After throwing a telephone in a hotel lobby and bashing the writers of his upcoming title role in
Robin Hood, it seems only fitting that Academy Award-winning Russell Crowe earn his star-studded spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to close out a wonderful decade in his career. The
Gladiator actor will be honored with the 2,404th star that lines Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street today in front of the Kodak Theater, where the Oscars are now held annually. Next month, the Aussie-born Crowe's take on
Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott, will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Russell Crowe's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame will be unveiled Monday, April 12 in front of the Kodak Theater.
We've often said that Broadway lacks psycho-sexual-spiritual adventure. Well, not anymore!
Everyday Rapture is debuting on Broadway this week after receiving glowing reviews during its run at the Second Stage last year. And luckily for us, the autobiographical musical-concert-show from Sherie Rene Scott tells the story of the "young woman's psycho-sexual-spritual journey on the rocky path that separates her mostly Mennonite past from her mostly Manhattan future." Well, that's settled.
Everyday Rapture
will premiere at the American Airlines Theater on Monday, April 19.
In the wake of awards season, one musical genre is sending a message that it ain't over until a blond-haired, blue-eyed Southern belle sings. Reba McEntire will host the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards live this Sunday from Las Vegas' MGM Grand with performances from Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker (aka Hootie, as in "and the Blowfish"), and even Ms. McEntire herself. Those names also include the evening's most nominated artists—Lady Antebellum leads with seven nominations, Underwood received six, Swift has five, and Chesney is coming in with four opportunities to take home a coveted statuette. Though performers have certainly proven that country music is far more glamorous than its hillbilly stereotype, the scheduled presenters, such as Kristen Bell, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, and Matthew McConaughey, certainly show how the genre has broken previously existing boundaries. And if Swift has anything to say about it, things will get just as
wet and wild at this year's ACMs as she allowed them to get in 2008.
The 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards air live on Sunday, April 18 at 8 p.m. EST on CBS from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Before U.S. citizens start chuckling at the idea of a Canadian awards ceremony, consider this: Justin Bieber is Canadian. That's right, King Tween, Lord of Twitteronia and the surrounding territories, Duke of MTV and Protector of Disney Radio, is
from Canada. Bieber is nominated in three categories, including Album of the Year and New Artist of the Year; Bryan Adams will be getting a humanitarian award (for staying off the radio, we imagine); and Britney Spears, Black Eyed Peas, Kings of Leon and, uh, Susan Boyle, will duke it out for International Album of the Year. As long as it's better than the Vancouver Olympics Opening Ceremony, it'll be worth watching.
The Juno Awards will be broadcast live from St. John's, Newfoundland, on CTV in Canada on Sunday, April 18.
It's been a dark four months since we left the players of New Directions on
Glee in the highly anticipated "Sectionals" episode. But now that the competition is over, America's favorite TV musical dramedy is back—like Finn and Rachel, Will and Emma back—with "Hell-O." As cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (played by the hilarious Jane Lynch) attempts to sabotage the budding love of the former newly rejuvenated pair of glee club members, the series also welcomes Tony winner Idina Menzel as the coach of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline. Also joining the series for a Vocal Adrenaline stint is Jonathan Groff, who plays the group's lead singer and who previously played opposite Lea Michele (Rachel on
Glee) in Broadway's
Spring Awakening. As its title indicates, the love triangle-filled episode is set to feature songs including the four (sometimes five) letter word, including Lionel Richie's "Hello" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell."
Glee returns to Fox at 9:28 p.m. EST on Tuesday, April 13.
It's that time of year again! Thousands of hipsters, hippies, druggies, Goths, mods, ravers, rockers and other kinds of people who shower infrequently will be in the Mojave desert over the weekend, doing various drugs, attending parties, camping out under the stars, making new friends, having sex with new friends, and learning valuable life lessons like "wear sunscreen in the desert." There will also be some kind of "rock concert," apparently.
The 2010 Coachella Music Festival, headlined by Jay-Z, Muse, and Gorillaz, runs from Friday, April 16 to Sunday, April 18 in Indio, California.
Although fashion week has already hit Paris, Milan, and Los Angeles in 2010, a new celebration of style is coming to New York, thanks to concept store Misha Nicole (opening in Soho in Fall 2010) with the help of the Indo-American Arts Council. Global Runway's Night Out hits Manhattan this week, featuring 10 global designers like Naeem Khan, Amrita Singh, White + Warren, Stephanie Singh, and Padma Lakshmi of
Top Chef fame. In the wake of the success of
Slumdog Millionaire and Khan famously designing a gown for first lady Michelle Obama, Indian-inspired fashion has recently taken a front-row seat and people are taking notice. "It is being established as the premier platform to showcase coveted designers that have strong brand recognition internationally, but aren't represented in the U.S.," Misha Shivdasani, the face and brain behind Misha Nicole, told Khabar Magazine. "People are excited about India and fashion that provides uniqueness, quality, and a good price, and that is what India can provide.
India is on the upswing."
Global Runway's Night Out begins at 7 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 15 at New York's Paramount Hotel.
After this past weekend's Bieber-Fey fever episode of
Saturday Night Live, the pop-centric sketch comedy is continuing this week with host Ryan Phillippe and musical guest Ke$ha (pronounced Keh-shuh… the dollar sign is silent). The actor is unexpectedly now in with the Kristen Wiig/Will Forte crowd since taking on a role in the sketch-to-screen feature
MacGruber. In the film, Phillippe plays Lieutenant Dixon Piper, who joins the two
SNL heavyweights in an effort to hunt down the title character's sworn enemy after he steals a nuclear warhead. Hopefully, this stint won't blow up in Phillippe's face. While there's no guarantee about the comedic value, for those who enjoy seeing a twentysomething girl dance around with face paint and without pants, Ke$ha is likely to deliver.
Saturday Night Live airs at 11:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, April 17 on NBC.
What began as a campy hour-long dramedy about a girl struggling to make it at a fashion magazine with thick red-framed glasses and a Guadalajara poncho is sadly coming to an end this week.
Ugly Betty, based on the cult Colombian telenovela
Yo Soy Betty, La Fea, came to American audiences nearly four years ago and it was difficult not to fall in love with the character whom actress America Ferrera helped shape as one of the hardest-working young women in the faux fashion world. While it was hard not to cringe at her faux pas, Betty Suarez was also constant proof, and has been through the years, that good things actually come to good people. After being pushed to a dreadful Friday night timeslot and then brought back to Wednesday nights, fans had hope that Betty, and the rest of the loveable Suarez family and Mode magazine cast of characters, would live to see another season. But sadly, that was not the case. Writers have attempted to tie up loose-ends with remerging exes, coming out parties, and lost family members, but it still feels our time with Ms. Suarez has been cut short. And though she's been criticized for going both glam and svelte over the past season, we'll take our not-so-ugly Betty any way we can.
The series finale of Ugly Betty airs on Wednesday, April 14 at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.
Another British import is venturing across the pond this week as
Harry Potter star-turned-director Alan Rickman reunites his London cast for the premiere of
Creditors at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. After its sold-out run at England's acclaimed Donmar Warehouse, Rickman is once again telling August Strindberg's late 19th-century tale via playwright David Greig's early 21st-century update. The darkly humorous story begins as protagonist Adolph awaits the return of his new wife Tekla, but soon finds solace in a masochistic world a stranger opens up to him. Despite its period setting, the show offers a shockingly modern take on the battle of the sexes that received high marks from the West End—The Guardian hailed it as "
bracingly intelligent" and The London Times praised its "
A-list performances."
Creditors opens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Friday, April 16 for a one-month engagement.
Being a great author doesn't translate into being a great road-trip companion. Hemingway, for example, would probably not be super-fun to go cross-country with, unless you are the kind of person who thinks stoic masculinity is a great time. But the late David Foster Wallace was both a great writer and one who came across as a fun, personable guy—the kind of smart, witty, articulate friend who would make a terrific co-pilot. Wallace killed himself last year, but author and journalist David Lipsky once had an opportunity to drive across the Midwest with him, and in the wake of Wallace's death has decided to publish an account of the five days they spent together, much of it transcribed from audio recordings of the trip. The result is essential for Wallace fans, and anyone looking to get a sense of the author's private life, and how it translated to the written word.
Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself will be available for purchase on Tuesday, April 13.
There are a lot of ways to handle a subject as fraught and heady as the Holocaust. William Styron dealt with the Holocaust by examining the guilt of a survivor; Art Spiegelman took it on by considering the effect it had on the descendants of those who lived through it. Canadian author Yann Martel is handling the most horrifying event in 20th-century Europe by writing about a philosophical conversation between two stuffed animals.
Beatrice and Virgil is Martel's followup to the Booker Prize-winning
Life of Pi, which was about a boy on a raft with a tiger. What are they putting in the water in Canada?
Beatrice and Virgil will be available for purchase on Tuesday, April 13.
