Cohen gets fashionably gay with “‘Bruno’
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| Sacha Baron Cohen |
He stole scenes from Will Ferrell in “Talladega Nights” and offended the entire nation of Kazakhstan with “Borat,” and now Sacha Baron Cohen is setting his sights on the world of fashion.
The British comedian has scored a $42.5 million payday from Universal for the worldwide rights to “Bruno,” which will feature another bizarre Cohen character: a gay fashionista who claims to be “the voice of Austrian youth TV.”
Bruno flitted his way through Cohen’s “Da Ali G Show” which also spawned Borat at New York’s Fashion Week, so it’s anyone’s guess where the movie will send him when shooting starts this summer.
Jay Roach a veteran of the “Austin Powers” comedies will produce, but no director has yet been attached to the project.
Lansbury has a “‘Deuce’ of a time on Broadway
If you only know Angela Lansbury as the buttinsky sleuth on “Murder, She Wrote,” then it might be news to you that she’s a four-time Tony winner for her appearances in legendary musicals like “Mame” and “Sweeney Todd.”
The lady returns to the Great White Way next spring in the latest show from gay playwright Terrence McNally (“Love! Valour! Compassion!”), a non-musical called “Deuce.”
The play stars Lansbury and fellow Tony winner Marian Seldes as retired women’s tennis pros. (Which means a lesbian subplot is a possibility, if not an inevitability.)
These grande dames will sink their teeth into McNally’s juicy prose when the show enters previews in April 2007, with an official opening May 6, under the direction of Broadway vet Michael Blakemore (“Copenhagen”).
Bravo sets “‘Top Hair’
Hoping to do for hair what it’s already done for fashion (“Project Runway”) and food (“Top Chef”), Bravo has announced the network’s latest foray into reality television, “Top Hair.”
Stylists from around the country will compete at giving everything from haircuts to full makeovers for at least eight episodes, in the hopes of snagging the $100,000 prize.
“Top Hair” will be produced by Reveille, the company behind the network’s other hair show, the popular “Blow Out.” Casting is underway for the new series, but no premiere date has yet been set.
But if there was ever any question that Bravo has wound up being gayer than Logo and Here combined, the channel’s addition of a cutthroat competition for hairdressers should resolve it.
Allen takes a dip in “The Pool 2”
After “Lost in Translation,” it’s no secret that American stars love to make big bucks by shilling products in Japan.
But it’s not just TV spots luring stars overseas. Sometimes they appear in throwaway Euro-horror flicks most Americans won’t see, in exchange for a decent paycheck and a vacation abroad.
Which brings us to openly gay star Chad Allen, who went to Italy to star in “The Pool 2,” a sequel to the German horror movie “The Swimming Pool.”
The movie hit Italy a few months back, but with “The Swimming Pool” already on DVD here, Americans are most likely to find Allen and costars Joseph Lawrence (“Dancing with the Stars”) and Jeff Conaway (“Grease”) doing the slasher thing in their DVD players soon enough.
Holy naked housewife!
Apparently some risqu? photos of Marcia Cross were stolen from her home by cleaners and the unhappy actress is doing everything possible to keep them from being made public. Really Marcia, I think we’re all with you on that one.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition, November 3, 2006.