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Irish Independent
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
What to watch on TV and streaming today: Leanne, Griff's Great American South and Show Boat
Ottoman Empire by Train with Alice Roberts RTÉ2, 7pm The journey continues with a trip to see the tombs of two historic leaders born 600 years apart — Osman and Kemal Atatürk. Roberts also learns about a lucrative breed of goats. Annika BBC One, 9.10pm The crime drama set in Scotland and starring Nicola Walker begins its second series with an investigation into a drowning. Griff's Great American South Channel 4, 9.10pm Griff Rhys Jones' new six-part exploration of America's southern states starts in Tennessee. Ceiliúradh Peil na mBan 2025 TG4, 9.45pm If fans aren't already in the mood for the All-Ireland ladies football finals, they will be after watching this programme in which Máire Ní Bhraonáin and her guests offer a preview and listen to music from the six participating counties. Show Boat RTÉ One, 3.45pm Oscar-winning musical romance following the lives, loves and varying fortunes of those working on a Mississippi river paddle steamer over the course of 40 years. Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ava Gardner and Joe E Brown star. RTÉ One, 9.25pm The fifth entry in the action series follows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his colleagues as they defy their orders to track down a secret society of hired killers. Jeremy Renner and Rebecca Ferguson (above, with Cruise) co-star. Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 Netflix, streaming now Frankly, I don't mind that they're starting to get repetitive; it's still appointment viewing every week in Chez McGinley. In 2019, a joke Facebook event to 'storm Area 51' went viral, drawing millions and triggering warnings from US authorities. Indeed, it does sound exceedingly similar to last month's Real Project X instalment, but I'm still here for it. Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes Netflix, streaming now 'Tis the turn of David Berkowitz's police tapes to get an airing. This chilling docuseries unpacks the Son of Sam killings, exposing Berkowitz's disturbing mindset he unleashed on 1970s NYC. Brady and the Blues Prime Video, streaming now Prime appears to be chasing some of that Welcome to Wrexham magic with a new sports docuseries featuring NFL icon Tom Brady. Mind you, this could be entirely different given Brady, at 3.3pc, is very much a minority stakeholder in Birmingham City FC. Perfect Match Netflix, streaming now Netflix's biggest reality stars – from Love Is Blind to Too Hot To Handle – head to paradise to search for love (or more followers) in a strategic dating showdown. So, like Battle Camp but with more bikinis. For more 'unscripted' drama, WWE: Unreal takes fans inside the writer's room for a look at the chaos behind the curtain. Leanne Netflix, streaming now Leanne Morgan's world flips when her husband leaves after 33 years. Menopausal and newly single, she leans on her family – especially her fierce sister Carol (Kristen Johnston) – to tackle this next chapter with Southern grit and lashings of 'jello salad'. Chuck Lorre is involved, so it can't be too bad.
Daily Record
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Grammy winner Dame Cleo Laine dies aged 97
The star, known best for her incredible vocal range, has died aged 97. Jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine has died at the age of 97. The star, known best for her incredible vocal range, performed with legends the like of Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles and became the first British singer to win a Grammy Award. The Mirror reports that she began her career with her late husband and composer John Dankworth in the 1950s. The couple went on to collaborate many times together over the years. They created the Stables artis centre in Buckinghamshire, with its chairman David Meadowcroft sharing a statement today over the sad news of her death. He said: "Dame Cleo was a remarkable performer who was loved by audiences around the world and her commitment to ensuring young people had access to great music and music education will continue through the work of The Stables." Laine was born on October 28 1927 in Southall, Middlesex, to labourer and busker Alexander Sylvan Campbell and Minnie Bullock, a farmer's daughter. Most of her childhood was spent in Southall, however, the family moved frequently. She began singing and dancing lessons at an early age, but went on to work as an apprentice for a variety of jobs, including as a hat-trimmer and librarian. Laine managed to successfully audition when she was 24 for a small group with husband-to-be Dankworth's small group. She then performed with a number of his big bands until 1958, the year they wed. She starred in a number of theatre productions through the 50s and 60s, including as the lead in Barry Reckord's Flesh to a Tiger at London's Royal Court Theatre and the title role in The Barren One. In 1971, she landed her role as Julie in Wendy Toye's production of Show Boat at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1971.
Indianapolis Star
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Retro Indy: For nearly half a century Starlight Musicals delighted summer audiences
For nearly 50 years, Starlight Musicals enjoyed a long and entertaining career that treated Indianapolis area residents to concerts and summer musical productions under the stars. The production of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'The Pirates of Penzance' staged at Garfield Park in 1944 helped spark the idea for a permanent summer theater presenting musical fare outdoors. About 20,000 people jammed Garfield Park for the three-night run of the popular light opera. Charles Hedley, then director of the Indianapolis Opera as well as chair of the voice faculty at Jordan Conversatory of Music, directed the performance. Buoyed by its success, the following summer Hedley and his collaborators brought a three-night, free performance of the 'H.M.S. Pinafore' to the same stage The troupe operated under the name Indianapolis Theatre Association and later Indianapolis Operetta Associates before finally settling on Starlight Musicals in 1949. Productions of grand opera, concerts, ballet and operettas rotated among Garfield Park, the Butler Bowl and the Indiana State Fairgrounds. But in 1954, an Indianapolis Star story noted that Starlight Musicals had faded in recent years . Just a few months later, however, the Indianapolis News reported that an outdoor summer theater program was coming soon to Butler. Summer 1955 saw a $350,000 outdoor amphitheater constructed on the south end zone seating area of the Butler Bowl. Dressing rooms, workshops and rehearsal rooms were located under the stage. The 3,200-seat Hilton U. Brown Theatron (Greek for 'theater') opened with a six-week series of shows that included classics such as 'Kiss Me Kate' and 'Show Boat.' That first year 70% of the actors in the production of "South Pacific" were Equity members and had appeared in the national or original company for the show, the Indianapolis Star reported in July. The only complaint that the Indianapolis Star's theater critic Corbin Patrick had with the show, he wrote, in July 1955, was that an ill-time summer rain shortly before curtain time kept the audience at about 1,800, far below capacity. At some point, the theatron's facilities were enhanced years later, with an additional 4,000 seats and a roof over the seating and stage. In 1962, Starlight incorporated the 'star system,' which added a big-name stage or screen star to anchor its productions. Carol Channing, Mitzi Gaynor, Jane Powell, Yul Brynner, Carol Burnett, Debbie Reynolds, Jack Benny, Dick Van Dyke — the list of notable stars who appeared on the stage was long. Stars such as Perry Como, Liberace, Liza Minnelli and Sammy Davis Jr. also performed on their own on the Starlight stage. For many years, Starlight operated as a local musical theater company, employing Indianapolis area musicians and actors. Tried-and-true productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe drew crowds. Each summer, Starlight became a mini-city of carpenters, painters, electricians, stagehands, set and prop designers and, of course, the actors. By the 1980s, traveling theatrical production companies were used. By the end of the 1980s, interest in the theater waned, and Starlight struggled financially. Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Evita' was one of the last successful shows Starlight Musicals presented in August 1992. Still, throughout the spring of 1993, Starlight was announcing plans for season that summer. Then in early June, the company abruptly announced it was closing, after coming up about $300,000 short in early ticket sales, according to a June 11 story in the Indianapolis Star.
