Entertaining Posts

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

"Songs for Japan" charity album raises $5 million

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"Book of Mormon" leads with 14 Tony nominations

NEW YORK | Wed May 4, 2011 2:20am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - "The Book of Mormon," a musical comedy skewering many classes of people, was nominated for 14 Tony Awards on Tuesday, potentially making it the most celebrated Broadway show since "The Producers" won 12 of 15 nominations in 2001.

The show from the creators of television's animated satire "South Park" and the previous Broadway hit "Avenue Q" has won critical acclaim and sold-out houses with the story of Mormon missionaries in Africa. It has skirted significant criticism about racial and religious insensitivity by virtue of its humor.

Tony Award winners Matthew Broderick and Anika Noni Rose, best known for her role in the Broadway production of "Caroline, or Change," announced the nominations at Lincoln Center.

The Tony Awards will take place at the Beacon Theater in New York on Sunday, June 12.

The nominees were selected by a 22-person nominating committee, while the award winners in 26 categories will be selected by 824 theater professionals.

"Mormon" was followed by "The Scottsboro Boys" with 12 nominations for the musical based on the 1930s case in which nine black men were unjustly accused of attacking two white women on a train in Alabama.

Two musical revivals followed. "Anything Goes" gained nine nominations, led by Best Actress nominee Sutton Foster, and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" had eight, though not for star Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame.

Shakespeare's comedy "The Merchant of Venice" gained seven nominations, including a Best Actor nomination for Al Pacino as Shylock.

The South Africa-based Handspring Puppet Company will receive a Special Tony Award for its puppetry work on the production of "War Horse", based on the children's novel by Michael Morpugo.

"War Horse" received four nominations, including direction and scenic design.

The 2011 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement will be awarded to playwright Athol Fugard and Philip J. Smith, the chair of the Shubert Organization, America's oldest professional theater company.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta and Bernd Debusmann Jr.; editing by Patricia Reaney)

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler rips "Celebrity Rehab"

LOS ANGELES | Tue May 3, 2011 9:49pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler has been in and out of rehab countless times, but don't expect him to appear on "Celebrity Rehab," the reality TV show about the addiction battles of the vaguely rich and famous.

In his new book, "Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?," Tyler rips both the VH1 show and its host, addiction-medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky, who formerly worked at one of the hospitals where he sought treatment.

Tyler recounted that he was at the Los Angeles-area hospital, Las Encinas in 2008, at the same time as Steven Adler, the former drummer for Guns 'N Roses. Adler, who was kicked out of the band in 1990 because his antics were too wild even by the standards of his hedonistic colleagues, was told to fake his drug stupor for the "Celebrity Rehab" cameras, Tyler alleged.

"They wanted him to act out his own messed-up state when he entered rehab. It was ghoulish and unreal. They gave him 30 grand for the episode, he snorted it all, crashed his car, and he ended up in jail detox," Tyler wrote.

"It didn't seem to me all that ethical using actual f---ed-up people like Steven Adler in a reality show, but who am I to say? Not to mention getting trashed celebrities to mime their own self-destructive nosedives which they then sensationalize on a melo-f----ing-dramatic reality show, which so traumatizes them they end up in worse shape than ever -- from the drugs they bought with the money from the show."

A spokeswoman for Pinsky declined comment, suggesting that queries be directed to Tyler himself. Emails to spokesmen for VH1 and Adler were not immediately answered.

Tyler went on to describe the addiction theories of Pinsky, a board-certified physician, as "psychopharmalogical dogma."

"It's interesting that Dr. Pinsky never came up to me, never made any advances," Tyler wrote. "He certainly didn't ask me to be on his celebrity rehab (sic) because -- at best -- I would have gone, "Are you f---ing kidding me?"

Pinsky, a bestselling author who rose to fame as co-host of the syndicated radio call-in show "Loveline," is no longer associated with Las Encinas, the object of a series of complaints about care at the facility.

Pinsky comes off relatively lightly compared to others in Tyler's book, particularly his own bandmates. Tyler describes them as "pricks" -- hypocritical, henpecked husbands, some of whom have lingering drug problems.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; editing by Jill Serjeant)

Miami Heat star sues to keep ex off 'Basketball Wives'

NEW YORK | Tue May 3, 2011 6:30pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Miami Heat basketball forward Chris Bosh has filed a lawsuit to prevent his ex-girlfriend who is the mother of his child from appearing on the next season of VH1's reality show "Basketball Wives."

Bosh, who filed the suit on Monday in California federal court, accused his former girlfriend, Allison Mathis, and the show's producer, Shed Media U.S. Inc, of commercially exploiting his trademark and identity without permission.

The show, which stars former girlfriends and wives of players in the National Basketball Association, gives the women a "worldwide platform" to use the names and likenesses of famous players for their own financial gain, the lawsuit said.

Despite its title, the show does not feature any current wives of NBA players, the suit said.

Shed Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mathis could not immediately be reached for comment.

In his complaint, Bosh said the television series threatens to dilute his trademark and confuse viewers by suggesting that he endorsed Mathis' appearance on the show. The suit said Bosh has cultivated his trademark through YouTube videos that promote basketball programs for children.

Mathis threatens to undermine that reputation by attacking Bosh's parenting skills on the show, the suit alleged.

In addition to trademark infringement, Bosh accused Mathis and the production company of violating his right to market his own identity and tell his own life story.

He asked for damages of at least $75,000 and injunctions preventing the use of his name or image.

The lawsuit tried to counter any potential free-speech arguments by Mathis and Shed Media by claiming that the show is primarily commercial and does not express anything "other than an attempt to profit from (Bosh's) fame."

The suit said the depiction of celebrity NBA players is "the very sum and substance of the show."

Bosh is not the first NBA player to attempt to block an ex from appearing on the show.

In 2010, Orlando Magic player Dwight Howard sued "Basketball Wives" star Royce Reed in Florida court for violating an order not to talk to the media about their relationship. Howard won a $500,000 settlement in that case.

Last year, Shaquille O'Neal threatened to take legal action against his ex-wife, Shaunie O'Neal, if she mentioned him in the course of her appearance on the show, saying confidentiality agreements prevented her doing so.

In an unrelated case in 2009, Bosh reclaimed his online identity from a "cyber-squatting" company that was using his name and likeness to generate revenue on the website chrisbosh.com. A California federal judge awarded Bosh over $100,000 along with custody of more than 800 Internet domains named after other professional athletes and celebrities, which he pledged to return to the rightful owners.

(Reporting by Terry Baynes. Editing by Peter Bohan)

Devil talk banned in Katy Perry's childhood home

NEW YORK | Tue May 3, 2011 5:41pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Katy Perry says she did not have a childhood with her evangelical minister parents, who allowed her to read only the Bible and even banned terms like "deviled eggs."

"I didn't have a childhood," Perry told Vanity Fair in an interview for its June edition. "I come from a very non-accepting family, but I'm very accepting."

"Sometimes when children grow up, their parents grow up," she said. "Mine grew up with me. We coexist. I don't try to change them anymore, and I don't think they try to change me. We agree to disagree. They're excited about (my success)."

Perry, 26, rose to stardom in 2008 with her hit single "I Kissed a Girl" and by promoting herself as a sex kitten.

Her first stab at a music career was through a gospel music album. But the cover of her latest hit "Teenage Dream," features her lying naked on a pink cloud.

The "Firework" singer -- who wants her ashes shot out over the California coast in a firework -- said her friends had to sneak her CDs as a child because secular music was banned in her California home.

Phrases like "deviled eggs" and the name of the vacuum cleaner "Dirt Devil" were also banned, and Perry said she was led to believe that the family planning group Planned Parenthood was only an abortion clinic.

"I was always scared I was going to get bombed when I was there ... I didn't know it was more than that, that it was for women and their needs. I didn't have insurance, so I went there and I learned about birth control," she told Vanity Fair.

Perry married British comedian Russell Brand in a Hindu ceremony in India in October 2010. But she said that while Brand was involved in Hinduism, she was not, and that she had always questioned her family's strict Christian faith.

"I have always been the kid who's asked 'Why?' In my faith, you're just supposed to have faith. But I was always like ... why?" she said. "At this point, I'm just kind of a drifter. I'm open to possibility."

"My sponge is so big and wide and I'm soaking everything up and my mind has been radically expanded. Just being around different cultures and people and their opinions and perspectives. Just looking into the sky," Perry said.

Perry said she and Brand turned down millions of dollars for their wedding pictures because "we wanted the moment to ourselves."

She said that she hopes that her music remains the focus of fans, rather than her appearance or her personal life.

"I don't care what people say about my relationship; I don't care what people say about my boobs. People are buying my songs; I have a sold out tour. I'm getting incredible feedback from my music," Perry said. "I already know my future evolution, where I'm going to go."

(Reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr., editing by Michelle Nichols)