Variety has an inspirational article about Sean Combs shifting careers from hi-hop “P. Diddy” to serious actor on Broadway and in Hollywood.   

Combs is an encouragement to those who want to make an impact while following their dream to be what they want to be. 

The article reinforces the concept that you need to give it all if you want to pull off a great success in your life. Hard work and honesty make the success we want to achieve. 

After reading this article, I can see how Combs will become a role model for many young people, and I hope he makes the right choices with huge success as an actor.  

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 I am sorry to hear that Javier Bardem has left the “Nine” and will not take on the lead role of Guido Contini in the musical that Rob Marshall is directing.

The musical focuses on Contini, a film director who experiences personal and creative crisis trying to balance all the women in his life.

Though it’s been clearly reported that Bardem loved the script and the idea of working with Marshall, he pulled out because he is exhausted from work and awards season, and will take as long as a year to recharge his batteries. Wow!

The rest of the cast is hanging in there: Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren. Also, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are in negotiations to join the rest of the cast soon.  

According to Variety, Bardem was ready to make the film late last year, but “Nine” got postponed, along with several other high profile projects, because it needed refinements to the Michael Tolkin script that weren’t possible because of the writer’s strike.

Bardem will next be seen in Woody Allen-directed “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” which debuts  at the Cannes Film Festival.

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Harry Potter is Broadway bound - well - sort of.Daniel Radcliffe, the icon of “Harry Potter” movies, makes his Broadway debut on Sept. 5 in the play “Equus.”  Radcliffe plays the stable boy who is blinded by six horses and appears undressed on stage.

According to Hollywood Reporter, Radcliffe earned rave reviews for his performance in the London production. He also received loads of media attention for appearing naked onstage — a departure from his wholesome image as the bespectacled boy wizard in the big-screen adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling fantasy novels.

Richard Griffiths, who portrays Harry’s mean Uncle Vernon in the “Potter” movies, reprises his London role as the psychiatrist who treats the stable boy who has blinded six horses.

“Equus” begins previews Sept. 5 for a limited 22-week run at the Broadhurst Theatre.

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Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are talking about joining the cast of “Nine,” which include Javier Bardem (Oscar Winner), Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard (Oscar Winner) and Sophia Loren (Oscar Winner) in Rob Marshall’s adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical.The 1982 show is adaptation of Federico Fellini’s autobiographical opus “8 1/2,” revolves around a film director (Bardem) juggling the demands of several women in his life.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Kidman is due to give birth in the summer, giving her several months of maternity leave before the film’s proposed start date. Her filming also might be scheduled in the latter part of the shoot.

Plenty of people are familiar with Kidman’s singing and dancing chops from “Moulin Rouge,” but far fewer are aware of Dench’s extensive musical theater experience. She played Sally Bowles in the original London production of “Cabaret” in 1968; I would have loved to have seen that performance, and won the 1995 Olivier Award for best actress in a musical in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.”

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