‘Wicked' choice: Cynthia Erivo will host the Tony Awards in June
NEW YORK (AP) — 'Wicked' star Cynthia Erivo, who has been earning awards left and right, will next be handing them out — she's been picked to be the host of the Tony Awards.
'I am so proud and excited to take on this glorious honor,' Erivo said in a statement. 'I am looking forward to ushering the theater community at large through a night that celebrates the wonderful performances we have witnessed throughout the year. I hope I can rise to the occasion.'
Erivo has won a Grammy, Emmy and a Tony, as well as a Golden Globe, SAG Award and three Academy Award nominations.
This season's Tony Awards will take place on June 8 at its familiar home of Radio City Music Hall. They will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
The awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
'Through performances on both stage and screen, Cynthia has extended the magic of musical theater to millions of new fans around the globe — and that is exactly the mission of the Tony Awards,' said Heather Hitchens, president & CEO of the American Theater Wing and Jason Laks, president of The Broadway League.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
David Attenborough's 'Ocean' is a brutal, beautiful wakeup call from the sea
NICE, France (AP) — An ominous chain unspools through the water. Then comes chaos. A churning cloud of mud erupts as a net plows the seafloor, wrenching rays, fish and a squid from their home in a violent swirl of destruction. This is industrial bottom trawling. It's not CGI. It's real. And it's legal. 'Ocean With David Attenborough' is a brutal reminder of how little we see and how much is at stake. The film is both a sweeping celebration of marine life and a stark exposé of the forces pushing the ocean toward collapse. The British naturalist and broadcaster, now 99, anchors the film with a deeply personal reflection: 'After living for nearly a hundred years on this planet, I now understand that the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.' The film traces Attenborough's lifetime — an era of unprecedented ocean discovery — through the lush beauty of coral reefs, kelp forests and deep-sea wanderers, captured in breathtaking, revelatory ways. But this is not the Attenborough film we grew up with. As the environment unravels, so too has the tone of his storytelling. 'Ocean' is more urgent, more unflinching. Never-before-seen footage of mass coral bleaching, dwindling fish stocks and industrial-scale exploitation reveals just how vulnerable the sea has become. The film's power lies not only in what it shows, but in how rarely such destruction is witnessed. 'I think we've got to the point where we've changed so much of the natural world that it's almost remiss if you don't show it,' co-director Colin Butfield said. 'Nobody's ever professionally filmed bottom trawling before. And yet it's happening practically everywhere.' The practice is not only legal, he adds, but often subsidized. 'For too long, everything in the ocean has been invisible,' Butfield said. 'Most people picture fishing as small boats heading out from a local harbor. They're not picturing factories at sea scraping the seabed.' In one harrowing scene, mounds of unwanted catch are dumped back into the sea already dead. About 10 million tons (9 million metrics tonnes) of marine life are caught and discarded each year as bycatch. In some bottom trawl fisheries, discards make up more than half the haul. Still, 'Ocean' is no eulogy. Its final act offers a stirring glimpse of what recovery can look like: kelp forests rebounding under protection, vast marine reserves teeming with life and the world's largest albatross colony thriving in Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. These aren't fantasies; they're evidence of what the ocean can become again, if given the chance. Timed to World Oceans Day and the U.N. Ocean Conference in Nice, the film arrives amid a growing global push to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030 — a goal endorsed by more than 190 countries. But today, just 2.7% of the ocean is effectively protected from harmful industrial activity. The film's message is clear: The laws of today are failing the seas. So-called 'protected' areas often aren't. And banning destructive practices like bottom trawling is not just feasible — it's imperative. As always, Attenborough is a voice of moral clarity. 'This could be the moment of change,' he says. 'Ocean' gives us the reason to believe — and the evidence to demand — that it must be. ___
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Wicked For Good: Your Questions About The Cast And Release Date (Plus The Scarecrow And Tin Man) Answered
Excitement for the musical sequel Wicked For Good is really starting to build following the release of the new film's first trailer. We'll admit that when we first heard that the stage musical Wicked was being split into two, we rolled our eyes a little – but after seeing Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in action last year, we now can't wait for the second instalment. There are still a few months to go until our next trip to Oz, but we know you might have a few questions between now and then. So, here's everything we know about the second movie… Initially billed as Wicked Part 2, it was revealed towards the end of 2024 that the sequel would be given the subtitle For Good, based on the show-stopping eleven o'clock performed as a duet between Elphaba and Glinda towards the end of the musical. The decision was met with a mixed response, but Ariana has claimed that Wicked For Good was actually already being touted as a title for the project when it was being filmed. 'I'm glad it's official now because we grew rather attached to it,' she said last year. 'It's just the perfect title because this project really has changed us for good.' Fans of the original musical will know that the second act begins with Thank Goodness, an ensemble number that helps catch us all up with what's gone down among the cast of characters since we last saw them. Besides that, we can look forward to the dramatic Elphaba number No Good Deed, her duet with Fiyero, As Long As You're Mine, and, as mentioned above, For Good, which has become one of Wicked's signature tunes. There's also another solo for the Wizard, Wonderful which… yeah… let's not even go there. While Wicked's original composer extended the One Short Day sequence in the first film, he's gone one step further in the sequel, and penned two new songs. Director Jon M Chu recently confirmed that one of these will be a new solo for Cynthia, while another will be performed by Ariana. Wicked itself is a retelling of the events of The Wizard Of Oz, retold from the perspective of its witches, Elphaba (known in the 1939 film as simply the Wicked Witch Of The West) and Glinda (who comes to be known as the Good Witch Of The North). Act one begins with Munchkinland celebrating the news of Elphaba's death, before taking us back through her younger years to explore her years at school. The second act – on which Wicked For Good is based – revisits the characters later in life, with Elphaba exiled and a public enemy, thanks to efforts from the Wizard Of Oz and Shiz professor Madame Morrible, and still harbouring feelings for Fiyero, to whom Glinda is now engaged. It also addresses more directly how specific events in the Wizard Of Oz came to be, including Dorothy's arrival in Oz, and her becoming friends with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. Evidently, yes. While Dorothy is never seen on stage in the original production of Wicked, we've already caught a glimpse of her in the opening moments of the first film. Dorothy is also seen – once again from behind – in the latest trailer for Wicked For Good, suggesting the character will be more prominently featured in the movie than the stage musical. Chu told Vanity Fair: 'We tread lightly, but try to make more sense of how [Dorothy's arrival] impacts our girls and our characters than maybe the show does.' 'We're delicate. We're delicate. We're delicate,' he then insisted, reassuring anyone concerned about him taking any big swings away from the source material. It was previously reported that Matilda star Alisha Weir portrays Dorothy in the movie, though this is yet to be confirmed. Alright – we're going to be giving away some major Wicked spoilers now, so if you've never seen the stage musical and want to avoid these twists, just keep scrolling down to the next section. Did you hear that? Spoilers are ahead. Scroll to the next section if you want to avoid them. OK, we think they're gone. Let's proceed… So, Elphaba inadvertently creates the Scarecrow when she casts a spell on Fiyero – played by Jonathan Bailey – in an attempt to save his life in No Good Deed. The Tin Man, meanwhile, is created by Nessarose, who is played in the film by Marissa Bode. She attempts to use magic herself for the first time on Boq (Ethan Slater's character) to prevent her from leaving him, only for it to go awry, and turn him into the mechanic woodsman. As you've probably guessed, the Cowardly Lion is that same cub who Elphaba and Fiyero rescue in the first movie. Right here! Enjoy: The film will hit cinemas on Friday 21 November, with the film expected to be re-released in selective cinemas before then, to allow everyone to revisit the events of the first film. 9 Things We Need To Talk About Immediately In The New Wicked For Good Trailer 22 Weird And Wonderful Behind-The-Scenes Secrets You Probably Never Knew About How Wicked Was Made
Hamilton Spectator
2 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Action! Derrick Henry can parlay a 2,000-yard rushing season into a movie cameo with Adam Sandler
BALTIMORE (AP) — 'King Henry' finally has the attention of 'The Waterboy.' Baltimore Ravens star running back Derrick Henry has an offer from Adam Sandler, his favorite actor, to be cast in a movie if the five-time Pro Bowl selection rushes for 2,000 yards this season. The offer grew out of Henry's appearance on radio personality Dan Patrick's show this week to discuss his $30 million, two-year contract extension. Patrick told Henry he would get him in a Sandler movie if he made NFL history with a second 2,000-yard season. Two days later, Sandler made the offer himself in a video shown to Henry on the practice field. 'That's my dawg,' a wide-smiling Henry said while watching the video. Sandler, star of 'Happy Gilmore' and the remake of 'The Longest Yard' along with 'The Waterboy,' said he was in a hotel room while filming his greeting for Henry. At one point, Sandler turned the camera to show his bulldog. 'Two thousand yards-plus this year not only gets you in a movie, but we'll have a nice dinner together and talk about Dan Patrick's facial hair and how hard it is for him to grow it,' Sandler joked in a video posted Friday. 'I love ya and keep it up.' Sandler came up during Patrick's interview with Henry because Patrick was hearing a hoodie for the soon-to-be-released 'Happy Gilmore 2.' Sandler had given Patrick the hoodie. 'Can you do me a favor?' Henry asked Patrick. 'If you ever see him again, tell him I'm a really big fan and would really love to meet him one day.' Patrick left Sandler a voice message — and Sandler responded. 'Dan you're a real one!' Henry later wrote on social media. Henry rushed for 2,027 yards with Tennessee in 2020, when he was an All-Pro and the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year in the fifth of his eight seasons with the Titans. Henry nearly did it again as a 30-year-old in a resurgence with the Ravens last season, when he ran for 1,921 yards. Saquon Barkley of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles led the NFL with 2,005 yards. ___ AP NFL:
