Sarah Jessica Parker has a new role: radio host.
On April 15 and 16, Ms. Parker will be at the helm of WNYC’s “The Leonard Lopate Show” while its namesake host is on vacation. “It’s thrilling and terrifying to sit in Leonard’s chair for a little while,” she said in an email.
Her guests are heavyweights on the city’s art and cultural scene.
Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, is scheduled for the April 16 program, which will also feature New York City Ballet principal dancers Ashley Bouder and Sara Mearns. Parker, who is well-known as a balletomane, also reached out to Gelsey Kirkland, who was first a principal at City Ballet in 1972, then switched to American Ballet Theatre in 1974. After a long career, she opened her own ballet school in TriBeCa with her husband. Novelist Anthony Marra will join to talk about his book “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena.”
Broadway insiders are among Parker’s guests on April 15. Playwright Terrence McNally will discuss his new play “Mothers and Sons,” along with actors Tyne Daly and Bobby Steggert. “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” will be represented by its star Jessie Mueller and Doug McGrath, who wrote the book of the musical. Visual artist Alex Katz and journalist Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker also headline the guest list.
As a longtime listener of WNYC, Parker said she jumped at the chance to be a first-time host: “Everyone in my life knows about my devotion to the station.”
“The Leonard Lopate Show” airs weekdays from noon to 2 p.m. on 93.9 FM and AM 820, as well as www.wnyc.org.
Category: News
AOL Renews Sarah Jessica Parker’s “city.ballet.”
AOL is bringing back four web series for its 2014 originals slate, including Nicole Richie’s “#CandidlyNicole” and “city.ballet.” from exec producer Sarah Jessica Parker.
The company said it renewed ad deals for three of the returning shows with their first-season sponsors: Citi for “city.ballet,” a look at the life of New York City Ballet dancers, and Verizon for tech-themed shows “Hardwired” and “The Future Starts Here.” AOL is still seeking an advertiser for its most popular show, “#CandidlyNicole,” a short-form series reality based on Richie’s Twitter musings. VH1 is picking up a long-form version of “#CandidlyNicole”; on AOL, season two will feature original content separate from the VH1 series.
For now, AOL has declined to renew 11 series from its first run at original programming. But the company still could bring some of those back depending on advertiser interest.
AOL faces heightened competition from other ad-supported digital video platforms, including Hulu, Microsoft — whose Xbox Entertainment Studios has lined up shows from Michael Cera, Seth Green, Sarah Silverman and others to debut this summer — and Yahoo, which is “close to ordering” four TV-length comedies, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to AOL, the first seasons of the four series combined received more than 75 million views. The Internet media company will pitch advertisers on its programming slate at its Digital Content NewFronts event April 29 in Brooklyn.
Last week AOL announced two new originals for 2014: “Connected,” its first TV-length video series, an adaptation of an Israeli reality show that will be set in New York City; and “Park Bench” with Steve Buscemi’s unscripted conversations with friends and New Yorkers.
“We have seen a strong response from top brands looking to reach consumers they may be missing on TV and wishing to align with quality content that makes sense for their brand(s), making immediate decisions to renew against second seasons of three of our top programs before we could open them up for sale,” Charles Gabriel, AOL’s SVP of global video sales, said in announcing the renewals.
Variety’s Power of Women luncheon will make its New York City debut by honoring Claire Danes, Nancy Dubuc, Idina Menzel, Iman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Susan Sarandon on April 25 at Cipriani Midtown.
In partnership with A&E’s new television network, FYI, Variety is thrilled to bestow this group of the entertainment industry’s most philanthropic women with Variety’s Inspiration Impact Honorees.
The women are being recognized for their humanitarian efforts with their chosen causes. Oscar winner Sarandon works with Hope North, which works to educate and heal the youth of Uganda’s civil war. Golden Globe and Emmy winners Parker and Danes work with New York City Ballet and Afghan Hands, respectively. In 2010, Tony winner Menzel co-created A Broader Way, an arts centered program for urban girls. International super model Iman works with Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation, which provides support and relief for women and children in Somalia, while A+E Networks president and CEO Nancy Dubuc works with veterans group Project Rubicon / The Mission Continues.
The exclusive event will host 300 entertainment and media insiders and includes VIP pre- and post-ceremony cocktail receptions with an interactive philanthropy bazaar that allows guests to engage with the featured charities and participating brand sponsors.
“We’re thrilled to continue building on the legacy of Variety’s Power of Women by bringing the event to New York,” Variety publisher Michelle Sobrino-Stearns said in a statement. “The debut of Variety’s Power of Women in New York is a testament to the impact of the annual event held in Los Angeles and, with celebrations now on both coasts, we have the distinct privilege to continue honoring these incredible women who have influenced our industry and communities, and who are harnessing the power of giving back to inspire others to do the same.”
Jana Bennett, president of FYI and LMN, added, “It’s an honor for FYI to join Variety in celebrating these inspirational women in entertainment and their incredible accomplishments. The Power of Women event helps to inspire us all about the importance of using our powerful platforms to not only entertain, but to give back to the community.”
This year’s event is presented by FYI network and sponsored by American Airlines, Crystal Light, Movado, and NYDJ.
NYDJ will recognize one woman who has given back to her community as the winner of the brand’s first-ever Woman of Originality award. Submissions can be made through the company’s Facebook page until April 4. The winner of the contest will receive a free trip to New York City to attend the event and be presented the award by supermodel and photographer Helena Christensen.
The Guardian Interview – Sarah Jessica Parker: “I don’t think we’re alone in the universe”
Hello Sarah. Is Escape From Planet Earth your first animated movie?
I think it’s the first full-length theatrical release. I don’t recall any more, to be honest. I’ve probably done short-form voice stuff before.And this is your third space-themed movie.
It is? Remind me.Well, there was Flight of the Navigator, and then Mars Attacks!
Ah, yes, you’re right. I seem to be drawn to the genre, even though I don’t even remember that I am.In some ways, would you see this as the completion of a trilogy?
Oh my God, I love that you’re looking at it with such a scholarly approach. Yes! Let’s pretend that that’s exactly why I did it. That’s so smart. Yes, I have been seeking out that last film to complete the trilogy. Only the Guardian would have cracked this.Your character in this film is called Kira Supernova. Is that the best-named character you’ve ever played?
Most assuredly. Absolutely. Inarguably.I was looking at your IMDb page this morning …
Ah. I have one?Yes, and I noticed that many of the characters you played before 1993 don’t have surnames, but all the ones you’ve played since do. Was that a conscious decision on your part?
Is that right? Do you think that is something my agents negotiated on my behalf? You are noticing, discerning, mining things that nobody else ever has. If I ever, ever, ever write a book about my life, you will certainly be the author. Nobody has ever spent this amount of time thinking about my career. Including me!Do you believe in aliens?
No.So you’re saying that mankind is essentially alone in the universe.
Well, I don’t think we’re alone in the universe. But I don’t think aliens are how we have experienced them thus far on screen. We discovered that there may have been water elsewhere, and that was a massive and important discovery in the world of science, right? This suggests that something benefited from the water. But whether they wear funny outfits and they’re clever and they say snarky things to each other and have wonderfully big sweet eyes? That, I’m dubious about. But I do enjoy the storytelling here on Earth.Even though your character in this new film gets left behind by her husband, despite being incredibly smart?
I think she has made some decisions, and she speaks to a way that maybe other women feel, you know? She’s left behind, and she’s maybe conflicted about those choices. And she becomes defensive. Do you choose work over family? I think that’s a position that a lot of women find themselves in. I think, a little bit, this film tries to talk about what it’s like to remove yourself from your professional workplace and work from home as a parent (5). It’s sweet, it’s nicely done.How many times today have you been asked about Sex and the City 3?
Three times today. I’m batting a thousand. What’s that in cricket? If you’re batting a thousand in American baseball, what would the analogy be for cricket?I dunno. Hitting a six? That sounds a lot less impressive than hitting a thousand, to be honest.
Those six must mean so much more. So, OK, I’m hitting a six. Out of three interviews, Sex and the City has been uttered three times.I’m not going to ask you about it. I just wanted to know if you were tired of talking about it.
I’m fine with it. It’s all right. It’s hardly a burden. I would rather be asked about that than countless other things. That was an enormously important, wonderful part of my life and to suggest that it’s burdensome in some way for people to enquire about a third movie? To be resentful or annoyed about that would be such a waste of someone’s time. I’m very fine with it. I’m OK.Last question. Your character in Flight of the Navigator was a big fan of Twisted Sister. I listened to them as a direct consequence of that, and they were rubbish. Do you have to apologise to a lot of people for this?
Holy moly. I don’t. You’re the first person. Once again, your approach to this interview … I’m gobsmacked. Nobody has ever mentioned it. I have long since forgotten that my character had an opinion one way or the other, and I don’t know that I’ve heard enough of Twisted Sister to myself have an opinion.OK, then. Thanks for your time.
Hey, I want more time with you in the future. I want to start each day with you.
Quick, what’s your favorite “Sex and the City” moment involving Carrie Bradshaw and her adored shoe collection?
Was it the time she got mugged, and the mugger specifically demanded her Manolo Blahniks? “Somebody stop him!” she cried out. “He took my strappy sandals!”
Or perhaps the time another pair of Manolos was stolen because, annoyingly, the hostess at a baby shower demanded that everyone take off their shoes.
Or maybe the time Carrie realized she’d spent so much on shoes, she couldn’t afford a down payment on an apartment. “I will literally be the Old Woman Who Lived in Her Shoes,” she moaned.
Well, “Sex and the City” ended in 2004 (the TV show anyway), and Carrie — er, actress Sarah Jessica Parker — has a lot more shoes to live in. Parker has launched her own shoe line, SJP, which also includes handbags, at Nordstrom. (Her business partner is George Malkemus, CEO of Manolo Blahnik, and the shoes are cheaper than Manolos — in the $300 range.)
The 48-year-old actress, who’s had previous forays into the fashion business but not a shoe line, sat down to not only talk about the new project, but also how she became so closely associated with fashion — something younger actresses now aspire to all the time, but wasn’t the norm when she started out. She also explained how she really did have her Manolos stolen. And she commented on the possibility of a third “Sex and the City” movie, hinting at a possible ending to Carrie’s story.
QUESTION: So how did this all get started?
Parker: Well, I was very kindly being offered a lot of opportunities in the shoe category and I kept rejecting them. And I couldn’t figure out why. And more importantly my agents couldn’t figure out why. … And I was sitting with some women friends of mine and they said to me, “What is it?” And I said, “Well, I know it’s not going to be the shoe that I want it to be.” And I said that really my dream partner is George Malkemus. And they said, “Have you asked him?”Malkemus: And we went back many years, before she was doing Carrie Bradshaw. (Malkemus tells the story of how he and Parker sat on the floor together in the mid-1980s, when Blahnik was doing a trunk show in Los Angeles, and she chose six pairs of shoes she loved.)
Parker (wistfully): And there was a tobacco-colored flat. A suede pointy flat. He had signed it! And then all except one pair were stolen. It was two years later … all my luggage was stolen. You only travel with what you love, so I had my Manolos, I had one Chanel suit and an old Yankees sweatshirt from the ’60s … and all I got back was my dog dish.
Q: Wait, so you actually DID have Manolos stolen?
Parker: Yes, I really did. In real life.Q: How did you choose which shoe in your new line to call “Carrie”?
Parker: There were other Carries. And it kept not feeling right. But this shoe (a T-strap heeled number in purple) is kind of a contradiction. Because there is something very feminine and ladylike about this shoe, but the purple is a little subversive. The purple is the person that chose not to wear the appropriate thing to work. And I feel that’s what Carrie was.Q: You have become so associated with fashion. How did that all happen?
Parker: You know, I think that I played a character for a very long time who had an enormous amount of affection for fashion, she had this kind of relationship we’d never seen portrayed or depicted or illustrated on-screen — big or little screen, really. And also fashion was just starting to emerge at that time as a separate sort of character in New York. I think it was a confluence of playing that person, also loving (fashion) myself, and watching luxury and vintage just start to rise.You know when we first started shooting the show, and we hadn’t been on the air yet, nobody would loan us ANYTHING. We had a very meager budget … we were pulling mostly from consignment, some rental houses, borrowing from friends, or from emerging designers that nobody knew about except for Pat (costume designer Patricia Field).
And the show went on the air, and someone was talking about fashion, and looking at fashion in a way that had never happened before. And the business was just starting to shift. Luxury — we weren’t talking about luxury before. It had not been spoken of outside the industry itself. … And nobody had dressed (like Carrie). Nobody was wearing an old raggedy beat-up fur coat that was 40 bucks with a Fendi baguette (a luxury bag that costs about $1,500). It was just a whole new way of thinking about fashion, and once again, that timing.
Q: So speaking of timing — where do you stand on a third movie?
Parker: There is no conversation about doing a third movie. As Michael (Patrick King, the writer-director) has said, I think recently, he and I both know what the last part of the story is. Just us. None of the other women know. But I trust Michael’s sense of timing. I don’t know that the time will ever be right to tell it. So there are no plans. But I do know, and Michael knows, what that third story would be. And it’s small, but mighty.Q: Hmm. That sounds like a child.
Parker (not budging): I’m a secret keeper.
We all know her as Carrie Bradshaw, the “Sex and the City” character who had a great love affair with New York City, her friends, writing, fashion and … shoes.
Sarah Jessica Parker stopped in Chicago on Friday to promote her new shoe line called the SJP Collection at Nordstrom.
RedEye sat down atthe Michigan Avenue store with the actress who wore a cream dress, pearls, sheer stirrup tights and strappy nude pumps.
Her shoes, priced from $195 to $375, have names. The ones she wore during the interview were named Carrie of course.
A lot of celebrities attach their names to products. Can you tell me how involved you were in designing the shoes?
Well first of all, I don’t think of myself as a celebrity. I’ve been a working actor for almost 40 years.On principle, there isn’t anything that I’ve been involved with whether it was fragrance or Halston or this that I am not at every single meeting, on every single phone call, splitting every single atom, touching, feeling every single sample, looking at every version opportunity for grosgrain, trying on every shoe, at all the fittings, in meetings as the samples are arriving from Italy, every single marketing conversation, every single design conversation about the popup shop or how we’re building out at every Nordstrom store.
It’s the way I produced “Sex and the City.” It’s simply the way I am. I have no interest in giving my name and walking away and being asked to arrive back when something’s finished.
How long have you worked on this shoe collection?
It’s been over a year in the making.How would you describe your shoes in three words?
I would say single-sole, color, beauty.Who do you see as your target customer?
I purposely don’t want to have one. I think this is a cross-generational collection. This is a collection that can be worn by a 14-year-old. It can be worn by an 87-year-old, or an 89-year-old or a 92-year-old. … We’ve had customers literally probably from about 15 to 80. I think that speaks to the variety in the collection, to the wearability of it. … I wanted the price to be as affordable as we can manage given that they’re made in Italy and that they’re well made, handmade. But we also want it to be in someone’s closet and that they should be able to pull it out in three or four years time and it will be relevant and still feel good, still be in great shape.Would Carrie wear them?
Most assuredly, most assuredly. Yeah, I mean I can’t imagine Carrie not choosing to wear that shoe (a purple strappy pump appropriately named Carrie). Definitely. … Yes, I think there’s lots of options for Carrie, but for other people as well.How Carrie was able to afford all of those shoes?
But she wasn’t and we talked about it endlessly. … She was reckless. She was constantly in a state of not being able to afford what she chose to spend her money on. She had countless opportunities where someone forced her to look at the reality of how she chose to spend her money. It was, I don’t think, something she was often proud of. But it was a fever that she seemed to not be able to control. She had four or five successful books so I think that when those came along they were helpful. But I think she was profligate.A lot of people refer to you as a style icon. Whose style are you loving at this moment?
There are a million women who cross my path on a subway platform or on the F train or looking out the window today in Chicago at the streets here, or incredible women who I saw in Seattle and Los Angeles. And I say this completely in a genuine way. I am most inspired by the women I see on the street. … I think that’s what’s exciting is when somebody walks out the door feeling like themselves and it just looks great on them. I might never be able to pull it off but it’s inspiring to see.
Sarah Jessica Parker may just be the most revered style icon out there, thanks to her iconic role as Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City.
So when we caught wind that the fashionista was designing a fabulous shoe and accessory collection of her own (in conjunction with Manolo Blahnik CEO George Malkemus III) available at Nordstrom, we certainly had to get the full scoop.
Just in time for spring, the actress unveiled her cool collection of pretty pumps, strappy sandals and more at the department store in L.A., and we scored some insight from the star herself about the concept.
“There’s decades and decades and decades of incredible imagery that you probably have in your head that’s meaningful to you. It just so happens that George and I shared the same period of interest,” she explained with a smile.
“I wanted to go back in time to the simple shoe, which is really hard to do well. That was really our point of inspiration,” she added.
And of course, given her passion for fashion, it’s no surprise that her sweet twin daughters are inspired to play dress up at home, as well.
“My daughters came to the pop-in shop and tried on shoes…but I will say, any true keen interest they have in fashion is engineered soley on their own! They have wonderful fantasy lives that have nothing to do with who I am. They really make up their own clothes and costumes and dress themselves,” Parker emphasized.
Too cute!
Congrats to SJP on this stylish endeavor.
Since the ‘Sex and the City’ actress was here in Seattle yesterday, we got the chance to chat with her about her new shoe line, Seattle, and of course – coffee. To answer your unasked questions: Yes, we were freaking out, and yes, we almost called her Carrie about 5 times.
We’re excited that you are launching a new line at Nordstrom, a Seattle based company. Have you been to Seattle before?
Yes! I’ve been to Seattle a decent amount, but definitely not enough. It’s a city that I love – I actually shot a television series there in the 80s called ‘A Year in the Life’. I got to live there for many months, and it was a wonderful experience. It was the first time I had ever been to Seattle, and I fell in love with the city. Later, I had a dear friend who was working in Seattle so I visited her a couple times and then launched Lovely with Nordstrom in 2005 so I was back out there again. I have a lot of wonderful memories of Seattle.When you visited previously, was the weather decent, we hope!?
I have always had good weather when I have been in Seattle! I’m from New York so I don’t mind weather, I don’t mind rain. We had such beautiful weather when we were shooting and each time I’ve been there, I’ve had lovely weather. But I’ll take Seattle no matter what!Your role in Sex and the City launched you into the fashion world, where you quickly became an icon. Had you personally always been interested in fashion or was it something that you learned by playing Carrie?
I have always loved beautiful, well-made clothes, but I didn’t always have access to them and rarely could afford them. But my mother always loved dressing well. She was pretty industrious about managing to do so, and she cared a great deal about how we looked when we left the house, even with limited means. I think what happened over the course of all those years playing Carrie is that I simply learned more about it. I was able to dream bigger and meet wonderful emerging designers, and develop my own relationship with fashion. That’s definitely one of many benefits I had from playing that role.This can’t be the first time you’ve been approached about a clothing/shoe/handbag line. What makes now the right time?
I don’t know that it is the right time or the wrong time. For me, it was about finding the right partner. I’ve had the opportunities come up in the past but simply never found the perfect fit for me in terms of what I imagined in my head. One day I had the idea of partnering with Nordstrom and now, here we are.As you know, Nordstrom is a Seattle company. What makes them such a great partner for the new collection?
I have some nostalgic connections to Nordstrom. I launched Lovely there, and they were so hospitable and so wonderful to work with. Nordstrom has a great history as shoe merchants – that’s how they started. They have a superior sales staff, and they are famous for how informed the staff is, how much they know about the category that they are spending time selling. And of course they have wonderful relationships with their customers. They know this category so well and have such a wonderful reputation in retail. I love the fact that it is still a family-run business; that means a lot to me. Nordstrom really was our dream retailer for this line, and we were thrilled when they showed enthusiasm for it.The SJP Collection will have great shoes. What else are you offering now?
We have shoes, we have a small bag collection and a trench coat in two colors. It’s sort of the exterior shell that we are looking at right now. We’ll see over time if the business grows, but for the time being we are going to focus really on shoes and the bag collection for pre-fall and fall. We are already working on spring. It just gets better and better, it’s really wonderful.It’s probably against the rules to choose a favorite, but which shoes do you like the best?
It’s hard for me to pick a favorite, but I seem to circle back to the Carrie in purple, the Ina in jade suede, the Anna in asparagus, the Etta in both charcoal and dusty rose; I love the Fawn in black with that grey grosgrain stripe down the back. I love the Pola in grosgrain and the Lady in that geranium grosgrain, I think it’s beautiful. The Alison boot is great, too.Because this is Seattle, we have to ask: What do you order when you go to a coffee shop?
I’m pretty much a straight shooter. I tend to not get a lot of the complicated flavors or whips. I’m a hard core, really strong cup of black coffee with a little bit of milk and a little bit of sugar. I mean hard core – the darker African roast, the better.
