June 10, 2011
Labor dispute outside Tony Awards venue solved
Mark Kennedy, Drama Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – The stagehands’ union and producers of the Tony Awards reached an agreement Friday on how the show’s red carpet area will be staffed, ending a labor dispute that threatened to derail Broadway’s biggest night.
Members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees had vowed to picket near the Beacon Theatre, where the award show will be held Sunday evening. They were angry that producers of the show had nonunion workers setting up the red carpet area.
A deal between both sides was announced Friday afternoon, though no details were immediately disclosed. The union won its biggest demand – for union workers to staff the area.
“Both labor and management are satisfied with the terms and conditions of the agreement which will not be publically disclosed,” both sides said in a statement. “The red carpet staging area for this and future Tony Award shows at the Beacon Theater will be staffed by union labor.”
The change in the Tony Awards’ venue this year has put stress on producers. The ceremony was forced to leave its longtime home at Radio City Music Hall because Cirque du Soleil took over the art deco theater for its new show and Tony producers picked the 3,000-seat Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side, which has only about half as many seats as Radio City.
The stagehands have traditionally set up the red carpet and tent outside the annual event, but since the show was moved to a new theater this year, the red carpet was moved a block south – outside the perimeter where the union is ensured jobs.
The dispute could have made celebrities uncomfortable crossing a picket line – complete with a giant inflatable rat – to be photographed on the red carpet.
Some of the big names invited to the Tonys include Daniel Radcliffe, Alec Baldwin, Christie Brinkley, Matthew Broderick, Whoopi Goldberg, Kelsey Grammer, Joel Grey, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Chris Rock, Brooke Shields, Robin Williams, Vanessa Redgrave and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Union sues ‘Spider-Man’ on behalf of Julie Taymor
Mark Kennedy, Drama Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – The union that represents theater directors is seeking any royalties owed Julie Taymor, the original director of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society filed an arbitration claim on Thursday against the show’s producers, saying they had “failed to pay to Ms. Taymor any royalties for the run of the production.”
Taymor, who had been the director and co-book writer, was fired from the $70 million musical in March after years of delays, accidents and critical backlash.
Michael Cohl, one of the show’s lead producers, acknowledged this week that his team was still trying to resolve financial disputes as a result of having to rework the musical.
The rebooted show is scheduled to open Tuesday.
Joan Jett sues in NY over planned Runaways tribute
Jennifer Peltz
NEW YORK (AP) – Joan Jett loves rock and roll, but not on a tribute album she says an ex-employee put together without her permission.
The “I Love Rock N’ Roll” singer-guitarist and 1970s bandmate Cherie Currie sued Thursday to try to stop the June 28 release of “Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise,” an intended homage to the Runaways, the punk bank that launched their careers and helped light a path for other brash, hard-edged female rock groups.
The two-disc album features Runaways songs covered by artists ranging from the all-woman Japanese pop-punk band Shonen Knife to David Johansen, of the 1970s glam-rock pacesetters the New York Dolls, according to the website of the label releasing it, Main Man Records. The group was best known for such tracks as “Cherry Bomb” and “Queens of Noise.”
But the lawsuit says the independent Main Man Records label used their names to promote the album without their say-so and that a Main Man staffer who once worked at Jett’s record label used that connection to imply the project had her blessing.
Eatontown, N.J.-based Main Man didn’t immediately respond to email and Twitter messages. No working telephone number could be found for Main Man or Jett’s former employee.
While the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, Jett and Currie ultimately just “want them to stop,” said their lawyer, Oren J. Warshavsky. “This isn’t about money. This is strictly about preserving reputation and quality that both Joan and Cherie are known for.”
Formed in 1975, the Runaways made a splash with brash, raw songs, a rebellious attitude and a sound that blended punk and heavy metal. The group disbanded in 1979, but the 2010 movie “The Runaways,” starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, reignited interest. Jett and Currie, who was the group’s lead singer for a time, have done some reunion performances in recent years.
Jett went on to form another band, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and score hits including “I Love Rock N’ Roll,” ”Bad Reputation” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” She also has appeared onstage in “The Rocky Horror Show” and in various movies, including 1987’s “Light of Day,” co-starring Michael J. Fox and Gena Rowlands.
MTV pulls plug on racy drama ‘Skins’ for season 2
NEW YORK (AP) – MTV says it won’t be bringing back its racy teen drama “Skins” for a second season.
The show “didn’t connect with a U.S. audience as much as we had hoped,” MTV spokesman Nathaniel Brown said Thursday in an announcement that should have surprised no one.
A hit on British television, “Skins” premiered on MTV in January in an Americanized version. But an initial audience of 3.3 million viewers shrank to 1.2 million viewers for the season finale.
Meanwhile, a TV watchdog group blasted the show’s content. Criticism was further inflamed when a newspaper story suggested that scenes with underage actors might violate federal child pornography laws.
A number of advertisers pulled their commercials from the series, which depicted teens engaging in sexual activity as well as drug and alcohol abuse.
Writer-producer-director Leonard Stern dies at 88
Frazier Moore, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – Leonard Stern, a prolific writer-producer-director whose credits include “The Honeymooners,” ”Get Smart,” and “McMillan and Wife,” died Tuesday. He was 88.
Stern died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his spokesman, Dale Olson.
A native of New York City, Stern found early success in TV writing for Jackie Gleason in “The Honeymooners” as well as the classic 1950s sitcom “The Phil Silvers Show” and “The Steve Allen Show.”
In the 1960s he produced the spy satire “Get Smart,” and in the 1970s wrote, directed and produced “McMillan and Wife,” the lighthearted crime drama starring Rock Hudson.
Film credits included screenplays for the 1952 version of “The Jazz Singer” starring Danny Thomas, as well as a pair of Abbott and Costello comedies. Three decades later, he wrote and directed “Just You and Me, Kid,” starring George Burns and 14-year-old Brooke Shields. In 1985, he wrote the script for the action-thriller “Target,” starring Gene Hackman and directed by Arthur Penn.
Stern was also involved in publishing, including the word game Mad Libs, which he co-created.
During his career he won three Emmy awards, two Golden Globes and a Peabody award.
Stern is survived by his wife of 55 years, actress Gloria Stroock, as well as a son, Michael Stern, a daughter, Kate Stern, two grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter.
Funeral services were scheduled Friday at Mt. Sinai.
Hollywood, Chinese studios in co-production deal
Min Lee, Entertainment Writer
HONG KONG (AP) – The production house behind hits like “The Dark Knight,” ”Inception” and the two “Hangover” installments has partnered with a leading studio in China as it deepens its reach in one of Hollywood’s increasingly lucrative markets.
Legendary Entertainment said in a statement on Thursday that it has set up a new unit that will co-produce movies with Huayi Brothers Media Corp.
Legendary’s Hong Kong-based subsidiary, Legendary East, plans to make one or two “major, event-style films” a year starting in 2013.
The partnership allows Legendary Entertainment to bypass Chinese import restrictions that effectively limit the country to about 20 foreign blockbusters a year.
Recent releases by the Beijing-based Huayi Brothers include the hit Feng Xiaogang disaster epic “Aftershock,” the kung fu drama “Shaolin” and the Tsui Hark fantasy epic “Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.” Its films accounted for 17 percent of the Chinese box office in 2010.
The deal comes after Legendary Entertainment sold a 3.3 percent stake to Chinese studio Orange Sky Golden Harvest in September for $25 million. Orange Sky is the product of Chinese businessman Wu Kebo’s 2007 takeover of storied Hong Kong studio Golden Harvest, which counted Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and John Woo among its roster. The Beijing-based company’s recent investments include Woo’s two-part historical epic “Red Cliff” and the action thriller “Storm Warriors.” It also runs multiplexes in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
Orange Sky Chief Executive Kelvin Wu will serve as chief executive of Legendary East.
Chinese box office takings surged 64 percent to $1.5 billion in 2010. The James Cameron 3-D sci-fi epic was the biggest hit with a total take of $204 million.
More recently, Chinese box office receipts helped boost the international take of “Kung Fu Panda 2.” The animation comedy opened in IMAX format in 22 Chinese theaters on May 28, earning just over $300,000 on that day alone.
Online: http://legendarypictures.com http://www.hbpictures.com
China launches star-studded propaganda movie
BEIJING (AP) – Chinese movie stars gathered Wednesday to launch a blockbuster movie celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.
The “Beginning of the Great Revival” traces developments between the 1911 revolution that overthrew imperial rule and the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party on July 31, 1921. It is part of a series of events in China marking the anniversary.
It features many of the Chinese film industry’s biggest names such as Andy Lau and Chow Yun-fat, who attended Wednesday’s event.
Director Han Sanping told a news conference the movie is better than 2009’s “The Founding of a Republic,” which told the story of the Communist Party winning power in 1949.
China Film Group is hoping for a repeat of the success it had with “The Founding of a Republic” which made 415 million yuan ($61 million) at the box office, a large amount for China.
Its success was helped by politically correct theater operators who flooded their properties with screenings. The “Beginning of the Great Revival” is likely to receive similar treatment.
Communist China’s founding father, Mao Zedong, is played by Chinese actor Liu Ye, best known to Western audiences for his roles in the Zhang Yimou imperial drama “Curse of the Golden Flower” and the drama “Dark Matter,” which costarred Meryl Streep.
Online: Official website: http://gw.chinafilm.com/index.html
Disney to lay off nearly 250 at studio
Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A person familiar with the matter says The Walt Disney Co. is preparing to lay off under 5 percent of the employees at its studio, or up to about 250 people, next week.
Most of the people work in home video distribution, which was merged with the theatrical distribution division late last year, the person said.
DVD sales have been plunging industrywide and the studio is looking to cut costs.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly since the affected employees won’t be told until next week.
The layoffs are the largest since last year, when Disney shut a Robert Zemeckis-run motion-capture facility in the San Francisco area last year and let go about 450 people.
‘Lonely Boy’ composer Andrew Gold dies in LA at 59
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Andrew Gold, a singer, musician and composer whose songs included the 1977 hit “Lonely Boy,” has died. He was 59.
His sister, Melani Gold Friedman, tells the Los Angeles Times that Gold died in his sleep Friday at his home in Encino, Calif. She says he had cancer but had been responding to treatment.
Gold was a multi-instrumental player whose popular singles included “Thank You for Being a Friend” and the British hit “Never Let Her Slip Away.”
He was in Linda Rondstadt’s band, arranged songs for and performed on several Rondstadt albums, including “Heart Like a Wheel,” and did session work for artists such as James Taylor and Carly Simon.
Gold’s mother was movie singer Marni Nixon, and his father was Ernest Gold, who composed the Oscar-winning score for “Exodus.”
MTV Movie Awards show sneak peeks at future films
Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writers
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) – This year’s MTV Movie Awards came with a preview of next year’s possible winners.
Besides passing out prizes for MTV viewers’ favorite films, Sunday’s ceremony featured world-premiere clips from some of the year’s most anticipated movies, including the forthcoming installments in the “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” franchises.
The most recent “Twilight” movie won five awards Sunday, and the scream-inducing star trio of Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart took a break from accepting trophies to present a clip from the penultimate film in the series. Set for release in November, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” includes preparations for a wedding and hints at a pregnancy between Bella Swan (Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Pattinson). Jacob (Lautner) is shown throwing down the wedding invitation in disgust, then taking his shirt off and turning into a werewolf.
Pattinson was the star of this year’s Movie Awards, dropping an F-bomb, locking lips with Lautner and collecting awards for best kiss, best fight and best male performance for “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.” He also won best kiss and best male performance last year for the previous “Twilight” film. Chances are good he’ll be up for the golden popcorn trophy again in 2012.
“Potter” has a winning history at the MTV Movie Awards. Tom Felton, who plays bullying Draco Malfoy in the series, won best villain Sunday for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.” He won the same award last year.
“This will look very nice in my downstairs toilet,” he said of his trophy. “Thank you.”
Hermione Granger was also on hand: Emma Watson introduced footage from the final “Potter” film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” The ultimate showdown between Potter and Voldemort hits theaters in July.
Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams have each made movies that found fanatical fans among the MTV audience. Their joint effort, “Super 8,” has been building buzz since last summer. Produced by Spielberg and written and directed by Abrams, the film tells the story of a group of young filmmakers who witness and photograph a mysterious train crash. Stars Elle Fanning and Joel Courtney joined Abrams and Spielberg to unveil the new clip. The film opens June 10.
While they didn’t show any footage, Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake gave a hint of their “Friends With Benefits” flick, due in July, by cupping each other’s genitals while presenting an award Sunday. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, who star in this month’s “Green Lantern,” presented together, as did Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and MTV Movie Awards host Jason Sudeikis, who star in the comedy “Horrible Bosses,” out in July. The stars of “Bad Teacher,” Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, presented an award together. And Danny McBride, Nick Swardson and Aziz Ansari, who wore braids and a karate uniform to emulate his idol Jaden Smith, showed off the chemistry they’ll display in “30 Minutes or Less,” which opens in August.
Actress Amanda Bynes said on the way into the show that she was looking forward to still other summer movies: “I’m excited to see ‘X-Men 2’ and ‘Transformers 3,'” she said.
Any of them could be considered for MTV Movie Awards, since fans pick nominees and winners. One thing’s for sure: They’re already excited about the next “Twilight.”
Online: http://movieawards.mtv.com
Disney legends die within a day of each other
Christopher Weber
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – They shared a stage at Disneyland five days a week for nearly three decades and died within a day of each other.
Betty Taylor, who played Slue Foot Sue in Disney’s long-running Golden Horseshoe Revue, passed away Saturday – one day after the death of Wally Boag, who played her character’s sweetheart, Pecos Bill.
The 91-year-old Taylor died at her home in Washington state, Disneyland announced on its web site. Boag, who was 90, died Friday. He was a resident of Santa Monica, Calif.
The causes of death were not announced and attempts to contact relatives for comment were not immediately successful.
“Betty’s role as leading lady in Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue helped turn it into the longest-running stage show in entertainment history,” George Kalogridis, the president of Disneyland Resort, said in a statement. “It is a tragic coincidence that her passing comes just one day after the death of longtime co-star Wally Boag.”
Boag, a former vaudeville performer, signed a two-week contract with Walt Disney in 1955. He originated the role of Pecos Bill in the revue, taking the stage three times a day and logging nearly 40,000 performances before retiring in 1982.
Most of those shows were alongside Taylor, who joined the revue a year after Hoag. Her run on the show – which closed in 1986 – lasted nearly 45,000 performances.
The Golden Horseshoe Revue is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running stage production in show business history.
“Wally was instrumental in the development of live entertainment during the early years of both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney World Resort,” Kalogridis said. “His characters will continue to live in the hearts of our guests, while his larger-than-life personality will forever make him the true Clown Prince of Disneyland.”
Boag’s comedic timing influenced generations of performers, including actor Steve Martin, who called Boag his “hero.” Martin tweeted Saturday that Boag was “the first comedian I ever saw live, my influence, a man to whom I aspired.”
Boag and Taylor both appeared on television in “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color.”
And before joining Disney, Boag appeared in a number of films during the 1940s, including “Without Love,” starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, and “The Thrill of Romance,” with Esther Williams.
He later appeared in Disney films such as “The Absent-Minded Professor,” ”Son of Flubber” and “The Love Bug.”
Born in Seattle, Taylor began taking dance lessons at age 3. At 14, she sang and danced in nightclubs across the country, and by 18, led her own band called Betty and Her Beaus, which included 16 male musicians and appeared regularly at the Trianon Ballroom in Seattle.
In 1956, while living in Los Angeles and performing as a drum player with a musical group, Taylor heard about auditions for a song-and-dance job at Disneyland. She got the gig, which she held for 30 years, leading to appearances on a USO tour of Greenland and Newfoundland and a show for President Richard Nixon and his family in The White House.
She performed at the park until 1987, but continued to appear in special events, such as Walt Disney’s Wild West, a 1995 retrospective at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles.
