James Spada's Blog, page 7

"FUNNY GIRL" RELEASED ON BLU-RAY

“Funny Girl” Blu-ray Official Announcement CULVER CITY, CALIF. (March 25, 2013) – Legendary superstar Barbra Streisand demonstrates why she’s the greatest star in her Academy Award® winning role (Best Actress, 1968) as “Fanny Brice” in the celebrated musical biography FUNNY GIRL .  Commemorating its 45th anniversary, the classic film was meticulously restored from the original negative by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 4K at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks and will screen at the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival on April 25th.  Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release FUNNY GIRL for the first time on Blu-ray April 30th, exclusively available at Amazon. [Pre-order it here]
In her first starring film, Streisand recreated her Tony Award® nominated Broadway role for three-time Academy Award winning Director William Wyler (Best Director: Mrs. Miniver, 1942; The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946; Ben-Hur, 1959), playing the comedienne in a story that contrasted Fanny’s comic onstage antics with her dramatic offstage romance with Nicky Arnstein, a dashing gambler. The film co-stars Oscar® nominee Omar Sharif (Best Supporting Actor, Lawrence of Arabia, 1962) as Arnstein, Kay Medford as Fanny’s mother, Anne Francis as a Ziegfeld showgirl, and two-time Oscar nominee Walter Pidgeon (Best Actor: Mrs. Miniver, 1942; Madame Curie, 1943) as legendary Broadway showman Florenz Ziegfeld.
The Blu-ray will feature two previously released vintage featurettes: “Barbra in Movieland,” a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film; and “This is Streisand,” chronicling the early years of the performer’s career.
FUNNY GIRL , which earned more than $52 million at the box office, was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, a Best Supporting Actress nod for Kay Medford, Jule Styne (music) and Bob Merrill (lyrics) for Best Original Song for “Funny Girl,” and Best Score for Walter Scharf, with Barbra Streisand taking home the statuette for Best Actress. The score consists of classic standards, including “My Man,” “Second Hand Rose” and “I’d Rather Be Blue Over You (Than Happy With Somebody Else)” to tunes that have become standards, including “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “I’m the Greatest Star.” In 2005, the Streisand’s immortal opening line, “Hello Gorgeous,” was named #81 on the American Film Institute list, “AFI’s 100 Years ... 100 Movie Quotes” and the film itself ranked #16 on “AFI’s Greatest Movie Musicals” list.
Synopsis:
One of the most popular movie musicals ever made is now better than ever on Blu-ray™! FUNNY GIRL follows the early career of stage comedienne Fanny Brice, a role that earned Barbra Streisand the 1968 Oscar® for Best Actress. Only her mother believes Fanny can make it in show business, but when she gets her first break at Keeney’s Music Hall, her hilarious debut gets her hired as a comedienne. Fanny becomes a star, falls in love and marries Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif), a handsome gambler. The film’s many memorable songs include “Don't Rain on My Parade” and the Streisand classic “People.”
Bonus Features Include:
“Barbra in Movieland” Featurette“This is Streisand” Featurette

IT WAS SO SHOCKING IN 1970!

Brooklyn fashion designer suing Yoko Ono -- But sexy concept goes back to Barbra Streisand's 'Pussycat' Brooklyn designer Haleh Nematzadeh designed the clothing shown on the far left. Yoko Ono’s clothing is shown on the far right. Barbara Streisand, center, is wearing the famous “hands” outfit designed by Ann Roth in 1970 – and reworked for the Broadway play “The Nance,” starring Nathan Lane. Photos courtesy Gonna Walk the Night, eBay, and Opening Ceremony
By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle 'It came from burlesque'A Brooklyn fashion designer is suing Yoko Ono for $10 million, claiming she ripped off her sexy clothing line featuring flimsy fabrics, cutouts and “hands” positioned over strategic body parts – a look made famous in 1970 by Barbra Streisand in the smash film “The Owl and the Pussycat.”
Haleh Nematzadeh, owner of Smashing Starlets LLC is suing Ono, John Lennon’s widow, and Ono’s design partner Opening Ceremony. "This case is about...Yoko Ono and multimillion-dollar fashion company who together stole the designs of an up and coming designer and pawned them off as their own,” the suit states, according to Courthouse News.
Nematzadeh claims that after she showed the sketches and pictures of her collection to Ono’s design team, “they canceled the photo shoot," and recycled her ideas as a collection for men.
Ms. Ono, however, has said her collection is based on a series of drawings titled “Fashions for Men” that she sketched as a gift for Lennon for their wedding in 1969, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
News of the lawsuit amused Academy-award winning Proving that a good idea never dies, Ms. Roth told the Brooklyn Eagle on Tuesday that she’s resurrected the sexy hands motif for the burlesque-themed play “The Nance,” starring Nathan Lane as Chauncey Miles, currently in previews at the Lyceum Theater and opening on April 15.
“I did the same nightgown, with very similar design, for the three girls backstage,” she said. “Someone said to me, ‘Oh, you’ve stolen that from The Owl and the Pussycat.’ I told them, ‘No, Owl and the Pussycat stole it from burlesque, from 1938.’ It’s a very complex story."
Roth explained how she originally came up with the costume idea back in 1970. “To be honest,” Roth said, “I’m a huge researcher.” Part of that research involved looking at “Screw” magazine, published at that time by Al Goldstein. “I was looking for dirty, erotic, skuzzy underwear, and somehow or another I made it up,” she said. “It’s appearing in the Lyceum as we speak.”
As for the Brooklyn lawsuit? “This girl is going to have to start suing everyone,” Roth said. “It might be from some burlesque queen from the 1920s. Who knows?”
More information about “The Nance” can be found at http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/lyceumtheater/the-nance.php
(To check out the latest incarnation of Ms. Roth’s costume, visit the New York Daily News’ review of the show.

BARBRA STREISAND, FASHION ICON

Barbra Streisand And Elliott Gould Pull Off A Chic '60s Look (PHOTO) The Huffington Post  |  By Christina Anderson  
Barbra Streisand is a music icon. Her voice is the stuff legends are made of... but her style isn't as highly regarded. This 1966 photo has us reconsidering our opinion on Babs' fashion.
When we saw the photo our first thought was, "Awww." Pictured with then-husband Elliott Gould (aka Jack Gellar from "Friends"), Streisand is the epitome of '60s chic.
Streisand bears striking resemblance to a few style icons in this sweet shot. Her sideswept bangs and cat-eye liner call to mind a young Audrey Hepburn, while her lace collar reminds us of something Adele would wear. Kate Middleton wore a very similar dress recently, so yeah, we support this look.
PHOTO:


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GREAT NEWS FROM BARBRA'S WEBSITE!

Barbra announces new tour dates in Europe! MARCH 20, 2013, 3:59 am Following her dazzling North American tour of 2012, BARBRA STREISAND LIVE! will visit Europe this summer for four exclusive engagements with additional dates and venues to be announced soon.
Appearing for the first time ever in Cologne and Amsterdam and returning to London and Paris for the first time in over six years, Barbra Streisand Live promises to be a magical evening of timeless hits, combining her elegant voice, with self-deprecating humor and charming banter.
Surrounded by a full orchestra and with special guests Chris Botti, her son Jason Gould, and sister Roslyn Kind, all of whom performed last year on Back to Brooklyn, Barbra’s highly successful North American tour, Barbra Streisand Live will deliver a truly enchanting evening.
There will also be a Fan Pre-Sale allowing you to purchase tickets from a limited reserve in advance of each public on sale date using the code PEOPLE .
DATE CITY VENUE FAN
PRE-SALE PUBLIC
ON SALE TICKETS June 1 London, UK O2 Arena March 21, 9a GMT March 22, 9a GMT ticketmaster.co.uk June 6 Amsterdam, NL Ziggo Dome March 22, 9a CET March 23, 10a CET ticketmaster.nl June 10 Paris, FR Bercy March 26, 9a CET March 27, 10a CET Coming soon! June 12 Cologne, DE Lanxess Arena March 23, 9a CET March 25, 9a CET eventim.de We hope to see you at the shows!

Matt Howe, on his great website barbra-archives.com, prov...

Matt Howe, on his great website barbra-archives.com, provides us with the very latest on Barbra's new screen version of Gypsy:


Plot: Gypsy was a Broadway musical (1959) with tunes by Jules Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents. It originally starred Ethel Merman (pictured above, center) as Rose.
The Advocate provides a great summation:
One of the great backstage musicals, Gypsy is based loosely on the memoirs of stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, but the focal character is really her ambitious and often frustrated single mother. Mama Rose drags her daughters, Louise and June, to any gig they can get, even as vaudeville is dying in the 1920s. June, first as Baby June and then the adolescent Dainty June, is the star attraction, but when she goes off on her own (she eventually became a noted actress under the name June Havoc), Rose puts Louise out front. As Gypsy Rose Lee, Louise goes on to hit the heights of fame, accompanying her sexy dances with unexpectedly intellectual patter. Rose is left to wonder, in words written by Sondheim, “When is it my turn? Don’t I get a dream for myself?”
Songs include the classics: “Let Me Entertain You,” “Small World,” “Together Wherever We Go” and “Everything's Coming Up Roses.”
Gypsy has had several successful Broadway and London stage revivals with Angela Lansbury (1974), Tyne Daly (1989), Bernadette Peters (2003) and Patti LuPone (2008) all playing Rose.
Film History
Gypsy was made into a movie in 1962 with Rosalind Russell as Rose, Natalie Wood as Louise, and Karl Malden as Herbie. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, the film was photographed by Streisand's first cinematographer, Harry Stradling. Malden, by the way, played Streisand's father in the 1987 film, Nuts.
Gypsy was filmed in 1993 as a made-for-television movie with Bette Midler as Rose, Cynthia Gibb as Louise, and Peter Riegert as Herbie. Directed by Emile Ardolino, this TV production adhered closely to the Laurents book. [Order the Midler Gypsy DVD from Amazon by clicking here.]

Streisand Film Version In 1989, news began spreading of Streisand starring in a new film version of Gypsy with Madonna as Louise. The show's writers addressed it in the press. After the 1962 film, “the show was dead in stock,” Jule Styne explained. “It took almost 30 years to offset that lousy picture.” Writer Arthur Laurents said, “Not for all the money in the world will we let them make another film version of Gypsy.”
Flash forward to January 2011. News broke (i.e. leaked) that Warner Brothers and producer Joel Silver were developing a film version of the musical Gypsy for Barbra Streisand, who would star as Mama Rose and also produce the film.
Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book for the original Broadway show told the press that “now things are serious and a movie is truly in the works.” Laurents even mentioned that Tom Hanks would be a great addition to the cast as Herbie.
[Warner Archive Collection released the Blu-ray of the 1962 film version of Gypsy. Order here.]Laurents was not a fan of the 1962 film version starring Rosalind Russell. Mr. Laurents said, “I would be very pleased if we had a different film version for the historical record.”
As for Streisand being too old for the role (she turned 70 in 2012), Laurents told the New York Times, “First of all, they can do magic in Hollywood. Second, does it really matter?”
Laurents, Stephen Sondheim (who wrote the show's lyrics) and the estates of Jule Styne (music) and Jerome Robbins (original Broadway director) had to approve a new film as they hold the rights to the original Broadway production.
Meanwhile, The King's Speech director, Tom Hooper, was interested in directing Streisand as Rose. (He ended up directing the film version of another Broadway musical, Les Miserables.)
Two months later, after speaking with Sondheim about the project, however, Laurents had changed his mind. Sondheim, Laurents told the press, “told me something that he got from the British — and it's wonderful. He said, 'You want a record because the theater is ephemeral. But that's wrong. The theater's greatest essence is that it is ephemeral. You don't need a record. The fact that it's ephemeral means you can have different productions, different Roses on into infinity.' ” Laurents, therefore, concluded, “So I don't want it now. I don't want a definitive record. I want it to stay alive.”
A week or so after Laurents made it sound like the project was over, it was reported that Universal was interested in the property. Then, sadly, Laurents died on May 5, 2011 at the age of 93.
In May 2011, Gypsy film producer Joel Silver told the New York Times that Laurents gave his blessing (and his signature) to the film version of Gypsy before he died, calling for the film to be “substantially similar” to the stage musical. “I last spoke to Arthur in April,” Silver said, “brought him up to speed on everything, and then I think I surprised him a little by asking him to make the movie with me. I felt that he understood ‘Gypsy’ better than anyone, and that he understood Barbra, since he cast her in her first big musical, ‘I Can Get It for You Wholesale.’ And he said yes. We were talking about him coming out to L.A. in May.”
“We just have to find our team and a writer,” Streisand told USA Today in August 2011.
Julian Fellowes was named as Gypsy's screenwriter in March 2012. The press release from Universal Films read:

Producers Barbra Streisand and Joel Silver have set Academy Award®-winning writer Julian Fellowes to pen the screenplay adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ Tony Award winning musical, Gypsy, which Ms. Streisand and Mr. Silver are currently developing for Universal Pictures. Ms. Streisand will portray “Momma Rose” in the new version

N.Y. Post's Page Six reported in October 2012 that producer “Silver’s been trying to put together financing for his version of Gypsy with Streisand starring as Momma Rose. We’ve heard Streisand won’t fully commit unless Silver has the finances together, but backers are reticent to fork over the funds unless Streisand is fully aboard.”
Vanity Fair's December 2012 story on Julian Fellowes characterized his screenplay as “a big-screen reconceptualization of Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’s Gypsy.”
And Joel Stein's December 2012 story on Streisand contained this tantilizing sentence: “she told me she’s thinking of casting Lady Gaga as the lead in her remake of Gypsy.”
Streisand later recanted her statement about Gaga when she spoke with Entertainment Weeky's Marc Malkin. She said she "got into trouble for mentioning" Gaga and that "It was an idea."
If cast, Gaga would play Louise, who transforms during the movie into the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee.
As for directing and starring in the picture, "I don't know if I would direct it. I'm not sure about that," Barbra said to Marc Malkin.
Streisand told more to the press about her Gypsy project in December 2012:
She is “still working out one rights issue” before the movie can move forward and that “it should happen, but it just takes forever.”“Age is just a number,” she told Entertainment Weekly about being too old to play Rose. “Some people look old at 45. Some people look younger at my age…. I saw CGI of an actor that made him go from 60 to 30, by the way. What they can do now, technically.” "I hope it comes to fruition," Streisand said about Gypsy.

Nicole Kidman to Play Grace Kelly in Biopic

Nicole Kidman As Grace Kelly: First Look At Actress As Legendary Screen Icon The first official images of Nicole Kidman as Grace Kelly have been released and the resemblance is certainly striking. Nicole plays Kelly in the upcoming biopic, "Grace of Monaco," about the legendary Hollywood beauty who gave up her acting career for the royal throne when she married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, the Telegraph notes.

The first images of Kidman as Kelly show the Australian actress embodying the "High Noon" star's style, with frothy dresses and head scarves.
The 45-year-old portrays the Princess of Monaco between December 1961 and November 1962, when she was in her 30s trying to help her country during a time of political turmoil, Collider reports.
On Sunday, Deadline.com revealed that The Weinstein Company is finalizing a deal to acquire the domestic rights to Olivier Dahan's "Grace Of Monaco." The film is set to be released in December, in the middle of awards season, and may be an Oscar contender for Harvey Weinstein.
Kidman already has an Oscar win to her name.
At this stage of her career, the actress is committed to longevity in a business that caters to youth. This strategy includes honing in on character parts rather than only lead roles.
“My desire, particularly now as I get older, is to play character roles,” she told Radio Times via the Independent. “'The Paperboy' is a character role and so is 'Stoker,' and 'Grace of Monaco.' And it's a great thing being a character actor - the leading lady thing is fine but the interesting stuff is the character parts.”
“I'm not good when I have to be the girl next door," Kidman added. "The more extreme the better, in a way.”

BARBRA TO PERFORM IN ISRAEL FOR THE FIRST TIME

Barbra Streisand to perform at Peres’ 90th birthdayDespite several personal visits, June 18 appearance will be legendary singer’s first official show in Israel By Gabe Fisher March 11, 2013, 4:28 pm 5  Barbra Streisand performing at the 2013 Oscar ceremony (photo credit: screen capture/Youtube) Related Topics Legendary Jewish-American singer and actress Barbra Streisand is set to perform in Israel on June 18 at the opening ceremony of Shimon Peres’s annual Presidential Conference, which will also honor his 90th birthday.Streisand, 70, has visited multiple times and is known as a supporter of Israel, but her June 18 appearance will mark her first official performance in the Jewish state.
According to a Mako report, her visit will occur during a rare European tour organized by concert promoter Live Nation, a company that has a working relationship with Israeli promoter Shuki Weiss, leading to speculation that Streisand will also perform at a larger, public venue.Israeli fans and various promoters have attempted several times to organize a performance by Streisand at a large venue, such as the Ramat Gan Stadium or the Caesarea Amphitheater, without success.“I tried to bring her to Israel, alone and with other producers, and it was always difficult… [They wanted] very large sums of money,” a veteran concert promoter told Mako. “It seems that this time, according to the circumstances, it fell on Shuki Weiss [to do it].”Weiss, who has been responsible for bringing many international acts to Israel, including upcoming visits by Depeche Mode and Alicia Keys, issued a statement Monday saying that “if there is anything to announce, we will.”Streisand is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with 140 million records sold worldwide since she began her career in the early 1960s, and has also had a distinguished acting career in movies, television and the stage. In 2012 she issued her 33rd studio recording, “Release Me,” and embarked on a successful world tour, only her fifth major tour since 1966.The Israeli Presidential Conference, which runs June 18-20, attracts some 4,500 attendees and features 200 leaders in their fields, including former heads of state, academics, scientists, journalists and artists.

Jan-Michael Vincent in 1975

In the mid 1970s I was the editor of "In The Know" magazine, which was a wannabe "People." I had been very taken with Jan-Michael Vincent's performance in "Buster and Billie," so I decided to do a feature about him. I interviewed him in his rustic Topanga Canyon garden. He and his wife and little girl were a delight. For photographs, I turned to a friend of Jan-Michael's, the photographer Michael Montfort. He took photos during the interview. Once I started writing the story, I decided to put Jan-Michael on the cover. Michael Montfort showed me a portfolio of studio shots he'd done of Jan-Michael, and this one immediately stood out. It made for a beautiful cover and a very popular issue of "In the Know!"

MARILYN BESTRIDES PALM SPRINGS

26-foot-tall Marilyn Monroe sculpture lands in Palm Springs      From the L.A. Times
“Forever Marilyn,” the 26-foot-tall statue that became a controversial fixture on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, has been wowing visitors and residents of Palm Springs for months.
The 34,000-pound sculpture, which cost about $40,000 to transport, took a week to be trucked across the country. Passersby have gotten a sneak peak this week as installers, and a few cranes, reassemble the statue at Palm Canyon and Tahquitz Canyon Way, where it will remain until June 2013.
"When we drove up to Palm Springs, we couldn’t believe it," said Audrey Vernon, 67, who was on vacation with her husband. "It was quite impressive."

The sculpture by Seward Johnson, the 80-year-old artist and Johnson & Johnson heir who’s known for casting famous images into giant sculptures, re-creates the scene from the 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch" in which a drafty New York subway grate blows the sex symbol's skirt well above her knees.
Vernon, who lives right by the Grounds for Sculpture garden in New Jersey, said she had seen many other pieces by Johnson, including the smaller version of the Marilyn statue. "It was great," she said. "It felt like home, getting to see her."
But the piece didn't receive the warmest reception in Chicago during its time there and was the target of more than a few vandals and critics. Some called the undergarment-baring pose sexist, while VirtualTourist.com dubbed "Forever Marilyn" the No. 1 piece of bad public art -- ahead of a “Bewitched” statue in Salem, Mass.
"We received many requests as far away as Tokyo and Madrid and cities in Brazil, and we really felt that Palm Springs has a special connection to Marilyn because it is the legendary play land for Hollywood," said Paula Stoeke, the director and curator of the Sculpture Foundation, an organization funded and run by Johnson with offices in Santa Monica.

MARCH 1951: MARILYN VISITS JOE IN FLORIDA

Fifty-two years ago this month, Marilyn Monroe took a Florida vacation after her release from a mental hospital. Joe DiMaggio was there too, for the spring training of the New York Yankees. The formerly married couple fished, walked the beach, lounged on beach chairs, and went out to a formal dinner. Rumors of a reconciliation swirled, but all MM would say was "No comment."