"A Few Good Men" Headed Back to the Great White Way

I was ecstatic to hear this week that "A Few Good Men" by the incomparable Aaron Sorkin is gearing up for a Broadway revival. One great thing this revival is doing is having Sorkin make some rewrites to the script. His movie script is much stronger in several scenes that and I think this is clearly a good call -- especially with the whole flight plan sequence. With the changes, I hope that they don't modernize the situations to reflect the current climate. Just because Gitmo is a setting in the show doesn't mean the show needs to deal with Iraq/Afghanistan inmates, etc. We shall see.

The other talk is about the casting of Lt. Kaffee -- the part originated by Tom Hulce, made iconic by Tom Cruise on film, and of course immortalized (more like moderately portrayed ) by yours truly in March 2009.

According to the NYTimes an executive "mentioned off hand that James Franco was the sort of actor who might be ideal in the role — or perhaps Justin Timberlake — but said that those names were merely examples of the sort of star name and caliber of the talent that were being sought, and emphasized that it should not be assumed with either actor would be cast in the part."

I like the Franco call -- he's always done good work and would love to see him on stage, but c'mon -- JT?!??! He's funny on SNL but not a pick for Kaffee. Outside of Franco, how about Chris Pine of "Star Trek" fame? His look could have him play either Kaffee or Ross (Kevin Bacon role). Plus, he has some recent stage credits -- in the summer of 2009 he appeared in the Los Angeles production of the Beau Willimon play "Farragut North."

It's Good (Not) To Be The King (Of Late)?

Like many people out there, I've been on "Team Conan" during the NBC late night battle. I'm glad Conan has stuck to his guns and I think he's gained more fans during all this by putting the show before himself. On the flip side, karma is going to come around and keep NBC's late night ratings low because of the awful way they have handled things and Jay's likability has definitely gone down. So, Conan will no longer be the King Of Late Night after this Friday -- but I guess *NOT* being king isn't so bad after all when you leave with your principals and $45 million ($33 million for Conan/$12 million for his staff). Conan can go back on the air somewhere in September -- here's hoping he gets picked up right away.

Wes Clark for House

I was excited for the Wes Clark campaign for President in 2004. I think maybe I had hopes of him being a modern day Eisenhower for the Dems. I was waaaaaay off. It looks like Mr. Clark has his sights set a bit lower this time -- he's considering a run for Congress. I hope he does run -- I think he could bring some good perspective to the often muddled House.

Worst Album of 2010

This album that's going to be released Jan. 26th is already my vote for worst of the year. Do we really need smooth jazz versions of hip-hop songs? Just because things worked well when the Beatles "White Album" was mixed with Jay-Z's "Black Album" doesn't mean throwing anything into the pot and cooking it is a good idea.

Some preview songs can be heard here. I guarantee it will make you ears bleed.

The Amazing Johnny Mercer

First off, Happy 2010! Haven't written anything for the faithful readers of The Brown Note in a few weeks -- all 2 of you. To start off for this new decade, I thought I would share from a show that I love so much each week -- CBS Sunday Morning. Fr. Ryan Maher SJ described the show to me in high school as "poetry on TV." The show is brilliant and is always filled with in-depth profile and pointed commentaries.

This morning, I was loving a piece on lyricist Johnny Mercer. I knew that Mr. Mercer had penned the words for so many famous songs including some of my favorites of all time: "Summer Wind," "Days of Wine and Roses," "Moon River," and "One for my Baby" to name a small few. The piece on Sunday Morning filled you in on the plethora of songs his wrote but also gave insight into the tortured, flawed side of the man. It was a great story and I look forward to finding out more about him. The clip isn't up on CBS yet, but you can read more here.