newsmakers

newsmakers

Fred Armisen to lead band on Meyers’ show

NEW YORK

Seth Meyers says former comedy colleague Fred Armisen will lead the band when he takes over NBC’s “Late Night.”

Meyers tweeted Monday that his former “Saturday Night Live” castmate will “curate and lead” the band and run it even while shooting his IFC comedy series “Portlandia.” NBC confirmed the news.

Armisen is best known as a comic performer from “Portlandia” and his decade at “SNL.” But he began show business as a drummer, principally for the punk-rock band Trenchmouth in the 1990s.

He will handle vocals and guitar for “Late Night’s” 8G Band. Other players include Seth Jabour on guitar, Syd Butler on bass, Eli Janney on keyboards and Kimberly Thompson on drums.

“Late Night with Seth Meyers” premieres Feb. 24. “Portlandia” returns for its fourth season three days later.

Will Smith to appear on first Fallon show

NEW YORK

Jimmy Fallon is premiering his new show with a bang.

NBC announced Monday that Will Smith will appear on Monday’s debut of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” U2 will perform.

Justin Timberlake will close out the week, which also will include appearances by first lady Michelle Obama, Will Ferrell, Bradley Cooper, Kristen Wiig and Jerry Seinfeld.

Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire and Tim McGraw will perform during the week.

The first four episodes of Fallon’s new show will air at midnight after the Sochi Winter Olympics. Its regular time slot is 11:35 p.m.

‘Book of Mormon’ breaks record in Atlanta

NEW YORK

“The Book of Mormon” has a new reason to boast: It just set the record for the highest weekly gross in history for a national tour.

The musical took in $2,802,606 over eight shows for the week ending Sunday at Atlanta’s 4,678-seat Fox Theatre. It takes the crown from “Wicked,” which had a one-week gross of $2,755,070 at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis in 2012.

“The Book of Mormon” by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and “Avenue Q” composer Robert Lopez tells the story of two Mormon missionaries sent to Uganda.

“The Book of Mormon” won nine Tony Awards in 2011, including best musical. The show also won a Grammy and recouped its $11.4 million capitalization after nine months.

Associated Press