We will always love Houston
Whitney Houston’s songs will live forever. She’s about to become immortal.
Clive Davis, whose talent discoveries, Grammy parties and place in the music pantheon has already canonized him, is involved in the film production of her life. He’ll be played by Stanley Tucci. Brit actress and “Star Wars” BAFTA winner Naomi Ackie will play her. Director Kasi Lemmons, who was also an actress in Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs,” will direct. The title “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” is after Houston’s 1987 hit song of the same name.
Born 1963, died 2012, discovered in NYC in ’83 by Clive Davis when she was 19 — Whitney went on to a truckload of hits, including “I Will Always Love You” from “The Bodyguard” soundtrack. Her life with its twists, turns, addiction, personal troubles and untimely death will be part of this film, scheduled to arrive in December 2022.
Per my longtime neighbor Clive Davis, nothing will be omitted.
Brooklyn’s glam infestation
Brooklyn now has queens. Shove geography. We talk choreography. “Only an Octave Apart” stars the ab-fab performance artists Justin Vivian Bond and Met Opera’s Anthony Roth Costanzo. They’re at the just reopened St. Ann’s Warehouse until Oct. 3. It’s 90 minutes. Hurry. Pronounce the word “drag” and you miss it. Zack Winokur’s the director. Jonathan Anderson’s the fashionista.
Playful. Joyful. Fun. A combo playing maybe a bimbo in Dumbo. The kind of show we need right now. Friday’s opening night gave it a standing ovation.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, usually shy, took a curtain call for his efforts to save theaters and said, “Isn’t it great to be in Brooklyn when Donald Trump isn’t president?!”
Bric-a-brac
Nureyev, Fonteyn, Baryshnikov did it. Streisand tried to do it. Now it’s “Swan Lake” swimming in as “Swan Lake Rock Opera.” Sex, money, love. It’s Tchaikovsky 21st-century style and starts Oct. 14. Actors Temple Theatre . . . And Jackie O sunglasses are newly inspiring Italian furniture line Flair O’. It’s tables and chairs which supposedly “embody the ’60s glitz of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.” What next? Jack Kennedy condom? Ted Kennedy guardrail? . . . Everyone bitches dining out is off, eateries are closing, restaurants lack staff, prices are up, foods are scarce and nobody’s stepping forth. I only know Saturday night Giuliano’s Second Avenue restaurant Primola was mobbed — inside plus outside. Not an empty table . . . Friday’s Times reported West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice now forbidden to coach his town’s basketball team. Why? He’s always done it. Coached the girls’ basketball team forever. Major businessman, owner of the famous Greenbrier, he always found time to coach. I’ve been there with him. I’ve sat with his family. May those stupid klunks in his state know the grateful kids loved him.
Main memo
“Dear Evan Hansen” Broadway hit now a movie. Its stars say what matters is the message about teen angst and suicide. They’re singing praises.
Amy Adams: “It’s about processing grief. He had friends and hopes and dreams.” Julianne Moore says: “It’s about what it means to be a young person in a modern world. I think about being a mother. The experience gives you much more to work with. Adolescence is short. And kids change so much. How much help do they need and how much independence do they want? Going through as a parent takes a lot.”
Apropos kid story: Firetruck zoomed by. The station’s mascot — a beagle — sat on the front seat. Said a 7-year-old: “He’s to keep people back.” Said another: “No. He’s for good luck.” A 9-year-old boy stopped the whole discussion with: “They use the dog to find the fireplug.”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.