Latest news with #TonyAward-worthy
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Afternoon Briefing: Man sentenced for girl shot while crossing the street with her mother in Little Village
Good afternoon, Chicago. A judge sentenced a man to 20 years in prison today after he pleaded guilty to murder in the 2022 slaying of an 8-year-old girl who was shot while crossing the street with her mother in Little Village. Xavier Guzman pleaded guilty in 2023, but received his punishment after the case against his co-defendant, Emilio Corripio, 20, resolved with a guilty plea in March. On Jan. 22, 2022, Melissa Ortega walked hand-in-hand with mother around West 26th Street and South Pulaski Road when, according to prosecutors, Corripio fired shots after seeing a gang rival flash a hand sign. Corripio then got into a car driven by Guzman to buy sandwiches and drinks without 'a care in the world,' prosecutors said at a 2022 hearing. Then 16 and on juvenile probation, Corripio was a self-admitted member of the Latin Kings who opened fire in broad daylight at rival Two-Six gang members. He hit his target, but he also shot Melissa in the head. Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History A Will County landlord was sentenced 53 years in prison Friday for the murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the attempted murder of the boy's mother in October 2023, an attack a jury found to be a hate crime spurred by the war in Gaza. Read more here. More top news stories: Gov. JB Pritzker mocks his weight, tells TV host Jimmy Kimmel he's undecided on third term Group opposing Mayor Brandon Johnson and allies raises $10 million, progressives decry 'sucker politics' 17 students injured in school bus collision on Southwest Side, police say As communities around the state debate whether to replace the state's soon-to-end grocery tax with one of their own, Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain said he's not in favor of the swap to fill the $1.2 million budget gap the tax loss will create. Read more here. More top business stories: Midwest carbon dioxide pipeline could face new hurdle Wall Street gains ground following a stronger-than-expected report on the US job market It was a long fight for Black baseball players to be treated with respect. We see the results of that battle for athletic equality today, and Chicago was involved in a turning point more than a century ago. Read more here. More top sports stories: Kentucky Derby: How to watch, the favorites and what to expect in the 151st running of the race Kentucky Derby field reduced to 19 with scratch of Grande, leaving owner 'shocked and confused' Gregg Popovich, the NBA's all-time wins leader, retires after 29 seasons as San Antonio Spurs coach Pity poor Jake Gyllenhaal. Rich, original and cliché-free, his riveting, Tony Award-worthy Iago was, in fact, as dynamic and distinctive a Shakespearean performance as Broadway has seen in years. And yet the show that surrounded him, 'Othello' starring Denzel Washington, was so otherwise dismal that Tony nominators could not see beyond the noise and confusion to find the one living, breathing reason to spend the big bucks at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. A cautionary tale: Do great work in a bad production and Tony nominators likely will pass you by. But the reverse can be true, too. Read more here. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: Lucy Dacus at the Chicago Theatre: Understated and personal to the point of feeling muted Ruth Buzzi, comedy sketch player on groundbreaking series 'Laugh-In,' dies at 88 Prince Harry loses appeal to restore his UK government-funded security detail Drones attacked a vessel carrying aid to Gaza while it was in international waters off Malta on Friday, the group organizing the shipment said. A fire broke out but was brought under control, according to authorities. Read more here. More top stories from around the world: No damage reported after 7.4 magnitude quake strikes off the southern coasts of Chile and Argentina How long was the longest conclave? Facts about the secret voting to elect a pope CDC reports 216 child deaths this flu season, the most in 15 years
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Afternoon Briefing: Man sentenced for girl shot while crossing the street with her mother in Little Village
Good afternoon, Chicago. A judge sentenced a man to 20 years in prison today after he pleaded guilty to murder in the 2022 slaying of an 8-year-old girl who was shot while crossing the street with her mother in Little Village. Xavier Guzman pleaded guilty in 2023, but received his punishment after the case against his co-defendant, Emilio Corripio, 20, resolved with a guilty plea in March. On Jan. 22, 2022, Melissa Ortega walked hand-in-hand with mother around West 26th Street and South Pulaski Road when, according to prosecutors, Corripio fired shots after seeing a gang rival flash a hand sign. Corripio then got into a car driven by Guzman to buy sandwiches and drinks without 'a care in the world,' prosecutors said at a 2022 hearing. Then 16 and on juvenile probation, Corripio was a self-admitted member of the Latin Kings who opened fire in broad daylight at rival Two-Six gang members. He hit his target, but he also shot Melissa in the head. Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices. Plainfield man sentenced to 53 years in prison for hate crime that left 6-year-old Palestinian American boy dead A Will County landlord was sentenced 53 years in prison Friday for the murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and the attempted murder of the boy's mother in October 2023, an attack a jury found to be a hate crime spurred by the war in Gaza. Read more here. Elgin mayor says he doesn't support closing $1.2M budget hole by swapping state grocery tax for local one As communities around the state debate whether to replace the state's soon-to-end grocery tax with one of their own, Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain said he's not in favor of the swap to fill the $1.2 million budget gap the tax loss will create. Read more here. The 1st Negro National League game was played 105 years ago today — and Chicago played a part It was a long fight for Black baseball players to be treated with respect. We see the results of that battle for athletic equality today, and Chicago was involved in a turning point more than a century ago. Read more here. More top sports stories: What the Tony nominations got right — and wrong Pity poor Jake Gyllenhaal. Rich, original and cliché-free, his riveting, Tony Award-worthy Iago was, in fact, as dynamic and distinctive a Shakespearean performance as Broadway has seen in years. And yet the show that surrounded him, 'Othello' starring Denzel Washington, was so otherwise dismal that Tony nominators could not see beyond the noise and confusion to find the one living, breathing reason to spend the big bucks at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. A cautionary tale: Do great work in a bad production and Tony nominators likely will pass you by. But the reverse can be true, too. Read more here. More top Eat. Watch. Do. stories: Lucy Dacus at the Chicago Theatre: Understated and personal to the point of feeling muted Ruth Buzzi, comedy sketch player on groundbreaking series 'Laugh-In,' dies at 88 Prince Harry loses appeal to restore his UK government-funded security detail Drones strike ship carrying aid to Gaza, organizers say Drones attacked a vessel carrying aid to Gaza while it was in international waters off Malta on Friday, the group organizing the shipment said. A fire broke out but was brought under control, according to authorities. Read more here.
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
What the Tony nominations got right — and wrong
Pity poor Jake Gyllenhaal. Rich, original and cliché-free, his riveting, Tony Award-worthy Iago was, in fact, as dynamic and distinctive a Shakespearean performance as Broadway has seen in years. And yet the show that surrounded him, 'Othello' starring Denzel Washington, was so otherwise dismal that Tony nominators could not see beyond the noise and confusion to find the one living, breathing reason to spend the big bucks at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. A cautionary tale: Do great work in a bad production and Tony nominators likely will pass you by. But the reverse can be true, too. The number one reason the Tony-nominated 'Maybe Happy Ending, ' a sweet and deeply thoughtful romance between two retired robots, was such a sleeper hit was the achingly vulnerable performance of Helen J. Shen. Guess who did not get a Tony nomination. Darren Criss was impressive in that show, too, but his was a stylized and somewhat self-protected performance that relied on his well-honed technique. Playing a robot with abandonment issues, Shen laid out her heart at the Belasco Theatre. There's no question Nicole Scherzinger produced the most astonishing musical performance of the Broadway season. But the second best? Shen's work, for sure. Pity David Foster, too. Here you have an enormously accomplished, 75-year-old composer — 16 Grammy Awards, co-writing credits on megahits like Earth Wind and Fire's 'After the Love Has Gone,' Whitney Houston's 'I Have Nothing' and Chicago's 'Hard to Say I'm Sorry,' to name but three — who dreamed up a delightful and fully accessible score for 'Boop! The Musical.' This lush, dreamy and string-heavy affair is so instantly pleasing to the ear that director Jerry Mitchell is able to persuade the audience to enthusiastically sing along with a number, 'Why Look Around the Corner,' they'd heard for the first time just a few minutes earlier. Foster, who also penned one of the season's best new songs in 'Where I Wanna Be,' lost out on the nomination list to the cheerfully rudimentary score for 'Real Women Have Curves.' I doubt many who had been in that show's audience could tell you the name of a single song one day later. But Foster, a Canadian who has worked mostly in Hollywood, has never been a Broadway insider and no nomination came for him. An egregious omission. 'Death Becomes Her' is a very entertaining show, score included, but it's a lively pastiche. The music in 'Boop!' is far superior to that, too. Tony nominations are complicated affairs: Since the competitive field is different in every category, some illogicalities are inevitable. Director David Cromer's work on 'Good Night, and Good Luck' was far more complex, and yet more impressive, than his work on 'Dead Outlaw,' a fine and worthy show but very much in his pre-existing wheelhouse. The Tony nomination went to the wrong one; the same was true for lighting designer Heather Gilbert, whose work on the George Clooney CBS studio extravaganza was simply astonishing. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' 'Purpose' rightly enjoyed many nominations, but the most complicated performance on that stage, the one from Alana Arenas, was missed. And both Michael McKean and Bill Barr were better than Bob Odenkirk in 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' which is no knock on Odenkirk; he just wasn't cast in the best role for him. To their credit, the Tony nominators did indeed nominate the best five new plays of the year, and I have few quibbles with nominators' choices for best leading actor and actress in either play or musical. It was good to see Danya Taymor nominated for her remarkable direction of 'John Proctor is the Villain,' a work of such craft that she made a mostly predictable and overpraised play feel exciting and spontaneous. Precisely how Brooks Ashmanskas could be considered a featured performer in 'Smash,' — despite seeming to be present at every moment in a problematic musical he basically held together by sheer force of personality — is a mystery to me. But he deserves some nod for that feat of endurance, anyway. Nominators flipped far more than me for 'Buena Vista Social Club,' a formulaic musical in every way except for the excitement generated by its music. And while I greatly enjoyed 'Death Becomes Her,' a show that survived a very quiet change in its lead producer, its whopping 10 nominations perhaps go too far. Award slates are always going to start arguments, of course. But the painful truth in a spring where few of the new musicals are grossing enough to cover their weekly running costs is that shows beyond the Best Musical nominees are going to struggle to survive the summer. We'll have to see how much audiences agree with the Tony nominations; sometimes they pick different favorites. Originally Published: May 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM CDT
