People: Alexander replacing David on Broadway
Larry David will hand over his starring role on Broadway to an old “Seinfeld” pal – Jason Alexander.
Producers said Thursday that Alexander, who played George Costanza on the hit show, will replace David as Norman Drexel in “Fish in the Dark” beginning June 9. David wrote the comedy, which is running at the Cort Theatre.
Alexander is a Tony Award winner for “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway” and was last on the Great White Way in 1990’s “Accomplice.” He was lured away from the stage by David’s “Seinfeld.”
“Fish in the Dark” is about the gathering of the Drexel family in present-day California as they prepare to bid farewell to their dying patriarch. Old rivalries and still-simmering angers are reignited, which echo through the next few days.
Obama has high praise for ‘Wire’
Talk of overhauling the criminal justice system is serious business – but before diving into the subject, President Barack Obama had something else he wanted to say.
Obama told David Simon, creator of the acclaimed HBO series “The Wire,” that he was a huge fan of the program about life in drug-plagued Baltimore.
Obama and Simon sat down this week at the White House for a 12-minute discussion about the need to reduce the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders and steps to make cities safer. A video of their conversation was played at Thursday’s Bipartisan Criminal Justice Summit in Washington.
Obama says “The Wire” wasn’t just one of the greatest TV shows ever. He says it was one of the greatest “pieces of art” in the last couple of decades.
Somers will ‘Sizzle’ in Vegas
Television personality Suzanne Somers is bringing a nightclub act to Las Vegas starting in May.
Westgate Las Vegas officials announced this week that the “Dancing with the Stars” contestant will perform a 70-minute musical show dubbed “Suzanne Sizzles” that promises a Rat Pack-era cabaret vibe in an intimate venue at the casino-hotel.
It is the same property Somers performed at in the 1980s when it was known as the Las Vegas Hilton.
In conjunction with the show, Westgate Las Vegas says it will open a Suzanne Somers Spa featuring the performer’s licensed skin and hair care products and a cafe that will include a menu of Somers’ own recipes.
The birthday bunch
Actor Julian Glover is 80. Actor Michael York is 73. Rock musician Tony Banks (Genesis) is 65. Rock musician Andrew Farriss (INXS) is 56. Jazz musician Dave Koz is 52. Movie director Quentin Tarantino is 52. Singer Mariah Carey is 45. Actor Nathan Fillion is 44. Hip-hop singer Fergie (Black Eyed Peas) is 40. Actress Megan Hilty is 34.