Daniel Radcliffe saved his one-man Broadway show, “Every Brilliant Thing,” when the Hudson Theatre’s sound system broke down ten minutes into the play.
After the company’s manager came on stage to announce that the sound would not be returning that night, the quick-thinking “Harry Potter” star said that he would fill in the play’s musical components and called for a keyboard to be brought out.
Radcliffe used his own stage craft magic to fill in the musical notes, and thus saved the producers a whopping $145k had the audience walked out and demanded refunds.
No one left the critically acclaimed show, which follows Radcliffe’s character from the age of 7 as he makes a list of everything worth living for to give to his suicidal mother.
Jazz singers, like Ray Charles, Nina Simone and Cab Calloway, are called out and Radcliffe ad-libbed the musical references, proving he is a master magician of the theatrical arts.
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Rex Heuermann had good reason to plead guilty to the murder of eight women. He wanted to spare his wife and daughter from the horrific details that would be revealed at trial, lawyer Arthur Aidala told me.
Though Aidala does not represent the admitted serial killer, the host of The Power Hour on AM 970 The Answer says, “This was told to me by someone heavily involved.”
He added: “(Heuermann) wants to spare his wife and daughter from having to go through what would have been a brutal trial.”
A trial would have lasted two months and would have exposed disturbing secrets.
“Maybe he didn’t want his daughter to have to hear all the testimony,” Aidala said.
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Stars continue to parade to the Upper West Side to help an actor’s enclave. The Center at West Park is an old church that’s been doing staged readings to raise millions and save it from the wrecking ball.
This time James L. Brooks, who produced and directed “Broadcast News,” has Josh Charles, Matt Dillon, Marisa Tomei and others reprising the classic dramedy on April 13.
Tony nominated director Sheryl Kaller thinks “the script remains timely, and like many of James L. Brooks’ films deeply prophetic.” Cast member Ilana Levine remembers “Holly Hunter sobbing each morning” as part of an “unrivaled role.”
Danny Bernardy liked “Joan Cusack literally racing to pass off the VHS tape” in time to make air. Charles Everett agrees. “The newsroom becomes this insane obstacle course where she has to run over, around and through every animate and inanimate object in her path. I’m a sucker for physical comedy.”
But Marc Shaiman gets the last laugh. He was actually in the 1987 film, part of a young jingle-writing duo. “As a dyed in the wool narcissist, I think my favorite part would be rather obvious … my scene!”
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Luke Evans, who starred in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” is currently on Broadway in stilettos and a corset playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the new Broadway production “The Rocky Horror Show.”
The musical also features Stephanie Hsu, the star of “Everywhere, Everything, All At Once,” who plays Janet the virgin girlfriend in the show, and “SNL” legend Rachel Dratch, who assays the show’s narrator.
Evans called out sick Tuesday night and was replaced by self-proclaimed drag queen Paul Soileau. The sold-out audience stayed to see Soileau make his debut in the role for which he only had eight hours of rehearsal.
Soileau received a standing ovation for his bare-bottomed performance. The show opens on April 23.
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Bill Cunningham — the late photographer who chronicled New York’s street fashion for decades — is the star of a documentary by Mark Bozek that will screen April 26 at the Cinema Arts Center in Huntington L.I.
Cunningham made other journalists seem squalid because he never took hors d’oeuvres or a free drink.
“He wanted nothing. He saw everything,” said Bozek, who will also premiere a one-man show starring Keenan Lyons as a 24-year-old Cunningham.
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Celebrity divorce attorney and Barnard College alumnae Harriet Newman Cohen joined the college’s president Laura Rosenbury for a fireside chat as part of the school’s Authors’ Shelf series.
Cohen, 93, who repped Tom Brady, Laurence Fishburne and Andrew Cuomo in their divorces, discussed her new memoir, “Passion and Power: A Life in Three Worlds.”
Cohen chronicles the ongoing fight for gender equality with a candid and humorous account of her most pivotal cases.
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Brooke Shields’ daughter, Grier Henchy, has served as the grand marshal of Audrey Gruss’s Hope for Depression Research Foundation annual 5k NYC Race of Hope to Defeat Depression. Her mother has also been honored by the organization.
For the first time, the race will be held in Central Park on Sunday, May 10. This year’s 4th annual race, formerly known as the NYC Teen Race of Hope, is expanding to welcome participants of all ages.
In honor of the race being on Mother’s Day, any moms can race for free. For more information, please visit nyc.raceofhopeseries.com.
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Dr. Mason Pimsler will be honored by the NYC Health + Hospitals System at the Doctor’s Day Celebration on April 28.
Pimsler is a specialist in internal medicine who treats patients in the Bronx through the city’s public hospital system.
The recognition acknowledged Pimsler’s work caring for underserved patients, including the homeless.
“I treat the shelter community,” he said. “There are people in this life that need help.”
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Comedian Jo Koy popped into Carnegie Diner & Cafe for breakfast during Easter weekend in NYC after performing at Radio City Music Hall.