UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – Dec. 19, 2017 – Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and 10-time Grammy Award winner John Legend has been cast as Jesus Christ in NBC’s special event “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!,” to be aired Easter Sunday, April 1. NBC continues to innovate its live musical productions with the staging of this iconic rock opera in front of a large audience at the Marcy Armory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y.
“Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!” will be executive produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Marc Platt, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Joining the creative team also as executive producers are John Legend, Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius. Rock icon Alice Cooper was previously announced for the role of King Herod and the production will be helmed by esteemed British theatre director David Leveaux.
“We’re all overjoyed to have world-class musical artist and producer John Legend starring as Jesus,” said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “This score demands a singer with an amazing range and an actor with great depth, and there isn’t anyone better to bring this story to a new audience. His casting is also groundbreaking as the traditional image of Christ will be seen in a new way.”
“John Legend is a superstar,” said Tim Rice, lyricist of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” “As a performer, his voice is infectious and effortless. As an actor, he is believable and honest. I’m thrilled he will be able to share his portrayal of Jesus with the world.”
“I’m thrilled to join the cast of this production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!,’” Legend said. “It’s such a powerful, meaningful musical and I’m humbled to be part of this performance. We’ve already formed an incredible team, and, as we finish casting, I’m certain we will put together some of the greatest talents around to do this work justice.”
A highly accomplished musician, concert performer, songwriter, actor, and music and film producer, Legend is one of the most versatile and talented artists in entertainment today. In 2015, he, along with Common, won the Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy for their song “Glory” from the film “Selma,” which chronicled the 1965 civil rights march in Selma, Ala.
Legend, who has released five studio albums, began his impressive Grammy run in 2006 when he won Best New Artist for his debut release “Get Lifted,” which captured Best R&B Album. “Get Lifted,” along with each of his next three albums – “Once Again,” “Evolver” and “Love in the Future” – reached the Top 5 in album sales on the Billboard charts and achieved gold status.
As a film producer, Legend worked with Platt on the 2016 film sensation “La La Land,” in which he also appeared and Platt produced. Legend previously collaborated with Zadan and Meron when the pair produced the 2015 Oscar telecast in which Legend performed “Glory” with Common.
In addition to “La La Land,” Legend has acted in several TV and film productions, including “Underground,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Soul Men.”
On Broadway, Legend won a Tony Award earlier this year as a producer of August Wilson’s “Jitney,” which won for Best Revival of a Play. He has also written songs for the Broadway run of “SpongeBob SquarePants,” which recently opened to strong reviews.
The “Jesus Christ Superstar” album hit #1 on the Billboard charts and made its way to the stage in 1971. It is based on the final week of Jesus’ life. The 1971 musical opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway and starred Jeff Fenholt as Jesus and Ben Vereen as Judas. It was nominated for five Tonys, including Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for Vereen. Lloyd Webber won a Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Composer.
Since then, the musical has been considered a classic and has become a staple of theatre and music organizations throughout the world. It has been performed in nearly 20 countries and translated into 18 different languages. There have been many revivals of “Jesus Christ Superstar” over the 46 years since its debut, including 2000 and 2012 Broadway versions that each earned a Tony nomination for Best Revival of a Musical. The 1973 film was directed by Oscar winner Norman Jewison and starred Ted Neeley.
“Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!” will be produced by Universal Television, The Really Useful Group, Marc Platt Productions and Zadan/Meron Productions.
HBO is not only developing one new series from Issa Rae….but two!
The premium cabler has picked up two new shows, the comedy, Him Or Her, and the drama, Sweet Life. Both are a part of the first-look deal she signed with the network in 2016.
Him Or Her is EP’d by Rae and former The Daily Show writer, Travon Free. It’s description: “The single-camera half-hour chronicles the dating life of a bisexual black man and the distinctly different worlds and relationships he finds himself in.” Free is also writing the comedy series. Additionally, Rae’s ColorCreative.TV partner Deniese Davis is an exec producer as well. If we’re correct, this very well may be the first television show to center the focus on a black, LGBT male since Noah’s Arc (Andra Fuller and Benjamin Charles Watson were both a part of the main cast for The L.A. Complex (2012) and there is a forthcoming Hulu series based on the like of RuPaul Charles).
Sweet Life is “a coming of age tale of the well-heeled teens growing up” in the “Black Beverly Hills” neighborhood of Windsor Hills. Rae co-created the series with Scandal producer Raamla Mohamed. They will both EP and write the script. If you remember correctly, this logline has a striking resemblance to the ‘black 90210’ concept she pitched in a video series with The New Yorker.
Along with a third season of Insecure at HBO, she’s also producing another 1990s-set, LA drama at the network as well.
Source: Shadow & Act
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – December 2017 – NBC has named comedian Kiry Shabazz the winner of its 14th Annual StandUp NBC competition, a nationwide search for comedians of diverse backgrounds. Shabazz has been awarded a talent holding deal with NBCUniversal and a headlining spot at the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) annual convention where he will perform before talent bookers from across the country. He will also headline the regional semi-finalist showcases for next year’s StandUp NBC.
Shabazz was chosen from among eight other finalists including Jourdain Fisher, T. Murph, Dewayne Perkins, Abby Rosenquist, Jess Salomon, Kabir “Kabeezy” Singh, Tom Thakkar and TuRae. They join Lil Rel Howery (Get Out), Deon Cole (“Black-ish,”), Dulcé Sloan ( “The Daily Show”), Tone Bell (“Disjointed”), W. Kamau Bell (CNN’s “United Shades of America”) and Hasan Minhaj (“The Daily Show”) as alumni of StandUp NBC, one of the network’s tentpole talent infusion programs (NBC TIPS).
“StandUp NBC has been a remarkably effective platform to help discover the next generation of great comedic talent,” said Karen Horne, SVP, Programming Talent Development & Inclusion, NBC Entertainment and Universal Television Studios. “As with all of our other talent pipeline programs, StandUp NBC was created with the goal of increasing representation of diverse talent in front of and behind the camera, and I could not be prouder that through programs like these we continue to bring new voices to the industry.”
Shabazz was chosen from 1,250 stand-up comedians who auditioned at open calls earlier this year in Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Atlanta, or submitted their auditions online – a first for the annual competition. Shabazz along with the eight other finalists performed last month a finale showcase hosted by comedian and StandUp NBC alumnus Vladimir Caamaño at The Improv in Hollywood. They performed their sets in front of an audience of television executives, casting directors, agents, managers and industry tastemakers.
“Kiry’s warmth and relatable humor helped him stand out from an exceptional group of talented comedians,” said Grace Wu, Executive Vice President of Casting, NBC Entertainment. “We are fortunate to have pipeline programs like StandUp NBC that continue to introduce us to fresh, new voices like Kiry’s.”
Originally from Cleveland, Shabazz started his comedy career in Northern California, where he quickly became a regular at The Punchline, Rooster T Feathers, and Cobb’s. He won the Rooster T Feathers Comedy Competition, the World Series of Comedy Satellite Competition, and was selected for the Laughing Skull Festival. When Kiry is not performing at clubs and colleges across the country, he can be seen performing all over Los Angeles. Shabazz is represented by Olivia Doud at Mosaic.
Kevin Hart, promoting his Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, hosted Saturday Night Live last night, gifting the holiday episode with some of the quirkiest sketches of the season so far.
Read quirky however you like.
In the best of the lot, the digital short “Captain Shadow and the Cardinal,” Hart played a superhero who, along with youthful sidekick the Cardinal (Chris Redd), gets pulled over by a cop (Alex Moffat) for more or less driving while black. A Shadowmobile without license plates, a scary-looking utility belt and his rather attention-warranting living arrangements with the teenage Cardinal make for an uneasy pull-over – and that’s before cops find Captain Shadow’s white powdery energy dust. (Watch it above).
In an “Inside the NBA” sketch, Hart did his devastating Shaquille O’Neal impression, joined by Kenan Thompson’s Charles Barkley, Alex Moffat’s Ernie Johnson and Chris Redd’s Kenny Smith, all discussing the Doug Jones victory in Alabama:
The host also appeared in “Active Jack,” a parody of vintage public television exercise shows, with Hart as a ’70s-era fitness buff and Kenan Thompson as the character in huffing, puffing old age. Has some laughs.
In “Nativity Play,” Hart joins the ensemble as Sunday schoolers staging a Christmas pageant with a llama playing the part of a camel. The joke (and it’s the only one in the sketch): The llama gets aroused and upstages the holiness with his lordly dimensions.
In “Office Phone Call,” Hart is a coworker who can’t bring himself to share the real reason he has to leave a meeting, leading inevitably to an explosive outcome.
Better was the digital short “Holiday Jewelry,” a commercial parody plugging those bracelet charms that men seem to think all women love. “It’s a coffee cup, Greg got it for me,” a brave-faced Kate McKinnon tells other party-goers. “Greg, look, I’m wearing it. I got Greg a motorcycle.”
Since we can’t end on that note, let’s circle back to Hart’s opening monologue. He’s been better, and his take on fatherhood isn’t exactly cutting edge, but his energy and obvious delight in returning to SNL for the third time launched the episode with fine holiday cheer. Take a look:
Source: Deadline
A post-Katrina heist film has just been set and the cast has been announced
Terrence Howard, Wesley Snipes Eiza González Tip “T.I.” Harris, Demetrius Shipp Jr. and Shameik Moore will star in the drama, which is titled, Cut Throat City,
It is directed by RZA, who will also helm the soundtrack and score.
According to Deadline, the script written by P.G. Cusheri, “centers on four boyhood friends who return to New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina, to find their home decimated and prospects for work swept away. Turning to a local gangster for employment, the crew is hired to pull off a daring casino heist, right in the heart of the city.”
Supporting cast members as Joel David Moore, Kat Graham, Rob Morgan, Keean Johnson, Denzel Whitaker (The Great Debaters) and Isaiah Washington.
Filming is taking place now in New Orleans.
Source: Shadow & Act, Deadline
On this day in comedy on December 14, 1988, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka was released by United Artists
This acclaimed parody of Blaxploitation films was written, directed by, and starred Keenen Ivory Wayans. For this ghetto flick masterpiece, he enlisted icons from the 70s era of wacka-wacka guitars and perfectly coiffed fros. Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, Isaac Hayes, Steve James and Antonio Fargas represent the old school. Comedy actors Kadeem Hardison, Dawnn Lewis, Tony Cox, Ja’net DuBois and Anne-Marie Johnson as well as comedians Damon Wayans, Chris Rock, Robin Harris, David Alan Grier and John Witherspoon represent the new breed on the screen (as most were virtual unknowns in 1988). The movie also features Clarence Williams III, KRS-One, Marlon, Kim and Shawn Wayans, Gary Owens, Eve Plumb, Piggy Lipton, Robert Townsend and John Vernon.
The story is all about the gold. The neighborhood that returning military vet, Wayans comes back to has changed. Gone are the apple pies cooling on the window sill, little girls with pigtails playing hop scotch in the street and blue birds chirping on the branches. The place has been saturated with gold chains by the nefarious “Mr. Big”. Thanks to this status-symbol-pimp, Wayans’ brother OD’d from too many gold chains and thus Mr. Big must be stopped. Now! So, Wayans puts together a gang to squash a mob. With names like “Slade”, “Spade”, “Hammer”, “Slammer”, “Kung Fu Joe” and “Flyguy” there’s no way they can be stopped. Watch out, Whitey!
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka was met with positive reviews and was even shot as a TV pilot with many of the actors reprising their screen roles. The show didn’t sell, but the OG made good. On a $3 million budget, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka grossed $13,030,057 at the box office.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on December 13, 1967, Comedian, Actor, Musician, Producer, Mogul, Jamie Foxx (Eric Marlon Bishop) was born in Terrell, Texas.
The multi-talented entertainer was a natural when it came to being funny. In the second grade if the kids were good Foxx’s teacher would reward them with a joke session by one of their own. Musically he was admittedly a reluctant piano student and credits his adopted grandmother’s insistence for his success. His piano lessons started when he was five years old and Foxx went on to play piano in his Baptist church, lead the choir, sing in a band called Leather and Lace and later study classical music and composition at the United States International University. Thanks to her stability and guidance he spent his formative years as not just a budding musician, but a top-rated student and star athlete (basketball and football, where he played quarterback and was the first in the school’s history to throw for over 1,000 yards).
Then one night, Eric Bishop walked into a comedy club and he left as Jamie Foxx. The year was 1989 and it was open mic night. His date dared him to go up, he did and decided he was going to keep doing it. The name change came to assure stage time. When comedy club managers looked at sign-in lists they always tried to get as many female comic’s up as possible because there were less of them than males. So he adopted the name Jamie since it sounded female. The Foxx part was less strategic; merely a tribute to Redd Foxx.
Foxx cut his teeth at the Comedy Act Theater and other clubs around Los Angeles. He won competitions and got middling attention (though his talent was evident paid gigs were so infrequent he had to sleep on couches as many unknown comedians do), but it was a scheduled week look booking at Atlanta’s Comedy Act Theater that changed his career. His week got held-over for weeks as lines grew around the block to see the dynamo performer: joking, singing, doing impressions and generally seducing his audiences with his unmistakable versatility. At the advice of a club promoter, he had a piano placed on stages for his act adding another dimension to his presentation.
In 1991 Foxx became a cast member of the Fox network runaway hit, In Living Color. His signature character of Wanda, the ugly girl looking for love, catapulted him to national prominence. He had a recurring role in another Fox hit, Roc, and then Jamie Foxx got his own self-titled sitcom on the WB. Soon films were added to the equation (The Truth About Cats & Dogs, The Great White Hype, Booty Call, Players Club, Held Up) with his breakthrough in Oliver Stone’s 1999 football epic, Any Given Sunday. Foxx played opposite acting legend Al Pacino, who after a scene cut told Foxx he was a helluva an actor. That statement played out in nominations for subsequent films, Collateral (Academy Award Best Supporting Actor nomination) and Ray, the role of musical genius Ray Charles culminating in a Golden Globe for Best Actor and an Oscar as well as a slew of other acting accolades.
On the musical front, Foxx took his cemented fame to concentrate on his initial entertainment goal: music. His collaborations with Twista, Kanye West, Ludacris and Field Mob all shot up to the top of the charts. His Platinum-certified album, Unpredictable debuted at #2 and went to #1 the following week. The Grammy Award winning artist released his third album, Intuition (his first was 1994’s Peep This) in 2008 and produced even more hits. He not only made his own chartbusters, but made frequent appearance on practically everyone else’s songs; including the country group Rascal Flatts. His album Best Night of My Life debuted in 2010 followed by Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses in 2015.
Besides more movies (Jarhead, Miami Vice, Dreamgirls), Foxx expanded his brand by moving into radio. He established “The Foxxhole” for Sirius-XM with a format of comedy and music. He’s done animated voices (Rio), produced programming for other talents (In the Flow with Affion Crockett), hosted award shows (BET Awards, MTV Music Video Awards), toured (2006’s The Unpredictable Tour and 2009’s The Blame It Tour), had televised stand-up comedy specials (Straight from the Foxxhole, I Might Need Security, Lost, Stolen and Leaked) and made more movies (The Soloist, Due Date, Horrible Bosses, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Django Unchained, White House Down, Annie).
A perennial award nominee, Jamie Foxx is the recipient of over two dozen acting awards and half dozen musical honors.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
On this day in comedy on December 12, 1980 Stir Crazy was released by Columbia Pictures.
This Richard Pryor / Gene Wilder comedy marks the first time a film directed by a black director grossed over 100 million dollars. The director was Sidney Poitier and the true figure was $101,300,000 on a $10 million budget. It was the third biggest box office hit of 1980 right behind The Empire Strikes Back and 9-to-5. With music by Tom Scott, Stir Crazy was a fun ride.
The story is about mistaken identity. Pryor and Wilder are in the entertainment business, but have soured of living in New York. So they pack up and head to Hollywood, taking odd jobs along the way. One of those gigs is a promotion for a local hick bank. The duo dresses up like giant chickens and dance around like fools singing a silly song. When Pryor and Wilder go on their lunch break, two unsavory characters steal their chicken suits and rob the bank. When our clueless and hapless heroes return to work they’re arrested and put through a hasty trail that nets them 125 years in a maximum security prison.
Life behind bars does not agree with Pryor and Wilder. Between their court-appointed lawyer asking them to relax while he appeals and the guards attempting to break them down, they’re ready to go. Their exit strategy makes its appearance in the form of a lucky break. The cocky warden wants to humiliate the two New Yorkers and test their manhood by having them ride the mechanical bull in his office. To the warden’s surprise, as well as that of his galoot guard, Wilder can not only stay on the bull, he’s a natural born rodeo star. This gets the warden to thinking. If he has Wilder ride in the upcoming annual rodeo he can finally win the big bet from the warden at the competing penitentiary.
The warden’s plans fail when Wilder refuses to participate. The guards make him work until he’s supposed to drop. He still won’t do it. They put in solitary confinement. No, he won’t do it. Finally he agrees as long as the warden gives him a bigger cell and lets him pick his own rodeo team. Agreed. The team is made up of the group of prisoners Pryor and Wilder have befriended and who all plan to escape during the rodeo. That plan works wonders as the huge mass murderer opens a panel for each member of the crew to slip out. Once Pryor and Wilder leave they all meet up and some of the crew head off to south of the border. As Pryor and Wilder drive off in their car the court-appointed lawyer cuts them off. He got a judge to let them off with his newly submitted evidence. They’re free to go on with their lives and Pryor, Wilder and the lawyer’s cousin, who Wilder is now hooked up with, drive off into the sunset as the lawyer waves his good-bye.
Stir Crazy received favorable reviews. Written by Bruce Jay Friedman, the film featured the talents of Georg Sanford Brown, Franklyn Ajaye, Grand L. Bush, Jobeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
After multiple women accused Def Jam founder Russell Simmons of rape and sexual misconduct — which he denied in a long statement to The New York Times Wednesday —Simmons deleted his Twitter account and posted a statement on Instagram Thursday.
“Today, I begin to properly defend myself,” he wrote. “I will prove without any doubt that I am innocent of all rape charges. Today, I will focus on ‘The Original Sin’ (Keri Claussen), the claim that created this insane pile on of my #MeToo. Stay tuned! We’ll share evidence today… And tomorrow the case of Jenny Lumet. My intention is not to diminish the #MeToo movement in anyway, but instead hold the accusers accountable. #NotMe.”
Claussen said late in November that Simmons had apologized to her privately for assaulting her in 1991, when she was 17. Simmons has denied her allegation.
In an article published Wednesday, three women told the New York Times that they were raped by Simmons in incidents dating back to 1988. The LA Times has also reported accounts from five new women dating back to the 1980s.
Tina Baker, a singer, alleged that Simmons raped her in the early 1990s, when he was her manager. Drew Dixon claimed that Simmons sexually harassed and then raped her when she was an employee of Def Jam Recordings in 1995. Toni Sallie, a music journalist, said that Simmons raped her in 1988.
Simmons denied the allegations in a statement provided to Variety.
“I vehemently deny all these allegations,” he said. “These horrific accusations have shocked me to my core and all of my relations have been consensual.”
Simmons had already stepped down from his companies, including Rush Communications, following allegations from writer Jenny Lumet, who alleged that he sexually assaulted her in 1991. Variety had earlier reported that Simmons and Brett Ratner were both investigated by the Beverly Hills Police Department for an alleged sexual battery in 2001. The L.A. Times also reported allegations that Ratner and Simmons engaged in sexual misconduct in the early 1990s. Simmons has denied each allegation of non-consensual sex.
Source: Variety
Jerrod Carmichael
Benny and Josh Safdie, the brother filmmaking team behind the Robert Pattinson crime thriller Good Time, will tackle the remake of 48 Hours for Paramount Players.
Chernin Entertainment, the production outfit behind the Planet of the Apes franchise reboot is producing with Safdie collaborators Oscar Boyson and Sebastian Bear-McClard.
48 Hours was one of the movies that helped launch the big-screen career of Eddie Murphy as well as the buddy cop genre. Murphy and Nick Nolte starred as a convict and cop, respectively, who must team up to catch a pair of cop killers within 48 hours.
An early Joel Silver production, the movie was directed by Walter Hill, whose credits include The Warriors, Steve McQueen’s The Getaway and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Red Heat, and who brought a gritty sensibility to the proceedings.
As with Good Time, Josh Safdie will handle script duties on top of directing and will co-write the script with Ronald Bronstein, who co-wrote Good Time. New to the equation will be Jerrod Carmichael, the comedian who starred in and co-created the NBC comedy The Carmichael Show.
Good Time has brought acclaim to the Safdies and has been nominated for several Independent Spirit Awards. The brothers were nominated for a Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where the movie premiered and won an award for its score.
The duo is repped by WME.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter