THEATRE/ "TALES" EXTENDED IN SAN FRANCISCO: The San Francisco-set musical "Tales of the City", based on Armistead Maupin's novels, will get additional performances July 12-24 due to demand at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. The world-premiere musical prompted the largest advance sale in the theater's history, prior to its 1st preview performance on May 18 and has continued to break sales records leading to the June 1 opening. Opening night reviews were excellent and rumours are the show will head to Broadway in the near future. The musical features music and lyrics by Jake Shears and John Garden of the Scissor Sisters.
MUSIC/ RIHANNA STANDS BY "MAN DOWN" VIDEO: Rihanna is standing by her "Man Down," more specifically the new music video accompanying the single that has the Parents Television Council and other groups called for it be banned from BET. The video, which premiered on Tuesday on BET's "106 & Park," depicts the pop star shooting her lover at a train station after he sexually assaults her. Rihanna has taken to Twitter to defend herself and the music video, which came under attack by the PTC and other groups yesterday. "The music industry isn't exactly Parents R Us! We have the freedom to make art, LET US! Its your job to make sure they dont turn out like US," she wrote. She later said the video was "art with a message". BET says it will carry on playing the video because "a comprehensive set of standards and guidelines are applied to all of our content". They added that Rihanna's video "complied with these guidelines and was approved for air". "Man Down" is the latest single off the singer's 5th studio album, "Loud".
A US Military Academy senior from Houston, Texas, filed a lawsuit this week against the R&B singer Patti Labelle, 3 of her entourage, a Bush Intercontinental Airport taxi dispatcher and the Airport, seeking unspecified actual and punitive damages in connection with a March 11 incident. Lawyers for the West Point cadet say bodyguards for LaBelle beat him while he was waiting for a ride at a Houston Airport. They released security video Thursday showing the student being pushed and punched by 2 men and a woman.Houston police responded to the late-night incident outside the Airport's Terminal C and said the Cade smelled of alcohol. His lawyers said he had consumed 2 alcoholic drinks on his flight to Houston but was not intoxicated. The cadet, who had come to Houston for spring break, was talking to his brother on a cell phone when he wandered toward LaBelle's limousine in the passenger pickup area. In the video, he is seen wandering near the Labelle car while talking on his cellphone. Then he is pushed and punched before falling against a concrete pillar. Apparently stunned, he attempts to rise 3 times, but falls. He finally stumbles away from the scene.. The security tape also shows 2 Houston police officers posing for photographs with LaBelle
after the confrontation, with blood from the cadet on the ground a few feet away. The cadet was taken to a hospital by ambulance. The lawsuit says he suffered a concussion. His lawyers also said he had been suspended from West Point as a result of the episode and placed in a "mentorship" program which will require active duty status of at least a year.
MUSIC/ DJ PLEADS GUILTY TO LEWD CONDUCT: Hip-hop producer and DJ Mr Cee pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of loitering and lewd conduct after he was arrested receiving oral sex from another man in a parked car. Cee, 44, whose real name is Calvin LeBrun, pleaded guilty. He and a 20 year old man, were arrested in the early hours of March 30 in New York City. The charge was “loitering for the purpose of engaging in a prostitution offence”. Cee was ordered by the judge to complete 3 months, or 12 sessions, of counselling with a doctor. He had previously been convicted on the same charge last October after being arrested in Lower Manhattan and pleading guilty a month later. Cee 1st made a splash in the hip-hop world as a DJ. He also produced Notorious B.I.G’s 1st album, "Ready to Die," in 1994. He currently hosts a radio show called "Throwback at Noon" on New York City’s urban station, Hot 97, where he plays classic hits. At the time of his arrest in March, his station manager told local media the allegations around Cee were untrue.
TV/ JANE LYNCH TO HOST EMMY AWARDS: Jane Lynch, the Emmy winning star of "Glee," will host this year's Emmy Awards, which will air on Sunday, September 18, live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. Lynch, who won the best supporting actress Emmy last year for her portrayal of cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester on "Glee," recently hosted NBC's late-night comedy show "Saturday Night Live".. Earlier this year, Lynch also won a Golden Globe as a supporting actress for Glee. Lynch is the 3rd woman to host the Emmys alone, following in the footsteps of Angela Lansbury in 1993 and Ellen DeGeneres in 2005. She has appeared in a number of big-screen comedies, including "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Role Models" and "Best in Show". The Emmy nominations will be announced on Thursday, July 14.
TV/ ANDERSON COOPER UNVEILS SHOW LOGO: Anderson Cooper has unveiled the new Web site and logo for his upcoming daytime talk show, "Anderson" On Thursday, he also launched his new Twitter feed, @Anderson. It has more than 2500 followers as of this morning. According to a post on the Twitter site, the Facebook page is launching soon. "Anderson" will tape at the Time Warner Center in New York City, where Cooper broadcasts his CNN show. It's national debut is September 12.
BOOKS/ JOSEPHINE HART DIES IN LONDON: Irish-born author Josephine Hart, whose 1991 debut novel, "Damage," was made into a film starring Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche, has died in London. A spokeswoman said Hart, who had cancer, died on Thursday. Her literary agent said she was in her late 60s, but that she was "coy and secretive" about her age. Other bestselling novels include "Sin," "Oblivion," "The Stillest Day" and "The Reconstructionist". Hart also produced a number of West End plays, including Coward's "The Vortex" and Iris Murdoch's "The Black Prince". Before becoming a writer, she worked in publishing. She also founded West End Poetry Hour at the British Library, in which actors including Dame Judi Dench and Simon Callow read works by major poets. In the late 1980s, she presented the ITV series "Books by My Bedside," in which she interviewed authors including Jackie Collins and Martin Amis. Hart is survived by her husband and children.
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