newsmakers

newsmakers

Cat-hoarding probe at Grace Kelly’s childhood home

PHILADELPHIA

The childhood home of princess and Hollywood icon Grace Kelly is the subject of a cat-hoarding investigation.

Officials with the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Thursday they went to the house in the city’s leafy East Falls neighborhood after receiving a complaint on its cruelty hot line.

SPCA officials said their officers found the remains of several dead cats. They say at least 15 live cats have been seized from the home.

Investigators said the current homeowner is 81 years old and has lived in the large brick house since 1973. The SPCA said the home was owned by the Academy Award-winning screen legend’s mother, Margaret Kelly, until 1970.

Grace Kelly, who was married to Prince Rainier of Monaco, died in 1982 in a car crash.

Ewan McGregor to star on Broadway next year

NEW YORK

“Star Wars” and “Trainspotting” star Ewan McGregor will make his Broadway debut next year in a revival of Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing.”

Roundabout Theatre Company said Thursday that McGregor will play the unhappily married Henry in the play under the direction of Sam Gold. Previews begin next October at the American Airlines Theatre.

McGregor was last seen on the stage in 2008 in London starring as Iago opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Othello at the Donmar Warehouse. He also starred alongside Jane Krakowski, Douglas Hodge and Jenna Russell in the original Donmar Warehouse production of “Guys and Dolls” at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.

Sly Stallone likes Andy Karl’s ‘natural humility’ for ‘Rocky’

NEW YORK

Picking the guy who will play Rocky Balboa onstage was no easy task. Just ask Sylvester Stallone, who helped cast Broadway veteran Andy Karl.

“Having gone through literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of prospects, Andy was one of our first choices, and he just had it,” Stallone said last month during a sit-down with the actor who will be playing his most famous character.

“He has what it takes — there’s no arrogance; there’s a natural humility about him, and that’s what is important,” Stallone said.

The musical “Rocky” will open on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre in March 2014. Based on the Oscar-winning 1976 film by Stallone, the musical features a score by “Ragtime” veterans Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and a story by Thomas Meehan, who wrote “The Producers” and “Hairspray.”

Associated Press