Samsung S21:
Ka-ching! Bonnie Tyler’s Cult Classic “Total Eclipse of the Heart” Soaring in Sales with Monday’s Real Eclipse Coming
Donald Trump’s media stock finished the day at $37.17. It’s currently trading after hours at $36.00
Consider that last week, on March 26th, the stock opened the day at $78 and then finished at $57. It’s been downhill ever since.
Trump Media & Technology is in a free fall. The company is already mired in lawsuits with co-founders who are also former players on “The Apprentice.”
Who would invest in this thing? Its sole purpose is the promotion of misinformation, fake news, and bile against Joe Biden and the Democrats. It’s opinion delivered by the Trump family, their base, and uneducated malcontents.
At least Twitter — despite its shortcomings — allows the actual news of the day to be disseminated.
John Mulaney is doing something unusual. He’s got a special coming on Netflix May 3rd that will be live — and air for one week only.
See the teaser below.
The show is called “Everyone’s in LA.” Except Seinfeld and Letterman, who live in New York. I think Mulaney still does, unless he’s moved full time to LA. But he’ll find funny stuff in the characters out there, from the looks of this promo. It should be called “Everyone Visits LA.”
“John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA” coming to @netflix on May 3rd. pic.twitter.com/xMVzoGV6g9
— John Mulaney (@mulaney) April 8, 2024
Billie Eilish will drop her new album on May 17th. That will be three weeks after Taylor Swift’s new album, which itself was spaced out from Beyonce’s latest release.
The album is called “Hit Me Hard and Soft.” No track titles yet — it’s early — and I doubt her Oscar winner “What Was I Made For” is included.
Maybe once Eilish’s album comes out we’ll get an announcement about another Universal Music Group whispering canary, Lana del Rey. She has a country album waiting for a launch. Maybe in twenty years all these ladies will appear in a “Golden Girls” reboot. Billie will make a great Sophia.
PS Why no singles? I think this is smart. Advance singles can be a blessing if they’re a hit. But if they’re not — witness recent releases by acts like Jennifer Lopez, Bon Jovi, and Zayn — they can be negative precursors.
“American Idol” is in need of immediate help.
Ratings so far this season are down 12% in total viewers, and 25% in the key age demo average from last year.
So what to do? A little stunt casting always helps. Host Ryan Seacrest announced on “Good Morning America” that Vanna White will be co-hosting with him tonight.
White, of course, has been the letter turner on “Wheel of Fortune” for the last 42 — yes, 42 — years. Next fall, she will be joined by Seacrest, who’s taking over for Pat Sajak as host. Sajak’s last show is this June 7th.
There was a lot of controversy about whether White would continue with Seacrest, or if she was leaving, too. What exactly she does besides turn the letters on “Wheel” is a mystery to me. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard her speak more than three or four words at a time. But I guess tonight she will.
For ABC, the whole thing is a marketing crossover, and a good signal for next fall on “Wheel.” Of course, all of this means Seacrest will be on TV from September to June every year, and on double duty in the spring come 2025 — for better or worse.
Will you watch tonight? Maybe Vanna sings!
Jonathan Majors is not going to jail.
The Marvel actor will get probation instead after being convicted of domestic assault.
In New York, Judge Michael Gaffey also ordered Majors to complete a 52 week in-person batterer’s intervention program. He also has to continue with his mental health therapy.
Majors’ real punishment is losing a lot of work, including his role as Kang in the next Avengers movies. Marvel and Disney had planned a trilogy based on his villain, but after the conviction they dropped him like a hot potato. Majors lost other roles, as well, and an indie movie he made called “Magazine Dreams” was abandoned by Disney Searchlight.
Now Majors is left to pick up the pieces of his shattered career. At the time he was arrested he was starring in two box office hits, “Creed III” and “Ant Man 3.” What can he do to get back on track? Wait for an Oprah type confessional interview, and other crisis management solutions.
Well, at least he didn’t use the “N” word this time.
Country star Morgan Wallen was arrested last night in Nashville. He tossed a chair off the roof of a bar owned by country star Eric Church. It fell six stories and landed in front of some cops on the street.
When the cops investigated, the employees at Chief’s immediately identified Wallen. After the arrest, Wallen’s lawyer told a local TV channel: “At 10:53p Sunday evening Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities.”
He’s been released on bail of $15,500 on three felony accounts including reckless endangerment.
It’s only a couple of years ago that Wallen got into trouble when he was heard using the “N” word on a home video after leaving a bar. He was briefly “punished” by his manager and record company but not for long because he’s a money maker.
Thanks to streaming, Wallen has already sold the equivalent of over 1.7 million albums since January 1st. He is never off the charts, often with multiple albums in the top 50 at any time.
Wallen’s fans will likely see the chair throw as something they would do, a “good old boy” kind of thing. Yee ha! This will just sell more records and make him more of a legend.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” ended as I predicted, with a spectacularly funny send up of the Seinfeld finale.
It was hilarious, and packed with guest stars including Jerry Seinfeld, who saved Larry after he was convicted for giving water to a voter in Atlanta a bottle of water.
Guest stars also included Allison Janney, Greg Kinnear, Sanaa Lathan, Dean Norris. Kinnear’s character, the prosecutor of Larry’s trial, was named for Earl Mack, very wealthy famed Republican donor and former ambassador. Why? Who knows?
The hour long episode went just as I said it would — paralleling the Seinfeld finale as clips were shown from old episodes over the last 20 years. They even found the grown up 8 year old girl from the first season, now 29. Hilarious. The throwbacks also included things like the key throwing from a couple of episodes ago, and Sharlto Copley as the South African man who invited Larry to Atlanta and started the whole mess.
Larry, as I predicted, is found guilty but gets off on a technicality thanks to Jerry. Seinfeld says, that’s the way our show should have ended — which was the whole point of this season. Highlights of tonight included Susie Essman in a blonde wig and wheelchair with oxygen tank. Also, JB Smoove’s Leon finally watching “Seinfeld” up til the the final episode. Tracey Ullman returned, so did Saverio Guerra as Mocha Joe from the famed Spite Store.
A brilliant ending to a meh season and a great, historic series. Very satisfying. A big thank you to the Curb gang. And a nod to Richard Lewis, who toughed it out to the end. He will be sorely missed.
As I predicted:
Opinion: Strong Feeling How “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Ending Will Echo “Seinfeld” Prison Disaster