Latest news with #PeggySueGotMarried
Chicago Tribune
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Review: ‘Always Something There …' at Marriott Theatre is a fun and escapist cavalcade of '80s hits
What human fantasy is more powerful than the do-over, the chance to relive your life and fix your lousy youthful decisions? Most of us are stuck with our mistakes, but Samantha Craig, the heroine of the exuberant world-premiere jukebox musical at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, falls asleep one night on a business trip in a dull hotel bedroom and wakes up to find herself roaming the halls of her old high school. She's 18 again. Rick Astley's 'Together Forever' is the soundtrack of the moment and Samantha has the foreknowledge of a woman in her 40s and the ability to remake her sad lot. Out with that lousy boyfriend who became an even worse husband! Out with that job at the toilet manufacturer! Out with that soul-sucking material world, and in with the sensitive hunk, and with Samantha following her destiny of musical stardom. The search is over! (You were with me all the while.) 'Always Something There …' is not exactly original. At various moments, its plot recalls 'Freaky Friday, 'Back to the Future' and 'Peggy Sue Got Married,' not to mention the final acts of 'Our Town' and 'Carousel.' But Billy Bigelow, the humbled fool from that last musical, did not get to warble in the vogue of Johnny Hates Jazz or Boy George, nor did he get to declare 'I Want to Dance with Somebody' or that 'Love is a Battlefield,' unlike the characters in writer Sandy Rustin's show, a veritable plethora of 1980s music. A mostly youthful cast performs (among many others) songs made famous by Madonna, H.E.R., Thompson Twins, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar and The Go-Gos. The playlist (or mixtape, if you will) contains 23 hits of the 1980s, by my account, mostly pop by one-hit wonders but with a few gentle nods toward New Wave. Most haven't shown up in jukebox shows before. This is my era of music, of stalking the dancefloor at Mean Mr. Mustard's, my club of youthful choice. And at several times during this show, I came to the realization that I was sitting here watching a bunch of mostly early career performers, reviewing a song filled with the songs that will be playing in the nursing home I hope to avoid. Can't say I look forward to a robot giving me a sponge bath with 'Even the Nights are Better' rolling out from the bathroom speaker, but better than existential silence. (I guess. We'll have to see.) The fabulous Heidi Kettenring, who plays adult Samantha, performs these 1980s dance-and-angst hits as if she were doing a Chekhov play with a score by Sondheim — so that ennobles the proceedings, you might say. And as her younger doppelganger, the wide-eyed and talented Christina Priestner certainly does all she can to match Kettenring's vocal chops, although just a hair more irony would not go unappreciated. Beyond those two leads, we get fun performances from Samantha's best pals (Emma Ogea, who I believe was in as an understudy at my performance, is an especially stellar singer), boyfriends bad and good (Ty Shay and Ian Coursey), Leah Morrow essaying a variety of 1980s adults, loosely speaking, and the various other detritus of the 1980s high school genre. As writ jukebox. You should know 'Always Something There …' (really not the best title in my view, especially with an ellipsis) is a modestly scaled show, production-wise, and it comes in at just one hour and 50 minutes, even with an intermission. Most of that is taken up by the songs. Not that the show needs to be much longer. The location mostly is non-specific (although apparently Chicagoland), conflicts are mild, situations familiar by design. Tyler Hanes' amusing choreography is carefully tailored to young singers rather than dancers. But the performers are enthusiastic in that theater summer camp way, it's all fun and, this being a theater in the round, I stared all night at row after row of grinning, nodding faces. Director James Vásquez's laudably zippy (thank god) production holds together, staging-wise, just fine until the last few minutes, where the production peters out a little and lacks a conclusionary button, the necessary cherry on the 1980s Cool Whip. Those final sequences need more work, and I think the script needs both more era-specific edge (Duckie Dale would be better than a nerd transplanted from the 1950s) and beefed-up, self-referential gags, but I'm tellin' ya, that do-over theme sparks emotions even if you are listening to a song first recorded by Debbie (now Deborah) Gibson, who I once sat next to at a show, and not only in my dreams, either. But I digress. 'Always Something There …' is the first new musical at Marriott in something like a decade, even though this theater used to develop many of them, including one based on 'Peggy Sue Got Married.' So that's a real positive this summer. This particular premiere doesn't feel Broadway-aimed (although you never know), so much as an affordable, good-time musical with aspirations to be performed at colleges and summer-stock operations at theaters like the Goodspeed Playhouse, or on some Royal Caribbean megaship off the coast of Curaçao, which I don't mean as condescending. I imagine future cruisers will be as delighted as many in the Marriott audience seemed to be, as we all sat together, nodding our heads to familiar beats and cycling back over our lives and pondering those shattered dreams, shattered dreams. Hey, there's still time. Or so musicals like to lead us to believe. Review: 'Always Something There' (3 stars) When: Through Aug. 10 Where: Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes Tickets: $73-$89 at 847-634-0200 and
San Francisco Chronicle
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Nick Cave and Nic Cage keep getting mistaken for each other — and neither seems to mind
Australian musician Nick Cave and American actor Nicolas Cage — two artists whose last names are separated by a single letter — have both revealed they are frequently mistaken for one another. 'There has always been a persistent and somewhat perplexing confusion surrounding our names,' Cave wrote in his Red Hand Files newsletter this week, responding to a recent interview in The Guardian in which Cage remarked, 'I don't think there's a day that goes by where I'm not mistaken for Nick Cave.' Cage, who is currently promoting his new film ' The Surfer,' recalled a chance meeting with Cave at an animal sanctuary in Texas. 'Only one letter separates us — G. Nick Cave, Nic Cage,' he reportedly told the musician. Cave, who is scheduled to perform at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Wednesday, May 14, confirmed the story and added one of his own: a strange encounter that took place years ago in São Paulo. While at a bar in the Brazilian city, Cave met a man named Diego who, upon hearing his name, was told by the bartender, 'Dude, you're talking to f—ing Nick Cave!' 'Diego suddenly became super-animated, jumping around on his stool, saying that he loved me, that he was my greatest fan,' Cave wrote. 'He kept looking at me, then at his drink, shaking his head in wonder and saying, 'Nick Cave. F—ing Nick Cave.'' The mood shifted when Diego began to cry, explaining that his wife had kicked him out because 'she thinks I'm stupid.' But, he added, 'She f—ing loves you. Just completely loves you … 'Peggy Sue Got Married' is her favourite film. She's watched it like a hundred times.'' Cave said he chose not to correct the mix-up. Instead, he leaned into the role. 'I told him that making 'Raising Arizona' was the most extraordinary experience and a highpoint in my career,' Cave recounted, 'that John Goodman was a fascinating and complex character, and how it was a real privilege to work with the Coen brothers and that they were 'masters of their craft' and all this bulls—.' Diego eventually decided to return home to win back his wife, asking Cave, whom he still believed to be Cage, to come with him. Cave said he declined but wrote a note: 'Dear Ana, Diego is not stupid. He's a good guy. Love, Nic Cage.' As Diego stumbled out, Cave said the bartender deadpanned, 'His wife's got a point.' Reflecting on the confusion, Cave added that he is a fan of Cage — a former San Francisco resident who, for the record, was born Nicolas Kim Coppola. 'Have you guys seen 'Mandy'?' Cave said of the 2018 surrealist action horror starring the Oscar-winning actor. 'My God. What a film.' Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are currently on tour in support of last year's album 'Wild God,' performing the new material alongside classics like 'Into My Arms,' 'The Mercy Seat' and 'From Her to Eternity.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nick Cave shares hilarious story after Nic Cage says he's mistaken for musician ‘every day'
Nick Cave has shared an anecdote about a particularly memorable time he was confused for the actor Nicolas Cage. The 67-year-old Australian musician says he is frequently mixed up with the 61-year-old American actor due to their similar names. The reverse is also true. While promoting his new film The Surfer, Cage recently told The Guardian: 'I don't think there's a day that goes by where I'm not mistaken for Nick Cave.' In response, Cave shared a story on his Red Hand Files newsletter about an incident he says occurred 'years ago' in São Paulo, Brazil. While drunk in a bar, Cave recalled meeting a young Brazilian man named Diego. 'As he asked me my name, the barman leaned over and said to him, 'Dude, you're talking to f***ing Nick Cave!'' the musician remembered. 'Diego suddenly became super-animated, jumping around on his stool, saying that he loved me, that he was my greatest fan, and so on and so forth. He kept looking at me, then at his drink, shaking his head in wonder and saying, 'Nick Cave. F***ing Nick Cave.'' As the night went on, Cave says the young man grew maudlin. 'I asked him again if he was alright, and he burst into tears and said, 'My wife kicked me out. Told me never to come back. She says she hates me.' I was drunk, so I hugged him and asked, 'Why does she hate you?' He said, 'She thinks I'm stupid,'' Cave continued. 'Then he pointed at me and said, 'But she f***ing loves you. Just completely loves you.' I said, 'Really?' He replied, 'Yeah, Peggy Sue Got Married is her favourite film. She's watched it like a hundred times.' Then Diego started crying again. 'I was about to explain that he'd made a mistake and mixed me up with the actor, Nicolas Cage, but he looked up at me with such a pitiful mixture of tragedy and wonder that I didn't have the heart. 'She just loves you, man,' he said. 'Then he asked me about my acting career. I said something like, 'I'm just an ordinary person like you. Hollywood is not all it's cracked up to be. It can be a cruel place. It gets lonely sometimes,' and so on. 'After a while, I began to warm to my theme. I told him that making Raising Arizona was the most extraordinary experience and a highpoint in my career, that John Goodman was a fascinating and complex character, and how it was a real privilege to work with the Coen brothers and that they were 'masters of their craft' and all this bulls***. 'Eventually, Diego decided he should go back home and tell his wife, Ana, that he'd met her favourite actor, and that Nick Cave says he's not stupid, and that he's a good guy. Then he suggested that I come home with him and put in a good word. I tried to dissuade him, telling him that it was impossible as I had to be on a movie set early in the morning. Eventually, he relented, and instead we got a pen and a piece of paper from the barman, and I wrote: 'Dear Ana, Diego is not stupid. He's a good guy. Love, Nic Cage.'' Cave recalled that as the young man stumbled away, the barman observed: 'His wife's got a point.' The musician added that he's a fan of Cage's work, saying: 'Have you guys seen Mandy? My God. What a film.' It is not the first time Cave has commented on the confusion between the two men. In 2022, he wrote that: 'I'll be going through customs and the customs officer will look at my passport and say, 'Happy to have you with us, Mr Cave. Loved you in Face/Off.'
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nick Cave Confirms He Too Gets Mixed Up with Nicolas Cage
The post Nick Cave Confirms He Too Gets Mixed Up with Nicolas Cage appeared first on Consequence. Last week, Nicolas Cage made headlines by claiming he is frequently 'mistaken' for Nick Cave due to 'only one letter' separating their last names. Now, Cave has shared an amusing anecdote about posing as the actor while speaking to a heartbroken man named Diego in Brazil. In his latest Red Hand Files newsletter, the musician responded to fan questions about the Cage interview by recalling a story of drunkenly stumbling into a bar while he was living in São Paulo, where he met the 'downcast' and 'maudlin' Diego, who got really excited when the bartender told him he was talking to Nick Cave. Unfortunately, Diego had mixed up Cave's name with that of his wife's favorite actor, Nic Cage. Get Nick Cave Tickets Here 'Diego suddenly became super-animated, jumping around on his stool, saying that he loved me, that he was my greatest fan, and so on and so forth. He kept looking at me, then at his drink, shaking his head in wonder and saying, 'Nick Cave. Fucking Nick Cave,'' Cave remembered. 'I asked him again if he was alright, and he burst into tears and said, 'My wife kicked me out. Told me never to come back. She says she hates me.' I was drunk, so I hugged him and asked, 'Why does she hate you?' He said, 'She thinks I'm stupid.' Then he pointed at me and said, 'But she fucking loves you. Just completely loves you.' I said, 'Really?' He replied, 'Yeah, Peggy Sue Got Married is her favourite film. She's watched it like a hundred times.'' When Diego started crying again, Cave thought about explaining the mix-up, but chose to play along instead. 'I said something like, 'I'm just an ordinary person like you. Hollywood is not all it's cracked up to be. It can be a cruel place. It gets lonely sometimes,' and so on,' Cave wrote. 'After a while, I began to warm to my theme. I told him that making Raising Arizona was the most extraordinary experience and a highpoint in my career, that John Goodman was a fascinating and complex character, and how it was a real privilege to work with the Coen brothers and that they were 'masters of their craft' and all this bullshit.' Hearing this cheered Diego up and gave him the idea to tell his wife the man he believed to be Nic Cage had said 'he's not stupid, and that he's a good guy.' However, he also wanted Cave to come along and 'put in a good word.' Begging off, Cave used the excuse of having to 'be on a movie set early in the morning' and instead penned a handwritten note saying, 'Dear Ana, Diego is not stupid. He's a good guy. Love, Nic Cage.' 'Anyway, these confusions between me and Mr. Cage happen fairly often,' Cave concluded in his newsletter. 'But I don't mind. I'm a fan. Have you guys seen Mandy? My God. What a film.' This isn't the first time Nick Cave has written in his newsletter about being mistaken for Nic Cage. In a 2022 entry, the artist shared that a customs officer once told him that they loved him in Face/Off. In that same entry, Cave wrote about actually meeting Cage in Australia several years back. Cave is wrapping up his current North American tour with the Bad Seeds (get tickets here) ahead of his summer European solo trek (get tickets here). Popular Posts Drummer Chris Adler Opens Up on What Led to Firing from Lamb of God Stephen King's The Long Walk Movie Gets Long-Awaited Trailer: Watch Jazz Pianist Matthew Shipp Derides André 3000's New Piano Project: "Complete and Utter Crap" Say It in Ghor: How Andor Brought a Brand New Language to Star Wars Metallica Perform "Enter Sandman" at Virginia Tech Stadium 25 Years After It Became School Tradition: Watch Nicolas Cage Says He Is "Mistaken" for Nick Cave Almost Every Day Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
The Herald Scotland
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
What are Nicolas Cage's best movies? 10 worth your time
Cage's style has always been flamboyant, showy, some might say over the top. He is not a quiet actor. The late David Lynch once described him as 'the jazz musician of American acting'. But what are his best tunes? Here's 10 that are worth your time. Valley Girl (Martha Coolidge, 1983) Nicolas Cage in Valley-Girls (Image: unknown) 'What a hunk.' Cage as romantic lead? It's maybe hard to remember now given all the gore and violence that was to follow, but that was one of his early calling cards. In this 1983 comedy he plays a punk from Hollywood who falls for the valley girl of the title (Deborah Foreman). Cage was a teenager when the movie was shot and as he has said himself didn't have a method at the time. But the result is a performance that's restrained and sweet, if a bit sweary. The American film critic Roger Ebert loved Valley Girl at the time: 'This movie is a little treasure.' Peggy Sue Got Married (Francis Ford Coppola, 1986) The first time you get a sense of Cage's 'difference' as an actor. Coppola's time-travelling romance sends Kathleen Turner back to her school days and her first meeting with the man she would marry. Cage's performance as the bouffant-haired, lemon V-necked future husband can feel like it should be in another movie at times, but it was a marker of where he was heading. Raising Arizona (The Coen Brothers, 1987) The Coen Brothers' live-action version of a Warner Brothers cartoon delights in Cage's rubbery, long-limbed, bounciness. At times he looks like he's been drawn by Chuck Jones. Raising Arizona is the second Coen Brothers movie and one of their most joyous; a giddy plot involving a stolen child, escaped felons, a biker from hell and some top-notch yodelling. It's a show-off movie full of amphetamine-fuelled tracking shots and big performances. As a result, Cage fits right in. Moonstruck (Norman Jewison, 1987) Norman Jewison's romantic comedy is a self-consciously operatic movie that's primed for excess in both its language - John Patrick Shanley's endlessly quotable script is ripe cheese; pungent and tart - and its expression. And there is no one more expressive than Cage. As the one-armed baker Ronny Cammareri he turns the amp up to 11 from the very first time we see him. My favourite Cage performance. And Cage and Cher make a great couple. Wild At Heart (David Lynch, 1990) By the time he appeared in Lynch's Wild at Heart the 'Nicolas Cageness' of Cage was already established. Eating live cockroaches on camera for the movie Vampire's Kiss probably helped. As Sailor in Lynch's road movie, he channels Elvis and beats a guy's brains out (literally). At times it feels like the director is parodying himself. But there is a charge between Cage and Laura Dern. And the car crash sequence is prime Lynch; strange and sad and chilling all at the same time. Con Air (Simon Jenkins, 1997) The 1990s were weird for Cage. He turned up in neo-noirs (Red Rock West), erotic thrillers (Zandalee), the unjustly neglected crime drama Kiss of Death and the highly-regarded yet rather problematic Mike Figgis drama Leaving Las Vegas in which Cage won an Oscar playing a writer determined to drink himself to death. Then there was the unnecessary Hollywood remake of Wings of Desire - renamed City of Angels - and the deeply unpleasant 8mm. Nicolas Cage in Con Air (Image: unknown) And, of course, there were the blockbusters. The Rock, opposite Sean Connery, and Face/Off opposite John Travolta, a favourite of many, directed by Hong Kong's king of action movies John Woo. But I'd opt for Simon West's Con AIr, in which Cage plays the wrongly imprisoned Cameron Poe just wanting to get home to his wife and kid, but stuck on a plane full of psychopaths and murderers led by Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich's best cartoon villain performance). It's either a smart movie playing dumb or a dumb movie pretending to be smart. Or maybe it's both at the same time. It's certainly a big, blowsy entertainment and Cage looks great with long hair. Bringing Out the Dead (Martin Scorsese, 1999) Nicolas Cage in Bringing Out the Dead (Image: unknown) This 1999 Scorsese movie - with a script from Paul Schrader - is rather overlooked. Maybe because at the time it was seen as a film too much in Taxi Driver's shadow. But this story of a New York paramedic played by Cage is a fever dream of a film; dark, painful, terrifying, hallucinogenic. It offers one of Cage's quieter performances (up to a point), but that's because his character is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. It's a difficult, dark movie but it has a power to it. And you will laugh at the I Be Banging scene. Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002) And then we're into the 21st century and, oh boy, a lot of bad movies (mostly reduced to 'Cage Rage' memes). And yet the century started so well. This was director Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman's follow-up to Being John Malkovich and it has a similar meta vibe to it. It's the story of Charlie Kaufman trying to adapt New Yorker writer Susan Orelan's book The Orchid Thief. Cage plays Kaufman and Kaufman's brother Donald. He got nominated for an Oscar for the double role but lost out to Adrien Brody. Mandy (Panos Cosmatos, 2018) Safe to say, not for everyone. Panos Cosmatos's bloody revenge movie is over the top of over the top. Chainsaw fights? Check. Big axe called The Beast? Check. So, it's tailor-made for Cageian excess (and it gets it). By now Cage has cast off even the slightest notion of naturalism in his performances. Cosmatos gives him a film that is as unhinged as he is. If death metal were a movie … Nicolas Cage in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Image: unknown) The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Tom Gormican, 2022) Not a great film to end on but one at least aware of Cage's reputation of late and having fun playing with it, albeit heavy-handedly. In it Cage plays Nick Cage, a past-it actor whose career and financial situation is foundering. So much so that he agrees to appear at the birthday party of a billionaire superfan played by Pedro Pascal who may also be head of a cartel. The humour is broad and isn't really ready to stick the knife in, but Cage is having fun playing this version of himself.
