KING LEAR PLAYS THEATRE FOR A NEW AUDIENCE

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THE GLORIOUS CORNER

Story By: G. H. HARDING

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Micky Dolenz In Concert

BARD'S BIRTHDAY --- As it is the 450th anniversary of William Shakespeare, we ventured out to Theatre For A New Audience’s presentation of King Lear this past weekend. Located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the three-hour-plus performance is a formidable and powerful performance of the Bard’s work. Always a wild-card in the Shakespeare-canon, this epic work, with a stunning lead performance by 70-year old Michael Pennington works well as the title character, Lear, descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters, bringing dire consequences for all.

While perhaps not as inspired as their Midsummer Night’s Dream from last year, this production works … forcefully.

DOUBLE DOLENZ --- Here he comes, walkin' down the street...Main Street in St. Charles, Illinois that is! Monkee-Micky Dolenz will perform his solo show at the historic Arcada Theatre on May 2nd, with a rare twist. After a musical blast from the past with timeless hits including "Pleasant Valley Sunday," “Last Train To Clarkesville" and "I'm A Believer," Dolenz will return to the stage for an exciting Q&A session with Arcada Theatre President Ron Onesti.

"I am always trying to give our audience something more, something they wouldn't normally get at another venue," said Onesti. "Letting the audience into the behind-the-scenes world of show biz is a favorite feature here at The Arcada. And I could not be more excited to ask Micky about those incredibly cool Monkees experiences!"

Previously partaking in a similar Q&A feature at the recent Monkee-Con in New Jersey (and moderated by the terrific Andrew Sandoval from Rhino Records), Dolenz says, “It was a terrific addition at the Monkee-Con as the session covered questions about my whole career; from the TV-show, to my most recent solo album Remember and the Live At B. B. King’s recording. I'm looking forward to doing the same in St. Charles!"

We hope he does the Q&A thing when he comes to NYC at B. B. King's on July 30.

TRANSCENDENCE NO ATTENDANCE --- That was the best headline of the weekend from our colleague Roger Friedman, over at Showbiz 411. Depp’s latest movie was this weekend’s bomb, taking in just 11.5 million for a movie that cost 150 million.

This is his second major flop at the box office following the disastrous Lone Ranger – which even I didn't see; as the media onslaught was just too, too much. So, can Depp even open a movie anymore if it isn't part of his Pirates-franchise … which has made him and Disney billions? As Friedman states, his last major success, and critical claim, was in Finding Neverland, some ten years ago. We loved him in The Ninth Gate and of course, Donnie Brasco with Al Pacino.

He makes terrific choices, but not necessarily commercial ones. His next movie is the Rob Marshall-directed Into The Woods later this year. Next year, he’s gangster Whitey Bulger in Black Mass.

CLOSING NOTES --- This summer tour-wise is shaping up to be most interesting indeed. In addition to the previously mentioned hookups (Santana/Rod Stewart), now, there’s: Rock 'n' Blues Fest - Featuring The Johnny Winter Band, The Edgar Winter Band, Vanilla Fudge, Peter Rivera of Rare Earth and Savoy Brown's Kim Simmonds …

Speaking of cool "at your feet" videos, via Forgotten Hits, sent in by reader Brad Joblin, who shot this incredible up-close video of Elton John at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace last weekend.

When EJ performs the encore “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” he allows the first few rows of attendees to come up onstage and surround him. Brad, an Elton fan for 44 years described the volume level from Elton's stage monitors as more than "11" and hence his camera's mic overloaded somewhat. Here’s the link:...

Last week we reported that IPA’s Steve Woolf describing the just-completed FanX convention in Salt lake City as having 10,000 attendees … make that 100,000! We regret the error Steve …

Speaking of Elton, we simply cannot stop listening to the re-mastered 40th anniversary version of his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. What an album; we're especially loving, yet again, his "All The Girls Love Alice," "The Ballad Of Danny Bailey" and the epic, "Harmony." What a terrific album. Thanks again to Tony King for sending it out way ...

Brooklyn Heights was star-central this weekend as CBS' Elementary show filmed there, with stars Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu; and, Unforgettable's Dylan Walsh walking down Clinton Street. 

Photo Courtesy Of: David Salidor