The only people still talking about Clay Aiken's coming out are Clay Aiken and his crazed Claymates (and now us). The singer took to his fan site to speak out about his People magazine cover and assure those crazy Bible thumpers that he's still the same ol' G.
We'll post the full diatribe after the jump, but for those of you who don't care enough to take three hours to read it, we'll sum it up for you: Clay somehow panders to his few "OMG this changes everything" fans without sounding hateful or condescending.
So … we're still figuring this out. There's something called Legally Brown: The Search For The Next Piragua Guy, which looks like a web-only spoof that's supposedly casting for a bit part of Broadway musical In The Heights. "Dozens of people" auditioned. It's a take off of MTV's reality show Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods, which crowned Bailey Hanks the winner, only to see her show get canceled.
From the videos we watched, well, it's sort of funny, mostly because its creators got actual Broadway stars involved, including the likes of Allison Janney (of new Dolly Parton show 9 To 5) and Cheyenne Jackson (he of the also-closing Xanadu), as well as Legally Blonde's judge Bernie Telsey to reprise his role. That, and you don't need to be a total theatre geek to get the jokes.
Below, the project's trailer, which reminds viewers that each of the contestants, who are on Broadway, have a chance to be on Broadway. CONTINUED »
'First "Rent," then "Legally Blonde" and now "Hairspray." The show is closing its curtains on Broadway, with a final performance January 18. The producers say the closing has nothing to do with last year's strike, which put so many long-running shows in jeopardy. Instead, a rep for the production noted, "The show is six and a half years old, and the producers have decided it's the right time. We've had a great run, and we can't ask for much more." To go out on a high note, Harvey Fierstein is returning to his original role of Edna Turnblad — a role John Travolta played in the last film version — starting November 11.' [MTV]
While flipping through New York Magazine last night under the table while saying mumbling "Baruch Atah Adonoi" along with the rest of the family, I noticed something a little bit…funky. Not that the magazine's 40th anniversary issue wasn't fantastic and full of pictures and charts and timelines and confirmation that NY's always been fucked up so don't worry about this whole Dow Jones mess, but I couldn't understand the how the editors picked some of their celebrities for their New York Actors segment:
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Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Bill T. Jones' play, Fela!, about Nigerian music legend and activist Fela Kuti. While waiting to enter the theater, I briefly chatted with someone who told me that he was part of Beyonce's crew and that she would be attending the show. If you know me, you know my interest was more than piqued, but, to my great disappointment, I never actually saw her.
Because today hasn't included enough news about confusing musicals, here's another one for ya: Brett Easton Ellis' most famously depraved novel, American Psycho, is heading to the stage. The book and subsequent film prominently feature monologues about 80s Reagan-era bands, which will play a large part in the musical production's development.
Though taking a gamble on theater right now (which are not doing as badly as other economic ventures right now but still) producers Craig Roessler and Johnson-Roessler have high hopes that a satirical look at murder on Wall Street will strike a gallows-humor chord with the ex-Lehman brother crowd.
Below, one scene from the film version of AP that will definitely be a highlight of the dance numbers:
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For five months in 2007, actor Daniel Radcliffe appeared as Alan Strang in the play Equus, a role requiring some full-frontal acting. And for five months, people waited in vain for a skin snap to leak from that British production. The Brits, of course, are far too refined such antics and not even the tabloids went for the Harry Potter star's prick.
Fast forward sixteen months and we find Radcliffe reprising his role here in the United States. And guess what?! One day into the Broadway show's previews and there it is: Daniel Radcliffe's wang for all the world to see. And we use the word "see" very loosely, because the actor's genitals are basically a blur.
Anonymous, the masked Internet avengers against Scientology, are planning a protest outside the Broadway theater where Katie Holmes will be starring in All My Sons. The show, which doesn't even open till October 16th, is already getting slapped with reports of lackluster ticket sales.
While the Anonymous group protests the unwatchable show, they claim their goal is not to humiliate Ms. Holmes, but to "save Katie."
From Tom Cruise? From herself? Or from the nasty queens in the critics circle who will enjoy nothing more than tearing her mediocre acting to shreds of lost dignity?
The Holmes backlash has been in effect for quite awhile now, what with her marrying that crazy guy and bearing his creepily-perfect alien love baby. But give credit where credit is due, Holmes isn't the worst actress in Hollywood today. (Melanie Griffith still gets work.)
Although fans of the Dark Knight were relieved when Maggie Gyllenhaal took over to play Katie's role, Holmes has always been one of those young actresses whose performance can best be described with words like "decent," "acceptable," and "passing." She was very good in Thank You For Smoking, actually. Unfortunately, as Mrs. Cruise tries to take Xenu's gospel to the Great White Way, her acceptable mediocrity isn't bowling over the Broadway audiences: CONTINUED »
Hunky actor Hunter Parrish has been hard at work rehearsing for his new gig in Broadway's Spring Awakening, the Duncan Sheik scored adaption of Frank Wedekind 1891 play.
Of course, the Weeds actor hasn't been too busy to embrace his local publications, like New York, with whom Parrish recently chatted about reclaiming his beloved stage, awkward sex scenes and the tribulations of being on a show about drugs:
On Monday night's episode, 20-year old Bailey Hanks won MTV's Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods competition. Tonight, at the Palace Theatre, just a number of weeks since the show started taping, she'll take the stage for the first time in Legally Blonde, replacing Laura Bell Bundy.
This is great news for every other singer-actress working the theatre circuit, for Ms. Hanks had never seen a Broadway show, nor auditioned to appear in one, before sending in a tape to MTV to become, in a single effort, both a reality television and Broadway stage star.
Congratulations on having the entire industry already hate you! Break a leg before they do it for you.
Because half of the gossip news cycle is not what is happening, but what isn't, today's breaking news out of the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes camp is that the one slightly more interested in sleeping with women will not be headed to Broadway as SOME REPORTS HAVE CLAIMED! Sure, Katie Holmes will make her debut in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, where ticket sales are nothing to boast about, but the closest Cruise will get to the Broadway stage is showing up on Katie's opening night. He will then retreat to Hollywood, which doesn't want him either.
Things are looking good for Hunter Parrish.
The Weeds actor, who has blossomed into quite the hunk, will soon be taking Broadway by storm. in the Duncan Sheik scored Spring Awakening:
The new musical Bash'd, the "gay rap opera" playing Off Broadway at the Zipper Theatre, tells the story of T-Bag and Feminem, two white lyrcists who spend 65 minutes, non stop, rapping out the story of two Canadians (Dillon and Jack) who, in the course of meeting and falling in love (and, um, getting "bash'd"), also face off on what it means to be gay and have rights without assimilating into the hetero world (or maybe that's a good thing?). The whole effort is quite funny, without the scatalogical humor Mike Myers (and other homos) so often relies on. If you're looking for an existential storytelling on what it means to be a gay man in modern times, you'll find it; if you're looking for a romantic dramedy played out by two stamina-blessed players, you'll find that too. And like a good romp, afterward you'll be exhausted, and yearning for a cigarette. [Bash'd on MySpace]
Underdog Xanadu continues its Tony Awards campaign with its latest YouTube clip, this one featuring Nathan Lane and the semi-naked boys of the show, including star Cheyenne Jackson. You see, producers are worried that the show is too gay. A musical. Based on a movie Olivia Newton-John starred in. Too gay. Hard to believe, yes. So they're doing everything they can to shoot down those rumors. Or, at least, and with the help of Nathan Lane, make the issue appear so overblown, Tony's voters won't feel like they have to bow to public pressure and give the award to someone else.
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