The Hollywood Reporter (Weekly)
Rambling Reporter
In-Person Holiday Parties Are Back — Vaccinations Required
’Tis the season for holiday parties, and across Hollywood in-person gatherings are back. But there’s no rubbing noses under the mistletoe. Of the invites THR fielded in recent weeks, all have required proof of COVID-19 vaccination. MGM hosted a holiday toast at the Houdini Estate on Nov. 13 that included an on-site testing tent. Disney Branded Television and National Geographic teamed for a reception Dec. 14 at Terra at Eataly in Century City with masks “strongly encouraged” and proof of vaccination required — same for Array’s holiday fete as the Ava DuVernay-led company opened up its Los Angeles campus for an afternoon soiree Dec. 10. Actor Dulé Hill tells THR that invites are coming in but he’s saying yes only if “the invitation is right,” explaining, “We have a 2-year-old at home who’s not vaccinated. It makes you think, ‘Do I really want to go and put myself in that dynamic for a party?’ ”
A Con Woman Goes Audible
In 1999, Vanity Fair published “The Miranda Obsession,” an investigation by writer Bryan Burrough into a mysterious woman, calling herself Miranda Grosvenor, who cold-called famous men from Hollywood to New York, keeping them on the line with her sexy charm, a gift for gab and an endless supply of insider information. The list of phone pals allegedly included Robert De Niro, Billy Joel and
Warren Beatty, among many others. The story is about to get new life as a scripted podcast courtesy of Audible, Vice Studios and Wingate Media, to be released April 28. Tales of the City scribe Jen Silverman has adapted it, with Rachel Brosnahan performing as Miranda and a cast including Josh Groban (playing Billy Joel), John Benjamin Hickey (Buck Henry) and Milo Ventimiglia (Richard Perry). Brosnahan says she was “completely captivated”
by Grosvenor, “Not only did she hold her own, but she curated a fantasy on the other end of the telephone and drew men into her design with words alone.”
A ‘Tonight, Tonight’ to Remember
Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story was unveiled Nov. 29 with a world premiere at New York City’s Lincoln Center, but its Los Angeles screening at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre a week later was just as celebratory (and nostalgic), providing a curtain call for outgoing Disney executives Bob Iger and Alan Horn. The event marked the last Disney premiere the two executives would attend as part of their official duties before retiring Dec. 31.