NEW YORK (AP) — The Cyndi Lauper-scored “Kinky Boots” has earned a leading 13 Tony Award nominations, with the British import “Matilda: The Musical” close behind with 12. Tom Hanks, making his Broadway debut, earned a nod as leading man in a play.”Kinky Boots” is based on the 2005 British movie about a real-life shoe factory that struggles until it finds new life in fetish footwear. Lauper’s songs and a story by Harvey Fierstein have made it a crowd-pleaser.”I walked my dog early this morning so I’d be back in time to listen to the announcement. It’s so great. It’s so great. I’m done crying a little bit. But I’m still thrilled and a little stunned,” Lauper said.The haul did not match the record number of nominations for a musical, which is 15, set by “The Producers” in 2001 and “Billy Elliot” in 2009. “The Book of Mormon” nabbed 14 Tony nods in 2011.”Lucky Guy,” Nora Ephron’s portrait of Mike McAlary, a gutsy New York City newspaper columnist who won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing that a Haitian immigrant had been sodomized by police officers in 1997, got six nominations, including one for Hanks as McAlary.Continue Reading… … Read More
“Rocky” musical coming to Broadway
“Rocky” fans will be pleased to hear that the musical adaptation of the classic film is coming to America. Sylvester Stallone, along with Stage Entertainment USA, announced that “Rocky” will open on Broadway early 2014, following a successful world premiere in Hamburg, Germany last fall.Stallone, who wrote the original 1976 screenplay, said, “The story of Rocky was very much like my life at the time – starting out with nothing, having to fight for roles and recognition.”He continued: “So I put those feelings into the body of a boxer and I had no idea there were so many millions of people that felt the same way. [Play director] Alex Timbers and the entire creative team have not only honored that original impulse, but have made his story as exciting, heart-breaking, and inspiring as it was when Rocky first went the distance onscreen.”The Hollywood Reporter notes that though official opening dates have not yet been announced, the play will open for previews in February and open with full shows in March.Continue Reading… … Read More
Tom Sturridge clashes with Times reporter over response to leaked Shia LaBeouf emails
There are still a few weeks until Alec Baldwin makes his return to Broadway with “Orphans,” his first project after seven seasons of “30 Rock,” but the play has already been making headlines for a different sort of drama: the one unfolding behind the scenes between Baldwin and “Transformers” actor Shia LaBeouf.The actors, both known for hot tempers, were to co-star in the 1983 Broadway play — until “tensions as men” prompted LaBeouf’s firing. LaBeouf retaliated by exposing private emails between himself and the cast, citing creative differences in February.Continue Reading… … Read More
Leno and Fallon sing duet over “Tonight” show rumors, but Leno still holds grudge
Early Tuesday morning, NBC aired a sketch in which Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno, who are currently warring over Leno’s coveted “Tonight” show spot, seemingly reconcile. Fallon asks Leno, “We’re still friends, right?” The two then break out into a duet appropriately to “Tonight, Tonight” from Broadway musical “West Side Story,” about two rival gangs in New York.Fallon: Tonight, tonight, who’s gonna host “Tonight”? Is it gonna be Jimmy or Jay? Tonight, tonight, where will they tape “Tonight”? In New York? Will it stay in L.A.? Leno: Tonight, tonight, my ratings were all right. Twenty years, and I’m still in first place. Tonight, “Tonight”, I’ve got Fox on the line. Or maybe I could take over for Dave? In unison: Tonight, tonight. Why do they say we fight? I like you. You like me. We’re okay. Tonight, tonight, who cares who hosts “Tonight”? We both just want our line the next day.Continue Reading… … Read More
Cyndi Lauper just wants to have fun on Broadway
NEW YORK (AP) — Writing her first musical turned into a time machine for Cyndi Lauper.As the Grammy Award winner began work on the exuberant “Kinky Boots,” it took her back to her childhood, where she was likely to be found listening endlessly to cast albums on a record player.There was “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “My Fair Lady.” And “South Pacific,” of course. She remembers her grandmother coming downstairs and ripping “The King and I” off the player after one too many spins.”My mother said I was a little odd as a kid,” says Lauper, 59. “I was alone a lot but I didn’t feel alone. When I sang with those records, I’d be Julie Andrews and there was Rex Harrison sitting on my mother’s bed. I was Mitzi Gaynor. I was Ezio Pinza. I think she had Mary Martin, too — I was all of them. I was pretty good until they sang duets.”Sitting backstage at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, waiting to catch another preview of her 15-song debut as a Broadway lyricist and composer, Lauper is both nervous and humble. The little girl who listened compulsively to show tunes has now delivered her own.”It’s the closest thing to being 5,” she says.Continue Reading… … Read More
Shia LaBeouf exits his Broadway play after “creative differences”
Shia LaBeouf won’t be treading the boards this spring after all.
The actor, who was set to star alongside Alec Baldwin in “Orphans,” has left the production, according to a press release issued by the producers.
The release reads: “Due to creative differences, the producers of ‘Orphans’ and Shia LaBeouf will be parting ways and he will not be continuing with the production. An announcement on the replacement for the role of “Treat” will be made shortly.” The production is still slated to open on April 7.
LaBeouf has published screenshots of several emails apparently exchanged between himself and other members of the production to his Twitter account. These include an emailed apology from LaBeouf to Baldwin for “a disagreeable situation,” in which LaBeouf writes: “A man can tell you he was wrong. That he did wrong… He can apologize, even if sometimes it’s just to put an end to the bickering.”
“I don’t have an unkind word to say about you,” writes “AB” in an email back to LaBeouf, noting, “I’ve been through this before.”
“Les Miserables” returning to Broadway after film’s success
All those who loved Anne Hathaway’s performance as Fantine may soon get the chance to see a new actress dream a dream eight times a week.
The play, which first ran from 1987 to 2003, is set to return to Broadway after its film adaptation hit with both critics and audiences. “Les Miserables” was revived from 2006 to 2008, but this adaptation will feature less rock-oriented orchestrations and a more naturalistic staging, emphasizing “the gritty lot of the 19th century downtrodden in France,” per the New York Times’s report.
