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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > May > 25
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Unlike most vampires, Elton’s ‘Lestat’ dies easily
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the end, it wasn’t so much a wooden stake but dismal reviews that killed “Lestat” on Broadway.
The $10 million Elton John-Bernie Taupin musical inspired by Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles” will close Sunday after a disappointing run of 39 performances. It was the third Broadway show for the Peachtree Road resident and the first for Warner Brothers’ theatrical arm.
The show opened April 25 to mostly critical pans and has seen its box-office grosses steadily sink since then. Last week, for example, the expensive show, which stars Hugh Panaro as the vampire, grossed $448,525, playing to only 53 percent capacity at the Palace Theatre.
“Lestat” didn’t fare well with Tony nominations either. It received only two, one for Carolee Carmello (who plays Lestat’s mother) in the featured-actress category and the other for Susan Hilferty’s lavish costumes.
Adding to Sir Elton’s woes, at last week’s television network upfront sessions, the annual media circus designed to tout this fall’s new shows, John’s sitcom pilot, “Him and Us,” which chronicles the adventures of a gay rock icon and his staff, failed to net a slot on ABC’s fall schedule. The pilot starred “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” actor Anthony Head and “Sex and the City” star Kim Cattrall.
In ABC’s defense, when your bar is set as loftily as “According to Jim,” you have to protect your network sitcom legacy.
On the upside, the Elton John AIDS Foundation will likely soon see a check for $188,000. That’s the settlement the pop star received Wednesday (about 100,000 in UK pounds) in libel damages over allegations that he asked guests not to approach him at a charity ball.
Associated Newspapers, which publishes The Daily Mail, paid the damages, according to John’s attorney, Hanna Basha. The Sunday Times, which reprinted the Mail article, agreed on a confidential settlement this year, Basha said.
The allegations surrounded John’s behavior at his annual Tie and Tiara annual charity ball. The Mail claimed in its June 24 article that the singer had issued a “bizarre” edict for guests not to approach him at the ball.
Having attended a number of Sir Elton’s fund-raisers through the years, we can attest that the performer’s actions at such events are actually the polar opposite of what was reported overseas. If the guy stops chatting up and thanking guests even for the length of a bathroom break, we have yet to detect it.
The Varsity earns rave
Ever since that whole Jayson Blair whoopsie, we find ourselves reading The New York Times more closely. But on Wednesday, we read a certain paragraph three times, and still it failed to completely register.
On his cross-country fast-food pigout (affectionately dubbed “TransFat America”) published Wednesday, Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni gave Atlanta’s Varsity a rave review. Bruni spent nine days in 15 states and made 42 pit stops at burger joints across the land and lauded the Varsity here (along with a stop at a Culver’s in Texas) as “my favorite stop.”
Raving about the emporium’s chili slaw dog, Bruni writes: “Cole slaw atop chili turns out to be a bold idea, cooling and adding texture to it. And the dog beneath the condiments had a meaty, smoky appeal.” He also liked the onion rings there, marveling: “Steakhouse quality, with pleasantly greasy — but also thin and crunchy — shells that slipped off to reveal real, thick onion slices that weren’t overcooked.”
We spent most of Wednesday at Buzz Central awaiting the inevitable Overscene report on where the top of Guenter Seeger’s head landed after he read that Bruni actually visited our fair city and chose to dine at a venue best known as a Georgia Tech undergrad hangover remedy.
Stones postpone tour
The Rolling Stones have postponed the first 15 dates of their European tour, as guitarist Keith Richards recovers from a head injury.
Stones publicist LD Communications said Wednesday the European leg of the band’s “A Bigger Bang” tour, which had been due to start Saturday in Barcelona, Spain, would now begin in July at a venue and city to be announced.
The postponed gigs were scheduled for Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Brussels, Belgium; Paris; Bergen, Norway; Horsens, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; St. Petersburg, Russia; Brno, Czech Republic; Warsaw, Poland; Vienna, Austria; Milan, Italy; Athens, Greece; and Zagreb, Croatia.
The postponement of the two Paris shows on June 3 and July 2 was announced Tuesday by French organizers.
Richards, 62, was injured April 27 in Fiji. News reports variously claimed that he fell out of a palm tree or from a jet ski. Richards later had surgery in New Zealand to relieve pressure in his head. The Stones’ official fan Web site said in a statement Monday that Richards had returned to his home in Westport, Conn. — and was “feeling great.”
Celebrity birthdays
Songwriter Hal David is 85. Actor Ian McKellen (“The Da Vinci Code”) is 67. Actress Dixie Carter is 67. Actress-singer Leslie Uggams is 63. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 43. Actress Anne Heche is 37. Actor Justin Henry (“Kramer vs. Kramer”) is 35. Singer Lauryn Hill is 31. Actor Ethan Suplee (“My Name Is Earl”) is 30.
Contributing: Wendell Brock and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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