FILM/ ANNIE NOMS ANNOUNCED: "Coraline" has topped the Annie nominations with 10, including feature, directing and two noms for character design for the Laika cartoon. Disney/Pixar's "Up" followed with 9 nods, and the Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" received 8, with each receiving a feature nomination. Sony's "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," Fox's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and Cartoon Studios' "The Secret of Kells" and "Up" also re-ceived best animated feature noms. Annie feature directing noms this year went to Wes Anderson for "Fantastic Mr. Fox," Pete Docter for "Up," Christopher Miller and Phil Lord for "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," Hayao Miyazaki for "Ponyo" and Henry Selick for "Coraline." Feature writing nominations were earned by Anderson and Noah Baumbach for "Fantastic Mr. Fox," Docter, Bob Peterson and Tom McCarthy for "Up," Timothy Hyde Harris and David Bowers for "Astro Boy" and Miller and Lord for "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." Nods for best home entertainment production went to "Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas," "Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder," "Green Lantern: First Flight," "Open Season 2" and "SpongeBob vs. the Big One." Animated short nominations went to "Pups of Liberty," "Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.5," "Santa, the Fascist Years," "The Rooster, the Crocodile and the Night Sky" and "The Story of Walls." Winners will be revealed at ceremonies Feb. 6 at UCLA's Royce Hall. Full coverage of all the nominations can be found on the Annie website.
: As expected, Susan Boyle's debut album "I Dreamed a Dream" opens at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with 701,000 copies sold in its 1st week according to Nielsen SoundScan, the best sales week for an album in the U.S. this year. 2009's previous high-water mark came when Eminem's "Relapse" sold 608,000 in its opening week. In fact, Boyle's sales frame is the best the chart has seen since AC/DC's "Black Ice" bowed with 784,000 upon its release in October 2008. Boyle's SYCO/Columbia effort was released last Monday, November 23 and the sales tracking week ended at the close of business on Sunday, November 29. The arrival of "I Dreamed a Dream" also marks the best opening week for a female artist's debut album since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. Boyle beats out Ashanti for the title, as her self-titled debut began with 503,000 in 2002.
THEATRE/ BROADWAY GETS "LOOPED": "Looped," starring Emmy Award winner Valerie Harper as aging actress Tallulah Bankhead, who spars with a movie sound editor, will have a Broadway life in spring 2010. The Matthew Lombardo play, about a clash between the sixtysomething star and the cloistered technician, in a "looping session" for what would be her last film, has been seen regionally with Harper (TV's "Rhoda"). Most recently, it had a run in June 2009 at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Producers are aiming for a 1st preview in February at a theatre to be announced. A March opening is expected. According to the casting notice, "During the summer of 1965, an inebriated Tallulah Bankhead stumbles into a sound studio to re-record (or 'loop') one line of dialogue for what would be her last film. Given her drunken state (and inability to loop the line perfectly), what ensues is a showdown between an uptight sound editor (Danny Miller) and the outrageous legend." The role of Danny Miller has yet to be cast. "Steve" is a 3rd character, an off-stage voice.
Roundabout Theatre Company's hit Broadway revival production of "Bye Bye Birdie" at the Henry Miller's Theatre will play its final performance January 24, 2010. Initially scheduled as a limited engagement through January 10, the revival was extended 2 weeks, and will end when the leading actors' contracts end; here had been talk in the theatre community in recent weeks that the show might be recast, but that will not be the case. The production has sold at over 90% capacity each week throughout the run of the production. John Stamos and Gina Gershon star. By close, "Bye Bye Birdie" will have played 40 previews and 117 performances. Preview performances began on September 10. The show officially opened on October 15. "Bye Bye Birdie" received the 1961 Tony Award for Best Musical and features such beloved songs as "Put On a Happy Face," "Kids" and "A Lot of Livin' to Do."
THEATRE/ "OLEANNA" TO SHUTTER SUNDAY: Producers of the Broadway revival of "Oleanna" have opted to shutter the show Sunday rather than hold out until the previously announced closing date of Janurary 3. Although Thanksgiving week yielded record-breaking receipts at hits like "Wicked" (which logged the first-ever $2 million week on Broadway), some shows, most of them plays, didn't do so well. "Oleanna" suffered a particularly dire week, reporting sales of $129,778 and playing to auds at just 32% of capacity. Box office for the revival of David Mamet's 1992 battle-of-the-sexes drama has been generally modest since the production began Broadway performances on September 29, so far grossing about $2 million total. Although "Oleanna" also features familiar names, Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles, neither has proven a major draw. "Oleanna" will have run a total of 80 perfs when it shutters at the Golden Theater December 6. Next scheduled tenant for the venue is the Dame Edna-Michael Feinstein outing "All About Me," beginning perfs February
"Family Ties" actress Meredith Baxter made the media rounds today, confirming the rumors that she is a lesbian. "It was a later in life recognition," the actress said on 1 morning show today. The National Enquirer recently ran a story about Baxter being spotted on a lesbian cruise through the Caribbean with a "female friend," which was then picked up by celebrity blogs. As a result, the 62-year-old decided to tell her fans herself. "I didn't want some tabloid to take the story and make it up," Baxter said in an interview. "I wanted it to be in my own words." Coming out was a difficult thing for the quiet actress to do. She said that she's always "lived a very private life. To come out and disclose stuff is very antithetical" to who she is. Baxter said that she knew she could be outed when she went on the cruise with her partner, Nancy Locke, but she went anyway. "We live a very open life at home," she said. "Anyone who's a friend of mine, anyone who knows and cares about me knows. It's no secret that I'm gay, but it has been to the greater world. "The reason I'm here today, is because I'm saying, yes, I'm a lesbian." Baxter said that she has been in a 4 year relationship with Locke, who works as a building contractor. Baxter has been dating women for the past 7 years, and "the thought of being gay never crossed my mind," she said. The actress was married 3 times before, during which she "was never comfortable with herself," she sauid. Now, she feels like she's "being honest for the first time." Baxter has 5 children, all of whom are said to be supportive.
TV/ MAGGIE JONES DIES AT 75: Coronation Street actress Maggie Jones, who played Blanche Hunt in the soap, has died in a UK hospital at the age of 75. A spokeswoman for the ITV show said the star, who had been recovering from an operation in October, had "passed away peacefully" this morning. William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, said she was a "brilliant actress" who had an "amazing dry wit". She first appeared as Blanche, who is best known for her harsh put-downs and sharp tongue, 35 years ago. Jones, who won several soap awards, only became a regular cast member in 1999 after numerous occasional appearances as Blanche. She also played different characters in the soap on 2 separate occasions. Her first appearance on the show was as a policewoman in 1961. The soap's executive producer called Jones a "much-loved colleague and a wonderful actress who turned Blanche into a true Coronation Street icon". He added: "She will be hugely missed by Coronation Street's many millions of viewers and by everyone who works on Coronation Street.
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