macy gray

Even a gritty film that offers viewers several full-force emotional kicks in the stomach deserves a glamorous movie premiere.

"For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" is a play, built from 20 poems, that first opened at a woman's bar in Berkeley, California, and won a Tony Award on Broadway in 1976. While director Tyler Perry has frequently worked with all-star, mainly female African-American casts, he has never attempted such challenging material--long, poetic speeches punctuated at times by eye-shielding violence.

Perry, right, wearing a distinct three-piece suit with broad pin stripes, said he didn't originally jump at the project. "I got a phone call about five years ago, he mentioned at the Ziegfeld in New York on Monday. "Somebody said, 'What about "Colored Girls"?'

"Whoopi Goldberg, who is in the cast, called him "a couple of years after that . . . somebody else called, somebody else called. . . . and I don't need a brick to fall on me," he indicated.

"I saw the original Broadway production," Phylicia Rashad, who plays a central character, told RSVIP. "It was disturbing. I'd never seen anything quite so raw."

And does Rashad, who was wearing a sparkling tunic, and bejeweled shoes by Beverly Feldman, think that Perry did a good job translating the landmark work to the big screen? Yes . . . and the poetry hasn't been sacrificed. He opens things up, so you can see as you listen and hear."

Macy Gray, who plays a role in one of the more disturbing scenes in the film, also performs one of the songs on the all-star soundtrack. "Tyler liked my song "Stand Up," which summarizes the film. 'No matter what happens, get back up on your feet and live and survive.'"

"I've already seen the film. And I thought it was fascinating . . . very heavy," said Gray who accented her eyebrows with small crystals. "But it's definitely a movie you should see. It's well-crafted, well-acted, and important."

"Janet makes me schvitz," offered fellow cast-member Kerry Washington, patting her face with a white handkerchief as she stood next to Janet Jackson.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--The official listings for Julian Schnabel's Palazzo Chupi have hit the market. We covered these listings as our estate of the day recently but the listings have a few more pictures. The $32 million listing is here and the $27 million listing is here.
--Springsteen guitarist and Sopranos star Steven Van Zandt and wife Maureen have closed on a three-bedroom penthouse in a converted Methodist church at 135 West Fourth Street for $6 million.
--A townhouse at pricey Beekman Place that belonged to the late William Rupp is now listed at $25 million. It sounds like Rupp was a bit of a grump, he built a massive wall on top of his house which he refused to remove. Now the wall is being torn down. The townhouse is one of only nine on the river side from 50-51st Street. The 12-room townhouse also has plans for a three-story addition on top of the existing two-story extension which have been approved by the city and would add another 1403 sq. ft. The listing is here.
--Yankees player Bobby Abreu has listed two-bedroom condo at One Beacon for $7.9 million. The spare and bare apartment, shown above, is listed here.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Cameron Diaz has picked up a five-room renovated residence in a prewar doorman building, with an asking price just under $3 million.
--Brooke Shields has been spotted looking at homes in New York City. She and husband Chris Hency have been seen checking out a four-bedroom townhouse on West 20th Street with close to a $7 million asking price.
--Holly Speyer Lipton, the daughter of Rockefeller Center owner Jerry Speyer, has purchased a 12-room Park Avenue co-op for $12 million.
--Alain Levy, the former head of EMI Music, has paid $6.274 million for a two-bedroom, two-plus-bath apartment with Fifth Avenue views from the 18th floor.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--As previously reported by the Real Estalker back in November, Vera Wang has listed her family's Palm Beach oceanfront mansion for $19 million. In November, the estate, which belonged to her father Cheng Ching Wang, was listed for $23 million.
--Jason Brand, president of Merrill Lynch Pacific Rim, has bought a Hawaii oceanfront house for $15.9 million, which is a full 39% below its original listing price.
--As we mentioned in January, the former Atlanta estate of the late Robert Woodruff, longtime chairman of Coca-Cola Co., is for sale for $13.9 million. Check out pictures at the estate of the day post here.

From Berg Properties Celebrity Big Time Listings:
--It's official, Richie Sambora has paid $4 million to purchase a Calabasas home from San Diego Padres starting pitcher Randy Wolf.
--Model and actress Kelly Van Halen (formerly married to Alex Van Halen) has listed her five-bedroom house in Encino. It is our estate of the day later today.
-TV talk show host and entertainment mogul Byron Allen has gone into escrow on the Hollywood Hills home that he had listed for $6.995 million.
--An Encino mansion that Macy Gray sold in December 2006 for $4,750,000 was listed at $11.7 million after a major rehab. It is now down to $9.96 million. The listing is here.
--Movie producer Gilbert Adler has listed his house in Beverly Hills for $7.9 million. The listing is here.


From the Real Estalker:
--Home makeover television host Ty Pennington has picked up a two-bedroom condo in the West Chelsea neighborhood in New York City. It had a $2.495 million asking price.
--Rumor has it that the nearly one-million-dollar two-bedroom apartment in New York that Nicole Richie and Joel Madden recently purchased may be back on the market soon.
--via Page Six, Jon Bon Jovi has sold his Upper West Side condo for $5.484 million.
--via Newsday, the home next to Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's estate in Brookville, New York has been listed at $2.229 million. To get to the five-bedroom home you have to pass through the same "million-dollar gates" that Lopez and Anthony installed for protection. The listing is here.
--Also the nine-bedroom home next to Lopez and Anthony in Bel Air is also for sale for $6.995 million. The virtual tour is here.
--Jude Law has reportedly purchased the London house he's been leasing in the Maida Vale neighborhood for around £3,500,000.
--The Real Estalker Mama covers the real estate dealings of real estate agent Kurt Rappaport who sold his house on Calle Vista Drive in Beverly Hills to Tom Cruise for $30.5 million. He has now purchased a lavish home on N. Crescent Drive in Beverly Hills for $15.99 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--As the Real Estalker previously reported, actor Sean Hayes has listed his Hancock Park home for $8.95 million. We covered it as our estate of the day a few weeks back.
--Stan Jolley, a movie art director, a TV producer-director and one of the original designers of Disneyland has nearly completed his work on a Maya-themed home in Rancho Mirage. He bought the house for $7.7 million and spent another $3.5 million on renovations and furnishings.
--A home that once belonged to 1940s Oscar-winning actor Van Heflin is listed for sale for $6.595 million. It currently belongs to Barry and Kathy Silverton. She was named the 23rd District's Woman of the Year by the state Senate in 2005. The listing for the home is here.
--An Outpost Estates home that was built for actor John Barrymore and has also been lived in by orchestra conductor André Previn and actors James Coburn and Lee Marvin is listed for $3.2 million. I wish the pictures were larger in the listing because this is a real slice of old Hollywood and has some very quirky details.

From the Times Online:
--8 St. James Square in London has set a new property record, with a price expected to be between £115 and £120 million. The property will be turned into six lavish apartments.