Results matching “jeremy piven”

Someone slipped the 44-page ruling in the Jeremy Piven sushi saga to the Times, and it's a must-read for the Piven completist. You'll recall (because we wouldn't let you forget) that last December the Smokin' Aces star abruptly quit the Broadway production of Speed-the-Plow, claiming that excessive seafood consumption—not excessive partying—had left him exhausted with "dangerously high" mercury levels. But we never found out exactly what unfolded during the emotional, three-day arbitration hearing in June. Until now.

• From the Gothamist Newsmap: a partial collapse on E 13th St, a jumper down at the George Washington Bridge and a notification system test at the World Trade Center, all in Manhattan.
• The board of the MTA approved a generous compensation package for Jay Walder, the authority’s new chairman, despite objections from City Hall.
• Brooklyn-born NCAA President Myles Brand died after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 67.

Just like he did in star said, “All we can ask for is our day in court. I was lucky enough to get it, and the truth prevailed. It’s a beautiful thing...I think our president has shown us, beautifully, that the high road is the road to take and so I’m going to take his lead on this."

• From the Gothamist Newsmap: A person struck by a train at 4 Ave & 59 St in Brooklyn, a serious trauma at Catherine Court and Simonson Pl on Staten Island and a mobilization at West 129 Street and St Nicholas Ave in Manhattan.
• The Bronx girl who survived a 7-story fall from a window is recovering—and even caught a photo of herself on TV.
• Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island) tells the Staten Island Advance that the health care bill should be streamlined, "It should be taken down and it should be a more direct and focused attempt to initiate change in the health-care system, not dramatically change it overnight."

• From the Gothamist Newsmap: An MVA with a PIN at Delancey and Clinton Sts in Manhattan, a hazmat on Bushwick Ave in Brooklyn and a water search at the George Washington Bridge in Manhattan.
• The city is stopping social promotion for fourth and sixth graders; previously even failing students would be promoted to higher grades.
• Does the NYPD get such a high number of low-level drug busts simply by tricking people during random stops to cough up their pot?

Albany's in turmoil. The MTA's in fiscal crisis. Cheap lawn chairs clutter Broadway. But just in time to heal a troubled city, Jeremy Piven is back. You'll recall that last December the Smokin' Aces star abruptly quit the Broadway production of Speed-the-Plow, claiming that excessive seafood consumption—not excessive partying, shut up!—had left him exhausted with "dangerously high" mercury levels. The world—or at least, that tiny fraction of it that goes to theater—snorted derisively, but Piven stuck to his story, even going on Good Morning America to warn everyone about mercury. Producers of Speed-the-Plow, which made less money once the rubes learned a tee-vee star wasn't in it anymore, filed a complaint against Piven with the actors' union. At a grievance hearing in February, the five actors on the panel bought it (he cried!), while the five producers didn't, and thus here we are at arbitration, which is happening this week! Producers whisper to the Post that they'll nail Piven good this time by citing examples of his odd behavior at the theater, which included showing up late for his call time and even telling one backstage visitor, "I'm bored out of my mind."

Yes! The saga continues! After yesterday's grievance hearing ended in a split decision, we were all so worried that the legend of Jeremy Piven's mercury poisoning had at last reached its denouement. But aggrieved producers of the Broadway Speed-the-Plow revival still say Piven was lying when he claimed that elevated mercury levels forced him to quit the show. Now they've issued a statement announcing their intention to pursue the matter further, meaning a continued Piven-related diversion for all! The short press release states: "The grievance went as expected yesterday. The grievance committee (made up of League and Equity representatives) did not rule for either side and we will be filing for arbitration as provided by our contract." Your move, Ari!

They bought it! At a closed-door hearing yesterday in front of a committee comprised of union actors and producers' reps, Jeremy Piven was able to convince his fellow thespians that he had no choice but to quit Speed-the-Plow last December because of dangerously high mercury levels. The five actors on the panel all sided with the Runaway Jury star, while the five members of the Broadway league agreed with the show's producers, who say Piven faked mercury poisoning because he was bored and wanted to get back to sunny L.A.

Jeremy Piven is expected to appear live and in person before an Actors' Equity grievance committee tomorrow in order to defend himself against producers of Speed-the-Plow who accuse him of faking mercury poisoning last December to escape his contractual obligation to the Broadway production. It was originally assumed that Piven's lawyers would plead his case, but the Posts's Michael Riedel says the hard-partying actor is expected to surface. Unless, as one producer quipped, he "has too much sushi on the plane from LA." Hey-oh! When he quit, Piven's physician claimed the mercury levels in the star's blood were "very elevated," and last month Piven agreed to a second blood test administered by a doctor hired by the producers. (The results of that test are not known.) If the grievance committee rules against Piven, he'll be forced to settle financially with the producers or risk expulsion from the stage union. And though there are five actors on the committee, the unnamed producer says that doesn't necessarily bode well for Piven: "I don't think many theater actors are in favor of what he's doing. They take jobs on Broadway very seriously, and he's a Hollywood actor, behaving like one."

We tried to get Elisabeth Moss to spill the juicy details on her love affair with Fred Armisen and her take on Jeremy Piven's mercury levels, but all she wanted to talk about was work. Which is cool, because her job at the moment is Speed-the-Plow, which has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for the 26-year-old star. You'll recall that Piven quit the production in December, incurring widespread snickering, and his role has been subsequently filled by three different actors.

• From the Gothamist Newsmap: A high-rise fire at Broadway & 39th St in Manhattan, a missing person on Raymonds Ave in the Bronx, and an evidence search on Howard Circle on Staten Island.
• A building on West 54th Street near 8th Avenue in midtown Manhattan was evacuated when someone called about cracks in the wall.
• Police say robbers are targeting fast food restaurants.
• No surprise here: Speed-the-Plow is better off with William H. Macy in the role abandoned by Jeremy "The Thermometer" Piven.
• Director Errol Morris has an elucidating blog chat with photo editors about a gallery of George W. Bush photographs.
• A NJ library will accept canned food donations, instead of cash, for late fee payments. It's part of their "Food for Fines" program next month.
• Chef Mario Batali has banned Gordon Ramsay from all his restaurants for calling him "Fanta Pants" and being a big meanie.
• Smoke 'em if you got 'em: crack isn't so bad for babies after all!
• And the District of Columbia, which isn't a state (yet!), has its own commemorative quarter—it features Duke Ellington.

Michael Cerveris burst onto Broadway in 1993 with his breakout performance in The Who's Tommy, and in the years since his name has become synonymous with musical theater, thanks to starring roles in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Sweeney Todd, Assassins and, most recently, Road Show (the latter three all Stephen Sondheim joints). But as the Tony-winning actor told us during our chat last week, he never intended to specialize in musicals, and is glad to once again appear in a play that doesn't require him to worry so much about his vocal cords.

Jeremy Piven sat down for his first interview since his sudden departure from Broadway play Speed-the-Plow last month, and despite widespread snickering that his "exhaustion" was really brought on by too much plowing-the-snow, the Entourage star is sticking to his mercury poisoning story. In the exclusive chat with Diane Sawyer, Piven maintains that illness caused by excessive seafood consumption brought him to his knees, and the condition deteriorated to the point where "that final Sunday, um, I had problems spatially, I was losing my balance and my memory. The lights were too bright, I couldn't get enough oxygen, I ended up passing out in my place when I got home... I'm a very clean person, I kind of grew up macropsychotic—macrobiotic, I call it macropsychotic." After brushing off rumors about his hard partying lifestyle ("If I had a glass of wine, it was too much"), Piven declares he hasn't had fish in five months, and wraps with a plug for ocean preservation website Blue Voice.

Tonight's the night William H. Macy takes over the role in Speed-the-Plow that hacktor Jeremy Piven abandoned so he could convalesce in Bangkok after a bout of "mercury poisoning" left him too "exhausted" to "perform" in the hit Broadway play. After weeks of silence, more of Piven's squirming (video) on the Golden Globes' red carpet has come to light today; speaking of Macy, Piven told the Post, "I know he'll be extraordinary in the role." No secret there; Macy is a Mamet expert. Here's the Scooby Doo in Where's My Mummy star's explanation to the Daily News:

What people don’t really know is that it’s a real illness and I am not a doctor, so I cannot identify specifically what brought me down.

Continue reading ""Be Nice To Me," Jeremy Piven Pleads"

Okay, one more Golden Globe video for the road. After weeks of silence about his abrupt departure from Broadway's Speed-the-Plow, actor Jeremy Piven was finally cornered on the red carpet last night and had no choice but to comment about his recent "mercury poisoning." Naturally, the question about his illness wasn't prompted by the "reporter" doing the interview (Tiki Barber), but by Piven's Entourage buddy Mark Wahlberg, who facetiously wondered if mercury poisoning is contagious. Piven did not seem too amused by the jape.

The highlights of last night's Golden Globes ceremony were not Kate Winslet's double win or the triumph of HBO's John Adams miniseries or that Jeremy Piven didn't win again for Entourage. The multiple wins for Slumdog Millionaire—and shout-outs to Mumbai—were sweet, as was Steven Spielberg's plea for not only making movies for the mainstream (also, Martin Scorsese gets so emotional!), but let's face it, the British comedians took the cake for the best moments.

If you pull up a chair at the sushi bar in Toshio Suzuki's restaurant Sushi Zen—and you definitely should—be aware that your days of slumming it with California rolls from the deli will soon become a thing of the past. While many chefs think of their culinary creations as art, Suzuki, who quite nearly became a monk in Japan, adheres to the age-old philosophy of "food as medicine" for the body and soul. And it certainly tastes better than Dimetapp; not for nothing did Citysearch's Feedbag deem Suzuki the best sushi chef in New York City. The pioneering master opened Sushi Zen in Manhattan back in the early '80s, just as the exotic new cuisine was about to become an unstoppable trend.

In a world torn by war, with an economy in ruins, it's nice to know we've still got Jeremy Piven's antics to take our minds off things—his abrupt departure from the modestly successful Broadway revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow has outraged the show's producers and cast members.Yesterday Piven's doctor, Carlon Colker, said he ordered Piven to withdraw from the production because of "elevated levels of mercury" in his blood, ostensibly caused by the hard-partying actor's penchant for sushi and Chinese herbs, which can contain heavy metals.

[CASTING UPDATE BELOW] Entourage star Jeremy Piven has gone from calling out sick to simply quitting his current gig on Broadway in David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow. Mamet tells Variety: "I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury. So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer." (Promises, promises.)

According to TMZ, actor Jeremy Piven (Entourage) has missed several recent performances of the Broadway revival of Speed-the-Plow due to an unspecified illness. No one knows what happened! Why, just last Saturday the Grosse Pointe Blank star was angrily stalling the show as audience members straggled in late! Now he'll be missing tonight's performance, too; his rep tells TMZ, "Jeremy has not been feeling well and the doctors have advised him that he should end his run in Speed-the-Plow immediately." But anyone with tickets shouldn't be too upset; the star of this revival is really Raúl Esparza, and the show will go on just fine with him and Elisabeth Moss. The show's publicist confirmed the illness but had no further details, adding only that (for now) the production is still scheduled to run through February 22nd.

The Fringe, the Summer Play Festival, the Ice Factory—all that's behind us. With summer all but over, it's time for the big dogs of Broadway take center stage once again. Today the Times arts section is packed with ads and articles about the upcoming theater season, which critic Charles Isherwood has dubbed A Season of Men. That's mainly because there are two David Mamet plays set to open, Arthur Miller's All My Sons (with its gender-specific title) is being revived, and a naked Daniel Radcliffe can now be seen onstage at the Broadhurst Theatre. All that and a few other highlights from Broadway and Off Broadway below.

How does one get banned from Nobu? After a rude comment to the manager on his way out of the restaurant he left a DVD of the first season of Entourage...AS A TIP. Allegedly an employee ran up the stairs and hurled it at him as he was leaving. The Daily News reports that Piven said through his rep: "I'm such a fan of Nobu and all of his restaurants. I had a great dinner at the Nobu in Aspen. As always, the meal was excellent and the service was great."

Baby, it's cold outside—go see a movie, why dontcha? Werewolves, comic books and hot girls who prowl the streets of Bucharest in high heel boots should be the stuff of great geek cinema. Unfortunately, strives to spoof every bloated popular movie that's come out lately. Of course punch line bombshell Carmen Electra is in it, but so is Kal Penn, Jennifer Coolidge and Crispin Glover of all people, so it could be fun for some chuckles.

After last year's mess of an awards show and this year's joke of nominations (where is love for Lauren Graham, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences?), we were going to swear off this year's Emmys. But then we realized Conan O'Brien was hosting, so we must watch and liveblog. And there's the hope of a good Steve Carrell bit, not to mention awkward reaction shots of Candy and Tori Spelling during the Aaron Spelling tribute.

This weekend is the weekend of movie déjà vu. You will be struck with the nagging feeling that all of the major films new to theaters seem oddly like something you've seen before. But repertory programming out in Brooklyn or in the West Village will provide a much needed shot of creativity to counter balance the same old, same old.

Good lord. It's not even five minutes into the Emmys and Gothamist (and friends Aaron Dobbs of out of focus and a Gothamist contributor, and Margaret Lyons, formerly of Chicagoist) is very very frightened. There is no reason why Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas should force Doris Roberts to dance with them. Doris needs to get the AARP to fight the fight with her. Welcome to Gothamist's attempt to liveblog the Emmys, until the show drains every single molecule of life from us, which we believe will happen in the 10PM hour.

Pop culture is really paying attention to those of larger dimensions and girth lately. We have had reality TV's take on this with The Biggest Loser, and a Gothamist fave Rescue Me has had a featured storyline between a fireman dating a largish gal, to the disdain and ribbing by his crew. Now off- Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, we have that same actress (Ashlie Atkinson) in a similar role as one of the stars of the riveting new play Fat Pig by Neil LaBute (The Shape of Things, bash, The Mercy Seat).

Gothamist can always get a sense of what shows are crash & burning and which are just plain sizzling by an occasional perusal of the theater tickets for sale/wanted listings on the oh mighty list o Craig. A browse today tells us the following: