The Whitney interview is old news now and I hear that her father is willing to drop the $100 million suit if she will straighten up her act. I still can't believe that some 25 million people watched it. She use to be so beautiful. This article is perhaps the best and last word on Whitney.
http://www.eurweb.com/articles/columns/12052002/columns806512052002.cfm
THE RU REPORT / DECEMBER 05 / VOLUME 2.21
Whitney Lets Loose Like A Bucket Of Juice, Black Nativity Broadens Horizons, Pam Grier Back On Screen & More
by Karu F. Daniels (New York, NY)
Whitney Houston
(Dec. 5, 2002) RU RANTS: Cracking Up! I?ll be the first to go on record and ask, ?What the hell were Whitney Houston?s handlers thinking?? regarding the widely-watched ?special? edition of ABC?s ?Primetime? that aired across the country last night. While my telephone lines burned up during commercial breaks, I was nearly going into convulsions at the sight for sore eyes that was surely the television event of the season. There were people running home from the subway station to catch this show.
To hell with the ?Will & Grace? wedding episode, or ?The Osbournes? premiere. I would even go on to say that the one-hour chat-fest was even better than a recent episode of ?The Sopranos.? I?m sure that Diane Sawyer?s ratings will surpass what any of the big shows did during November sweeps. Preliminary figures reportedly have more than 24 million viewers watching.
?This is crazy!? and ?She is out of her mind!? is what my neighbors at my Brooklyn residence later told me they heard coming from my door throughout the airing of the show.
Houston, We Have A Problem; With Ms. Houston snapping her fingers (reminding me of the popular gay skit Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier on ?In Living Color?), rolling her neck (ala trailer/street trash on ?The Jerry Springer Show?), her simulated crying (?like a true drama queen?), coughing (?did she not know she was going to be on national TV??), talking in her raspy voice (?if her voice ain?t up to snuff for an interview, how will it be ready for a live concert performance??), using stares and glares (?she?s surely on something?she?s tweaking?) and messing with her stringy hair (?didn?t she wear that in 1996 for ?Waiting To Exhale???), the show was indeed many, many things. Even though it was tragic (?like watching a car wreck?), it was also amusing.
Some of the high(low) lights of the pre-taped interview ?from her home in Atlanta on November 7-- were Ms. Houston tackling certain subject matter, oh so eloquently. Here?s a quick recap:
Her Usage of Crack Cocaine: ?Crack is cheap! I make too much money to ever smoke crack? Lets get that straight. Crack is wack!? Her Frail Physique On Michael Jackson?s Anniversary Special: ?That?s a bad shot!? Missing In Action During The 2000 Academy Awards: ?I was fired?I didn?t really want to do it, anyway.? Missing In Action During The Clive Davis Tribute: ?Oh yeah that was between him and I. We won?t discuss it.? Domestic Abuse: ??I?ve hit [Bobby], in anger? Her Rumored $730,000 Cocaine Habit: ?Come On. 730 [K]? I wish. No way. I want to see the receipts.? Her Mother?s Intervention Attempts: ?I?m not putting my life?s in someone else?s hand. I don?t care what counseling center they are from? I said ?I will leave and take Bobbi Christina.? Hard To Let Go Of The Svengali Relationship: ?I did with Clive [Davis].? Family Drug Problems: Those were isolated incidents. They were not related.? Severing Ties With Her Best Friend Robin Crawford: ?It?s no competition. That?s my husband. If we can be friends, lets remain friends. If you can?t handle that. Sorry.? Her Father Suing Her For A Reported $100 Million: ?They will never get 100 million out of me.?
Those quotes, along with her beloved, self-diagnosed ?bipolar? drug-using husband Bobby Brown yelling the word ?Never? when she revealed to Ms. Sawyer that he?s ?sometimes? jealous of her, is enough to make one sit up and take notice. And then Mr. Brown, sweating from the temples, admitting he did test positive for cocaine, but then stating ?but cocaine was not in my system? had even the celebrity interviewer doing a double-take. And when Ms. Sawyer asked him if he ever hit his wife, Ms. Houston interjected by asking, ?What?s hitting??
Considering all of Ms. Houston?s previous high-flying antics ? from avoiding arrest for drugs in Hawaii to giving Rosie O?Donnell the finger at an awards ceremony?she clearly has some steam to blow off. Often times during the interview, she seemed incoherent and a little too ?live.? At other times, she seemed on the verge of volatility and as if she had an axe to grind. Ms. Sawyer even had to ask her if she wanted to cause her bodily harm.
Oy vey
Why is Whitney Houston giving off so much attitude and seems to be mad at the viewing public when she was the one who was or still is (depending on who you talk to) on drugs? Isn?t that crazy? If she didn?t want to do the interview, she shouldn?t have done it.
I have two words for her: Natalie Cole.
When I mention this to a Los Angeles counterpart of mine, he argues that Whitney isn?t from the same pedigree as Natalie, that?s why she comes across the way she does. But I beg to differ. There is an effective way that you can battle your addictions and still walk away with your integrity. And it doesn?t necessarily have to revolve around the promoting of a sure to be ill-fated music project, either. Suggestions: Write an autobiography. Have a television bio-pic illustrate your struggles. Even do a ?Behind The Music? special. Or just make your revelations an event. It doesn?t always have to tie into a publicity campaign. But maybe it does. Ms. Houston?s latest music project is set for release on December 10. And although, in the past she has been the darling of magazine covers, her image is virtually missing on the newsstands.
We all may love to watch ABC?s news specials and their magazine shows, but the way they?ve sensationally marketed the last few TV events (?Brandy?s Breakdown,? ?J-Lo?s Nuptials? and ?Justin Speaks?) is a bit questionable, and borders on tabloid journalism. Personally, I would?ve held out for Larry King or Oprah Winfrey. Then again, this may lay the foundation for more high-profile interviews to come. But then again, maybe not.
A former member of Ms. Houston?s camp ?who will remain nameless-- defended her last night via telephone, saying that she think she handled things really well. I think that after this, she?ll be lumped into the Michael Jackson category of laughable celebrities who become caricatures of themselves. Nevertheless, their antics can still sell the New York dailies.
But why not have a laugh at these celebrities? expense? These mega media outlets (who the celebrity?s handlers covet) build them all up just to tear them down. And who knows how Whitney Houston will fare with the American public after this unflattering albeit unflinching look into her personal life, courtesy of ABC?s ?Primetime Live.?
You can rest assure that if 24 million people did watch the show, they won?t buy that record.
We like Diane Sawyer, but this interview was no triumph for Ms. Houston. I, personally, think it was a mistake, that is a detriment to the rich legacy that Clive Davis and her millions of record sales have created over the years.
* * * Has anyone seen this Play?
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE: Christmas time in Gotham means more than celebrity clad tree lighting ceremonies and the hustle and bustle of yuletide shopping. In Harlem and its neighboring regions, it can also mean some down home singing and swinging with some true blue church folks. I experienced it first hand last year when I was invited to the Riverside Church?s presentation of that all star musical tour de force, ?Black Nativity.?
The one-night-only event ?featuring the heavenly voices of Stephanie Mills, BeBe Winans, Ebony Jo Ann and Tony Award winner Lillias White?filled the rafters of the glorious church with patrons and well-wishers. The sold-out show was such a spectacle that the organizers had to reserve a separate room where the overflow crowds had to partake in watching the show on closed circuit TV.
This year, they don?t foresee such a problem.
This weekend, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will present ?Nativity: A Life Story,? at The United Palace Theatre for three performances: Friday (December 6) evening at 8, and Saturday (December 7) at 3:00 p.m. and 8.
?The tickets sold out so early last year that it became necessary for James to find another facility and increase the number of performances of BLACK NATIVITY,? explains Ms. Jo-Ann, a veteran of ?Black Nativity? productions since 1991, and an Audelco Award-winning diva. ?We have grown and developed tremendously since our beginnings at the Equity Library Theatre.?
Ms. Mills and Mr. Winans are back again headlining the bill with Ms. White, R&B star Freddie Jackson and TV actress Phylicia Rashad. The cast also features Keith David, Ms. Jo Ann, Alyson Williams, Denise Burse-Fernandez, Priscilla Baskerville, George Faison, The Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble, directed by Bettye F. Forbes, The Broadway Inspirational Voices, directed by Michael McElroy, and The Christ United Church Youth-In-Action Chorus.
?Nativity is a wonderful story,? says Ms. Mills. ? I am so happy to be working with Phylicia, BeBe and James Stovall, who are my friends. It is a wonderful celebration for the holidays!?
Inspired by the Langston Hughes holiday classic, ?Black Nativity,? this ?Nativity? is an award-winning, brilliant retelling of the Biblical Christmas story with African-American music and dance, in concert. ?It should not be missed,? adds Ms. Rashad.
Ms. Jo Ann, who can currently be seen in the eagerly anticipated ?Crowns,? offers: Our presentation has become a classic in the tri-state area. I would love for it to have the universal appeal and exposure as ?The Night Before Christmas? or ?The Nutcracker.? It is the most beautiful and honest depiction of the birth of Jesus I have every experienced.
Directed and co-written by Mr. Stovall of Broadway?s ?Ragtime? with Hattie Winston, co-star of CBS-TV?s ?Becker?, ?Nativity? is choreographed by Shirley Black Brown Coward with music arranged and orchestrated by Grammy Award- winner Harold Wheeler, and musical direction by Shelton Becton.
?When have we heard the story of the birth of Jesus told from through the eyes of his mother?,? asks Mr. Stovall, an accomplished Broadway veteran. ?After all, wasn't she there by her son's side after his miraculous birth, throughout his ministry, at the cross, waiting at his tomb and told of his resurrection!?
?As a writer and director, to bring Mary's story to life for nearly 10,000 people via the divine gifts of Phylicia Rashad, Stephanie Mills, Bebe Winans, Keith David, and many other giants, is a great moment in my career, in my life's mission, that I will never forget. There aren't enough moments in this "entertainment" business to minister to a multitude of people through song, dance, and the power of the spoken word, THIS IS ONE. I am thrilled to have asked my friends, who also sing R+B music, like Freddie Jackson, like Stephanie Mills, to feed from their church and gospel backgrounds, and help to make Mary's story of faith, survival, and miracles come alive! I am honored to direct this feast.?
Tickets for ?Nativity: A Life Story? range in pricing from $25 to $50. Tickets may be purchased via The Schomburg Shop at (212) 491-2206.
* * *
http://www.eurweb.com/articles/columns/12052002/columns806512052002.cfm
THE RU REPORT / DECEMBER 05 / VOLUME 2.21
Whitney Lets Loose Like A Bucket Of Juice, Black Nativity Broadens Horizons, Pam Grier Back On Screen & More
by Karu F. Daniels (New York, NY)
Whitney Houston
(Dec. 5, 2002) RU RANTS: Cracking Up! I?ll be the first to go on record and ask, ?What the hell were Whitney Houston?s handlers thinking?? regarding the widely-watched ?special? edition of ABC?s ?Primetime? that aired across the country last night. While my telephone lines burned up during commercial breaks, I was nearly going into convulsions at the sight for sore eyes that was surely the television event of the season. There were people running home from the subway station to catch this show.
To hell with the ?Will & Grace? wedding episode, or ?The Osbournes? premiere. I would even go on to say that the one-hour chat-fest was even better than a recent episode of ?The Sopranos.? I?m sure that Diane Sawyer?s ratings will surpass what any of the big shows did during November sweeps. Preliminary figures reportedly have more than 24 million viewers watching.
?This is crazy!? and ?She is out of her mind!? is what my neighbors at my Brooklyn residence later told me they heard coming from my door throughout the airing of the show.
Houston, We Have A Problem; With Ms. Houston snapping her fingers (reminding me of the popular gay skit Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier on ?In Living Color?), rolling her neck (ala trailer/street trash on ?The Jerry Springer Show?), her simulated crying (?like a true drama queen?), coughing (?did she not know she was going to be on national TV??), talking in her raspy voice (?if her voice ain?t up to snuff for an interview, how will it be ready for a live concert performance??), using stares and glares (?she?s surely on something?she?s tweaking?) and messing with her stringy hair (?didn?t she wear that in 1996 for ?Waiting To Exhale???), the show was indeed many, many things. Even though it was tragic (?like watching a car wreck?), it was also amusing.
Some of the high(low) lights of the pre-taped interview ?from her home in Atlanta on November 7-- were Ms. Houston tackling certain subject matter, oh so eloquently. Here?s a quick recap:
Her Usage of Crack Cocaine: ?Crack is cheap! I make too much money to ever smoke crack? Lets get that straight. Crack is wack!? Her Frail Physique On Michael Jackson?s Anniversary Special: ?That?s a bad shot!? Missing In Action During The 2000 Academy Awards: ?I was fired?I didn?t really want to do it, anyway.? Missing In Action During The Clive Davis Tribute: ?Oh yeah that was between him and I. We won?t discuss it.? Domestic Abuse: ??I?ve hit [Bobby], in anger? Her Rumored $730,000 Cocaine Habit: ?Come On. 730 [K]? I wish. No way. I want to see the receipts.? Her Mother?s Intervention Attempts: ?I?m not putting my life?s in someone else?s hand. I don?t care what counseling center they are from? I said ?I will leave and take Bobbi Christina.? Hard To Let Go Of The Svengali Relationship: ?I did with Clive [Davis].? Family Drug Problems: Those were isolated incidents. They were not related.? Severing Ties With Her Best Friend Robin Crawford: ?It?s no competition. That?s my husband. If we can be friends, lets remain friends. If you can?t handle that. Sorry.? Her Father Suing Her For A Reported $100 Million: ?They will never get 100 million out of me.?
Those quotes, along with her beloved, self-diagnosed ?bipolar? drug-using husband Bobby Brown yelling the word ?Never? when she revealed to Ms. Sawyer that he?s ?sometimes? jealous of her, is enough to make one sit up and take notice. And then Mr. Brown, sweating from the temples, admitting he did test positive for cocaine, but then stating ?but cocaine was not in my system? had even the celebrity interviewer doing a double-take. And when Ms. Sawyer asked him if he ever hit his wife, Ms. Houston interjected by asking, ?What?s hitting??
Considering all of Ms. Houston?s previous high-flying antics ? from avoiding arrest for drugs in Hawaii to giving Rosie O?Donnell the finger at an awards ceremony?she clearly has some steam to blow off. Often times during the interview, she seemed incoherent and a little too ?live.? At other times, she seemed on the verge of volatility and as if she had an axe to grind. Ms. Sawyer even had to ask her if she wanted to cause her bodily harm.
Oy vey
Why is Whitney Houston giving off so much attitude and seems to be mad at the viewing public when she was the one who was or still is (depending on who you talk to) on drugs? Isn?t that crazy? If she didn?t want to do the interview, she shouldn?t have done it.
I have two words for her: Natalie Cole.
When I mention this to a Los Angeles counterpart of mine, he argues that Whitney isn?t from the same pedigree as Natalie, that?s why she comes across the way she does. But I beg to differ. There is an effective way that you can battle your addictions and still walk away with your integrity. And it doesn?t necessarily have to revolve around the promoting of a sure to be ill-fated music project, either. Suggestions: Write an autobiography. Have a television bio-pic illustrate your struggles. Even do a ?Behind The Music? special. Or just make your revelations an event. It doesn?t always have to tie into a publicity campaign. But maybe it does. Ms. Houston?s latest music project is set for release on December 10. And although, in the past she has been the darling of magazine covers, her image is virtually missing on the newsstands.
We all may love to watch ABC?s news specials and their magazine shows, but the way they?ve sensationally marketed the last few TV events (?Brandy?s Breakdown,? ?J-Lo?s Nuptials? and ?Justin Speaks?) is a bit questionable, and borders on tabloid journalism. Personally, I would?ve held out for Larry King or Oprah Winfrey. Then again, this may lay the foundation for more high-profile interviews to come. But then again, maybe not.
A former member of Ms. Houston?s camp ?who will remain nameless-- defended her last night via telephone, saying that she think she handled things really well. I think that after this, she?ll be lumped into the Michael Jackson category of laughable celebrities who become caricatures of themselves. Nevertheless, their antics can still sell the New York dailies.
But why not have a laugh at these celebrities? expense? These mega media outlets (who the celebrity?s handlers covet) build them all up just to tear them down. And who knows how Whitney Houston will fare with the American public after this unflattering albeit unflinching look into her personal life, courtesy of ABC?s ?Primetime Live.?
You can rest assure that if 24 million people did watch the show, they won?t buy that record.
We like Diane Sawyer, but this interview was no triumph for Ms. Houston. I, personally, think it was a mistake, that is a detriment to the rich legacy that Clive Davis and her millions of record sales have created over the years.
* * * Has anyone seen this Play?
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE: Christmas time in Gotham means more than celebrity clad tree lighting ceremonies and the hustle and bustle of yuletide shopping. In Harlem and its neighboring regions, it can also mean some down home singing and swinging with some true blue church folks. I experienced it first hand last year when I was invited to the Riverside Church?s presentation of that all star musical tour de force, ?Black Nativity.?
The one-night-only event ?featuring the heavenly voices of Stephanie Mills, BeBe Winans, Ebony Jo Ann and Tony Award winner Lillias White?filled the rafters of the glorious church with patrons and well-wishers. The sold-out show was such a spectacle that the organizers had to reserve a separate room where the overflow crowds had to partake in watching the show on closed circuit TV.
This year, they don?t foresee such a problem.
This weekend, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will present ?Nativity: A Life Story,? at The United Palace Theatre for three performances: Friday (December 6) evening at 8, and Saturday (December 7) at 3:00 p.m. and 8.
?The tickets sold out so early last year that it became necessary for James to find another facility and increase the number of performances of BLACK NATIVITY,? explains Ms. Jo-Ann, a veteran of ?Black Nativity? productions since 1991, and an Audelco Award-winning diva. ?We have grown and developed tremendously since our beginnings at the Equity Library Theatre.?
Ms. Mills and Mr. Winans are back again headlining the bill with Ms. White, R&B star Freddie Jackson and TV actress Phylicia Rashad. The cast also features Keith David, Ms. Jo Ann, Alyson Williams, Denise Burse-Fernandez, Priscilla Baskerville, George Faison, The Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble, directed by Bettye F. Forbes, The Broadway Inspirational Voices, directed by Michael McElroy, and The Christ United Church Youth-In-Action Chorus.
?Nativity is a wonderful story,? says Ms. Mills. ? I am so happy to be working with Phylicia, BeBe and James Stovall, who are my friends. It is a wonderful celebration for the holidays!?
Inspired by the Langston Hughes holiday classic, ?Black Nativity,? this ?Nativity? is an award-winning, brilliant retelling of the Biblical Christmas story with African-American music and dance, in concert. ?It should not be missed,? adds Ms. Rashad.
Ms. Jo Ann, who can currently be seen in the eagerly anticipated ?Crowns,? offers: Our presentation has become a classic in the tri-state area. I would love for it to have the universal appeal and exposure as ?The Night Before Christmas? or ?The Nutcracker.? It is the most beautiful and honest depiction of the birth of Jesus I have every experienced.
Directed and co-written by Mr. Stovall of Broadway?s ?Ragtime? with Hattie Winston, co-star of CBS-TV?s ?Becker?, ?Nativity? is choreographed by Shirley Black Brown Coward with music arranged and orchestrated by Grammy Award- winner Harold Wheeler, and musical direction by Shelton Becton.
?When have we heard the story of the birth of Jesus told from through the eyes of his mother?,? asks Mr. Stovall, an accomplished Broadway veteran. ?After all, wasn't she there by her son's side after his miraculous birth, throughout his ministry, at the cross, waiting at his tomb and told of his resurrection!?
?As a writer and director, to bring Mary's story to life for nearly 10,000 people via the divine gifts of Phylicia Rashad, Stephanie Mills, Bebe Winans, Keith David, and many other giants, is a great moment in my career, in my life's mission, that I will never forget. There aren't enough moments in this "entertainment" business to minister to a multitude of people through song, dance, and the power of the spoken word, THIS IS ONE. I am thrilled to have asked my friends, who also sing R+B music, like Freddie Jackson, like Stephanie Mills, to feed from their church and gospel backgrounds, and help to make Mary's story of faith, survival, and miracles come alive! I am honored to direct this feast.?
Tickets for ?Nativity: A Life Story? range in pricing from $25 to $50. Tickets may be purchased via The Schomburg Shop at (212) 491-2206.
* * *