Gossip Central

Pedro Almodovar’s Women: The Two Faces of Julieta

Pedro Almodovar loves women. His films feature memorable female roles: look at Kika, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Talk to Her, Volver, yet another great part for his protégé Penelope Cruz, and now Julieta, the titular protagonist penned for two fine Spanish actresses: Emma Suarez as the mature Julieta, and Adriana Ugarte, Julieta as a young woman. Based on short stories by Canadian author Alice Munro, Julieta further illustrates Almodovar’s literary bent—The Skin I Live In, for example was an adaptation of Thierry Jonquet’s revenge tale, Migale, but just right for his style, on the verge of melodrama. His women, in every case, are out there. Last fall, I had the opportunity to talk to his stars about working with this unique Spanish auteur, and how he prepared them for playing Julieta.

Denzel Washington’s Fences: Celebrating August Wilson’s Masterpiece

How do you bring the brilliant, Pulitzer Prize winning Fences, to the screen? You stick close to August Wilson’s jazz poetry. This week Fences was celebrated with a screening at Lincoln Center’s jazz venue, Rose Hall. The movie’s director Denzel Washington led his killer hand-picked cast including Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Mykelti Williamson, Russell Hornsby—Denzel Washington wanted his actors to stand with him.

Ride the Cyclone: A Musical at the Lucille Lortel Theater

Coney Island’s roller coaster known as The Cyclone was simultaneously alluring and terrifying. The Cyclone in Ride the Cyclone, a glorious MCC production at the Lucille Lortel Theater is no different with its premise of promising members of the Saint Cassian High School chamber choir wiped out on a single ride. Alluring, yes, terrifying, yes, but add teeming with life, despite the down cycle of death. A disembodied carny head in a box predicts the teens’ demise; the Amazing Karnac serves further to narrate their misfortune, and invite each to tell the story of a life interrupted. Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond’s book focuses on these teens’ inner lives, revealing much to sing and dance about, and they do, especially as Karnac will restore one of them to the land of the living. As directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell, each one makes his or her case: attention must be paid.

Martin Scorsese’s Silence: An Interview with Producer Gaston Pavlovich

When I met with Gaston Pavlovich at the Ritz Carlton to talk about his work on Martin Scorsese’s Silence, the film’s producer expressed doubt: would movie goers come to this two hour plus film set in 17th century Japan about the persecution of Christians? I had just seen Silence the night before with an awe-struck audience; a panel followed, including producers Emma Koskoff and Irwin Winkler, and the Japanese actor Issey Ogata who plays The Inquisitor. From an opening procession in a shimmering mist, the film feels special. Scorsese told the rapt crowd, it was Ang Lee who suggested he shoot in Taiwan. Andrew Garfield was cast as Rodrigues because he read well for the part, but more, he wanted it so much. Scorsese wanted to film this book, Silence by Shusaku Endo, for 28 years. Many came away believing, as I did, that Silence was a game changer.

Annette Bening: Honored at New York Stage & Film Gala/ Mother Writ-Large in Mike Mills’ Twentieth Century Women

“If I were a woman,” Rob Reiner said in a video of congratulatory messages for Annette Bening at the Plaza Hotel where this sublime actress was feted at the New York Stage & Film Gala, “I’d be jealous.” Even those of us attending, with so many who worked with her or want to work with her, including Billy Crudup, John Patrick Shanley, Peter Gallagher, Julianne Marguiles, Jennifer Westfeldt, Greta Gerwig, a who’s who of stage, television, and screen including her co-honoree David Rockwell, admired Bening’s stellar career on stage and in movies-- some favorites include American Beauty, The Grifters, and The Kids are All Right. Next up she is Irina in Chekhov’s The Seagull. With her husband Warren Beatty who was also present, she is Hollywood royalty.

Steve Tyrell at the Café Carlyle: Home for the Holidays

Now in his twelfth year performing at the Café Carlyle, Steve Tyrell exulted in the packed house and sold out nights for the holidays. No wonder he seemed so comfortable and set the mood with “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” and “You’d be so Nice to Come Home To.” David Mann on flute brought the comfy mood home, and Tyrell introduced him and “the best band in the world,” including Quinn Johnson on piano, David Finck on bass, Bob Mann on guitar, Kevin Winard on drums and Jon Allen on keyboards, A dozen years is impressive, and the occasion for Tyrell to reminisce about his very first time at the Carlyle, with George Steinbrenner in the house.

Dear Evan Hansen: A Review

You’d think the death by suicide of a lonely teen would be a total downer. In Dear Evan Hansen, the play that opened at Broadway’s Music Box Theater on Sunday night after an ecstatic off Broadway run, we meet the troubled boy, Connor (Mike Faist), early on. He’s a bully and picks on the play’s protagonist before the tragic deed, and the rest of this exuberant, fresh, musical is about how, in the age of the Internet, something big is made of something so unknowable and private as this young man’s demise. Ben Platt plays Evan Hansen. An actor of mega talent who made a huge impression in the Pitch Perfect movies, Platt has many fans who clapped hard the minute he took stage, in his bed writing a letter of affirmation to himself: “Dear Evan Hansen,” it starts.

Robert DeNiro in The Comedian: DeNiro’s Busy Week

You don’t have to have a passion for Pagliacci to know the life of a clown has a tragic dimension. Without going to operatic extremes, The Comedian, a movie starring Robert DeNiro as a standup potty-mouthed performer, has a dark side. DeNiro developed the project with Art Linson over eight years, he said at a panel last week for The Comedians at the Plaza Athenee. Robert DeNiro’s comic side, honed in movies like Last Vegas to name one, and his huge heart as in his wise, sensitive father in say, Silver Linings Playbook, come together in this movie, especially playing opposite Leslie Mann.