Latest news with #ColmanDomingo
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pharrell Williams and Audra McDonald on Putting Dandyism on Display at the Met Gala: ‘It's About Time'
The stars are out at the 2025 Met Gala, where the theme of the night is 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' and high-fashion dandyism looks are everywhere. The co-chairs for the 2025 gala are Colman Domingo, Lewis Hamilton, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams and Anna Wintour, with LeBron James serving as an honorary chair. More from Variety Colman Domingo's Stylists on His Met Gala Look, Mood Boarding on Pinterest and Dandysim: 'It's Our Culture, Our Heritage, Black Excellence' Jake Gyllenhaal and Audra McDonald on Playing Broadway Villains, Stage Fright and Cellphones Disrupting Broadway Shows: 'I Snapped!' Pharrell Williams, Michel Gondry Scrap Their Movie Musical at Universal in Postproduction (EXCLUSIVE) Williams revealed that Wintour asked him to be a co-chair while they were eating breakfast at the Ritz. 'It was nice. I'm grateful to her for providing this platform for that special color Black. That American color Black,' he told Variety. When asked about his fashion icons, he said, 'The working class. The Black men of the working class. They do the hard work, but then when it's time to get fresh they get dandy and super fine. I'm inspired by the working class because that's where I come from.' The Met Gala host committee includes Audra McDonald, André 3000, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Jordan Casteel, Dapper Dan, Doechii, Ayo Edebiri, Edward Enninful, Jeremy O. Harris, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Rashid Johnson, Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, Janelle Monáe, Jeremy Pope, Angel Reese, Sha'Carri Richardson, Tyla, Usher and Kara Walker. McDonald, who just received a Tony nomination for her lead role in 'Gypsy,' said she was 'thrilled' to hear the theme of this year's gala. 'Honestly I thought, 'It's about time.' Someone just asked me where I think Black creativity came from and why is it what it is and I said, 'Because when we were taken away from our motherland, that's all we had. All we had was ourselves, our souls, our bodies.' From that, we survived and thrived.' She looked to her own family for fashion inspiration for her look. 'When it comes to dandyism, my granddaddy, may he rest in peace,' she said. 'He always looked sharp. Most of the men in my family actually. My dad, too, was a sharp dresser. That was important to them. It was important to the culture and it was very important to them. You look right, you do that not only for yourself to claim and be proud of yourself, but you do that for our race.' Variety's On the Carpet is presented by Panera. Best of Variety Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
New York Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
What Made Nat King Cole, and These 5 Songs, Unforgettable
In November 1956, Nat King Cole was given his own variety show on NBC. It drew major guest stars and got good ratings, but was abandoned just over a year later because it couldn't secure a single national sponsor; brands were too nervous about boycotts from racist viewers. 'Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark,' Cole observed at the time. He couldn't have been too shocked. Cole may have been one of the biggest pop stars of his time, charting 86 singles and 17 albums in the Top 40, but he was, after all, the first Black man to host a nationally broadcast program. (He referred to himself as 'the Jackie Robinson of television.') In 1948, when he moved into Los Angeles's all-white Hancock Park neighborhood, a cross was burned on his lawn. A few months before the TV show debuted, Ku Klux Klansmen attacked him onstage at his concert in Birmingham, Ala., shoving him off his piano bench. Those experiences and the story of the final episode of 'The Nat 'King' Cole Show' in December 1957 is now the focus of 'Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole,' which is running through June 29 at New York Theater Workshop. Written by Colman Domingo, an Academy Award nominee for 'Rustin' and 'Sing Sing,' and Patricia McGregor, the theater's artistic director and the show's director, the play had a long gestation period, premiering in Philadelphia in 2017. It also had a Los Angeles run in 2019. Domingo described 'Lights Out,' which stars Dulé Hill as Cole, as a 'dark night of the soul' that explores 'the psychology of an artist.' Though today he's best known for his recording of the holiday perennial 'The Christmas Song' and for his daughter Natalie's technology-assisted duet with him, 'Unforgettable' (from her Grammy-winning album of songs associated with her father), Cole was an astonishing talent. 'With the sole exception of Louis Armstrong,' wrote the critic and historian Terry Teachout, 'he is the only major jazz musician to have been identically distinguished and influential as both an instrumentalist and a vocalist.' Ray Charles inducted Cole into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Frank Sinatra was a fan (and a pallbearer at Cole's funeral) and the piano titan Bill Evans called him 'probably the most underrated jazz pianist in the history of jazz.' Cole's relationship to race, though, was complicated, even confounding. He performed with an interracial band in the South, but also agreed to play for segregated audiences, to the dismay of his Black fans. He had a key role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington and at the time of his death in 1965 (from lung cancer at the age of 45), he was planning a production of James Baldwin's play 'Amen Corner.' 'I try to please as many people as I possibly can,' Cole once said, 'and if I find the people like certain things, I try to give them what they like. And that's good business, too.' McGregor said that the 'fever dream' structure of 'Lights Out' follows the 'past, present and imagining of the future' at a critical moment in Cole's story, with Sammy Davis Jr., a frequent guest on the TV show, serving as a 'trickster provocateur' poking at Cole's conscience. Domingo, who is also developing a movie about Cole that he called a 'more traditional biopic,' added that the show re-examines the musician's place in history. 'He knew the power of television,' he said. 'He knew that's part of the revolution as well. By showing up, putting on a tie, being graceful, singing lovely songs, he was actually advancing who we are as Americans.' In a recent video call (McGregor from home, Domingo from his dressing room on his last day of shooting a science fiction film, as yet untitled, directed by Steven Spielberg), the collaborators spoke about five songs that are central to the show and to Nat King Cole's groundbreaking career. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. 'Nature Boy' McGREGOR 'Nature Boy' was wildly popular, but there's something melancholy and strange in it that is a revelation of what was churning underneath Nat. We use that song to open up a portal into another world, into a different theatrical reality. It was very well known, but it's very different than most of his songs, which kind of wrapped you in this velvet hug. Its strangeness and its mystery felt like a really great song to establish that we weren't just going to show the on-air side of Nat, but it was going to be a revelation of his interior. DOMINGO It feels very personal and really an existential question that Nat has. 'Straighten Up and Fly Right' McGREGOR You can just swing and snap your fingers. It sounds like something out of 'Ocean's 11.' But it's also a kind of warning tale. Nat's father was a preacher, and this song links him to the way in which his father used the pulpit. If you peel back the layers a little bit, there's some lessons about strategies for survival and the way in which people wear masks. DOMINGO It's the idea of his psyche, of what has built the person that you are. Sometimes at those critical moments, you have to go back, and you're like, 'Oh, wait a minute — this is the lesson that my father gave me, the lesson that my mother gave me.' McGREGOR Colman is at an incredible moment in his career, and he chooses to do a piece like 'Sing Sing' when he could be doing 'Transformers 17.' But that's one of the things that this piece asks: When you have a platform, what do you say? 'Unforgettable' DOMINGO Of course, everyone remembers the fantastic album that Natalie Cole did as a tribute to her father, and 'Unforgettable' was a huge part of it. So what does Natalie put into this? What is her legacy? And his heartache of, was he there enough? Was he the right father? We watch Natalie transition from a 15-year-old girl to the Natalie Cole that we know, but we also know the complicated cost of that legacy for her. McGREGOR In that song, Natalie gives him permission to share his inner turmoil. The show posits that in trying to hold it all together, the stress and worry might have led to him passing earlier than he should have. In her own project, Natalie was trying to be in conversation with a father who passed too young, and to release him to be free — and know that even though their time was cut short, he would always be unforgettable in her mind's eye. 'The Christmas Song' DOMINGO By the time you get to 'The Christmas Song,' you've learned so much, and it's disrupted you in a way that you're going to hear the song in a very different way. Dulé is sweating and tear-soaked, and he's finally experienced and let go of some rage and some hurt. And then we deliver 'The Christmas Song,' but now you have a more vulnerable human being in front of you. You don't get to walk out with just that warm, cozy feeling. We're not allowing you to. McGREGOR It's the sentiment of how to be Black without all the blues. Now you understand the cost of grace in the face of American history and reality. You understand that there is no way to avoid the pain and the rage, and yet people still try to show up with hope and healing and connection. That song is like the crème brûlée top, with something much deeper underneath. 'The Party's Over' DOMINGO The show ends when Nat speaks his truth, but it's cut off with darkness. Then that's our coda — 'The party's over, it's time to call it a day / They've burst your pretty balloon and taken the moon away.' We have deconstructed this American icon to deconstruct America and deconstruct our souls. We've done our show, we've taken off our masks. Now it's your choice whether you speak your truth, whether you are active, where's your part in this revolution to liberate one another? We've done our job. Now it's your turn. McGREGOR In many ways, this show also examines the role artists play. If people leave the theater and just talk about what kind of dessert they want, we haven't done our job. We hope people leave with a sense of mission or something churning in them to figure out what it means for them to unmask, to take off their makeup, to wake up.
The Herald Scotland
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Adrien Brody, more unite to support AIDS research after Trump cuts
The charity said the benefit has so far raised nearly $300 million for its research programs on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Celebrities including "Sing Sing" actor Colman Domingo, award-winning actor Taraji P. Henson and Michelle Rodriguez of the "Fast and Furious" franchise expressed concern about what U.S. President Donald Trump's budget and staffing cuts could mean for AIDS research and prevention around the world. See the photo: Emma Watson touches down in France for rare Cannes Film Festival appearance The United States' "recent reduction of a lot of those resources globally has affected the AIDS community profoundly," said Rodriguez on the red carpet ahead of the dinner. "It becomes more important than ever, the work that amfAR does, not only in the research to generate drugs, just the advocacy that they have globally," added the actor. The United Nations AIDS agency warned in March that there could be 2,000 new HIV infections a day across the world and a ten-fold increase in related deaths if funding frozen by the United States is not restored or replaced. "It's very disappointing when people are going to die for something they don't have to die from," said Henson, the event's host and actor from "Hidden Figures" and TV series "Empire." Teri Hatcher, Ed Westwick, Heidi Klum and Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' fiancee, also attended the dinner that featured a performance by pop rockers Duran Duran. Contributing: Miranda Murray, Rollo Ross, Reuters
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Surreal Night on the French Riviera With Jeff Bezos and Duran Duran
Every year, as the Cannes Film Festival winds down, hundreds of celebrities and philanthropists gather at the palatial Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc for the amfAR gala, an event that raises millions for biomedical research and also prides itself on being a lavish, fashion-forward party. That was certainly the case at the 31st installment Thursday, which featured performances from Ciara, Adam Lambert and Duran Duran. At blustery cocktails in the seaside town of Antibes overlooking the vast blue water of the French Riviera, the Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo, wearing a custom Valentino suit and Boucheron jewelry that he said made him feel like a 'peacock,' admitted that it's a surreal night. 'It's so maximalistic in all of this expression,' he said. 'And it is all to draw eyes toward H.I.V. and AIDS research.' The cause was the reason the actress Teri Hatcher, dressed in a sleek black gown, said she was excited to attend, 'especially as an American wanting to, at this time, be putting light on causes that are important, that need funding.' It was her first time at the event, which was initially hosted by Elizabeth Taylor in 1993. The night raised more than $17 million. In his opening remarks at the dinner, the outgoing amfAR chief executive, Kevin Robert Frost, also alluded to the Trump administration's cuts affecting H.I.V. prevention. 'As you all know, this is not a great time for global health,' he said. 'Many governments, especially mine, the U.S., but also the United Nations and others, are cutting back on investments in health, and many communities are already feeling the consequences, especially people living with H.I.V., who depend on daily medications for their survival.' Sitting near the stage was Kimberly Guilfoyle, Mr. Trump's choice to be ambassador to Greece, in a bright red dress. Earlier Kyle Clifford, who is set to take over for Mr. Frost, said that the organization keeps politics outside of the gala tent, which this year was dressed up with hanging lanterns and moody red lighting. 'We're a nonpartisan organization and it's a safe, fun place for people to do their philanthropy,' he said. Indeed, the night drew more than 850 people and many famous faces, including Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez, Kevin Spacey, who was found not guilty of sexual assault charges by a British jury in 2023, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who tried to remain incognito in a black baseball cap. On the hotel's perfect lawns, Ms. Guilfoyle was spotted posing for photos opposite Heidi Klum, the model and 'Project Runway' host, who later bemoaned the adjacent film festival's new dress code that prohibited nudity and 'voluminous' outfits. 'I think it's boring,' she said, dressed in a strapless gown, with a sheer skirt and large feathered train. At the bar, the director Spike Lee, who had just premiered his latest movie, 'Highest 2 Lowest,' at the festival, chatted with the Oscar-winner Adrien Brody. Upon entering the party, Mr. Lee, a dedicated New York Knicks fan, said he was glad he missed the previous night's playoff game, in which his team suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Indiana Pacers. 'I was on another continent, a thousand miles away,' he said. 'They cannot blame that disaster on me.' Mr. Brody had donated one of his artworks, a mixed media piece centered on Marilyn Monroe, to the night's auction. He was not the only actor to do so. James Franco, who has recently been less visible following sexual misconduct allegations, also supplied a painting. Ciara kicked off the dinner with a performance of her hits including '1, 2 Step,' flanked by two backup dancers. And while the night was hosted by Taraji P. Henson, the affair was dominated by the flashy live auction where items included Chopard diamond earrings, an Andy Warhol screenprint, and a Dodge Charger used in 'Fast X,' the most recent installment in the 'Fast & Furious' franchise, which the movie's star, Michelle Rodriguez, hyped up with a giggly introduction. A George Condo painting, made specially for the occasion, was the big seller at 1,150,000 euros, or about $1.3 million. Mr. Lee contributed a surprise item of a walk-on role in his next movie, and added during the bidding he would take the winner to a Knicks game next season. As is now tradition at the gala, the auction featured a fashion show curated by the French fashion editor Carine Roitfeld, with a collection that immediately sold. This year's theme was 'From Cannes With Love,' a tribute to James Bond. Ms. Hatcher, who played a Bond girl in the 1997 film 'Tomorrow Never Dies,' walked the runway. After a brief intermission in bidding, Mr. Lambert performed a series of songs by Queen with accompaniment from the band's drummer Roger Taylor. But it wasn't until the end of the long event, well after midnight, that the 1980s pop dandies, Duran Duran, who are about to embark on a European tour, took the stage. While guests lit up cigarettes inside, Mr. Domingo, Mariska Hargitay and Georgina Chapman grooved along to songs like 'Notorious' and 'Ordinary World.' But the night, and the world, felt far from ordinary.
New York Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole' Review: Dimming a Great Talent
When Nat King Cole performed 'The Party's Over' on his NBC variety show, he did it with a smile, as he seemed to do everything. But the song bitterly resonated on that particular broadcast, Cole's final outing as a host, having quit after just over a year's worth of struggles finding national advertisers. 'It's time to wind up / The masquerade,' he sang. 'Just make your mind up / The piper must be paid.' Written by Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor, the formally ambitious, if muddled, 'Lights Out: Nat 'King' Cole' takes place on that fateful Dec. 17, 1957, when the pianist and singer said goodbye to his audience. (Note that Domingo, who is famous as an actor these days, does not appear in the show.) The framing device is not unlike that of 'Goodnight, and Good Luck,' which is also set in a TV studio, and both shows look at a momentous taping as a mode of resistance against America's powers-that-be. But 'Lights Out' takes a very different tack from the George Clooney and Grant Heslov play's straightforward embrace of docu-like similitude . 'Some of you thought you were going to get a nice and easy holiday show,' Sammy Davis Jr. (Daniel J. Watts) informs the audiences of both the television studio and New York Theater Workshop, where the production is running. 'No! Welcome to the fever dream.' The musical unfurls in the minutes before Cole (Dulé Hill) is supposed to go on the air. Time dilates and contracts; guests and family members pop up; conversations are interspersed with musical standards. Davis, who had actually guest-starred on Cole's show a few months earlier, is ever-present here as a flamboyantly extroverted jester who might represent the id of the more restrained (at least publicly) Cole. The pinnacle of McGregor's production is a fiery tap number, choreographed by Jared Grimes, between the two men that lands halfway between duet and battle, and is set to 'Me and My Shadow.' Juxtaposing an irrepressible scratcher of itches and a debonair charmer as two forces of Black creativity, which the white establishment tried to contain in safe, acceptable boxes, is the show's best idea. Hill gives it life with a complex, layered performance as Cole, who is revealed to be channeling his anger and frustrations into a smooth, urbane exterior — a review of his show's premiere in The New York Times described him as having 'an amiable personality that comes across engagingly on the television screen.' (Both Hill and Watts were in the 'Lights Out' premiere in 2017, with the People's Light company in Malvern, Penn.) Unfortunately, the writing and direction do not match Hill's subtlety. Cole is jostled this way and that between past and present, fantasy and reality, as if he were on a runaway carousel, but his agitated free associating is written and staged in a herky-jerky manner. Guests including Peggy Lee (Ruby Lewis) and Eartha Kitt (Krystal Joy Brown) turn up, though their musical contributions feel perfunctory. The star's mother, Perlina (Kenita Miller), drops by. Cole manifests his younger self (Mekhi Richardson at the performance I attended), and also duets with his daughter, Natalie (Brown again), on 'Unforgettable' — a hit for Natalie in 1991, when she sang with her father via a recording he had made 40 years earlier. The intersection of personal history, politics and performance has long been an essential part of Domingo's work as a writer — he explored it successfully in his autobiographical play 'A Boy and His Soul' (2009), less effectively in the book he co-wrote for 'Summer: The Donna Summer Musical' (2018). Here he and McGregor resort to telegraphing in ways that may be intended to jolt but too often land awkwardly, as when Natalie cries 'I can't breathe' after she is brutally forced to smoke a cigarette from a sponsor brand. 'They are still digging Emmett Till's grave, and you're out here planting roses,' Davis hectors Cole, who replies that his job is to entertain. 'No, it's your job to reflect the times,' Davis continues. 'But, if that's what you are trying to teach the kids, young Billy Preston is waiting in the wings, ready to do his thing.' Lo and behold, the keyboard prodigy (Richardson, again), then 11, comes in for 'Blueberry Hill.' It's an excellent number, as many are in 'Lights Out,' though one wishes the money spent on a large, underused video screen had been dedicated to a few more musicians to better approximate the bold, pumping sound of Nelson Riddle's orchestra on the TV show. Still, it is in examinations of such performers as Cole that you find one of the keys to change and progress: a demonstration of unparalleled talent that could not be stifled.
