Latest news with #LaCageAuxFolles
New York Times
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Tonys 2025 Live Updates: ‘Buena Vista' and ‘Stranger Things' Win 3 Early Awards
Harvey Fierstein has won four Tony Awards in his career, including honors for both writing and acting. On Sunday he added a fifth to the list, with an award for lifetime achievement. Here's what to know about Fierstein's notable performances and writing — and unmistakable voice. It all started with 'Torch Song Trilogy.' 'Torch Song Trilogy,' a four-hour portrait of a drag performer written by and starring Fierstein, opened on Broadway in 1982. It was a landmark production for a generation of gay men: 'A play in which the gay character was smart, funny and fully alive? A revelation,' Stuart Emmrich would write in The Times decades later. Fierstein won two Tonys with the show, one for best play and one for his performance. 'Torch Song' was revived on Broadway in 2018, this time with Michael Urie in the lead role of Arnold. (A character sometimes known as, naturally, Virginia Ham.) 'Originally, the gay men came in disguise,' Fierstein said about the play's audience earlier this year, in an interview with New York magazine. 'When we did it again, they came to the theater owning the show.' He's made a career confronting gender norms onstage. After 'Torch Song' came 'La Cage aux Folles' in 1983, with a Tony-winning book by Fierstein and music by Jerry Herman. It was the first Broadway musical, The Times noted then, to put a gay relationship at the forefront — here, between a drag nightclub's impresario and its star. Fierstein has also written the books for 'Newsies' (2012) and 'Kinky Boots' (2013), and revised the book of 'Funny Girl' for its 2022 revival. Fierstein's breakthrough as a musical performer came in 2002, with 'Hairspray.' He played the larger-than-life Edna Turnblad, a 1960s housewife whose peppy daughter helps her come fabulously into her own. Fierstein won a Tony for the role, and in 2016 reprised his performance in a live, televised rendition of the show. 'Edna is not just a cross-dressing sight gag,' Ben Brantley wrote in his 2002 review. 'She's every forgotten housewife, recreated in monumental proportions and waiting for something to tap her hidden magnificence.' And about that voice. Here are just a few of the ways The Times has characterized Fierstein's distinctive timbre over the years: 'throaty,' compared to a 'frog' or 'foghorn,' 'all the old 'gravel' clichés don't come close,' and 'sounding as he does, he should be driving a cab.' In an interview around his 2022 memoir, 'I Was Better Last Night,' Fierstein had a simple explanation. 'My father had the same voice,' Fierstein said. 'It's enlarged secondary vocal cords. It's the most boring answer.'
New York Times
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Tonys 2025 Live Updates: ‘Buena Vista Social Club' Wins 3 Early Awards
Harvey Fierstein has won four Tony Awards in his career, including honors for both writing and acting. On Sunday he will add a fifth to the list, with an award for lifetime achievement. Here's what to know about Fierstein's notable performances and writing — and that voice — as he accepts the award. It all started with 'Torch Song Trilogy.' 'Torch Song Trilogy,' a four-hour portrait of a drag performer written by and starring Fierstein, opened on Broadway in 1982. It was a landmark production for a generation of gay men: 'A play in which the gay character was smart, funny and fully alive? A revelation,' Stuart Emmrich would write in The Times decades later. Fierstein won two Tonys with the show, one for best play and one for his performance. 'Torch Song' was revived on Broadway in 2018, this time with Michael Urie in the lead role of Arnold. (A character sometimes known as, naturally, Virginia Ham.) 'Originally, the gay men came in disguise,' Fierstein said about the play's audience earlier this year, in an interview with New York magazine. 'When we did it again, they came to the theater owning the show.' He's made a career confronting gender norms onstage. After 'Torch Song' came 'La Cage aux Folles' in 1983, with a Tony-winning book by Fierstein and music by Jerry Herman. It was the first Broadway musical, The Times noted then, to put a gay relationship at the forefront — here, between a drag nightclub's impresario and its star. Fierstein has also written the books for 'Newsies' (2012) and 'Kinky Boots' (2013), and revised the book of 'Funny Girl' for its 2022 revival. Fierstein's breakthrough as a musical performer came in 2002, with 'Hairspray.' He played the larger-than-life Edna Turnblad, a 1960s housewife whose peppy daughter helps her come fabulously into her own. Fierstein won a Tony for the role, and in 2016 reprised his performance in a live, televised rendition of the show. 'Edna is not just a cross-dressing sight gag,' Ben Brantley wrote in his 2002 review. 'She's every forgotten housewife, recreated in monumental proportions and waiting for something to tap her hidden magnificence.' And about that voice. Here are just a few of the ways The Times has characterized Fierstein's distinctive timbre over the years: 'throaty,' compared to a 'frog' or 'foghorn,' 'all the old 'gravel' clichés don't come close,' and 'sounding as he does, he should be driving a cab.' In an interview around his 2022 memoir, 'I Was Better Last Night,' Fierstein had a simple explanation. 'My father had the same voice,' Fierstein said. 'It's enlarged secondary vocal cords. It's the most boring answer.'
CNN
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Cristóbal Tapia de Veer reveals he won't be returning as ‘The White Lotus' composer
'The White Lotus' has been a popular destination for viewers, but one artist who has contributed to the success of series announced he won't return for another stay. Cristóbal Tapia de Veer, the composer for the HBO drama, told the New York Times that he's had creative disagreements with the show's creator and director, Mike White, since the first season. 'I feel like this was, you know, a rock 'n' roll band story,' he said. 'I was like, OK, this is like a rock band I've been in before where the guitar player doesn't understand the singer at all.' CNN has reached out to representatives for HBO for comment. (CNN and HBO are both part of Warner Bros. Discovery.) Tapia de Veer has won three Emmys for his work on 'The White Lotus' and said 'for sure' the third season will be his last. He was asked how White responded to his decision to part ways with the show. 'I can't really talk about that,' Tapia de Veer replied. 'There was a French movie, 'La Cage Aux Folles.' You know how there's Albin, which is like the star, and there's Renato, who is the producer who is always taking care that Albin doesn't lose his mind about something, because Albin is the diva and Renato is the guy who is trying to make everything work. To me, the show felt very much like that.' Tapia de Veer said changes to the opening theme music in Season 3 were met with a strong reaction, 'When that came out, I had TMZ calling me, even people from England and from France, because they wanted some kind of statement about the theme.' 'People are furious about the change of the theme, and I thought that was interesting. I texted the producer and I told him that it would be great to, at some point, give them the longer version with the ooh-loo-loo-loos, because people will explode if they realize that it was going there anyway,' he added. 'He thought it was a good idea. But then Mike cut that — he wasn't happy about that.' 'I mean, at that point, we already had our last fight forever, I think. So he was just saying no to anything,' he added. 'The White Lotus' is streaming on Max.
