Black actor plays title role in ‘Phantom’ for first time
A thunderous standing ovation congratulated Norm Lewis as he became the first black actor to take on the title role in Broadway’s “The Phantom of the Opera.”
The Tony Award nominee, who brought his deep and rich voice as Porgy to the recent “Porgy and Bess” revival, made his “Phantom” debut Monday night opposite a returning Sierra Boggess as Christine.
Lewis is the first black Phantom on Broadway, although Robert Guillaume played the role in the Los Angeles production in 1990.
Drug suspect garners singer’s support
A jazz musician arrested on drug charges amid an investigation into Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death is getting support from Blondie singer Deborah Harry.
She and bandmate Chris Stein praise sideman Robert Vineberg in a letter filed with court papers Tuesday as “an asset to New York’s culture.”
Vineberg was arrested as police followed leads after Hoffman’s Feb. 2 death from a mix of heroin, cocaine and other drugs. Vineberg has pleaded not guilty to possessing heroin with the intent to sell. He wasn’t charged with playing any role in Hoffman’s death.
Baldwin arrested in cycling incident
Actor Alec Baldwin was arrested after allegedly acting belligerently toward two officers who had stopped him for riding his bicycle the wrong way down a New York City street, police said Tuesday.
Baldwin was riding his bike the wrong way at 16th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan when he was stopped at about 10:15 a.m. and asked to show identification, they said.
Baldwin, 56, refused to show his ID and acted belligerently, prompting the officers to handcuff him and take him, to a nearby precinct, they said.
From his verified Twitter account, Baldwin said he’d been handcuffed for riding the wrong way and posted the last name and badge number of the arresting officer.
The birthday bunch
Opera singer Patrice Munsel is 89. Movie producer George Lucas is 70. Movie director Robert Zemeckis is 63. Rock singer David Byrne is 62. Rock musician Mike Inez (Alice In Chains) is 48. Fabrice Morvan (ex-Milli Vanilli) is 48. Actress Cate Blanchett is 45. Rock musician Henry Garza (Los Lonely Boys) is 36. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is 30. Actress Miranda Cosgrove is 21.