Showbiz History: Traffic, Show Boat, and Gérard Depardieu

7 random things that happened on this day, December 27th, in showbiz history

1927 Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's "Show Boat" opens on Broadway. It will utterly change the musical artform linking plot and characters and song in a way that had never been done. Plus it has truly amazing songs. Here's a good 5 minute overview of how revolutionary it was. It's had three film versions but honestly it seems ripe for a remake given today's much more evolved takes on race relations and appropriate casting processes. In short Hollywood is always remaking the wrong projects and ignoring famous but non-definitively made titles that are perfect for redos...

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50th Anniversary: The 42nd Academy Awards

by Cláudio Alves

Here we are again. After revisiting the Oscars of 1994 for their 25th anniversary, it's time to go further back to the 1969 Oscars, whose ceremony was celebrated 50 years ago today. Unlike the Forrest Gump year, when the Academy Awards were pretty much business as usual, the 1969/70 awards season was part of a transitional period. The tension between the decomposing corpse of the studio system and the brats of New Hollywood was on full show for these Academy Awards. Each victory represents a prickly negotiation between the new and old guards. On one hand, we have the only X-rated movie to ever win Best Picture. On the other, John Wayne is our Best Actor for True Grit.

Speaking of the Duke, there's no better way to understand the singular contradictions of these Oscars than to look at the cowboys of 1969…

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Gone but Not Forgotten

We've been remiss of lately marking the passing of showbiz greats and with Oscar night fast approaching and with it another "in memoriam" people we've lost are suddenly in mind. (This time of year is always a major challenge to keep up with given the mania of awards season.) Here are five stars, four of whom became famous right around the same time as each other, that passed away in December.

Let this small remembrance make amends for our lateness in paying tribute...

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Hello Linky

Just two handfuls of links this morning. I'm still on my birthday tear for Tony weekend -- finally saw Hello, Dolly! on Broadway last night with Bernadette Peters and as usual she was an adorable diva. Laughed my ass off. A friend of mine revealed that he had already seen the show four times to see all three leading ladies (Bette, Donna Murphy x 2, Bernadette). Bette returns to the show (with the magical Donna Murphy on Bette's off days since Bette can't handle 8 shows a week) on July 17th. I don't have the funds for three trips but would definitely see again if the chance occurs.

• Vulture what would Sex and the City plotlines be like if the show were still on. Vulture asks members of the original writing team
• THR With other companies pursuin g him Warner Bros reups with prolific TV producer Greg Berlanti (who also directs the occasional movie - hi, Love Simon) for $400 million. In cash no less!
• The Daily Beast talks to Sutton Foster about Younger's evolution
• Rewire great reflective piece by Kieran Scarlett on black fathers in TV (Black-ish and Cosby)
• i09 John Lasseter is leaving Disney after his suspension for misconduct with female co-workers
• Awards Daily a glitzy Emmy FYC event to celebrate the costumes of RuPaul's Drag Race
• Words Seem Out of Place writes a letter to Angela (Michelle Pfeiffer) from Married to the Mob 

It's Tony Weekend so a bit of theatah for you
• Vulture hilarious article ranking all 41 Broadway theaters
• Time Out New York first headshots of all the Tony nominees. These are priceless! Especially the ones of Mark Rylance, Lauren Ambrose, Grey Henson, Amy Schumer, and Ari'el Stachel
• MNPP Corey Stoll is wearing leather pants as Iago in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Othello 

Pretty Linky

• /Film Jake Gyllenhaal lands the villain gig in the next Spider-Man movie. He'll be playing Mysterio so let's hope they don't go with the comic book costume because enough with hiding gorgeous actor faces behind masks or in this case a whole opaque globe
• The New Yorker has a long read profile of the great filmmaker Claire Denis
• Deadline Andy Karl has replaced Steve Kazee in the Richard Gere role in the Broadway bound musical adaptation of Pretty Woman

• The Village Voice profiles Betty Gabriel of Get Out and "no no no no no" gif fame
• Vulture A Quiet Place has racked up a stunning $300 million worldwide
• Cartoon Brew BC is becoming an animated feature. What's BC you ask? It's that syndicated comic strip that's been running in newspapers forever about cavemen.
• Variety a report on the reshoots of Solo and Ron Howard taking over and shooting 70% of what's now on screen (unfortunately everyone is vague on details! Perhaps someday we'll get a juicy oral history)
• The Muse Björk makes her first TV appearance in years and years
• Towleroad the major studios get "insuffienct / poor / failing" ratings from GLAAD in its annual report. 
• Broadway World apparently the 50th anniversary of Hello Dolly (1968) is sparking a six month long celebration in Westchester and Putnam County along the Hudson River where filming took place. Who knew people were this into that Babs film? 

RIP
• NYT Patricia Morison, Broadway's first Kate in "Kiss Me Kate" and a movie actress in early franchises has died at 103 years of age 
• The Atlantic Philip Roth, literary giant, has died. Feels like the end of a particular literary era
• My New Plaid Pants Gorgeous beefcake Clint Walker, originally envisioned by the studios as a Rock Hudson rival, has died at 90

Exit Video
Sarah Paulson does a Drew Barrymore impression. And then runs into Drew Barrymore.