Happy Friday!
I hope you’ve had a good week. I’m in heavy rehearsal mode for GRANDMA & ME and trying to juggle all of my other projects at the same time. Previews start September 9 with Opening Night on Saturday, October 8. Coincidentally, October 8 would have been my mother’s 80th birthday. And no, I didn’t deliberately pick that date. The Marsh theater in San Francisco where the play will run did. Funny how things
align sometimes, isn’t it? My mom died at the age of 36. Hard for me to imagine her as an octogenarian. October 8 is also three days after I’m scheduled to become a grandfather. Where the heck did the time go?
Despite the workload, I was able to squeeze in a few things to recommend to you this week.
TELEVISION
The Most Hated Man on the Internet
Netflix
This is the sick story of Hunter Moore and his website, Is Anyone Up? Moore made tens of thousands of dollars a month on this site which received massive traffic as one of the first “revenge porn” websites. People would post nudes of exes without their consent as a means of “getting even” with a former girlfriend or boyfriend.
Once your picture(s) was on the site, Moore would refuse to take them down. The Most Hated Man on the Internet follows one mother’s quest to shut Moore down after her daughter’s nude selfies were hacked and put on his site. It’s an infuriating watch. How some people can take such glee in profiting off of the pain, misery and humiliation of others is something I’ll never understand. Check the docuseries out!
WATCH
Under The Banner of Heaven
Hulu
This is a controversial one. Andrew Garfield stars in this true crime story of the 1984 murders of Brenda Lafferty and her baby daughter Erica in a crime that appears to have been tied to the Mormon faith. It’s a great thriller that taught me a lot about Mormonism that I didn’t
know. It also reinforced for me the notion that there are fanatics and extremists in EVERY organized religion. While they don’t represent their particular denomination as a whole, their actions end up sullying the reputation of the entire faith.
WATCH
READING
Directed by James Burrows
By James Burrows with Eddy Friedfeld
I’m currently reading the new memoir from the legendary director of such television classics as Taxi, Friends, Cheers, and Will and Grace. If you like show business stories, this is a great read.
James Burrows is the son of the legendary playwright and comedy writer Abe Burrows, who crafted the books for Broadway smashes like Guys and Dolls, Can-Can and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. It’s a great tale of James Burrows trying to find his own way while being dismissed in show business as “Abe’s Boy.” It’s filled with anecdotes about the shows and stars he’s been associated with over the course of his long career.
It’s one of those books that’s so entertaining, I don’t want to it to end.
READ