Amazing Sondheim Celebration, 'Take Me to the World'

by Nathaniel R

Meryl will drink to that! (and she did not disappoint for Sondheim's 90th)ICYMI last night (and thousands did since it started over an hour late!) make sure to watch the Sondheim birthday celebration concert benefitting ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty). While it's reductive to cite favourite moments because the concert was chalk full of life-affirming, ear-pleasuring, moving music and delicate or funny performances, we've had to share a few notes after the jump.

But honestly we loved it all. It doubled as not just a tribute to the world's greatest living musical theater composer but as a melancholy collective longing for the return of Broadway which originally housed most of those tremendous songs...

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All-Star Free Virtual Sondheim Concert This Sunday!

by Nathaniel R

Meryl & Bernadette both played "The Witch" in productions of Into the Woods. But which songs will they sing at this concert?

Please place this in the "silver linings" bin of the horrific coronavirus pandemic. There will be a virtual concert this Sunday April 26th at 8 PM EST celebrating Stephen Sondheim's 90th birthday. You will NOT believe the performer's list. It's jaw-dropping in its starpower...

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April Foolish Predix Pt 3: Directors and Screenplays

The even more foolish (in light of the current pandemic) annual tradition of "April Foolish Predictions" continues. As ever we're trying to suss out the Oscar race a year in advance. Well, 10 months in advance if you're getting nitpicky. We've previously covered Animated Features, Visual Categories, Music and Sound. Here's the index of predictions.

SCREENPLAYS
Depending on what happens with the calendar in terms of movie theaters reopening and distributor confidence Original Screenplay will be slimmer than usual. But how slim...?

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Night of the Linker

• Los Angeles Times Thoughtful terrific interview with Merrit Wever on HBO's Run and Netflix's Unbelieveable
• Vanity Fair Brad Pitt teamed up with the Property Bros? What?
• Florence Pugh has a message for all the toxic "fans" out there -- it's not your place to comment to bully celebrities about who they love! Hear hear.

Roger Deakins, Broadway woes, Natalie Wood, Disney furloughs, Beetlejuice, Missi Pyle in Ma, and more after the jump...

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West Side Story... is forever.

by Nathaniel R

Rita Moreno, still sensational at 88 years young.It occurred to us last week while looking at photos from Steven Spielberg's 2020 remake of West Side Story that a huge swath of the original cast members from the 1961 Best Picture winner are still with us today. It's not just the legendary trailblazer Rita Moreno though she's the liveliest of the bunch despite being the oldest at a spritely 88. 

So after the jump all the surviving cast members!

We honor their contributions to an indelible piece of film history even though there are a great many of them that didn't say in movies thereafter. Anyway, thiis is us doing our small part to suggest and hope that they get a bit of attention when the new iteration of the greatest musical ever written arrives. Invite them to the December premiere at least, Spielberg, won'tcha?

Here they are...

Character names in white = the actor is still with us today

THE JETS

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