Kathy Griffin has announced that she will be doing a residency in Palm Springs.  Now, you know how I don’t like people using the word “residency” lightly – so I am calling this residency-adjacent.  Can You Handle This Heat?  The Kathy Griffin Palm Springs Residency will take place at the newly renovated Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs next year on January 31^st, February 26^th, and March 26^th.  It’s being billed as Kathy’s “first-ever residency”.  How quickly people forget her weekly residency at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood back in 2019.  Every Monday in April, Kathy walked on stage in her pajamas at 9:45PM.  She set a kitchen timer for 60 minutes.  She’d stop whatever she was saying when the timer went off.  The next week, she’d pick up where she left off.

One residency is announced, and another is cancelled.  Dolly Parton just revealed that her upcoming Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace has been cancelled because of health concerns.  “It’s gonna take me a little while before I’m up to stage performance level because some of the meds and treatments make me a little swimmy-headed, as my grandma used to say.  And, of course, I can’t be dizzy carrying around banjos, guitars, and such on 5-inch heels – and you know I’m gonna be wearing them.  Not to mention all those heavy rhinestone outfits, the big hair, and my big…uh…personality.  Lord, THOSE, uh, THAT, would make anybody swimmy-headed.”  Dolly says she’s still working on her Broadway musical, Dolly: A True Original Musical and hopes to turn up at the opening of her museum and hotel in Nashville.  So far, Freida Parton has “No comment” on Dolly’s health!

The Met Gala took place last week, and it was more notable for who boycotted it rather than who showed up (but, suffice it to say, Cher, Madonna, and Stevie Nicks did NOT pose together).  Many people skipped the event due to the involvement of Jeff Bezos.  People like Meryl Streep, Zendaya, Taraji P. Henson, and Bella Hadid declined their invitations.  Billy Porter skipped it, but not because of a boycott – because he wasn’t invited.  “I don’t go to places where I’m not welcome,” said Porter.  Or invited.

Since we mentioned the Met Gala and Meryl, let me say something very brief about The Devil Wears Prada 2.  What a disappointment.  The biggest problem?  There’s no script.  Sure, there’s an idea of a script.  Perhaps even a concept of a script.  But no actual script.  At least not one worthy of the actors…or the characters.  Yes, I have gone on record being against long, meandering exposition, but SOME exposition is always welcomed.  Frankly, the only scenes that work are carbon copies of what worked in the first film.  Tucci and Hathaway raiding the closet, Meryl and Hathaway in the car, etc.  That said, it was fantastic spending time with these beloved characters and seeing them interact.  The film’s ending gave a tantalizing glimpse into what a movie about Emily would be.  I’d see that!