MUSIC/ NEW HOLIDAY MUSIC FROM CAREY: Mariah Carey will be releasing a brand new holiday album, 'Merry Christmas II You,' on November 2. The record includes 4 original songs written by Carey, including 'Oh Santa!', the album's 1st single, which has just been released. In addition to several classic songs, the album features a new recording of "All I Want for Christmas Is You," the title cut from her 1st holiday album, 1994s "All I Want For Christmas Is You". That set has become an annual bestseller.
MUSIC/ MORE ANTIGAY WORDS FROM 50 CENT: No stranger to antigay tweets, 50 Cent has posted an ill timed message on his Twitter page, suggesting that any man who isn’t into women should kill himself right now. “If you a man and your over 25 and you don’t eat pu**y just kill your self damn it. The world will be a better place. Lol.” Earlier this month, the rapper tweeted, "Perez Hilton called me douchebag, so I had my homie shoot up a gay wedding. wasnt his, but made me feel better." The rapper has long been suspected of being "less than straight" and some media sites reporting this news said that it was in response to a new "suggestive" rumour that had surfaced this past week.
FILM/ "TITANIC 3D" COMING IN 2012: Early 2012 is suddenly is shaping up as a major launchpad for classic blockbusters bowing in 3D, with Paramount, Fox and Lightstorm Entertainment mulling the 3D rerelease of James Cameron's "Titanic" in April of that year. That could put "Titanic" in theaters mere weeks after the 3D reissue of George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace" from Fox and Lucasfilm. Plans were announced this week to send out the 1st in a planned series of "Star Wars" rereleases sometime between February and April of 2012. April 15, 2012, marks the 100th anniversary of Titanic slipping into the icy Atlantic, and Paramount marks its own centennial the same month. But it's possible that "Titanic" could be released as early as that year's oft-lucrative Valentine's Day weekend. So with "Phantom Menace" awaiting its final scheduling, there's a chance Cameron and Lucas could arm-wrestle over the hearts-and-flowers frame.
FILM/ ROBERTS AND STREEP EYE "AUGUST": Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep are in negotiations to star in the feature adaptation of Tracy Letts' Pulitzer-winning play "August: Osage County." John Wells will direct the film from a screenplay written by Letts for the Weinstein Co. The movie would shoot in the summer. The play, which premiered in 2007 at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, went on to Broadway and London as it picked up the Pulitzer for drama and the Tony for best play. The play revolves around a family's buried pains and present conflicts after its patriarch dies. Streep would take the role of the drug-addicted matriarch; Roberts would play the eldest daughter, whose estranged husband has had an affair with one of his students. Roberts most recently appeared in "Eat Pray Love" and "Valentine's Day." She next appears in Tom Hanks' "Larry Crowne" next year for Universal. Streep most recently appeared in the 2009 comedies "It's Complicated" and "Julie & Julia."
FILM/ BLUNT JOINS "LOOPER": Emily Blunt will star alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis in "Looper," a time-travel action movie from writer-director Rian Johnson. The complicated plot involves a killer (Gordon-Levitt) who works for the mob of the future. He, along with other so-called Loopers, dispose of people that are sent from the future. When he recognizes one victim as his future self (Willis), he hesitates, letting the man escape. Now, in order to save his immediate future, the man needs to track down and kill his future self, while his future self is trying to find and kill a young boy who is the key to his survival in the future. Blunt will play the mother of the boy. A shoot in New Orleans in the 1st quarter of 2011 is being planned. Blunt next appears in "The Adjustment Bureau" with Matt Damon and "Gulliver's Travel" with Jack Black.
THEATRE/ "LOVE NEVER DIES" POSTPONES BROADWAY: Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Love Never Dies," which officially opened in London March 9 at the Adelphi Theatre, will not arrive on Broadway in spring 2011 as previously announced. A spokesperson for the musical said: ""Love Never Dies will not be opening on Broadway this spring. Further news about the show will be announced shortly." Mixed reviews and the recent illness of composer Lloyd Webber had prompted an earlier postponement. Originally, the sequel to the international hit "The Phantom of the Opera" had been scheduled for a November 2010 Broadway bow. In April it was announced that the musical would open at the Neil Simon Theatre in spring 2011. New York media had reported previously that director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who staged the London production and were scheduled to repeat their duties for Broadway, had withdrawn from the project. No official announcement about their withdrawal has yet been made. According to the official website for the musical, "Love Never Dies continues the story of "The Phantom," who has moved from his lair in the Paris Opera House to haunt the fairgrounds of Coney Island, far across the Atlantic. Set 10 years after the mysterious disappearance of 'The Phantom' from Paris, this show is a rollercoaster ride of obsession and intrigue...in which music and memory can play cruel tricks...and 'The Phantom' sets out to prove that, indeed, 'Love Never Dies.'"
Ben Stiller and Edie Falco are teaming up for a revival of "The House of Blue Leaves" on Broadway this spring. Producers say the actors will appear as a married couple in John Guare's black comedy at the Walter Kerr Theatre. No other details were announced. The play will be familiar for Stiller: He made his Broadway debut in a 1986 Broadway revival of it, playing the son of a zookeeper who longs to be a songwriter. This time, the "Zoolander" star will play the zookeeper. Falco has several Broadway credits, including "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune" and "'night, Mother." The "Sopranos" star currently can be seen in "Nurse Jackie" on Showtime.
THEATRE/ JOEL GREY JOINS "ANYTHING GOES": Tony Award winner Joel Grey, a theatre legend for creating the role of the M.C. in "Cabaret," and recreating it on film and in a 1986 revival, will return to Broadway in spring 2011 to play the quirky "public enemy" Moonface Martin in Roundabout Theatre Company's "Anything Goes". Grey will sing Cole Porter show tunes along with the previously announced Tony winner Sutton Foster, who'll play singing evangelist Reno Sweeney. Additional casting will soon be announced. Previews begin March 10, 2011, at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Official opening is April 7, 2011. The new Broadway production of the 1934 musical comedy (changed up in the 1980s by book writers Timothy Crouse & John Weidman) will be directed and choreographed by Tony winner Kathleen Marshall ("The Pajama Game," "Wonderful Town").
THEATRE/ TWISTED'S SNIDER JOINS "ROCKS OF AGES": Dee Snider, the lead singer of Twisted Sister, will join the cast of the Tony-nominated musical "Rock of Ages" this month at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway. Snider, who can also be seen in the A&E reality show “Growing Up Twisted,” will play nightclub owner Dennis for an 11-week engagement beginning October 11 and continuing through December 24. The musical comedy "Rock of Ages" borrows rock hits of the 1980s to tell the story of showbiz lovers in L.A. The score includes "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "I Wanna Know What Love Is," "Here I Go Again," "Don't Stop Believin'" and more. Snider will also host “Rock Senate Hearings," a weekly Tuesday-night talkback series at the theater, beginning October 19. The first of these sessions will feature Mick Jones, founder of the rock group Foreigner.
THEATRE/ KUDOS FOR "PITMEN": The London transfer of "The Pitmen Painters" opened last night on Broadway to generally good reviews. Based on a book by William Feaver, this is the true tale about the Ashington Group, miners from the north of England who during the 1930s famously became celebrated painters. This group of poor, uneducated miners take advantage of a government-sponsored education grant to take a course in art appreciation. Their tutor encourages them to create original artworks reflective of their lives and quickly discovers that several members of the group have a raw, innate talent. Their work soon becomes history. The New York Times called it a "well-acted British production," but, "only one of them could be considered a fully defined character. Otherwise, they’re a set of human talking points in period costume". The Times did say "there is much to admire". The Hollywood Reporter said: "Bottom Line: Moving comedy drama tells the true story of British miners who became celebrated painters". Theatermania said: "This transAtlantic export is already a front-runner for this year's Tony Award for Best Play". And, NY1 said: "And now comes "The Pitmen Painters" which deserves its own share of accolades. The superlative 'painters' of this astonishing production deliver as consummate a first act as I’ve ever seen". "The Pitmen Painters" runs 145 minutes and is playing at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater on Broadway.
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