#Frank McCann

[oldshowbiz]

Frank Gorshin's television debut was on The Steve Allen Show, but it almost didn't happen at all.

Comedian Will Jordan: Chuck McCann tells the story of how he got Frank his first break on Steve Allen. McCann says that Gorshin auditioned as a singer.

Comedian Chuck McCann: It's a funny story. I helped him get The Steve Allen Show. And then they booked him - and kicked me off so they could fit him in!

Will Jordan: Frank Gorshin looked like a little skeleton. Very odd looking little creature.

Chuck McCann: Anyway, the Gorshin thing happened at a rehearsal. Tom Poston and I were doing Laurel and Hardy. We were asked to stay after the rehearsal because they were auditioning people and they felt it would help if there was a bit of an audience. Bill Harbach, the producer of the show, asked us all to stick around.

Will Jordan: The entire cast would really help you on that show, laugh it up and applaud.

Chuck McCann: I was in the hall and there was this guy standing there. I saw the piano had a bunch of hats on it. I said, "What do you do?" He said, "I do impressions." I asked him to do a couple and he did. I said, "Jesus! That's wonderful!" They were really remarkable. He did Richard Widmark and Kirk Douglas.

Will Jordan: The best physical resemblances were done by Frank Gorshin when he did Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster.

Chuck McCann: I said, "Oh, they're going to love this." So I sit down with our little audience. Steve was sitting next to me. Steve is the nicest guy in the world, but if someone is embarrassing themselves it is hard for him to take. It's hard for anyone to take. Gorshin comes out and sits down at the piano and starts singing rock and roll. He sings this awful song.

Will Jordan: Gorshin's singing voice wasn't good.

Chuck McCann: He's half way through and everyone is cringing. Steve looked at Bill and Bill got the message. He gets up, "Well, thank you very much. That's terrific. Uh, we'll give you a call and let you know." So Frank stands up and… it was embarrassing.

Will Jordan: Chuck said that as Frank was leaving…

Chuck McCann: I yelled out, "Wait! What's the porkpie hat for?"

Will Jordan: Chuck said, "What's the hat on the piano for?" Frank said, "Oh, I do some impressions."

Chuck McCann: I said, "You do impressions? Can we see some of the impressions, Steve?" Steve glared at me. Everyone glared at me. But I knew I was safe because he was marvelous.

Will Jordan: Of course this is Chuck's version, so Chuck McCann is the hero.

Chuck McCann: In his mind he thought he had done well, but I saved his ass. He didn't realize it. To him it was a natural segue when I said, "What's the pork pie hat for?" He didn't know he was going to be asked to leave.

Will Jordan: It's probably not true…

Chuck McCann: He turned around, put on the porkpie hat and became Richard Widmark. It was perfect. He assumed the spirit and being of Richard Widmark. He did the voice spot on and everybody's mouth dropped. Then he did Kirk Douglas and so forth and so on.

Will Jordan: That scored heavy and he got the show.

Chuck McCann: Three weeks later he was on the show and I was off. No good turn ever goes unpunished. I was never on that show again.

Will Jordan: Bill Dana was there too and he says that's not the way it happened.

[the-gershomite]

Looney Tunes #126 -July 2005- DC Comics

"Freaks & Greeks"

writer: Jesse Leon McCann

penciler: Leo Batic

inked: Horacio Ottolini

letters: Nick J. Napolitano

colorist: Dave Tanguay

"Great Moments in History #1: The Discovery of America"

"Great Moments in History #2: Paul Revere's Ride"

"Great Moments in History #3: The Airplane

Great Moments in History #4: The First Manned Moon Flight"

script: Frank Strom

pencils: Zamboni

inker: Torreiro

colors: Dave Tanguay

letters: Nick J. Napolitano

"Survival of the Famished"

writer: Frank Strom

pencils: Omar Aranda

inks: Alberto Saichann

colors: Dave Tanguay

letters: Nick J. Napolitano

"The Old Feedbag"

writer: Frank Strom

pencils: Omar Aranda

inker: Alberto Saichann

letters: Nick J. Napolitano

colors: Dave Tanguay

[wearenotasfarwest]

ready, set, go go

[northernexposuregifs]

Margaret, you're not fooling me. I see what's going on here.

[augustusaugustus]

9.36 The Short Straw

STAMP: It’s Viv. She’s dead.

ACKLAND: I just want to see. LOXTON: See what? ACKLAND: She was my mate, Steve. LOXTON: All the more reason for not going. We’d just get under everyone’s feet. ACKLAND: Yeah, well, you never served with her. We go back a long way. LOXTON: Right. Well, let’s find these bastards and have them, then.

MARSHALL: I just heard. It’s not... MAITLAND: Yeah. Yeah, it is.

CARVER: Oh my god. BURNSIDE: (to Jim) Look, if you’re going to be sick, go outside. (Jim leaves; to Alastair) Stay with him. Make sure he’s all right.

MONROE: You might’ve told us about the op. BURNSIDE: Spilt milk, Andrew.

BURNSIDE: Look, I don’t need you to go frosty on me. We’ve already lost one silly bitch today. CARVER: What’d you call her? ALASTAIR: Jim. BURNSIDE: If she turned up for that briefing, she’d have known what the score was. That’s what you get when you get sloppy. CARVER: I don’t believe you, you bastard!

ACKLAND: Steve. LOXTON: What? ACKLAND: They said to pull off. LOXTON: No way.

BURNSIDE: She was late. There was a point to be made. MEADOWS: Well no doubt she’s learnt her lesson.

CATO: There’s no medals for stupidity you know. ACKLAND: We weren’t thinking about medals, sir. CATO: And what were you thinking of? ACKLAND: If you’d known Viv, that’s not a question you’d be asking.

A heartbreaker of an episode, but also such a clever exploration of the different reactions to grief and shock—especially in men, who have been taught not to show their emotions. Jim, not as afraid of emotion as the others, but expressing it through violence and drinking. Steve, trying to maintain the mask of being unaffected, but putting everything on the line to catch the killers. John, lashing out when he’s usually so controlled. Andrew, quietly getting things done while looking haunted. And Frank—absolutely overwhelmed with guilt and trying so hard to appear hard and heartless when everyone knows he would do anything for the people below him and it has to be hurting him most of all.

[gameofthunder66]

'Trapped in Paradise' (1994) film

-watched 12/20/2023- 2 [1/4] stars- on Tubi (free)

[ulrichgebert]

Bonnie and Clyde hat natürlich auch mit der amerikanischen Seele zu tun, jeder kann berühmt werden, wenn das Talent nicht reicht eben als psychopatischer Serienmörder, (hurrah!), auf die potentiellen Abgründe müssen wir uns diesmal aber selber besinnen, es kommt in Gestalt einer wohlproduzierten, routinierten Familienunterhaltung daher, die Liebenden sind recht niedlich, und haben ein kurzes, aber intensives Leben, ach!, zu routinierten Melodien des seit Jekyll & Hyde unablässig routinierte Musicals auswerfenden Frank Wildhorn, und irgendwie ist es angesichts der Menge von auf dem Weg angehäuften Leichen merkwürdig egal. Dafür ist dann aber erstaunlich viel Gekreische.

[davedyecom]

PODCAST: HORRY

You can’t advertise if you can’t attention. You can’t get attention if you don’t stand out. You can’t stand out without being different. You can’t do different if you think the same. If you think different you’re likely to be different. Being different is a problem to agencies. A BBH Planner once complained ‘the problem with this place is they can’t accommodate black sheep’. Equally, I doubt TBWA…

[beardedmrbean]

The South Jersey business owner who defied Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID lockdown orders by keeping his gym open, racking up dozens of court summonses, has been cleared of all charges, his attorney said Tuesday.

Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, opened his facility during the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020 in defiance of a state-ordered closing of nonessential businesses. Police arrested some gym members as they left after workouts at the facility.

Smith and co-owner Frank Trumbetti were fined more than $165,000 and faced more than 80 summonses charging them with violating a governor’s orders, operating without a mercantile license, creating a public nuisance and disturbing the peace.

At one point, the state Attorney General’s office recommended fines of up to $10,000 a day and imprisonment for the owners of Atilis if they did not shutter their business. Many of the charges also carried up to six months in jail, said Smith’s attorney, John McCann of Oakland in Bergen County.

“When you look at this, it didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. It kind of looked like they were throwing everything they could at these guys,” McCann said.

McCann said the summonses were written up by the Bellmawr Police Department, but the cases were later transferred to Winslow Township Municipal Court due to a conflict.

“Those charges hung over these guys’ heads for over four years,” McCann said.

On April 24, a judge in Winslow Township dismissed the charges but gave the prosecutors until this week to appeal.

“We didn’t get a lot of cooperation from Bellmawr with regard to discovery. The only thing we got with regard to discovery was the summonses,” McCann said Tuesday.

“You need the reports, you need a whole bunch of stuff. The judge in Winslow said Bellmawr didn’t provide their court with meaningful discovery to give to us,” McCann said. “She basically said that Bellmawr ignored the requests.”

When there was no appeal from officials in Bellmawr or the state, all charges were dropped with prejudice, meaning they cannot be filed again, according to McCann.

Bellmawr’s court clerk on Tuesday declined to comment on the case, and the court clerk in Winslow Township was not immediately available to comment.

A spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a call and an email seeking comment Tuesday morning.

In an interview during the pandemic, Smith accused the state of being “very selective” about which businesses could stay open and those that could not.

“Telling people that liquor stores are essential but places they can come to work on their physical and mental health is not — it’s just not adding up. So, we decided to take matters into our own hands,” Smith said at the time.

In May 2020, the business filed a federal lawsuit against the state, accusing Murphy, along with then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and other New Jersey officials of violating the owners’ constitutional rights by forcing them out of business indefinitely with no timeline for when they can reopen.

McCann on Tuesday said Atilis’ owners did not make money off gym memberships during the pandemic. The facility, for that period of time, became the campaign headquarters for Republican U.S Senate candidate Rik Mehta, who challenged Democrat Cory Booker for his U.S. Senate seat.

People entering Atilis were exercising their right to volunteer for Mehta’s candidacy. If they worked out while they were there, they were not charged a membership fee, McCann said.

“There was no income coming in but for the GoFundMe money they were raising to fight the state,” McCann said. The GoFundMe raised more than $530,000 for the gym owners’ cause.

On Sunday, Smith took to social media to claim victory in the gym’s fight against the state.

“The support we received locally, nationally, and internationally for our stand is something I will be forever grateful for,” Smith said.

[cillianmurphysdimples]

GRACE

"Oh Grace, just hold me in your arms And let this moment linger." - Grace. (Paddy Reilly/Jim McCann/Frank & Sean O'Meara)

Tommy lay with his head on the pillow, staring at the ceiling above him. His lower body was hidden beneath the sheet, but his bare chest was exposed to the cold air of the room. He'd barely moved an inch the entire night. His left hand lay over his belly button while his right hand was beside his face on the pillow but had been utilised for a full packet of cigarettes in the dark hours that had come before. Now that light was shining into the room through the undressed window, he felt more alone than ever. He hadn't been back in the bed since her death until this moment, and he felt as empty as it was, even with Charles sleeping in the cot not five feet away. He could still smell her there - the scent of her skin on the sheets and her perfume in the air. He didn't know if it was supposed to feel this way, if he was supposed to have the longing in his gut and the ache in his heart in the way that he did. The losses he'd experienced before had not felt so cruel, nor cut so deep, despite the feelings he had for them. Grace's absence spelled so much more than they had, he considered. Without her, he was a husband without a wife; without her, Charlie was a boy without his mum; without her, he was a man who had sought out the one person who'd turned his world around only to now be without his prize at the end of the search.

He moved his right hand, resting the back of it against his forehead, and let his thumb rub gentle lines up and down between his furrowed brow. He missed her hands around his face, he missed when she would press her entire weight into his chest when they embraced, he missed her fingers beneath his chin to lift his head and steal the kisses she deserved. Why did it feel like he had so much of her still here, and yet she was nowhere to be found? Why did it still feel as though he might find her in another room if he dared to look? Why was he so broken in understanding that she was gone, but so hopeful he would open his eyes and find the nightmare was over and she was curled tightly into his side as she slept? The contradition in thoughts was angering to him and he hated himself for feeling so off kilter. He had to continue in a world without the one person he'd loved with the whole of his heart, with the child they had created, with the life they had build, and he didn't know how that was expected of him. He wondered why he hadn't paid more attention to John when Martha had passed - perhaps his observations of his little brother in those months would have given him tools to build himself a new way of life here.

He moved his hand on his stomach and closed his eyes at the sting in his heart that it was not the more delicated fingers of Grace's hand that lay on his flesh. Life was continuing whilst his was falling apart around his ears, and he had to continue with it, but he was a shell of himself without the flame that ignited him. The goosebumps on his skin puckered further as his mind tried to place Grace in the place of his own touch, and behind the close lids of his eyes hot tears began to build. His face tightened into a grimace as he allowed the pain to escape, something he couldn't do before now. The tears ran down his temples on either side, running a warm trail into the curves of his ears. He turned onto his side, curling into a small ball, and reached out for Grace's pillow. He pulled it tightly against his chest as the tears and pain turned to sobs. Guilt, grief, and never ending torturous anger racked through his body painfully. He pushed his nose into her pillow and breathed as deeply as the anguish would allow, screwing his eyes shut tighter as Grace's scent washed over him. It offered no comfort, but it lingered in his nose.

He calmed himself with remarkable control when he heard Charles stirring in the cot. He squeezed the pillow tightly for a final time before he knew his moment was gone, and it was time to present 'Thomas Shelby' to the world again. He laid the pillow back into it's rightful place, resting his hand on it for just a moment, before he forced himself from the bed. He sat on the edge, breathing deeply and wiping his face with the palms of his hands, the hands that now had Grace's smell against the skin. His boy needed him, and his own pain needed to be boxed and locked until such a time when he deemed it appropriate to feel it again - if he ever did.

[docgold13]

Profiles in Villainy

Megatron

Ruthless, cruel and cunning, Megatron is a Transformer from the planet Cybertron. This is a mechanical world populated by sentient androids with transformative abilities.  Megaton had once been a gladiator and stalwart defender of his home planet, as well as a close ally to the heroic Optimus Prime.  The friendship between these two powerful Transformers fractured due to Megatron’s attitudes of survival of the fittest and conviction that the powerful should lord over the weak.  

Megatron formed The Decepticons, an army of loyal followers who sought to seat him as the undisputed ruler and tyrant of Cybertron.  Megatron and his army staged a successful coup d'état that took over the planet; whereas Optimus Prime formed the Autobots, a rebel faction aiming to bring down Megatron’s tyranny and restore democracy to Cybertron.  

The war between the Autobots and Decepticons raged across galaxies, ultimately coming to earth.  On earth, Megatron used his transformative powers to change back and forth into the form of a pistol that fires incredibly destructive beans of energy.  

Following a near-fatal battle with Optimus Prime, Megatron was rescued by Unicron and rebuilt into a new being known as Galvatron.  This Galvatron was forced to serve Unicorn in his ambitions to obtain the Matrix of Leadership and consume the planet Cybertron.  Yet Galvatron was able to resist his new master and ended up aiding Hot Rod in using the Matrix to destroy Unicron.  Galvatron has since regained his previous form as Megatron and continues his ongoing battle against Optimus Prime and the Autobots.  

Actor Frank Welker  voiced the villain in the original Transformers animated series.  Additional iterations of the character have been voiced by actors Leonard Nimoy, Seizō Katō, Garry Chalk, and Rory McCann.  

Megatron first appeared int he debut episode of The Transformers, airing on September 17th, 1984.

[broadwaydivastournament]

Bebe Neuwirth in Caricature

I didn't plan it like this, but Bebe's caricature showcase just so happens to coincide on my schedule with Cabaret's opening night. So while she's glamming it up on the red carpet and readying for her soon-to-be-Tony-nominated performance, allow me to present beloved Diva Bebe Neuwirth in Caricature.

"Bebe Neuwirth," Sweet Charity, Published June 20, 1986 - Al Hirschfeld

"Cheers," Published December 11, 1990 - Al Hirschfeld

CHEERS: TED DANSON, KIRSTIE ALLEY, NICK COLASANTO, RHEA PERLMAN, GEORGE WENDT, JOHN RATZENBERGER, WOODY HARRELSON, BEBE NEUWIRTH, KELSEY GRAMMER, SHELLY LONG, AND ROGER REES, 1990

"Damn Yankees", Published February 27, 1994 - Al Hirschfeld

Pictured: Bebe Neuwirth with Victor Garber, Jerrod Emick, and George Abbott.

"Chicago," Published November 24, 1996 - Al Hirschfeld

Pictured: Joel Grey, Ann Reinking, Bebe Neuwirth, James Naughton

"Toasts Of The Town," Published June 1, 1997 - Al Hirschfeld

Pictured: Frank Langella, Julie Harris, Christopher Plummer, Brian Bradford, Michael Hayden, Bebe Neuwirth, Rebecca Luker, Fiona Shaw, Lillias White, David Morse, Angie Phillips, Donal McCann, Michael Gambon, David Rasche, Lia Williams, Janet McTeer, Anthony Sher, etc.

By 1986, Bebe had a Tony Award and a solo Hirschfeld drawing to her name, and by 1997, she had another Tony and three more Hirschfelds from both stage and screen work. Hirschfeld had a sprawling collection of art not limited just to Broadway. And of course, the feature Hirschfeld most prominently exaggerated (though not by much) were her award-winning gams.

Bebe Neuwirth for Sardis, 1997 | Unrelated: Bebe Neuwirth and Donna Murphy for the 2010 Drama League Nominations

Bebe's Sardis portrait is, of course, her in character as Velma Kelly in Chicago. The style of her caricature seemed to bridge the change between the old-school exaggeration and comic features that made the drawings so distinctive, and the blander, homogenous styles of today. Bebe's portrait came a few years before the true shift began, and frankly, she's better off for it.

"Bebe Neuwirth," The Lights of Broadway, Autumn 2017 - Squigs

I've neglected to mention it so far, but each Squigs trading card comes equipped with a little "fun fact" section on the back. Most cards include a few biographical points, show credits, and a special "did you know?" With Bebe's return to Broadway this season, we can only hope we'll get another Squigs illustration to add to the list.

[wearenotasfarwest]

Fun fact for all my Death Note musical fan gals and guys and non-binary pals

Ashley Loren had no connection to the Death Note musical until Comic Con, which she inexplicably was chosen to moderate and to sing one of Rem's songs for the Death Note panel.

However, up until earlier this year she was in Moulin Rouge! on Broadway, an adaption of the movie, and she was playing the lead lady, Satine. The owner of the Moulin Rouge!, Harold Zidler, was, at that time, played by Eric Anderson - who's Ryuk in the original English demo.

(Ashley and Eric together in Moulin Rouge!)

This also isn't the only time we've had actors from different productions together in a different show.

In early 2022, Jeremy Jordan traveled to London to perform in a concert version of Bonnie and Clyde as Clyde, a role he originated on Broadway, and a show also written by Frank Wildhorn. His Bonnie was Frances Mayli McCann. At this point, his role as Light on the demo was years behind him, and Francis originating the role of Misa on the West End was more than a year in the future, but they still went down together.

[nerds-yearbook]

G.I. Joe the Movie was released on August 14, 1987. It was meant to be a theatrical release, see the death of Duke (Michael Bell), and have a topless scene with Zarana (Lisa Raggio). The production went longer than predicted so the Transformers movie was released first, which ended up having a huge impact on the Joe movie. Because Transformers the Movie underperformed in the theaters, it was decided to release the Joe movie as a direct to video and TV presentation. Because the Transformers movie recieved so much backlash from killing Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), dialogue was added explaining Duke didn't die but went into a coma. The topless scene was story boarded but the scene was altered in the final film with a swim top. Most of the new characters introduced were the new recruits (Lt Falcon - Don Johnson, Kunoichi Jinx - Shuko Akune, Chuckles, Law - Ron Ortiz and Order, Big Lob - Brad Sanders, and Tunnel Rat - Laurie Faso), Sgt Slaughter's (Robert Remus), Renegades (Mercer - Kristoffer Tabori, Red Dog - Poncie Ponce, and Taurus - Earn Boen) and the mutants from Cobra-La (Pythona - Jennifer Darling, Golobulus - Burgess Meredith, and Nemesis Enforcer - Cullen). As Cobra Commander (Christopher Collins/Chris Latta) was facing a mutiny by Dr Mindbender(Brian Cummings), Baroness (Morgan Lofting), Destro (Arthur Burghardt), Zartan (Zack Hoffman), Tomax (Corey Burton) and Xamot (Bell), Pythona arrived and convinced Cobra to steal the BET device. The mission failed, Serpentor was captured, and Cobra Commander retreated his forces to Cobra-La. There Golobulus revealed that Cobra Commander was an escapee from Cobra-La. Also that Cobra-La had secretly manipulated Dr Mindbender into creating Serpentor (Dick Gautier). While Lt Falcon was court martialed by the Joes, Cobra Commander was put on trial in Cobra-La. The movie also featured the familiar Joes and Cobras Low Light (Charlie Adler), Wet Suit (Jack Angel), Blow Torch, Lift-Ticket (both Bell), Motorviper (Gregg Berger), Iceberg (Burghardt), Beach Head (William Callaway), Quick Kick (Francois Chau), Zandar (Cullen), Dial-Tone (Hank Garrett), Hawk (Ed Gilbert), Slip Stream (Dan Gilvezan), Roadblock (Kene Holiday), Bazooka (John Hostetter), Doc (Buster Jones), Gung Ho, Ripper, Televiper (all Latta), Lady J ( Mary McDonald-Lewis), Letherneck (Chuck McCann), Cross-Country (Michael McConnohie), Snow Job (Rob Paulsen), Mainframe (Patrick Pinney), Flint (Bill Ratney), Buzzer, Shipwreck, Monkeywrench, Hector Remirez (all Neil Ross), Thrasher (Ted Schwartz), Scarlett (B.J. Ward), Alpine (Lee Weaver), Torch, Wild Bill (both Frank Welker), Lifeline (Stan Wojno), and Jackson Beck as the narrator. ("G.I. Joe the Movie", Movie, Event)

[crowof08]

Bonnie and Clyde Concert Film, Starring Jeremy Jordan and Frances Mayli McCann, to Stream in June https://www.theatermania.com/news/ibonnie-and-clyde-i-concert-film-starring-jeremy-jordan-and-frances-mayli-mccann-to-stream-in-june_1739872/