Screenhead

No song and dance man — Hugh Jackman will not host the Oscars a second year in a row.  

The actor, who’s starring on Broadway with Daniel Craig in the drama “A Steady Rain,” quietly turned down the job sometime during the past few weeks.

I liked Jackman as the song and dance man of the Oscars. He drew praise from others as well. He says he’ll host the Oscar show again in the future, but is not certain.

After his Broadway run, Jackman plans to take time off and prepare for The Real Steel, the Shawn Levy-directed DreamWorks drama that starts production in the spring.

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Disney and director Robert Zemeckis are talking it up to remake Yellow Submarine, the 1968 psychedelic animated film based on the music of The Beatles.  This is awesome because Zemeckis movies bring justice to turning this classic into a remake.  Zemeckis knowledge of performance-capture and 3-D animation will make the film. Although I really doubt it can be the same kind of movie as The Beatles production because no one can redo The Beatles, not even Zemeckis.  It really is about making the deal to use all of the songs in the original movie. If that doesn’t happen, well…no deal, no movie.

Disney has been working on the intricate rights deal to give Zemeckis access to 16 original Beatles songs for the movie. There is nothing like The Beatles music and what a coup this would be for Disney and Zemeckis.

The deal isn’t solid yet, but if Variety is reporting this as breaking news, it must be close to a sealed deal. The plan is to have Yellow Submarine ready to premiere around the 2012 Summer Olympics.

When the deal is solid we will see a union of cutting-edge 3-D feature technology with a strong, growing interest in The Beatles, again.  Interestingly, The Beatles appeared just in the film’s closing scene.  Hired actors (John Clive, Paul Angelis, Goeffery Hughes) provided the voices for the animated characters of Beatles Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.  So, realistically just having the music from the original movie could prove successful with The Beatles icon heavily connected by their music.

The original story took place in a magical setting called Pepperland, an undersea paradise protected by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  The band gets captured by the music-hating Blue Meanies and a soldier is dispatched to Liverpool to bring back the Fab Four, who jump in the submarine and save the day.

Obviously, the cinch to this deal and success of the remake is Zemeckis’ ability to use a treasure trove of classic Beatles tunes, starting from the title song to “All Together Now,” “Baby You’re a Rich Man,” “All You Need Is Love,” “When I’m 64,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.”   Those songs are buzzing in my head now, I love their music.

Apparently,  the deal has been months in the making with ”armies” of lawyers (sounds expensive) and the rights will include the future prospects of a Broadway stage musical similar to what Disney accomplished with “The Lion King.”

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Tony Award Winning broadway musical Hairspray brings its act to the Royal Caribbean International’s highly anticipated Oasis of the Seas when the ship sets sail from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in December 2009. One of two productions to take place in the ship’s grand Opal Theater, Hairspray will open with a wide array of cruise industry firsts that the cruise line will debut with the launch of Oasis of the Seas and is another addition to its diverse entertainment offerings.

The show is licensed to Royal Caribbean International for three years aboard Oasis of the Seas with an option for a fourth year. Under the agreement, which was struck with the aid of New York City-based Music Theater International and Broadway Theatrical, the show will be available exclusively to the cruise line, ensuring the ‘feel good’ performance will be the only of its kind at sea.

While the show has been trimmed just slightly to fit within the average 90-minute run time, consistent with Royal Caribbean’s theater productions, guests and Hairspray fans will be pleased to find that the hottest, high-energy numbers will remain on the playbill. The show will be offered three or four times on each seven-night cruise itinerary, ensuring that guests have the opportunity to see the show at their leisure during their vacation.

Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas will be the largest and most revolutionary cruise ships in the world when launched in December 2009 and December 2010, respectively. Architectural marvels at sea, both ships will span 16 decks, encompass 220,000 gross registered tons, carry 5,400 guests at double occupancy, and feature 2,700 staterooms. Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas will tout the cruise line’s new neighborhood concept of seven distinct themed areas, which include Central Park, Boardwalk, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, and Entertainment Place. The two ships will sail from their homeport of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

(Source) Press

Robin Williams is headed to Broadway this spring where he will perform his standup tour of his solo show “Weapons of Self-Destruction” at the Neil Simon Theater.

The Broadway performances are part of an 80-city tour which started earlier February in Santa Barbara.

“Weapons” runs April 28-May 3 at the Neil Simon.

Line Cinema is producing a modern version of the musical Damn Yankees with Jim Carrey and Jake Gyllenhaa attach to star. Carrey will play the devil and Gyllenhaa to play Boyd.  It’s their first musical.

“Damn Yankees” won seven Tony Awards when it bowed on Broadway in 1955. The story follows Joe Boyd, a happily married middle-aged man whose devotion to a hapless pro baseball team prompts him to make a Faustian bargain with the devil to help the team. He’s transformed into slugger Joe Hardy, in exchange for Boyd’s soul. Boyd can break the deal, but the deadline occurs during the World Series. Adding to the plot, the devil engages Lola, a gorgeous lost soul, to seduce the slugger and seal his fate.

Damn Yankees classic tunes include “You Gotta Have Heart” and “Whatever Lola Wants.”

Damn Yankees was produced by Warner Bros in 1958. The film was directed by Abbott and Stanley Donen, with Ray Walston and Gwen Verdon re-creating their stage performances, and Tab Hunter playing the slugger.

Making a drastic change from all previous hosts of the Oscars, the new host for next year’s award ceremony will be Hugh Jackman. Rather than rely on a comedian/ comic actor/ chat show host, which has been the norm for decades, this decision seems to be an attempt to reboot the award ceremony, which saw lagging ratings last year.

Jackman has agreed to host the ceremony on the grounds that it will be “different”, which probably means less joke monologues (and not even the great Jon Stewart could make them work). While this may seem like an odd decision, as most know the actor as Wolverine (the prequel telling the origin of that very character is out next summer). Jackman’s talent go beyond blockbusters, though, as he has performed in many acclaimed musicals. Will this ensure that the Oscars will now be a song-and-dance show, with Jackman doing a big number at the end? We’ll see on February 22nd, with the nominations coming out in January.

A two-character play is in develop as a feature film adaptation of “Blackbird,” with playwright David Harrower aboard to script the drama about the confrontation between a middle-aged man and the then-underage girl with whom he had a relationship years earlier.

“Blackbird” premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 2005, and then transferred to London’s West End, where as a well-received run won the 2007 Olivier Award for new play. Then, that same year it was brought to Off Broadway by Manhattan Theater Club in a staging directed by Joe Mantello and starring Jeff Daniels, whom I think is a wonderful actor, and Alison Pill.

Variety offers some of tidbits about the play; such as in 2007, Cate Blanchett directed the play’s Australian premiere for the Sydney Theater Company, while next summer, a production  top billing “CSI” star William L. Petersen is scheduled to play Chicago’s Victory Gardens.

We are going to see a big screen version of Pulitzer- and Tony-winning Broadway hit August: Osage County.

Playwright Tracy Letts, who penned the legit original, is on board to write the screenplay adaptation of the sprawling family epic.

The Broadway play follows one volatile Oklahoma family in the aftermath of its patriarch’s unexplained disappearance. Clocking in at more than three hours, the play began to attract buzz during its premiere performances at the Steppenwolf Theater last summer.

After it transferred to the Rialto in the fall, the Steppenwolf production went on to become the be notable straight play of the Broadway season, picking up five Tonys and a Pulitzer.

Casting has not arrived at the tables yet; although, many actors and stars have seen the play on Broadway and inquired about possible roles in the film.

The movie business is a little quiet these months but cable television is hot, hot, hot news.  EW sent me a piece on Katie Holmes working with her buddy from Dawson Creek days, Greg Berlanti whose bringing Holmes on the critically acclaimed Eli Stone for one episode this fall. Awesome, Holmes is going back to television for a tad.

Berlanti executive produces Eli Stone and was the executive producer for Dawson Creek.

You can also find her on Broadway doing a stint with the revival of Arthur Miller’s play All My Sons, which is one of my favorite Miller plays.   All I can say is — Go girl!

I don’t know about you but I loved the movie 9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton, Lilly Tomlin and Jane Fonda. The comedy timing was brilliant.  Yet, the social message it conveyed about the treatment of women in the work place is poignant.

That was in 1980 and most likely the work force is a little bit better but still needs reform. So girls,  is coming to Broadway as a musical in 2009.  Dolly Parton’s music and lyrics has been added along with 20 new songs to the original soundtrack. 

I am very excited for her, and I hope Lilly and Jane attend the premiere in Los Angeles in September.  The musical will move to Broadway for an April 23 opening.

The musical 9 to 5 stars Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty and Marc Kudisch.