TONY DANZA FOR BROADWAY'S HONEYMOON IN VEGAS
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THE GLORIOUS CORNER
Story By: G.H. Harding
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| Tony Danza |
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| James Caan |
TONY’S BACK --- Jason Robert Brown and Andrew Bergman’s fizzy musical adaptation of the 1992 comedy Honeymoon In Vegas (Nicholas Cage, James Caan, Sarah Jessica Parker) is slated to fill the Broadway vacancy left by the shuttering After Midnight. The new show, starring Tony Danza in the film role created by Caan, has now set its dates: It will begin performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on November 18, with an official opening date of January 15 (though it’s questionable whether New York’s daily critics will wait nearly two months to review a show they already praised to the skies in its first outing last year at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse). Brown’s sharp, jaunty score gives him another chance at Broadway gold following this past season’s The Bridges Of Madison County, which failed to ignite at the box office but brought him Tony Awards for best score and orchestrations.
Danza stars as a smooth (think Frank Sinatra) Rat Pack-style card sharp who falls for a woman (Bryn O’Malley) who resembles his late wife. He wins a night with her after a rigged high-stakes poker game with her naive fiance (Rob McClure, best known on Broadway for the rave reviews he got as the Little Tramp in Chaplin: The Musical). The musical, like the movie, includes a hilarious bit in which a platoon of Elvis impersonators descends on the Strip.
Danza’s smooth and silky and the role fits him like a glove. We didn't get to see The Paper Mill presentation, but the reviews were glorious.
Can't wait for this one on November 18.
FROZEN AGAIN --- Jennifer Lee, who wrote, and co-directed Frozen with Chris Buck, has chosen her next project, for Disney, A Wrinkle in Time.
Lee will write the big screen adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s book for the Mouse House in which children travel through time and visit strange worlds in order to find their missing scientist father.
Published in 1962, Wrinkle in Time was one of Lee’s favorite novels as a child, and she impressed Disney executives with her take on the project, which emphasizes a strong female-driven narrative and creatively approaches the science fiction and world-building elements of the book.
While Lee adapts Wrinkle, she will continue in her role as part of Walt Disney Animation’s story brain trust and remain active in projects in development at the division that scored with Frozen — its biggest hit ever at the box office with nearly $1.3 billion — and has Big Hero 6, based on a Marvel property, out November 7.
Wrinkle is the first book in L’Engle’s Time Quartet series that also includes A Wind in the Door, Many Waters, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet (love those titles!).
Lee, also co-wrote Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph.
FOREIGNER RE-VISITED --- Rhino Records and Foreigner have announced a new all-encompassing collection of the band's studio albums released between 1977 and 1991. The Complete Atlantic Studio Albums comes on seven CDs and will be available on October 14.
Along with all of the hits from the original albums (featuring the vintage Lou Gramm/Mick Jones lineup), the new set also includes all of the bonus tracks from the band's 2002 deluxe editions including the demo of “Feels Like The First Time,” a live version of “Hot Blooded,” and a "nearly unplugged" version of “Waiting For A Girl Like You” (my personal favorite).
Foreigner’s legacy in the rock world is certainly secure; but, their behind-the-scenes drama is positively compelling. Gramm’s biography (2013’s Juke Box Hero) is a must read. (Side note: the forthcoming bio from Ides of March’s Jim Peterik, I bet will be as revealing).
Since leaving Atlantic Records, Foreigner has released studio sets for Arista (Mr. Moonlight, 1994), Rhino (Can't Slow Down, 2009) and Ais (Acoustique, 2011).
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| Meryl Streep |
CLOSING NOTES --- Sony Classical announces the release of the original motion picture score album of The Giver. Composed by two-time Academy award-nominee Marco Beltrami, the score for The Giver is available digitally on August 12 and on CD on September 16. Based on Lois Lowry's award-winning and best selling novel, the highly anticipated film features an outstanding cast including Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, Brenton Thwaites, Alexander Skarsgard, Katie Holmes, Odeya Rush, Cameron Monaghan and Taylor Swift. The Giver will be released in theaters nationwide on August 15 ...
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| Gene Cornish With Micky Dolenz And Scott Shannon |
SHANNON POWER-- From CBS FM's Scott Shannon's anniversary last week; here's a shot of Gene Cornish from The Rascals; Micky Dolenz; with Shannon. Great fun ... By the way, Cornish says The Rascals will again re-group next year ...
Jersey Boy's Donnie Kehr will be front-and-center at next week’s Super Hero Training Camp at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It’s premiere night for the forthcoming Marvel Universe show there. Details and pics to follow ...
SIGHTINGS --- Rocker John Fogerty walking the streets of the West Village; Donnie Kehr at Chris Gilman's Yerba Buena Perry; and, Dominick DiPietrantonio at Johnny Rocket's at Roosevelt Field and not getting asked to leave!
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