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The Goss

Hollywood shut down in wake of terrorist attacks

The 2nd annual Latin Grammy Awards show had ironically been moved to Los Angeles from Miami for security reasons last month amid fears that anti-Castro demonstrations protesting the presence of Cuban artistes might get out of hand. 

Organizers of the star-studded music gala said on Tuesday that the $4 million production, which was to have been broadcast in the United States and 120 other countries, was cancelled. 

Organizers of Sunday's 53rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards said the ceremony was postponed indefinitely "out of respect for the victims, their families, and our fellow citizens," said Jim Chabin, president of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Hollywood's big studios, from AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. to Sony Corp's Sony Pictures to Vivendi Universal's Universal Studios, closed their doors Tuesday and instructed staff to go home as the country remained in a state of shock. 

The major U.S. television networks cancelled regular programming to allow for blanket coverage of the events. NBC said production has been halted for the week for its late night programes hosted by Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, location shoots for ABC's Thieves, CBS' Judging Amy, and Fox's The X-Files, were all shut down Tuesday.

Walt Disney Co., whose parks and cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse are symbols of America at home and abroad are considered terrorist targets, said that Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in Southern California closed Tuesday, but reopened Wednesday. 

Moment of silence

Performers pitch in 

According to the newspaper, Leary is donating the $100,000 he won last weekend at a celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire to the fund. 

Other celebrities making financial contributions to charity and relief efforts are designer Kenneth Cole, who said he'll announce a plan next week for a nationwide campaign. 

Joining Madonna in donating their concert proceeds are the Backstreet Boys and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Each group pledged a minimum of $10,000 each in ticket sales to help victims and families affected by the national tragedy. The effort is managed by the newly established Clearchannel.com Relief Fund, which will benefit the American Red Cross.

Earth, Wind & Fire donated $25,000 to the American Red Cross from a show in Virginia, Launch.com reports, and Jennifer Lopez has pledged an identical donation.

Actors pitching in where needed, according to Variety's Army Archerd, include The West Wing's Rob Lowe, who gave blood to the Red Cross.

Terrorist-themed TV shows, movies bumped

Upcoming movies Collateral Damage and Big Trouble, both of which feature deadly explosions as plot points, have been postponed, Variety reports.

Damage, which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger seeking vengeance after his family is killed in a bomb blast at a downtown skyscraper, was set to open Oct. 5. but Warner Bros. released a statement announcing their plans to shelve the film indefinitely. 

Also problematic is Big Trouble, a comic ensemble film led by Tim Allen, featuring a scene in which a suitcase carrying a bomb ends up on a plane, though Touchstone Pictures spokeswoman Vivian Boyer tells the Hollywood Reporter that the characters manage to avert disaster.

The film's press junket, which was set for this weekend, has been cancelled, and the film's release date, which was to be Sept. 21, has been indefinitely postponed.

Sony pulled a trailer for their upcoming film Spider-Man, due to a scene featuring the now-destroyed World Trade Center. 

Columbia Pictures' film Men in Black 2, which had scheduled scenes to be shot in New York, has temporarily shut down production.

Variety also reports that "Terror", a five-hour Law & Order miniseries NBC was planning to air next May might never be made now. The networks also pulled promos for new fall terrorist-themed series like 24 and The Agency. ABC pulled a Saturday showing of the 1997 George Clooney thriller The Peacemaker, about an extremist group who captures a nuclear weapon, and Fox nixed plans to show Independence Day — in which the White House and the Empire State Building are blown up.

Madonna moves on

The lights on Broadway had been black. The gates on the studio lots in Hollywood remained locked. Virtually the entire world of show business had shut down in the days after Tuesday's attack. 

As the American nation mourned, the three biggest networks — NBC, CBS, and ABC pushed back the rollout of their new primetime schedules to Sept. 24, a week later than originally planned. And TV's highest honours, the Emmy Awards, are now rescheduled for Oct. 7. 

For the entertainment world, Madonna's performance in Los Angeles and the resumption of The Producers on Broadway marked the return of some semblance of normalcy. 

At the Staples Center, Madonna resumed her regular tour schedule, offering a moment of silence for those killed and injured in the terrorist attacks. 

Ticket holders were told to arrive at least one hour early before the sold-out performance to allow themselves enough time to make it through the heightened security procedures. But no one seemed to mind. 

"I was a little apprehensive about coming tonight, just because of everything that's been going on, but I feel a little safer now being here with everybody and seeing security," said one fan. 

At the end of the sold-out performance, the cast led the audience in a rousing rendition of "God Bless America." 

Oliver sings again

By Tania Fernando

Watching a preview of the Thomian production of 'Oliver' which goes on the boards at the Lionel Wendt next week, it looks like the audience will certainly be asking for more.

Oliver, the musical was an award-winner on stage and in celluloid. In the S. Thomas College production, some changes have been made. We find Oliver, all grown up, looking back on his life as a youngster and the people who made an impact on him. The cast for this production includes Thomians from the lower, middle and upper schools with veteran radio and TV personality, the genial Arun Dias Bandaranaike returning to his alma mater to take on the role of 'big' Oliver.

So how did Arun feel going back to school? "Completely at sea with so many in the cast," he says with a twinkle. "I feel really good to be back as an old Thomian, even thought this is not a integral part of the play." He commended director Vinodh Senadheera for getting so many people who are on a different beat back together for this production.

The school has been producing comedies for the last eight years, and decided that it was time to do something different. "That's why we picked Guy Williams' version of 'Oliver'," explains Vinodh.

For Vinodh, it is the first time that he is working with such a large cast, 85 to be precise. "Everyone was quite enthusiastic about the whole project. There is much more coordination needed in a musical than in a normal play, but it is quite a challenge, especially getting Thomians to dance and sing," he says.

12-year-old Ranshan Gomez and 13-year-old Yehan Ranasinghe who will be playing young Oliver on alternate days said that they were excited about the whole project. Ranshan who has acted in plays before was thrilled at taking on such a big role while for Yehan it was the first time he was acting in a play.

However, the most challenging role would be for a guy to be playing a female character and that is exactly what Troy Manatunge is up against. He will be playing Nancy and Mrs. Carney; Nancy is an 18-year-old while Mrs. Carney is an old lady.

Troy, though has been playing females roles for the last one and a half years. "This is quite tough since the costume changes have to be done really fast and to play two different roles is quite a challenge."

Arrvinda Salwature who is Fagin said that he always wanted to play this role, but never realized how tough it was. "It's fun though," he smiles. That thought was echoed by the rest of the young cast. Hard work, yes, but they were definitely having fun. 

"Oliver" is being staged to celebrate 150 years of St. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia. The choreography for the production is handled by Romina Gyi and the Music Director is Lilani Perera with costumes by Metabi Gunawardena. 'Oliver' will be on at the Lionel Wendt theatre on September 28, 29 and 30 and on October 1.

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