Papi Chulo's BLOG

Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig Go Steady on Broadway

Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig are set to appear together on Broadway in A Steady Rain ... The stage drama premieres this fall ...

The play "tells the story of two Chicago cops whose friendship is rocked by a case" ...

~Papi Chulo~

Spider-Man Swings to Broadway

Spider-Man arrives on the Great White Way next year ...

Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark opens on February 18, 2010 at the Hilton Theater ...

Preview performances begin January 16 ...

The musical will be directed by the Tony Award-winning Julie Taymor ... Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark will feature a score by Bono and The Edge ...

The musical will include "the story of his origins as well as new material" ...

~Papi Chulo~

Michael Jackson's Thriller Heads to Broadway

Michael Jackson has announced he is working on a stage musical based on his 1982 classic album Thriller ...

Jackson along with the Nederlander Organization will team up for the musical ... Jackson will provide songs from Thriller (including the title song, "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "P.Y.T.") as well as songs from his 1979 multiplatinum hit Off the Wall (which featured "Rock With You," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "She's Out of My Life") ...

No word yet on when Thriller will debut ...

~Papi Chulo~

SNL :: "Save Broadway"

Neil Patrick Harris helps save Broadway on Saturday Night Live ...

~Papi Chulo~

Love Letter to Cast Led to Streep's "Mamma Mia!" Role

Meryl Streep wrote to the cast of the musical Mamma Mia! shortly after the production opened on Broadway ... The letter was to thank them for bringing joy to New York in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks ...

Meryl Streep: "We left floating on air. We were so elated. It couldn't have been a better tonic for the city and I wrote the cast a mash note thanking them for the music and what they gave us because it was something that meant a lot at that point. ... It was a gift not just to my little girl and her dispirited friends but it was a gift to the whole city. I never imagined the cast would make copies of the letter and send it to England and everybody would have it on their refrigerators, which I was told much later is what happened."

Seven years later director Phyllida Lloyd, producer Judy Cramer and writer Catherine Johnson got in touch with Streep when they were casting the big screen version of the musical ... and they asked her to play Donna ... the owner of a Greek island hotel who faces three former flames on the eve of her daughter's wedding ...

Meryl Streep: "I just about died. I kept saying, 'Are you sure you want me, because I'm not the likeliest choice, you know.' But I was thrilled because I love the music and it meant a lot to me, so I was very happy to get the chance."

Streep got a chance to do something she had never really done on screen before ... star in a full fledged musical ... She had taken opera singing lessons as a child ... and received good vocal reviews for Postcards From The Edge and A Prairie Home Companion ... but Streep confesses that the dancing presented some problems ...

Meryl Streep: "The singing and dancing was just like being invited to play every day and even when I couldn't dance as well as I wanted to, I could justify it by saying, well, Donna's not a dancer, she's running a hotel."

Coming up next for Streep is Julie & Julia ... where she portrays Julia Child ...

~Papi Chulo~

India.Arie Makes Her Broadway Debut

India.Arie is making her Broadway debut with a little help from Whoopi Goldberg ...

The Oscar-winning actress is producing a revival of the Obie Award-winning For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf ... and India.Arie is one of the featured players ...

The 1975 drama, by playwright Ntozake Shange, is a collection of 20 prosaic poems, each a reflection on modern American life as experienced by black women. The characters do not have names but are instead identified by monikers such as "Lady in Brown" and "Lady in Purple."

Previews for the show begin on August 19 at Circle in the Square ... while the show is set to make its official debut on September 8 ...

~Papi Chulo~

"Playgirl" Calls Mario Lopez

Mario Lopez is certainly not ashamed of his body ... but he does have his limits ...

When Playgirl magazine called ...

Mario Lopez: "I politely declined. It's not something for me at the moment. But it's ironic, because I'm, like, 'nature boy.' I'm always running around the house in underwear or nothing."

The former Dancing With the Stars contestant has just released a health and fitness book titles Mario Lopez's Knockout Fitness ...

New York Post's Page Six has dubbed the musclebound Latino "Flex" ...

Lopez can currently been seen on Broadway's A Chorus Line ...

~Papi Chulo~

Janet Jackson Dishes on Drag Queens, Gay Marriage and Broadway

Janet Jackson is currently making the rounds ... promoting her latest hit album Discipline ...

Janet launches a new tour on September 11 ...

She sat down with E!'s Marc Malkin to talk about drag queens ... gay marriage ... Broadway and much, much more ...

Here is an excerpt ...

On being a gay icon: I never thought of myself as that, and it never even crossed my mind when people started calling me icon and legend and all this other stuff. I remember I was over in Europe and I called my boyfriend [Jermaine Dupri] once because they had introduced me on a show as a legend, and I said, "You know they introduced me as 'the legendary Janet Jackson', " and he said, "You are." [Laughs.] I never thought of that or looked at myself in that way. But I'll wear the title. I'll own it.

On Janet Jackson drag queens: They really study you. They truly study you. But you know, they pour it on more, which I absolutely love. They give more than I do and I love that. The first time I went to the Baton in Chicago and saw this show, I was with some of my [female] dancers. Afterward, I said to my dancers, "We've gotta pull up because these bitches are hitting it. They're giving so much femininity and we look like boys onstage." The next night we had a show and we were trying our hardest to ooze with that feminine touch.

On gay marriage: I think it should be legalized. I think it's about finding your soul mate. It's finding that person you connect with. But most people don't get it right. Look at me! The thing is, I don't know if I ever will or won't get married again. I'm very happy where I am. I just think I jinx marriages, but that's not going to stop me from loving.

On Broadway: That's always been a dream of mine. I would love to do a musical.

~Papi Chulo~

Mario Lopez Joins the "Chorus Line"

Mario Lopez has signed on to take the role of "Zach" in Broadway's revival of A Chorus Line ...

Mario Lopez: "Every actor dreams about appearing on a Broadway stage. I have as well, and have been searching for the right time and opportunity. A Chorus Line is a legendary musical, and I am so honored to have been chosen to join the amazing cast and be a part of the Broadway family."

A Chorus Line is about a grueling audition that will land four men and four women a spot in the chorus of a major show ... Lopez's "Zach" is a demanding choreographer ...

Lopez's debut in the ongoing revival is scheduled for April 15 ... He will be a part of the Broadway show until September 7 ... sans a pre-scheduled hiatus between May 11 and June 3 ...

John Breglio (Producer): "Mario is an enormously talented actor and dancer, and we are thrilled to have him make his Broadway debut in A Chorus Line. His talents and charm will transfer beautifully to the Broadway stage."

~Papi Chulo~

"Mamma Mia!" Teaser Poster Revealed!

The official teaser poster for Mamma Mia! has been released ...

Also a little information has been released confirming some of the songs making their way to the big screen from Broadway ...

Definitely in the movie are ... "Mamma Mia!" ... "I Have A Dream" ... "Dancing Queen" ... "Money, Money, Money" ... "SOS" ... "Take a Chance On Me" ... "When All Is Said and Done" and "Voulez-Vous" ...

Here is the teaser poster ...

~Papi Chulo~

Movie Preview :: "A Raisin in the Sun"

ABC premieres the three-hour television adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun on Monday, February 25 at 8pm ...

Here are a few shots of the cast ...

~Papi Chulo~

"A Raisin in the Sun" Comes to ABC

Sean Combs headlines the three-hour television adaptation of the Broadway play A Raisin in the Sun ... Combs is joined by the main cast of the 2004 revival in this Sony Pictures Television production airing on ABC ...

Emmy and Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad, four-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, and Tony Award nominee Sanaa Lathan reprise their roles from the play ... ER's John Stamos joins the cast ...

A Raisin in the Sun was written by Lorraine Hansberry ... It was the first African American written play to be produced on Broadway ... It centers on a Black family in 1950s Chicago who are anxiously waiting on an inheritance of ten thousand dollars ...

Here is a preview of the movie ...

A Raisin in the Sun was also made into a movie in 1961 ... featuring the original Broadway cast ...

The television movie will premiere on Monday, February 25 at 8pm ...

~Papi Chulo~

Movie Preview :: "Mamma Mia!"

Mamma Mia! is the upcoming film adaptation of the West End musical of the same name based on the songs of pop group ABBA ...

The musical and film's title is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia" ... The film is slated for a big screen release on July 18, 2008 ...

Academy Award winner Meryl Streep will head the cast of the film ... She portrays Donna Sheridan ... a single mother ... Pierce Brosnan will portray Sam ... one of Donna's daughter Sophie's three possible fathers ... Sophie will be played by Amanda Seyfried ...

Here is the official plot synopsis ...

Mamma Mia! employs the hit songs of famed pop group ABBA to tell the story of Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried), a young girl who hopes to discover the identity of her father. On the eve of her wedding to Sky (Dominic Cooper), she brings three men, Sam (Pierce Brosnan), Bill (Stellan Skarsgård) and Harry (Colin Firth), from her mother Donna's (Meryl Streep) past back to the Greek island they visited over two decades ago.

I have never seen the musical ... but the choice of cast has made me so excited to see this movie ...

I now officially have the ABBA song "Mamma Mia!" stuck in my head ...

~Papi Chulo~

Michael Stuart Joins Off-Broadway's "Celia"

Celia ... the new musical based on the life of the late Cuban singer Celia Cruz made its Off-Broadway debut in late-August ...

Puerto Rican salsa singer/actor Michael Stuart (a fave of mine) has been tapped to play Celia's husband in the Off-Broadway play starting in January ... Michael is said to be staying on with the part for a couple months ...

~Papi Chulo~