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Classic Stage Company has added a second benefit concert performance of The Rink, featuring a book by Terrence McNally, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. In addition to the previous performance announced for Monday, September 16 at 7pm, the new performance will take place on Tuesday, September 16 at 7pm. Starring Tony Award winners Beth Leavel as Anna and Jessie Mueller as Angel, the evenings will be directed by Dave Solomon, with music direction by Greg Jarrett, choreography by Shannon Lewis, music supervision by Sam Davis and casting by Alaine Aldaffer, CSA and Lisa Donadio. The Rink was originally produced on Broadway in 1984, starring Chita Rivera...

Tony Award winners Beth Leavel and Jessie Mueller will star in Classic Stage Company's one-night-only benefit concert performance of The Rink, the 1984 musical featuring a book by Terrence McNally, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The performance will take place Monday, September 15 at 7 p.m. at Csc’s Lynn F. Angelson Theater. The evening will be directed by Dave Solomon with music direction by Greg Jarrett, choreography by Shannon Lewis, music supervision by Sam Davis, and casting by Alaine Aldaffer, CSA and Lisa Donadio. Originally produced on Broadway in 1984 starring Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli, The Rink follows Italian-American widow Anna as she...

Jennifer Lopez is all set to make her big-screen comeback after last year’s Unstoppable and Atlas with the upcoming musical drama Kiss of the Spider Woman. While it may sound like a Spider-Man-related film focused on Gwen Stacy, it is not. The film is an adaptation of the Broadway musical and novel of the same name.

Kiss of the Spider Woman has received rave reviews since its Sundance premiere, where it reportedly received a standing ovation. The film will mark Bill Condon’s comeback as a director after 2019. So, what is this movie about? Who stars in it? And, will the movie get a similar treatment like Emilia Pérez, last year’s controversial musical drama?

What is Kiss of the Spider Woman about? Diego Luna in Kiss of the Spider Woman | Credits: Lionsgate

Bill Condon’s Kiss of the Spider Woman is an upcoming musical drama that did wonders...

Broadway’s inaugural group marquee dimming to honor multiple artists and industry members who have passed away will pay tribute to such luminaries as Gene Hackman, Linda Lavin, Helen Gallagher, Quincy Jones, Ken Page and Joan Plowright, among others.

The dimming of all 41 Broadway marquees will occur simultaneously on Tuesday, June 10 at 6:45 p.m. Et, two days after this year’s Tony Awards.

Others being honored by the first group dimming are Marshall Brickman, Richard Chamberlain, William Finn, Athol Fugard, Merle Louise, Tony Roberts, Charles Strouse and Lynne Taylor-Corbett.

The initiation of group dimmings, called Broadway In Memoriam and which will take place four times a year, was announced in March by the newly formed Broadway In Memoriam Committee as a response to criticism over what some in the theater community saw as a process that was both too secretive and too selective.

The practice of dimming theater marquees...

Get ready to be caught in the web of the spider woman.

The first teaser trailer for Bill Condon's Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Jennifer Lopez and Diego Luna, has arrived.

Written and directed by Condon, the film is an adaptation of John Kander and Fred Ebb's Tony Award-winning musical based on the Manuel Puig 1976 novel. Set in Argentina in 1981, Kiss of the Spider Woman focuses on Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), a gay hairdresser who is imprisoned because of his sexuality. While in captivity, Molina shares a cell with Valentin (Luna), an ardent Marxist. Lopez plays Ingrid Luna, a classic screen diva of musicals whom Molina sees in his fantasies as he tries to escape his current reality.

The trailer shows off Lopez's vocal chops and legendary dance moves.

Kiss of the Spider Woman premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January before being picked up by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.

New York is known for its famous on screen eateries like Tom's Restaurant in "Seinfeld" or Katz's Delicatessen in "When Harry Met Sally" (which appears in the scene featuring that famous punchline), but rarely has a diner appeared as frequently in film and television as the Moondance Diner. Located on the corner of Sixth Avenue between Grand Street and Canal Street in the New York neighborhood of SoHo (South of Houston Street), the Moondance Diner was a railroad car-style diner built in 1933 made of shiny chrome. It had an adorable spinning crescent moon sign on top and shimmering glitter around its logo. On the inside, it had laminate tables squeezed next to shiny blue vinyl stools in front of a counter.

The diner's cartoony and 20th-century Americana aesthetic stood out against the surrounding brick apartment facades and other historic buildings, which made it really pop on screen. In addition to its motion picture appearances,...

Charles Strouse, the famed Broadway composer who received Tony Awards for his scores for Bye Bye Birdie, Applause and Annie, died Thursday at his home in New York City, his family announced. He was 96.

A member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Theater Hall of Fame, Strouse wrote music for more than a dozen Broadway shows.

He and lyricist Martin Charnin were responsible for the immortal tunes “Tomorrow” and “It’s the Hard Knock Life” from Annie, and he and his most frequent collaborator, lyricist Lee Adams, partnered on such classic show tunes as “Put on a Happy Face” from Bye Bye Birdie, “You’ve Got Possibilities” from It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman and “This Is the Life” from Golden Boy.

Asked by Playbill in 2009 why he got into the theater, Strouse replied: “You can make a lot of money and you meet beautiful girls.

Charles Strouse, the musical composer for such Broadway hits as Bye Bye Birdie, Applause and Annie, films including Bonnie and Clyde (1967) The Night They Raided Minsky’s (1968) and All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989) and for the TV series All In The Family, died at his home in New York City on May 15. He was 96.

His death was announced by his children Benjamin, Nicholas, Victoria, and William Strouse., and was nominated for Golden Boy, Charlie & Algernon, Rags, and Nick & Nora.

Strouse was born on June 7, 1928 in New York City, the son of Ethel (Newman) and Ira Strouse. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music in 1947, he received two scholarships to Tanglewood, where he studied under composer Aaron Copland. Subsequently, Copland arranged for Strouse to get a scholarship with legendary teacher, Nadia Boulanger, in Paris.

Strouse met songwriting partner, lyricist Adams, at a party in 1949, and the duo began a longtime collaboration starting with writing songs for summer resorts in the Adirondacks. Strouse and Adams contributed material to numerous Off-Broadway musical revues, including Catch a Star, Shoestring Revue, The Littlest Revue and Kaleidoscope, and wrote specialty material for Kaye Ballard, Carol Burnett, Jane Morgan and Dick Shawn.

In 1958, Strouse and lyricist, Fred Tobias wrote the chart-topping pop song “Born Too Late” (recorded by The Poni-Tails), and it was in that same year that Strouse and Adams had their Broadway breakthrough. They were hired by producer Edward Padula to write a satirical musical about rock and roll and teen idol culture. The show, Bye Bye Birdie, became their first Tony Award-winning hit. The production starred Chita Rivera and Dick Van Dyke and won four 1961 Tony Awards including Best Musical, earning Strouse the first of his three Tony Awards.

The show introduced the world to such songs as “Put On A Happy Face,” and “A Lot of Livin’ to Do.” A 1962 movie version, starring Ann-Margret, was one of the top-grossing films of the year, and featured Margret’s now iconic performance of the film’s newly added title song, “Bye Bye Birdie.” Strouse would later win a 1996 Emmy Award for the new song, “Let’s Settle Down,” written with Adams and added for the musical’s 1995 TV adaptation, starring Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams.

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Additional collaborations with Adams include the Mel Brooks musical All American (1962) starring Ray Bolger. Though the show was not a commercial success, it featured what would become the popular American standard “Once Upon a Time”. Golden Boy (1963), a musical adaptation of the play by Clifford Odets starred Sammy Davis Jr., garnered Strouse his second Tony Award nomination. It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane… It’s Superman! gave audiences another popular Strouse & Adams song, “You’ve Got Possibilities” (first recorded by Linda Lavin). And in 1970, when the team wrote the score for Applause (based on the film All About Eve and Mary Orr’s The Wisdom of Eve and starring Lauren Bacall), Strouse would win his second Tony Award.

Strouse’s biggest Broadway success was with collaborators Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan on Annie (1977), based on the comic strip, “Little Orphan Annie,” by Harold Gray. The Depression-era musical about a plucky red-headed orphan girl who wins the heart of billionaire Oliver Warbucks, was one of Broadway’s biggest hits of the 1970s, winning seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and garnering Strouse his third Tony Award and a Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album. Strouse’s score included “Tomorrow,” “It’s the Hard–Knock Life,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” and “I Don’t Need Anything But You.” Annie ran for over 2,300 performances on Broadway, where it has been revived twice and has inspired hundreds of worldwide productions. It has also been adapted for two film and two television productions.

Strouse was passionate about collaboration and would earn Tony Award nominations for his scores with lyricists: David Rogers, Charlie & Algernon (1980), based on the novel Flowers for Algernon, Steven Schwartz, for Rags (1986), with book writer Joseph Stein starring Teresa Stratas, and Nick and Nora (1991), a musical based on Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man characters, written with Richard Maltby, Jr.

Strouse’s film scores include Bonnie and Clyde (1967) starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, There Was a Crooked Man (1970), with Henry Fonda and Kirk Douglas, Sidney Lumet’s Just Tell Me What You Want, and the animated feature All Dogs Go To Heaven (1989).

In addition to his awards, Strouse was the recipient of several honorary doctorates. He was a longtime member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, inducted in 1985, and the Theatre Hall of Fame.

Strouse also composed orchestral works, chamber music, piano concertos, and an opera. His original piano work, Concerto America, was composed in 2002 to commemorate 9/11 and premiered at The Boston Pops in 2004. His opera Nightingale (1982), starring Sarah Brightman, had a successful run in London, followed by many subsequent productions.

In 1977, Strouse founded the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, through which many young composers and lyricists honed their craft and developed their work. Strouse authored the autobiography Put on a Happy Face: A Broadway Memoir, published by Union Square Press in July 2008.

In addition to his four children, Strouse is survived by eight grandchildren, Sam and Arthur Strouse, Navah Strouse, Vivian, Weston and Ever Brush, and Owen and Theodore Strouse.

A private ceremony will be held at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in New York City.

The stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is still playing in New York and London, but audiences around the U.S. are getting a chance to catch the magical show thanks to the national tour production.

The tour is currently enjoying a lengthy run at Los Angeles’ Pantages Theatre and we caught up with star Emmet Smith, who plays Albus Potter, to learn more about him.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes place nineteen years after the events of the final novel in the J.K. Rowling series. When Harry Potter’s head-strong son Albus befriends the son of his fiercest rival, Draco Malfoy, it sparks an unbelievable new journey for them all—with the power to change the past and future forever.

Before landing the lead role in Cursed Child, Emmet had guest roles on TV shows like New Amsterdam, Law & Order, and Blue Bloods. He...

Together, wherever they go! Broadway favorites Audra McDonald and Danny Burstein both earned Tony nominations for their performances in the latest revival of Gypsy. In doing so, they have each smashed awards records as some of the most nominated actors of all time. (See the list of Tony noms.)

By earning her 11th bid for playing Mama Rose in this revival, McDonald is now the most nominated performer in Tony Awards history. She was previously tied with theater legends Chita Rivera and Julie Harris, who each have 10 nominations.

McDonald is already the winningest performer in Tony history, with six victories. Those wins include Carousel (1994), Master Class (1996), Ragtime (1998), A Raisin in the Sun (2004), Porgy And Bess (2012), and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (2014). She has won a Tony in all four acting categories for which she is eligible, and is the only performer to accomplish this feat. Her additional...

Audra McDonald became the most Tony-nominated performer in history Thursday.

McDonald earned her 11th Tony nomination for her star role as Rose in Gypsy on Broadway. She had previously held the title in a tie with the late Julie Harris and Chita Rivera, who had 10 nominations each.

The actress is already the most-awarded performer in Tony history, with six Tony Award wins for her roles in 1994’s Carousel, 1996’s Master Class, 1998’s Ragtime, 2004’s A Raisin in the Sun, 2012’s Porgy and Bess and 2014’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.

And yet, when McDonald was told by her husband, fellow actor Will Swenson, that she had been nominated and learned she had set a new record, she was in a state of disbelief.

“I’m so grateful, and that’s overwhelming to think about. I’m so lucky. The one thing I always wanted to do growing up,...

George Clooney, Bob Odenkirk, Mia Farrow, Audra McDonald, Tom Francis, Daniel Dae Kim, Jamie Lloyd, Louis McCartney are among those saying thank you following news of their nominations for the 78th annual Tony Awards.

Noms were announced Thursday morning by previous Tony winners Sarah Paulson (Appropriate) and Wendell Pierce (Death of a Salesman) on CBS Mornings. Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her and Maybe Happy Ending led the field with 10 nominations apiece. (See full list here.)

Clooney and Farrow are both first-time Tony nominees – Clooney for his Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck and Farrow for her performance in The Roommate.

“It’s a thrill to have 5 nominations for this play. For everyone involved, this has been an incredible experience. I couldn’t be more proud or feel more lucky,” Clooney said in a statement.

Farrow received a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play,...

Musicals Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her and Maybe Happy Ending lead the 2025 Tony nominations with 10 nods each.

All are nominated for best musical, a category that also includes Dead Outlaw and Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical.

A number of starry names received their first Tony nomination, including George Clooney, for his role in Good Night and Good Luck; Nicole Scherzinger, for her role in Sunset Blvd.; Sarah Snook, for her role in The Picture of Dorian Gray; Bob Odenkirk, for his role in Glengarry Glen Ross; and Mia Farrow, for her role in The Roommate. Othello, one of the most expensive productions on Broadway, led by Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, was notably shut out of the nominations.

Audra McDonald received her 11th Tony Award nomination for her role as Rose in Gypsy on Broadway, becoming the most Tony-nominated performer in history. She had previously held the record...

Bernadette Peters has long been heralded as one of legendary composer Stephen Sondheim’s greatest interpreters. The actress originated roles in Sunday in the Park With George and Into the Woods and starred in revivals of Gypsy, A Little Night Music, and Follies. Now, three years after Sondheim’s death, Peters has returned to Broadway to pay tribute to her long-time collaborator and friend in the revue Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends. If she receives recognition from the Tony Awards for her efforts, she could make history in the Best Featured Actress in a Musical category.

Peters earned her first Tony nomination in 1972 in Featured Actress for On the Town, which was her sixth Broadway production. She has received six additional nominations for Mack & Mabel, Sunday in the Park With George, Song and Dance, The Goodbye Girl, Annie Get Your Gun, and Gypsy — winning for Song and Dance and Annie Get Your Gun...

Harvey Fierstein will receive the 2025 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

Fierstein has won four Tony Awards, including two for Torch Song Trilogy, the 1982 play he wrote and made his Broadway debut in, which broke ground for its portrayal of gay culture, including the protaganist’s longing to have a family, and its inclusion of topics including gay marriage, adoption and bisexuality.

He also won Tony Awards for writing the best book of a musical for La Cage Aux Folles and best actor in a musical for Hairspray, where he originated the role of Tracy’s mother, Edna Turnblad.

Fierstein also wrote the book for the Tony Award winning musical Kinky Boots as well as Newsies and wrote Casa Valentina, A Catered Affair, Safe Sex, Bella Bella!, Legs Diamond, Spookhouse, Flatbush Tosca, Common Ground and more. He also revised the book for the recent Broadway revival of Funny Girl.

Welcome to the Gold Ticket, your VIP guide to the best of award-worthy pop culture for the weekend ahead, curated by the Gold Derby team of experts. (April 4 - April 6)

The main stream

Michelle Williams is Dying for Sex.

The Academy Award nominee and Emmy winner for Best Limited/TV Movie Actress for her work in Fosse/Verdon stars in the new FX limited series, which is adapted from the Wondery podcast of the same name. The eight-episode series (now streaming on Hulu) is inspired by the true story of Molly Kochan, who, after discovering that her cancer returned and is incurable, leaves her husband (portrayed on the show by Jay Duplass) to explore her sexuality with the time she has left. Deftly balancing comedy with frequently grim subject matter, the surprisingly raunchy series — which also stars Jenny Slate as Molly's best friend with whom she embarks on her new...

Jennifer Lopez's hunt for an Oscar might finally be coming to a close. After earning rave reviews at its Sundance Film Festival premiere, the movie-musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, executive produced and starring J.Lo as the titular character, has just slotted a Fall 2025 release.

Per Deadline, Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment have snagged the Kiss of the Spider Woman's North American release rights following its warm reception. Bill Condon directs and pens the Lopez vehicle, adapted from the Fred Kander and Fred Ebb musical of the same name. Set in the 1980s, the film follows Argentine prisoners swapping fantasies and stories—many performed by the eponymous Spider Woman (aka Ingrid/Aurora)— barely surviving under the nation's dictatorship.

The story has taken on many forms over the years. The original 1976 Kiss of the Spider Woman novel by Manuel Puig predates the musical concept. The songless version...

What we first told you on Sunday is now official: Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment have officially picked up North American on the Bill Condon directed, Jennifer Lopez starring feature musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, which was one of the most buzzed about titles at this year’s Sundance. A fall wide theatrical release has been set just in time for awards season.

Look for Jennifer Lopez to be out there on the awards season trail, along with the new discovery in this pic, Tonatiuh, who wows as gay prisoner Molina during a 1980s Argentian dictatorship, an inmate who keeps his cellmate Valentín (Diego Luna) alive with stories about his favorite movie, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and its actress Ingrid Luna (Lopez). Molina’s stories are portrayed in colorful song and dance. An eight-figure P&a spend is in store to get the word out. Condon is...

“Kiss of the Spider Woman,” a musical remake from director Bill Condon and star Jennifer Lopez, is finally close to finding a buyer after its buzzy Sundance Film Festival premiere in January.

Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and independent studio Ld Entertainment are circling domestic rights, though a deal has yet to close. It’s unclear how the trio of companies will work together to roll out the film.

This adaptation of Manuel Puig’s novel was one of higher profile projects to debut at Sundance. Set in an Argentinian prison in 1981, the film centers on queer window dresser Luis Molina (Tonatiuh) who is serving time for having sex with a man. To escape the horrors of his imprisonment, he dreams up vivid stories about the cinematic exploits of his favorite on screen diva, an actress name Ingrid Luna (Lopez), including her role of the spider woman, who kills her pray with a kiss.

Exclusive: We hear that Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate and Ld Entertainment are in final talks to take domestic rights to Sundance’s most buzzed about movie this year, the Bill Condon directed, Jennifer Lopez feature take of Broadway musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman.

We’re hearing it took a lot for this deal to come together on this net low-$30sM Artists Equity production based on the book by Terrence McNally and John Kander and Fred Ebb’s songs. Stuart Ford’s AGC handled foreign sales at EFM. WME and CAA Media Finance co-repped U.S. rights on the movie.

Tonatiuh and Diego Luna in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’

Details are still coming together. The pic follows Diego Luna and Tonatiuh as Valentín and Luis, jail cellmates in a military-run 1983 Argentinian. Gay widow dresser, Luis, keeps Valentín’s spirits alive with tales about his favorite actress, Ingrid Luna (Lopez...

Broadway’s tradition of dimming marquee lights for departed theater stars and leaders has often drawn criticism over what some in the theater community saw as a process that was both too secretive and too selective.

The issue reached a boiling point last fall with the in-rapid-succession deaths of actors Maggie Smith, Gavin Creel, Adrian Bailey and Ken Page. Who merited full dimmings at all 41 Broadway theaters? Partial dimmings at select theaters?

The brouhaha prompted the Broadway League to step away from its largely ceremonial role of announcing the dimmings and dates that had been determined by a committee of Broadway theater owners. Since then, the announcements have been made by an outside publicity firm.

Today, the theater owners took another step to correcting what many saw as a flawed system by creating Broadway In Memoriam, a quarterly tradition dedicated to honoring “the remarkable individuals who have left an indelible mark on Broadway.

Linda Lavin, the Broadway, TV and film star who died in December, will be honored by Broadway’s Shubert Organization with the traditional dimming of lights at the venue where Lavin gave her Tony-winning performance in 1986’s Broadway Bound.

The lights of the Broadhurst Theatre will dim on Tuesday, March 11 at 6:45 pm/Et in Lavin’s honor.

Perhaps best known for her long-running, nine-season role as Alice Hyatt on TV’s Alice, Lavin had a robust stage career, beginning with A Family Affair in 1962 and continuing to Our Mother’s Brief Affair in 2016. In all, she appeared in 17 Broadway productions, with some of her most notable performances being in It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman, the 1966 musical that showcased Lavin’s showstopping performance of the song “You’ve Got Possibilities”; Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound (1986); Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sister Rosensweig (1993); and Nicky Silver’s The Lyons (2012).

Lavin,...

We lost some entertainment giants in 2024.

Among the big-screen legends who died during the past 12 months were Donald Sutherland, James Earl Jones, Maggie Smith, Carl Weathers, Shelley Duvall, Dabney Coleman, Teri Garr, Louis Gossett Jr., Anouk Aimée, Marisa Paredes and Gena Rowlands.

Related: Saying Goodbye: A Video Tribute To The Hollywood And Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2024

The TV world mourns the likes of Bob Newhart, John Amos, Phil Donahue, Linda Lavin, David Soul, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Martin Mull, Shannen Doherty, Michael Cole, Richard Lewis, Richard Simmons, James B. Sikking, Peter Marshall and Joe Flaherty.

Filmmakers and producers who left us include Norman Jewison, Roger Corman, Al Ruddy, Jon Landau, Lynda Obst, Jim Abrahams, Charles Shyer, Irv Wilson and Paolo Taviani.

The industry also paid tribute to such top executives as Charles Dolan, Paula Weinstein, Jamie Kellner, Richard Parsons, Gerald Levin and Paul Fox.

Broadway’s lights were a...

Olga James, the singer, actress and nightclub performer who portrayed the jilted sweetheart of Harry Belafonte’s character in the landmark Otto Preminger-directed film musical Carmen Jones, has died. She was 95.

James died Jan. 25 at an assisted living facility in Los Angeles of complications from a fall in which she broke her pelvis, her niece, actress and acting teacher Janet Adderley, told The Hollywood Reporter.

James also portrayed the fiancée of Sammy Davis Jr.’s struggling showbiz entertainer in the 1956-57 Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful, and she recurred as Verna Kincaid, the sister-in-law of Bill Cosby’s high school gym teacher, on the comedian’s eponymous 1969-71 NBC sitcom.

James had attended the Juilliard School of Music and was a trained opera singer when she was cast as the heartbroken Cindy Lou, who loses her troubled man, Joe (Belafonte), to the bewitching title character (Dorothy Dandridge) in 20th Century Fox...

This time last year, industry experts and armchair pundits began the drumbeat for Kieran Culkin’s performance in A Real Pain. The intimate drama about a pair of cousins (Culkin and writer-director Jesse Eisenberg) who travel to Poland to see the ancestral home of their grandmother, who left the country during the Holocaust, was one of several buzzy titles to debut at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. It was eventually acquired by Searchlight Pictures, given a platform theatrical release last fall, and feted throughout awards season with honors for Culkin. He’s currently the top pick to win Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars in March, 14 months after his film’s initial debut. Culkin and Eisenberg, a nominee in the Best Original Screenplay category, are just two of several 2024 Sundance standouts that received bids from the Academy this year, including A Different Man (Best Makeup and Hair) and Best Documentary nominees Sugarcane,...

Jennifer Lopez has never gotten a lot of love from fans or critics when it comes to her acting career, but all that seems to be changing thanks to her most recent performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman, which is getting rave reviews coming out of Sundance this past weekend. Lopez has been nominated for more Golden Raspberry Awards than she has Golden Globes in her 30-year career in Hollywood, but next year's Oscar buzz has already started thanks to director Bill Condon's musical thriller, in which Lopez stars as Ingrid Luna.

Fans and critics have been singing the praises of Lopez since Kiss of the Spider Woman's debut on Jan. 26, with Pete Hammond from Deadline calling it "the role she was born to play," while at the same time mentioning that the movie itself is "a master class in how to find the cinematic soul of...

Jennifer Lopez starred in the world premiere of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, realizing a career-long aspiration to perform in a musical film. The Bill Condon-directed feature received a standing ovation at its Sunday night screening at the Eccles Theatre.

The film blends two contrasting storylines: a gritty prison drama set in 1983 Argentina and a vibrant Hollywood musical. It follows Luis Molina, a gay window dresser imprisoned on morals charges, and his cellmate Valentin Arregui, a Marxist revolutionary.

Condon reimagined the 1992 Broadway musical by creating a single fictional film within the narrative. This approach allowed Lopez to showcase her talents in elaborate musical numbers, including a Marilyn Monroe-inspired dance sequence.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,” Lopez said after the screening, recalling her childhood inspiration from watching “West Side Story” with her mother. The film represents a technical triumph,...

Oscar-winning Sundance Film Festival veteran Bill Condon returned to Park City to present the world premiere of his new movie musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, at Eccles Center Theatre on Sunday night. When it was over and all the credits had rolled, his star Jennifer Lopez was moved to tears, the capacity crowd delivered two standing ovations and a star was born thanks to a revelatory turn from Tonatiuh.

Considering the pedigree of its filmmaker — Condon previously directed musicals Dreamgirls and Beauty and the Beast and wrote the Oscar-winning Chicago — and its global superstar who plays dual roles including the title character, Spider Woman was the most anticipated debut of Sundance this year. In his review, The Hollywood Reporter‘s chief film critic David Rooney calls it one of Lopez’s best roles of her decades-long career.

Lopez, who skipped snow boots and sweaters for her festival debut, hit...

Jennifer Lopez, outfitted in a sparkling, webbed-up gown and sky-high black heels, fought back tears as “Kiss of the Spider Woman” was embraced at Sundance Film Festival with a standing ovation. She told the audience at Park City’s Eccles Theatre that starring in the musical adaptation fulfilled a lifelong dream.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,” she said. “The reason I even wanted to be in this business is because my mom would sit me in front of the TV and [‘West Side Story’] would come on once a year. I was mesmerized and was like, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ This is the first time I actually got to do it. This man made my dream come true.”

She’s referring to director Bill Condon, who has become a preeminent filmmaker for movie musicals, having worked on “Chicago,” “Dreamgirls,” Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast...

A touching dedication at the end of Kiss of the Spider Woman reads simply: “For Fred, Terrence and Chita.” That would be lyricist Fred Ebb, playwright Terrence McNally and original star Chita Rivera, key figures behind the 1993 Broadway musical, alongside composer John Kander and stage director Harold Prince. The show won seven Tony Awards and ran for just over two years, though critics and audiences were divided, and it’s mostly considered a second-tier musical by the standards of Kander and Ebb, the celebrated team behind Cabaret and Chicago.

Bill Condon sets himself a tough assignment trying to transform the tricky material into a great movie musical, but thanks in part to laudable work from his three leads, he occasionally comes close. The writer-director revisits an idea that worked well in his screenplay for 2002’s Chicago — paralleling squalor and splendor, with central characters stuck in grim reality seeking escape through Golden Age Hollywood musical fantasy.

Boundaries are constantly blurring in “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” the revolutionary mid-’80s film that became a Kander and Ebb musical, and that cunningly (and stunningly) morphs back to the big screen, courtesy of “Dreamgirls” director Bill Condon. Confined mostly to an Argentine detention facility in 1983, at the height of the country’s Dirty War, the show is the flip side of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita,” focusing on the brutal military regime that came decades after first lady Eva Péron’s death. Bleak as that may sound, the musical finds rare shards of light — and an unlikely connection — in the most despairing of places.

In every incarnation of Manuel Puig’s novel, cinema offers much-needed escapism from not only political injustice, but also the kind of biological prisons that oppress us. Sitting in the dark, transfixed the dreams unfolding on screen, filmgoers leave their bodies for a time,...

If Sundance was looking for a way to raise the temperature of this year’s festival they found it Sunday night with Jennifer Lopez and the feature take of the Broadway musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, which played a packed Eccles house with plenty of turnaways. Buyers in attendance included Searchlight and Mubi. The movie is up for sale from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity.

Taking the stage, Lopez, filmmaker Bill Condon and big screen discovery Tonatiuh (who plays Molina) received a standing ovation. When Sundance Director Eugene Hernandez said Tonatiuh’s name again on stage, the entire Eccles roared. “What a way to get to know you!” beamed Hernandez.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life,” an emotional Lopez told the crowd as she remembered watching West Side Story as a kid. She said it was always her goal to star in...

Jennifer Lopez brought major star power to the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance ahead of the world premiere of her new musical, “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” She was joined in the interview by the film’s director, Bill Condon, best known for writing the Oscar-winning “Chicago” and for directing “Dreamgirls,” and co-star Tonatiuh. Lopez was exuberant in saying she’s waited her whole life for a film role like this.

“I was waiting my whole life to be able to do a real big MGM Hollywood musical, and I finally got to do it,” Lopez told Variety’s Matt Donnelly. “It was more [than I hoped]. Me and Diego [Luna] were on set and we’re dancing around and we’re singing and looking at each other and it’s like we don’t want to do anything else but musicals. Diego said that! Me too. I don’t want to do anything else.

Documentaries about Liza Minnelli and Supercross, fan favorites with different fans, a Steven Soderbergh horror, a spy thriller with Phoebe Dynevor and Angel Studios’ latest starring Jared Harris are new on screens. It’s a quieter moment for new releases as Oscar contenders flood theaters and the fresh crop of 2025 independent films are just starting to gestate at Sundance.

For a little star quality, Zeitgeist Films debuts Bruce David Klein’s Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story about legendary showbiz icon Liza Minnelli at the IFC Center in NYC and adds Los Angeles next Friday (Laemmle Royal and Town Center), with a national rollout to follow.

IFC’s 7 pm shows with director Q&As are both sold out. They’ll be moderated by Minnelli’s longtime friend and collaborator Jim Caruso, who is featured in the doc along with Michael Feinstein, Mia Farrow, Ben Vereen, Joel Grey, the late...

It’s Liza with a Z. Not Lisa with an S. Liza Minnelli is among those rare, true living legends who seem irreplaceable. Irreplaceable both in that their talent is immense and that it literally appears nobody from a younger generation has the capacity to do as many things as well as she did them. In Liza we have an iconic singer, dancer, and actor. And let’s not forget a pioneer of fashion! One thinks of peers like Barbra Streisand and Cher as apt comparisons and very few others.

Bruce David Klein’s new documentary Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story is an unabashed celebration of the woman as told by all of her best friends. Celebrity talking heads like Mia Farrow, Ben Vereen, Chita Rivera, and Joel Grey speak effervescently about Minnelli. Singer and good friend Michael Feinstein emerges as the central storyteller of the film, alongside Minnelli herself.

Valarie Pettiford, known to soap opera fans as Amy Lewis on ‘The Young and the Restless’ (Y&r), recently reminisced about her time sharing the stage with General Hospital legend Jack Wagner.

In 1987, Pettiford and Wagner starred together in a touring production of West Side Story, with Wagner playing the iconic role of Tony. Pettiford, who previously portrayed Anita in the musical, recalled her initial reservations about working with a soap opera star.

‘The Young and the Restless’ Spoilers: Valarie Pettiford Remembers Sharing the Stage with Jack Wagner in “West Side Story”: “He Was Brilliant”

“I mean, all I knew him as was [as] a huge soap fan. And so you didn’t know what you were gonna get, I didn’t know his background — this TV person coming into this theater,” Pettiford shared.

However, Wagner quickly dispelled any doubts. “He was brilliant,” Pettiford enthused. “Oh my God, truly one of...

Jennifer Lopez keeps having to remind Judy Robles that she deserves all the attention she’s been getting as the pair promote “Unstoppable.” The inspirational sports drama has been earning awards buzz, and at screenings, Robles has been greeted with standing ovations. Audiences are clearly impressed by how successfully this single mom raised her son, Anthony, despite having to endure financial hardships and an abusive relationship.

“I tell her all the time, ‘You need to own who you are and what you’ve done,’” Lopez says. “You’re inspiring every mother who has ever struggled. You really have triumphed. You’ve raised a son who has become a leader, and you deserve credit.’ But she’s very humble.”

Anthony, as “Unstoppable” watchers know, became a college wrestling champ, an improbable accomplishment given that he was born with only one leg. Judy was there on the sidelines, unexpectedly learning the same...

From a multi-Oscar-winning drama to an acclaimed musical adaptation, we’ve picked the top Netflix original movies available on the platform.

While Netflix has gained its popularity from its hit series like “Stranger Things,” “Squid Game,” and many others, the streamer has since its first original movie in 2015 been changing the game on how movies can be made and seen, producing high-quality projects and giving awards nominators and voters much to consider.

From Martin Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour gangster epic “The Irishman” to the just-released adaptation of the recent Broadway revival of “The Piano Lesson,” starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, and more, there are plenty of Netflix Originals for your next movie night. Ready to watch? Continue below for the best of what the streamer has to offer!

Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com Top 7 Original Movies Streaming Right Now on Netflix:

No. 7: Dolemite Is My Name

No.

The first trailer and poster for the new Liza Minnelli documentary, “Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story,” has debuted.

The poster features a red, white, light blue and black illustration of a young Minnelli, with her signature pixy hair style and long eyelashes, by artist Kii Arens.

The trailer opens with Minnelli sitting in a chair and singing a snippet – “Gather around, I got a story to tell” – form the song “Ring Them Bells.” It shows footage of the Egot winner throughout her more than 50-year career, as well as interviews with her sister Lorna Luft, the late Chita Rivera, Michael Feinstein and Darren Criss. Ben Vereen is shown tearing up talking about the legendary entertainer and daughter of Hollywood royalty, Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli.

Mia Farrow talks about being at Minnelli and David Gest’s wedding. “Oh, my god,” she exclaims.

Minnelli herself is seen talking to...

The Broadway League will no longer be involved in announcing the dimming of marquee lights to memorialize the deaths of performers, writers and other members of the Broadway community.

The announcements will now be made by an outside press spokesperson for the Broadway Theatre Owners Committee, the group of theater owners that oversees decisions regarding the light-dimming tributes. Previously, the group’s announcements were released by the League – the trade organization representing theater owners and producers – despite the fact that the League has no participation in the tribute process.

The shift follows recent controversies over the Committee’s decisions – since reversed – to dim lights at only select theaters (rather than all Broadway theaters) for the actors Gavin Creel and Adrian Bailey. Since those decisions were announced by the League’s in-house communications team as a service to the Owners Committee, the trade organization itself was associated in the public’s mind with the decision-making process.

Throughout 2024, we will continue to update this In Memoriam photo gallery with notable celebrity deaths from film, television, theater and music. Major entertainment figures to be honored in the 2024 gallery are TV legends Bob Newhart and Phil Donahue, Oscar/Tony/Emmy winner Dame Maggie Smith, Emmy/Tony/Grammy winner James Earl Jones, music legend and Grammy/Tony/Emmy winner Quincy Jones, Oscar winner Louis Gossett, Jr., Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Gena Rowlands, Oscar nominee Teri Garr, director/producer Norman Jewison, broadway legend Chita Rivera, country music superstars Kris Kristofferson and Toby Keith and actors Dabney Coleman, Donald Sutherland and Carl Weathers.

Featured in the 2023 gallery were Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Tina Turner, Harry Belafonte, Jeff Beck, Robbie Robertson and David Crosby, Oscar and Tony winner Alan Arkin, Oscar/Emmy/Tony winner Glenda Jackson, Oscar and Grammy winner Burt Bacharach, Oscar winner William Friedkin, Grammy legend Tony Bennett,...

Exclusive: Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist Films have acquired North American rights Bruce David Klein’s feature documentary Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story which follows the career of and life of Liza Minnelli.

The Atlas Media production made its world premiere at last summer’s Tribeca Film Festival and recently played at the Hamptons Film Festival, Provincetown Film Festival and as a Centerpiece at the NewFest LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Zeitgeist is planning a theatrical run at IFC Center in early 2025 followed by a national rollout.

The deal was negotiated by Emily Russo and Nancy Gerstman, Co-Presidents of Zeitgeist Films and Isadora Johnson of Cinetic. The deal doesn’t include broadcast rights.

Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story focuses on the Cabaret Oscar winner’s complex period during the 1970s following the tragic death of her mother Judy Garland as she confronts a range of personal and professional challenges...

The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Board of Trustees has added eight new board members including actor Jonathan Groff, newly elected Actors’ Equity Association president Brooke Shields, Broadway League interim president Jason Laks, and Black Theatre Coalition co-founder T. Oliver Reid.

The newcomers fill seats made vacant by the departures of, among others, former Equity president Kate Shindle and former League president Charlotte St. Martin, both of whom retired from their positions this year. Also stepping off the board after years of service are publicist Chris Boneau, Linda Duncombe, Adam Krauthamer and Stephen Lewin.

Two seats were left vacant by the deaths of Broadway performers Chita Rivera and Gavin Creel.

Other newcomers to the board are: Kristin Caskey, executive vice president, content and creative at Ambassador Theatre Group; production stage manager Julie DeVore; production stage manager Johnny Milani; and Erik Piecuch, senior vice president, entertainment banking at City National Bank.

The following contains spoilers for Agatha All Along, Episode 4, "If I Can't Reach You/ Let My Song Teach You," now streaming on Disney+.

Agatha All Along's cast and crew are very happy with how the in-universe cover version of its iconic musical number turned out.

In a conversation with Marvel.com, Agatha executive producer Mary Livanos discussed the signature set piece of Agatha's fourth episode "If I Can't Reach You / Let My Song Teach You" and how bringing back WandaVision composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez was crucial to making Agatha Harkness' music scenes work. "We were so lucky to have them, and they brought their magic to the process and really gave the actors even more to hold on to, Livanos said, describing 'The Ballad of Witches' Road' song as "incredibly catchy, and anyone who ends up watching the show ends up singing it. I can't tell you how...

On September 26th, Broadway will honor the late actor James Earl Jones by dimming its marquee lights for one minute a traditional ceremony that began in the 1950s to pay homage to deceased performers who significantly impacted the world of theater. Previous recipients include legendary composer Stephen Sondheim and original West Side Story actress Chita Rivera, and Jones will join their ranks with two Tony awards and countless unforgettable performances.

Jones has been a valuable member of the Broadway community ever since his 1957 debut as an understudy for The Egghead, a legacy that will now be officially commemorated with Broadway's iconic lights-dimming ceremony this Thursday at 6:45 p.m/Et. The gesture recognizes Jones's artistry and impact across numerous genres and mediums including what is perhaps his most well-known role, the voice of Darth Vader but seeks to specifically highlight Jones's expansive legacy on the Broadway stage, for which he...

Clifford Bell, the cabaret impresario, director and producer affectionately known as “Lawrence of Cabarabia,” died Sunday of natural causes at Cha Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, publicist Steve Moyer announced. He was 67.

“Clifford Bell was a force of nature!” Moyer said in a statement. “He lived and breathed music every day of his life to the very end.”

A 40-year show business veteran, Bell wrote and directed variety performances featuring the likes of Walter Cronkite, Colin Powell and Michael Eisner at the Honda Center in Anaheim and toured with Katey Sagal and her band.

As a cabaret director, he helmed shows for singers Gregg Marx, Todd Murray, Lois Bourgon, Carol Whitener, Joanne Tatham, Bonnie Gilgallon, Lauren White, Quinn Johnson, Chase Masterson, Lee Lessack, Bobbie Norman and Katrina Aguilar.

He produced albums for singers Betsyann Faiella, Eileen Barnett and Judy Butterfield and directed one-person shows starring Beth Lapides, Joan Hotchkis, Juliette Marshall,...

The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards may be over, but complaining about the Emmy Awards is only just beginning.

It’s not uncommon for awards ceremonies’ In Memoriam segments, which honor deceased members of the industry, to tick off viewers. Such as how this year’s Oscars ceremony controversially lumped together a bunch of illegible names in the final moments of the In Memoriam, and also featured a “distracting” interpretive dance number.

Last night’s Emmys’ In Memoriam paid homage to late TV stars like Bob Newhart, Richard Simmons and Shannen Doherty, but it also omitted some major names. Some were confused as to why Matthew Perry didn’t appear, forgetting that this was actually the second Emmy ceremony of the year. Perry was honored during the delayed 74th Emmys, which aired back in January.

But the Emmys are now taking heat for leaving out some notable figures, including Erica Ash,...

The “In Memoriam” segment of the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday paid tribute to a host of small-screen stars who have died in the past year, but users on social media were quick to point out the notable names that did not make the montage.

The poignant segment saw rapper Jelly Roll say a few words before performing his 2024 song “I Am Not Okay” as a montage of late stars was shown inside the Peacock Theater and on television. Among those included in the segment were Donald Sutherland, James Earl Jones, Martin Mull, Richard Lewis, Richard Simmons, Shannen Doherty, Gena Rowlands, Chance Perdomo and Carl Weathers.

There was general confusion online in some quarters due to the omission of Friends star Matthew Perry, who died Oct. 28, 2023 at 54. Perry’s absence was explained by the Television Academy paying a special tribute to the actor at the 74th edition of the Emmys held in January,...

The In Memoriam section of the 2024 Emmys paid tribute to some of the most beloved performers and creatives we've lost this year, but former Emmy-nominee, Shelley Duvall was missing from the list. Amid the celebrations, as our favorite shows are recognized by other industry veterans for their achievement, the In Memoriam section puts a pause on the festivities as we all take a moment to remember our favorite actors, directors, and writers, who have passed away this year. With a live performance of "I Am Not Okay" by Jelly Roll, this year's segment was particularly emotional. Some of the names featured in the section included Richard Simmons, Shannen Doherty, James Earl Jones, the recently deceased James Earl Jones, and the young Gen V star Chance Perdomo. However, Duvall, and some other notable names were absent from the commemoration.

Best known for her performance in The Shining, Duvall was actually nominated...

Producers for the 76th annual Emmy Awards have been editing the special “In Memoriam” segment to be featured on Sunday’s ABC ceremony. Since the most recent ceremony was delayed until mid-January, there are only eight months of TV legends who have died instead of the typical 12 months.

We have assembled a list of people below who might be selected. Members of the academy’s TV Hall of Fame are host and producer Phil Donahue, anchor and journalist Robert MacNeil, lighting designer Bill Klages and actor and comedian Bob Newhart. Some of the previous Emmy winners and nominees include previous academy president Leo Chaloukian, actor Bill Cobbs, actor Dabney Coleman, actress Shelley Duvall, actor and writer Joe Flaherty, director Jerry Foley, actor Louis Gossett Jr., actor Bill Hayes, actor James Earl Jones, host Peter Marshall, actor and comedian Martin Mull, actress Gena Rowlands, actor James B. Sikking, actor Donald Sutherland and actor Carl Weathers.