OWNing Up: 'Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots'

ON the surface, Katheryn Cryer and Hanna Young have virtually nothing in common. Take a closer look, however, and the similarities are more apparent.

They are two women trying at all costs to keep their dysfunctional Savannah, Georgia families from unraveling at the seams.

The two actors who play these determined women on the much anticipated, modern-day Southern gothic drama, “Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots” premiering tomorrow night at 9 on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN, disclosed they drew heavily on their personal experiences to breathe life into their formidable characters. (See trailer above).

“I didn’t have to do anything. I already knew what it was like to look like a million dollars,” Renee Lawless jokingly said of Katheryn, the matriarch of the moneyed “Haves.”

Seriously, though, this child of the South recalled her youth and formative years, reflecting on travels around Atlanta and other locales, as well as exposure to what she would pointedly refer to as “large Southern homes” after discarding the less palatable plantation moniker. “In preparing, I was trying to write a back story, so I made it personal to myself.”

Sitting next to RL on a plush pearl gray bench at Dream Hotel Downtown at a New York press junket arranged by Harlem’s 135th Street Agency (http://www.135stagency.com), Crystal Fox noted that she stood on a lot of shoulders to play Hanna, the Cryers' maid and matriarch of her family, the “Have Nots.”

“When I read it [the script] on paper, I identified with all of our mentors – the women that raised us … My grandmother is a tiny, tiny woman but she was so powerful … I wanted to pay homage to her and other people.”

The Cryers, Youngs and others in "Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots." Photo courtesy of OWN.

Based on what can be gleaned from trailers – in customary TP fashion no press preview was made available – “TP’s The Haves and the Have Nots" – is a lowish-brow entertainment that is an amalgam of “Dallas,” “Dynasty,” “Falcon Crest,” “Upstairs Downstairs,” “Downton Abbey” and “The Family That Preys.”

What a concoction! Bets are that is will be as deliciously decadent and inappropriate as chocolate chocolate cake topped with chocolate chocolate ice cream and Cool Whip, or Chantilly for more sophisticated palates.

Visit http://www.oprah.com/own-the-haves-and-have-nots/About-Tyler-Perrys-The-Haves-and-the-Have-Nots_1 to learn more about "Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots."

'Sparkle' Casts Enough Light to Blot Out Its Dark Side

Tika Sumpter, Carmen Ejogo and Jordin Sparks as singing siblings in “Sparkle.” Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures.

BY DARALYN JAY

CANDY may not exactly be good for you, but it sure tastes good going down.

In comparison to the grittier 1976 original, the big-budget, major studio remake of “Sparkle,” which follows the lives and career of Sparkle Williams and her sisters, is sanitized, sweetened and packaged in a sleek wrapper.

Character details and plot lines have been significantly altered – some effectively updating the story for a millennial audience (the title character is now the writer of the songs that she and her sisters perform). Others may be filed under “creative license” (the time and place have been changed from Harlem 1958 to Detroit 1968, for starters). The film opens nationwide today.

The differences are too numerous to name in this space, and the exercise would be pointless: “Sparkle” is an entertaining confection that stands on its own merits. Part-melodrama, part-musical, part-“Mad Men”-era fashion show, “Sparkle” manages to counter its clichés with swift pacing and solid acting, including a star-making turn by “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks as Sparkle.

Whitney Houston as a very protective stage mother in "Sparkle."

Her performance as a teenage singer/songwriter on the verge of womanhood is charming and naturalistic, and she has musical chops to spare. Carmen Ejogo delivers as her sultry oldest sibling, Sister, portraying the character’s downward spiral with equal skill.

In what would have been her acting comeback, Whitney Houston brings humor and believability to the role of Emma, the girls’ mother. Here, she is reworked as a strict, overprotective parent who incredibly remains unaware of her daughters’ late-night meanderings. The scenes in which she references her troubled past are affecting and evoke pathos when viewed through the filter of the late singer’s drug-related demise.

The Williams sisters – Delores, Sparkle and Sister – hope their singing talents can lift them above their station in "Sparkle."

Director Salim Akil and screenwriter Mara Brock Akil have added nuanced moments to what is essentially a formulaic story, particularly in developing the subtext for the troubled relationship between Emma and her daughters. However, the ending feels contrived and leaves the audience to ponder such inconsistencies as how Sparkle could afford an apartment and a cover girl-worthy wardrobe on an entry-level worker’s salary. The same goes for how middle sister, Dolores (Tika Sumpter), can seemingly move on after the tragedy that occurs late in the movie with barely a blink of her false eyelashes. Domestic abuse and race riots are frequently glossed over or treated as a joke.

Nevertheless, all is forgiven after the stirring ending performance by JS.

Sparkle is rated PG-13 for violence and language.

Tracy Reese Celebrates Five Years in Style, of Course

June Ambrose (left) and Tika Sumpter (right) helped Tracy Reese (center) celebrate the fifth anniversary of her flagship store (right photo). Photos by Getty Images.

AT Tracy Reese, five looks rather fetching – that is her New York City flagship store, which is 4+1 and going strong in a weak economy. The designer is rather fetching, too, particularly in a white, halter-top maxi dress.

Last night, TR celebrated the milestone at her Meatpacking District location with cupcakes, libations, well-wishers and famous/semi-famous friends, including Veronica Webb, Tika Sumpter (“Gossip Girl”), Tinsley Mortimer.

Shoppers at the Tracy Reese store party peruse the stock.

Other party favors: a 25 percent discount on summer stock, and a portion of
proceeds from the night’s sales set aside for New York City Aids Fund (http://www.nycommunitytrust.org/).

Happy Birthday, Tracy Reese (boutique), and many more!

GUESS Launches Two Fragrances and One John Legend

John Legend performs for a captive audience at the Standard Hotel. Photo from Getty Images.

THE young crowd of beautiful people rubbing shoulders last night in the erstwhile Boom Boom Room on the 18th floor of the Standard Hotel were there to toast the launch of two fragrances from GUESS: Seductive I’m Yours for women and Seductive Homme for men. Patience, they won't be available until September. That was reason enough for a party. Of course, the near 360-degree spectacular views, including parts of Manhattan and Jersey are always a reason to celebrate in this room at the Standard. Taking the icing and the cake, though, was the surprise six-song set by John Legend ... More shortly.

Behold ... A Fashion Icon, According to Anna and (CFDA)

Lady Gaga is the 2011 recipient of the Fashion Icon Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Photo from CFDA.

ONE has to give it to her, Lady Gaga knows how to set sartorial tongues awagging. Meet Queen Elizabeth of England got up in a red latex Elizabethan-era gown; show your swagger in a frock of faux meat, though the fiction still persists that it was real.

Wear any number of way/far over-the-top get-ups in a world where everyone has a camera, Web site and an opinion and you will get noticed by a lot of people, including those who run the fashion world. That would be Anna Wintour and the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designer of America) – in that order

At Monday night’s CFDA awards, the Lady herself was awarded the Fashion Icon Award. Yes, she was. Seems rather premature doesn’t it? … More shortly