Kiefer Sutherland is released from jail & other: June 2008

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Christian Hoff, Stockard Channing will star in Broadway's 'Pal Joey'

NEW YORK - Joey Evans, the womanizing title character of "Pal Joey," is getting ready for a return to Broadway, played this time around by Tony winner Christian Hoff.

The classic 1940 Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart musical will also star Stockard Channing as wealthy socialite Vera Simpson and Martha Plimpton as scheming blackmailer Gladys Bumps. The Roundabout Theatre Company production will open Dec. 11 at Studio 54, with previews beginning Nov. 14.

No word yet on who will sing "Zip," the striptease parody memorably recreated in the show's successful 1952 revival by Elaine Stritch. The score also features such Rodgers and Hart standards as "Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered)," "I Could Write a Book" and "You Mustn't Kick It Around." A song cut from the original, "I'm Talking to My Pal," will be included in the new production.

Joe Mantello will direct the Roundabout revival, which will have choreography by Graciela Daniele. The original book by John O'Hara has been redone by Richard Greenberg, author of such plays as "Take Me Out" and "Three Days of Rain."

Hoff won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Tommy DeVito in "Jersey Boys." Channing has been seen in such plays as "Six Degrees of Separation," "The Lion in Winter" and "House of Blue Leaves," and in the television series "The West Wing," in which she played first lady Abby Bartlet.

"Pal Joey" is based on a series of short stories O'Hara wrote for The New Yorker about an opportunistic down-on-his-luck hoofer whose specialty is using people to get what he wants.

The original 1940 production starred Gene Kelly and Vivienne Segal. Some critics sniffed at its cynical, unsentimental outlook, but by the time of its first Broadway revival in 1952 (which starred Segal and Harold Lang) the show was an even bigger hit.

The musical's last New York appearance was a 1995 "Encores!" concert version starring Patti LuPone and Peter Gallagher.

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Wednesday, 11 June 2008

Bond star shooting film in Dublin

'Casino Royale' star Eva Green begins work on her new film 'Cracks' in Dublin today.
Along with Green, the film will also star 'Atonement's Juno Temple and '28 Weeks Later' actress Imogen Poots.
Set in a boarding school in 1930s England, the film tells the story of a girl's unhealthy bond with her teacher which is threatened by the arrival of a new student.
The film is an Irish-UK co-production, with the Irish company Element Pictures among the companies involved.
Speaking about the film Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures said: "We are particularly pleased that Jordan [Scott, director] has cast two 13-year-old Dublin girls, with no previous drama experience, Adele McCann and Zoe Carroll, for two key roles."
Scott is the daughter of legendary director Ridley Scott and is making her feature directing debut with 'Cracks'.
Her father's company, Scott Free, is also among the producers of the film.
'Cracks' will be shot in Ireland over the next seven weeks.

Wednesday, 4 June 2008

Catch "Iron Man" in his other fine roles

For more than a decade, Robert Downey Jr. has had "the most gifted actor of his generation" epoxied to his name. There was a time not so long ago when he also seemed to be caught in a continuous loop of addiction, incarceration and rehab. Now 43, he's turned his life around and actually seems to be living up to the accolade.

As the star of "Iron Man," Downey not only has the career advantage of being in a megahit, he is also a large reason for its success. How many great actors ever appear in these superhero lollapaloozas? More to the point, how many of them actually adorn such films with a powerful performance?

This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Downey's career. He has been in his share of middling movies, but I've never seen him work at less than full throttle. Even when he's in a lightweight vehicle like the soap-opera spoof "Soapdish" (1991), one of his early comedies, he has a radiance.

Downey's best performance remains his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin" (1992), where his intensity is paired with a lyricism that at times rivals Chaplin's own.

Downey succeeds not only because he has mastered Chaplin's movements but also because he never loses sight of the man behind the Little Tramp. His work here is a marvel of empathy.

Even before "Chaplin," Downey's work often had a Chaplinesque quality. In James Toback's "The Pick-Up Artist" (1987), he's a serial womanizer who gets his comeuppance when he falls for a gambler's daughter (Molly Ringwald). Playing a Lothario with the soul of an innocent, Downey captures the folly of romance as well as its passion.

In "True Believer" (1989), he holds his own opposite Mr. Intensity himself, James Woods. Woods plays a legendary once radical '60s lawyer who has sold out; Downey is his starry-eyed clerk, his conscience.

Downey gave a full-scale performance in Toback's "Two Girls and a Guy" (1997) as Blake Allen, a New York actor seriously involved with two girlfriends, neither of whom knows about the other until they accidentally meet in his loft (where virtually the entire film takes place). Downey is in top motormouth form here, wheedling his way in and out of half-truths with smarmy aplomb. Against all odds, he also makes the guy soulful.

Downey paired with Toback again two years later in "Black and White." Brooke Shields plays a documentary filmmaker investigating why white kids are so high on hip-hop, and Downey plays her gay husband. It's a daringly camp performance, never more so than in a comic scene where he comes on to the real-life Mike Tyson and almost gets pulverized for his troubles.

In the marvelous comedy "Wonder Boys" (2000), which stars Michael Douglas as a dissolute novelist and college professor, Downey has an indelible cameo as the writer's goateed, fop agent, who shows up for the campus literary weekend with his transvestite cohort in tow. (At the same time, and worlds apart, Downey began his celebrated two-year stint on TV's "Ally McBeal.")

In "Zodiac" (2007), Downey is a San Francisco Chronicle reporter undone by his fixation with the serial-killer case. Most obsessed characters in the movies are boring because the obsessiveness is monochromatic. Downey gives you a full palette.

He always does.

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Sunday, 1 June 2008

Cole takes time out after allegations

Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole has reportedly left husband Ashley for a "break" after allegations the footballer cheated on her.
Her agent insisted the couple were still together but confirmed the singer had gone on a break in order to think things through.
ITN quotes him as saying: "They are definitely still together. There is obviously lots of stuff going on at the moment and Cheryl has gone away for a break to clear her head for a few days."
It has been alleged Chelsea player Cole cheated on his wife with a hairdresser.
It has also emerged that the singer recently told OK! magazine that later this year she wanted to "start working on that baby. I want to be a young mum".

Bill Engvall

Artist: Bill Engvall

   Genre(s):
Comedy
   Other

Discography:

Cheap Drunk: An Autobiography

Year: 2002
Tracks: 15

Here's Your Sign

Year: 1996
Tracks: 12

Dorkfish

Year:
Tracks: 17

Born in Galveston, TX, Bill Engvall was a night club DJ in Dallas until the call to funniness became excessively impregnable to deny. After startling amateur-night audiences at respective local clubs and a abbreviated stint in St. Louis, Engvall arrived in Los Angeles in 1990. He hosted the Geminate of Jokers cable special with Rosie O'Donnell and also appeared on Evening at the Improv and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 1992, he was awarded Best Male Standup at the American Comedy Awards, and affected into sitcom TV with an appearance on Designing Women and a regular role on the transitory Delta. Signed to Warner Bros. in 1996, Engvall released his rustic debut album, Here's Your Sign -- also the title of his near celebrated bit -- in 1996. A spell with like-minded everyman laughable Jeff Foxworthy was side by side; that in turn light-emitting diode to a part on Foxworthy's sitcom that was as brief as the show itself. The Dorkfish LP followed in 1998, and Engvall saw both it and his debut achieve gold-record status. His seasonal drive, Here's Your Christmas Album, appeared that same year. In mid-2000, Engvall released At present That's Awesome and embarked on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, once again with Foxworthy, and also with two former comics they'd recruited, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White. The quartet's act proven to be very popular, and the hitch continued over the adjacent several geezerhood, spawning several albums, a moving-picture show, and a cable television set show along the way. Despite Blue Collar's collective succeeder, Engvall continued releasing material on his own as well. Inexpensive Drunk: An Autobiography appeared in 2002, followed a year later by album issue six, Here's Your Sign Reloaded. A roundup of some of Engvall's topper material was released in the decrease of 2004, entitled A Decade of Laughs, before his adjacent all-new album, 15Â° Off Cool, surfaced in February 2007.

Gigs around town

RANI ARBO AND DAISY MAYHEM
Old-world and contemporary folk come together in the music of this western Massachusetts quartet. Arbo is the founder, fiddler and lead vocalist; Mayhem is her zany band. Together they turn convention upside down. Tomorrow at 4 and 8 p.m. at Club Passim, Cambridge, 617-492-7679.
CLINIC

Expect costumes - maybe even scrubs and surgical masks - from this Liverpool quartet, which plans to play its new CD, “Do It!,” in its
entirety, followed by a second set of tunes voted for by fans on the group’s Web site. Tonight at the Paradise, 617-562-8800.
WILL DAILEY
Dailey, the 2006 Boston Music Award winner for Best Male Singer/
Songwriter, performs selections from his highly anticipated CD, “Back Flipping Forward.” Tonight at Harpers Ferry, Allston, 617-254-9743.
DIZZEE RASCAL/EL-P
Rascal, a Mercury Prize-winning rapper from London, has achieved merely cult status on these shores, but he’s scored two top 10 albums in the UK with his gritty “grime” style of rhyme. Aggro-rap opener EL-P is also the owner of Definitive Jux, the label that released Rascal’s latest, “Maths + English,” on this side of the Atlantic. Sunday at the Middle East, Cambridge, 617-864-EAST.
EL PERRO DEL MAR
Warbling Swedish chanteuse Sarah Assbring, whose stage name means “the dog of the sea,” performs
material from her ethereal new CD, “From the Valley to the Stars.”
Fellow Swedes Lykke Li and Anna Ternheim open. Tonight at the Middle East, Cambridge, 617-864-EAST.
’FNX BEST MUSIC POLL
The local alternative-radio station kicks off Bank of America Pavilion’s summer concert season with local soul sensation Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Cambridge electro up-and-comers Passion Pit, Dresden Dolls mastermind Amanda Palmer, along with national acts Death Cab for Cutie, Presidents of the United States of America and former Husker-Du frontman Bob Mould. Tomorrow, 617-728-1600.

Corrie's Vera speaks about illness

Former 'Coronation Street' actress Liz Dawn has spoken about how her life has changed since she was diagnosed with emphysema five years ago.
The 68-year-old actress told ITV's 'Tonight' that she was told by doctors that she only had one third of her lung capacity left.
Dawn, who played Vera Duckworth in 'Coronation Street', recently quit the show due to ill health.
She said: "I used to go to Granada and I used to go in the dressing room, and I'd be really breathless before I even did anything."
"And I got that bad, at the end that instead of somebody knocking on the door and saying: 'It's your scene', I used to go on a scene earlier and sit on the Duckworths' set."
Dawn also said that she quit smoking after her diagnosis: "When you're addicted to smoking it's very hard to stop... I couldn't answer the phone unless I lit up."
The actress said that she regretted smoking around non-smokers: "I mean there are a lot of non-smokers in 'Coronation Street' that I have stood next to and smoked. Must have been awful mustn't it?"
Dawn's doctor Professor Ashley Woodcock said: "Liz came to me about five years ago really pretty desperate."
"At that point she could walk just a couple of yards... she was in a really bad way."
"Stopping her smoking was really critical and she did that... which has been great because she wouldn't be here now... if she hadn't stopped"

Anenzephalia

Artist: Anenzephalia

   Genre(s):
Experimental
   Electronic

Discography:

Tesco Disco - Heavy Electronics Ii - Cd2

Year: 1995
Tracks: 10

Ephemeral Dawn

Year: 1995
Tracks: 11

Panic stricken by spurt of musical growth

Puberty is brutal. Voices crack, pimples erupt, hair sprouts and hormones surge. When it’s finally over, most of us try to distance ourselves from any remnants of our former childish selves. But of course there’s still plenty of growing up to do.
Las Vegas’ Panic at the Disco is emerging from the throes of a typical pubescent transition. When the band comes to the Bank of America Pavilion on Sunday in support of its recently released sophomore CD (“Pretty. Odd.”), fans will get a taste of the quartet’s newfound maturity: less theatrics, more musical focus.
Panic frontman Brendan Urie says it’s all just part of growing up.

“There’s a big age gap between the two CDs,” Urie said from a tour stop in Myrtle Beach, S.C. “We were 16 and 17 when we wrote the old songs. Now we’re in our early 20s. It’s a major difference.”
And how. Today, Panic at the Disco - which also includes guitarist Ryan Ross, drummer Spencer Smith and bassist John Walker - barely resembles its former image. The band tossed the inane exclamation point in its moniker, lost the pancake-y, vaudevillian stage makeup and shed its penchant for obtuse song titles such as “There’s A Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought of It Yet.”
But these are symptoms of a more significant metamorphosis: Panic at the Disco is no longer the punk-pop outfit that Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz signed to his Decaydance label four years ago. “Pretty. Odd.” represents a dramatic about-face with its odd but endearing hybrid of layered psychedelia and Beach Boys-inspired pop.
With a debut CD that sold more than two million copies, why change course?
“The music of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s is what we grew up listening to,” Urie said, “(it’s) the music our parents handed down to us. We’ve just recently rediscovered it. People have their own preferences, but we like more organic methods of making music. We’re not big fans of the whole digital/Auto-Tune approach, mainly because it’s just not real. We like real bands that make honest music. That influence is the biggest difference between the two CDs.”
If the heavy layering and flower-power sensibility dominating “Pretty. Odd.” doesn’t seem particularly organic or grown-up, the band’s heart is in the right place: The basic tracks were recorded live-to-tape with all four members playing simultaneously in the studio.
“I think the label understands that we’re going to do what we want,” Urie said. “All they asked us for were songs. Other than that, they let us be. The only pressure we felt about how to make this CD came from within ourselves. Getting past that stuff is key if you want to ditch all the critical focus and concentrate on what makes you happy as an artist.”
Goodbye puberty. “Pretty. Odd.” just may be Panic’s one final act of teenage rebellion.

Panic at the Disco, with the Hush Sound, Phantom Planet and Motion City Soundtrack, at the Bank of America Pavilion, Sunday at 7. Tickets: $27.50; 617-728-1600.

Denise Richards - Richards Blames Media For Sambora Split

DENISE RICHARDS is convinced her relationship with BON JOVI star RICHIE SAMBORA only broke down because the media accused her of breaking up his marriage.

Richards began dating the Bon Jovi guitarist after she split from her former husband Charlie Sheen in 2006 - just months after he ended his 11-year marriage to her friend Heather Locklear.

The Wild Things star was the focus of many press reports accusing her of coming between Sambora and Locklear - and Richards blames the media's depiction of her for putting a major strain on their year-long romance.

She tells U.S. talkshow host Larry King, "They (Sambora and Locklear) were getting divorced; he and I were friends and it happened. And she had moved on. She was already involved with someone else at the time.

"It (the press coverage) affected, I think, the circumstances. It was very difficult to sustain a relationship. We were so slammed in the press. We were dealing with our parents dying. We were going through very difficult divorces and custody and it put a strain on our relationship. I regret the timing, perhaps, and I feel terrible anyone that was hurt and involved. But I did not split up their marriage."

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