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Idina Menzel is back on Broadway and she is receiving some glowing reviews for her work in the new musical Redwood.

The Tony-winning actress hit the red carpet for the opening night performance on Thursday evening (February 13) at the Nederlander Theatre in New York City.

Idina was joined on the carpet by co-stars Michael Park, Khaila Wilcoxon, Zachary Noah Piser, and De’Adre Aziza. Also in attendance were standby performers Bradley Dean, Veronica Otim, Daniel Brackett, and Jessica Phillips.

Redwood is a transportive new musical about one woman’s journey into the precious and precarious world of the redwoods. Jesse (Menzel) seems to have it all — a successful career and devoted family — until a life-altering event drives her far from everyone and everything she knows. When she finds herself at the foot of the redwoods in Northern California, a chance encounter and a leap of faith will change her life forever.

Few Broadway performers have impacted the musical theater landscape as indelibly as Idina Menzel. Her high-octane, piercingly pop-infused belt, fully unfurled in its compellingly harsh glory in her landmark turn as Elphaba in Wicked 20 years ago, influenced not only how young aspiring actresses train their voices but also how aspiring composers create their music. But despite that legacy, Redwood, a project that Menzel co-conceived with director Tina Landau, is only her second Broadway outing post-Wicked. And though she still sings, in the best way, like an icicle-tipped power drill, if the show is meant to be anything more affecting than a glossy showcase for her voice, she’s belting up the wrong tree.

Menzel’s Jesse is a gallery owner in New York who flees the city in the wake of a personal tragedy. Jesse isn’t sure where she’s heading, but the moment she enters Humboldt County’s redwood forests,...

We’re about halfway through the 2024-25 Broadway season, and there are 12 productions of musicals set to open this spring. Could any of them contend at this year’s Tony Awards? Below, find the summaries of each plot, as well as its author, cast, composer, and director. You’ll also get the opening, and (where applicable) closing dates.

SEETony Talk: Plays ‘Oh, Mary!’ and ‘The Hills of California,’ actor Kit Connor are on track for nominations Redwood

Previews began: Jan. 24

Opens: Feb. 13

Official synopsis: Jesse seems to have it all, a successful career and devoted family, until a life-altering event drives her far from everyone and everything she knows. When she finds herself at the foot of the redwoods in Northern California, a chance encounter and a leap of faith will change her life forever.

Book by Tony nominee Tina Landau

Score by Kate Diaz and Tina Landau

Directed by...

This review was originally published on September 11, 2024, as a part of our Toronto International Film Festival.

Rachel Morrison has been a cinematographer for years and even earned a nomination for her stunning work on Mudbound. With The Fire Inside, Morrison is in the director’s chair for the first time, and it’s safe to say that she has a solid future ahead of her in the role. Written by Barry Jenkins, The Fire Inside is based on the true story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, a professional boxer and two-time Olympic gold medalist. The sports biopic also underscores how being from Flint, an oft-forgotten place, is a strength, and its existence can’t be erased.

The Fire Inside chronicles the journey of boxer Claressa 'T-Rex' Shields from Flint, Michigan, as she trains and becomes the first American woman to achieve an Olympic gold medal in boxing, highlighting her determination and athletic achievements.

Well, it seems as though we’ve arrived at another end-of-the-year inspirational true-life sports story award contender. Last year it was The Boys In The Boat and The Iron Claw. And both of them have an Olympic connection to this new film (the latter just touched on the gold in its first act). But that’s where the comparisons end as this story happened less than twenty years ago. Oh, and the “biggie”, is that this film concerns a young (mostly high school-age) African-American woman. Now her coach plays a big role here, though it is in support of her journey. But the biggest difference is that that journey doesn’t end with the medal ceremony, all wrapped up nicely with the star-spangled ribbon. No, she forges ahead due to her courage, skills, and determination fueled by The Fire Within.

The film begins with a flashback to a few years...

Powerful performers punch above their weight in this otherwise by-the-book boxing drama. Based on the record-setting back-to-back Olympic victories — in 2012 and 2016 — of professional boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, who came from a poor background in Flint, Mi, to win gold medals in London and Rio, it’s a familiar tale of success against the odds that takes some interesting turns as a depiction of a woman competing in a stereotypically male sport.

Ultimately, though, what made great material for a 90-minute documentary (2015’s T-Rex) doesn’t organically stretch to a 109-minute feature; thankfully, director Rachel Morrison resists the urge to confect extraneous drama, relying instead on its two excellent leads to carry the story to the last round.

Claressa’s story starts in 2006; we see a young girl running through a rundown neighborhood in wind and snow to a boxing gym on the other side of town. She is used to...

Rachel Morrison’s feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside, uses the framework of a traditional boxing drama without ever being constrained by it. Telling the true story of trailblazing boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shield, it has the fundamentals of the genre down pat, from the inspiring speeches to the robust training montages to the exhilarating fights scenes. But the nuanced script, keen-eyed direction, and a pair of powerhouse lead performances elevate the film into something richer, realer, and more moving.

We first meet Claressa (Jazmin Headley) as a stringy young kid from Flint, Michigan, walking to the local gym, where she silently stares down the boys until someone agrees to train her. That someone is Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry), an affable ex-boxer who could’ve been a contender back in the day and now trains the next generation of potential champions. After putting Claressa through her paces, Jason confesses to his wife,...

Stranger Things actor Michael Park is among the new cast members joining Idina Menzel in the upcoming Broadway musical Redwood, producers announced today.

Other new cast members announced today are De’Adre Aziza (Passing Strange), Zachary Noah Piser (Dear Evan Hansen), and Khaila Wilcoxon (Six). Park’s also appeared in Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen, but is perhaps most widely known for his long-running, two-time Emmy winning role on the CBS soap As The World Turns.

Written and directed by Tina Landau (who also has her Floyd Collins heading to Broadway this season), with music by Kate Diaz, and lyrics by Diaz and Landau, Redwood begins previews on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre on January 24, 2025, ahead of a February 13 opening night.

In addition to the on-stage cast, producers Eva Price, Caroline Kaplan and Loudmouth Media have announced that Daniel Brackett, Bradley Dean and Veronica Otim will join the company. Jessica Phillips...

"What happened to staying true to who you are?" Amazon MGM Studios has unveiled the official trailer for The Fire Inside, formerly known as Flint Strong, telling the story of boxer Claressa Shields as trains to box in the 2012 Summer Olympics. This recently premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival this fall, and it will open in theaters on Christmas Day in December at the end of this year. "To change everything, she gave everything." The Fire Inside is story of Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, a boxer from Flint, Michigan who trained to become the first woman in her country's history to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport. It's based on the documentary called T-Rex, and features a screenplay written by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins. It's directed by cinematographer Rachel Morrison. Ryan Destiny as Claressa, Brian Tyree Henry as her trainer Jason Crutchfield, with Oluniké Adeliyi and De'Adre Aziza.

MGM brings the story of boxing champion Claressa Shields to the big screen in “The Fire Inside,” a biopic due out on Christmas Day. The film stars “Grown-ish” star Ryan Destiny as Shields and is directed by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison in her feature directorial debut.

Destiny demands the viewer’s attention in the movie’s first trailer. The film tells the story of Shields’ journey from her hometown of Flint, Michigan, to the Olympics — and what happened after her success, when she was forced to grapple with the pressure of providing for her family.

Shields, who at 17 as the youngest boxer at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2012, won gold medals at both the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 Olympics in Rio. She was also the first American woman to win a gold medal in boxing at the Games.

She went pro after the 2016 Games and joined the Professional Fighters League...

Starz’s P-Valley has set Nicholas G. Sims, De’Adre Aziza, Brandon J. Dirden, Moritz J. Williams, Chaz Hodges, Bella Blaq and Jay Jones as new recurring cast for Season 3. Production kicked off recently in Atlanta.

Sims joins in the recurring role of “Calvin,” a passionate member of the Chief-Fi-Chiefs, Chucalissa’s oldest gang. Aziza will play Red, the first lady of the Hurt Village Hustlas. Dirden will play “Detective Sykes,” a dogged officer investigating the recent uptick in crime in Chucalissa. Williams will play “Chance,” the new Sweeper who’s got the Pynk in a tizzy!

Hodges will play “Sage,” a quirky employee of Roulette (Gail Bean) who marches to the beat of her own drummer. Rapper Bella Blaq will play “Elaine,” a brash and bold employee of Roulette. Jones returns as “Prince,” the hot-headed leader of the Hurt Village Hustlas, the younger and rowdier of Chucalissa’s two preeminent gangs.

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Mark Rylance, Rebecca Ferguson and Charles Dance are set to voice star in Spark Hunter, an upcoming eight-episode psychological audio thriller from the director Trudie Styler and producers K.B. Miller and Teressa Tunney.

In the series, which premieres on Nov. 8 from the studio Realm, Ferguson portrays the world’s most advanced robot who has become the target of the Nsa and the president of the United States, who want to decommission the robot after believing she has gone rouge. The robot’s maker, played by Rylance, must contend with his creation and her evolving consciousness as the two have discussions about morality and purpose over the course of dinner. Audio from that dinner forms the basis of the series.

Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Got Married), Vanessa Redgrave (Julia, Howard’s End), Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Gosford Park), Edward Hibbert (Frasier), Linda Powell (Morning Glory,...

Realm hopes to scare up listeners for an election-timed, star-studded audio thriller from Trudie Styler.

Spark Hunter will debut November 8 and will feature Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), who will also executive produce with Styler. The eight-episode, futuristic series also marks Styler’s first foray into audio.

The Fighter Steel Productions title is centered around a set of top secret covert recordings from the archives of the President of the United States illegally released by the world’s greatest expert in robotics. It’s his warning to humanity. Co-written and created by podcast producer K.B. Miller and executive producer Teressa Tunney, the project was inspired both by Miller’s experience as principal investigator on an AI project for the U.S. Department of Defense and by the ethical dilemmas Tunney encountered in documenting the story of Korea’s comfort women.

Spark...

Exclusive: De’Adre Aziza (She’s Gotta Have It) is the latest addition to the cast of MGM’s boxing drama Flint Strong, marking the feature directorial debut of Oscar-nominated Dp Rachel Morrison. She joins an ensemble led by Ryan Destiny, which also includes Oluniké Adeliyi and Brian Tyree Henry, as previously announced.

The film based on Zackary Canepari and Drea Cooper’s 2015 documentary, T-Rex, tells the true story of Claressa “T-rex” Shields (Destiny), a 17-year-old Flint, Michigan native whose dreams of becoming the first woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing came to fruition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Aziza is playing Mickey—the wife of Henry’s Jason Crutchfield, who coaches Shields.

MGM is serving as the film’s producer, as well as its distributor. Oscar winner Barry Jenkins adapted the screenplay and is also producing, with Canepari, Cooper, Lyn Lucibello and Sue Jaye Johnson serving as executive producers.

Hey, "Evil" fans. We hope you guys enjoyed tonight's very suspenseful episode 2. Now that it's officially all wrapped up, it's time to see what the producers have whipped up for the next, new episode 3. Thanks to the very informative press release CBS served up, we do have a few plotlines we can run by you. So, let's get into it. For starters, the title for episode 3 is officially called, "3 Stars." It sounds like episode 3 will feature some very interesting, disturbing, dramatic and intense scenes as Kristen, David and Ben try to research something that might be demonic! Kristen goes out of her way to discredit someone and more! We'll go ahead and start off this "Evil" spoiler session with the Kristen,David and Ben situation. It turns out that these three will be dealing with some very disturbing stuff in this episode. At some point, a theater producer's behavior will...

"This is my shot." VH1 has announced their new TV series The Breaks will debut in February.Based on the 2016 film, the drama follows "three young friends fulfilling their hip hop dreams in New York City in 1990." The cast includes Afton Williamson, Wood Harris, Mack Wilds, Antoine Harris, David Call, Evan Handler, Melonie Diaz, Sinqua Walls, and Ali Ahn. The show will also feature guest appearances from Tip "T.I." Harris, Teyana Taylor, Gloria Reuben, William Jackson Harper, Kim Wayans, and De'Adre Aziza.Read More…...

Michael Che dropped the n-word on live TV.

During a segment of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live's season premiere, Che and Colin Jost were discussing San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protest of the National Anthem.

After calling the "Star Spangled Banner" boring, Che launched into an explanation: "It's mostly white guys that are upset. And I can understand why white guys love the National Anthem so much – because this country' always been great for white guys. You absolutely should defend the National Anthem. If I was white, I'd always defend the National Anthem.

"I expect white...

Michael Che dropped the n-word on live TV. During a segment of Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live's season premiere, Che and Colin Jost were discussing San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's protest of the National Anthem.After calling the "Star Spangled Banner" boring, Che launched into an explanation: "It's mostly white guys that are upset. And I can understand why white guys love the National Anthem so much - because this country' always been great for white guys. You absolutely should defend the National Anthem. If I was white, I'd always defend the National Anthem. "I expect...

Michael Che made a big slip up on live TV. The new season of Saturday Night Live premiere and the sketch comic mistakenly slipped and used the N-word while performing the "Weekend Update" segment with Colin Jost. Fans were quick to notice to mishap and took to Twitter to express their opinions. Anybody catch Michael Che say the N word that probably won't go over well the boss #SNLPremiere— Jeff MacDonald (@jmacyourlife) October 2, 2016 Did he just say??! #SNLPremiere— De'Adre Aziza (@DeadreAziza) October 2, 2016 @SNLUpdate making white people uncomfortable Rn. #FirstAmendment #SNL #WeekendUpdate #SNLPremiere— Scot (@inkysgrrl) October 2, 2016 An NBC censor just got...

Recently, CBS delivered the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Blue Bloods" episode 14 of season 5. The episode is entitled, "The Poor Door," and it turns out that we're going to see some pretty intriguing stuff take place when Danny and Baez investigate a luxury building that's housing lower income residents ,and more. In the new, 14th episode press release: Danny and Baez are going to investigate a murder of a lower income resident in a luxury building. Press release number 2: Danny and Baez will investigate a murder of a lower income resident in a luxury building where 20 percent of the units are made affordable for lower income housing. Also, Frank is going to take issue with a detective friend of Gormley's who takes advantage of his position with legal loopholes. Guests stars feature: Stephen O'Reilly (Wally Cantrell), Mark Ivanir (Ivan Radchenko), Theodora Woolley (Rada Radchenko), Socorro Santiago (Manuela...

Red Bull Theater's Revelations Readings kicked off its new season with a gala benefit reading of William Shakespeare'S The Tempest, featuring Michael Cerveris as Prospero. Directed by Jesse Berger the cast also included De'Adre Aziza, Gerry Bamman, Clifton Duncan,Angel Desai, Sean Patrick Doyle, Glenn Fleshler, Carman Lacivita, Drew Ledbetter, Matthew Rauch, Jay O. Sanders,Stephen Spinella, Raphael Nash Thompson, Auden Thornton,Michael Urie, Marc Vietor, and more. The Tempest featured original live music by Greg Pliska. It took place for one night only on October 20th at Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues. An exclusive party with the cast and special guests followed this benefit reading. Scroll down for photos from the festivities...

This week's event is set to feature the casts of The Phantom Of The Opera Jeremy Stolle, Jeremy Hays andMary Michael Patterson, Piece Of My Heart De'adre Aziza, Derrick Baskin, Bryan Fenkart, Linda Hart, Leslie Kritzer, Zak Resnick, Joseph Siravo, Teal Wicks, Carleigh Bettiol, Teresa Gattison, Shonica Gooden, Sydney James Harcourt, Jessica McRoberts, Ralph Meitzler, Harris Milgrim, Michael Milan, Heather Parcells, Gabrielle Ruiz, Amos Wolff, Mark Zeisler , Cinderella Paige Faure, Joe Carroll, Nancy Opel, Jill Abramowtiz, Stephanie Gibson andLaura Irion, Avenue Q Darren Bluestone, Sala Iwamatsu, Jason Jacoby and Veronica Kuehn and Bullets Over Broadway Zach Braff, Clyde Alves, Preston Truman Boyd, Jim Borstelmann, Casey Garvin, Dan Horn, Andy Jones, Kevin Ligon, Kevin Worley, Nick Cordero, Betsy Wolfe.

54 Below presents Tony Award winner Stew Passing Strange in 'The New Stew Review,' tonight, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 at 8Pm. Special guest performers for the evening include Tony nominee De'Adre Aziza Passing Strange, Luqman Brown Hurt Village, David Cale Threepenny Opera, Eisa Davis Passing Strange, Vondie Curtis-Hall Dreamgirls, Alex Emanuel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Three Days of Rain, and Rebecca Naomi Jones Passing Strange.

54 Below presents Tony Award winner Stew Passing Strange in 'The New Stew Review,' Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 at 8Pm. Special guest performers for the evening include Tony nominee De'Adre Aziza Passing Strange, Luqman Brown Hurt Village, David Cale Threepenny Opera, Eisa Davis Passing Strange, Vondie Curtis-Hall Dreamgirls, Alex Emanuel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Three Days of Rain, and Rebecca Naomi Jones Passing Strange.

Performances begin tonight for Roundabout Theatre Company's third annual Roundabout Underground Reading Series. The actors involved in the series include Pico Alexander, Fred Applegate, De'Adre Aziza, David Aaron Baker, Cassie Beck, Michael Chernus, Diane Davis, Dashiell Eaves, Ryan Eggold, Lisa Emery, Sue Jean Kim, Chad Kimball, Jessica Love, Lizbeth Mackay, Annie McNamara, Alex Mickiewicz, Aaron Clifton Moten, Olivia Oguma, Tonya Pinkins, Paul Pontrelli, Conrad Ricamora, Reg Rogers, Debra Jo Rupp, Campbell Scott and Max von Essen.