It's Tech Time!

Posted by Backstage Baby April 30, 2012 at 20:00

Hey there blogolians! Surely you've heard by now that Houston and Levitt's "Bombshell" is teching in Boston, gearing up for what they hope will be a huge opening with Rebecca "Can't Sing That Great - whoops, I mean Casual Friday 2" Duvall. But as usual, the compelling drama is taking place backstage. Word is that the fireworks between director Derek Wills and Duvall have turned into the OTHER kind of fireworks, leaving perennial chorus girl Ivy Lynn out in the cold. And to make matters worse, "Bombshell's" Joe DiMaggio, Ted DeLeo, has abruptly quit to do a pilot about a detective with Tourette syndrome, leaving the producers little other choice than to bring back the mysteriously fired Michael Swift. BUT Swift's return has led to rumors that librettist Julia Houston is threatening to bolt the show herself. I wonder why?

Meanwhile, composer Levitt was seen leaving downtown Boston in a rental car with his new chorus boy toy, Sam Strickland. Wonder where THEY'RE going? Far away from the wreckage, I'd imagine. Meanwhile, last week's "It" girl, Marilyn understudy Karen Cartwright, was seen having a vocal and tearful fight with a handsome devil on the street in Boston. I don't know who this hunk is, but Blogway Baby will take him if Cartwright doesn't want him!

Rebecca's New BFF

Posted by Backstage Baby April 23, 2012 at 23:00

Hey there Act Breakers!

I don't know what they're drinking over at "Bombshell" rehearsals, but we'll have a double. And then can you give us the number for poison control, please?

First, it looks as if our star-crossed creative team is, unsurprisingly, not long for this world - or at least this project. Julia Houston is MIA yet again, while Tom Levitt and Derek Wills continue to fight, vocally and publicly, about the creative direction of the musical. But according to reports, none of them are in control at all - action star Rebecca "Casual Friday 2" Duvall continues her hostile takeover. Wills reportedly lost his world-famous cool, having punched out a paparazzo and having had a VERY public confrontation with Duvall in the lobby of the New York City building where "Bombshell" rehearses, calling her - and I quote - a "stupid little movie star."

Speaking of Duvall, astute readers already know what she's doing - it's been all over HuffPo, Page 6 and TMZ already, so you don't need Backstage Baby to tell you - but who's this new BFF of hers? Attentive readers will remember none other than Karen Cartwright, aka the unknown from Iowa who came within spitting distance of the Marilyn role mere months ago, and the current understudy. Cartwright was first spotted at one of Brooklyn's hottest clubs, fronting indie band Cooper (at Duvall's insistence), and has since been spotted all over town, including at Indian restaurant 345 - and, yes, the famous smooching shot.

In other "Bombshell" news, Ivy Lynn has managed not only to weasel her way back into the show *cough* Derek Wills' girlfriend *cough* but to have swiped a number from both Duvall and new understudy Cartwright. How does she do it? Besides sleeping with the director, I mean? Maybe she learned something from her superstar mother after all.

And, finally, superproducers Jerry and Eileen Rand have been reunited - not in business or in matrimony, unfortunately, but in an awkward encounter in the lobby at The Brooklyn Academy of Music. Eyewitnesses said they disagreed about the work of a certain Texas-born avant-gardist.

Enter Rebecca Duvall!

Posted by Backstage Baby April 16, 2012 at 20:00

Hey there Broadway Babies! Ready or not, here comes Mama with some fresh dirt on Houston and Levitt's "Bombshell" - specifically, the bombshell that is Rebecca "Casual Friday 2" Duvall exploding all over everything and getting in everyone's hair and ruining their rehearsal clothes. We all know Duvall lights up the silver screen, but does she have what it takes for a Broadway musical?

Define "have," "what it takes," "Broadway" and "musical." Inside sources say Duvall is no kind of singer (though we've heard good things about a customized Houston/Levitt number, "Dig Deep," that utilizes her strengths). Movie stars who can't nail a tune are nothing new for Broadway, but word is Duvall is also driving everyone up the wall, attempting to hijack the project, replacing songs with monologues, demanding rewrites and re-choreographed numbers and generally driving the Bombshell bus into the Broadway ditch.

Just how desperate are "Bombshell's" creators? Word is they've invited back the disgraced Ivy Lynn, yes, THAT Ivy Lynn, who drunkenly wrecked both her career and a Friday night performance of Broadway's "Heaven on Earth." Ivy's a talent like no other, but even her friends are hedging their bets - newcomer Karen Cartwright got to keep the understudy role.