By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Sunday, April 19, 2015
NeNe Leakes had a huge moment debuting on Broadway in "Cinderella" last November, featured in the season finale of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" finally aired tonight.
Her opening night performance went well and we see her signing autographs and taking selfies afterwards. "Me being on Broadway, I'm the real Cinderella," she said.
But indicative of NeNe's estranged position with most of the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" castmates, not a single woman from the show flew up to New York to see her show. The best she got was a text from Phaedra Parks, who is the only other regular cast member on good terms with NeNe.
Instead, the women all showed up instead for Kenya Moore's screening of her sitcom pilot "Life Twirls On." (It has not yet been picked up by any networks that I know of.)
Kenya created a wedding theme (harpists, dancers, rice, special drinks), which confused the ladies since they didn't know that the sitcom features Kenya's character getting married. "This is like the Twilight Zone," Porsha Williams said.
Kenya then shows up in a wedding dress.
"Is there an African prince somewhere?" Cynthia quipped.
"It's my character's wedding day!" she said. (Although Kenya eventually met a man on Bravo's "Millionaire Matchmaker," she was single last fall when this was taped.)
We see a bit of the sitcom. "I like Kenya poking fun at herself," said Claudia Jordan, who went rather obviously bra-less.
Kandi said: "I think Kenya did a good job. Who knew Kenya could write something funny about herself."
The ladies had a good time. "It's a testament to forgiveness," Kenya said.
"Thank god for a drama free night," Phaedra said.
And Demetria McKinney, while at the party, was virtually edited out again. I can't imagine they are planning to bring her back for season 8.
- Shocking apology(ish)! Mama Joyce, for the first time on TV history, (sorta) apologizes for badmouthing Todd and his (now late) mother. "If I said something to offend you or your mother, I am sorry," Mama Joyce states in a wording that implied she didn't find what she was offensive. Then she backtracked even more by creating an excuse: "And anything I've said against your mother, it was something someone told me. It was nothing I had ever made up. My biggest problem was repeating someone had told me. You should not do that. Because I'm a better person than that."
Todd doesn't find the apology entirely sincere.
- Cynthia Bailey's husband Peter Thomas shuts down the Grant Park Bar One, readying a move to Old Fourth Ward. (He didn't feel he was treated well by the neighborhood and badmouthed them walking out the door.)
- Apollo Nida calls Peter from the Lexington prison. "I'm holding for the most part. I haven't seen my children but I'm holding up," Apollo says. His brother has seen him four times in six weeks but nothing from Phaedra. "You have to be strong," Peter said. He is trying to get transferred to a prison closer to Atlanta.
Phaedra, in the meantime, makes excuses why she isn't visiting him. "He is at a place that doesn't have a nursery," she says. "Whether I take him [her oldest son Ayden] or not, someone is going to be unhappy. Ayden may resent me for bringing him or not bringing him. It's a no-win situation."
Although there were rumors she had filed for divorce, I've seen nothing of the sort. And Phaedra is staying mum about visits to prison or divorce proceedings.
"I'm moving on with my life and my sons are moving on with their lives. We're survivors." Phaedra says.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"Break a leg, NeNe. No, really break a leg!" - Kenya
"You paid for that. Don't worry about it." - Todd Tucker, after knocking over a light pulling into Mama Joyce's home.
NEXT WEEK
It's reunion time. NeNe breaks down. Kandi shows off some cleavage, blaming it on getting fat. And Kandi and NeNe go at it. Plus, there are no physical battles and Kenya has to go without any props.
RATINGS ARE DOWN
The show's ratings have definitely waned as the season moved on and the drama fell off. Last week was a case in point: 2.62 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for the 21st episode. A year ago? 3.9 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating. These are overnight ratings. The Live+3 (DVR usage) ratings did improve the numbers to 3.2 million and 1.5-18-49. But it's clear the show is far less popular this season than season six. Average overnight viewership is about 3 million vs. 3.7 million a year ago.
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