I know that title is a little misleading. It’s okay… a calculated plan of mine to get more hits by tricking people to my blog.  You wonder how I get a calculated plan?  Just use the plan feature on your Casio Calculator Watch and it will lead you in the right direction.  Or figure out the best tip for a given meal.  So last friday I was supposed to get my wisdom teeth pulled.  I only had 3 and they weren’t impacted.  But 1 had a giant hole in it and was rotting.  Which is really cool.  And yep my breath did smell like peaches.  The Oral Surgeon had “an emergency”, that emergency better have been John Stamos needing his wisdom teeth out.  IF, and only If that was the delay, then we coool.  If not…watch your back son.   It was saturday night and I started feeling really bad pain.  By sunday afternoon when I should have been enjoying the Colts kick the shit out of the Jets I was laying on the couch in a ball crying.  And I wasn’t even watching lifetime! I know! So yesterday this was me (gross alert!)

My surgery was done with lazers and robots. Pretty high tech shit. It was preformed by Robocop and the Terminator.

So I got those monstrosities out, I had even asked politely to have them save my teeth so I could chill with them.  I had two plans for them.  1) see what the tooth fairy would give me for those bad boys.  I was thinking 50.00 US security bond.  2) if that didn’t work out… Yep, necklace.  I was going to convince people I hunt and kill hobos for fun and keep 1 wisdom tooth per victory.  Would have made me the cock of the walk…. Guaranteed.

Now I can only sit and remember when I think they would have looked like.  That oral surgeon screwed me out of a bad ass necklace!

This chipmunk is a genius! Somebody find me that chipmunk I want to party with him. FYI... well placed smiley face...good work internet chipmunk

No obvious jokes about how unwise these teeth actually are… so juvenile, I am way better than that ….I mean really they grow in sideways? Weak. Moron Teeth more like it!… I couldn’t help myself.  Just like I can’t help myself around pancakes.  Ohh and go to Denny’s they have a new 3 plate breakfast meal.  I don’t know how that is possible/legal….but I am sold.

Out

Enjoy this 10 minutes of incredibleness. 100 “Cheesiest” Movie Lines…I say Best/Awesome/incredible…but you say tomato I say cabbage.

——

Awesome Song of The Day #96

Gucci Mane

Dope Boys

(Bird Anderson Remix from the Diplo Free Gucci, best of the Cold War Mixtapes)

give it a good listen…the beat is soooo chilllin and the lyrics are incredible. (like a pigeon in the sky I just shitted in your eye)

As Always…I love you.

Bye Bye “Birdie”

The universally panned production of Bye Bye Birdie, starring John Stamos and Gina Gershon, closed on Broadway on Jan 24 after playing 117 performances. Though selling at 90% capacity, producers decided the show’s success would dwindle upon the departure of its stars and so closed as planned, rather than extending its run.

Hello New Work

Wildhorn’s Wonderland

An exciting new musical that’s been getting lots of buzz in the social media sphere Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlett Pimpernel, The Civil War) and Jack Murphy’s (The Civil War) Wonderland, a new take on Lewis Carol’s “Alice in Wonderland.” The show opened on Jan 20 at the Alley Theatre in Houston.

The cast includes a lot of Broadway names, including Janet Dacal (In the Heights, Good Vibrations), Jose Llana (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Karen Mason (Sunset Boulevard, Mamma Mia!), Darren Ritchie (Dracula: The Musical), Nikki Snelson (Legally Blonde), Ed Staudenmayer (Forbidden Broadway) and Tad Wilson (Rock of Ages).

This show definitely has Broadway aspirations, though no dates or official plans have yet been announced. Cross your fingers that its sooner rather than later.

Duncan Sheik’s The Whisper House

Spring Awakening’s Dunkan Sheik celebrated the world premiere of Whisper House, which opened Jan. 21 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. The show, which features a hauntingly beautiful score, has hopes of making it to Broadway sometime in the next couple of years.

The Pee Wee Herman Show

Another show with Broadway aims is the Pee Wee Herman Show, which opened on Jan 20 at the Los Angeles’ Club Nokia @ L.A. LIVE. Paul Reubens stars the title role he created back in the 1980s and looks to be having just as much fun today as he did back then. Though more a show with music than a musical, I couldn’t not include it on the blog here. I mean, it’s Pee Wee Herman!

A Spice Girls Musical?

Yep. Pee Wee Herman isn’t the only pop-culture icon to be brought to the stage. Mamma Mia! producer Judy Craymer is turning her attention to a jukebox musical that will use the songs (and we can only hope, the personalities) of that crazy English girl-group of the 90s – the Spice Girls.

New Horizons

Original Foursome will Make their Broadway Debuts with Million Dollar Quartet

The original foursome from the Chicago production of the musical Million Dollar Quartet, Eddie Clendening, Lance Guest, Levi Kreis and Rob Lyons, will reprise their roles in the show’s Broadway premiere, all making their Broadway premieres. They will be joined by two Broadway veterans: Hunter Foster (Urinetown, Little Shop of Horrors) and Elizabeth Stanley (Cry-Baby, Company).

Showtime to Document the Process of Taking a Musical from Concept to Broadway

If you’ve kept up with the blog here, you know that Speilberg is producing a new Showtime series tracing the evolution of a new musical.

Composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can) were previously announced as being on board, and now a writer has surfaced – Theresa Rebeck – the author who penned the recent off-Broadway hit the Understudy and has a fair number of TV shows under her belt.

I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see this show get off the ground, and if the success of Glee and the long string of casting shows series, I’m not the only one that’ll be eating it up.

Norbert Leo Butz on TV

Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Wicked, The Last Five Years) is starring as Rowdy Kaiser on ABC’s “The Deep End,” a new drama series about five first-year lawyers starting out at a top firm. If you missed last week’s premiere – check it out on ABC’s website.

Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame

Operating an industrial milling machine is hard work, but the lemony Los Angeles sun is so mild this morning that Travis Paternostro, a stocky stonemason, has barely broken a sweat. Working the device in a roped-off section of Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame, Paternostro is grinding to a shiny finish a three-foot sqaure of terrazzo paving block that he mixed and laid himself just yesterday.

“I always take care of the stars personally,” Paternostro says, his graying black hair coated in stone dust. “It keeps up the damily tradition.”

Last year, an estimated 20 million people walked all over the handiwork of Paternostro and his forebears. They’ve also had their pictures snapped as they knelt on and fitted their palms into the handprints left by celebrities. For nearly 50 years, the Paternostro has crafted the brass stars that line this 3.5-mile stretch of sidewalk. There are 2,393 stars’ stars in all (plus a few for complanies including L’Oréal, and minus those that have been stolen, such as Gregory Peck’s).

The first celebrated actress was Joanne Woodward; Paternostro’s grandfather, Biaggio, did the honors in 1960. Today’s addition is Full House and ER heartthrob John Stamos.

“I got up early this morning and welded the name and the star design from brass,” Paternostro says, mopping his brow.

Each square on the Walk is made from an aggregate of marble, coral, seashells and glass (“Sometimes you can see the labels from old beer bottles”) and then blended with either cement or epoxy. Every year, an average of 24 stars are awarded to celebrities eager for this heavily sought-after piece of Tinseltown immortality. While the price of fame itself is incalculable, a place on the Walk will set Uncle Jesse’s supporters back a cool $25,000.

“I guess they thought it was worth it,” says Paternostro, turning back to his grinder.

Credit: James Bartlett via Hemisphere Magazine

Romancemama is on her meds and must have forgotten.  I ALMOST put Paul Giamatti  here just to make her squirm but I decided that would not be nice.  So, here is a substitute.

It is the first installment of my “do one thing you can only do in NYC each week” series:)

This week I am going to recount a few Broadway shows I have seen recently. I will try to do some other small “only in NYC” event as well this week but I have decided that Broadway shows will count in this series because Broadway only exists in NYC.

So, diving right in!

Two weeks ago I saw Shrek. It was super cute. I had a lot of fun at this show and finally got to see Sutton Foster perform live as Princess Fiona. She is amazing. Of course. The guy playing Shrek (don’t remember his name…sorry) was good but Shrek is suppose to have a Scottish accent in the show and he was only Scottish about 50% of the time. Donkey was amazing! I heard some people say he was too much in the show but I thought he was one of the best parts – totally committed, great acting, and hilarious! And Christopher Seiber who played Lord Farqaurdt was brilliant! Another huge bright spot in the show. If you see this show on tour, don’t go in expecting it to change your life, but if you go expecting a light hearted, fun time then you won’t be disappointed.

Last week I saw Bye Bye Birdie with my friend Ryan. There were some bright spots. I liked Allie Trimm who plays a teenager from the 1950’s obsessed with the singer Conrad Birdie. Also, I thought the set was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, that is pretty much where the bright spots end. Gina Gershon’s performance was flat, and there were a lot of jokes that got lost in awkward moments. John Stamos was definitely working hard at his role which I appreciate (really, I do!) but I think he was directed in a way that made it look like he was trying to copy Dick Van Dyke. Nobody should copy Dick because he is one of a kind. Overall, the issue with this show was just bad direction. It had a lot of potential and somewhere along the path back to Broadway it got a little lost.

Last night (also with Ryan) I saw Time Stands Still. I bought tickets because I read that Laura Linney was in it. She was fabulous…..of course. Also in the show is Alicia Silverstone. I, of course, remember her from Clueless. Who doesn’t? But I don’t think that’s a movie you can really judge her as an actress in (although she’s very good.) Besides, it was a long time ago. I was pleasantly surprised to discover what a great actress she actually is. Her timing and delivery were wonderful. The play is now starting its second week of previews and I have to say it is in pretty good shape. There were a few things in the play itself I found inconsistent but overall I really liked it. It is a great story and the performances were spot-on.

Next to see: God of Carnage, A Little Night Music, and South Pacific.

I am ushering Finian’s Rainbow this week too so I’m pretty excited to see that. Since it’s work it won’t count as part of my series but I will still post a blurb about it.

Peace and love

Jesus shit, The John Birch Society? Are they still, like, a thing? Seriously?

Apparently so. Someone turned over a rock and these troglodytes crawled out to sponsor the Conservative Political Action Conference. The group that was synonymous with “lunatic fringe, human hating, probably dangerous right-wing nutjobs” before the Tea Party movement sprung up is back, and they still do not much care for your socially liberal policies or basic human decency. Also, the Jews they can take or leave.

What will it take to send these morlocks back to their dimly lit underworld where they dine on poisonous fungus and immigrants are murdered and messily devoured by ravening packs of right-wing sub-humans? No one knows, though it does seem like good old fire would be a reasonable place to start.

Speaking of terrible things named John that you haven’t heard of in decades – John Stamos still exists. There is no reason you should know this, or would know it,except that Stamos is apparently making with the sexy hijinks. The people he made sexy hijinks with, though, want some money out of him, and are threatening to tell the whole world that John Stamos… is still alive, I guess?

Have you ever watched a television show you loved when you were younger years later?  Today I was watching Full House and the show was ridiculous.  It is so cheesy and stupid, but I loved that show back when I was younger.  What was I thinking?

• Was it the age of innocence and I didn’t know better?
• Was it actually a good show back then, but now writing and technology is better?
• Did I actually watch the show back then, or was it just background noise?

Full House Pictures from IMDB

How did I not realize that this show was kind of bad? Sure, it has sweet story lines that can teach kids lessons about love and family, but Full House is nothing like real life.  Did children learn real life lessons from watching this show?  Probably not, but it was nice, clean entertainment back when I was a child.  Today, many of the shows on television are not as innocent.  Sure, they may have better story lines, but shows like Full House did teach children about loving and respecting your family and friends.  That’s something that many kids today do not know about.

But now, I just sit back and laugh at the fact that I actually liked this show back in the day.

Yes, I realize that it is not hard to be the party of the decade when the decade is only a few hours old, but still, the overwhelming odds are that a throw down with the following legends on the invite list is going to be pretty life altering:

- Flava Flav

- The Balloon Boy

- The Ninja Turtles

- Mr. T

- Zack Morris

- The Kool Aid Man

- A freaking Tyrannosaurus Rex

- John Stamos  (Obviously)

- You

Here is your invitation, courtesy of Mosher, myself, apple products, William Wallace, magic markers and the song “Heavy Lifting” by Ambulance LTD.

Elaine texted me this morning that the new revival of “Bye Bye Birdie” was closing earlier than expected– at first I was sad, but then I decided to do some research of my own.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118012029.html?categoryid=15&cs=1

Turns out, “Bye Bye Biridie” is for sure closing on January 24th– but that’s actually 2 weeks after the original closing date. Plus, there’s really no reason for the show to go on past that since John and Gina (that is Stamos and Gershon respectively) will both be leaving the cast on January 24th, regardless of whether the show continues or not.

So that minor tribulation was over, but thinking about “Bye Bye Birdie” led me to think about Gina Gershon, who naturally led me to ponder the cinematic masterpiece “Showgirls”.

At the same time, I was also contemplating my future (“Showgirls” opens the door to deep, insightful thought) and I decided that I would become famous for writing “Showgirls: The Musical”. Obviously, the fan base is crazy enough that they would all need to see it (a blog post explaining why the “Showgirls” fan base is the craziest in the world, second only to Britney Spears’, will be coming soon).

I tried finding any recent info on the previous reported plans for an official “Showgirls” musical but the only really official thing I could find was from 2006… that’s 3 years ago. However, I did find this blog post referencing the project from 2008 and I thought you might enjoy it:

http://filmexperience.blogspot.com/2008/06/gina-gershon-on-showgirls-musical.html

Gina lists her “Top 5 movies that star Gina Gershon”, but amazingly, “Showgirls” isn’t one of them!

Sorry for the small digression– back to my future and writing “Showgirls: The Musical”…

Can I just assume that “Showgirls:The Musical” has died and that I can start my own version? Of course, once I finish it, I’ll mail it to Joe Eszterhas for a look and once he emphatically loves it, he’ll push the studio to help me out. However, he originally had the people behind “Urinetown” working for him, which is actually legit, so maybe I should try other pursuits?

I’m conflicted.

Because that relationship is gonna last….

Perez Hilton is a bitch.

Woot! Casual sex is a-ok!

Who tries to take Uncle Jesse down!?

Ugh, Kate Gosselin is coming back.

And you, my friend, are a douche bag.

Here we go again — yet another celebrity has had someone arrested for an attempted extortion attempt. Yes, John Stamos a.k.a. Blackie from General Hospital and Jesse from Full House fame was being blackmailed for photos taken when he was having “relations” with a woman in 2004. This on the heels of David Letterman’s high-profile extortion attempt. Losers take note, trying to extort money from celebrities will no longer work because they are hip to the game. The ability to present oneself as a victim (of extortion) far exceeds whatever dastardly deed he or she might have done (‘infidelity’ in both cases). It seems to me that instead of trying to steal money from celebrities, you might want to do like the rest of us — get a job! Save yourself some time in jail and save us from having to watch more senseless celebrity coverage at the top of every news cycle.

It’s starting to seem like this holiday should be deemed the season of shakedowns. People, if you’re in need of holiday cash, extortion is NOT the way to go.  

Stamos is currently the star of Broadway’s “Bye, Bye Birdie”, and nimwits Allison Coss and Scott Sippola were arrested last week on an extortion charge. They were threatening to sell photos of him unless he paid them $680,000.

Here’s the kicker: the photos are apparently only of him and fans. WTF? I mean, if you’re going to extort John Stamos, get some pics of him in bed with the Olsen twins or at least sneaking into a cheap motel with ex-wife Rebecca Romijn. That’s weak work, Allison and Scott.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/two_charged_in_john_stamos_extortion_2E70AtSmPz0tzKSC71IiNK#ixzz0ZCLU9ASs

Art, Television — The ultra-hip UK website Blanka is known for its original designs, prints and limited-edition posters. But for those television addicts who like a little bit of minimalism with their fandom, here are some extremely cool posters paying homage to your favorite shows.

Link: Blanka/Iconic TV (Blanka)

Cage, Nicolas – TMZ reports that an ex-girlfriend and mother of Nicolas Cage’s child is claiming that the actor inflicted “mental, physical and emotional abuse” on her when the two lived together. One can only assume this means she was subjected to repeated viewings of Windtalkers.

Link: Nicolas Cage’s Ex makes Wild Claims In Suit (TMZ)

Popeye — Wondering why the swarthy sailor was featured on Google’s searchbar yesterday? That’s because cartoonist E.C. Segar would have been 115 years old on Tuesday. Segar is noted for originating the character, populating the Popeye universe with a host of maritime hooligans, and, in Olive Oyl, creating an impossibly high standard of waifism for the modeling industry that the average woman can never hope to compete with and launching a host of body image issues for females for the next hundred years.

Link: Why is Popeye on the Google Home-Page Today? (EW)

Powter, Daniel — The pop artist’s 2006 song “Bad Day” has been named the one-hit wonder of the decade by Billboard Magazine. And when you think about it, it’s really a surprise Powter didn’t have more hit singles. Who can forget his self-titled debut album, and classic tracks like “Suspect,” “Lie to Me” and “Give Me Life.” Or that Powter won New Artist of the Year at the Canadian Juno Awards as well as 2005’s Record of the Year by the British Phonographic Industry? Or that….okay, I’m just looking on his Wikipedia page.

Link: Daniel Powter Named One-Hit Wonder of Decade for “Bad Day” (Billboard)

Shore, Jersey – Don’t toss that Drakkar just yet. MTV’s newest train-wreck, Jersey Shore, features a group of Italian-American twenty-somethings and has come under fire from Italian-American defamation groups who call the show “offensive.” But star Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino tells Entertainment Weekly that the terms “guido” and “guidette” are not offensive at all when “used in a loving way.” What’s not acceptable, however, is calling one’s self “The Situation.”

Link: “Jersey Shore” Star “The Situation” Talks About MTV’s Controversial Series (EW)

Stamos, John – A Michigan couple have been arrested for attempted extortion after blackmailing John Stamos and threatening to release embarrassing photos if  Stamos didn’t pay $680,000. Stamos allegedly told press that he didn’t need any help — he’s doing perfectly fine embarrassing himself. BAM!

Link: FBI: Michigan Pair Tried to Extort Actor John Stamos (Detroit Free Press)

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/12/08/stamos.extortion/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

So this is the Bye Bye Birdie clip from Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. It’s quite fun watching Uncle Jesse go though the moves, although director-choreographer Robert Longbottom hasn’t done anyone any favours with his lame choreography – although the idea of all the girls being sad is nice. John Stamos is perhaps not ideal, but he is doing the best Dick van Dyke impersonation I think he can and, since it’s clear that Longbottom isn’t a(n actor’s) director, who can blame him?

We’re home for the holidays, and hope that you are too. Have a great thanksgiving, and give thanks to all that makes you joyful. Also, give thanks that you aren’t John Stamos dancing in the Macy’s thanksgiving Day parade…poor uncle Jesse, what happened to the Rippers!?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Please leave now.

OK, that might be harsh, but that was my feeling about a third of the way through the first act of the Roundabout’s revival of Bye Bye Birdie.  Truth be told, I wasn’t entirely interested in seeing this show, but being the ardent theatre queen I am, I relented and bought tickets (at a discount, thankfully).

The NY Post’s Michael Riedel, he of the mud-slinging and gossip-hunting “critiques”, wrote early in the rehearsal cycle about problems with the show.  Then, Ben Brantley promptly slammed the show in his review.  I wasn’t really expecting much, but did I get a lot to write about when I saw the show.

Bye Bye Birdie is a dated show.  Not even in terms of pacing or dialogue tone, which I expect from all revivals.  This show has not aged well.  It capitalized on the rise of “youth culture”, Elvis, and the early stages of the sexual revolution – all of which seem trite today.  Unfortunately, the earnest mentality the show showcases isn’t just out of date, its childish.

The jokes are hokey, the songs are sugary, and while there is ostensible fun to be had, no one seems like they’re enjoying themselves.  The two above-the-title stars, John Stamos & Gina Gershon are both miscast.  Both actors are talented performers I’ve seen on stage before, but neither are suited to the roles they play.  Stamos is not much of a singer, but has good comic timing & lots of charisma.  He also comes across as a big queen, prancing his lengthy limbs around in suits that don’t fit (costume discussion to come).  The role is so uncomfortably dated, you’d almost have to play the role as a gay man to not play it ironically.  And I couldn’t tell if he was or wasn’t, so what does that tell you?  But, Stamos should stick to fare that better suits him – like straight comedic roles.

Gershon is a different story.  I’ve adored her ever since Showgirls (natch), but I’ve been impressed with her work in Bound and Boeing Boing (among other things).  She’s likeable, energetic, and really has stage presence – not to mention wonderful comic timing and sex appeal.  And, I’ve heard her sing before.  She’s not bad.  She just wasn’t right for a classic pop musical – she’s a rock chick.  Give her an angry guitar jam, and she’d be fine.  But, here, with this winsomely chipper music, her voice comes of as strained and off-key.  Its simply not a match.  And then there’s the whole “this character is Hispanic, right?” issue.  Originally written as a white character, Rosie was rewritten for Rita Moreno.  There is ample Hispanic talent in the Broadway landscape, so why couldn’t they cast someone Hispanic?  Fear of alienating crowds?  As for Gina, girl – get a better agent.

There are two positive standouts in the cast – Matt Doyle & Jayne Houdyshell.  Doyle plays the earnest suitor to the teenage girl lusting after the titular Birdie, and plays it with just the right balance of earnestness & “yes, I’m playing this earnestly, just go with me please” attitude that he makes me wonder why he doesn’t get larger roles.  His exposure on Gossip Girl notwithstanding, Matt deserves a more substantial role to see if his skills really do stand out like they seem to.

As for my dear Jayne Houdyshell, well, I’d watch her in just about anything.  Although this character is a bit too venomous for her charm, she still manages to pull it out, getting the most of my chuckles during the show.  Can someone mount a revival of Auntie Mame for this woman, please?

And now I have to slam an actor I usually like.  Bill Irwin plays the dad, and he shoots so far past the back row, I felt whiplash.  He overacts to a terrible degree.  I get that he wants to make something of this role, but all he made was annoyance. Every time he opened his mouth, I cringed with fear on where he would take his line.  It was that bad.  Normally, I’m a fan of his, having enjoyed him in The Goat, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Waiting for Godot.  But here, he needed some serious direction (or got too much).  Just no restraint at all, and it was terrible to watch.

The rest of the cast is fairly unmemorable, save for when the titular character parades onstage in only his underwear.  Good to look at, but era inappropriate.  I felt like most of the male cast was gay, flamboyantly so.  The romantic overtures had no weight, and overall, most of the characters were generally indistinguishable.  The notion of casting teenagers as teenagers wasn’t a bad idea, but it didn’t really bring anything to the show.  Lea Michele does a better job on Glee portraying a teenager at 23 than any of these actors did.  Go figure.

As for the production itself, well, it was sure colorful.  Everything was bold, dynamic colors – to the point that they were distracting.  And the costumes, good lord, did not ever seem to fit any of the characters.  Not a single outfit looked like it fit, and I was just annoyed every time.  The cast is generally good looking, so for the clothes to be so ill-fitting is just poor craftsmanship.

I have to lay the blame for the production squarely on the shoulders of the Roundabout.  They blew the sound production for an otherwise stellar revival of Sunday In The Park With George two years ago, and ruin a well-intentioned piece here with shoddy production.

This revival is the second in two years from the Roundabout that had good intentions, but just were bad choices for reviving (last year’s Pal Joy is the other culprit).  On Pal Joey, they used an updated book (thank you Richard Greenberg), but here, where it really needed an update, no changes seem to have been made.  The music is a little cutesy for my taste (after all…), but it was more than serviceable enough that an updated book could have made the show if not relevant, then a little less dated.  Perhaps even something approaching mature.  Or, at least good enough for a fun night at the theater.  Unfortunately, that just didn’t happen.

John Stamos gets his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Lady Gaga is covered in flour and hot rollers for MoCA’s 30th annual gala in LA. Here’s The Horiwood Top Ten. Enjoy! Congratulations John Stamos!

1. BRAD PITT and ANGELINA JOLIE have a night out at the art gallery in CA.

2. BEYONCE’s Suzie Wong retro-fashion styling says I am yours to China.

3. ANGELINA JOLIE and BRAD PITT come under fire from journalist IAN HALPERIN. They don’t care! 

4. HAYDEN PANETTIERE is on her way to executive producing Television

5. BARACK OBAMA’s visit to China rates.

6. NICOLE KIDMAN and SUNDAY ROSE do black or white fashion in NYC.

7. PRINCESS DIANNA at the TAJ MAHAL, an image of great love and strength.

8. MILEY CYRUS, TAYLOR SWIFT, TAYLOR MOMSEN set teen fashion trends by rocking out in black tights.

9. LADY GAGA’s Bad Romance music video is tweeted a lot by Horiwood fans.

10 TIE A. JAMIE CAMPBELL-BOWER of Twilight New Moon rates today.

10 TIE B: ROBBIE WILLIAMS OF THE UK is a record breaking Angel of music and entertaining concerts.

~Images courtesy of World Of Wonder. Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 11.16.09~

We’ve been hearing rumblings that Oh Sheila may be getting a bit stale. We’ve noticed there’s been a lot of  John Stamos love on the Robingehood board as of late so we pose the question to you...

What song should we end the show with?

Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark is gearing up again this time with a lead actor and producer

It’s official – Reeve Carney, the lead singer of the band Carney, will be playing Peter Parker (ie. Spideman) in the upcoming Broadway mega-spender Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark.

Why cast such an unknown in the lead role? Director Julie Taymor said they wanted a “Peter Parker who could really act and sing, but who still brings a kind of performance that could be new to Broadway audiences. We wanted something a little more authentically rock and roll.”

And to help with that rock and roll vibe, Michael Cohl, a rock concert promoter with ties to the Rolling Stones and U2, is stepping in as lead producer, hoping to stop all the speculation that the show would never make it to opening night.

The show, which is reputed to have spent $52 million to date, will open in 2010 at the Hilton Theatre in New York.

American Idiot will be making its way to Broadway

On November 9, the producers for American Idiot announced Equity Principal Auditions for a Broadway run of the nearly sold-out Berkley Rep production. According to spokesman Michael Hartman, “there is a Broadway future for the show, but at this time no dates or theatre are confirmed.”

RUMOR: Ashlee Simpson may star in Chicago on Broadway

Multiple sources are reporting that Ashlee Simpon-Wentz, the former Melrose Place star, will be playing Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway for a six week run this December. Though she did play the role on the West End, her Broadway appearance has not been confirmed by any official sources.

A bittersweet anniversary on Broadway for Shrek

On November 8, the cast of Broadway’s Shrek celebrated one year on Broadway, but the festivities were somewhat bittersweet. The show, which was nominated for 8 Tony Awards, will be closing January 3 after playing 441 performances and 37 previews. The national tour will launch at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre for a limited engagement, running from July 13 – September 5, 2010.

Title battle – Dame Edna’s It’s All About Me vs. Michael Feinstein’s All About Me

I don’t know if you’ve been tracking the hilarious banter between Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein, who have very similarly named shows headed to Broadway this fall. Of the mishap, Edna said “It’s All About Me is my title. While I was saddened to hear that Mr. Feinstein did not heed my sage advice to change the title of his show, I’m overjoyed to hear that he at least took my suggestion to open his show after mine. I’m sure Mrs. Feinstein is very proud of her son.”

Broadway Stars on TV this month

A number of big tars will be appearing on television in the next few months. Check out the list below:

“The View” ABC, daytime

• Wednesday, Nov. 11: Finian’s Rainbow
• Thursday, Nov. 19: John Stamos

“Jimmy Kimmel Live” ABC, late night

• Tuesday, Nov. 17: John Stamos

“The Today Show” NBC, 7AM ET

• Wednesday, Nov. 18: Liza Minnelli

Cruise down the freeway in Los Angeles or look along some New York roadsides, and you’ll see signs saying that this particular stretch of road is cleaned and maintained by Bette Midler. I’ll have to say I was pretty doubtful that Bette, well meaning as I’d always heard she was, would actually ever be out there with her Hefty bag and gloves grabbing up cigarette butts and Dr. Pepper cans. Now I know better–her commitment to the greening of the places she calls home is almost unparalleled. Bette’s New York Restoration Project (about which I’ve blogged before) is a hugely important player in the greening of the Big Apple. So many people find the inspiration to get involved due to her star power and name…and now she’s gathering, ohhh, about a hundred or so of her most famous friends, to up the ante.

Ms. Midler has pulled together an ONLINE CHARITABLE AUCTION at CHARITYFOLKS.COM to raise funds for NYRP. Once in a lifetime opportunities to meet and hang out with celebs are being auctioned to the highest charitable bidders. Some of the opportunities of which you can avail yourself (and feel good about being philanthropic and making New York better for everyone) include:

· Sit front row at Bette Midler’s Las Vegas show and meet her backstage

· Lunch with Richard Branson during your week-long getaway at Necker Island

· Lunch with Jann Wenner – Founder & Publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine

· Private tennis lesson with John McEnroe

· Walk on Role with Steve Carell and Paul Rudd in “Dinner for Schmucks”

· Meet Daniel Craig with house seats to A Steady Rain on Broadway

· Meet John Stamos backstage at Bye Bye Birdie

· Spend a Day in the Studio with Legendary Musician Jackson Browne

· Meet Robin Williams with VIP tickets to his NYC stand-up show

· Meet Cher with VIP tickets & backstage passes to her Las Vegas show

· Meet John Mayer at one of his concerts along with VIP tickets

· Intern at Rolling Stone Magazine – the ultimate source for music & pop-culture

· Walk-on Role & Lunch on Set of  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

The auction is live until Friday the 13th (November 13, 2009) at www.charityfolks.com, highlights from the fabulous 100 lot auction include: