Alice Walker published her acclaimed novel “The Color Purple” in 1982. It sold five million copies; Walker became the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize and she also received the National Book Club Award. Three years later, Steven Spielberg directed the lauded film version which made stars out of Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. It earned 11 Oscar nominations. The story revolves around a young woman who suffers abuse from her father and husband for four decades until she finds her own identity. Not exactly the stuff of a Broadway musical.
But the 2005 tuner version received strong reviews, ran 910 performances and earned ten Tony nominations, winning best actress for Lachanze. The 2015 production picked up two Tonys for best revival and actress for Cynthia Erivo. The movie musical version opened strong Christmas Day with $18 million and is a strong contender in several Oscar categories especially for Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.
But the 2005 tuner version received strong reviews, ran 910 performances and earned ten Tony nominations, winning best actress for Lachanze. The 2015 production picked up two Tonys for best revival and actress for Cynthia Erivo. The movie musical version opened strong Christmas Day with $18 million and is a strong contender in several Oscar categories especially for Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks.
- 1/2/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Peter Palmer, who originated the title character in Broadway’s 1956 musical Li’l Abner and then reprised the role for the 1959 film adaptation, died Tuesday. He was 90.
His death was announced on Facebook by his son Steven Palmer, who noted that the actor died one day after his 90th birthday. No cause was given.
“As a family we knew this was coming and that’s why we had such a wonderful celebration of his birthday this weekend,” Steven Palmer wrote. “He enjoyed being celebrated by his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and friends and extended family. Gonna miss you, Pops.”
Palmer, who majored in music while playing football in the early 1950s for the Big Ten champs University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and routinely performed the National Anthem at games, was cast as Broadway’s naïve, muscle-bound hero of Dogpatch after producers saw him sing on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The Li’l Abner musical,...
His death was announced on Facebook by his son Steven Palmer, who noted that the actor died one day after his 90th birthday. No cause was given.
“As a family we knew this was coming and that’s why we had such a wonderful celebration of his birthday this weekend,” Steven Palmer wrote. “He enjoyed being celebrated by his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews and friends and extended family. Gonna miss you, Pops.”
Palmer, who majored in music while playing football in the early 1950s for the Big Ten champs University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and routinely performed the National Anthem at games, was cast as Broadway’s naïve, muscle-bound hero of Dogpatch after producers saw him sing on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The Li’l Abner musical,...
- 9/22/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
James Taylor appeared on Late Night With Seth Meyers to perform his recent single “Teach Me Tonight.”
The song, which comes off his recent album American Standard, is a jazz classic by Gene De Paul and Sammy Chan that’s been performed by everyone from Amy Winehouse to Aretha Franklin to Frank Sinatra. In this version, Taylor transforms the track into an acoustic ballad with the help of a few backing musicians.
Taylor dropped American Standard, his take on the Great American Songbook, in February. The album is his first...
The song, which comes off his recent album American Standard, is a jazz classic by Gene De Paul and Sammy Chan that’s been performed by everyone from Amy Winehouse to Aretha Franklin to Frank Sinatra. In this version, Taylor transforms the track into an acoustic ballad with the help of a few backing musicians.
Taylor dropped American Standard, his take on the Great American Songbook, in February. The album is his first...
- 3/6/2020
- by Emily Zemler
- Rollingstone.com
James Taylor will take on the Great American Songbook on the singer’s upcoming album American Standard, due out February 28th. The LP is Taylor’s first since 2015’s Before This World and 19th overall.
“I’ve always had songs I grew up with that I remember really well, that were part of the family record collection — and I had a sense of how to approach, so it was a natural to put American Standard together,” Taylor said in a statement. “I know most of these songs from the original...
“I’ve always had songs I grew up with that I remember really well, that were part of the family record collection — and I had a sense of how to approach, so it was a natural to put American Standard together,” Taylor said in a statement. “I know most of these songs from the original...
- 1/23/2020
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde unveiled a striking interpretation of Charles Mingus’ “Meditation on a Pair Of Wire Cutters,” set to appear on her upcoming album, Valve Bone Woe, out September 6th via via BMG.
The song finds Hynde and the Valve Bone Woe Ensemble condensing Mingus’ 23-minute original into a hypnotic three-minute tune moored by an assortment of drums and other percussion, as well as the guiding thunk of Mingus’ own instrument, the upright bass. Atop the rumble, Hynde’s choral vocals waft amidst a mix of woodwinds, horns and reverb-soaked guitar.
The song finds Hynde and the Valve Bone Woe Ensemble condensing Mingus’ 23-minute original into a hypnotic three-minute tune moored by an assortment of drums and other percussion, as well as the guiding thunk of Mingus’ own instrument, the upright bass. Atop the rumble, Hynde’s choral vocals waft amidst a mix of woodwinds, horns and reverb-soaked guitar.
- 6/3/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Chrissie Hynde has announced a new covers album. Valve Bone Woe will be released on September 6th and is available for pre-order. Produced by Marius De Vries and Eldad Guetta and recorded with the Valve Bone Woe Ensemble, the LP features Hynde’s jazz-tipped renditions of songs from a range of artists, including the Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, John Coltrane, Nick Drake, Charlie Mingus, Ray Davies and others.
“I’m not hugely interested in branching out into other musical genres, being a devout rock singer and such, but jazz is...
“I’m not hugely interested in branching out into other musical genres, being a devout rock singer and such, but jazz is...
- 4/26/2019
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the Warner Archive:
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Burbank, Calif., Get ready for one of the liveliest, leaping-est, sassiest and happiest musicals ever, as Warner Archive Collection proudly unveils its Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray™ release of the Oscar-winning 1954 MGM classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain), and starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was nominated for four Academy Awards® and won for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. This Western musical is distinguished by a wonderful score of original songs by composer Gene de Paul and lyricist by Johnny Mercer (Li’l Abner) along with brilliant, acrobatic dancing scenes choreographed by Michael Kidd.
Presented for the first time on Blu-ray, featuring a new 1080p HD master from a 2018 2K scan in its original 2.55 CinemaScope aspect ratio,...
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Burbank, Calif., Get ready for one of the liveliest, leaping-est, sassiest and happiest musicals ever, as Warner Archive Collection proudly unveils its Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray™ release of the Oscar-winning 1954 MGM classic Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Directed by Stanley Donen (Singin' in the Rain), and starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was nominated for four Academy Awards® and won for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. This Western musical is distinguished by a wonderful score of original songs by composer Gene de Paul and lyricist by Johnny Mercer (Li’l Abner) along with brilliant, acrobatic dancing scenes choreographed by Michael Kidd.
Presented for the first time on Blu-ray, featuring a new 1080p HD master from a 2018 2K scan in its original 2.55 CinemaScope aspect ratio,...
- 6/8/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Little Song ‘n’ Dance Show that Could, this over-achieving Jack Cummings production is a bright exception to the dull waning days of the MGM musical, due to many factors but especially Michael Kidd’s athletic choreography. And it’s been restored in both of its simultaneously-filmed versions, flat-widescreen and CinemaScope.
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Two- disc Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1954 / Color / 1:77 widescreen + 2:55 anamorphic 16:9 (separate versions) /
102 min. / Street Date June 5, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Marc Platt, Matt Mattox, Jacques d’Amboise, Julie Newmeyer (Newmar), Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, Virginia Gibson, Ruta Kilmonis (Lee), Norma Doggett.
Cinematography: George Folsey
Choreography: Michael Kidd
Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters
Original Music: Gene de Paul, Johnny Mercer
Written by Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich, Dorothy Kingsley from the story The Sobbin’ Women by Stephen Vincent Benet
Produced by Jack Cummings...
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Two- disc Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1954 / Color / 1:77 widescreen + 2:55 anamorphic 16:9 (separate versions) /
102 min. / Street Date June 5, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jane Powell, Howard Keel, Jeff Richards, Russ Tamblyn, Tommy Rall, Marc Platt, Matt Mattox, Jacques d’Amboise, Julie Newmeyer (Newmar), Nancy Kilgas, Betty Carr, Virginia Gibson, Ruta Kilmonis (Lee), Norma Doggett.
Cinematography: George Folsey
Choreography: Michael Kidd
Film Editor: Ralph E. Winters
Original Music: Gene de Paul, Johnny Mercer
Written by Albert Hackett & Frances Goodrich, Dorothy Kingsley from the story The Sobbin’ Women by Stephen Vincent Benet
Produced by Jack Cummings...
- 5/29/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present an all-new revival of one of the greatest musicals of all time, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, lyrics, music and new songs by Johnny Mercer, Gene De Paul, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, based on the MGM Film 'The Sobbin' Women' by Stephen Vincent Benet, originally directed for Broadway by Lawrence Kasha and originally produced on Broadway by Kaslan Productions, Inc., Seven Brides For Seven Brothers will feature musical direction by Dennis Castellano, choreography by Patti Colombo and will be directed by Glenn Casale.
- 4/12/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment present an all-new revival of one of the greatest musicals of all time, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, book by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay, lyrics, music and new songs by Johnny Mercer, Gene De Paul, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, based on the MGM Film 'The Sobbin' Women' by Stephen Vincent Benet, originally directed for Broadway by Lawrence Kasha and originally produced on Broadway by Kaslan Productions, Inc. Seven Brides For Seven Brothers will feature musical direction by Dennis Castellano, choreography by Patti Colombo and will be directed by Glenn Casale.
- 3/22/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Jane Powell, Howard Keel, and fellow Seven Brides for Seven Brothers cast members Howard Keel, best remembered for MGM musicals such as Show Boat, Kiss Me Kate, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, is Turner Classic Movies' next-to-last "Summer Under the Stars" star. On Tuesday, August 30, TCM will be presenting 14 Howard Keel movies, including one TCM premiere — Charles Crichton's British crime drama Floods of Fear. (TCM had initially announced another premiere, the 1948 British drama The Small Voice, starring Valerie Hobson and James Donald; instead, as per its website TCM will be showing — once again — the 1951 comedy Three Guys Named Mike, starring Jane Wyman.) [Howard Keel Movie Schedule.] Tall, baritone-voiced, and handsome, Howard Keel could at times be a quite effective actor, whether in comedies (Callaway Went Thataway, when not singing in Annie Get Your Gun, Calamity Jane and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) or in dramas (the Western Ride, Vaquero!, when not singing...
- 8/30/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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