Diahann Carroll in Grey's Anatomy by Craig Sjodin/ABC
If you don't like tonight's first-rate episode of Grey's Anatomy, which fires on about as many cylinders as possible (humor and emotion coexisting wonderfully), then you should probably face the fact that you simply don't like Grey's anymore, if you ever did. Diahann Carroll, terrific as the departed Burke's visiting mom, hovers around Seattle Grace this week as a much-needed reality check and conscience for the various characters: including Meredith, who could always use a good dressing-down for her narcissism, and George, who's still dithering about how to do the right thing in his romantic quandary involving wife Callie and obsessive crush Izzie.But Mama Burke is really there for Cristina (the fabulous Sandra Oh), who is frozen emotionally as she surveys the wedding gifts that surround her to remind her of her broken relationship. Work is a thankful distraction (“Carnage always trumps rounds,” she tells her nameless interns), but she can only hide from Preston’s mo...
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Blondie is lending songs — including "Heart of Glass" and "One Way or Another" — to a West End musical based on the 1985 Madonna film Desperately Seeking Susan, says the AP. Emma Williams (Bat Boy) will channel the Material Girl.... Claire Danes makes her Broadway debut as Eliza Doolittle to Jefferson Mays' Henry Higgins in Pygmalion, opening Oct. 18.... Xanadu, whose Broadway bow was visited by one Olivia Newton-John, is drawing primarily positive reviews. The New York Daily News, for one, deemed the production "90 minutes of souped-up silliness" that translates into "a cure for the summertime blues." The Post, alas, offers one of the few grand slams, calling it "an absolutely ghastly show." I report, you decide.
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Tony Danza by Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.com
Tony Danza, who over the past few years has transformed himself from has-been to sought-after song-and-dance man, will star as Max Bialystock in the Las Vegas production of The Producers, says Extra. The Who's the Boss hunk previously played the role on Broadway.... A few weeks after announcing that Annette Bening would star in the upcoming L.A. staging of The Female of the Species, Playbill says the three-time Oscar nominee will subsequently travel with the play to Broadway next spring — the first time in 20 years Bening has graced the Great White Way.... In case you missed it, Doogie won't be seen roller-boogying in Xanadu. The producers of the problem-plagued production tapped Cheyenne Jackson to replace the musical's injured male lead. — Reporting by Raven Snook
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Neil Patrick Harris by Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com
UPDATE: Cheyenne Jackson has accepted the role in the (thus far ill-fated) musical. In a statement almost as adorable as he is, the actor states: "I'm excited to join the cast of Xanadu while James Carpinello recovers. My heart goes out to him, as he spent months working on this project, only to be injured so close to opening night. I owe a lot to [director] Christopher Ashley and [writer] Douglas Carter Beane and would gladly paint their apartments if they called and asked." Sadly, he has yet to offer to paint my pad. — RavenAs reported earlier, the Broadway musicalization of the camp classic Xanadu has had to delay its opening night indefinitely after star James Carpinello injured his foot. According to the New York Post, producers are desperate to find a replacement and have their eyes on two actors to play opposite Kerry Butler: How I Met Your Mother's Neil Patrick Harris and All Shook Up hottie Cheyenne Jackson, who starred in the Xanadu workshop but turned down the actua...
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Xanadu
UPDATE: Xanadu is eyeing Neil Patrick Harris to step in; go here for more.The campy musical adaptation of Xanadu has more to overcome than just its film-flop reputation: male lead James Carpinello hurt his foot rollerskating during a rehearsal (I hate when that happens), postponing the opening indefinitely.... From Brokeback to Broadway: Jake Gyllenhaal recently appeared in a reading of Beau Willimon's Farragut North, and is considering following the play to the Great White Way.... Sunday's Tonys telecast was clobbered by Tony Soprano, so it's not surprising that a number of honorees have since posted closing notices. Though it won for best revival of a musical, Company will leave July 1, the same day Radio Golf gets switched off. Tony winners Coast of Utopia and Journey's End shuttered earlier this season. — Reporting by Raven Snook
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You have to believe... it was meant to be. Despite buzz that Veronica Mars herself, Kristen Bell, might front a Broadway musical based on the infamous film Xanadu, the Olivia Newton-John role has instead gone to Kerry Butler, who last graced the Great White Way as Little Shop of Horrors' Audrey and recently lathered up One Life to Live. Though Jane Krakowski sold investors on her rollerskating reading in the workshop, yet ultimately had to defer to her 30 Rock obligation, lead producer Robert Ahrens says in a statement that Butler, who created the role of Kira in the first Xanadu reading, "was our first choice, and we are thrilled that her schedule has now opened up to join our production."Xanadu will no longer open in time to be eligible for for the 2007 Tony Awards, but instead will start previews on May 23, then officially open June 26.
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... and to which nobody should be returning. Nonetheless, a stage adaptation of the 1980 movie musical Xanadu is, for better or worse, bound for Off-Broadway, roller-skates and all. Christopher Ashley (All Shook Up) will direct what I can only assume will be the most camptacular show to debut in spring 2007. Now then, is it too early to start campaigning for Kylie Minogue to step in for her fellow Aussie Olivia Newton-John in the lead?
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