New Zealand Opera’s production of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly opened in Auckland on Thursday and played to an almost full house at the newly refurbished ASB Theatre in the Aotea Centre. You probably know the story – the philandering Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton, US Navy, finding himself in Nagasaki, takes a wife, the completely naive and trusting Butterfly.
Category Archives: Movies and Entertainment
TV host ‘eating herself to death’
The former host of the Australia’s Biggest Loser fears she is eating herself to death. Ajay Rochester, who fronted the popular weight loss show for three years before leaving in 2009, has admitted she has gained a staggering 48kgs.
Never-before-seen nude Jolie
A quick scout around the pervier corners of the net – the ones where screen-shots of onscreen nudity are piled high – will offer up plenty of images of Angelina Jolie naked. But snaps of a topless Angelina Jolie with a horse They’re much harder to come by, unless you’re happy to settle for bad Photoshopping and the disapproving looks of friends, family and colleagues for even searching for such a thing.
Brosnan backs a black Bond
If M can be a woman, why can’t James Bond be black Pierce Brosnan is recommending it, suggesting during promotions for the UK release of the film Love is All You Need, that when (and if) Daniel Craig should choose to put down the Walther PPK, actor Colin Salmon should get a shot. Though Craig has signed on for “at least two more films” according to Bond producer Barbara Broccoli, Brosnan feels it is “absolutely essential” that Salmon play the first black James Bond, and join him in a very exclusive and beneficial club.
What live gig do you wish you had seen?
George Lucas to tie the knot
George Lucas will marry longtime girlfriend Mellody Hobson this winter, according to a new report.
Quinn’s mighty detective
Landing a role in the modern Sherlock Holmes series Elementary was a chance to revisit childhood for Aidan Quinn. The Chicago-born actor, who plays Captain Tommy Gregson in the TV series, says he remembers reading Sherlock Holmes stories as a youngster
Kiwi designer for Napster founder’s wedding
An Oscar-winning Kiwi costume designer has been asked to weave her magic at an internet billionaire’s fairytale wedding. Sean Parker, founder of file-sharing site Napster and later president of Facebook, has hired film costume designer Ngila Dickson to create an outfit for each guest at his US$10 million (NZ$11.8m) wedding in California in June
Star Wars films to come out yearly
Disney is turning Star Wars films into an annual ritual. Walt Disney chairman Alan Horn has announced that the studio would release films set in a galaxy far, far away every year starting in 2015
Paris Jackson will ‘tear Murray apart’
Michael Jackson’s daughter reportedly wants to “tear Conrad Murray apart” when she testifies in her family’s wrongful death suit against AEG Live. Paris Jackson’s grandmother Katherine Jackson has accused the firm of negligent behaviour leading to the King of Pop’s 2009 death