July 13, 2021 | 6: 04pm | Updated July 13, 2021 | 6: 04pm
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Corey Hawkins (left) and Leslie Grace star in a romantic scene from “In the Heights.”
Macall Polay/Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP
Spielberg’s back with “West Side Story.” Golden musicals are returning — many onto the silver screen. Like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights.” Like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cinderella.” Like again — and again — “Guys and Dolls.”
One of the stage’s all-time splashiest classiest jazziest musicals was “Guys and Dolls.” The tale of lowlife New York gamblers schmoozing with high-type missionaries has had half a dozen revivals. The movie starred Sinatra and Brando. The original B’way show opened 1950 and starred Alan Alda’s father Robert Alda.
It’s back again. New movie. New names. Old songs like “Luck Be a Lady” and “Sue Me.” Oscar winner Bill Condon, who did “Dreamgirls,” will direct. The cast has not yet been cast.
With showbusiness going onward by going backward, let’s look for a juiced-up revival of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” With an all-girl cast. A rock musical. Wearing shorts. And smoking pot.
Slash ’n’ dash
Hugh Jackman: “Amazing how many Wolverine cultists there are. Before I did ‘X-Men’ I’d never heard of the character — but there’s thousands of weird scary Wolvie fans. I’m in Canada in a supermarket and this massive guy with an enormous Wolverine tattoo shoved my head in a grip, said he loved my Canadian accent in ‘X-Men’ and he’d always known Wolverine was Canadian!
“I said I was Australian. When he squeezed harder I said, ‘I meant to say Canadian.’ He finally let me go. Forget hanging around for my groceries, I just ran for the exit.”
Telling his tailor-made tales
Joseph Abboud, Menswear Designer of the Year twice in a row, big in fashion back when we had some: “Kim Cattrall handed the award to me. I wore a cashmere sling so I could hardly lift the thing. I’d broken my arm playing squash.”
Yeah. Like we all do in Manhattan — play squash. Now, about men’s fashions. Lousy T-shirts, pants worn so low you see the crack in their behinds and every crotch grazes the ground.
“The pandemic sent everyone home to sweats and khakis. But it’s New York, fashion capital of the world. $2,000 for sneakers, bikinis with ¹/₄ yard of fabric and sky-high prices. Paying for a logo not a label. Tailoring’s important. A man needs five pieces. Dark gray suit, navy blazer, white shirt, gray pants, leather jacket. White shirt and nice jeans, a man’s dressed if he wears a jacket.
“At an event George Clooney’s in a well-tailored tux, proper bow tie. Not trying for any wardrobe statement. No naked lady painted on his tie. His clothes don’t walk into a room before he does. Guys need to relearn to dress. To meet a new boss. To meet the girlfriend’s parents. To return to an office.
“Forget online. Can’t feel the cashmere. Can’t see the quality. You’re fooled by a photograph. There’s nothing like the experience of touching and feeling.”
Listen up!
SINGERS/dancers/whatevers: To help get back on your feet before a live audience, Metropolitan Zoom’s slashing prices for artists scheduled for September and October in-person events. Each has 10 minutes. I’m just letting you know . . . A QUOTE from Niecy Nash to Essence Magazine which then got repeated in Hollywood Reporter which now gets re-repeated by me. Talking about her third marriage — her first to a woman — she says: “I used to worry about the seat being left up! Not no more.”
From Estelle in Woodside: “The first 12 months of my child’s life I was teaching him to walk and talk. The next 12 years I spent telling him to ‘Sit down and shut up.’ ”
Only in New York, kids, only in New York.
