Today at Flavorpill, we watched the official trailer for Scenes From The Suburbs, Spike Jonze’s companion short film to his music video for Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs.” We were horrified to hear that Larry King may join the cast of The Daily Show. We couldn’t decide which Disney movie Broadway musical adaptation idea is more misguided: Freaky Friday or Father of the Bride. We watched some of the angriest walk-outs in 60 Minutes history. We were excited to hear that longtime Flavorwire favorite Maura Johnston is the Village Voice’s new music editor. We wanted to own a pair of these Nikes that Gabriel Dishaw made out of old computer parts. We were jealous of whoever lives in this futuristic bedroom that has its own waterslide in the closet. We were impressed by Wile E. Coyote’s James Franco impression. And finally, we flipped out over these knit versions of our favorite movie characters — particularly The Dude.
All the hubbub about Brian Bedford’s spectacular performance as Lady Bracknell in the recent Broadway revival of The Importance of Being Earnest has gotten us thinking. So much media in our culture revolves around, or at least includes, elements of cross-dressing or gender confusion, whether to comic or dramatic effect. Is this an evolution towards greater acceptance and understanding of all, or just, in some way, a deeply ingrained human impulse? Of course, cross-dressing is no new trend. The phenomenon is evident in everything from Norse and Hindu mythology to figures that shaped actual historical events (usually in the form of women dressing up as men to fight wars or be pirates, for some reason) to literature, theater, film and every kind of media in between. There are hundreds of examples, so there’s no way to document them all here, but the trajectory of our favorites still has some bearing on the largeness of the phenomenon. Click through for out brief history of cross-dressing in media.
Read More »
Earlier this week The New York Times ran a story about how the lack of a major star often kills a Broadway show. Referencing the imminent death of Promises, Promises in January (after the exits of Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth), and the departure of Academy Award winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (did you remember she won an Academy Award?) from A Little Night Music, the article brings to the forefront some sad truths about the current state of Broadway. Generally, a show loses millions of dollars when a big ol’ famous person isn’t at the helm.
A lot of rumors get tossed around about replacement casts and stunt casting to lift sagging shows’ box office receipts, so we thought we’d throw in our two cents and bring you five moves we DARE Broadway to try. Because they’d be so damn sweet…
Read More »
1. After 34 years of eating her feelings about hating her thighs, “Cathy,” of single lady comic strip fame, is going into retirement. [via The Awl]
2. A John Belushi biopic is in the works, and Todd Phillips, director of The Hangover, is involved. Does that guarantee Zach Galifianakis will play him? [via The Playlist]
3. Norm from Cheers will take on the role of Santa Claus when Elf hits Broadway this November. [via Broadway.com]
4. An author is suing Ricky Gervais for stealing his ideas when he wrote his “Flanimals” children’s book. [via AP]
5. An online research firm has found that the support for JetBlue Airways flight attendant Steven Slater has been even more positive than that for the New Orleans Saints after they won Super Bowl XLIV. [via NYT]
Bonus link: Helen Mirren’s Proust Questionnaire
1. Tom Cruise’s Cocktail is being adapted as a Broadway musical by legendary producer Marty Richards — and could feature Katie Holmes. [via NYP]
2. Morrissey will resume his tour in London after an onstage collapse/overnight hospital stay. [via NME]
3. 61-year-old composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but expects to be back at work by the year’s end. [via THR]
4. After announcing that Amazon is releasing a Kindle reader for Windows, the company has said that they’re also working on an app for Macs. [via Fast Company]
5. Andy Warhol’s Michael Jackson portrait will go up for auction at Christie’s on November 10th. [via USA Today]
Bonus link: Microsoft Store rips off Apple Store (video)
Variety is reporting that Paula Wagner, producer of Tom Cruise flicks The Last Samurai and Vanilla Sky, is in talks with Run-DMC to produce an original musical based on their story. The two remaining members of Run-DMC, Joseph “Reverend Run” Simmons and Daryl “DMC” McDaniels will chat with Paula this week in New York. More after the jump.
Read More »
Resurrecting musicals of yesteryear seems to be in vogue these days, with revivals such as Hair and West Side Story blowing newbie Broadway contemporaries out of the water. Just in time for Halloween, Variety is reporting that the legendary 1988 Broadway flop Carrie, a musical whose mere mention sends chills down the backs of fanatics, is being dug up from its grave.
Read More »
Hot on the heels of this summer’s announcement that Hairspray composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman are adapting Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can for Broadway, Variety reports that DreamWorks TV and Showtime are “in the early stages of developing a scripted series that will chronicle the development of an original Broadway musical, from its creative inception through its opening night.” So it will be a TV show about putting together a fictional Broadway show that will then become a real Broadway show. Read More »
As we speak, the Best Buy on Broadway is hosting an in-store appearance by Dominican/Bronx sensation Aventura (better known as the Kings of Bachata). The signing started around 4pm, but we’ve been hearing ecstatic, Beatle-mania-style cheers for hours. After the jump, crowd shots and some insight on the insanity.
Read More »
My son certainly seemed on a journey of some kind at “Hair,” the revival of the 1967 rock musical that transferred from the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. He asked to switch seats with me so he could be on the aisle — the better to encounter the dynamic cast members straddling people in the audience and spilling off the stage and roving all over the theater. We traded places after intermission, and within minutes a sultry actress with a bare midriff planted herself on Ethan’s lap, ran her fingers through his hair and queried, “Who’s your date?” (Bummer: that would be me, Mom.)
- In the New York Times, Robin Pogrebin writes about her efforts to cultivate a love of Broadway in her children, generational gaps and awkward sexual scenes be damned. Read More »
