Put 18-karat Nathan Lane on Broadway and the show’s SRO. He and very talented Andrew Garfield open the 25th in Tony Kushner’s celebrated “Angels in America.”
Nathan: “This play feels even more essential and necessary than when it opened in the ’90s during the AIDS epidemic and just after Reagan.
“Each time you see this, it speaks to us and cries out for us to listen. All that happens in any life happens here. It’s about many things. A plea for change. We love democracy, yet we still argue about race, sex, religion, customs, politics.
“Tony Kushner, funny yet human, was prescient and teaching we must help one another. Many young people are now first discovering ‘Angels in America.’ It’s a New York American piece.”
Then how did it do when you first opened it in London?
“Our show has puppetry, special effects. It’s beautiful. But, look, we’re not Harry Potter. It was a big commitment.”
Nathan plays infamous Roy Cohn. Don’t know who he was? Look him up. Plays, books, movies, magazines, editorials, documentaries have immortalized this young chief counsel in 1954’s Army-McCarthy hearings. He was the prosecutor in 1951’s convicted-then-executed Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spy case.
He was also President Trump’s lawyer and friend. I knew Roy. I’ve talked with Nathan about him.
Nathan: “This gives human being Roy a thread of humanity. Fighting for his life, fighting AIDS, which he hid from friends, fighting for everything. This level of performance is the greatest gift I’ve ever been given as an actor.
“He didn’t think he’s horrible. I loved being brazen, tough-about-where-he’s-headed Roy. Nowhere else can you get such writing. This is the pantheon of American literature.”
Too much hyperbole
Oscars. Enough with red-carpet dwarves burbling “incredible” — as in “incredible” dress. And “amazing” — as in “what an amazing night.” And qué pasa with yesteryear’s lightweight amusing awardees? Must each one today kiss up their agent, plumber, chiropodist?
Seacrest? His “gets” were secondary. Other mike-holders nailed the stars first. Those who faced Ryan then muttered identical things to him.
As for Kimmel, his hands flapped nervously at the start but he proved very able.
Bits & pieces
Everything old is new again.
Now Bruce Willis is another Charles Bronson.
Back with “Death Wish” as a gun-toting vigilante.
Elisabeth Shue, playing his wife, thinks audiences will be “fine.” Sure.
Lovely springtime gift for the NRA . . . Jean Kennedy Smith, last surviving JFK sibling, celebrated her 90th with ravioli and a sundae and all Serendipity singing “Happy Birthday.”
Time to get real
VIPs are hustled for everything.
At a Frederique Constant watch party Gwyneth — don’t ask Gwyneth who — sported their smartwatch.
And: At a screening for Disney’s new film “A Wrinkle in Time,” Oprah: “No matter what your flaws, embrace them.”
Reese Witherspoon, who must’ve overheard Oprah: “Conquer evil by finding good in people.”
Zach Galifianakis: “The story has a message.”
Chris Pine: “Hopefully it changes some hearts.”
Gugu Mbatha-Raw: “Our world needs light conquering darkness.”
The Javits Center International Beauty Show’s attracting an odd set.
Pink hair extensions with purple braids, orange long curls tumbling down only one shoulder, like some TV anchor ladies.
False lashes made with rhinestones and sable fur. All’s fake. Bejeweled multicolored junk nails, lashes, hair, boobs, teeth, even stuffing for behinds. And the place is jammed.
One salesman wore shorts. Short shorts. Bare legs. Rhinestone boots. Long green hair with bangs. What is happening to us?
Can this be only in New York, kids, only in New York?
By:senyblog18.wordpress.com
senyblog18.wordpress.com 