NEW YORK – Al Pacino and “The Merchant of Venice” will soon be on the move.
The Public Theater announced Monday that following an eight-week run at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater, Pacino will relocate to Broadway as Shylock in the Shakespeare comedy this fall.
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Opening Oct. 19 at the Broadhurst Theatre, it will run through Jan. 9. No further casting announcements were made. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, it will be produced by the Public Theater with Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel.
Prosecutor wraps in Blagojevich trial
CHICAGO – A prosecutor wrapped up his closing arguments in Rod Blagojevich’s corruption trial Monday after focusing on shooting down the former Illinois governor’s defense, saying that Blagojevich need have made no money or gotten a high-profile job in order for his alleged schemes to be illegal.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Niewoehner told jurors that they shouldn’t be concerned whether Rod Blagojevich actually managed to trade the appointment to President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat for an ambassadorship or a Cabinet post or any money — only that he made the effort.
“You don’t have to be a successful criminal to be a criminal,” he said.
Nor, he said, should jurors be concerned that they did not hear Blagojevich outright tell those he is accused of shaking down for money what he was doing.
“It does not have to be x for y,” he said.
As Niewoehner described the sometimes profanity-laced language on FBI wiretap tapes, Blagojevich showed little emotion, sometimes biting his lip or rocking slightly in his defense table chair.
Art imitates art in musical about Almodovar
NEW YORK – A musical based on Pedro Almodovar’s 1988 farce “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” is coming to Broadway.
Lincoln Center Theater announced casting for the production Monday. It will begin previews Oct. 2 and open Nov. 4 at the Belasco Theatre.
Almodovar himself recently returned to “Women on the Verge” in his 2009 film “Broken Embraces,” which followed a filmmaker making a film very much like “Women on the Verge.”
The musical’s book is by Jeffrey Lane, music and lyrics are by David Yazbek and Bartlett Sher will direct. The cast will include de’Adre Aziza, Nikka Graff Lanzarone, Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Mary Beth Peil and Sherie Rene Scott.
Louis Prima gets Hollywood star
LOS ANGELES – “King of Swing” Louis Prima has received a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a centennial celebration that included dancing in the street to his big-band sounds.
The influential band leader was honored at a Sunday ceremony on Vine Street attended by his son Louis Prima Jr., who continues the legacy of his father’s music, his daughter Lena Prima, celebrities, dignitaries and fans.
“Louis Prima was a great entertainer and presented a great show. But more than anything else, he brought happiness to his audiences,” said Bill Cosby in a congratulatory message read at the midday ceremony, which also included a concert of Prima’s music by Louis Prima Jr.’s big band, The Witnesses, as well as swing-dancing fans.
Prima, who died in 1978, would have been 100 years old this year.
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