{"id":94085,"date":"2025-08-03T23:01:50","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T06:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=94085"},"modified":"2025-08-03T23:01:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T06:01:50","slug":"scherzy-sunset-on-celluloid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2025\/08\/03\/scherzy-sunset-on-celluloid\/","title":{"rendered":"Scherzy Sunset on Celluloid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hot on the heels of winning a Tony Award <\/em>for Sunset Blvd<\/em><\/strong>, Nicole Scherzinger <\/strong>has announced a handful of concert dates.  There\u2019s even talk of a Vegas residency.  But she may not be done playing Norma Desmond.  Rumor has it, she\u2019s the latest frontrunner for a film version of the musical.  To clinch the deal, she\u2019s in talks to bring the stage version to Hollywood\u2019s Pantages Theatre <\/em>or the Ahmanson<\/em>.  Stay tuned…<\/p>\n

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Drama seems to follow some people.  Take Todrick Hall<\/strong>.  Everything is always a nightmare.  This is not meant to disparage his talent, which is abundant.  He\u2019s currently in the live stage version of that Cher<\/strong> flick Burlesque<\/em><\/strong>.  Todrick was hired to play the role of Sean by writer and former hottie Steve Antin <\/strong>\u2013 who also asked for some songs and choreography.  Due to some skullduggery, Toddy ended up the de facto <\/em>director.  He issued a long, rambling statement defending the barbs against him.  I don\u2019t know the details, but when you say, \u201cI have never engaged in anything with a minor,\u201d you can bet your ass there\u2019s a story.  One theatre insider quipped, \u201cIf ALL of your projects have drama, then YOU may be the problem!\u201d  But Billy<\/strong>, I can hear you cry \u2013 what about the show?  Critics seem perplexed.  One reported the journey like this: \u201cNow directed by its star Todrick Hall, the stage musical Burlesque <\/em>comes to London in much the same way that my parents did some 60 years ago: poor and in need of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in London, my pals the Lythgoes <\/strong>are working on a musical version of To Sir, With Love<\/em><\/strong>, which first got an invitation-only reading under the auspices of my beloved Ogunquit Playhouse<\/em>.  I believe Wayne Brady <\/strong>played \u201cSir\u201d on that occasion.  I\u2019m told it went very well.  Now Kris Lythgoe <\/strong>tells me they\u2019re trying it out in London\u2019s West End<\/em>.  The Gillian Lynne Theatre <\/em>will host two staged readings on November 24th<\/sup> \u2013 at 2:30PM and 7:45PM.  And the incomparable Lulu <\/strong>will be there to sing the song!  Get your tickets at LWTheatres.co.uk<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Just when you thought you\u2019d heard the last of the Jussie Smollett <\/strong>\u201csituation\u201d, a new chapter is in the works.  A documentary is being readied for Netflix <\/em>which will be called The Truth About Jussie Smollett?<\/em><\/strong>  The question mark is notable, particularly since Jussie has committed to giving them an interview and telling the truth \u2013 whatever he thinks that is.  \u201cWith first-hand interviews from those at the helm, including investigating police, lawyers, journalists and Jussie himself, this compelling documentary invites the audience to decide for themselves who is telling The Truth About Jussie Smollett?<\/em>\u201d  To coin a phrase, I\u2019ll believe it when I see it.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s also a new documentary about Joan Rivers <\/strong>in the works.  While most would consider 2010\u2019s Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work<\/em><\/strong> to be definitive, this new venture comes ten years after the legend\u2019s death and includes many previously unseen video and audio recordings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hot on the heels of winning a Tony Award for Sunset Blvd, Nicole Scherzinger has announced a handful of concert dates.  There\u2019s even talk of a Vegas residency.  But she may not be done playing Norma Desmond.  Rumor has it, she\u2019s the latest frontrunner for a film version of the musical.  To clinch the deal,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94086,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94085\/revisions\/94086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}