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Surgery sidelines Clapton
Eric Clapton has pulled out of this week's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert in New York after undergoing gallstone surgery.
Kristen Foster, a publicist for the guitarist, said Tuesday that Clapton was doing well and recuperating with his family in England.
The hall says Jeff Beck will replace the 64-year-old guitarist for Friday night's show at Madison Square Garden.
-- associated press Baseball doesn't topple CBS
A coast-to-coast baseball playoff series involving New York and Los Angeles almost -- but not quite -- enabled Fox to loosen CBS' stranglehold on the prime-time television ratings lead last week.
Four games of the Yankees-Angels series on Fox were ranked among Nielsen's top 25 shows for the week. But of the 12 scripted shows in the top 25, nine of them were on CBS, including top-rated "NCIS."
CBS averaged 10.7 million viewers for the week. Fox was second with 10.3 million.
The list of prime-time ratings will be published in Calendar later this week.
-- associated press Lloyd exits 'Grinch' role
The upcoming production of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre has lost its Grinch.
Actor Christopher Lloyd -- best know for playing Doc in the "Back to the Future" movies -- has withdrawn from the lead role due to a family illness, according to the show's promoters. He'll be replaced by Stefan Karl, who has performed in the musical in Boston and Baltimore.
"Grinch" is set to open Nov. 10 and run through Jan. 3.
-- David Ng Manilow toots LAUSD's horn
As arts programs in schools across the country shrink, Barry Manilow is making certain that music students in the Los Angeles Unified School District will be able to perform with new instruments.
Manilow announced to a cheering audience at his concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday that he was donating $100,000 to the district for new band instruments, said Monica Carazo, spokesperson for LAUSD.
"It will be used for all kinds of instruments, whatever the needs are," Carazo said Tuesday. "From saxophones to flutes, hopefully this money will be able to help us with that."
Steven McCarthy, secondary arts coordinator for the district, said the donation couldn't have come at a better time.
"Things are just deteriorating," McCarthy said. "It's very personal to him. He said on the stage if it wasn't for music and having an instrument in his hand, he wouldn't have finished school."
The donation, part of his Manilow Music Project, came from money raised at a pre-concert gala, said Howard Bragman, Manilow's publicist.
Bragman said this was an ongoing effort for the 66-year-old pop star. Earlier this year, he gave $500,000 to schools in the Palm Springs area and $36,000 to pay for violins for two schools in Washington.
-- Gerrick D. Kennedy Wynn riles ticket brokers
In response to anti-scalping measures that Garth Brooks and the Wynn resort have put in place in connection with Brooks' forthcoming performances in Las Vegas, a consortium of ticket brokers criticized owner Steve Wynn on Tuesday for warning consumers that any tickets determined to have been sold for more than face value will be subject to cancellation and refund at face value.
"Fans should have the right to buy and sell the tickets they want without having to RSVP their guests or risk cancellation based on new, arbitrary rules," the National Assn. of Ticket Brokers said in a statement. "They're changing the rules in the middle of the game, and it's only going to hurt the fans who can't find tickets, or are stuck with ones they can't use."
In announcing Brooks' engagement at the 1,500-seat Encore Theater, marking his return from self-imposed retirement, Wynn said stringent measures would be taken to ensure that the $125-face-value tickets would not be resold at inflated prices.
"Steve Wynn and Garth Brooks intend to protect guests and fans from the predatory practice of scalpers who seek to charge hundreds and hundreds of dollars over face value for concert tickets," Jennifer Dunne, vice president of public relations and advertising for Wynn/Encore, said in response to the NATB's statement.
But the NATB's statement accuses Wynn of trying to block competition. "These actions aren't meant to address any problems with brokers or the reselling of tickets," the NATB said. "They are meant to restrict the open market and eliminate any competition for tickets."
-- Randy Lewis
Eric Clapton has pulled out of this week's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert in New York after undergoing gallstone surgery.
Kristen Foster, a publicist for the guitarist, said Tuesday that Clapton was doing well and recuperating with his family in England.
The hall says Jeff Beck will replace the 64-year-old guitarist for Friday night's show at Madison Square Garden.
-- associated press Baseball doesn't topple CBS
A coast-to-coast baseball playoff series involving New York and Los Angeles almost -- but not quite -- enabled Fox to loosen CBS' stranglehold on the prime-time television ratings lead last week.
Four games of the Yankees-Angels series on Fox were ranked among Nielsen's top 25 shows for the week. But of the 12 scripted shows in the top 25, nine of them were on CBS, including top-rated "NCIS."
CBS averaged 10.7 million viewers for the week. Fox was second with 10.3 million.
The list of prime-time ratings will be published in Calendar later this week.
-- associated press Lloyd exits 'Grinch' role
The upcoming production of "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre has lost its Grinch.
Actor Christopher Lloyd -- best know for playing Doc in the "Back to the Future" movies -- has withdrawn from the lead role due to a family illness, according to the show's promoters. He'll be replaced by Stefan Karl, who has performed in the musical in Boston and Baltimore.
"Grinch" is set to open Nov. 10 and run through Jan. 3.
-- David Ng Manilow toots LAUSD's horn
As arts programs in schools across the country shrink, Barry Manilow is making certain that music students in the Los Angeles Unified School District will be able to perform with new instruments.
Manilow announced to a cheering audience at his concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday that he was donating $100,000 to the district for new band instruments, said Monica Carazo, spokesperson for LAUSD.
"It will be used for all kinds of instruments, whatever the needs are," Carazo said Tuesday. "From saxophones to flutes, hopefully this money will be able to help us with that."
Steven McCarthy, secondary arts coordinator for the district, said the donation couldn't have come at a better time.
"Things are just deteriorating," McCarthy said. "It's very personal to him. He said on the stage if it wasn't for music and having an instrument in his hand, he wouldn't have finished school."
The donation, part of his Manilow Music Project, came from money raised at a pre-concert gala, said Howard Bragman, Manilow's publicist.
Bragman said this was an ongoing effort for the 66-year-old pop star. Earlier this year, he gave $500,000 to schools in the Palm Springs area and $36,000 to pay for violins for two schools in Washington.
-- Gerrick D. Kennedy Wynn riles ticket brokers
In response to anti-scalping measures that Garth Brooks and the Wynn resort have put in place in connection with Brooks' forthcoming performances in Las Vegas, a consortium of ticket brokers criticized owner Steve Wynn on Tuesday for warning consumers that any tickets determined to have been sold for more than face value will be subject to cancellation and refund at face value.
"Fans should have the right to buy and sell the tickets they want without having to RSVP their guests or risk cancellation based on new, arbitrary rules," the National Assn. of Ticket Brokers said in a statement. "They're changing the rules in the middle of the game, and it's only going to hurt the fans who can't find tickets, or are stuck with ones they can't use."
In announcing Brooks' engagement at the 1,500-seat Encore Theater, marking his return from self-imposed retirement, Wynn said stringent measures would be taken to ensure that the $125-face-value tickets would not be resold at inflated prices.
"Steve Wynn and Garth Brooks intend to protect guests and fans from the predatory practice of scalpers who seek to charge hundreds and hundreds of dollars over face value for concert tickets," Jennifer Dunne, vice president of public relations and advertising for Wynn/Encore, said in response to the NATB's statement.
But the NATB's statement accuses Wynn of trying to block competition. "These actions aren't meant to address any problems with brokers or the reselling of tickets," the NATB said. "They are meant to restrict the open market and eliminate any competition for tickets."
-- Randy Lewis
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