logo
George Clooney recalls James Earl Jones pausing Fences over audience disruption

George Clooney recalls James Earl Jones pausing Fences over audience disruption

Express Tribune23-04-2025
George Clooney recently shared a memorable and humorous moment involving the late theater legend James Earl Jones, recalling the time Jones paused a Broadway performance of Fences due to excessive audience chatter. The story surfaced during Variety's inaugural Broadway edition of 'Actors on Actors,' where Clooney spoke with Patti LuPone.
The incident took place during a performance of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences, where James Earl Jones originated the role of Troy Maxson. Clooney explained he was seated next to two older audience members who were chatting throughout the show. During one of Jones' powerful soliloquies, the talking continued, prompting the veteran actor to break character and address the disruption directly.
"James is just staring into the crowd, and I can tell he's looking right at me — though he couldn't quite see who was talking," Clooney recounted. "And then he goes, 'I don't appreciate that shit.' I was literally pointing at this old lady, like, 'It's not me, it's her!''
Jones' portrayal of Troy Maxson in the 1987 Broadway run earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor. The production went on to win multiple accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The role remains one of his most iconic stage performances.
James Earl Jones passed away in September 2024 at the age of 93. A memorial held at the James Earl Jones Theatre in Manhattan earlier this month celebrated his life and career, with attendees including Denzel Washington, Phylicia Rashad, and Courtney B. Vance.
Clooney's anecdote adds to the growing list of memorable celebrity encounters with live theater etiquette, echoing similar stories like LuPone's confrontation with a texting audience member during Shows for Days.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Cleo Laine, legendary British jazz singer and Tony-nominated actress, dies at 97
Cleo Laine, legendary British jazz singer and Tony-nominated actress, dies at 97

Express Tribune

time2 hours ago

  • Express Tribune

Cleo Laine, legendary British jazz singer and Tony-nominated actress, dies at 97

Dame Cleo Laine, one of Britain's most celebrated jazz vocalists and a prominent figure in theater, died on Thursday at the age of 97. Her death was confirmed by representatives from The Stables, the Buckinghamshire arts center she co-founded with her husband, composer and saxophonist John Dankworth. No cause of death was disclosed. Widely regarded as the U.K.'s foremost jazz singer, Laine earned international acclaim for her remarkable vocal range and distinctive style. The BBC called her 'the most recognizable British jazz singer in history,' while The Sunday Times once described her as 'quite simply the best singer in the world.' Though her roots were in the U.K., Laine made a significant impact in the U.S. as well. She received a Tony Award nomination in 1986 for her performance as Princess Puffer in Broadway's The Mystery of Edwin Drood and was recognized with multiple Grammy nominations across jazz, pop, and classical categories — a rare achievement. Her only Grammy win came in 1985 for Cleo at Carnegie – The 10th Anniversary Concert. Laine's discography includes collaborations with music legends like Ray Charles, Mel Tormé, James Galway, and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. She also performed alongside Frank Sinatra during a five-night residency at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1992. Beyond music, Laine had a distinguished stage career, performing in both Broadway and West End productions. Her portrayal of Julie in a 1971 London revival of Show Boat ran for hundreds of performances. In 1989, she earned critical praise for her role as the Witch in a touring production of Into the Woods. Born in Southall, Middlesex in 1927, Laine began her career after auditioning for a band led by Dankworth, whom she married in 1958. The couple remained together until his death in 2010. Laine continued performing into her 90s, often appearing onstage with her children Alec and Jacqui, both musicians. Laine was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1979 and remembered as a trailblazer whose influence on British jazz remains unmatched. She is survived by her two children.

Grammy-winning jazz musician Chuck Mangione dies at 84
Grammy-winning jazz musician Chuck Mangione dies at 84

Business Recorder

time18 hours ago

  • Business Recorder

Grammy-winning jazz musician Chuck Mangione dies at 84

American two-time Grammy-winning jazz flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione, best known for his 1970s cross-over hit 'Feels So Good,' died this week at age 84 at his home in Rochester, New York. The prolific musician and composer - whose career spanned five decades and 30 albums - died in his sleep on Tuesday, a local funeral home said. 'Chuck's love affair with music has been characterized by his boundless energy, unabashed enthusiasm, and pure joy that radiated from the stage,' his family said in a statement to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle newspaper. Mangione showed his appreciation for his audiences by sitting at the edge of the stage after his concerts, signing autographs for fans who stayed to meet him and the band, it said. Born Charles Frank Mangione in 1940 in Rochester, he was a virtuoso flugelhorn and trumpet player. He grew up in a household where his father exposed him to the jazz greats of the 1950s, including Dizzy Gillespie, a family friend who dined with them frequently. He began taking music lessons at age 8, and by the time he was a teenager, Gillespie was so impressed by his musical prowess that he gave Mangione one of his trademark 'upswept' trumpets. His composition 'Chase The Clouds Away' was featured at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, while his 'Give It All You Got' was the theme music for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Mangione's biggest hit was his 1977 single 'Feels So Good,' which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammys. His album by the same name is a staple on smooth jazz radio stations. Mangione won two Grammys out of 14 nominations - the first in 1977 for best instrumental composition for 'Bellavia,' named in honor of his mother. In 1979 he won in the best pop instrumental performance category for 'The Children of Sanchez.' The latter, a soundtrack for the movie of the same name, also won a Golden Globe. In the late 1990s, Mangione's music attracted new fans after he played himself on the Fox TV cartoon show 'King of the Hill' as a celebrity spokesman for the fictional 'Mega-lo-mart,' with the slogan 'shopping feels so good.' He also scored the music for the 1998 Valentine's Day episode.

Josh Hutcherson's Freddy's nightmare returns bloodier, bolder, and packed with new horrors
Josh Hutcherson's Freddy's nightmare returns bloodier, bolder, and packed with new horrors

Express Tribune

timea day ago

  • Express Tribune

Josh Hutcherson's Freddy's nightmare returns bloodier, bolder, and packed with new horrors

Freddy Fazbear is back, and he's meaner than ever. The first trailer for Five Nights at Freddy's 2 has fans spiralling into panic mode, with Universal and Blumhouse teasing a darker, bloodier sequel that raises the stakes far beyond the original. The new tagline says it all: Anyone can survive five nights. This time, there will be no second chances. Josh Hutcherson reprises his role as Mike Schmidt, the haunted night guard who barely survived the last round. This time, survival isn't guaranteed. The returning cast includes Matthew Lillard, Elizabeth Lail, and Piper Rubio, with director Emma Tammi also back at the helm, hinting at a more expansive and terrifying world. The first instalment became Blumhouse's biggest box office hit, raking in $297 million globally. Hutcherson admitted the scale of success caught everyone off guard. 'We hoped it would connect with audiences,' he told Variety, 'But I don't think anybody expected it to explode the way it did.' And now, the stakes are even higher. Hutcherson teased in a separate interview that the sequel is much scarier, promising new animatronics and a bigger mythology. 'There's more animatronics being brought in, different animatronics being brought in, and the world just opens up in a big way,' he said. Despite its commercial success, the first film had critics divided. Some felt it didn't fully capitalise on the terrifying animatronics. Variety's own reviewer Murtada Elfadl wrote that the film 'missed the mark on both horror and hilarity.' But FNAF 2 looks intent on correcting that. The trailer delivers a chilling, pulse-pounding look at what's to come, packed with eerie corridors, flickering lights, and menacing new machines. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in cinemas on December 5, and this time, there may be no way out.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store