Times Square Gossip

Peter Asher With Bruce Grakal, Micky Dolenz, Jim Kerr And Carol Miller Micky Dolenz’s final night at New York’s 54 Below brought out a bunch of special friends; including Q104.3’s Jim Kerr and Carol Miller, as well as superstar-producer/artist Peter Asher. Kerr, who had previously introduced Dolenz for two shows at B. B. King’s, did the same this night, referencing his work in his earlier TV-show Circus Boy, as well as the fact that the three-shows were all being recorded for a live album -to be released in September- which will share the title of the show, A Little Bit Broadway; A Little Bit Rock ‘n’ Roll, on Broadway Records. Dolenz blazed through the show with stellar support from his bad, led by Michael Moritz, Jr. Plans are afoot for Dolenz to return to the club in late-September.

Micky Dolenz Monkee-Micky Dolenz knocked it out of the park at his cabaret opening this week at 54 Below. Titled A Little Bit Broadway; A Little Bit Rock ‘n Roll, Dolenz neatly segued his Broadway-chops with several Monkee-hits, including the Carole King/Toni Stern (from HEAD) “As We Go Along,” which this writer just marveled at (fact: Neil Young and Ry Cooder were in on the original recording session). Watching him do “Don’t Be The Bunny” from the show Urinetown, and, “Mr. Cellophane” from Chicago was just marvelous; as he wrapped his golden-glove of a voice lusciously around these songs. “Cellophane” was preceded by a very home-spun story, as are all of these numbers. As always, Dolenz is a succinct and funny raconteur. I'm prompted to say that a book of these vintage anecdotes would be most welcome. Of course the Monkee-hits flowed, including “Last Train to Clarksville," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," "Daydream Believer...

**** THE GLORIOUS CORNER Story By: G. H. HARDING **** Bobby Hart YOU GOTTA HAVE HART --- Bobby Hart. You may not immediately know the name, but his music ("Last Train to Clarksville" only one of several great hits) has sold millions. Furthermore, he (along with songwriter partner Tommy Boyce) was a key ingredient in helping made-for-TV band The Monkees outsell both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in 1967. Hart is also a Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy Award winner. And now, Hart has just penned a book called Psychedelic Bubble Gum: Boyce & Hart, The Monkees, and Turning Mayhem into Miracles, written with co-writer Glenn Ballantyne and published by SelectBooks. The book follows Hart‘s rise in the music industry as half of the songwriting duo Boyce and Hart. The two friends and fellow craftsmen were in the right place at the right time when, in 1966, their song “Last Train to Clarksville”—along with one of the catchiest and coolest TV th...

**** THE GLORIOUS CORNER Story By: G. H. HARDING **** James Marsden BLACK’S TRAIN --- We caught a screening of the new Jack Black/James Marsden film, The D Train, on Wednesday and really loved it. Black‘s character, Dan Landsman, tries to land former high school classmate Oliver Lawless, now a Hollywood-actor with a lead road in a major commercial, to go with him to their high-school class reunion. The rub is that they were never really that close, and yet they form a relationship that leads to unexpected results for them both. Black, whose done this type of role before, is marvelous and Marsden renders a performance that’s off the charts. I first saw him as Cyclops in the first X Men movie, and he was great—but here he delivers a Oscar-worthy performance. Co-stars Kathryn Hahn and Jeffrey Tambor are exceptionally good, too. Tambor portrays Black’s boss, a character who goes through several major revelations himself. Written and directed by Jarr...

Micky Dolenz Micky Dolenz is best known as the lead singer of the hugely successful rock 'n' roll band, The Monkees, which originated from the classic sixties TV show of the same name. The Monkees sold over 65 million records and has toured the U.S. (and much of the world) many times over. Micky has also starred in many musicals on Broadway, the West End and in national tours including Disney's AIDA (Broadway), Pippin, Hairspray (West End), Grease, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Tom Sawyer and more. Micky has recorded two solo albums (Remember and King For A Day) and recently appeared in the World Premiere of the new play Comedy Is Hard (Ivoryton Playhouse) by four time Emmy winner Mike Reiss (The Simpsons). "A Little Bit Broadway, A Little Bit Rock 'n' Roll" is a brand new show Micky has created to combine his love of Broadway with his love for rock 'n' roll in one thrilling new ...

**** THE GLORIOUS CORNER Story By: G. H. HARDING ****  The Wrecking Crew Trailer STING’S SHIP --- I’ll fess up and say that I was among the first to be somewhat dubious about Sting’s foray into Broadway, his The Last Ship, but, I caught last night’s performance and was literally blown away. It’s not perfect, but with stunning songs, staging and terrific acting from an excellent cast, and, a packed Neil Simon Theatre, it was pretty damn impressive. The show closes tomorrow, so I'm quite sure many of the attendees were people who had wanted to see the show and just didn’t make it in the beginning. The show tells the story of Sting’s childhood upbringing, in Newcastle; a town where ship building was the usual employment. The ship building stops; misery sets in and finally, one last ship is built, aided on by the town’s Father O’Brien (essayed by an incredibly strong and funny Fred Applegate). Concurrent to this plot of the story of Gideo...

**** THE GLORIOUS CORNER Story By: G. H. HARDING **** Micky Dolenz NYE THOUGHTS --- I thought instead of doing the de rigueur Top Ten Lists and all, we'd give you our favorite moments of 2014 – and my, it did seem to fly by – here we go: *Birdman with Michael Keaton and an amazing direction by Alexander Inarritu. The script is just off the charts and while not for everyone, Keaton is magically captivating – certainly one of the best roles he’s ever done. Also, Emma Stone and Edward Norton are superb …. an award winning performance if you ask me. Seemingly dropped from heaven; this will, I predict, win Best movie of the year. *Monkee-Micky Dolenz's dazzling everyone with a brilliant comedic acting turn in Mike Reiss’ Comedy Is Hard at Connecticut’s Ivoryton Theatre. Playing an 84-year old Borsch Belt comedian; he was simply sensational. And, super direction by Jacqueline Hubbard. I'd love to see the play staged in NYC … we deserve it! ...

**** THE GLORIOUS CORNER Story By: G.H. Harding **** Micky Dolenz MONKEE FEST 2014 --- Say what you about nostalgia, but, it has never been bigger. At the invitation of Monkee-Micky Dolenz’s pr-mouthpiece David Salidor, I ventured out to Monkee Convention 2014 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, this past weekend. The first Monkee-convention last year was such a success, that creators Jodi Blau Ritzen and Phyllis Paganucci, then decided to do it again this year, but with major participation from Monkee-Michael Nesmith, who was absent last year. The Hilton Meadowlands was the location and as I entered one day before, one could immediately sense the palpable energy in the air. We attended a brief pre-production meeting with Dolenz and his aide Chris Kiszka. Salidor had several interviews for Dolenz to accomplish while at the festival; perhaps none more important than ABC News Radio which has an audience of 77 million worldwide. Jersey’s News 12 also appeared durin...

Micky Dolenz Of The Monkees Multiple Emmy® Award-winning executive producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman (HBO’s John Adams and The Pacific), and Emmy® Award-winning producer Mark Herzog (History’s Gettysburg) of Herzog & Company (HCO), will reignite the landmark musical revolution of 1964 in this special presentation from their CNN Original Series. The one-hour special, THE SIXTIES: The British Invasion will premiere on CNN/U.S. on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 9:00pmET and PT. The full 10-part episode CNN Original Series THE SIXTIES will begin in May 2014 The British Invasion begins with the breakthrough performance of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, which was watched by a record-setting 73 million viewers, blazing a culture-changing path through America fifty years ago next month. The Beatles’ success was quickly followed by other British bands hoping to conquer the hearts of American teens. Those siren calls of The Animals, The Kinks, The Hollies, The Dave Cl...

**** THE GLORIOUS CORNER Story By G. H. Harding ****   Rob Thomas THOMAS HITS THE ROAD --- Multiple Grammy recording artist Rob Thomas has announced plans for a month-long North American special headline tour kicking off April 2nd in Temecula, C. A. These shows will offer the rare and unique opportunity to catch the superstar performing in a more up close and personal setting, playing a career-spanning set. Additionally, Thomas’ show on April 5th at Indio, CA’s Fantasy Springs Resort will benefit Sidewalk Angels Foundation, the non-profit organization founded by Rob and his wife Marisol Thomas. This show follows Rob’s three sold-out nights at Atlantic City’s Borgata Casino January 17th, 18th and 19th, where he returns for the 3rd consecutive year to benefit Sidewalk Angels. Fan club members will have early access to tickets beginning Tuesday, January 14th for select shows. Concerts will continue to go on-sale throughout the month of January...

**** MICKY DOLENZ – REMEMBERS B. B. KING’S & BEYOND EXCLUSIVE TO TIMES SQUARE GOSSIP **** Micky Dolenz After his triumphant concert at NYC’s B. B. King’s last week; which was recorded for his first-ever DVD (actor Tony Danza was in the audience, cheering him on!), Micky Dolenz rebounded to California and taped a two-hour interview with actor Kevin Pollak, on his talk show, The Kevin Pollack Chat Show, wherein he talked about his new album, Remember, and elaborated on each song; a re-arranged“Sugar, Sugar” – which Dolenz revealed could well have been a track for The Monkees. Dolenz says that at first he was somewhat reluctant to re-do it, but when he heard producer David Harris’ new arrangement, he was immediately enticed. He says it’s now his favorite track on the album. He also talked about a re-arranged Monkee-track, “Randy Scouse Git” that has become a fas radio favorite from the album. It’s a track he wrote about his exploits in England, when he first m...

**** MUSIC LEGENDS **** Micky Dolenz Micky Dolenz, will be in NYC from October 14th-20th and has just confirmed a CD signing at J&R Music World on Wednesday, October 17th, starting at 12:30 pm. On October 19th he'll play a very special show at BB King's which will be recorded for a later Live Album release. Micky just released his new album, Remember (Waterfront Ent. Group/RoboRecords and Universal Music Distribution), which features many songs that mark great milestones in his life, as well as some new songs that offer insight as to where the artist is now. This album was released worldwide on September 25, 2012 with a launch party at Capitol Studios in LA September 26. Press response has already been tremendously supportive including features in the LA Times, AOL Spinner and the lead in a roundup in USA TODAY. This has been an enormously busy time for Micky, who in addition to this solo release and tour, has been rehearsing for a Monkees reunion tour whi...

 Micky Dolenz MICKY DOLENZ and his band will make a rare New York City appearance, at B.B. King’s on Friday, October 19; and, the show will be recorded for a new live album to be released later this year. Dolenz, who as part of the legendary Monkees – who will re-group with the surviving members, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork for a series of shows this November – has sold in excess of 65 million records, will have his next solo album, Remember, released on September 25. If all that weren’t enough, Dolenz will appear in a series of performances of Hairspray marking the 25th anniversary of the original film, in Indianapolis and Baltimore; where he will essay the role of Wilbur Turnblad. He had appeared in London’s West End in 2010 reprising the same role as well as a U.K.-national tour the following year. Hairspray: In Concert! Will additionally star filmmaker, writer, and artist John Waters as the narrator. Waters of course created and directed Hairspray,...