"WHEN CHILDHOOD dies its corpses are called adults," said Brian Aldira.
I am personally very much into my second and perhaps my third childhood. Last weekend I trekked to Boston in the rain to see the amazing " Star Wars: In Concert." I had to buy scalper's tickets to get in because it was SRO in the city's massive TD Garden, but it was worth the trouble and the money.
Not that I've been such a fan of these phenomenal George Lucas films, but the 11-year-old in my life is a big fan. He has seen the movies out of sequence, but knows which one goes where. And he knows the names of all the actors and their characters. And he understands all their sci-fi details and what they are talking about. I didn't know what to expect of such an expensive and commercial venture, but was I ever pleasantly surprised!
This show presents London's Royal Philharmonic Concert orchestra in white tie and tails plus evening dresses and they "make" the John Williams musical scores as exciting as "The William Tell Overture" or Beethoven's "Fifth." Huge moving cameras also photograph the elegant members of the orchestra as they play under the baton of maestro Dirk Brosse. Then there are the sound and light sequences, plus flaming torches shooting up between sets, all heightened by excerpts from the various six "Star Wars" movies seen on a screen as big as all get-out.
THE NICEST touch is the live appearance of the moderator who turns out to be actor Anthony Daniels. You may be more familiar with him as C-3PO in his gold metal suit, but even out of it, you'll find him perfectly recognizable. He and C-3PO have the same flighty, comic characteristics, urbane but fey. Daniels is simply excellent, has a neat easy-to-listen-to voice and his best moment comes when he veers off course from his storytelling, explaining and introducing and allows himself to drift into C-3PO's ego. At that, he catches himself but not before he has revealed that under his all-black shirt, tie and tuxedo, he is wearing a shining gold weskit.
If you live near the Meadowlands in N.J, Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, Ottawa, Canada, Montreal, Toronto, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Toledo or Columbus or Cleveland ... Chicago, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Nashville -- you can still see this incredible event. Call up www.starwarsinconcert.com for the dates in that order.
I highly recommend this for children and those children they are taking care of -- their parents and grandparents and guardians.
HEY, KIDS -- do you know what the glamorous life in Manhattan means? It means going to the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Center one night where they were raising lots of money for Martha's Center for Living at Mt. Sinai Hospital. (This organization keeps older folks in the eye of a great medical unit, enabling them to live independently with proper health care.)
OK, Martha could have simply named it Martha I, II and III, but then we'd still have to explain what it is. I was the emcee for this event. It was wonderful. Martha's organization operates on high-octane achievement. They leave nothing to chance. Martha has one of the most dynamic PR reps in the world, Susan Magrino. And for this party they had the help of the Buckley-Hall party people who none of us in NYC can live without. (I do a lot of charity fundraisers and when I work on one without them, I feel sorry for myself and for the charity.)
Harry Evans was honored this night because his major book on his life in journalism, "My Paper Chase," has just come out. But here's what tickled me at the party auction. Harry and I were offered up with Martha for lunch at the Pierre Hotel's new Caprice restaurant.
Then Martha was offered up to be bid on all by her lonesome. She would join some lucky person cooking with them, making party favors, currying her horses, whatever. So the bidders rang up $13,000 for Martha.
But Harry and I brought in only $4,000 when we were offered for lunch with Martha. (Martha is bigger without us, than with us!)
I told the crowd that Harry's feelings and my feelings were hurt and I added, "Since Martha is worth more without us, when we go with her to the mere $4,000 lunch, we won't take the bidder upstairs in the hotel with us after, as we'd planned, for a little dessert." So there. (I don't think anybody cared.)
WE TOLD you here that there'd be no sequel to the movie of the enormous ABBA hit, " Mamma Mia!" Benny Andersson put his foot down.
But Judy Craymer, who owns rights to this ragingly successful film, is taking a new tack with Andersson and his partner Bjorn Ulvaeus.
She wants to put their ABBA music into a prequel, which would work to make things look younger and more attractive. And the cast could be new and fresh as well.
What? No more Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan singing like Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald as they balance themselves on some Greek rocks?
(E-mail Liz Smith at MES3838@aol.com, or write to her c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.)
I am personally very much into my second and perhaps my third childhood. Last weekend I trekked to Boston in the rain to see the amazing " Star Wars: In Concert." I had to buy scalper's tickets to get in because it was SRO in the city's massive TD Garden, but it was worth the trouble and the money.
Not that I've been such a fan of these phenomenal George Lucas films, but the 11-year-old in my life is a big fan. He has seen the movies out of sequence, but knows which one goes where. And he knows the names of all the actors and their characters. And he understands all their sci-fi details and what they are talking about. I didn't know what to expect of such an expensive and commercial venture, but was I ever pleasantly surprised!
This show presents London's Royal Philharmonic Concert orchestra in white tie and tails plus evening dresses and they "make" the John Williams musical scores as exciting as "The William Tell Overture" or Beethoven's "Fifth." Huge moving cameras also photograph the elegant members of the orchestra as they play under the baton of maestro Dirk Brosse. Then there are the sound and light sequences, plus flaming torches shooting up between sets, all heightened by excerpts from the various six "Star Wars" movies seen on a screen as big as all get-out.
THE NICEST touch is the live appearance of the moderator who turns out to be actor Anthony Daniels. You may be more familiar with him as C-3PO in his gold metal suit, but even out of it, you'll find him perfectly recognizable. He and C-3PO have the same flighty, comic characteristics, urbane but fey. Daniels is simply excellent, has a neat easy-to-listen-to voice and his best moment comes when he veers off course from his storytelling, explaining and introducing and allows himself to drift into C-3PO's ego. At that, he catches himself but not before he has revealed that under his all-black shirt, tie and tuxedo, he is wearing a shining gold weskit.
If you live near the Meadowlands in N.J, Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, Ottawa, Canada, Montreal, Toronto, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Toledo or Columbus or Cleveland ... Chicago, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Nashville -- you can still see this incredible event. Call up www.starwarsinconcert.com for the dates in that order.
I highly recommend this for children and those children they are taking care of -- their parents and grandparents and guardians.
HEY, KIDS -- do you know what the glamorous life in Manhattan means? It means going to the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Center one night where they were raising lots of money for Martha's Center for Living at Mt. Sinai Hospital. (This organization keeps older folks in the eye of a great medical unit, enabling them to live independently with proper health care.)
OK, Martha could have simply named it Martha I, II and III, but then we'd still have to explain what it is. I was the emcee for this event. It was wonderful. Martha's organization operates on high-octane achievement. They leave nothing to chance. Martha has one of the most dynamic PR reps in the world, Susan Magrino. And for this party they had the help of the Buckley-Hall party people who none of us in NYC can live without. (I do a lot of charity fundraisers and when I work on one without them, I feel sorry for myself and for the charity.)
Harry Evans was honored this night because his major book on his life in journalism, "My Paper Chase," has just come out. But here's what tickled me at the party auction. Harry and I were offered up with Martha for lunch at the Pierre Hotel's new Caprice restaurant.
Then Martha was offered up to be bid on all by her lonesome. She would join some lucky person cooking with them, making party favors, currying her horses, whatever. So the bidders rang up $13,000 for Martha.
But Harry and I brought in only $4,000 when we were offered for lunch with Martha. (Martha is bigger without us, than with us!)
I told the crowd that Harry's feelings and my feelings were hurt and I added, "Since Martha is worth more without us, when we go with her to the mere $4,000 lunch, we won't take the bidder upstairs in the hotel with us after, as we'd planned, for a little dessert." So there. (I don't think anybody cared.)
WE TOLD you here that there'd be no sequel to the movie of the enormous ABBA hit, " Mamma Mia!" Benny Andersson put his foot down.
But Judy Craymer, who owns rights to this ragingly successful film, is taking a new tack with Andersson and his partner Bjorn Ulvaeus.
She wants to put their ABBA music into a prequel, which would work to make things look younger and more attractive. And the cast could be new and fresh as well.
What? No more Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan singing like Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald as they balance themselves on some Greek rocks?
(E-mail Liz Smith at MES3838@aol.com, or write to her c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207.)
