By Dana Vachon 3/21 12:12pm

The Transom

Ms. Judd

The Ecstasy of Agony: Ashley Judd at the United Nations

Ashley Judd broke from the selling of maternal wrath and vengeance—the primary plot-drivers of her new prime-time spy caper, Missing—to visit the UN last week and discuss her celebrity recovery and humanitarianism memoir, All That Is Bitter and Sweet.

It describes a youth marred by rape and abuse, an adulthood plagued by thoughts of suicide, paralyzing depression and pervasive hopelessness. And the path of healing that led her to work on behalf of such sufferers of the Global South as Congolese rape victims, Cambodian orphans and Bangladeshi sex slaves.

“I believe the patriarchy is not men,” Ms. Judd told her eager audience. “Patriarchy is a system in which both men and women participate.” Read More

By Drew Grant 3/05 4:13pm

Broadway

Julie Taymor and Bono (Getty Images)

The 10 Most Outrageous Claims in Julie Taymor’s Response to Spider-Man Countersuit

Recently, the public got its hands on the 35-page complaint that Julie Taymor and her company LOH Inc. filed in response to the countersuit launched by the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

To catch up: Ms. Taymor sued the producers of the show for using her material after firing her, won a ton of money, but is still suing them for more money. The defendants in the case — 8 Legged Productions, LLC, Hello Entertainment LLC, Goodbye Entertainment LLC, Michael Cohl, Glen Berger, Jeremiah Harris, and Savior Productions LLC — include the producers who recently launched the countersuit, claiming that Ms. Taymor’s detrimental influence on the production hurt the show and cost them money. Also, her co-author for the book, Glen Berger. Back and forth, forever and ever.

While we’re waiting for this mess to get untangled (spider web pun!) in court, Ms. Taymor’s complaint contains enough juicy dirt on show creator Bono and his cohorts to keep us entertained for the rest of the week. Here are the 10 most soap opera moments from the document, so you don’t have to slog through the paperwork yourself. Read More

By Drew Grant 1/18 3:19pm

Broadway

Julie Taymor and Bono, in better times. (Getty Images)

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Producers Launch Countersuit Against Julie Taymor

Though the production has been accident free since its official premiere at the Foxwood Theatre in June, there’s still more blood to be spilled over Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. On November 8th, Julie Taymor, the ousted director of the play (along with her production company, LOH, Inc.) filed suit against the producers of the once-cursed production, saying that they had violated her creative rights and haven’t compensated her for her work on the play.

The lead producers–who are listed in the Playbill item about the lawsuit–disagreed, and filed their own counter-suit in response to Ms. Taymor. Read More

By Drew Grant 11/28/11 9:20am

Broadway

8 Photos

"Spider-Man" makes it out of previews!

‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ Survives First Year (Sort Of)

This weekend, Broadway’s most expensive show* celebrated it’s first birthday by finally . That’s right, somehow Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark defied all the bookie odds and managed to stay in previews (and a brief hiatus) for 7 months before opening in June. Now it’s “officially” been at the Foxwoods Theatre for one year. Happy birthday Spidey! Read More

By Joe Conason 9/24/08 6:59pm

Gore Urges Civil Disobedience to Stop New Coal Plants

Al Gore showed up at the C.G.I. plenary session this morning to deliver a passionate assault on the oil and coal industries, which he referred to as ”carbon companies.” Gore accused them of committing “material fraud” by claiming that there is such a thing as clean coal technology. He raised the ante when he urged Read More

By J. Gabriel Boylan 7/29/08 11:32am

Making The Brand

What does U2 sound like?

For a question that seems so absurd to ask-surely, everyone knows!–it’s pretty hard to answer. Not because the band has been around for over three decades and experimented with a number of styles. Its that the answer is tautological: U2 sounds like U2. Its commercial success and attendant ubiquity has Read More