Nordstrom has just announced that SJP will be in the Emerald City Wednesday, March 5 at the downtown Seattle store for the launch of her new shoe, handbag and coat line – the SJP Collection.
We reported earlier that the SJP Collection was coming to Nordstrom, but there had only been whispers that Carrie herself would be here! So mark your calendars, and take the day off if need be.
When: Weds. March 5 from 4:30-5:30pm
Where: Nordstrom (downtown Seattle)
What: SJP will be meeting with customers and signing their SJP Collection purchases as time permits.
The Collection is launching exclusively at Nordstrom stores on February 28. A heavily shoe-based line, the SJP Collection also boasts three styles of handbags and two coats in various colors. Prices range from $195 to $495, so definitely come credit card in hand.
Here’s a tip – if you really want to meet SJP, we suggest buying an item from the collection beforehand, and bringing it and your receipt to the store with you on the 5th. And come early! She’ll only be signing items from the Collection that customers have already bought.
Category: Projects
Sarah Jessica Parker is coming to Seattle
For six seasons, Sarah Jessica Parker played Carrie Bradshaw, a columnist and even a contributor for Vogue magazine on HBO’s Sex and the City. Now in real life, the star is putting on her own writer’s hat.
The actress will be a guest editor for Nordstrom blog The Thread. Her inaugural article will go live at midnight PT on Feb. 14. Then just two weeks later, Parker will have another debut: Her first shoe line —the SJP collection—will launch exclusively in Nordstrom stores.
And as if that wasn’t amazing enough, there’s a bonus: In addition to popping up for in-store meet and greets, SJP will also be interacting with shoppers on her blog. Meaning, here’s your big chance to have the style icon answer your burning questions (like say, what’s her favorite shoe ever?).
And speaking of burning questions, we had a few for the star, starting with: How did this guest editor position come about?
“Funny enough, from a text message I sent to The Thread’s Qianna Smith. We were given each other’s information for a phone interview on the announcement of the collection and just got to talking…I was just so impressed with The Thread and so excited to get to contribute in any way,” she shared with E! News exclusive. “I think it’s a really wonderful opportunity for me to connect with Nordstrom customers and fellow fashion enthusiasts in a personalized way. I’m thrilled!”
She went on to add that getting feedback from her shoppers is essential to being a designer:
“For someone in business, it’s so important to have that kind of intimate connection, where someone can really share their thoughts. We know they will share with me what they liked about the shoe, what was confusing. How it felt to wear a purple shoe to the office, to be the first person. How hard it was to integrate these ideas into their lifestyle. Or what they feel they’re missing from their wardrobe. What I can do better the next time. What they’d like me to continue, and what’s missing. That kind of conversation is invaluable, and The Thread has made that connection already with the Nordstrom customer, so it’s a great gateway for me to have.”
And what were her most surprising design moments?
“Oh my gosh, the whole issue of grosgrain: The quality of grosgrain, the expense of grosgrain, the right color of grosgrain, and which grosgrain ravels and which one doesn’t,” she says. “I would never have expected there would be so many options and opinions on it. But grosgrain is one of my favorite signature details on the shoes.”
To ask SJP your own questions, visit her blog tomorrow night or meet her in person at one of the below Nordstrom locations.
Feb. 28-March 2: Pop-Up Shop, 372 West Broadway, New York City
March 5: Nordstrom Flagship, Seattle (She’s also doing a live Twitter chat that will be streamed on The Thread)
March 6: The Grove, Los Angeles
March 7: Michigan Avenue, Chicago
March 8: Aventura, Miami
March 9: NorthPark Center, Dallas
Hey everybody! Sarah Jessica Parker stopped by “The Wendy Williams” show earlier today (February 11), which just so happens to be her very first time ever guest appearing on the show. She dishes about her family, living in NYC and her guilty pleasure. Not only that, but she dishes on whether there will be another “Sex and the City” movie, how she deals with the constant paparazzi attention, and she shows off her new SJP Collection line.
Sarah Jessica Parker stopped by MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” earlier today (February 4) to promote her various new projects. She talks about her role in “The Commons of Pensacola” and her new shoe line. Not only that, but she also talks about the role of a working mom in today’s society. You can check out the 11-minute interview below:
PRETTY OLD, Walter Matteson’s crowd-pleasing senior citizen pageant documentary executive produced by Sarah Jessica Parker, has been acquired by GoDigital for domestic release. Produced by Group Effort Films, Boss Films Productions and Parker’s own Pretty Matches Productions, PRETTY OLD will see a simultaneous New York theatrical and nationwide VOD release via GoDigital this March. A theatrical on-demand release courtesy of Gathr Films is also slated for spring.
PRETTY OLD showcases the enthusiastic ’65 and older’ contestants of Massachusetts’ annual Ms. Senior Sweetheart Pageant as they prepare for, travel to and compete in the coveted event. Hilarious and heartbreaking in turns, the film and prized subjects inspire newfound passions and challenge societal stereotypes to ultimately reveal what it truly means to age beautifully.
Josh Alexander, Daniel Chalfen and Walter Matteson produced the film, which last year received the Jury Award for ‘Best Documentary’ at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Alison Benson and Joe Berlinger also executive produced alongside Sarah Jessica Parker.
“These incredibly dynamic women embrace growing older with a youthful spirit, and while also full of insightful wisdom, they give us a heartfelt look at what it truly means to age beautifully,” explained Parker.
“With PRETTY OLD, we are trying to show people that being and growing ‘old’ can be absolutely beautiful,” said Matteson. “We’re thrilled that GoDigital is helping us introduce the film and its message to the broad audience it deserves.”
Sarah Jessica Parker Reflects on a “Wonderful” Run Off-Broadway in “The Commons of Pensacola”
It’s a daunting prospect, coming back to the stage after a prolonged absence. For Sarah Jessica Parker — a multi-award-winning, internationally renowned star of a television series that defined a generation — the pressure was on. Not only was Amanda Peet’s The Commons of Pensacola the first theatrical job Parker took on in 12 years, but it was an untested play receiving its world premiere via the esteemed off-Broadway Manhattan Theatre Club (at New York City Center – Stage I).
It’s easy to see why the piece would be attractive to an actress of Parker’s caliber. Her character, Becca, is a juicy one: the grown daughter of a Madoff-like businessman and his possibly complicit wife (played by Blythe Danner), who must come to terms with her family’s situation. Not only that, but it was the opportunity, after 18 years, to reunite with Danner, an actress whose praises Parker is elated to sing; the two had last appeared onstage together in MTC’s 1995 production of Sylvia.
As her extended and extended-again run in The Commons of Pensacola comes to a close on February 9, TheaterMania chatted with Parker about her off-Broadway return, her offstage love of her onstage mama, and her own family’s place in dictating the jobs she takes.
What was it that attracted you to the piece and the character?
The challenge of it every night — trying to figure out a person who seems rather uncomplicated, who proves very quickly to be not only very complicated, but in real despair…rudderless, at sea, lost, and really perfecting the sort of mediocrity that is pretty paralyzing.You have a long history with Manhattan Theatre Club. How does it feel to be back performing on one of its stages again?
It’s wonderful. This is the fourth time I worked there. I did my first play there in 1978. Obviously I have affection for [Artistic Director] Lynne [Meadow] and [Executive Producer] Barry [Grove]. I’ve had successful experiences there and less successful experiences there, but I certainly feel that it’s a home of sorts.The concept of this play seems very topical — ripped from the headlines, even. But then it delves a lot deeper.
I think the headlines are a mere jumping-off point, they’re really rather peripheral very quickly. In many ways it’s really less related to headlines than to familial complexity. What it’s about is a mother and a daughter. How do parents love and how are children disappointed by that love? When do we recognize our own complicity in our disappointments? At what age do you step into adulthood and no longer have the opportunity? Coming to terms with favoritism in a family. I think that’s what people connect to in the play. They enjoy the conversation of what would you do? But what we find most impactful is the despair, and the attempts at love that are missed. That’s what we hear people blowing their nose over every night.You and Blythe have such a palpable chemistry on stage, and you’ve worked together before, at MTC, on Sylvia. How did you go about forming a mother-daughter bond?
We didn’t plot any path. I really wanted her to do this…I just love her. I begged her to do a table read just to consider it. I hold her in very high regard. When I did Sylvia, I genuinely fell in love with her. When she left — she couldn’t extend — and when that play was extended, on the first day she was gone, I literally turned upstage and was just weeping, missing her. A lot of people who play opposite each other and have to illustrate love don’t love each other. It’s not our job to plot out how to be affectionate; we’re supposed to tell the story and whether or not we feel that is immaterial. It just so happens we do. [laughs]What have the audiences been like? I know a lot of young people who don’t usually see theater who have gone to see the play, owing to your being in it.
We’ve had really wonderful, generous, very demonstrative audiences. Lots of people of all different ages from all over the world have been coming. We have people who’ve said to us, “I’ve never seen a play before.” People with wonderful accents from Australia and Peru and Scotland and Germany. Some of them have made the trip to see the play and built a week around it. The [show] plays differently at night because they’re a different audience. [But] I’ll say this about the seniors [audience members]: They have kept that theater alive and I’m enormously grateful to their dedication. They’re deeply committed, loyal, and thoughtful. I’m really delighted with the audiences we’ve had to play for.Do you think that performing off-Broadway is a less pressure-filled environment than, say, if you were doing this on Broadway?
I think I have felt an appropriate amount of pressure because the role is so challenging. I don’t know that I would have distinguished it differently from one venue to the other. The pressure one feels about the role is the most important thing. Not the pressure — the challenge of fulfilling an opportunity. I think I like the fact that we were on this stage, so we could extend. They wanted to move the play to Broadway but there are no theaters available at this late date that would be suitable. It’s a little disappointing for us, because it’s such a marvelous piece and it seems to be making such a connection with audiences. But I don’t know that it would be different one way or the other. The pressure that I put on myself seems as pregnant as it could have been. [laughs] I don’t know how much more pressure I could have felt elsewhere.If they came to you next season and asked you to move with it to Broadway, would you?
I don’t know how all that works…I wonder about momentum. Also, we all have these other things that were obligated to. Getting everybody back together might be complicated.Has this experience whet your appetite for more stage work?
This was extraordinary, and I have loved it, even at my most terrified moments. But it has been challenging for my children. I’ve been gone at times they’ve been very accustomed to me being with them. It sounds like not a big deal but it has proved to be a big deal for them.They’re young, that’s understandable.
My son is much more circumspect about it, but my daughters who are four-and-a-half are not particularly amused by my absence. Every time it’s been extended and that date has changed on the calendar has been a little bit of a hardship for them. I have to think about that. Movies and television are slightly different, because you can shoot during the day and be home at night for bedtime. Bedtime is really important to them and it’s important to me. So I have to figure it out. I would certainly like to and I’ve just recently read another great play, but I have to think about how it fits into my family’s life.
In our February issue (on newsstands Tuesday, January 21), the unabashedly shoe-obsessed Sarah Jessica Parker gives fellow sole sister Gayle King a walking tour of her new line of fabulous footwear. Check out our sneak peek of their conversation below!
Sarah Jessica Parker on the heel height of SJP, her first foray into shoes:
“These heels are high, but not like you’re on stilts. There’s nothing sexy about not being able to walk.”On the price point ranging from just under $200 to just under $500 a pair:
“Those are hard-earned bucks so I really tried to give women beautiful silhouettes and colors and excellent quality for their money. I didn’t want to do anything that says, ‘Oh, these shoes are 2014.’ I want my shoes to be a part of the world for a long time to come.”On the thin touch of grosgrain ribbon on each shoe:
“The thing is, when I was growing up, we really didn’t have two nickels to rub together, but my mother always made sure that my sisters and I had two grosgrain ribbons in our hair. The rule was that we ironed them every single morning. We even had a special bureau dedicated to hair ribbons. I have them for my own daughters now, and my nieces wear them too. The grosgrain ribbons make SJP’s really identifiable to others and really personal to me.”George Malkemus, CEO of Manolo Blahnik USA on how this collection came to be:
“Sarah called me and said she’d been thinking a lot about shoes. Before she could finish that sentence, I said, ‘Be in my office tomorrow morning.'”The collection, with shoe prices ranging from $195 to $485 and bags $375 and under, will be available exclusively at Nordstrom starting February 28th.
“The Commons of Pensacola” Given Two-Week Extension
The Manhattan Theatre Club’s world-premiere engagement of The Commons of Pensacola, written by stage and screen star Amanda Peet, has been given a two-week extension through Feb. 9, producers announced Jan. 9.
The production, which began preview performances Oct. 22, prior to an official opening Nov. 21 at New York City Center – Stage I, was originally scheduled through Jan. 26. A new block of tickets for the extension will go on sale Jan. 10 at 10 AM. This will be the show’s final extension.
Directed by Lynne Meadow (Wit, The Assembled Parties), The Commons of Pensacola features Emmy and Tony Award winner Blythe Danner, Golden Globe Award winner Sarah Jessica Parker, Zoe Levin, Ali Marsh, Michael Stahl-David and Nilaja Sun.
“Judith (Blythe Danner) has been divested of her assets and forced to leave her luxurious New York life after her husband’s Wall Street scam became headline news,” press notes state. “When her daughter Becca (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Becca’s filmmaker boyfriend (Michael Stahl-David) pay Judith a visit to the one bedroom condo Judith now occupies in Pensacola, Florida, everyone’s motives are called into question. How will past and present circumstances inform how this family moves into the future?”
Danner most recently appeared on Broadway in Nice Work If You Can Get It. She won a Tony in 1970 for Butterflies Are Free and has received Tony nominations for Betrayal, A Streetcar Named Desire and Follies. She won back-to-back Emmy Awards for her role in Showtime’s acclaimed series “Huff.” Her many film roles include “The Lucky One,” “Hello, I Must Be Going” and “Meet The Parents.”
Parker most recently appeared on the New York stage in MTC’s 2001 production of Wonder of the World by David Lindsay-Abaire. Her other theatrical credits include The Substance of Fire, The Heidi Chronicles, Once Upon a Mattress and Annie. She received four Golden Globe, three SAG Awards and two Emmy Awards for her role as Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s “Sex and The City.”
Levin’s film credits include “The Way Way Back,” “Beneath the Harvest Sky” and “Palo Alto.”
Marsh’s TV work includes “In Plain Sight,” “Law & Order,” “Blue Bloods,” “Children’s Hospital,” “Stella,” “Seinfeld” and “Chicago Hope,” and her film credits include “Rabbit Hole,” “The Ten,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “Private Parts” and “The Mirror Has Two Faces.” Onstage, she has performed in The Butcher of Baraboo, Ridiculous Fraud, As You Like It and Proof.
Michael Stahl-David’s film and TV work includes “Cloverfield,” “In Your Eyes” and “My Generation,” and his stage work includes Lost in Yonkers.
Sun wrote and starred in No Child…. Her TV work includes “30 Rock,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Unforgettable,” “Louie” and “Rubicon,” and her film credits include “The International,” “Nature Calls” and “Hairbrained.”
The creative team for The Commons of Pensacola includes Santo Loquasto (scenic design), Tom Broecker (costume design), Jason Lyons (lighting design), Jill BC Du Boff (sound design) and Thomas Schall (fight director).
Tickets and more information are available by calling (212) 581-1212, visiting nycitycenter.org, or by visiting New York City Center box office (131 West 55th St.).
