Results tagged “show”

FINALLY: Run-DMC is going to Broadway, people! Joseph Simmons (Run) and Darryl McDaniels (DMC) are cooperating with the estate of Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay) to create a stage musical about themselves: Run-DMC, the hip-hop pioneers from Hollis. Maybe it's not so crazy? Run-DMC were hilarious master showmen, and we could see their larger-than life personas served well by a big, loud Broadway spectacle. On the other hand, the producer is Hollywood's Paula Wagner, known for her association with Tom Cruise and War of the Worlds, which gives us a not-so-fresh feeling.

Doesn't anyone have HBO anymore? Writer Jonathan Ames has penned a new series for the network, called Bored to Death, and even he can't watch it! The show is set in Brooklyn, where Ames resides... and last night the author took to Twitter to find a tube to watch it on. Some kind strangers took him in, and aside from a few grammatical errors while Tweeting that Ames called himself out for, he seemed to enjoy the experience. Maybe next Sunday he'll bring you a bottle of vino and his wisdom on how to perfectly illuminate your living room to view his show. [via Animal]

50 Cent doesn't even need to perform anymore, he's spent the summer in the headlines for canceling a Queens show when neighbors became concerned about safety. But now the NY Post reports that the rapper could possibly be attending a picnic in the borough tomorrow, at PS 40.

Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM, had just filmed an intervention series for MTV, called "Gone Too Far," before he died of a suspected drug overdose. After debating airing the 8 episodes the network has decided in favor of it, "apparently counting on the star’s own suspected overdose on Aug. 28 to underscore the ravages of addiction more than it emphasizes the ghoulish exploitation factor of the whole enterprise." Stay classy, Viacom.

Fashion Week is right around the corner, again, but months afterl the couture is cleared the fashion world will be something for the average man: Victoria's Secret Angels. The winged ones haven't brought their annual "fashion" show here for four years, and The Daily News reports that "runway regulars Marisa Miller and Alessandra Ambrosio, broke the news on the CBS Early Show" yesterday that they would be returning—with Miller stating that New York is exactly "where it belongs." If your front row invite gets lost in the mail, the show airs on CBS in December. Angel Heidi Klum is set to have a baby in October, and told People that "The birth will be very, very close to when the show is. I don’t know if I’ll be able to walk in my underwear quite that fast! We’ll see." Meanwhile, another angel, Adriana Lima (pictured) is due in December, and says she won't be part of the show unless she can hide under a Santa outfit.

Hailed as "America's next great band" by Relix Magazine, psychedelic indie-rockers Dr. Dog will charm your fleas off with their shimmering harmonies, crunchy hooks, and affable grooves. Based in Philadelphia, the group's been a fixture on the NYC indie-rock circuit for years now; some music geeks may even remember them playing as part of a buzz band sandwich at Southpaw with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Dirty on Purpose way back in 2005! That was four years ago, and we're old. But Dr. Dog shows now sign of senility, and Saturday night's headlining slot at Celebrate Brooklyn is their biggest New York appearance yet. It's a free concert, with opening support from Brooklyn’s Matthew Houck, a.k.a. Phosphorescent, and electro-folk band These United States. We recently spoke with Dr. Dog's co-founder Scott McMicken about hippies, hipsters, and Baptists.

       

The Tony Award broadcast usually amounts to a night of boring Broadway boosterism which most Americans happily ignore to watch basketball, but last night viewers actually got a few seconds of drama to go with all the backslapping, as Poison lead singer Bret Michaels got into an exciting accident with a piece of scenery. The "Rock of Love" star was on hand to perform a song with the cast of hair band jukebox musical Rock of Ages; but as you can see from the last few seconds of this video clip, that bit of cross-promotional synergy nearly cost him his life.

Someone has added some new theme music to the Diff'rent Strokes opening, and even he admits, "This has turned out far more creepy than I thought it would." Aside from the new music, the video is unedited except for some color hue alterations.

Poster Boy, allegedly the 27-year-old Henry Matyjewicz (though possibly a collective of more than one person), has been somewhat quiet since his arrest a party in January. You know, save for that whole MoMA incident. Well tonight he's got his first solo show, though don't expect him to show up (he'll likely take the Banksy route and not attend). Do expect some undercover cops to be there (leave that graffiti paraphernalia at home lest you want Officer Tom Hanson jumping you).

       

Morrissey has been touring his 49-year-old ass off as of late, most recently with a series of smaller shows, perhaps the most intimate being this past Saturday at Bowery Ballroom. There was some notable between-song banter, and Newsday has a Top Ten list of Moz quotes from the night, including "I’m the type who just can’t find love," and "Who am I? This is a question that many have died trying to answer...I can only be identified on a slab, by the scars of pain." (Aw, give this guy a hug if you see him around town.) He also made note of the high security at the venue, saying, "We’re like a jealously guarded can of sardines." Wonder if anyone found love in the audience.

Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim are known for their infectiously energetic shows and their contagious smiles. Providing an upbeat sound with just keys and catchy drum lines, they've won over just about everyone. Did we mention their "cuteness" appeal?

Is it possible for a show to be simultaneously entertaining and annoying? Such is the paradox presented by Elizabeth Swados and Erin Courtney's propulsive opera Kasper Hauser at the Flea Theater. The performances by this talented young cast are uniformly excellent, the staging is mesmerizing, the music is fun and engrossing, and yet... at the nexus of all this dazzling theatricality is the title character, a pigeon toed half-wit with a tendency to drool and babble incoherently. He's sitting onstage as one enters the theater, manically rolling a toy horse back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. The performance was delayed on the night I attended, and after about 15 minutes I began fantasizing about jumping onstage and stomping the squeaky-wheeled toy to bits. That irritation never really abated, though it was balanced out by Swados's stellar score and dynamic direction.

A 30-member cast and crew took over various subway lines last weekend to perform a vaudevillian melodrama starring August Belmont Jr., the early-20th century president of the Interborough Rapid Transit, which operated the city’s first underground line. Called IRT: A Tragedy in Three Stations, the show begins in a Brooklyn subway station disclosed only to audience members who buy tickets in advance, and continues on and off various trains running up to Harlem, lasting about two hours, depending on the MTA's quality of service.

Councilman Eric Gioia's people are pumped because last night the politician finally arrived, getting his name up on the blue board in last night's episode of Jeopardy. And the name-check appeared during Double Jeopardy, no less! Seen here, the clue refers to one of the Queens pol's favorite pet projects. If you guessed, "What are push-ups?" you'd be dead wrong—it's "unpaid parking tickets." (Of course, the Daily Politics was quick to point out that the total amount owed by the top 10 scofflaws is more like $18 million.) And making the five seconds of fame even sweeter, Alex Trebek reportedly pronounced the Gioia's name correctly. We're green with envy—some tech geek needs to create a Jeopardy screen generator (like the famous Disney sign generator) so we can get "Gothamist says grammar scolds can choke on a bag of these" into Final Jeopardy!

Music from Michael Jackson's smash-hit Thriller album will become the basis for a Broadway musical, and the Gloved One is to oversee "every aspect of the creative process," E online reports. Producer James L. Nederlander has acquired the rights to stage an adaptation of Jackson's "Thriller" video, and the show will include songs from the eponymous album, as well as tracks from Off the Wall. Nederlander tells the Associated Press, ''I love the idea of making 'Thriller' a musical. Girl meets boy, they fall in love, boy has big secret, now what?'' Charge through the nose for tickets and merch? Playwright Matthew Freeman has set up an official "joke thread" on his blog, and the first of many catty quips has been left in the comments: "I think the review for Thriller can be two words long: Beat It."

There's always been a theatrical element to commuter air travel: flight attendants are actors pretending everything's simply delightful, passengers comprise a captive audience asked to suspend their disbelief in the airline industry, the pilot is the unseen director struggling to keep the evening aloft. Of course, one weak link in that analogy—as the passengers on flight 1549 were recently reminded—is that when the curtain rises on a flight, one hopes the show will be utterly devoid of drama. So it's a good thing that Wickets, a play performed for an audience seated inside a replica Boeing 747 cabin, gives its passengers exactly what they don't want at 35,000 feet: a little thrill, and something to think about.

Just when you thought you could sit this New Year's Eve out, the Knitting Factory pulls you back in. It's no easy task dragging us out of the apartment on amateur night, but this full-club show, curated by Akron/Family, boasts a lineup we couldn't refuse: Dirty Projectors, Deerhoof, Megafaun, Deer Tick and a cast of thousands will invade TriBeCa for what's sure to be an unforgettable night of idiosyncratic alt-indie revelry. It's also the last concert ever at the Knitting Factory's storied Leonard Street location; next year the owners will move to the promised land, across the East River to Williamsburg. Earlier this week, we spoke with Miles Seaton from Akron/Family about the upcoming gig, the forthcoming album, and the best New Year's Eve ever.

Is a sequel to True Life: I'm a Staten Island Girl in the making? A miniseries, perhaps? Maybe Christmas wishes do come true, because the SI Live blog is reporting that MTV is holding a casting call during the busy holiday season at the Staten Island Mall this weekend (more specifically the GUESS store from 2 to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday). The network is looking to find "everyday kids [18 to 20 years old] that are fun, cute and lead interesting lives" for a new 20-episode show that begins taping next month. The site also notes that MTV is keeping quiet for now, but "it's safe to say viewers can expect it to be along the lines of the de-funked TRL," as it will feature both pre-filmed and live segments. Staten Island: where MTV shows go when they die? Oh, and Manhattanites, you need not apply—the casting agent specified they don't want your kind. It's like opposite day!

Come celebrate the holiday season with us, a bunch of musicians and some Egg Nog n' Maker's Mark—it'll be just like grandma's house...in Gowanus. This Sunday, December 21st, we'll be throwing a seasonal soiree at the big, gorgeous Bell House, in partnership with the After the Jump folk.

Tradition dictates that holiday variety shows be structured around a loose plotline of impending doom; Christmas is about to be canceled, Santa's under indictment, a rabid bear is mauling Elvis Costello. In A Murray Little Christmas, the rollicking and ribald burlesque comedy show now packing them in at The Zipper Factory, Xmas '08 is critically endangered by the multi-headed hydra of recession, Proposition 8, and, naturally, gentrification. Oh, also, there wasn't room in the production budget to install a working chimney in the "illegal gingerbread squatting apartment" that serves as the set, so there's no way for Santa to make his grand entrance.

If Joseph Campbell ever got really baked and told his grandchildren a meandering bedtime story, it might have sounded something like The Granduncle Quadrilogy, a whimsical four part fairytale "from the Land of Ice," presented by Piper McKenzie at the Brick Theater in Williamsburg. Playwright Jeff Lewoncyzk's idiosyncratic fable centers on a bungling hero, the titular Granduncle, and his kooky misadventures in an imaginary arctic land where war is everlasting and it's so damn cold everyone looks forward to death, when they can finally join their messiah in heaven. (Which is under the ice.)

We could waste this introduction telling you how consistently funny Mike Birbiglia's new solo show Sleepwalk With Me is, but why not just let the man's comedy stylings speak for themselves? Here's a totally unrelated Birbiglia riff on our 43rd President: "I think Bush seems like that fun guy. You know, that guy you invite to the barbecue because you know he'll start the whiffle ball game. He's like Whiffle Ball Tony! You're like, 'Yeah, Whiffle Ball Tony's here! Alright, alright. This is cool.'

The Debate Society, arguably New York's most charming theater company, is adept at seducing their audience with the atmosphere of whatever locale they choose to evoke. Their latest work, called Cape Disappointment, meticulously conjures up Gothic worlds of lost highways, traveling salesmen, Eisenhower-era teens, and roadside bandits. Designer Karl Allen has done excellent work transforming the upstairs theater at P.S. 122 into a romantically decayed drive-in movie, even installing vintage speaker boxes throughout the audience. And to complete the scene, free bags of popcorn are distributed—noisy, crinkly bags that maddeningly break the spell just like at the cinema.

        

Photographer William Eggleston got famous in 1976 when his photographs—derided by art snobs for their bold departure from black and white—were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. According to the Times, the controversial show, with its emphasis on the lifestyles of everyday Southern folk, was received with such dismissive comments as "Perfectly banal, perfectly boring." Now, of course, his work is considered iconic, and the photos' abiding popularity is due in no small part to Eggleston's costly use of the dye transfer printing method, which yields stunning colors.

        

Every time theatrical glam-prog rockers Apes and Androids take the stage, it feels like Halloween. You can always count on a Busby Berkeley-size supporting cast of costumed dancers, massive paper mache demon heads, neon boats sailing through the crowd, stilt-walkers, confetti, balloons and vast mountains of glitter. And their shows that actually coincide with Halloween—in '06 at The Annex when they recreated Michael Jackson's Thriller in 3D, and last year at an obscure Williamsburg loft—have cemented their reputation as New York's ultimate spook night party band.

     

The big Top Chef Truck rolled into Union Square this morning for the last stop on their 20-city tour, with Season Four's rejected cheftenstants Richard Blais and Andrew D'Ambrosi on board to give cooking demonstrations in the kitchen housed within a 48-foot tractor trailer. The two day event, which continues into tomorrow, gives fans of Top Chef an experience that Knight Rider nerds would surely kill for.

Surely you're aware by now that the next season of reality cooking show Top Chef was filmed right here in New York. It premieres next month, and to crank up the enthusiasm, Bravo is displaying some serious marketing flair. This week Top Chef: The Tour, a 20-city barn burner featuring a customized 18-wheeler semi-truck, rolls into town, promising "the ultimate culinary experience" with cooking demonstrations and tastings hosted by former cheftestants.

If you like a little sensual touch with your performance art—and really, who doesn't?—be sure to sit in the first row at BLIND.NESS, the dark and steamy new dance-theater piece by WaxFactory at P.S. 122. One dude up front who received a prolonged nuzzling from performer Erika Latta was overheard gushing as he walked out, "That was the best play I've seen in a long time!" I wouldn't go that far (then again, I was in the fifth row), and BLIND.NESS isn't so much a play as it is a dense multidisciplinary collage, but it does succeed as an uninhibited exploration of eros and all its attendant agony.

Prince will be in town for an intimate show this Friday. New York's "fans, fams, freaks and purpleheads" have been warned via an online message that "it's gonna be your turn to party, sooner than you think. Get your fancy pants pressed now, folks: Prince is coming to town ... it will be a very small capacity show. Like, 250-300 people intimate." Of course, the location isn't being divulged just yet, but it has been noted that the show "will be a L4OA charity benefit gig for the Urban Planning cause." Back in 2006 the Purple One played Butter, any guesses as to where he'll take the stage this time around? Until noon today, you can enter to win tickets on two fan sites. [via Brooklyn Vegan]

Broadway insiders say Julie Taymor is out of control on the set—er, rehearsal studio—of the upcoming musical adaptation of Spider-Man. The projected budget has soared to $40 million so far, with sources telling the Posts's Michael Riedel, "She doesn't care what it costs. Does not care at all. Her attitude is: It's for the art, and you don't question artists." To be sure, with music by U2's Bono and the Edge and direction from the Tony-winning Taymor, Spider-Man could easily be the most fabulous piece of, um, art on Broadway since Capeman. But Riedel predicts that with a weekly running cost of $1 million, the show would "have to run about 8,000 years" to break even. Producers are supposedly eying the big Hilton Theatre for a 2009 opening—they just need the current occupant, Young Frankenstein, to admit defeat.