Rosie O'Donnell: May 2008 Archives

Sunday night is the premiere of "Million Dollar Password" to be hosted by Regis. I'm pretty pleased with the celebrity line-up of Neil Patrick Harris, Rosie O'Doinnell and Betty White. Betty was married to original Password host Allen Ludden and frequently guested. I was a Password freak as a kid, used to dream about being on the show and remember being over the moon when my parents gave me the board game for Christmas one year.

Rosie O'Donnell dropped this bombshell on her blog the other day:

i am 46
last night i saw a friend my age
on television
with a brand new face

i am never sure how to react
i email others asking
did u see her - she's different
right ?

Anyone have any guesses? An actress in her mid-40s who's friends with Rosie, is on TV, and whose face looks new. I'd guess Mary Tyler Moore but she's 70-plus. That sure was a new face she had on Oprah though.

I have not been able to put Barbara Walters' book, "Audition," down all weekend. It is an awesome read so far. To go along with Barbara during the 60s and 70s when she was breaking down barriers and traveling the globe snagging exclusive interviews left and right, you realize what an epic life she has had - really historic. People who mainly just know her from "The View" and "20-20" and the celebrity specials are in for some really fascinating stuff.

But even I gotta admit that after picking up the book at The Grove on Saturday, I sat at the Barnes & Noble and first looked at all the pictures then went straight to the chapter in the book on "The View" before even leaving the store! What was Star Jones pitching a fit over? Barbara is very fair to her in this book. Star has problems. It is Rosie O'Donnell who is written about extensively in the chapter and not always in a flattering light. Here are some excerpts:

Rosie's moods: "In the early weeks of the program, we were all rather anxious about what kind of mood Rosie would be in when she entered the dressing room. One day she would be upbeat and smiling , the next day dark and subdued. Gradually, we learned to go with the flow..."

Teamwork: "Rosie had originally said she wanted to ride the bus, not drive it. But this backseat role simply was not her nature. Rosie is a big talent, funny, smart, opinionated, passionate - and controlling. ... The premise of 'The View' is that of a team working together, but for Rosie it was more like Diana Ross and the Supremes, as little by little she took over. Still, she was such a talent that we lived with it."

On Rosie's book 'Celebrity Detox' in which she slammed Barbara: "...Harsh and insulting accusations, some logical, some off the wall, filled page after page. Miszed up in the criticisms were protestations of love...I am not a Pollyanna, but I truly believe that Rosie did not intend to hurt me. She herself must have come to regret what she'd written, because she canceled most of her television interviews promoting the book. She also sent me a series of long, tender e-mails. I was touched by them and finally did respond. I can't be mad at Rosie for long."

Rosie O'Donnell has returned to Broadway for a run in "No No Nanette" and her reviews have been terrific - better than those for the overall show,

New York Times: Ms. O'Donnell, of whom you may have heard, scores a personal triumph as the Smiths' grumpy, bossy maid. With only minimal changes in vocal and facial expressions, she projects more comic authority than anyone around her (and more, I might add, than she ever has before in her various outings on Broadway).

Newsday:: ...Most fun involves Rosie O'Donnell, as the second-banana wisecracking maid, doing a few minutes of sweetly capable tap at the end,

TheaterMania.com: Then there's O'Donnell, who has the script's drollest lines and knows precisely how to land them. For much of the time she's pushing a recalcitrant Hoover around, and it becomes a metaphor for her ability to hoover up the yuks. Plus, she taps like a demon. (Eat your heart, Barbara Walters!)

Washington Post: And then there is Rosie O'Donnell as a wisecracking maid. O'Donnell may not be much of a singer, but she's a game tapper and wins most of her laughs playing off a recalcitrant vacuum cleaner, not the easiest of tasks.

Variety: And while she could stand to loosen up a little more, Rosie O'Donnell deadpans enjoyably as the Smiths' put-upon maid Pauline, even muscling in on the dance action with a brief but capable tap solo.

Rosie O'Donnell doesn't seem to miss being on "The View" but that doesn't stop her from talking about the show that she left nearly a year ago.

"Passion on that show was not number one," Rosie said on the Today show Monday. "Some people confuse passion for rage. I have a lot of passion about things I believe in."

Rosie said she never set out to cause controversy but "when somebody would say something that I found insane, I would say, 'That's insane.'"

She and Barbara Walters are still friends, attending plays together and exchanging emails. She also touches base occasionally with Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

She wants to make clear that neither Hasselbeck or anyone else on the panel were the reason she left nearly a month before her one-year contract was up: "It was not the people on the stage. It was the director and the executive producer. You have a choice, do you want to choose to fight for a living...they made it into Hardball."

Here is a clip from Rosie's appearance:

I hadn't watched Rosie O'Donnell's video blog in quite awhile and finally just caught up on it. Rosie is going to be appearing in "No, No Nanette" which I did not know about. She was a smash on Broadway back in the mid-90s as Rizzo in a hugely successful revival of "Grease."

"I'm doing a musical which I love a lot," Rosie said.

She also defended 15-year-old Miley Cyrus who has been at the center of a mega-controversy because of some provocative photos of her shot by Annie Leibowitz for "Vanity Fair."

"Annie Liebowitz; I had two photo shoots with her. You kind of do what she says. It's intimidating, Annie Liebowitz. I also didn't think it was a pornographic photo in any capacity. I thought it was sort of a beautiful portrait, you know. I like the one of her and her dad, too, I don't know. It's Annie Liebowitz, people, you know. Leave Miley Cyrus alone. Disney, making her apologize: Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay."

Here is a link to her vlog:
http://rosie.com/blog/2008/04/28/mon-nite-talky/