Gossip Central

Why Allen Ginsberg Matters: The Essential Ginsberg

In 1997, the last year of his life, poet Allen Ginsberg fretted that the first amendment battles won over his iconic epic Howl, would now face a reversal. Howl had been read on Pacifica radio, and censors now wanted to confine those readings till late night, lest innocent ears be compromised. Backtrack to 1955, the year of the poem’s composition: Howl had been the subject of a censorship trial, its language deemed obscene. The midcentury court ruled in Howl’s favor, finding the poem’s language reflective of redeeming human values, to frame the decision in some legal context. To all who understood the poem’s meaning, the court declared a victory for tenderness, and the right to express horror at society’s attempts to dehumanize and restrict individual freedom. Now, fast forward to 2015. Ginsberg’s fears are coming true in the nightmare news that David Olio, a beloved and much awarded Connecticut teacher, has been fired for reading aloud in an AP English classroom from Ginsberg’s poem, “Please Master.”

Amanda Seyfried’s Theater Debut in Neil LaBute’s The Way We Get By

Among the many reasons to see Neil LaBute’s latest exploration of sexual relations, The Way We Get By, in its Second Stage Theatre production, is to see the actor Thomas Sadoski fussing, and to glimpse Amanda Seyfried’s bare breast as she changes her tee-shirt. The two-hander involves a couple after a night in bed. Is it a one-night stand? Or will they fall back into one another’s arms?

Anticipating the Tony Awards, with Alan Cumming at the Café Carlyle, the Astaire Awards, and Stars in the Alley

Facing a crowd that included his mother and brother as well as Tony Danza, next up for a run at the Café Carlyle, Alan Cumming reminded everyone that he would be hosting the Tony Awards with Kristen Chenoweth on Sunday night, admitting that he was “freaking out.” That was hard to believe from the poised actor, prepared by years of M.C. workout in Cabaret. But as he deftly sang his “sloppy” mash-ups including one channeling Adele, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry, he paused to sing from the Kander & Ebb musical, The Visit, a contender for Best Musical: “You, You, You,” a number sung memorably by Chita Rivera, herself nominated for Best Actress in a Musical.

Michele Lee: Remembering Cy Coleman at 54 Below

Michele Lee, of ‘80’s era soap opera Knots Landing fame, will perform Cy Coleman tunes in a tribute celebrating the composer’s birthday at 54 Below for three nights, June 11-13. A great and giving storyteller, Lee’s engagement should be a music fest, yes, but also anecdote-laden treat, with some tasty Broadway legend tidbits. The multi-talented star, first came on my radar on television, in “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” and in my very first Broadway show, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, with Rudy Vallee and a young Robert Morse, now known as Mad Men’s Bert Cooper. More recently off Broadway Lee was part of the rotating cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, written by Delia and Nora Ephron. I had a chance to talk to Michele Lee about her next great moment-- on the intimate cabaret stage.

Alicia Vikander: Testament of Youth Premieres

Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth, the famed memoir of the author’s time as a nurse during World War I, is now a major motion picture perfectly poised for summer. Leave it to David Heyman, the producer of the Harry Potter films, to put this book on screen. Heyman seems to specialize in coming of age stories, and this one, about a writer, is stunning. A love story set against the epic sweep of war, covering the terrain made famous in the literature of Ernest Hemingway and T. S. Eliot, this film, sad in its revelations about the emptiness of war, takes a grand anti-war stand when Brittain, played exquisitely by the lithe Alicia Vikander speaks to revenge-minded Brits about losses endured by everyone on every side, including Germans. Having lost her dear brother Edward (Taron Egerton), her friend Victor (Colin Morgan), and her poet fiancé Roland (the dreamy Kit Harington), Brittain knows of what she speaks. In our time of drone warfare, WWI appears quaint and bloody with its hand-to-hand combat. If any film is to capture the attention of vacationing crowds, it’s this gorgeous movie. 

Lauryn Hill at the Apollo: Celebrating Nina Simone

You know the old joke: how do you get to Carnegie Hall? For jazz giant Nina Simone, it took more than practice. A classical piano prodigy, Simone, nee Eunice Waymon, was denied entrance to the Curtis Institute of Music, and could not be booked in clubs even after she showed she had the chops: she was black. For one gig, she was told she had to sing; it is for her unusual gift as a vocalist that she is best known. Liz Garbus’ documentary about Nina Simone: What Happened, Miss Simone? Had its New York premiere at the Apollo Theater Monday night, co-hosted by The Film Society of Lincoln Center. The Netflix movie limns this genius’ difficult life: married to a man who controlled and beat her, through her political activism, her mental decline, and her final years battling bipolar disorder and breast cancer. Her performances of “I Loves You, Porgy,” “I Put a Spell on You,” “My Baby Just Cares for Me,” and many other songs lift this film out of the usual biopic genre. Evocative archival footage, and interviews with family, friends and band mates, round out the lively portrait: you feel her vital, troubled, and singularly talented presence the whole time.