Media Morsels 3.19.10

• Billie Joe: Out and About
  Check out this article from Out magazine, profiling Billie Joe Armstrong and his journey with Green Day (along with insights from director/collaborator Michael Mayer) from Berkeley to Broadway.

• Glee Scoop
  More Glee
  Riding high on the success of the first 13 episodes and recent Golden Globe wins, Glee creators have announced that the second season will be longer than a standard season, that is it will be 25 episodes instead of 22. Yes! And, creator Ryan Murphy says that he’d like to have the McKinley High misfits visit New York for some competition. New Directions, you’re welcome here anytime!
  
  Stars Shine on Glee
  Some rumors won’t die. Once again, the internet is hopefully buzzing at the possibility of Julia Roberts doing a guest spot on Glee. Murphy, who recently directed Roberts in the film adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love, (watch the just-released trailer) says Roberts is a fan of the show and that this just might happen. I’ll keep you posted!
  
  Second-half Spoilers
  EW has some major scoop, dishing on everything from the songs in the first episode of this upcoming batch (airing on April 13th,); guest stars’ plotlines; and romances (Finn-Rachel-Jesse (Jonathan Groff’s character), Rachel-Puck, Will-Emma…). Read all about it on ew.com, but beware: there are spoilers ahead so read at your own risk. (In the interest of parity in the NFL, if you will, E! Online is also reporting most of the same scoop.) Both outlets say that Matthew Morrison and Neil Patrick Harris will, as reported last week, face off in a duet, but the new news is that there will be two sing-offs! As we know, the two handsome and multi-talented men will sing Aerosmith’s “Dream On”. Morrison himself teases that they will also sing a Billy Joel song. My educated guess is that they’ll sing “Big Shot”. What do you think?
  
  E! Online is also reporting that it is likelier and likelier that JTims will be appearing on Glee. He definitely won’t be on this back-nine-batch, but Murphy says he’s working on snagging the former Mouseketeer for the second season opener. Plus, E! has an interview clip of Matthew Morrison challenging JTims. Love it! (Wondering where this flurry of Glee scoop is coming from? The cast attended the Paley Fest this past weekend, an annual event held in Beverly Hills. Broadwayworld.com has photos.)
  
  Glee on Stage
  If you can handle it, there’s even more Glee news: It was announced late this week that the folks at Glee are in talks with Music Theatre International, a prominent publishing house, to adapt Glee for the stage. The deal is currently in negotiations. I’ll keep you posted on any updates!
  
  DCA ->ORD ->LAX
  Finally this week in Glee news, while on their way back to LA from DC, where they will perform at the White House Easter Egg Roll, the Glee folks will make a pit stop in Chicago to sit down on Oprah’s couch. Currently confirmed to appear with the Queen of Daytime are creator Ryan Murphy and stars Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Matthew Morrison. Set your DVRs for April 7 at 4pm for tons of Glee fun!
  
  
• Barry Munday
  The trailer for the new movie Barry Munday is now floating around the electronic series of tubes. Originally, Luke Wilson was supposed to play the titular role, but I guess for producers, one Wilson was as good as another: Now, stage and screen vet Patrick Wilson appears as Barry. (Patrick Wilson was very good last season in the revival of All My Sons and he was very gracious with his time at the stage door.) The plot is as follows: Barry is a womanizer who, after hitting on the wrong woman, is injured and looses his family jewels. (When it was in development and Luke Wilson was still attached, the movie was actually called Family Jewels.) Soon thereafter, the hilarious Judy Greer (aka Kitty Sanchez to Arrested Development fans) shows up, pregnant with Barry’s child. From the trailer, the movie looks good and off-beat funny. The movie is premiering this week at SXSW, so a national release date might not be far off.
  
  
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Class of 2010
  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted a new class on Monday night. Among those honored were the Stooges (who were introduced by Billie Joe Armstrong), Genesis and the songwriting team of Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry (“Baby, I Love You”, “Be My Baby”, “Leader of the Pack”). For a summary of the night’s events, read the NY Times article. For in-depth coverage and photos, visit Rollingstone.com.
  


• Back in the Blazing Saddles Again
  Comedy legend and Tony winner Mel Brooks told a Canadian newspaper that he is, indeed, working on a musical stage adaptation of his comedy classic, Blazing Saddles. There’s no set timeline and Brooks says that he’ll probably want to do an out of town tryout for this (he learned from his hubristic mistakes with Young Frankenstein) but I’ll be sure to keep you posted on any developments.
  


• Jason Segel’s Great Muppet Caper
  As you may know, the adorable and funny Jason Segel is penning the new Muppet movie. Details of the plot are under pretty tight wraps, but rumors suggest that the Muppet gang will find themselves having to save their theatre. The new news this week is that Segel will most likely be the main live-action lead. I think this is terrific. Segel’s great fun to watch and the Muppets are basically the most awesome anything ever, so the pairing is quite exciting!
  


• Muppet Madness Tournament
  In other Muppet news, all the Muppets, from the Show, the Street, Fraggle Rock and more, are going toe-to-toe in an NCAA-style tournament bracket. Fill out your bracket today! (By the way, if you’re trying to fill out an actual NCAA bracket, check out Barack-etology. POTUS picked the winner last year – can he go two-for-two?)
  
  
• Side-by-Side-by Susan Blackwell
  The latest installment of Side-by-Side-by Susan Blackwell is now online and, as usual, is very funny! This episode features arts and crafts with J. Robert Spencer, Dan in Next to Normal; vegan lunch with Karen Olivo, Anita in West Side Story; and video games with Constantine Maroulis, star of Rock of Ages. Warm up your funny bone, and get to watching!
  
  
• From the Stage to Your Stereo
  You may remember a few weeks ago I wrote about Joe Iconis, a young, up-and-coming composer. His songs are great and his shows are always tons of fun. (His new musical, Bloodsong of Love, will play NYC’s Ars Nova this April.) Back in May 2009, he and his misfits put on a themed revue, Things to Ruin, at Second Stage Theatre. (It was a rockin’ good time.) The Iconis entourage went into the studio in February and a record of Things to Ruin will be released this summer. Stayed tuned for updates about this delicious ear candy.
  
  
• Toto, Too?
  The Independent is reporting that several competing updates/adaptations/prequels/sequels of The Wizard of Oz are in development. One version would be a non-musical faithful adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s original novel. Other possible iterations would be either in 3-D, musical remakes with a tweeny- or teeny-bopper cast, a sequel featuring Dorothy’s granddaughter or a prequel telling the story of how the wizard got to Oz. Not be left out, a film adaptation of the hit musical Wicked is still in the works, as well. I would say, “Leave well enough alone,” but Wicked didn’t and it’s great. (Also, do you remember Return to Oz? It was scary and weird and bizarrely enjoyable.) I think my vote is for a truly fresh take on the Oz stories or a fiercely faithful adaptation of Baum’s first and subsequent Oz books. Stayed tuned for details as they’re revealed.
  


• As You Wish
  This week’s whacky but awesome news item is this: Pretty soon, you’ll be able to buy replica swords from The Princess Bride, one of my favorite movies. Geekweek.com reports that two of the swords that’ll be available will be Inigo Montoya’s and Wesley’s. Now, it’ll be even easier and more fun to say, “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
  


• It’s a Snoop Dogg-Eat-Dogg World
  Snoog Dogg was making the rounds this week to promote his new album, More Malice (the follow up to Malice in Wonderland!). Among his stops were The David Letterman Show, on which he presented the Top Ten list, and The Daily Show, on which he chatted with Jon Stewart about, among other things, Dr. Dre’s opinion on health care!
  
  
• Grease is the Word
  The Hollywood Bowl, which will host a Neil Patrick Harris-directed incarnation of Rent this summer, will transform itself into a movie theatre, also this summer, as they host a Grease sing along. The Rydell High fun will take place on June 25. I remember years ago TBS broadcast a sing along version of Grease on New Year’s Eve. I sang along with every word, of course.
  
  
• Just Another Day
  This week brought us another installment of Next to Normal star Kyle Dean Massey’s backstage vlog. Unfortunately, it is also the final installment. Kyle Dean made sure it was a good one, though, taking the time to count the hundreds of flights of stairs he climbs each week, include us on a Broadway Bowling adventure and show us a YouTube clip of a high school show choir Glee-ifying the Next to Normal song “You Don’t Know/I Am the One”. Thanks for a great series, Kyle Dean. See you at the Booth!
  
  
• That Shirt is So Smurf on You
  Last week I mentioned some casting news regarding the upcoming Smurf movie. (Alan Cumming mentioned that Quentin Tarantino had joined the cast.) This week, you can add Hank Azaria and Jayma Mays (Emma on Glee) to the list. Azaria, who spoke lovely Sorkinese on the boards in The Farnsworth Invention back in 2007, will voice Smurf villain Gargamel, while Mays will appear as the live action love interest for Neil Patrick Harris. This Smurfs movie just gets deliciously macadamia nuttier by the day!