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Archive: December 2010 (301-304 of 304)

Dec 1 2010 12:05 PM ET

This Week on Stage: Billie Joe Armstrong boosts 'American Idiot' just as other shows turn on the dark

Tagged: Stage/Theater, This Week on Stage

Billie-Joe-Armstrong Image Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty ImagesForget the fuss about Julie Taymor’s megabudget musical Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark. The other big theater news is the return of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong to Broadway’s American Idiot for 50 shows, starting Jan. 1. This is very good news for producers of the rock musical, which has struggled at the box office for much of the seven months since its opening. Last week, the show filled just over half its seats and grossed a mere $600,000. The hope is that Armstrong’s presence will spike sales to the levels Idiot reached when he leapt into the role of seductive, drug-pushing rebel St. Jimmy for a surprise one-week gig from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 (that week, the show played to 93 percent capacity and grossed $1.1 million).

The timing is particularly smart since Armstrong will be arriving during what is traditionally a slow time for Broadway, the postholiday lull when New York is light on the tourism that typically drives ticket sales. In fact, it’s the fear of the January doldrums that has spurred the recent outbreak of closing notices on the Great White Way. Today, the well-reviewed rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson joined the trend; it will close Jan. 2.

A lot of Broadway houses will be emptying in the next couple of months. The Kander-Ebb musical The Scottsboro Boys announced its last performance will be Dec. 12, and the Brendan Fraser-topped comedy Elling closed on Sunday after just nine shows. The curtain will also be falling early on Fela! (Jan. 2), Promises, Promises (Jan. 2), Brief Encounter (Jan. 2), West Side Story (Jan. 2), Colin Quinn Long Story Short (Jan. 8), In the Heights (Jan. 9), La Bête (Jan. 9), and Next to Normal (Jan. 16). And that’s not even counting shows like the holiday hit Elf that were mounted this fall for a deliberately limited run.

Are there are any shows you’re hoping to see before they close? (My suggestion: Hurry up and see the sensational Scottsboro Boys!) And will you consider a trip to New York to see Billie Joe belting out “Know Your Enemy” at the St. James Theatre?

More Stage coverage from EW.com:
Sam Mendes and Kevin Spacey announce dates for Richard III
Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark sells $1 million in tickets
Michael Urie joining, Zachary Quinto leaving revival of Angels in America

Dec 1 2010 11:48 AM ET

'Mad Men' class examines consumerism, why 'Mad Men' is so awesome

by Margaret Lyons

Filed under: Mad Men, TV and tagged: Mad Men, Nostalgia

Image Credit: AMCYou’d think a class about Mad Men might focus on the art of seduction, better living through structured undergarments, or how to win over attractive women and influence drunks. But no! Northwestern University’s MM class is about history and commercialism. Well, that sounds good too.

Professor Michael Allen’s course, Consumerism and Social Change in Mad Men America 1960-1965, is a freshman seminar, and he told the Northwestern Newscenter that he likes teaching history and politics “from the ground up.” “Mad Men provides a good understanding of how ordinary people participated in history and produced change in politics broadly conceived,” he said. “In class we’ll discuss the ways women got involved in second-wave feminism, how they decided to enter the workplace, as well as the emergence of civil rights activism, which often occurred in commercial settings, such as lunch counters and drug stores.” READ FULL STORY »

Dec 1 2010 10:46 AM ET

'Sons of Anarchy' season finale: The Rat Prince

by Mandi Bierly

Filed under: About Last Night, Television, TV and tagged: About Last Night, Sons of Anarchy, Television

Image Credit: Prashant Gupta/FXWhen I think back to the season 3 finale of Sons of Anarchy, I’ll remember three things:

1. The moment that Jax’s face turned to a smile in the paddy wagon as he got word that the plan none of us saw coming had worked: Turns out the club knew, probably all along, about him turning rat with Agent Stahl to clear Gemma and get their sentence reduced to three years (14 months with good behavior). With Unser having no hope of saving the Charming PD after Salazar’s death last episode (is that why Jax really did it?), he was again loyal to SAMCRO and stopped Stahl and her men as they were driving off with Jimmy O (who thought he had the luck of the Irish when the Feds took him into custody from the Sons after they’d bought him from the Russians with counterfeit money). Unser sent Stahl’s men ahead to investigate a threat and said he’d wait with her. Cue members of the Sons rolling up in a school bus — Chibs stabbed Jimmy, and Opie shot Stahl. Poetic. Kozik gave Unser a punch (other cheek, he’s had bridgework done), so it’d look like he got overpowered by, I presume, IRA hitmen who left their sign on the car window in Jimmy’s blood. Kozik also tore up the deal Jax had signed naming members of the Irish kings.

2. A tiny piece of me was actually sad to see Stahl die in the end. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 1 2010 12:01 AM ET

Under-appreciated Entertainer of the Year: The Finals!

by Mike Bruno

Filed under: American Idol, Movies, Music, Television, TV and tagged: American Idol, Movies, Television, Underappreciated Entertainer of the Year Bracket Game

Image Credit: Vivian Zink/CBS
It’s been a long, momentous November, but the day has come: The EW.com Under-appreciated Entertainer of the Year bracket game finals are upon us. It’s down to red-headed siren Allison Iraheta, who JUST eked out a 52 percent to 48 percent final-four victory over the chameleon-like Karl Urban (Red), and Thomas Gibson, whose legions of Criminal Minds fans hit our polls hard and pushed him to a commanding 71 percent to 29 percent semifinals victory over So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley. (Click here to see the whole bracket.) Who will join the ranks of Entertainment Weekly‘s other Entertainers of the Year when our annual EotY issue hits stands on Friday, and who will join the Still Under-appreciated masses in the elimination pool? Your vote decides it. The poll closes at 4 p.m. ET Thursday, Dec. 2, so make your pick now and then come back on Friday for EW’s annual Entertainers of the Year celebration and find out who your winner is.