Top Story: Broadway Musicals Still Dark
The musical Chicago may be lighting up movie theaters everywhere, but not theaters on Broadway. When Broadway musicians went on strike on Friday, 18 of 19 Broadway musicals were shut down, including Chicago, Hairspray and Mamma Mia!, at a cost of about $1.2 million per performance in lost box office revenue, according to CNN.com. The Associated Press reports that as of Sunday the musicians’ union and theater owners’ league still hadn’t met to iron out their differences over what the minimum size of musical orchestras should be. For information about the ongoing strike, visit www.broadway.com.
Guest Hosts Line Up To Do Letterman
As David Letterman continues to recuperate from a case of shingles, his show The Late Show With David Letterman returns after a weeklong hiatus with a string of guest hosts ready to make sure the show goes on. Variety reports hosts will include Whoopi Goldberg, Vince Vaughn, Elvis Costello and Will Ferrell.
Sizemore Pleads Innocent
Dreamcatcher star Tom Sizemore, known for his gruff military men in films such as Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down, pleaded innocent Friday to punching a woman in the face and throwing her to the ground, Reuters reports. His misdemeanor charges include domestic violence, battery and violating a restraining order. Sizemore claims he does not know the woman who filed charges against him.
Don’t Call Durst Stupid
After Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst was called “illiterate” by some journalists for an antiwar statement he made at the Grammy Awards, it now appears his choice of words was indeed correct, Reuters reports. Durst told the Grammys audience, “I just really hope we’re all in agreeance that this war should go away as soon as possible.” While “agreeance” isn’t normally used, the North American editor of the Oxford English Dictionary confirmed to the New York Observer it is, in fact, a word. Said Durst on his Web site, “The dumb asses at the Orange County Register and everyone else are welcome to intern at Flawless Records until they learn enough about journalism to write for a major daily newspaper.”
Pop Star Adam Faith Dies
Reuters reports British pop singer-turned-actor Adam Faith, best known for his 1959 song “What Do You Want” as well as his successful television career in British shows such as Budgie and Love Hurts, died Saturday in London of a massive heart attack. He was 62.
ROLE CALL, Part I: Phoenix, Witherspoon Walk; Welling, Duff Join Dozen
From The Hollywood Reporter: Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix will star in Walk the Line, a Johnny Cash biopic with Phoenix as Cash and Witherspoon as his wife June Carter… Smallville‘s Tom Welling and Lizzie Maguire‘s Hilary Duff will join Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt in a remake of Cheaper by the Dozen for 20th Century Fox. The 1950 comedy, starring Clifton Webb and Jeanne Crain, revolved around the Gilbreth family, who had to struggle to keep it together with a brood of 12 children.
ROLE CALL Part II: Stepford Beckons Close, Walken; O’Neal Heads to NBC
From Variety: Glenn Close and Christopher Walken are in negotiations to join Nicole Kidman, John Cusack and Joan Cusack in the Frank Oz-directed remake The Stepford Wives for Paramount Pictures. The studio is also wooing country pop star Faith Hill for a small role. The 1975 original starred Katherine Ross and centered on a small Connecticut town whose liberated female residents are turned into “perfect” mates…Ryan O’Neal will team up with Sex and the City creator Darren Star in the NBC pilot Miss/Match. O’Neal plays the father of Alicia Silverstone, a matrimonial lawyer who doubles as a high-end matchmaker even though her own love life is less than perfect.
