Monday, November 21, 2011

"Godspell' and "On A Clear Day" on Broadway

What a beautiful night in NYC last night. Great night to be on Broadway. First stop was across the street from my very, very favorite: Hugh Jackman. That's where Harry Connick Jr. was. I'll be going back again and again to Hugh's show. That's the one! But here are a few pictures from Harry Connick Jr coming out of the show.

And then we strolled on down to 'Godspell' and met all the great people in that show. Every one super friendly and fun. You can tell by the pictures. And Hunter Parrish from 'Weeds,' who is starring in 'Godspell' right now, was absolutely fantastic.









Saturday, November 19, 2011

Kim Cattrall in 'Private Lives' on Broadway

Last weekend it was 'Seminar' with Alan Rickman. Today it was 'Private Lives' with Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross

'Private Lives' is showing at The Music Box theatre where I went to see 'Jerusalem' again and again. I love that theatre. It seems very magical.

The Noel Coward play is like watching one of those great old black and white films where they ladies are always dressed in beautiful gowns and the men are
always dressed in suits. Rich and glamourous. And chemistry!!! Those two sizzle on stage. It's really lots of fun.

It runs through February 5th, so if you're in town, this is a great play.....
I met Kim before when she wrote her book, 'Sexual Intelligence.' She's
extremely beautiful, kind, and friendly. I told her I had written a part for her
in a script and she said, "I'm there, girl." Ya never know!!! I did write it with
her in mind....and stay tuned for a video on amazonstudios.com when you search for 'Nitches.' Probably be there by tomorrow.....

Here are some pictures from today and the book event about six years ago.....









Diane Keaton and her new book 'Then Again'

I have never heard anyone say that they do not like Diane Keaton. After meeting her last Wednesday night, I can say I know why. She is one of the most honest, down to earth, intelligent, gracious people I have ever met.

She did a book signing at Barnes and Noble. The crowd was tremendous. It's a very large space and well over an hour before time for the event to begin, all seats were taken and people were lining up behind the seats. Go NYC!

Diane came straight from the Daily Show with a huge smile and lots of positive energy. She read from her book which is about her and her mother and family and doesn't leave out Woody or Warren or Al. As she read one part about her mother, she had to stop. She was getting emotional. I started crying too. Wow. Her mother was born the same year as my mother and died the same year. I told her as she was signing my book. She asked, "What was her name?" I said, "Sally." She held the book out to me and said, "This is for Sally." Whoa. Need Kleenex!

Here are some pictures from the event and a marvelous lady!



Sunday, November 13, 2011

More movies. More Broadway. Can't get enough of either.

My movie this weekend was 'J. Edgar Hoover.' I was excited about a movie starring Leonardo and directed by Clint Eastwood. Straight from work to the movie seat on Friday night. It was a history lesson for me. I learned a lot about J. Edgar Hoover I never knew. Can't say I knew much. Interesting character, for sure. Acting was great. They're really getting perfect at making actors look old. You know how usually you see where the skull cap is stuck on or it looks like glue or something pulling the face a certain way and then covered with make-up. Not this one. Leonardo (J. Edgar Hoover) and Naomi Watts (Helen Gandy), and Armie Hammer (Clyde Tolson), go from young to very old and it looks authentic. The movie slides back and forth between the decades, but with flawlessness that's easy to follow since Clint Eastwood is magnificent at directing.

Yesterday I went to see 'Seminar.' It's a new Broadway show that is just now in previews and stars Alan Rickman and Jerry O'Connell and Lily Rabe. Here's a good tidbit for you. Snape is just on Broadway on the same street as Harry Potter. When you come out of the Golden Theatre where 'Seminar' is playing, you can see Daniel Radcliffe, larger than life as J. Pierrepont Finch in 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.'  'Seminar' is a play by Theresa Rebeck about four writers who hire Leonard (Alan Rickman) to teach them, insult them. abuse them, cut them to the soul. I've had two writing teacher who were very similar to Leonard. I called them assholes just as they do in the play and I learned so much from them, just as they do from Leonard. The dialogue is funny and witty. I loved it because I related to it so much. Jerry O'Connell is having his Broadway debut in this show and he is excellent in his loud pants of purple, red, and orange. Alan Rickman, it goes without saying, is tremendous. 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Anonymous, Tower Heist, The Rum Diary, and Crazy Love

The four movies I've seen in the past 2 weeks are very different kinds of movies. Tower Heist is carrying that message that so many movies are telling us about: corruption, greed, evil at the top....But it is funny. Really funny. I laughed out loud which I'm not prone to do in a movie theatre unless really, really finding it funny. I love that Eddie Murphy and Tea Leoni is great. I always like Casey Affleck who reminded me more of brother Ben in this one than he ever has before. It was something about his expressions and mannerisms or something.

The Rum Diary, the first one I went to was great. Johnny Depp. Need I say more? How great he is! Come to think of it, it had that message too. Greed. Corruption. The rich taking advantage of the poor. Yep. It sure did. How about that... Hunter S. Thompson wrote the fictional work in the early sixties, but it wasn't published until 1998. Kinda sounds like my stuff!!! Taking years to see the light, I mean.... :) Hunter was only 22 years old when he wrote it and he did go to Puerto Rico to work on a paper and did meet some weird people.

Crazy Love. Couldn't wait to see this one either because it stars Anton Yelchin who I think is fantastic. Have you seen Charlie Bartlett? House of D? If not, you may not know this young actor, but he is definitely worth watching.

Anonymous. I was very excited about seeing this movie too. Mark Rylance is in it. He is tremendous. Of course. And Vanessa Redgrave. Awesome.  It is proving to be a great year end on Broadway and at the movies. !!!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Broadway Broadway Broadway

There's a lot going on in the theatre district in NYC right now. Lots and lots to see. My favorite, Hugh Jackman on Broadway. The one man show with the 18 piece orchestra is total bliss. Here's some pictures of Hugh leaving the show on Sunday afternoon. The crowds are huge. Just like the crowds for 'How to Succeed in Business' with Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette. Here's Hugh
signing for the crowd.





Right across the street from Hugh, opening for previews on November 12,  Harry Connick Jr. in On A Clear Day. And, there's more going on. Kim Cattrall opens on November 6th at the Music Box Theatre (the same one Mark Rylance was at for Jerusalem and Le Bete. The name of that play is: Private Lives. Also Angela Bassett is starring with Samuel L. Jackson in The Mountaintop. I recently went to a talk with Angela Bassett being interviewed by Jordan Roth.  The picture below is from that evening. Jordan asked Angela some really tough questions which she answered with grace and eloquence. And she had on the greatest shoes ever. Very spikey heels; leopard on top and black with rhinestones on the bottom. She looked fantastic.

And there's more. I've been busy. Off-Broadway there's a play called Dreams of Flying Dreams of Falling. It's a really good one. Christine Lahti is super in it. Here's a picture from right after the performance the day I went.



Lots happening on Broadway and off. I recently visited the Regis and Kelly set and Kevin Spacey was the guest. Here's some pics from that day. That's always a superfun time. Regis and Kelly are awesome. :( and Regis is leaving this month.







That's not all. But I should blog tomorrow about all the fantastic movies that are out and coming out. Creativity abounds when the world is in a mess!!!