Vatican To Stage Mary The Musical & other: June 2008

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Paul Weller, Glasvegas, Sam Sparro for intimate London shows

Paul Weller, Glasvegas, , Does It Offend You Yeah? and Sam Sparro are among the acts set to play this year's iTunes festival at London's KOKO.

Elliot Minor, Kids In Glass Houses and Annie are the other new acts set to play shows announced today (June 17).

Glasvegas will be supporting Paul Weller at his headline show on July 2. The Scottish band appear on the cover of the new issue of NME, on UK newsstand tomorrow (June 18).

Each headline band will play a gig at the venue, which will be recorded then made available to buy from Apple's iTunes website.

All the tickets for the shows are free, and can be won at iTuneslive.co.uk.

The line-up of the iTunes festival so far is:

N.E.R.D. (July 1)
Paul Weller, Glasvegas (2)
Hadouken!, Does It Offend You, Yeah? (3)
The Feeling, Gabriella Cilmi (4)
Elliot Minor, Kids In Glass Houses (6)
Lightspeed Champion, Pete And The Pirates (8)
The Ting Tings, Florence And The Machine (9)
Jamie Lidell, Yelle (10)
James Blunt, Beth Rowley (12)
Death Cab For Cutie, I Was A Cub Scout (14)
The Zutons, Red Light Company (15)
CSS, Alphabeat (16)
Guillemots, Lykke Li (17)
Feeder, Infadels (19)
Sam Sparro, Annie (21)
Suzanne Vega (22)
The Script, Sam Beeton (23)
McFly (24)
Chaka Khan (26)
Pendulum, INME (28)
The Pretenders (July 30)

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

I'll never be a lesbian, Denise Richards says

Denise Richards would never consider becoming a lesbian because she loves men too much.

The 37-year-old actress - who is currently starring in a reality show entitled Denise Richards: It's Complicated - famously starred in a lesbian sex scene in Wild Things, but says she doesn't want to go down that road in real life.

She said: "No, I'd never do that - I love men!"

Denise - who has two daughters Sam, four, and three-year-old Lola with ex-husband Charlie Sheen - also revealed despite going through a bitter divorce battle with the Two and a Half Men actor, she is determined to stay positive.

She added: "I am in a happy place now. I always try to stay positive even though I've been going through some of the worst possible stuff. I have two beautiful girls and I concentrate on them. I can't change the other stuff that goes on and what has happened in the past."

Denise - who has also dated Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora and ER actor John Stamos - recently revealed she can't resist passionate men.

She said: "I admit I have a weakness for guys that have dark hair and are passionate in bed, what is wrong with that?"

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J.J. Abrams to produce 'Mystery'

Paramount has purchased a New York Times article, "Mystery on Fifth Avenue," for a feature that J.J. Abrams will produce through his Bad Robot shingle. Writers Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky have been hired to adapt it into a film, with Marc Evans overseeing for the studio.

The Times feature, which ran Thursday and was written by reporter Penelope Green, describes an Upper East Side luxury apartment on Fifth Avenue that the occupants had redesigned to include hidden compartments, messages, puzzles, poems, codes and games for their four preteen kids.

Click here for the full story

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Ted Brown and Jimmy Raney

Artist: Ted Brown and Jimmy Raney

   Genre(s):
Other

Discography:

Good Company

Year: 2002
Tracks: 12

Jude Rogers on Sir Paul McCartney's admiration of the Wombats

Martin Sheen Honoured For Humanitarian Effort

Activist-actor Martin Sheen will be honoured by the University of Notre Dame for his humanitarian work, the college announced yesterday.
The NUI Galway graduate starred in 'The West Wing' playing a U.S. president who was a Notre Dame graduate and he is set to receive the 'Laetare Medal' at a ceremony in the college on 18 May. President John F. Kennedy is amongst previous recipients of the award.
Talking about the famous actor, the university's president, the Rev. John I. Jenkins Sheen said: "He has used that celebrity to draw the attention of his fellow citizens to issues that cry out for redress, such as the plight of immigrant workers and homeless people, the waging of unjust war, the killing of the unborn and capital punishment".
The 67-year-old has described himself as a Catholic peace activist. He has been arrested for taking part in non-violent demonstrations against various U.S. military policies.
He has donated money and time to such causes as the alleviation of poverty and homelessness, human rights for migrant workers and environmental protection.

Kongar-Ool

Artist: Kongar-Ool

   Genre(s):
Folk

Discography:

Echoes Of Tuva

Year:
Tracks: 13

Back Tuva Future

Year:
Tracks: 10

Viewers get to pick own Fraulein Maria

As a child, Canadian comedian Gavin Crawford says he adored The Sound Of Music and wanted to be Julie Andrews, who starred as Fraulein Maria in the iconic film.

It�s hard to imagine better credentials for the host of How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, which debuts Sunday on CBC-TV.

The seven-week TV series will feature 48 hopefuls competing for the lead role of Maria von Trapp in an upcoming Toronto stage production of The Sound Of Music, produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Ian and David Mirvish, and set for debut at the Princess of Wales Theatre this fall.

The CBC show is based on a British series of the same name that Webber co-created.

�It is a lot of pressure because it was a real person, first of all, so you want to do justice to the real person and the heroine that she was,� said 24-year-old Toronto actress Jennifer Walls, one of 13 Maria hopefuls at a recent singalong to promote the show.

Viewers will ultimately get to decide the winner of the Maria role.

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Roberto Carlos Nakai and Cliff Sarde

Artist: Roberto Carlos Nakai and Cliff Sarde

   Genre(s):
New Age

Discography:

Enter and Tribal

Year: 2001
Tracks: 11

Danilo Perez

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

Sandler is arguably one of the smartest movie moguls in Hollywood. As a writer/star/producer, he knows exactly who his audience is and gives them exactly what they want and expect--for better or worse. In this case, it�s slightly better than most. He is Zohan, a super-skilled, super-buff--and many times, super-naked--Israeli Mossad agent, who can stop the bad guys with one swift kick and woo the ladies with his amazing butt muscles. But he�s tired of fighting and secretly wants to be a hair stylist, so he fakes his death and heads to New York under the alias �Scrappy Coco� to live out his dream. Of course, his past catches up with him, especially after he gets a job at a salon run by the beautiful Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), who also happens to be Palestinian. No matter, he is soon a huge success with the older lady clientele for his, er, unique sensual hairstyling techniques, if you get my meaning. But Zohan�s past eventually catches up to him, just as he realizes he can�t make the �bang boom� with anyone else but Dalia. Adam Sandler can just add Zohan to his repertoire. Actually, it�s been awhile since we�ve seen Sandler play someone this over-the-top--and it�s kind of refreshing. The actor obviously had to really work out to get the Zohan physique, and he puts himself out there, quite literally, in more ways than one. (Disco dancing while barbequing fish in the nude is gutsy!) Sandler also enlists the help of some of his cronies, particularly Rob Schneider, who plays a Palestinian cab driver, of all things. Nah, that shouldn�t piss off anyone. Chriqui from HBO�s Entourage is very cute and a worthy love interest, but it�s really all the older ladies who get the true benefits of Zohan�s mojo, including Lainie Kazan, playing the mother of one of Zohan�s friends. And then there�s John Turturro, who sheds all seriousness as a known terrorist and Zohan�s nemesis, The Phantom. I guess after he did Transformers, Turturro figures he can keep up the silly antics. Sandler also teams up once again with his old director pal, Dennis Dugan--the same guy who has guided Sandler in his hit comedies Big Daddy and Happy Gilmore. Obviously, it�s a synergy that works, but Dugan usually doesn�t have to do much more than point the camera. With Zohan , however, Dugan has to incorporate some special effects (Zohan flying through the air, for example) as well as some action stunts. It looks like they had more fun this time around. But, of course, with any Sandler movie, it�s all about the comedy, so Sandler doesn�t hedge any bets, collaborating with another old friend and SNL alum, Robert Smigel, along with the master of comedy these days, Judd Apatow. Zohan has many signature Sandler moments, and true-blue fans should be pleased. If you�re not a fan, however, you might still enjoy some of it--even if you roll your eyes.

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Charlie Musselwhite

Artist: Charlie Musselwhite

   Genre(s):
Blues

Discography:

One Night In America

Year: 2002
Tracks: 12

Curtain Call Cocktails

Year: 1998
Tracks: 13

In My Time

Year: 1993
Tracks: 16

Signature

Year: 1991
Tracks: 10

Ace Of Harps

Year: 1990
Tracks: 10

Rough News

Year:
Tracks: 12

Continental Drifter

Year:
Tracks: 11

Harmonica magician Norton Buffalo can recall a leaner time when his phonograph record ingathering had been whittled down to only the bare essentials: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Stand Back! Here Comes Charley Musselwhite's South Side Band. Butterfield and Musselwhite testament plausibly be incessantly linked as the deuce to the highest degree interesting, and arguably the virtually important, products of the "edward D. White blues movement" of the mid to previous '60s -- not only because they were close the vanguard chronologically, simply because they each stand out as organism specially faithful to the style. Each for sure earned the respectfulness of his fabled mentors. No less than the late Big Joe Williams aforementioned, "Charlie Musselwhite is one of the greatest living harp players of country blues. He is right up there with Sonny Boy Williamson, and he's been my mouth organ player ever since Sonny Boy got killed."

It's interesting that Williams specifies "rural area" vapors, because, level though he made his print in the lead electric bands in Chicago and San Francisco, Musselwhite began playing vapors with mass he'd interpret about in Samuel Charters' Country Blues -- Memphis greats like Furry Lewis, Will Shade, and Gus Cannon. It was these rural roots that place him aside from Butterfield, and decades later Musselwhite began incorporating his first official document, guitar.

Innate in Kosciusko, MS, in 1944, Musselwhite's kinfolk stirred second Earl of Guilford to Memphis, where he went to high school. Musselwhite migrated north in search of the near-mythical $3.00-an-hour job (the same bait that set myriad youngsters on the like route), and became a conversant face at blues haunts like Pepper's, Turner's, and Theresa's, sitting in with and sometimes acting aboard harmonica lords such as Little Walter, Shakey Horton, Good Rockin' Charles, Carey Bell, Big John Wrencher, and even Sonny Boy Williamson. Before recording his first base album, Musselwhite appeared on LPs by Tracy Nelson and John Hammond and dueted (as Memphis Charlie) with Shakey Horton on Vanguard's Chicago/The Blues/Today series.

When his aforesaid debut LP became a banner on San Francisco's metro radio, Musselwhite played the Fillmore Auditorium and never returned to the Windy City. Leading bands that featured greats like guitarists Harvey Mandel, Freddie Roulette, Luther Tucker, Louis Myers, Robben Ford, Fenton Robinson, and Junior Watson, Musselwhite played steadily in Bay Area bars and mounted somewhat low profile national tours. It wasn't until the late '80s, when he conquered a career-long drunkenness trouble, that Musselwhite began touring general to rave notices. He became busier than ever so and continued cathartic records to critical applaud. His two releases on Virgin, Crude News in 1997 and Continental Drifter in 2000, found Musselwhite admixture elements of jazz, gospel, Tex-Mex, and acoustic Delta blues. After sign language with Telarc Blues in 2002, he continued exploring his musical roots by releasing One Night in America. The disk exposed Musselwhite's interest in area music with a spread over interpretation of the Johnny Cash classic "Large River," and featured guest appearances by Kelly Willis and Marty Stuart. Sanctuary, released in 2004, was Musselwhite's first record for Real World.

R. Kelly Two-Steps Back to Court

"Iron Man" pounds rivals at box offices

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Superhero movie "Iron Man" pounded the competition at North American box offices for the second straight weekend, landing at No. 1 with $50.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The movie about a comic book hero in a high-tech suit of armor took in $12,284 per theater at 4,111 locations, and saw its total box office rise to $177 million after only about 10 days in theaters.

"Iron Man" blasted by two new entries this weekend, family adventure "Speed Racer" and romantic comedy "What Happens in Vegas," which battled for the No. 2 and No. 3 positions.

"Speed Racer" finished in the second-place spot with $20.2 million in ticket sales to $20 million for No. 3 "Vegas," according to Sunday's estimates. But those figures could change when Monday's final weekend tallies are released.

"Speed Racer" got off to a slow start for the big-budget film's backers at Warner Bros. who had high hopes the movie would prove to be a runaway hit for kids and their parents.

"We were disappointed with the results over the weekend," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.

However, Fellman said surveys of audiences leaving theaters showed they had positive reactions to the movie about a race car driver named Speed who must stop wealthy corporations from using profits to fix races. It was made by the directors of the "Matrix," brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski.

"We're hoping, optimistically, that the movie can turn it around and sustain an audience into the summer but only time will tell at this early stage," Fellman said.