MUSIC/ LADY GAGA TO APPEAR AT ROME PRIDE: Lady Gaga will address hundreds of thousands of marchers at Rome Pride this Saturday. The singer, who is considered the world’s best-known gay rights advocate, will also sing her hit single "Born This Way". Rome is hosting Europride this year and organizers say they expect 1 million participants, while police estimate that 500,000 will join the march. Italy does not have hate crime legislation and gay couples cannot marry or adopt. Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is on record for opposing gay rights, although gay campaigners claim his alleged affairs with minors make him a hypocrite. Last year, the Italian leader brushed off criticism, saying: “It’s better to be passionate about beautiful women than to be gay". In response, the director of gay campaign group Arcigay, said in an interview: “This is the most backward government Italy has had since World War II. It’s a government in which the prime minister goes with underage girls but then says that parliament will never approve legislation that contradicts the concept of the family promoted by the Vatican". On Saturday, the marchers will proceed from the city centre to the Circus Maximus for a rally and concert. Lady Gaga, pictured in her "Judas" video, will make her appearance at the Circus Maximus.
MUSIC/ TAYLOR SWIFT TOPS CMT AWARDS: Taylor Swift picked up the top honor at the Country Music Television (CMT) awards last night, winning video of the year for her song, "Mine". Blake Shelton was the only multiple winner at the fan-voted awards, picking up male video of the year for "Who Are You When I'm Not Looking" and best web video for "Kiss My Country Ass". His wife, Miranda Lambert, won female video of the year for her hit song, "The House That Built Me". Swift accepted her award via satellite while on stage in Wisconsin, where she is on tour. "I wish I could be there, but I'm hanging out with 15,000 of my closest friends in Milwaukee," she said. The singer opened the ceremony in a pre-recorded video parody of the film "Thelma and Louise" with fellow country star Shania Twain. Other winners included Sugarland, who won duo video of the year for "Stuck Like Glue" and Lady Antebellum's "Hello World" which was named group video of the year. Justin Beiber also picked up his 1st country award, winning the collaborative video prize for "That Should Be Me" with Rascal Flatts. The Zac Brown Band and Jimmy Buffett won the CMT performance of the year video, for a version of "Margaritaville" which was broadcast on CMT in March. Full details on the awards can be found on the CMT website.
BOOKS/ "TIGER'S WIFE" WINS ORANGE PRIZE: Serbian-American author Tea Obreht has won the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction for her debut novel "The Tiger's Wife". The 25 year old, who is the youngest author to scoop the honor, was praised by the judges as a "truly exciting new talent" for her "exceptional book". Set in the Balkans, "The Tiger's Wife" tells the story of a young doctor who traces the life of her grandfather. The £30,000 annual prize recognises the work of fiction written in the English language by women. Born in the former Yugoslavia in 1985 and raised in Belgrade, Obreht emigrated to the United States in 1997. She was featured in The New Yorker's Top 20 Writers under 40 Fiction Issue and her debut novel was published in March this year. "Obreht's powers of observation and her understanding of the world are remarkable," said the chair of the judges. "By skilfully spinning a series of magical tales, she has managed to bring the tragedy of chronic Balkan conflict thumping into our front rooms with a bittersweet vivacity. Obreht celebrates storytelling and she helps us to remember that it is the stories that we tell about ourselves, and about others, that can make us who we are and the world what it is," she added. The other nominees were Kathleen Winter for "Annabel," "Grace Williams Says It Loud" by Emma Henderson, Emma Donoghue's "Room," Aminatta Forna's "The Memory of Love" and "Great House" by Nicole Krauss. US author Barbara Kingsolver won the prize last year for her 6th novel, "The Lacuna". Previous winners of the prize, which has been running since 1996, include Helen Dunmore, Zadie Smith and Rose Tremain.
Susan Stroman, a 2011 Tony Award nominee for her direction and choreography of "The Scottsboro Boys", has signed to stage the new Broadway-bound musical "Big Fish," producers announced yesterday. The new musical is based on the novel by Daniel Wallace and the 2003 Columbia Pictures film written by John August, will be directed and choreographed by Stroman ("Contact," "Crazy for You," "The Producers"), with music and lyrics by Tony nominee Andrew Lippa ("The Wild Party," "The Addams Family") and a libretto by August. The Oscar-winning producers are hoping to land a Broadway theatre for a spring 2012 launch. Casting and a design will be announced shortly. The producers synopsis of "Big Fish" is as follows: "A rollicking fantasy set in the American South, "Big Fish" centers on the charismatic Edward Bloom, whose impossible stories of his life's epic adventures frustrate his son Will. Now, with Edward on his deathbed, Will must embark on his own journey to find out who his father really is, unraveling the man from the myth, the truth from the tall tales".
"The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway," which was taped live at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York in January and debuted March 19 on HBO, will be released on DVD this fall. Image Entertainment will release "The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway" on Blu-ray and DVD in the fall in honor of the 25th Anniversary of "Pee-wee’s Playhouse." A release date will be announced shortly. HBO filmed the 90 minute intermissionless production following its final Broadway performance January 2. Marty Callner directed the new HBO special and also directed the 1st 1981 HBO special "The Pee-wee Herman Show." The stage production was directed by Alex Timbers who also directed "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson". "The Pee-wee Herman Show," starring Paul Reubens as Pee-wee, officially opened at the newly rechristened Stephen Sondheim Theatre November 11, 2010, following previews that began October 26. Based on Reubens' 1981 cult classic stage production, "The Pee-wee Herman Show," with new elements from the ground-breaking CBS show "Pee-wee's Playhouse," was written by Reubens and Bill Steinkellner, with additional material by John Paragon.
Ed Helms’ face might look very different when "The Hangover Part II" comes to DVD and Blu-ray in December. Warner Bros. has told a Missouri judge yesterday that if it can’t resolve the ongoing legal fracas over the tattoo on display in the mega-grossing comedy by the time it comes out on home video, the studio will digitally alter the controversial mark on Helms’ face, pictured. Warners was sued by a Missouri tattoo artist who claims he owns a copyright on the unique tattoo worn by former boxer Mike Tyson and Helms in "Hangover II". The tattoo's owner attempted to stop the film’s release but was denied a preliminary injunction. "Hangover II" has since grossed $350 million worldwide and counting. The case has continued, however, and the U.S. District Judge set a jury trial date for February 21, 2012. At issue is whether to award the tattoo artist a permanent injunction against the film's distribution and/or damages for copyright infringement.
TV & FILM/ LEONARD STERN DIES AT 87: Writer and producer Leonard Stern, who was behind hit shows including "Get Smart" and "The Honeymooners," has died at the age of 87. The Emmy and Golden Globe award-winner died of heart failure at a Los Angeles hospital. Stern found early success in the 1950s writing for sitcoms like "The Phil Silvers Show". He also created and directed 1970s crime drama "McMillan and Wife" starring Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James. Stern wrote 2 Abbott & Costello films before his stint on "The Jackie Gleason Show", where he wrote "The Honeymooners" sketches, which later spawned the TV series, pictured. During his career, he worked as a writer and producer on more than 20 sitcoms. In the 1960s, he created the sitcoms "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster," fugitive satire "Run Buddy Run," and "He & She," starring Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss as a pair of young love birds. The writer's film credits include screenplays for 1952 film "The Jazz Singer," 1979's "Just You and Me, Kid" starring George Burns and Brooke Shields, which he also directed, and 1985 film "Target" starring Gene Hackman. Aside from his Hollywood career, Stern also co-created a popular word game, Mad Libs, in which people fill in blank spaces with random nouns, adjectives and adverbs to form funny stories. He is survived by his family.
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