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New York Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Review: How Music Came Down to Earth, in ‘Goddess'
If you're going to call your show 'Goddess,' you'd better have one handy. Luckily, the musical with that name that opened on Tuesday at the Public Theater stars Amber Iman, who fully fits the bill. Whether scatting or belting or just standing tall in gold eye shadow and regal gowns, she conveys the combination of power and ease that inevitably elicits words like 'otherworldly.' When Saheem Ali, the director of 'Goddess,' gives Iman and the rest of the talented cast a chance to display that otherworldliness, mostly while performing the songs by Michael Thurber and dances by Darrell Grand Moultrie, the show makes a strong case for live performance as a central expression of our divided nature. 'What is human? What is divine?' goes one of Thurber's better lyrics. 'Do either exist until they intertwine?' But when merely talking, 'Goddess' descends. The book by Ali, with additional material by James Ijames, is labored, with a conventional plot about a young Kenyan man torn between furthering his family's political dynasty and baring his artistic soul. (He plays saxophone.) It doesn't take long to get bogged down in banalities of both the domestic and the folkloric variety. Because yes, the goddess of the title is literal. Iman plays Marimba, a mythic East African queen who, we learn in a flashback, taught humans to sing and gave them their first instruments. But like Omari, the saxophonist, Marimba has parent problems. Her mother wants her to go into the family business, which to judge from Julian Crouch's amazing puppets and masks is evidently Evil Incarnate. But Marimba, refusing to accept the mantle of war goddess, instead escapes to Mombasa to live under a new name, Nadira, in an underground nightclub called Moto Moto. It is there that Nadira becomes a queen in the secular sense: a star. Singing Thurber's mélange of music, which encompasses smooth jazz, R&B, theatrical pop and an aura of Afrobeat, she draws an audience that is similarly diverse. Moto Moto, run by the spunky Rashida (Arica Jackson) and emceed by the exuberant Ahmed (Nick Rashad Burroughs) becomes a hotbed of heterogeneity (there's even a shaman) in a culture that is otherwise intolerant of mixing. Intolerance drives the other side of the story. Educated in New York City, Omari (Austin Scott) returns to Mombasa after his father, the incumbent governor, has a heart attack. Put forth to replace him, Omari wants to run a new kind of campaign, one that will 'blow open the doors to everyone: Muslim, Christian, gay, straight, everything in between.' But when he proposes to announce his candidacy at Moto Moto, his family does not react well. His father (J Paul Nicholas) calls it a 'cave of sin,' further likening the place to a gutter. His mother (Ayana George Jackson) urges obedience and calm — and later sings a song about honoring one's 'Baobab Roots.' Even his fiancée (Destinee Rea), to whom he was engaged as a toddler, and who has political dreams of her own, looks suspicious. As well she might. It does not spoil anything — how could it, when the plot has been around forever — to say that Omari and Nadira fall for each other and that the fiancée quickly finds out. But once Omari has helped Nadira feel human love, and she has helped him release his musical gift, they worry about what it means to defy the world they were born into. Must she return to mother? Must he hock his horn? Well, not before they make ecstatic music together in a terrific number called 'Boom Boom,' in which the call-and-response between singer and sax amounts to aural foreplay. If that theme of making ecstatic music together sounds familiar, perhaps you are thinking of 'Buena Vista Social Club,' the celebration of Cuban culture that Ali likewise directed. Indeed, the shows have plenty in common, including the possibility that 'Goddess' intends to follow 'Buena Vista' to Broadway. But 'Goddess' is evidently a more personal show for Ali: He grew up, like Omari, in a Kenyan family that disapproved of his interests in the arts. His liberation came from the theater, in particular a production of 'Grease' he saw when he was 15. Even leaving aside the autobiographical elements, he has been working on 'Goddess' for 18 years. Not surprising, then, that it feels overworked. (It is also overamplified.) Too much rewriting has left it lumpy; the main characters often disappear for long stretches, and the first act curtain confusingly highlights a subsidiary one. And though trying to encompass in two hours of stage time the multitude of worlds that 'Goddess' has acquired is congruent with the theme, it is at war with the format. The cramming of musicians, politicians, horndogs, matriarchs, griots and immortals into one story does none of them justice. More happily, Ali's staging often does, the action merging seamlessly into Moultrie's propulsively sexy choreography. The show looks great, too, its grotto set (by Arnulfo Maldonado) lit in hot pinks and purples (by Bradley King) that are complemented by costumes (by Dede Ayite) of astonishing vivacity. They are what joy looks like when turned into fabric. And Iman is what joy sounds like: satiny, sultry, unpredictable, unforced. There is no tension in her steamroller belt. Her riffs and curlicues drop off her like cherry blossoms. If Thurber's lyrics are too often generic, not repaying close attention, no matter; the star gets the big points across. That is, after all, what stars do, in heaven or on earth.
New York Times
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Buena Vista Social Club' Brings the Thrill of Music Making to Broadway
The spirit of the musical 'Buena Vista Social Club' is evident in its opening scene. Audience members have barely settled into their seats before a group of onstage musicians strikes up the number 'El Carretero,' with the rest of the cast gathered around and watching. Some are leaning in from their chairs, others get up and dance on the side. The music is center stage, and we immediately understand its power as a communal experience that binds people. Therein lies the production's greatest achievement. For a place where music so often plays a crucial role, Broadway hardly ever highlights the thrill of music making itself. Oh, there have been shows that have effectively pulled the curtain on the process — David Adjmi's play 'Stereophonic' takes place inside recording studios, and the most effective scenes in 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' are set in one as well. But the interconnections between musicians, songs and a society have rarely been evoked as vividly, and as lovingly, as they are in 'Buena Vista Social Club,' which opened on Wednesday at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. (This improved version follows the show's Off Broadway run at Atlantic Theater Company, which premiered in December 2023.) As its title indicates, this production, directed by Saheem Ali, is inspired by the 1997 hit album 'Buena Vista Social Club,' on which veterans of the Havana scene performed beloved sons, danzones and boleros from the traditional Cuban repertoire. Many of those songs and others are in the musical (a booklet in the Playbill introduces each one, with illustrations by the flutist Hery Paz), along with most of those musicians and singers. Or at least versions of them are. Tellingly, the book by Marco Ramirez ('The Royale') identifies the characters by their first names only, as if to underline that this is more of an evocative flight of fancy than a biomusical — Ramirez makes the most of musical theater's notoriously loose relationship with facts. The action travels back and forth between 1956, in the tense time leading up to the toppling of the autocratic Batista regime, and 1996, when the young producer Juan de Marcos (Justin Cunningham) assembles a backing band for the older singers he's brought into the studio. (The British executive producer Nick Gold and the American guitarist and producer Ry Cooder played important parts in the 'Buena Vista Social Club' album and the Wim Wenders documentary that followed, but the musical doesn't mention them. Instead it focuses on de Marcos's role in putting together the band and singers.) The show toggles between 1996 and 1956, where the young performers Compay (Da'von T. Moody), Omara (Isa Antonetti) and Ibrahim (Wesley Wray) bond over their love of traditional Cuban music. Credit... Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
This week on "Sunday Morning" (March 9)
The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. (Download it here.) Guest host: Mo Rocca. COVER STORY: Big Tech's big bet on nuclear powerFaced with increasing demand for energy to fuel artificial intelligence, and the need to cut down on carbon emissions, companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon have announced major investments in nuclear power. Correspondent David Pogue visits Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, where a reactor is expected to be restarted; and Oak Ridge, Tenn., where a demonstration "modular" power plant is being built, to find out if nuclear power can help fuel the AI revolution. For more info: Constellation EnergyGoogle's Sustainability (blog)Kairos PowerSharon Squassoni, George Washington University ALMANAC: March 9"Sunday Morning" looks back at historical events on this date. ARTS: Nazi-looted artBarry Petersen reports. U.S.: Prison labor, an invisible workforce of the U.S. economyIncarcerated workers produce $2 billion in goods and $9 billion in services every year. But not all of the incarcerated are paid for their labor, which can benefit people inside and outside a prison's walls. Correspondent Luke Burbank looks at ways in which indentured servitude is still legal in the U.S., and talks with incarcerated workers at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution who make the popular denim workwear brand Prison Blues. For more info: Prison BluesEastern Oregon Correctional Facility, Pendleton, Ore. Oregon Correctional EnterprisesJennifer Turner, principal human rights researcher, ACLUJalena, Tokyo THEATER: "Buena Vista Social Club" serenades BroadwayIn 1996, a group of elderly, mostly forgotten Cuban musicians recorded an album that became a critical and commercial phenomenon worldwide. Now, the Grammy Award-winning "Buena Vista Social Club" has inspired a Broadway musical. Correspondent Martha Teichner talks with Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos González about assembling the original players; writer Marco Ramirez and director Saheem Ali, about creating the imagined origin story of the musicians and their Havana nightclub; and journalist Judy Cantor-Navas, about how the infectious music of Cuba crosses boundaries. To hear a performance of "Chan Chan," from the musical "Buena Vista Social Club," click on the video player below: For more info: "Buena Vista Social Club," at the Schoenfeld Theatre, New York City | Ticket infoFollow bandleader Juan de Marcos González on InstagramMusic journalist Judy Cantor-NavasJudy Cantor-Navas' "Cuba on Record" (Substack)Saheem Ali (Official site) PASSAGE: In memoriam"Sunday Morning" remembers some of the notable figures who left us this week. SPORTS: Lindsey VonnIn the world of alpine skiing, few have been more decorated than Olympian and World Cup Champion Lindsey Vonn. Fast, fearless and resilient, she fought her way back after every crash, until she retired at 34. But now, with a titanium knee replacement, Vonn is eyeing one more trip to the Olympics, in 2026. She talks with correspondent Lee Cowan about her love of the sport, and her goal to fly high once again. For more info: (Official site)Lindsey Vonn Foundation HARTMAN: Pediatrician TV: John Mulaney on "Everybody's Live," sobriety and fatherhoodThe Emmy Award-winning standup comedian and former "SNL" writer John Mulaney became a superstar finding the funny in the familiar. And now, he's realizing his boyhood dream of being a talk show host. He talks with correspondent Tracy Smith about his new show debuting on Netflix, "Everybody's Live with John Mulaney." He also discusses when he first realized he was funny; a 2020 intervention which he describes as "star-studded"; how he deals with sobriety today; and how fatherhood has changed his outlook. To watch a trailer for "Everybody's Live With John Mulaney," click on the video player below: For more info: "Everybody's Live with John Mulaney" debuts on Netflix March 12 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PTJohn Mulaney (Official site)Thanks to Amoeba Music, Hollywood WORLD: Treasures of San GennaroDevotional objects made of gold and gems, donated over the past five centuries to honor San Gennaro, the patron saint of Naples, are kept in a vault-like museum in the southern Italian city. Correspondent Seth Doane gets a glimpse of the priceless jewels, and talks with those charged with safeguarding this incalculably valuable treasure. For more info: The Deputation (Deputazione), Real Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro, Naples NATURE: TBD WEB EXCLUSIVES: GALLERY: Notable deaths in 2025A look back at the esteemed personalities who left us this year, who'd touched us with their innovation, creativity and humanity. ACADEMY AWARDS: Behind the scenes at the 2025 Academy AwardsWatch scenes from the winning films and performances, as well as interviews with all the nominees. THE NOMINEES ARE: Best picture THE NOMINEES ARE: Best actor THE NOMINEES ARE: Best actress THE NOMINEES ARE: Best supporting actor THE NOMINEES ARE: Best supporting actress The Emmy Award-winning "CBS News Sunday Morning" is broadcast on CBS Sundays beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Executive producer is Rand Morrison. DVR Alert! Find out when "Sunday Morning" airs in your city "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. (Download it here.) Full episodes of "Sunday Morning" are now available to watch on demand on and Paramount+, including via Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Chromecast, Amazon FireTV/FireTV stick and Xbox. Follow us on Twitter/X; Facebook; Instagram; YouTube; TikTok; Bluesky; and at You can also download the free "Sunday Morning" audio podcast at iTunes and at Now you'll never miss the trumpet! Watch: Trump's full address to Congress Ex-Army recruiter flees state with 17-year-old girlfriend after estranged wife's murder Takeaways from Trump's joint address to Congress
