Thursday, October 8, 2009

“Britney Wants Her Kids Back! - Teen Music” plus 3 more

“Britney Wants Her Kids Back! - Teen Music” plus 3 more

Britney Wants Her Kids Back! - Teen Music

Posted: 07 Oct 2009 11:57 AM PDT

Britney Spears is preparing to move for full custody of her two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline - because she's reportedly concerned her boys are picking up bad habits from their dad.

The Toxic hitmaker was recently granted an extension on the equal custody agreement she has with Federline to share care of Sean Preston, four, and Jayden James, three, while she's on tour.

The former dancer was handed primary custody of the kids last year after Spears suffered a mental breakdown.

But the pop star is reportedly considering filing legal documents to make her the primary guardian when her world Circus tour comes to a stop this November, reports the National Enquirer.

A source says, "She is ready to fight to get her boys back. Britney feels that leaving Kevin in charge has turned her sons into cursing, ill-mannered little boys who don't behave. Britney wants to be the one who chooses where the boys go to school and where they go to church.

"She wants full custody and for Kevin to have visitation. Britney feels that Kevin is now the one with problems that the judge needs to hear about. She believes he's become a poor role model for Sean and Jayden. The boys are used to Kevin's foul-mouthed, lazy, unemployed dancer friends, who either live at the house or hang out there. Britney doesn't want the boys growing up thinking that kind of lifestyle is acceptable."

Federline, who has piled on the pounds in recent years, was this week accused of failing to keep up with rent payments on his Tarzana, California home.




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Alerus Center lost about $100K on Britney Spears' concert - Crookston Daily Times

Posted: 06 Oct 2009 07:12 AM PDT

Grand Forks, N.D. -

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Figures from the Grand Forks events center show last month's Britney Spears concert lost $96,600.

Alerus Center officials said the concert attracted 13,019 people, including suite holders, and earned $1.1 million. Expenses totaled $1.2 million, with most of it the $850,000 guarantee that the Alerus Center made with promoters.

Stilll, University of North Dakota economist David Flynn estimated the concert had a direct economic impact of $1.9 million. The figure is based on surveys of concertgoers about how much they spent on such things as food, beverages and hotel stays. Officials estimated about a third of the concertgoers were from Canada.



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Britney Spears Gets the Bird & Her Royal Habits - femalefirst.co.uk

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 04:53 PM PDT



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Traveling musical puts the spotlight on spots - Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted: 08 Oct 2009 12:00 AM PDT

NEW YORK - There are no divas among the cast of The 101 Dalmatians Musical, but plenty of stars. Take Rascal, the puppy with a broken leg who was rescued from the side of a road.

A late addition to the cast of more than a dozen dogs - most from shelters - Rascal has become "the charmer of the bunch," animal trainer Joel Slaven said.

"I thought, 'Just what I need - a 4-month-old puppy with a broken leg.' But he was my guy," Slaven said. "He goes out with the big dogs and he watches them. He's learning from them and he's like, 'I can do this. This is what I was meant to be.' "

The shelter-dog stars of The 101 Dalmatians Musical got a second chance with a new home on a Florida ranch, a rock star-style tour bus, top-billed roles in a stage show, and, in all likelihood, a place in audiences' hearts.

It's hard not to fall in love with these dogs - any dogs, actually - on stage, said lead producer Lee Marshall, whose track record includes shows with David Copperfield, Janet Jackson and Britney Spears, and Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde. But dogs are almost universally accompanied by humans and taking cues from them, which he said can take away a little magic.

For this show, which embarks on a national tour this month starting in Minneapolis, the three-minute finale is all dogs - performing what is essentially a song-and-dance act to a tune by composer Dennis DeYoung of Styx fame.

"It's just jaw-dropping," Marshall said. "This is a choreographed number they do all by themselves."

(It should be noted that in the bulk of the show, though, the Dalmatians are actually portrayed by actors, a la Cats.)

Slaven started looking for Dalmatians back in January using a network of shelters and rescue groups, who were, he said, hesitant at first to be his partners.

After the live-action Disney 101 Dalmatians came out in 1996 and its sequel in 2000, there was a rush on the black-and-white spotted dogs as family pets - a role this breed is not necessarily suited for, Slaven explains. That meant a flooding of shelters a few years later, and canine rescuers weren't eager for that to happen again, he said.

"The toughest thing I've ever done is finding the dogs," he said. "When the movies came out, they were overbred and that made the breed, which already has some health problems, even worse. People got the dogs, couldn't afford vet bills, found the dogs untrainable, or didn't get along with kids. Shelters, Humane Societies and rescue groups don't want anyone to use these dogs for entertainment, and they don't want to help someone who's going to do this again."

But Slaven said he persuaded some that he would use the dogs' celebrity as a teaching tool.

"I knew we'd have to do it differently than the movie. We have to explain about the stars that, just because they're cute, doesn't mean you should get one for the kids tomorrow."

The traits Slaven, who often trains animals for theme-park shows, was looking for in the dogs included stage presence and the ability to live in a pack, which are not usually at the top of the list for families, he said.

"These are the outgoing, playful, confident dogs - the dogs that aren't going to be happy laying on someone's couch each day," he said. "They're the ones chewing and barking because they want to be doing something."

He has given them plenty to do. Until last week, when they boarded their tricked-out tour bus to head to Minnesota for final stage rehearsals, they were up at 6 a.m. at Slaven's facility in St. Cloud, Fla., for a walk and then they were off to a day of exercise, rehearsals, confidence-building classes so they wouldn't be fearful of any surfaces, and the occasional drive on a flatbed truck so they'd be used to moving vehicles.

They also had "fame training," including desensitization to lights, wheelchairs and noise. "I've got a drum set going because we'll have a live orchestra at the show," Slaven said. "We have jam nights and bring the dogs there and play with them. Everything is made positive for the dogs and everything they are trained to do is so they can have fun with it."

Now that they are on the road, the dogs have two rehearsals, playtime in the afternoon, grooming sessions, and, of course, media appearances.

Rascal, along with the 14 other dogs, will need to find permanent owners after the tour, which is slated to run through at least June. However, Slaven, who already has two yellow Labrador retrievers, has committed to bringing back to his ranch any dogs who don't find a home.

Until then, "home" is the bus. Kennels line one side (with living quarters in the rear for two full-time trainers), with a pet-care area for bathing and grooming. An awning pops up alongside the vehicle for shade and there are attachable pens for outside time.

"I've been in show biz my whole life. ... This is a much easier way for an entertainer to travel than an airplane every night," Lee said. "Showering on a bus for humans isn't the best experience, but I think it will be much more pleasant for the dogs."



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