Connect with us

Celebrity

The Glorious Corner

Published

on

G.H. HARDING

RITA HOUSTON RIP — (Via Pitchfork) New York radio mainstay Rita Houston, who served as program director and on-air host at Fordham University’s WFUV, died Tuesday (December 15) after a six-year battle with cancer. Houston had stepped down from her role at WFUV earlier this month to spend time with her family. She was 59.

Rita Houston

Houston was program director at the New York City public radio station for more than 25 years. She first came to WFUV in 1994 from Westchester, New York’s WXPS, where she had hosted the program Starlight Express. After a stint as a midday DJ, she started the Friday-night show The Whole Wide World, giving her a platform to highlight new artists from around the world. A renowned tastemaker with an outsized presence in New York City’s live music scene, she would help shape the station’s programming from mostly folk and Americana to include modern sounds with a more global perspective.

In a statement on the station’s website, WFUV general manager Chuck Singleton said: 

“Rita was the north star of WFUV’s sound and its public service, guiding the station’s musical direction for decades. She was a New York original, a trailblazing woman of exceptional talent who shaped a unique style behind the microphone—informed and informal, intimate, warm, genuine. But also, one of tremendous joy

NEW HOUSE RULES — (Via the Baltimore Sun) Before Ali Stagnitta, 26, an entertainment reporter who lives in Greenwich Village, could attend a weekend retreat in the Catskills last month organized by Soho House, a private club, she had to check off a few things.

A fashionable face mask for group meditation sessions? Check. Warm jacket and gloves for nights around the campfire? Check. A 1,600-word waiver that absolves Soho House of any liability in case she became infected with the coronavirus during her two-day stay in a tiny cabin nestled on 105 acres? Signed and emailed.

“It’s the same thing as when they take your temperature,” Stagnitta said. Besides, she noted, each party had its own cabin, in which they prepared and ate their own meals.

Also, group activities including hikes and a nature photography class were outside and socially distanced. And masks were required.

While social gatherings are curtailed in many states, many people are still trying to gather.

Coronavirus waivers that must be returned with your RSVP are becoming a new norm for social events this season, including holiday parties, birthdays, weddings, proms, large-scale celebrations and even family reunions.

Hosts say that they don’t want to be held legally responsible should a guest become infected at their event, while larger outfits like Soho House say the waivers are an extension of existing policies.

“I don’t want to take that chance,” said Andrea Adelstein, who runs NYLux Events, a company in Manhattan that stages weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and corporate parties. In addition to securing the caterer and florist, her company sends coronavirus waivers for event guests to sign when they arrive.

Adelstein has also signed her share of waivers. “I haven’t kept track of how many I’ve signed,” she said. “I understand why they are asking me to sign it.”

Guests are usually happy to sign, often because they don’t believe they will get infected.

“If I have to sign a waiver, I have to sign a waiver,” said Karan Eschweiler, 54, a retired public-school administrator from St. Charles, Missouri, who signed a waiver before attending a 100th birthday celebration last month at Busch Stadium for Stan Musial, the St. Louis Cardinals star who died in 2013. “What I do for fun is go to the Cardinals games. So, I kind of felt like, this is my chance to get into the stadium and do something Cardinal related.”

Scheduled for late November, it was supposed to be an outdoor parade with music and cupcakes but was turned into a drive-by party when COVID-19 cases rose in the region.

And it’s not only guests who are being asked to sign. Employees who work at social events are being asked to waive their rights to sue, too.

When Joe Snell, 46, who runs Central Arkansas Entertainment, a DJ booking company in Little Rock, Arkansas, was asked to sign a waiver for a September wedding, he didn’t hesitate. “I didn’t fight it because I knew we had to do it,” he said, adding that his bookings dropped to 600 from 2,600 this year. “In our industry, if you want to work, you need to be out there at these events.”

Coronavirus waivers, which surfaced when lockdowns were lifted in late spring, vary widely in scope and length. While many were drafted by lawyers, legal templates can also be found online.

Most require that the person signing the waiver acknowledge the risks of attending a social gathering, agree to comply with government health and safety protocols, inform the host if the person tests positive before the event and waive the right to sue if the person becomes infected at the event.

“In exchange for admittance into the event and use of the facility,” reads one waiver offered by a catering company in Philadelphia, “I therefore accept the risk of attending this event.”

The waiver promises to “relieve” the organizers, host, venue owners and event management company “from any loss, damage, claim and/or demand on account of injury, sickness or death arising from attending the event.”

But it’s not clear whether the waivers offer any legal protection or are enforceable in court.

“It’s not going to shield you from total liability; it’s not a slam-dunk defense,” said Seta Accaoui, a lawyer with CMBG3, a corporate law firm in Boston who specializes in liability law. “Courts are going to look into the circumstances and the situation you are presenting. They will want to know if the hosts were mindful of the risks, and what they were doing to implement safety procedures.”

Nonetheless, citing the proverbial “abundance of caution” that has become a pandemic cliché, Accaoui encourages all of her clients to use waivers.

Still, the waivers are so new that no lawyer interviewed for this article was aware of any cases that invoked them. “The only way to know whether or not the given waiver is going to be found effective is for someone to file a lawsuit and have it go all the way through the legal system and have a judge or jury make a determination,” said Patrick Schoenburg, a lawyer in Fresno, California, who specializes in litigation arising from infectious diseases.

The legal issues become murkier when the event in question violates local social-distancing rules. “You can’t ask someone to waive their rights if they attend a party that is in violation of a city or state’s restrictions,” Schoenburg said.

He also warns that waivers could backfire, should a case ever reach a trial. “What is a jury going to think about a person who held a 100-person wedding and was so aware that this was a dangerous practice that they asked everyone to sign a stupid contract they found on the internet?” he said.

That was the realization that Kiersten Clark, 24, a merchandise coordinator for West Elm in Brooklyn, reached when she was invited to her cousin’s 150-person wedding in central Florida in November. As she debated whether to go, she learned that neither masks nor coronavirus tests would be required. Then she heard about the waiver.

“My first and continuous reaction is anger,” Clark said. “They knew the chances of someone getting the virus, especially with a lack of masks, was high, and that their selfishness in continuing to have the wedding should have consequences. Hearing about the waiver sealed the deal for my decision not to go.”

She has since learned that two relatives tested positive for the coronavirus after attending the wedding.

The wisdom of virus waivers may be dubious, but when faced with the choice of signing a pro forma waiver or spending another day stuck at home on endless Zoom calls, many people will opt to sign.

“I took my 18-month-old daughter to a farm the other day, and the COVID-19 waiver form was four pages,” Accaoui, the Boston lawyer, said. “In order for me to get my picture of my daughter petting that baby goat, I had to sign that document. And so I did.”

SHORT TAKES — “Women And Wives” is the go-to track off McCartney 3 –  just out. Just a splendid album …

L.A. LAW — Season 8 — Pictured: (back l-r) John Spencer as Tommy Mullaney, Alan Rachins as Douglas Brackman, Jr., Larry Drake as Benny Stulwicz, Corbin Bernsen as Arnie Becker, Blair Underwood as Jonathan Rollins, A Martinez as Daniel Morales (front, l-r) Alexandra Powers as Jane Halliday, Michael Tucker as Stuart Markowitz, Jill Eikenberry as Ann Kelsey, Richard A. Dysart as Leland McKenzie, Alan Rosenberg as Eli Levinson, Debi Mazar as Denise Ianello (Photo by Gary Null/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Just announced is a possible re-boot and update of L.A. LAW – for ABC; the original was on NBC, which ran for eight terrific seasons courtesy of Steven Bochco. The real interesting thing is that just Blair Underwood, from the original run, is targeted to star – no Arnie Becker? We love Underwood, but he’s been in more series that haven’t made it to a Season Two than we care to remember. Actually, we loved him in 2010’s The Event where he played the President. Remember that one? … These re-boots have become the in-thing, but remember, a re-boot of NYPD Blue was announced last year and never made it. Funny, my fave Jimmy Smits was in both shows …

John Carroll Lynch

ABC’s David E. Kelley hit Big Sky had its winter finale this week, featuring the possible murder of prime-character Rick Legarski (played by John Carroll Lynch). Say it isn’t so. I think it was all a dream. The Twin Peaks-inspired series has been good, but the debut hasn’t been matched yet … Mark Bego’s Eat Like A Rock Star (Skyhorse) paperback release jumped Friday to #2 onAmazon. Congrats …

Paul McCartney

Ringo Starr’s newest single “Here To The Nights” is a Diane Warren song and is very Ringo-ish. But, how come she’s not on the record …. or, video? He’s got a host of names: Sheryl Crow, Beatle-mate Paul, Ben Harper, Dave Grohl, Jenny Lewis, Lenny Kravitz, Nathan East, Joe Walsh; Steve Lukather; Chris Stapleton …. but, no Diane. Odd, right? It’s off Ringo’s forthcoming EP, cleverly titled Zoom In … I’ve been keeping up with CBS’ Star Trek: Discovery and think I know why it seems so odd. Great special effects and all, but the characters just aren’t all that strong; not that you want to root for them. Jason Isaacs as Captain Gabriel Lorca (great name, right?) is good, but almost every episode has been somewhat scattered. I’ll give it an E for efforts … Donnie Kehr played several concerts last week with his Greatest Piano Men show in Ocala, Florida … Lots of chatter about Tom Cruise’s outbursts on the set of his latest Mission: Impossible opus. To me: well-intentioned, but he should have handled it much, much better. It is not a good piece of PR – although we hear he and co-star Hayley Atwell are dating. We checked in with PR-guru David Salidor who said: “In this day of everything getting out whether it’s Monica Lewisnky’s blue dress or Harvey Weinstein, how could he not think it would not get out? The message was right on, but it could have been delivered a lot more diplomatically.” As of today, 5 crew members have quit the production … Next week is Universal’s virtual-premier of their new Tom Hanks movie News of the World– directed by Paul Greengrass. I hear it is sensational … Happy Bday Billy Amendola.

NAMES IN THE NEWS — Jerry Church; Randy Alexander; Collen Brennan; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Deb Caponetta; Deborah Gibson; Tyrone Biljan; Doug Morris; Tony Mandich; Jeff Smith; Pete Steller; Ken Dashow; Jim Kerr; Peter Shendell; Barry Fisch; Joe Lynch; and, BELLA!

G. H. Harding is a four decades insider to the entertainment world. He’s worked for record companies; movie companies; video-production He’s worked for record companies; movie companies; video-production companies and several cable outlets. His anonymity is essential in bringing an unbiased view to his writings on pop culture. He is based in NYC.

Continue Reading

Book Reviews

The Glorious Corner

Published

on

G.H. Harding

A CHER STEAL — This year’s 97th edition of the Macy’s Day Parade was a rather underwhelming one, save for Chicago – inexplicably singing “Your My Inspiration” – and the always, indefatigable Cher, singing a track “DJ Play a Christmas Song” off her new holiday-themed album. The first few bars will terribly auto-tuned, but that seemed to disappear and Cher’s vocals rang full and bold.

She was, typically, a pro. Mixing effortlessly and emotionally with the dancers in a terrific set. Some pundits reported the clip was shot days earlier, but she was live and, just sensational. I wish more of today’s performers possessed her vigor and skills. That’s why most of the current acts, here today, will be gone tomorrow.

As we went to press, we learned that this parade was Macy’s most-watched edition ever! Congrats.

Sacred Songs/Daryl Hall

HALL VS. OATES  Some terrible news appeared in Wednesday’s media that Daryl Hall had taken out a TRO against partner-John Oates. I’ve loved what these two have done for decades and I loved Hall’s solo albums; especially the one he did with Robert Fripp in 1977 Sacred Songs.  His record company at the time (RCA) hated it so much, they held up its release for three years.

I also well remember them in the 80’s when it seemed you could’t turn on a radio without hearing their music. 29 of their 33 singles were major chart hits on Billboard. But I do go back to them even in the 70’s, with their terrific “She’s Gone” which basically launched them. And, my favorite album of their War Babies, produced by Todd Rundgren. Quick note: That album sounds as good and relevant as it did when it came out in 1974.

The problem seems to arise from Oates wanting to sell his portion of certain songs to Primary Wave Artists – which ironically owns several of their songs already. It’s a small point, but that seems to be the issue. In all actuality, it’s another case of a classic-rocker selling his music.

In Oates’ book several years ago (Change of Seasons: A Memoir), he hardly mentioned Hall and regrettably that animus has apparently reared its angry head. They’re Philly boys, I’m from Philly and it’s just an awful coda to what was one of music’s major success stories. Sad all around.

SHORT TAKES — Terrific article in this week’s Closer on Micky Dolenz. Check it out here: https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/micky-dolenz-on-telling-stories-on-stage-and-in-his-book/

btw: Dolenz tapes KTLA’s Countdown To 2024 this week in LA …

Phil Quartararo

I first met Phil Quartararo in the lobby of the old Mondrian Hotel in LA with John Sykes and we struck up a friendship that lasted until he passed last week. He was at Virgin for a time and worked with the artists there including The Spice Girls and Paul Abdul. In these fast-changing-times in the music business, he remained somewhat behind the scenes of late, but admitted he missed working with the artists. Phil was a guy you never ever heard a bad word about. Huge loss. Here’s Billboard’s take on Phil:

https://www.billboard.com/business/business-news/phil-quartararo-dead-exec-paula-abdul-spice-girls-1235509422/

… As you’ve not doubt read, there is trouble in the Marvel-comic kingdom. The latest Captain Marvel movie (The Marvels) didn’t perform nearly as well as everyone hoped for and their newest star, Jonathan Majors as Kang, is tied up in several court matters.

Dr. Doom

So, we hear that Kang is out and Doctor Doom is in. Stay tuned …

Last week for David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s Here Lies Love. If you’ve not seen this, it is a must-see one. Sad to see it go …

And Forbes’ James M. Clash has released Amplified; culled from his terrific interviews with the icons of rock ‘n roll; including Grace Slick; Art Garfunkel; Ginger Baker; Micky Dolenz; and Roger Daltry.  Here’s the Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNJZYW2J?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_WKCSH7AC0ZTK18RZF4ED&language=en-US NAMES IN THE NEWS — Steve Leeds; Kate Hyman; Bono; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Peter Abraham; Bobby Bank; Dina Pitenis; Frank DiLella; Donnie Kehr; Steve Leber; Don Wardell; Anne Adams; Billy Smith; John Boulos; Kimberly Cornell; Sam Rubin; Nexstar; and ZIGGY!

Continue Reading

Broadway

Ken Fallin’s Broadway: Michael Urie and Ethan Slater

Published

on

With the holidays, my caricature of Spamalot is taking time, so I decided to highlight the two performers who for me stood out.

I have drawn Michael Urie several times, but I love this picture with him and my drawing of him in Buyer and Seller. Urie as Sir Robin, shows a new side of him that is truly funny.

Ethen Slater

Ethan Slater should have won a Tony for Sponge Bob Square Pants. My guess is he will be nominated again for his multiple roles in Spamalot.

Up next my caricature of Spamalot

Continue Reading

Book Reviews

The Glorious Corner

Published

on

G.H. Harding

NINA CHASE LIVES! — (Via Deadline) Shantal VanSanten is moving from FBI to FBI: Most Wanted for the latter show’s fifth season. She will reprise the role of Special Agent Nina Chase.

Nina is a well-seasoned FBI agent who is strong-willed, sharp and used to working undercover. The character was first introduced on the mothership series toward the end of Season 4 and she continued her recurring role in various episodes of Season 5 which concluded in May. Nina remains in a relationship with FBI’s Stuart Scola (John Boyd) as they raise their infant son Douglas together.

VanSanten is joining the cast following Alexa Davalos’ exit from FBI: Most Wanted, which Deadline reported exclusively in August. Their new season will debut on Tuesday, February 13.

The show is part of the massive Dick Wolff-empire and is actually a rather brilliant move; as the character has established itself on the other show and should fit nicely with Dylan McDermott and cast. The Wolff-machine just lost Jeffrey Donovan from Law & Order and recently installed their fifth showrunner on the much-troubled Law & Order: Organized Crime with Christopher Meloni; which is due to start their fourth season next year.

VanSanten also portrayed Karen Baldwin in the Apple TV+ show For All Mankind and was just terrific. Never heard of her before that show, but just a stunningly good performance, Nina Chase.

SHORT TAKES — Always read the posts. Loved this one: I was so confused! In Australia the show is called Morning Wars. And, yes, they were talking about Apple TV+’s Morning Show. That would be a more apt title … Looks like the NYC-launch for Mark Bego’s Joe Cocker-tome will be Tuesday, January 9 at Steve Walter’s Cutting Room. And Bego does an 11-city radio tour next week for Premiere Radio … Micky Dolenz’s R.E.M. cover of “Shiny Happy People hit #5 of the Heritage Chart in the U.K. … Every six months or so I read something about how The Starship’s “We Built This City” is the worst record of all time. Being home-bound for a time, I began hearing it regularly on my iHeart Hits of the 80’s and began to like it. Here’s a terrific summary of the song by Rob Tannenbaum. It’s actually hilarious: https://www.gq.com/story/oral-history-we-built-this-city-worst-song-of-all-time

Deadline reported that NBC’s La Brea will end with a six-episode season next year. This is the show about a massive sinkhole in Hollywood that tuns into a time-travel escapade. Crazy writing, but somehow addictive. I found it a guilty-pleasure. Here’s the story: https://deadline.com/2023/11/la-brea-canceled-season-3-1235630123/

Sad that CBS’ Blue Bloods is ending after a spectacular 14-season run. I watched it when it started, then was out for a few seasons, but came back after Steve Schirripa joined the cast. Costs indeed did the show in, but you have to admit those family dinners which closed out each episode were sensational. Selleck, an icon. There’s not another show like this on TV right now; smart writing and brilliant acting. Treat Williams had a re-occurring role as an old mate of Selleck’s. Hope they do a proper tribute to him as he was stellar. Will be missed for sure … A 16-date Rolling Stones tour was announced Tuesday. Sponsored by AARP no less. Stones Tour 24

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 07: Mayor Eric Adams speaks at the Tribeca Festival opening night reception at Tribeca Grill on June 07, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

NY-Nightlife-Mayor Eric Adams seems to walking a tightrope – what with the ongoing FBI probe and city budget-cuts … Wintercon’s Frank Patz is interviewed for Medium today. It’s December 2 and 3 … Happy Thanksgiving!

NAMES IN THE NEWS — Richard Johnson; Ian Mohr; Harvey Levin; Kimberly Cornell; Plastic EP; Jane Blunkell; Tony King; Dave Mason; Michael McDonald; Kenny Loggins; Fortune Benatar; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Race Taylor; Jim Kerr; Ken Dashow; Plastic EP; Brad Balfour; Frank Patz; and ZIGGY!

Continue Reading

Celebrity

The Mayor of Times Square Interviews actress Sean Young on The Motivation Show Podcast

Published

on

Sean Young was one of Hollywood’s leading actresses in the 1980’s. She starred in iconic movies like Blade Runner, No Way Out, Wall Street, Fatal Instinct and showed her comedic chops in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

She is now starring in the four act Play Ode to the Wasp Woman playing at the Actor’s Temple Theatre at 339 West 47 Street. Here are some excerpts from The Mayor of Times Square’s interview with Sean on The Motivation Show podcast:

Eli Marcus: When did you decide you actually wanted to be an actress and why?

Sean Young: I grew up primarily in Ohio, in Cleveland Heights, and we had this Black and White TV and after school they used to screen all the MGM musicals and I fell in love with Singin’ in the Rain and I had a massive crush on Gene Kelly like a lot of people. I became a bit of a retro movie buff. I even actually wrote to Gene Kelly and I have a signed autograph.  I wanted to be the female version of Gene Kelly. That’s what started it. The number in Singin’ in the Rain called Moses Supposes, oh man, that used to blow my mind. Every time I saw it, I was just like…oh my god! And then I went to Interlochen Academy for my last two years in high school and then right after high school I came to New York City.

Eli Marcus: Why did you think you could make it in a profession where most people don’t? Is it self-confidence or something else that drove you?

Sean Young: I really don’t know the answer to that question. I do know that I have a lot of energy, at certain times quite bit of courage. You do need those two things. I’d probably be great in the army if I was wanting to be in the army, which I’m not.

Eli Marcus: What motivates you and drives you TODAY to continue to do what you do?

Sean Young: I’m not as motivated today because I love being at home and petting my cat and all of of that kind of thing. When my agent brought that to me it is pretty true that most actors like to work and I read it and I thought I would be a good fit for the Susan Cabot character. It’s a challenge, it’s a big challenge, but I am having a lot of fun with it. I always liked being in a group with other actors which is the case here. We cover four different tragic ends. One is Alfalfa, Carl Switzer, another is George Reeves, the Superman on TV. Then Susan Cabot.  I guess you would call her a B movie actress and didn’t have a pleasant end in life. Then Barbara Payton who was also an actress and had a rough road. These are the four characters that are covered in the four acts.

Eli Marcus: What really intrigued you about this Play, what made you really sold on this, what really sung to you?

Sean Young: I felt I could do a really good job with it, let’s call it I felt like I could be of service to the director.

Eli Marcus: That’s another kind of twist. Most people are self-centered and you are like you could be of service to the Director, wow!

Sean Young: Self-centeredness is one of those qualities that show up quite a lot in show business.  I have reached some enlightenment in life. I have a pretty much blissful life every single day I wake up. I appreciate things. I learned a lot. I’ve become very wise. I am capable of humility. I really like people in general unless they prove to me I shouldn’t. So it’s a good group, and I am having a lot of fun and I am enjoying working. 

Eli Marcus is the host of The Motivation Show podcast.  Listen to his full interview with Sean Young on any podcast platform like Apple Podcasts, Amazon Radio, Google Podcast, IHeart or use this Spotify link:  https://open.spotify.com/episode/0NeDa0PqwteXf0UnfinyEU?si=3d286784e1154b2c. Contact Eli at motivatea2z@gmail.com.   Follow Eli on Facebook at TheMotivationShow, Instagram at EliMarcusPodcast and Twitter at TheEliMarcus.

Continue Reading

Celebrity

The Glorious Corner

Published

on

G.H. Harding

HACKETT’S 48 — (Via PROG) Steve Hackett returns to the world of concept albums for the first time in 48 years with the release of his latest studio album, The Circus And The Nightwhale, which will be released through InsideOutMusic on February 16.

The new album will be the first Hackett concept album since his 1975 solo debut Voyage Of The Acolyte, which followed Genesis’ 1974 grand double concept affair The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.

“The Circus And The Nightwhale is an album with a difference,” states Hackett. “This time it is a story, based both literally and metaphorically on my life… It’s both faction and fiction, beginning in a gritty world of harsh reality, spinning off into a colourful and dark, weird metaphorical universe of wonder turned to terror, with an ultimately beautiful resolve.

“It spans the musical range from the heaviest to the heavenly, with musical influences, instruments and artists from several countries around the world. I’m hugely proud of this new album which I see as intensely personal, yet totally universal at the same time… If ever there was a film for the ear, this is it!”

The Circus And The Nightwhale was recorded at the UK’s Siren Studios in between tours in 2022 and 2023. The album features Hackett’s touring band as well as a raft of guests including Amanda Lehmann and Big Big Train’s Nick D’Virgilio, Hugo Degenhardt return as guests on the drumstool, Benedict Fenner features on keyboards and Malik Mansurov on tar, with Hackett’s brother John once more on flute.

The Circus And The Nightwhale will be available on several different formats, including a limited edition CD and Blu-ray mediabook (including 5.1 Surround Sound and 24-bit high resolution stereo mixes), standard CD jewelcase, gatefold 180g vinyl LP and as digital album. All feature a cover painting by Denise Marsh.

Pre-orders for the album will open soon.

Keane

SHORT TAKES —Alert!  Keane at Radio City Music Hall on September 24. Book now! … The Peter Jackson “Now & Then” melee continues. From Slate: https://slate.com/culture/2023/11/beatles-now-and-then-new-song-video-peter-jackson.html?via=rss_socialflow_facebook&fbclid=IwAR03vS0PqYuWjhWSjphms7JAi4wFb0hfvAcq5WqwN59jcqq1-lwTUtfW7hQ

… Mark Bego’s Joe Cocker-bio jumped on the Amazon charts last week at #28. Congrats

Roger Clark

NY1’s Roger Clark (aka sweet knees) was on the anchor desk this weekend. Great job Sir …

Not to date myself, but I watched and just loved the Albert Brooks-doc (Defending My Life) directed by Rob Reiner on HBO MAX. I’ve loved Brooks for as long as I can remember and his dialogue with Reiner is just sensational. I think the one thing that shocked me was the revelation that all of Brook’s routines were never, ever tried out beforehand in a club. As Chris Rock says in the doc, these days everyone tries out their routines in a club -at least once- before going public. The doc is not for everyone, but sensational …

David Letterman

Don’t miss David Letterman guesting on tonight’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Amazingly, his first visit there ever …

Madonna

Roger Friedman posted last night that the Rolling Stones may be the next guests-in-residence at The Sphere in Las Vegas and that they are quietly planning their final tour … And we haven’t heard anything about the Madonna-bio pic since January when Universal scrapped plans. Is the deal gone? …RIP Rosalynn Carter; Joss Ackland and Dex Carvey.

NAMES IN THE NEWS — Kathie Lee Gifford; Tunc Erim; Steve Leeds; Jann Wenner; Bobby Bank; Mark Bego; P Diddy; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Kent & Laura Denmark; Lee Zimmerman; Vinny Rich; Bert Bogash; Thomas Silverman; Howie Weinberg; Vinny Rich; Second Self; Herbie Powers; Lisa Gallant; Carol Ruth Weber; Angela Tarantino; Kyla Nicole; Jay Mark; and CHIP!

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2023 Times Square Chronicles