PopHampton: 'Dancin' On Air' Star Hails from Manorville
Congratulations again to this year’s Academy Award winners! Montauk fan Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor for his physically and emotionally grueling role in The Revenant (Montauk resident Julianne Moore presented him with the Oscar) Shelter Island’s Louis CK presented the award for Best Documentary Short and mentioned how passionate the documentarians are, despite their not making the exorbitant amount of money that some of the other Oscar nominees and celebs do. Right on, Louis!
It’s always nice when a local talent makes it big. Manorville dancer/singer/actress Tina DeCara is currently starring on Fuse’s Saturday Morning Fever. The “docu-comedy” follows the performers of Philadelphia’s popular live dance show Dancin’ On Air. I got to speak with DeCara, and I think we have a star in the making. “Being on camera is something I’ve been involved with my whole life,” DeCara says. “Being onstage, modeling, singing…I love all of that.”
DeCara was the youngest member of her high school’s jazz choir and fell in love with that style of music. “I keep in touch with my music teacher, who inspired me to sing jazz, Ms. Flanagan. She introduced me to [the music of] Ella Fitzgerald and I couldn’t stop singing these jazz songs.” Watch the multi-talented DeCara on Saturday Morning Fever, which airs Wednesday nights on Fuse.
In some not-so-great TV news, Hamptons medical drama Royal Pains has announced that its upcoming season will be its last. The show, about a concierge doctor who becomes embroiled in the lives of his wealthy Hamptons patients, has filmed in the Hamptons and around Long Island, lending a refreshing authenticity not often seen on television. Royal Pains stars Mark Feuerstein as Dr. Hank Lawson; Paul Costanzo as his brother Evan; Reshma Shetty as physician assistant Divya Katdare (my favorite character!); Brooke D’Orsay as Evan’s Hamptonite wife Paige; Campbell Scott as wealthy, calculating Boris Kuester von Jurgens-Ratenicz; and Ben Shenkman as Dr. Jeremiah Sacani, a sometimes-rival to Hank. Frequent Hamptons visitor Christine Ebersole will guest-star in Season 8. Royal Pains’ farewell season begins Tuesday, May 10 on the USA Network.
East Hampton’s Steven Spielberg will direct the next Indiana Jones film, set to hit theaters in 2019. Harrison Ford—who will be 77 when it’s released—will once again star. No other details have been revealed. The last Indiana Jones film, 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was set in the 1950s (as opposed to the 1920s), so I’m guessing another decade or two will pass to accommodate the aging—but still dashing!—Ford. Spielberg’s next directorial effort, The BFG, will be released on July 1, followed by Ready Player One in 2018. Ready Player One is based on the book by Ernest Cline.
Amagansett’s Scarlett Johansson will reprise her role as Black Widow in Captain America: Civil War this May. Last seen as the Black Widow in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Johansson is said to have a pivotal role in Civil War, as her character is torn between siding with BFF Steve Rogers/Captain America or snarky playboy Tony Stark/Iron Man when the two clash over rules that would regulate and monitor all super-powered individuals. Captain America: Civil War will hit theaters on May 6.
Busy Water Mill resident Jennifer Lopez has had quite a year, juggling the final season of American Idol and her new cop drama, Shades of Blue—and she’s not planning on slowing down! Shades of Blue has been renewed for a second season. The NBC series follows Lopez’s character, an NYPD detective who is embroiled in all sorts of shady, crazy business with local crime, the FBI and her co-workers. Lopez has also signed a new multi-album deal with Sony Music’s Epic Records.