Hard Rock Cafe is going to celebrate its presence in Florence, Italy, through a free concert that is destined to light up the end of the Italian summer season.

The event ‘Hard Rock Cafe Rocks The Square’ will take place on September 27 in Piazza Della Repubblica, Florence. Kicking off at 3:00 p.m. local time, the day will be entirely dedicated to rock music, with the presence of several bands, including emerging acts and DJs belonging to the major Italian radio stations at the moment.

The event will also see the participation of the Italian car brand FIAT; a FIAT car will be transformed into a guitar amplifier to spice up the day.

During the entire day, as usual for events promoted by Hard Rock Cafe, there will be a benefit fundraiser. The money will be dedicated to projects supporting children; in particular they will be donated to the Meyer hospital and to the Dynamo Camp.

One of the interesting acts that will take the stage is the rock blues band ‘The Cyborgs,’ who will embark on a European tour next October. The stage will also be shared with the winners of the recent Battle of the Bands competition: Desma. The classic-rock band based in Brescia, Italy, will open the night’s celebration at around 8:00 p.m., leaving the stage ready for the legendary band Iggy and The Stooges.

The proto-punk band Iggy and The Stooges is currently on tour bringing its original sound and astonishing energy with them. Performing in its entirety the historical album ‘Raw Power,’ considered by many as the first punk album ever released, Iggy and The Stooges’ shows are a load of adrenaline, love and beautiful music.

Currently composed of eclectic frontman Iggy Pop, Mike Watt at the bass, Steve Mackay playing sax, guitarist James Williamson and Toby Dammit banging the drums, Iggy and The Stooges has been demonstrating during this tour that they are still able to give the ultimate show.

Not much choreography is needed when the perfection of the performances that characterizes all the members of this band meets with the spectacular attitude and presence on stage of the infamous rocker Iggy Pop. Jumping around at his 65 years of age, Iggy Pop seems to dance with the perfection of the musical genius he shares with his band mates.

Performing an album that not only made history but which continues to be more relevant than ever almost 40 years after its release, the band seems to be destined to make people in Florence enjoy an enviable night. It is the perfect choice Hard Rock Cafe could make as a ‘thank you’ to the city they have been established in since 2011.

Image Courtesy of  NRK P3

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Iggy and The Stooges are delighting music lovers of the world with a tour that embraces both Europe and the U.S.. For those who think that age could be a problem for the Godfather of Punk and his mates, Iggy and Co. are happy to prove you wrong at their live shows.

Toonari Post had the chance to attend Iggy and The Stooges’ live performance at Greenville Festival, Germany, on July 29. The band headlined the last day of this brand new and very promising festival in central Europe.

Iggy and The Stooges started the performance with a roaring ‘Raw Power,’ the track that gives title to the infamous album of 1973, now considered by many as the first punk-rock album in history.

Although at the beginning of July, Iggy and The Stooges had to cancel their performance at Sofia Rock, Bulgaria, due to a foot injury Iggy Pop sustained last year, the singer did not refrain himself from giving it all during the performance at Greenville. As usual, he let the spirit of music guide and possess him during the entire performance, singing, dancing, and jumping, like a 20 year-old boy who just discovered how great music is.

The band, whose bass is brilliantly played by Mike Watts, reached an astonishing level of perfection during the performance. Iggy Pop, on his side, was able to capture the audience with his intriguing and hypnotic voice, taking them into the spiral of energy created by both the music and his presence on stage. He also accompanied some of the lyrics of the songs with mimics, and in more than one occasion, made an introduction to the songs by relating them to moments in life he had experienced, linking the tracks to their meaning and origin.

A featuring characteristic was the love shown by Iggy Pop to his fans. He looked at the audience with the same facial expression a child has on Christmas day; It was a mixture of joy, surprise, excitement and that kind of purity of emotions that children have. During the performance he expressed his and the band’s gratitude towards the fans for always supporting them and being nice to them. The fusion between the band and the audience reached its peak when Iggy Pop asked people to join the band on stage. A flow of thrilled people went on stage dancing, singing and hugging the icon.

The band played most of the songs from Raw Power, as well as some belonging to Fun House and a couple of covers. The performance was set to end after a very powerful performance of ‘No Fun,’ but Iggy Pop, saying he was “in the mood,” asked the organizers if they could play some more. They ended up adding three songs to the setlist, leaving the stage with a delighted and screaming crowd.

The level of passion in the live performance was extreme, which, accompanied by the level of professionalism of the band members, resulted in one of the best performances a music lover could possibly witness. Attending one of Iggy and the Stooges’ live shows makes you feel like having just witnessed the performance of a man and a band beyond legend.

Image Courtesy of   Jabzg

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The Three Stooges debuted on the big screen in the 1930 black-and-white feature, “Soup to Nuts,” in which they appeared opposite veteran vaudevillian Ted Healy (1896-1937).

It was Healy who accidentally discovered the Howard brothers (Moses and Samuel Horwitz, nicknamed, respectively, Moe and Shemp) during a 1922 stage performance in Brooklyn (the third member, Larry Fine, whose birth name was Louis Feinberg, came into the fold in 1925). Initially billed as “Ted Healy and His Stooges,” the concept had the trio (Moe, Larry and Shemp) act as foils, or “stooges” to Healy’s jokes. It may have been Healy telling the jokes, but The Stooges were getting all the laughs.

Constant contention between The Stooges and Healy forced Shemp (1895-1955) to leave the troupe and seek out a solo acting career, in which he succeeded, appearing on his own in dozens of features and shorts between 1934 and 1946.

In his search for a replacement, Moe (1897-1975) suggested his younger brother Jerry (1903-1952), a comedic orchestra conductor on the vaudeville circuit. Once cast, Jerry reluctantly shed his thick red hairstyle in favor of a shaved noggin, earning the nickname “Curly” when Moe misinterpreted a comment about his brother’s new coif from vaudevillian Healy.

After a series of shorts for MGM in 1933 and 1934, the trio’s popularity captured the attention of Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn, who signed the three comic actors, sans Healy, to a bona fide Hollywood contract in 1934.

Now christened The Three Stooges, Moe, Larry (1902-75) and Curly debuted for their new studio in the 1934 comedy short “Woman Haters,” the first of the 190 two-reelers they would make for Cohn over the next 25 years. (Their contract called for eight films per year). Their third title, 1934’s “Men in Black” (“…calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard” being its famous catch phrase) earned producer Jules White an Oscar nomination for Best Short Subject, the only such accolade ever bestowed upon their films.

In 1946, Curly, now firmly recognized as the trio’s comic star, suffered a debilitating stroke on the set of the film “Half-Wits Holiday,” which ended his acting career. He would make one last cameo appearance a year later in “Hold That Lion.” (His role in 1949’s “Malice in the Palace” was deleted).

That 1947 title marked the comics’ 100th short for Columbia, and was the only film that featured all four Stooges (Shemp relinquished his successful solo career in 1946 and reunited with Moe and Larry following Curly’s illness). Curly succumbed to his afflictions at age 48, in 1952, at which time the trio had been reborn as “Moe, Larry and Shemp.”

Upon Shemp’s fatal heart attack in 1955 at age 60, Moe and Larry recruited veteran funnyman Joe Besser (1907-1988) to step into the act. Curiously, Besser’s contract dictated he could never actually be slapped by Moe in the 16 shorts in which he appeared, the last being 1959’s “Sappy Bull Fighters.”

Following the termination of The Stooges’ contract with Columbia, Besser left the trio, after which the final member of the Three Stooges was drafted — veteran vaudevillian and comic actor Joe DeRita (nicknamed “Curly Joe,” 1909-1993), who stayed with the act from 1959 until its demise in 1970.

During his tenure with The Stooges, DeRita starred with Moe and Larry in a half-dozen feature films (but, ironically, no short films), which include ‘Have Rocket, Will Travel’ (1959), ‘Snow White and the Three Stooges’ (1961), ‘The Three Stooges Meet Hercules’ (1962), ‘The Three Stooges in Orbit’ (1962), ‘The Three Stooges Go Around the World in A Daze’ (1963) and ‘The Outlaws Is Coming’ (1965).

The threesome also made uncredited appearances in Stanley Kramer’s epic 1963 comedy, ‘It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’ and the 1965 comedy-western, ‘4 for Texas’ with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Once their big screen career waned, the trio turned to television, where their original two-reelers had found a new home (and audience) in reruns when the Columbia subsidiary, Screen Gems, syndicated a package of 78 original short films in 1958. In 1965, The Three Stooges debuted on the small screen in a new animated TV series entitled ‘The New Three Stooges’, for which the troika voiced their movie characters.

Another TV pilot (a travelogue featuring The Stooges called ‘Kook’s Tour’) was filmed in 1970, during which Larry suffered a paralyzing stroke, ending his career and the anticipated TV series. Moe proposed longtime comedian Emile Sitka as Larry’s replacement, an idea that never materialized.

As plans developed for another Stooges feature, ‘Blazing Stewardesses’, Moe was felled by lung cancer and succumbed to the disease in May 1975. (The Ritz Brothers, another popular comedy team of the 1930s and 1940s, replaced the Stooges in the 1975 film.)

DeRita attempted to redefine the Three Stooges in the early ‘70s, recruiting burlesque and vaudeville veterans Mousie Garner and Frank Mitchell to replace Moe and Larry for nightclub engagements. The act failed and DeRita retired.

With the renewed popularity of the comedy trio in syndicated television, it made sense to revive the franchise in a brand new motion picture.

“It’s been quite a journey, there’s no question about that,” states Earl M. Benjamin, President and CEO of C3 Entertainment, the official licensing and merchandising company for The Three Stooges brand. Benjamin is one of the new film’s executive producers and happens to be DeRita’s stepson.

“The movie project dates back at least fifteen years,” Benjamin continues. “We wanted to reinvigorate the franchise. The Three Stooges are the greatest comedy trio of all time. Sadly, we can’t make any more films with the original guys. But we wanted to bring the great comedy routines of The Three Stooges to a new and younger generation. The best way to do that was to make a whole new film with Moe, Larry and Curly – as a great tribute to the original guys.”

“The Stooges always wanted to make feature films,” Benjamin states in reference to their long tenure at Columbia Pictures, where studio boss Cohn relegated their comedy formula to the two-reel format. “Feature films were always their passion. It wasn’t until the 1960s that they finally got to make feature films. Unfortunately, Curly and Shemp had passed away.”

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After finding the right actors to take over the iconic parts of the Stooges, the task of physically transforming the them fell to costume designer Denise Wingate, who created a vintage-looking wardrobe, providing a comedic contrast to the modern-day story attitudes; makeup artist Kim Greene; and hairstylist Kelly Muldoon.

To help turn the handsome Sean Hayes into sour-pussed Larry, veteran Hollywood wig maker Renate (who has created hairpieces for such characters as Spider-Man, the X-Men, and “Pirates of the Caribbean” anti-hero Jack Sparrow) styled a replica of the original Larry’s unique hairstyle.

It was a time-consuming routine to do the Larry “’do.”  Each day of shooting, Hayes had his head shaved, cleaned and prepped. Then, the hair team would draw an outline on his pate, apply glue, and affix the wig to Hayes’ head using spirit gum and tape.

For Moe’s coif, Chris Diamantopoulos donned an expensive wig groomed by veteran movie wigmaker Victoria Wood, working under Muldoon’s supervision.

From custom wigs to custom threads, Wingate complemented the recreation of the Stooges’ original look with her handmade wardrobe. “Because the original look of The Stooges is stamped in our DNA, I didn’t want it to be exactly the same as the old films,” Wingate offers. “My task was to both tip our hat to the era of the original Stooges, and still make it contemporary. This was the most challenging project I’ve undertaken, as far as getting the look and feel for the characters right.”

In any era, the Stooges were not exactly fashion plates. “Curly’ pants were never long enough,” says director Peter Farrelly. “They were always up to his ankles, and if he had a hat on, it was too small. Larry’s sleeves were always too long. Moe looked like he had no neck due to the way he dressed.  We’ve kept all that iconic clothing, but updated it.”

The filmmakers surround the Stooges with an impressive ensemble, including Jane Lynch, Sofía Vergara, Jennifer Hudson, Craig Bierko – and Larry David…as a nun…named Sister Mary-Mengele.

“Sister Mary-Mengele. That name is what really attracted me to the role,” offers David. “For years I said to myself, ‘if only I could play a character whose last name was Mengele. Or Goebbels. Or Goering.’”

“I’m a really authentic actor,” David continues about his approach to playing outside his gender for the first time in his career. “I really researched it and I spoke with some nuns, and they told me that I couldn’t really reveal what’s on underneath the habit. They took me into their confidence.”

Like David, veteran actress Jane Lynch endured the hot Atlanta heat-and-humidity, in a nun’s clothing, for her role as the orphanage’s Mother Superior, a “habit” she’d soon rather not repeat (at least not in a southern summer).

“We were in Atlanta in the summer, it was a hundred degrees in the sun, and I’m wearing a black habit,” Lynch recalls incredulously. “And, I wore the wimple along with the veil. All made of polyester. We had a cooling tent where they shot this cold air at us and, between takes, I would actually pick up my skirt and put it over the vents to get the whole body cooled down!”

Emmy-nominated actress Sofía Vergara (“Modern Family”) plays the film’s femme fatale, Lydia, who tries to lure the Stooges into offing her innocent husband. Vergara, who relished playing the sultry villain, explains that the Stooges’ appeal is universal, citing her own encounters with the phenomenon.

“I think everybody at some point in their life watched The Three Stooges. In Columbia, where I grew up, we called them ‘Los Tres Chiflados’. At that time, there wasn’t any native Columbian TV shows, so the big hits in the United States would go all over the world.”

Lydia’s partner in crime is Mac, “who gets the stuffing beat out of him for about 90 minutes,” says Craig Bierko. “My function in the film was to be on the business end of a fist, a twist, a poke, a lion, a steamroller, a pogo stick and, occasionally, Sofía Vergara. Which is how they lured me here.  Sofia Vergara!” the actor states with a sly grin.

The starring cast also includes Oscar-and-Grammy winning actress-singer Jennifer Hudson as the orphanage’s resident singing nun. “What I remember most about The Three Stooges growing up was hearing my mom speak of this classic show,” Hudson says. “That was her favorite thing back in the day. She used to always tell me about it. That was one of the things that drew me to the part.”

Image Courtesy of   @thethreestooges

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‘The Three Stooges’ are premiering in theaters on April 13 and given the Stooges’ iconic stature, casting the three principals was a formidable task. A unique chemistry was required because, says co-writer/director Bobby Farrelly, “They’re always beating the crap out of each other.”

Moe, says Peter Farrelly, “is the leader. He comes up with the ideas. Curly is the big funny guy that makes the other two laugh. Larry is a blend between Moe and Curly. Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, and Chris Diamantopoulos synched right up with the original Stooge characters.”

“If one of these three guys can’t dance with the other two, you’ve got a big problem,” adds Bobby Farrelly. “The physical aspect of the comedy, the hitting and moving, was a tricky balance. After watching Sean, Will and Chris for 52 days, you got the feeling that they had been working with each other for twenty years.”

“Chris Diamantopoulos had the mannerisms, the voice, the look, every little detail, things that we had never thought of. And, Sean Hayes just totally channeled Larry Fine. Will Sasso, was born to play Curly. He looks the part, he gets the part. So, we know we have the three best guys for the roles.”

Diamantopoulos, a longtime fan of The Stooges, pulled out all the stops to land the part of Moe. “I fought for this role like I’ve never fought for anything in my life,” Diamantopoulos admits. Standing 5’10” with a middleweight boxer’s build, the actor is much leaner and taller than the character he embodies in the film.

For his first audition, Diamantopoulos even put together a makeshift padded suit to replicate Moe’s doughy physique. “Then I borrowed an oversized suit,” Diamantopoulos recalls. “And, I went to a wig store and cut a wig and drew in some eyebrows and drew in some undereye bags and drove to the audition looking like that. I was the only guy auditioning in costume.”

With an additional week before his next (and final) audition, Diamantopoulos hired a makeup artist to apply prosthetic undereye bags that were more convincing than the actors’ earlier hand drawn versions. At his own expense, he got a professional wig made and called in a favor from a wardrobe friend at another studio, where he rented a vintage 1940s suit, and where he found an upgrade to his fat pad that, he says, “changed everything for me.”

The physical transformation was impressive, but Diamantopoulos came to understand there was much more to Moe than duplicating his physique and outfits. “So much of how Moe sounds comes from his expressions,” he notes. “I was trying to get the voice without making my face like Moe’s and it wasn’t quite there. It got closer when I started shifting my face.”

The part of Larry, whom some called “the middle Stooge” and who served as the trio’s straight man, was in some ways the most difficult to cast because unlike his two cohorts, Larry lacked a distinctive voice. “It’s also hard to define exactly what made Larry so funny,” says Sean Hayes, who like Diamantopoulos, attended several auditions to land the coveted role. “He certainly was a great reactor.”

Will Sasso, who made an impression as MADtv’s resident impressionist, where he brought to life the likes of Elton John, Kenny Rogers, Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley, worked hard to capture the unique rhythm and cadence of Curly’s voice. Sasso states that “The first step in playing Curly was making sure I could do his voice. And it got better and better and better as production progressed. When the movie was done shooting, my Curly voice was so good I felt we should probably go back and do the movie all over again.”

Image Courtesy of   The Three Stooges

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