In L.A., Steven Zeitchik writes “Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth,” a one-man Broadway show featuring former world heavyweight champion MIKE TYSON, has “no hesitation about settling scores, reserving choice words” for Tyson’s ex-wife ROBIN GIVENS and former promoter DON KING. The show is “equal parts unmissable spectacle and cringeworthy messiness.” The “not quite capacity” crowd at Wednesday night’s show “ate much of it up, giving him a hearty standing ovation” (L.A. TIMES, 8/10). ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’s Melissa Rose Bernardo wrote of Tyson, “It turns out he’s a champion trash-talker. Ex-wife Robin Givens gets the worst of it.” King “doesn’t come off too well either. However, Tyson himself does, even though -- or perhaps especially because -- he pulls no punches.” In the “100-or-so-minute show, every joke may not be a knockout, but Tyson lands an impressive number of jabs” (EW.com, 8/9). The NEW YORKER’s Avi Steinberg wrote the performance “feels more like a slavishly chronological series of boozy barroom reminiscences, complete with the high-spiritedness, the cringe-inducing settling of scores, the wallowing, the feints of solemnity, and occasional blubbering incoherence built into that form." Steinberg: "I considered standing up and booing. The only thing that prevented me from doing that was the menacingly partisan audience, almost wall-to-wall wise guys and wannabes" (NEWYORKER.com, 8/9).
WHEELIN' & DEALIN': Republican Presidential candidate MITT ROMNEY will attend a $2,500 per person fundraising luncheon in Charlotte next Wednesday. NASCAR Chair & CEO BRIAN FRANCE and his wife, AMY, are serving as Chairs for the event, while ISC Vice Chair & CEO LISA FRANCE KENNEDY, NASCAR President MIKE HELTON, driver JAMIE MCMURRAY, team Owners RICK HENDRICK, RICHARD CHILDRESS and FELIX SABATES will serve as co-Chairs (THE DAILY). Team Owner JACK ROUSH also "hit the trail for Romney earlier this week" (NEWSOBSERVER.com, 8/9).
NAMES: Imagine Entertainment is planning a feature about former Brazilian soccer player PELE ahead of the '14 FIFA World Cup. The company picked JEFF and MIKE ZIMBALIST to "write the screenplay with the possibility of directing the pic" that will be shot in English with some Portuguese (VARIETY.com, 8/7)....IndyCar team Dragon Racing Owner JAY PENSKE and his brother MARK, sons of NASCAR and IndyCar team Owner ROGER PENSKE, were "arrested early Thursday morning by island police for an alleged break-in at the Nantucket Yacht Club after two women claimed they had been assaulted in the club's parking lot." Roger Penske and his wife KATHY own a waterfront home on Nantucket in Pocomo (Nantucket INQUIRER & MIRROR, 8/9)....Canada Post is "paying tribute" to the CFL Montreal Alouettes with a new stamp as part the league's 100th Grey Cup. The Alouette's stamp "is the first of nine stamps that will be unveiled this year" -- one for each CFL team and another for the Grey Cup (Montreal GAZETTE, 8/9)....MLL and the New Balance Foundation raised $28,000 for the HEADstrong Foundation, a charity that raises money for blood cancer in honor of former Hofstra Univ. lacrosse player NICHOLAS COLLELUORI, who passed away in '06 (HEADstrong)....The National Basketball Retired Players Association donated $25,000 to help rehab basketball courts at Oliver Bush Playground in New Orleans. The money was donated in conjunction with the NBA and NBPA (TIMESPICAYUNE.com, 8/9)....The U.S. Open Court of Champions will induct former tennis player ANDRE AGASSI before the men's final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sept. 9 (AP, 8/9).
