Latest news with #PantagesTheatre
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Bombshell from beyond the grave: Real story behind Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame's relationship with her stepson is revealed in a new memoir so explosive it could only be published after everyone involved died, writes BRIAN VINER
The 25th Academy Awards took place on a rainy March evening in 1953, at the Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. The first nominee to arrive was Gloria Grahame, heavily tipped to be anointed Best Supporting Actress for her compelling performance as a shallow Southern belle in the hit movie The Bad and the Beautiful, also starring Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner. A couple of hours later, actor Edmund Glenn opened the envelope containing the winner's name. 'Gloria Grahame for The Bad and the Beautiful,' he declared. 'She's the beautiful,' he added, for dramatic effect. Certainly, as she made her way to the stage, not yet 30 and now an Oscar winner, she looked every inch the radiant movie star, basking in the adoration of her peers. Yet there were some in the Hollywood establishment who knew that Grahame was bad as well as beautiful. Less than two years earlier, her husband Nicholas Ray, an acclaimed director of film noirs (who would later make Rebel Without a Cause with James Dean), was said to have discovered her in bed, in their Malibu beach house, with his 13-year-old son, Tony. Tony was a well-built, good-looking lad who looked older than his years. But he was still only 13. And she had first seduced him when he was 12. Grahame had a blast of posthumous publicity eight years ago when Annette Bening played her in the movie Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. That was based on a memoir by a Liverpudlian actor called Peter Turner (played on screen by Jamie Bell), whose love affair with Grahame began when he was 26 and she was 55. But there was no sense in that film that her predilection for much younger men had started when she herself was 26; that she was, indeed, a paedophile. Last week, another memoir was published which tells, in intimate detail, the story of what really happened between Gloria Grahame and her adolescent stepson Tony Ray. It is an extraordinary and explosive tale, which has never been properly told before for the simple reason that the man telling it, Tony himself, would not allow publication until long after he and everyone else involved was dead. He wrote the book in 1958 when he was 21, two years before he became Grahame's fourth husband (making him stepfather to his own half-brother, Tim, her son by her second husband, Nick Ray). Nick died in 1979, Gloria in 1981 and Tony, aged 80, in 2018. Surviving members of the family have now given the go-ahead to his book Circle of Lions: Nicholas Ray, Gloria Grahame and Me. It starts with a foreword by Tony's daughter Kelsey, who also unearthed the long-forgotten manuscript. In it she acknowledges the 'deep-seated trauma' that 'trickled into every aspect of his later life'. Tony followed his father into the movie industry, becoming head of East Coast production at 20th Century Fox. He was in the running for an Oscar himself as producer of the 1978 Best Picture nominee An Unmarried Woman. But it was a much-married woman who loomed a good deal larger over his life, who was in many ways responsible for his multiple addictions, to drugs, alcohol and gambling, and for his mood swings between, as Kelsey recalls, 'euphoric and grandiose mania' and 'deeply destructive catatonic, depressive episodes'. Yet she also acknowledges that her father loved Gloria until the day he died, ridden with Alzheimer's. She describes 'one of the most profoundly powerful moments I have ever witnessed' beside his hospice bed. 'My mom (Tony's second wife, Eve) chose to put on a DVD of the movie Oklahoma! (in which Grahame unforgettably sang 'I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No') as a way to comfort him. 'She wanted to make sure he wasn't afraid and that he knew he would soon be reunited with so many loved ones. The moment my dad heard Gloria's voice, he briefly but abruptly lifted his head, and with a soft smile gently laid back down.' Nearly 70 years had passed since Gloria and Tony had first met, at Los Angeles International Airport. It was June 1950, almost six months shy of Tony's 13th birthday. Tony had got into some minor scrapes at school on the East Coast and his mother, a journalist called Jean Evans, Nick's first wife, thought he might do better living in Los Angeles with his father, who had left the family when Tony was a toddler. By then Nick had been married to Gloria for three years. Perhaps surprisingly, he agreed to let the son he barely knew join the household. Tony arrived from New York fully expecting to be met by his dad. The pair had only seen each other a handful of times down the years, but Nick was too busy to greet his son off the plane. Instead, he sent his pretty, stylish and famous young wife, who wore a V-neck cashmere sweater 'cut very low', and enveloped the boy with a warm hug. While she drove him back to Malibu in her black Cadillac convertible, Gloria asked Tony to light her a Pall Mall cigarette. Reading the book, it is clear that from the start she treated him as if he were much older, and he was duly flattered. That Californian summer the pair became firm friends. While Nick turned down all Tony's entreaties to go fishing, swimming, shooting or riding, even to play cards, with the excuse that he was too busy, Gloria was the opposite of distant. She encouraged her stepson to smoke and drink alcohol with her. She let him brush her hair every morning and even invited him to dry her back after she'd stepped out of the shower. Was she calculatedly grooming him? It certainly reads that way. Thrillingly, when the pair of them were out together, people asked her to sign autographs. Gloria had had a small role in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), had been nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Crossfire (1947), and had been cast opposite Humphrey Bogart in In A Lonely Place (1950). She was already a fully-fledged movie star and there was no doubt a plethora of willing men available with whom she could have had an extramarital affair, had she wanted to. Yet she chose a boy. Tony's life changed on the day Gloria offered to teach him how to kiss properly. From there their physical relationship developed swiftly but discreetly, although they still lived dangerously. When Nick took Gloria and Tony to stay at the celebrated Cal-Neva Lodge and Casino in Lake Tahoe, on the California-Nevada border, they made the most of his compulsive gambling habit by going further than they had before. While Nick was losing his money on the casino floor, Gloria was pleasuring his adolescent son upstairs. The marriage was volatile, to say the least. Gloria accused Nick of having an affair with Marilyn Monroe, while he raged at her for condemning his gambling. He would frequently move out of the Malibu house and then back in again. While Nick was losing his money on the casino floor, Gloria was pleasuring his adolescent son upstairs (Gloria and Nick seen) But nor was all sweetness and light between Gloria and Tony. In the book he describes a row during which she pulled a gun on him, and then called the police claiming that her stepson had just tried to rape her. When the cops arrived she apologised, telling them she'd merely over-reacted during an argument. But by any measure it was a deeply dysfunctional household. And Tony was still only 13. The later rumours in Hollywood - that Nick Ray had found his teenage son in bed with his movie-star wife – were unfounded. But when Nick heard about the unseemly episode with the police he put two and two together, asking Tony directly how long he and Gloria had been having sex. Tony knew there was no point protesting their innocence. But did his father even want them to be innocent? The book implies that he was already keen to split from Gloria by the time Tony arrived to live with them, and might have manipulated them into having an affair, to facilitate a cheaper divorce. Whatever, Nick and Gloria were divorced in 1952 and two years later she married another director, Cy Howard. But that marriage didn't last either. In 1960, Tony met his father for a drink at Idlewild (later John F Kennedy) Airport in New York. They had barely seen each other since the tumult in Malibu but now Nick was returning to Hollywood from Spain and had an hour or so to spare. He asked Tony if he had seen his classic 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, arguably the screen's ultimate story of teenage angst. Tony had. For some reason known only to himself, Nick then suggested to his son that he should look up Gloria, and handed over her phone number. In a postscript to his 1958 memoir, added in 2002, Tony wrote: 'I had had no contact with Gloria since I was 13, but had pined for her throughout my teens. I had kept track of her through her movies … When I got to California, I called her. She wanted to see me immediately. I wanted to see her immediately. 'We agreed to meet at the corner of Laurel Canyon and Ventura Boulevard. She would be driving — as she had so many years before — a black Cadillac convertible. 'When she pulled up, I jumped in and we hugged each other for a long time. I saw that in the back seat there was a suitcase and a box of groceries. We drove to the modest guest house I was renting and unpacked Gloria's things. 'She had not come for an hour-long visit. She had come to stay. Gloria and I were married on May 13, 1960.' He was 22 and she was 36. It was the same substantial age gap as before but this time without the smear of paedophilia, not that Gloria's sexual attraction to a child, and her stepson to boot, had in any way hampered her career. She had since won the Academy Award and been given a wonderful role in Oklahoma! Oddly, the 1950s are often held up as an age of moral rectitude, yet nobody seemed at all worried about a female movie star having sex with a minor. Predictably, the marriage between Tony and Gloria came unstuck, although not before she bore him two sons. In 1965, the year their second boy was born, she attempted suicide. She became dependent on alcohol and had a nervous breakdown, while Tony developed his own destructive addictions. When they split up in 1974 the judge granted him custody of the children on the basis that he was 'the lesser of two evils'. It is a desperately sad and seedy story about an illicit Hollywood love triangle that damaged everyone, yet the tone of Tony Ray's book is wistful and affectionate. Its title, Circle of Lions, apparently refers to the way that trauma can be passed from generation to generation, like one vicious lion begetting another. But an alternative title might have been: The Girl Who Just Couldn't Say No.
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Neil Diamond, 84, bravely returns to the stage amid devastating Parkinson's battle
Neil Diamond delivered a deeply moving surprise performance at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles over the weekend. Seven years after retiring from touring following his Parkinson's disease diagnosis, the beloved 84-year-old music legend stunned the audience with an impromptu rendition of his 1969 classic, Sweet Caroline, from his seat in the crowd. The incredible moment happened as the Grammy Award-winning legend attended the musical, A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, which tells the story of his life and career through his music. In a touching Instagram video from the show, the musical's lead, Nick Fradiani, introduced Diamond—who didn't miss a beat as he began to sing, his voice ringing out strong and familiar, as the entire room joined in. Despite his health battle, his spirit and voice soared, filling the theatre with joy and nostalgia. By his side stood his wife, Katie McNeil, visibly moved as she watched him sing. As the audience erupted in cheers, he turned to her and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek. After leading the crowd in son, Diamond expressed his gratitude to those around him. The comments section was flooded with sweet messages as fans called his performance electric. 'I was lucky enough to be in the room. Great show, wonderful surprise, still have goosebumps. Thank you!!' one shared. Another gushed: 'Story teller, song writer, musician, poet, all put together in a name to live on in music forever, glad to be part of the generation living with Neil Diamond.' 'Omg that was incredible, I'm so glad I got to see this,' a third raved. On Sunday, Fradiani, who stars as Diamond in the Broadway musical, shared his heartwarming reaction to the Forever In Blue Jeans hitmaker attending the show. 'I built up this day in my head for over 2 years. The day where Neil Diamond himself would see this show,' he wrote on Instagram. 'It sounds cliché, but I don't have the exact words to describe how it felt portraying a music icon as he sat and watched from an audience. But mostly I felt honored and fulfilled.' Fradiani concluded: 'He's a great man, a great musician, and he's changed so many of our lives. I was able to tell him how much he's changed mine. Thank you for letting me share your songs and story across the country every night my friend.' The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's numerous hits include Sweet Caroline, America, Love on the Rocks and Hello Again. Diamond has sold well over 125 million records over his 50 year career and is in both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The hitmaker was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1941 and previously described his upbringing, with a father in the Army, as 'poor.' He got his first guitar at age 16 for his birthday. However, he did not pursue music immediately. It was only after attending New York University as a pre-med student, on a fencing scholarship, that he discovered his true calling. Finding himself bored in class he began cutting school to write music and less than a semester shy of graduating he dropped out of college for a songwriting gig at Sunbeam Music Publishing for $50 a week. In 2023, Diamond reflected on his Parkinson's disease diagnosis and learning to live with the condition. 'I'm still doing it. And I don't like it,' he explained on CBS Sunday Morning. 'OK, so this is the hand that God's given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am.' The I Am I Said crooner first revealed his condition in 2018, though he was diagnosed more than a decade ago and said of that time that he was 'in denial' and 'not ready to accept it.' 'I was in denial for the first year or two. When the doctor told me what it was, I was just not ready to accept it,' he admitted. 'I said, "Oh, OK. I'll see you, you know, whenever you wanna see me. But I have work to do, so I'll see you later."' The singer explained that it took years for him to truly accept his diagnosis. 'I can't really fight this thing, so I had to accept it, this Parkinson's disease,' he said. 'There's no cure. There's no getting away from it.' Overall, he said he's 'come to accept what limitations' he has and still has 'great days.' Since his acceptance, he said, 'a calm has moved into the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio.' 'I find that I like myself better,' he continued. 'I'm easier on people, I'm easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I'm gone.' The Song Sung Blue singer is celebrating the fact that he can still sing and he hasn't totally given up on the idea of touring again someday - even if its in a limited way. 'I just have to take life as it comes to me, enjoy it, be thankful that I've had it, especially having the life that I've had,' he said. Since his acceptance, he said, 'a calm has moved into the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio.' 'I find that I like myself better,' he continued. 'I'm easier on people, I'm easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I'm gone.' Parkinson's disease is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world and there is currently no cure. It causes muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, tremors, sleep disturbance, chronic fatigue, an impaired quality of life and can lead to severe disability. It is a progressive neurological condition that destroys cells in the part of the brain that controls movement. Sufferers are known to have diminished supplies of dopamine because nerve cells that make it have died. Around 18,000 Brits and 90,000 Americans are diagnosed every year, with charities estimating that one in 37 people alive today will be diagnosed in their lifetime. Celebrities who have battled the condition include Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali, Billy Connolly, Alan Alda, George H.W. Bush and Ozzy Osbourne.
New York Post
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Neil Diamond surprises fans with rare performance 7 years after announcing retirement
Good times never seemed so good. Neil Diamond made a surprise appearance at Saturday's performance of 'A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical' at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, seven years after he announced his Parkinson's diagnosis and retirement from touring. In an Instagram video, the musical's lead, 'American Idol' winner Nick Fradiani, introduced Diamond, 84, who delivered an impromptu performance of his hit 'Sweet Caroline' from the audience. 11 Neil Diamond visits 'A Beautiful Noise' at the Hollywood Pantages on July 12. Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for Pantages 11 Neil Diamond in the audience at 'A Beautiful Noise.' Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for Pantages The music icon, dressed in a baseball cap and long-sleeved shirt, was surrounded by fans who joined him and the band in singing the classic 1969 song. At the end of the performance, Diamond thanked the crowd who erupted into cheers and roars for him. 11 Neil Diamond sings 'Sweet Caroline.' Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for Pantages 11 Neil Diamond gives an impromptu performance at the musical based on his life. Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for Pantages 'A moment we'll never forget. #abeautifulnoise,' the musical's Instagram page captioned the video of Diamond. In the comments section, fans praised the Grammy Award winner for his electric performance. 'A moment in Neil's life, such warmth in ours, thank you Neil,' one fan wrote. 11 Neil Diamond at the July 12 performance of 'A Beautiful Noise.' Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for Pantages 11 Neil Diamond with the touring cast of 'A Beautiful Noise.' Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for Pantages 'What a treat for this wonderful cast and show! Neil looks great! God bless him,' another fan said. A third person wrote, 'Magic. Neil is a true Hero.' 'I was lucky enough to be in the room. Great show, wonderful surprise, still have goosebumps. Thank you!!' someone else said. 11 Neil Diamond with his wife Katie at 'A Beautiful Noise.' Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for Pantages 11 Neil Diamond visits the musical based on his life. Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock for Pantages Fradiani, 39, also posted footage from Diamond's visit to the show with pictures of them posing backstage. 'I built up this day in my head for over 2 years. The day where Neil Diamond himself would see this show,' the singer wrote. 'It sounds cliché, but I don't have the exact words to describe how it felt portraying a music icon as he sat and watched from an audience.' 'But mostly I felt honored and fulfilled,' Fradiani continued. 'He's a great man, a great musician, and he's changed so many of our lives. I was able to tell him how much he's changed mine.' 'A Beautiful Noise,' which is currently on tour at the Pantages Theatre through July 27, opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater in Dec. 2022 and had its curtain call in June 2024. The musical is based on Diamond's life and music. Will Swensen originated the lead role, while Fradiani took over for the tour. Diamond has mostly been out of the spotlight since revealing in 2018 that he has Parkinson's. 11 Neil Diamond performs at the Songwriters Hall of Fame 49th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner in NYC in 2018. Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame 11 Neil Diamond in 1974. Getty Images 'This is me; this is what I have to accept. And I'm willing to do it,' he said during an interview on 'CBS Sunday Morning' in March 2023. 'And, OK, so this is the hand that God's given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am,' he added. 'I am.' 11 Neil Diamond posing for a photo at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024. Getty Images for IMDb The 'Song Sung Blue,' who attended the Broadway play's opening night in 2022 and performed a rendition of 'Sweet Caroline,' also admitted that he was 'embarrassed' seeing his life onstage. 'Being found out is the scariest thing you can hope for because we all have a facade,' he shared in the CBS interview. 'And the truth be known to all of 'em. I'm not some big star — I'm just me.'
CTV News
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
‘It's a pivotal moment': Plan to modernize Pantages Playhouse unveiled
A design rendering image of the proposed exterior of the Pantages Theatre. (Number TEN Architectural Group) The group hoping to stage the Pantages Playhouse's next act has unveiled plans to transform the vaudeville-era theatre into a modernized concert hall. The Performing Arts Consortium (PAC) and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) released its initial design plan Tuesday, which would reopen the 1,100-seat venue as the Pantages Theatre with a multi-million-dollar refresh. 'We've been on a long journey on this. It's a pivotal moment,' said Curt Vossen, a director with PAC and chair of the WSO. The plan is a culmination of months of work. A team of architects, theatre design and acoustic experts, digital and AV consultants, mechanical engineers and construction management specialists mapped out a design to update the century-old hall to house a modern-day symphony orchestra, as well as professional and community performing arts groups. Pantages Theatre A computer-generated image shows the design plan for the modernized Pantages Theatre. (Number TEN Architectural Group) The proposed design would add a deeper and wider stage, an orchestra pit, stage rigging, and modernized electrical and mechanical systems - all while preserving beloved historical elements of the century-old theatre. 'Transforming a vaudeville theatre into a first-class concert hall is not an easy challenge, but with the highly experienced team of consultants and a visionary client, I'm confident we will achieve that goal,' said Brent Bellamy with Number TEN Architectural Group, which led the design team. Pantages revamp comes with $55 million price tag Bockstael Construction costed the design, estimating it could come with a $55 million to $60 million price tag. PAC and WSO hope half will be paid for between all three levels of government, with the private sector making up the rest. Vossen said they have raised nearly $15 million so far. 'Once we secure $25 to $30 million in overall pledged support, including from government, we will greenlight the project and launch our major capital campaign.' Pantages Theatre The proposed design plan for the Pantages Theatre's lobby is shown in a digitally created image. (Number TEN Architectural Group) The city has already chipped in. It donated $837,500 in January for the renovation through its Downtown Arts Capital Fund. A spokesperson for Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham told CTV News Winnipeg on Tuesday the city is facing significant budget pressures right now, so any major capital investments must be carefully considered alongside other priorities. 'But this is an exciting project for downtown and the local arts community, so the Mayor is willing to consider options for how the city can support it,' the spokesperson said. Pantages Playhouse The Pantages Playhouse in Winnipeg, Man. on June 10, 2025. (Jon Hendricks/CTV News Winnipeg) A backstage look at Pantages' century-plus history Pantages last dropped its curtain in 2018. The city, which has owned the venue since the 1940s, put out a call for proposals for the century-old theatre, which is designated as a national and provincial historical site. It was eventually sold to private buyers in 2019 for $530,000, but by 2022, the building was acquired by PAC. The non-profit was initially formed in the '90s to steward the theatre for community use on behalf of the city. Once it acquired Pantages, the organization assembled a group of benefactors who agreed to support a proof-of-concept for the redesign. WSO also signed a long-term agreement to be the managing tenant of the theatre. It was a familiar role, as the symphony previously managed community usage of the space during its final years of operation. Angela Birdsell Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra executive director Angela Birdsell speaks at a June 10, 2025 news conference in the Pantages Theatre lobby in Winnipeg, Man. (Jon Hendricks/CTV News Winnipeg) Once the new theatre opens, WSO has pledged to rehearse and perform many of its programs there. WSO executive director Angela Birdsell believes Pantages will offer the symphony street visibility to serve the community any time of day or night, while freeing up the Centennial Concert Hall, its current home, to offer a more diverse array of commercial shows. 'Like our five major cultural institutional partners, the time has come for the WSO to have its own home—a right-sized hall and acoustics for our traditional offerings and the many other creative projects we present,' she said. - With files from CTV's Jon Hendricks and Kayla Rosen
Winnipeg Free Press
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Plans for Pantages Theatre renovations unveiled
The Performing Arts Consortium of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra have released design plans for the renovation of the Pantages Theatre. The WSO plans to rehearse in the new 1,100-seat venue and perform many of its concerts in a long-term agreement as managing tenant, while also making the building available to other groups and organizations. The hall, built in 1914, has been closed since 2018, after a period in which it was managed by the WSO. The venue was purchased by the consortium, a non-profit charitable organization, in August 2022. NUMBER TEN ARCHITECTURAL GROUP A renderings shows what the lobby of the renovated Pantages Theatre would look like. The PAC and WSO brought together a design team led by Number TEN Architectural Group in 2023, working in collaboration with a team with experience in transforming vaudeville-era theatres into modernized venues. 'To achieve the results we need, the hall will have major interventions — a deeper and wider stage, an orchestra pit, stage rigging, improved sightlines, and completely modernized and re-situated electrical, HVAC and mechanical systems,' WSO chairman Curt Vossen said in a news release. 'All while ensuring the important and beloved historical elements of this beautiful theatre are preserved and enhanced.' The estimated cost of the project is $55 million to $60 million. The PAC and WSO have been working with all three levels of government to raise 50 per cent of the costs, with the balance to be raised by the private sector. The consortium plans to launch a capital campaign. Conrad SweatmanReporter Conrad Sweatman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before joining the Free Press full-time in 2024, he worked in the U.K. and Canadian cultural sectors, freelanced for outlets including The Walrus, VICE and Prairie Fire. Read more about Conrad. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
