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The
65th
Tony
awards
took
place
at
the
Beacon
Theatre,
and
there
were
few
surprises.
As
expected,
Book
of
Mormon,
War
Horse,
Anything
Goes
and
The
Normal
Heart
all
won.
Among
the
individual
winners,
Norbert
Leo
Butz,
Sutton
Foster,
Mark
Rylance
and Frances
McDormand
won.
as
did
Nikki
M.
James,
John
Larroquette,
Ellen
Barkin
and
John
Benjamin
Hickey.
On
the
red
carpet,
Christie
Brinkley
was
absolutely
stunning,
and
other
beautiful
ladies
in
gorgeous
gowns
included
Brooke
Shields,
Lily
Rabe,
Judith
Light,
Patina
Miller,
Montego
Glover,
Victoria
Clark,
Hannah
Yelland,
Anika
Noni
Rose
and
Malaak
Compton-Rock,
who
arrived
last
with
her
husband
Chris
Rock.
It
was
a
magnificent
night
full
of
many
stars.
On Broadway, Spider-man Turn Off the Dark finally opened, and it is an audience pleasing spectacular. Reeve Carney and Jennifer Damiano are adorable, and Patrick Page virtually steals every scene in which he appears. The opening night attracted many stars, like Bono, The Edge, Julie Taymor, former President Bill Clinton, Matt Damon, Steve Martin, Liam Neeson, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Harry Belafonte, and Cindy Crawford, and many more. The party at Bowlmor Lanes was fun.
The 1st Annual Duke Ellington Beyond Category Award was presented to legendary dancer/choreographer Donald Saddler at Merkin Concert Hall. Unfortunately, he was unable to be present. At the reception before the special tribute performance, I had the pleasure to talk with his friends, including Marge Champion, Helen Gallagher and Carmen De Lavallade. The performance featured the magnificent pianists Jon Weber and Frank Owens in a Battle of the Hands, and Mercedes Ellington introduced the performers and guest speakers. It was a a wonderful tribute to a very special person.
My good friend Ben Vereen performed highlights from his new album Steppin' Out Live at the Apple Store. I congratulated him, and he told me he will be performing his show Off Broadway in the fall. I'll definitely be there opening night.
Deirdre O'Connell and Reed Birney received the Richard Seff Awards and Santino Fontana and Tracee Chimo received the Clarence Derwent Awards at Actors' Equity offices. Marin Ireland, Peter Friedman, Aaron Tveit and President Nick Wyman toasted them at a champagne reception.
Penthouse Magazine Sex Advice Columnist Lainie Speiser had a book party for her Confessions of the Hundred Hottest Porn Stars at Rick's Cabaret. Many of the subjects of the book attended like Alexis Ford, and many of Rick's Cabaret girls enjoyed the party in their working costumes.
Pampers First Father's Day Cook-Out took place at SIR Stage 37, with fathers Drew Lachey with his son Hudson and wife Lea, James Van Der Beek with his daughter Olivia and wife Kimberly, Shonn Greene with his 8-month old son, and Alejandro Monteverde, with his daughter Estela and wife Ali Landry, who is expecting a second child. It was a festive occasion, and the children were adorable.
A very young Rhys Tivey and his quartet play jazz at Gallagher's Steak House Monday and Tuesday nights. I listened to them the other night, and I was very impressed. They are talented musicians and jazz lovers will enjoy them.
Shirley Alston Reeves, the original lead singer of the Shirelles, appeared on stage at the curtain call of Baby It's You! to announce she will be joining the cast from July 19-22.
The cast of The Addams Family cut the cake on stage to celebrate their
500th performance.
The cast of Love, Loss and What I Wore cut their cake on stage to celebrate
700 performances.
The Australian Consul General Phillip H. Scanlan hosted a reception at the Australian Consulate General to celebrate the Pat Farmer's New York leg of the Pole-to-Pole Run. Australian endurance runner Pat Farmer is running from the North Pole to the South Pole to raise $100 million for the International Red Cross. The very talented Australian singer Karen Jacobsen performed.
I attended a screening of Buddha Mountain, directed by Li Yu, China 2010, which is one of the films of the Film Society of Lincoln Center 2011 New York Asian Film Festival July 1-14. It is about three aimless young people, who rent rooms in the home of a lonely widow (Sylvia Chang), and how life changes for all of them. The young girl, Fan Bingbing won a well deserved award as Best Actress at the 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival. It is a beautiful, tender film, revealing many fascinating aspects of modern life in China, especially the life of young people alienated from their parents.
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I attended a screening of David Holzman's Diary at MoMA. This 1967 film is a faux-documentary about an unemployed young man, who films a week in his life to try to understand himself. Kit Carson plays the title role, and I had the pleasure of meeting him at the after party in the Gershwin Hotel.
There are no words to describe Natalia Osipova's performance in Coppelia at ABT. She appears to float on air, her technique is superb and her acting first class. She is a delight to watch, and the tremendous ovation she received was well deserved. Daniil Simkin was the perfect partner, and his dancing in the third act won him thunderous applause. As has been said before, everything was beautiful at the ballet.
Penthouse Magazine Sex Advice Columnist Lainie Speiser had a book party for her Confessions of the Hundred Hottest Porn Stars at Rick's Cabaret. Many of the subjects of the book attended like Alexis Ford, and many of Rick's Cabaret girls enjoyed the party in their working costumes.
Pampers First Father's Day Cook-Out took place at SIR Stage 37, with fathers Drew Lachey with his son Hudson and wife Lea, James Van Der Beek with his daughter Olivia and wife Kimberly, Shonn Greene with his 8-month old son, and Alejandro Monteverde, with his daughter Estela and wife Ali Landry, who is expecting a second child. It was a festive occasion, and the children were adorable.
A very young Rhys Tivey and his quartet play jazz at Gallagher's Steak House Monday and Tuesday nights.
I listened to them the other night, and I was very impressed. They are talented musicians and jazz lovers will
enjoy them.
Shirley Alston Reeves, the original lead singer of the Shirelles, appeared on stage at the curtain call of Baby It's You! to announce she will be joining the cast from
July 19-22.
The cast of The Addams Family cut the cake on stage to celebrate their 500th performance.
The cast of Love, Loss and What I Wore cut their cake on stage to celebrate 700 performances.
The Australian Consul General Phillip H. Scanlan hosted a reception at the Australian Consulate General to celebrate the Pat Farmer's New York leg of the Pole-to-Pole Run. Australian endurance runner Pat Farmer is running from the North Pole to the South Pole to raise $100 million for the International Red Cross. The very talented Australian singer Karen Jacobsen performed.
I attended a screening of Buddha Mountain, directed by Li Yu, China 2010, which is one of the films of the Film Society of Lincoln Center 2011 New York Asian Film Festival July 1-14. It is about three aimless young people, who rent rooms in the home of a lonely widow (Sylvia Chang), and how life changes for all of them. The young girl, Fan Bingbing won a well deserved award as Best Actress at the 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival. It is a beautiful, tender film, revealing many fascinating aspects of modern life in China, especially the life of young people alienated from their parents.
I attended a screening of David Holzman's Diary at MoMA. This 1967 film is a faux-documentary about an unemployed young man, who films a week in his life to try to understand himself. Kit Carson plays the title role, and I had the pleasure of meeting him at the after party in the Gershwin Hotel.
There are no words to describe Natalia Osipova's performance in Coppelia at ABT. She appears to float on air, her technique is superb and her acting first class. She is a delight to watch, and the tremendous ovation she received was well deserved. Daniil Simkin was the perfect partner, and his dancing in the third act won him thunderous applause. As has been said before, everything was beautiful at the ballet.
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