Sex and the City, 2 touched up...

SATC will be back on the big screen in 6 months and the studio has just released the first teaser poster for the much anticipated sequel. In this age of digital touch-ups and photo shopping prints however, is the image too perfect? Many bloggers are crying foul over the image which has SJP's skin smoothed out and an obvious lift in her chest. Take a look...

Whatever you may think, you have to hand it to the 44 year old star - she looks amazing! Even in un-touched-up real life, she shimmers. Take a look at her from the premier of Did You Hear About the Morgans? and a shot from the set of SATC2 (wearing the same outfit as the promo poster)...

Seeing her in real life compared to the poster version, what do you think? Did the producers go too far in touching up the image for the poster?

Lindsay Lohan saves 40 children while twittering...

Although the bonafide hot mess Linsay Lohan has never made the sweet pages of WEZ Candy (she's too sticky), the time has come. The failed movie star / lesbian / TV star / pop star / clothes designer has decided to get out of the lime light and go to India to work with children. Probably a good idea for the star... she needs something to ground her. She landed in India yesterday, and only 6 hours later was already twittering about the good deeds she was doing! "Over 40 children saved so far... Within one day's work... This is what life is about... Doing THIS is a life worth living!!!" That's right. FORTY children saved because Lindsay stepped in. Wow. That's amazing. Thank God La Lohan was there...

The real purpose for the trip is to film a documentary on human trafficking of women and children with BBC. And to all the nay-sayers, people that don't believe she could have possibly saved 40 children in such a short time, she tweeted, "Focusing on celebrities and lies is so disconcerting, when we can be changing the world one child at a time.... hope everyone can see that." Probably the smartest thing she has EVER said...


Hopefully Lindsay realizes the problem with human trafficking is it doesn't go away once you save 40 children and make a documentary. It would be nice to see her make a real stand for good...

High School Musical star headed to Broadway...

 Corbin Bleu will be heading uptown to Washington Heights. Well on Broadway that is. The High School Musical actor will be taking over the star role of Usnavi created by Lin-Manuel Miranda in the hit show In the Heights on Broadway. The 20 year old will be in the show for 13 weeks only starting on January 25th.

The producers of the show have admitted the announcement is a ploy for ticket sales, and it's working! Everyone who hasn't seen the show is rushing to buy tickets for shows BEFORE the 25th of January! But in all actuality, the young star may have what it takes. Here's a music video from his 2009 CD, Speed of Light:


Yawn...

Strange, spiraling lights baffle Norway...

There were un-explained lights over Norway this morning. They baffled everyone who witnessed them spiraling in the sky, and they lasted around 2minutes before disappearing. Experts have said the lights are not part of the Aurora Borealis, and were most likely a failed missile launch. Truls Lynne Hansen, a Tromsø Geophysical Observatory researcher is confident that it was a missile (possibly from Russia) that lost it's way and the spiral was due to light reflecting off of leaking fuel. Other reports have simply stated the cause of the lights is unknown. Watch them below and see for yourself...

A Taste of Dreamgirls...

Dreamgirls is playing at the world famous Apollo Theatre in New York City before heading out on the road across America and playing a month in Tokyo. The production features amazing singing, beautiful costumes and a razzle dazzle set that is sure to make every fan of the show jump to their feet!


The Sweet:
Nearly the entire cast has a voice to die for and they all know how to use it. The stand out numbers like "Dreamgirls", "I Am Changing", "One Night Only", and of course "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" are all executed with precision and soul. On Sunday, the understudy for Effie (Patrice Covington) was on for her first time and she was truly spectacular. She navigated her first performance with ease and confidence - it seemed as though she had been performing the role from the beginning. She had the perfect mix of grace and power, and her voice blew the roof off the Apollo!

The real stand out in the show is Chester Gregory as James "Thunder" Early (Jimmy). His performance demanded attention and any time he was on, he was the only person you could see. His show stopping "Jimmy's Got Soul" was a riot and his final scene with Lorrell was acted with heart-breaking clarity and depth - no other moment in the show was so affecting.

The design for the show featured more glitter and glitz than you can imagine, but never went too far. The set, lights and costumes all contributed to the show and moved seamlessly from scene to scene. The moments that the performers were video taped live and projected on the set worked especially well.

The Sour:
Probably the biggest problem with the show is the material. It's a show that has countless numbers, yet only 5 or 6 are worth remembering. The run-time felt a little long and the audience was getting a bit restless towards the end, which could have been helped by cutting some of the weaker numbers, or simply shortening them. "Steppin' to the Bad Side" especially stuck out as awkward with it's theme park choreography and extended dance break.

The ensemble is very strong in the show, and most, if not all of them have very difficult tracks to cover, it would have been nice to see some stronger dances though. The choreography was never flashy and looked a bit elementary and repetitive at times. It did seem to fit the time period, but could have used some stronger, flashier dances to spice up the weaker numbers.

The problem with a show coming out only a few years after such a well-received movie, is it has to top the film or change it in some way to justify the new production. This show doesn't quite accomplish that, it only reaches the same level. It's very good, but it doesn't have an emotional resonance that you can only have from a live show. It seems the director, Robert Longbottom, spent a lot of time making the show look and sound good, and not enough time making sure it had heart. This results in moments of dis-engagement. Just sitting back and listening to good singers and not feeling the heart of the story.

WEZ Sez: 
Go see Dreamgirls at the Apollo or anywhere in the USA! It is exciting and well performed - you will be entertained. This production is especially good for fans of the show / film who would like to see it sung live. Just don't expect to see a show that makes you think anything other than "those performers blew the roof off!"

It's at the Apollo until Saturday night. Seven more chances to see it in NYC. You can get $25 rush tickets on the day of the show. Click HERE for the tour schedule.

Shakespeare in the Park announces season...

Summer is just around the bend! Well not really, but we do have a lot to look forward to with the new Shakespeare in the Park season being announced yesterday! The Public Theatre's 2010 season will feature the Merchant of Venice and A Winter's Tale and will run from June 9 to August 1st. The shows will run in rep which hasn't happened since 1991. It will be exciting to see the same cast perform two different shows on alternating nights! The headliner of the season is Al Pacino (age, 69) who will only appear in Merchant of Venice as Shylock. The other cast members will appear in both productions. They include: Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jesse L. Martin, Lily Rabe, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Max Wright. The shows will be directed by: Daniel Sullivan (Merchant) and Michael Greif (Winter's).

Of course if you want a sneak peek at Al Pacino as Shylock, all you have to do is Netflix the film 2004 film version of Merchant of Venice co-starring Jeremy Irons. It's entertaining enough... but it will be much better to see it live on stage...

Homeless person meets the Queen...

Lady Gaga met the Queen after her show in the UK last night. Meanwhile, the pop star / hot mess / Grammy nominee has admitted she is homeless. That is unless you consider the stage a home. She refuses to buy a home and has put all her belongings in storage or brought them along with her while on tour. You see, Lady Rah Rah ah ah ah only wants to live "on stage". Yes that's right... the stage is her home. And if that wasn't enough to make your eyes roll back in your head, she even wrote a poem about it:

"For every minute of the day

The truth is that I'm dead

Until I'm here onstage with you

Then I'm alive instead."

She later announced that she stole the poem from a five year old.

Kelsey Grammer to star in a comedy that is actually funny...

Things may be looking down for Kelsey Grammer (ABC canceled Hank), but don't count him out. Well actually he will be out. On stage that is. The producers of the Broadway revival of La Cage have just announced that the star of Frazier and Cheers will be headlining the production as the gay cabaret owner "Georges" next spring. This will be the second revival of the musical in only five years (the last revival closed in June of 2005) which is making many wonder: Why? Why is it necessary to bring a show back to Broadway that was just here? Hmmmm... will we ever know? The revival will be a transfer of the critically acclaimed 2008 West End production. Here's hoping it's better than the last one (the 2004 version was widely panned by both critics and audiences).

When asked about his latest sit-com, Hank being canceled, Grammer claims he was the one who pulled the plug on Hank. "Honestly, it just wasn't very funny... We finished and I was like, 'Oh boy, there wasn't a laugh in the house on this one.' And I called the president of Warner Brothers... and I said, 'Listen, when can we put a bullet in this thing?'" Even though this is obvious PR, it's a smart move that makes you want to forgive him for the bad material. This is fail number two for the funny man counting last year's Back to You. 

Grammer may be over-due on a break from TV, and it seems like a good time for him to return to the Broadway stage. He last appeared on Broadway in 2000 starring in Macbeth. His previous credits are from the 80's and are also Shakespearean: another version of Macbeth and "Casio" in Othello. He sang live as "Henry Higgins" in the New York Philharmonic's My Fair Lady in 2007 which made him "long to perform in a musical on Broadway." He released this statement about playing Georges in La Cage:

"Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein's wonderfully funny and touching show is about being true to yourself and the challenges you face as a parent, as a spouse and as a family. I cannot wait to work with Douglas Hodge and to sing these magnificent songs every night."

Of all the TV to Broadway actors, it seems like Grammer may actually have what it takes to make his role come to life, and it will be great to see him in a comedy that's actually funny again.

Michael Jackson commisioned paitings of himself...

And not un-like M.J.'s life, the paintings are pretty weird. They were done by his favorite painter, David Nordahl and they're all depictions of M.J. in imaginative, fantastic situations. The one below, for example shows Michael as King Arthur...

The troubled pop-star spent millions on the paintings with the larger ones costing him around $150,000 each. They were all released in an up-coming book titled "Michael Jackson Opus: The Ultimate Celebration of an Icon". The most disturbing image is simply entitled "Michael" and it features him as a greek God with male cherub surrounding him...

After these paintings were released, David Nordahl released a statement asking people not to bombard him with requests to paint them as a god surrounded by angels. It has worked to no avail however, as he received over 100 requests from WEZ Candy readers alone. Who wouldn't want a life-size image of themselves nude with children to pull out when their parents visit? 

Are you freaked out yet? Yeah. Don't worry, so is everyone else. The book comes out later this week if you'd like to own the whole collection to thumb through anytime...