Latest news with #theater
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Broadway's New Tony Icons: How Cole Escola, Sadie Sink and Fina Strazza Define the Theater Awards Race
For the first time as a native New Yorker, I pulled off the ultimate Broadway doubleheader — a 5 p.m. performance of the uproariously surreal 'Oh, Mary!' followed by the 7 p.m. punch of 'John Proctor Is the Villain.' Beyond making me homesick for $1.50 pizza slices, Kaiser rolls and the glistening grime that only New York City can serve, the experience confirmed one thing: Broadway is back. And it's never been more competitive. As the 2025 Tony Awards approach, two genre-bending plays — 'Oh, Mary!' and 'John Proctor Is the Villain' — are setting the stage for one of the most high-stakes and history-making best play races in recent memory. More from Variety Why Bob Odenkirk Has Wanted to Do 'Glengarry Glen Ross' for Decades Where to Buy Tickets For Broadway's Biggest Tony Nominees: 'Oh, Mary,' 'Stranger Things,' 'English' and More Cole Escola, Lisa Rinna, Paul Feig and More Revealed as 'King of Drag' Guest Judges in First Trailer (EXCLUSIVE) With sold-out shows and rave reviews, 'Oh, Mary!' has cemented itself as one of the most inventive productions of the year. A surreal and hilariously unhinged imagining of Mary Todd Lincoln's pre-assassination descent, the play was written by and stars Cole Escola. Escola, who uses they/them pronouns, is nominated for lead actor in a play — and if they win, they'll become the first openly nonbinary performer in Tony history to earn the award for a role they authored themselves. It would be a rare feat. Few performers have won a Tony for a play they wrote. Among them is Harvey Fierstein, who took home actor and best play for 'Torch Song Trilogy.' Escola would also become just the third openly nonbinary Tony winner, following 2023's trailblazing wins by J. Harrison Ghee ('Some Like It Hot') and Alex Newell ('Shucked'). Should Escola make history, it would signal Broadway's embrace of self-created, envelope-pushing performance art. Just a few blocks away, 'John Proctor Is the Villain' is igniting its own cultural moment. Featuring 'Stranger Things' breakout Sadie Sink in a blistering lead role, the play reimagines 'The Crucible' through the lens of a modern-day high school classroom reckoning with trauma, power and inherited narratives. Sink's raw, magnetic performance has drawn serious Tony buzz, placing her in the thick of a heated race against frontrunner Sarah Snook, whose work in 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' has captivated critics. Also making waves is 19-year-old Fina Strazza, nominated for featured actress in a play for her nuanced performance as Beth Powell, a devout and emotionally fragile student. If Strazza wins, she would become one of the youngest Tony winners ever — joining Frankie Michaels ('Mame,' age 11) and Daisy Eagan ('The Secret Garden,' also 11). Strazza's path to the podium won't be easy. She's up against powerhouse Kara Young, who continues to make her own Tony history. Young is the first Black actress to earn three consecutive noms, having been recognized for 'Clyde's' (2022), 'Cost of Living' (2023), and her 2024 win for 'Purlie Victorious,' and now expanded to four. A repeat victory this year would put her among a small group of performers — including Laurie Metcalf, Judith Light and Gwen Verdon — to win back-to-back Tonys. The Best Play race this year showcases Broadway at its boldest: new voices, provocative themes and fearless performances. But it hasn't been without surprises. With history-making nominees like Escola, breakout stars like Sink and Strazza, this year's Tonys are more than a place to give out trophies — they're a snapshot of Broadway's new era: inclusive, unpredictable, and unapologetically bold. The Tony Awards will take place on June 8. Variety Awards Circuit: Tonys Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Apple Holds Strong for Top Series Races With 'Severance' and 'The Studio'; Netflix and FX Could Dominate Doc and Writing Races Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
What to watch for at the Tony Awards, Broadway's biggest night
NEW YORK — Twenty-nine shows on Broadway got Tony Award nominations this season, but not all will walk away with a trophy — and the box office attention they usually bring. Here are some key things to know as Broadway's biggest night approaches, including how to watch, who is poised to make history, what old favorite gets to take a victory lap and how you can see George Clooney on Broadway from the comfort of your couch.
Associated Press
12 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
What to watch for at the Tony Awards, Broadway's biggest night
NEW YORK (AP) — Twenty-nine shows on Broadway got Tony Award nominations this season, but not all will walk away with a trophy — and the box office attention they usually bring. Here are some key things to know as Broadway's biggest night approaches, including how to watch, who is poised to make history, what old favorite gets to take a victory lap and how you can see George Clooney on Broadway from the comfort of your couch. When are the Tony Awards? The Tonys will be broadcast to both coasts on Sunday, June 8, from 8 p.m. ET-11 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT to 8 p.m. PT., live from Radio City Music Hall. How can I watch them? On CBS and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S. Who's hosting the Tony Awards? Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-winner and three-time Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo, the 'Wicked' star, will be making her debut hosting the Tonys. She won the lead actress in a musical Tony in 2016 for 'The Color Purple' and will have just released her new album, 'I Forgive You.' A pre-show will be broadcast on Pluto TV from 6:40 p.m.-8:00 p.m. ET/3:40 p.m.-5:00 p.m. PT, where some Tonys will be handed out. Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry will host that telecast. Viewers can access it on their smart TV, streaming device, mobile app or online by going to Pluto TV and clicking on the 'Live Music' channel, found within the Entertainment category on the service. How many awards are there? A total of 26 competitive categories, from lead and featured actors to scenic, costume and lighting design. Some technical award handouts may be pre-taped and winners won't appear on the live show, only cut down into edited bits sandwiched into the telecast. What are the top nominees? There are three of them: 'Buena Vista Social Club,' which takes its inspiration from Wim Wenders' 1999 Oscar-nominated documentary; 'Death Becomes Her,' based on the 1992 cult classic film; and ' Dead Outlaw,' a musical about a real life alcoholic drifter shot dead in 1911 and whose afterlife proved to be stranger than fiction. Each have a leading 10 nominations. Who is vying for best new play and musical? For new musicals, it's 'Buena Vista Social Club,' 'Dead Outlaw,' 'Death Becomes Her,' 'Maybe Happy Ending' and 'Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical.' For new plays, it's 'English,' 'The Hills of California,' 'John Proctor Is the Villain,' 'Oh, Mary!' and 'Purpose.' Many of the races are unusually tight this year, the product of a Broadway heaving with shows after having largely rebounded from the pandemic. 'I haven't seen one nominated show that I haven't been wowed by. Everything brings something,' says Lowe Cunningham, lead producer of 'Death Becomes Her' and also a Tony voter. 'How dare the Broadway community come together with such excellent work,' she jokes. 'I needed everything else to be much worse, and I don't appreciate it.' Can history be made? Audra McDonald, the most recognized performer in the theater awards' history, could possibly extending her Tony lead. Already the record holder for most acting wins with six Tonys, McDonald could add to that thanks to her leading turn in an acclaimed revival of 'Gypsy.' She will push the record for a performer to most wins with seven if she prevails on Tony night. And Kara Young — the first Black actress to be nominated for a Tony Award in four consecutive years — could become the first Black person to win two Tonys consecutively should she win for her role in the play 'Purpose.' Other possible firsts: — Daniel Dae Kim could becomes the first Asian winner in the category of best leading actor in a play for his work in a revival of 'Yellow Face.' And Marjan Neshat and her co-star Tala Ashe are vying to become the first female actors of Iranian descent to win a Tony. A special guest Normally, shows open for several years don't get any Tony telecast attention but 'Hamilton' is no normal show. The original cast will celebrate the show's 10th anniversary on Broadway with a performance featuring creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and actors Goldsberry, Ariana DeBose, Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Javier Muñoz, Leslie Odom, Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan and Phillipa Soo. What will producers hope to avoid? Any repeat of last year, when Jay-Z's electrifying reunion with Alicia Keys on what appeared to be a live duet of 'Empire State of Mind' was actually pre-taped hours before the live show. The appearance by the rapper in support of Keys' musical 'Hell's Kitchen' turned out to be a piece of Hollywood trickery, undercutting the Broadway community's full-throated embrace of live singing and dancing. Broadway's big season The health of Broadway — once very much in doubt during the pandemic lockdown — is now very good, at least in terms of box office. The 2024-2025 season took in $1.9 billion, the highest-grossing season in recorded history, overtaking the pre-pandemic previous high of $1.8 billion during the 2018-2019 season. In terms of attendance, Broadway welcomed nearly 14.7 million ticket buyers, the second best attended season on record, behind only 2018-2019. But sky-high ticket prices have led to fears that Broadway is getting financially out of touch. A revival of 'Othello' with Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal broke the record for top-grossing play in Broadway history with a gross of $2,818,297 for eight performances, fueled by some seats going for as high as $921. How can you get in the mood? Even if you haven't been able to get to Broadway this season, you can still see one of the shows. The night before the Tonys, 'Good Night, and Good Luck' — starring and co-written by Clooney, a Tony acting nominee — will stream across CNN properties. ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Tony Awards, visit:
CBS News
16 hours ago
- General
- CBS News
Civic Actor Studio uses theater techniques to help leaders open up to new opportunities
U of C Civic Actor Studio uses theater techniques to help leaders explore new skills U of C Civic Actor Studio uses theater techniques to help leaders explore new skills U of C Civic Actor Studio uses theater techniques to help leaders explore new skills The Civic Actor Studio is a four-day leadership retreat that is part of the University of Chicago's Office of Civic Engagement, which has made a profound difference in many lives. The educators, community leaders, philanthropists and more participating in the retreat share a common bond. "They're constantly pouring into others, they're constantly thinking about their own communities and how to make their neighborhoods more vibrant," said Joane Friedman of the University of Chicago. "They're adult learners who know their craft quite well and rarely get offered the chance to come in and think about themselves." So, together, these total strangers open up, learn who they truly are and how to bring new leadership skills back to their communities and jobs. The CAS "actors" read from dramatic texts and engage in exercises and discussions. They use techniques gleaned in part from UChicago's Court Theatre to explore sides of themselves even they didn't know they had. "We can think of all of our interactions like a stage. There's an audience," Friedman said. "We invite individuals to act out scenes from their own lives." Friedman said it helps people see that inside themselves they contain different characters. One may be stubborn, one may be energetic, one may be a listener. "It's getting people to begin to think about, who do I need in this moment for this scene in my life in order to advance the work I'm doing?" she said. Dr. Shaka Rawls has his dream job as the principal of Leo Catholic High School, his alma mater. He learned about CAS from a friend, but he didn't quite buy it. "My first impression of CAS was culture shock," he said. "I've never done theater. I am a very linear, brick-and-mortar principal." "He came in with his character, I'm the principal, the decision-maker, the one who knows what's happening all the time and telling others what to do," Friedman said. "It was my first opportunity to explore different parts of me," said Rawls. "Parts of me I struggled with trying to find space in my entire life. Parts of me I didn't like that I wasn't happy with." Rawls said he's discovered parts of him that are jealous when he looks at other Chicago high schools. "Of course I'm gonna be jealous when I want the best for my young men here at Leo High School," he said. "But I also look at the activist side, know I have to try to collaborate. I'm able to explore each of those characters, give myself permission to feel what I feel, and at different times access those characters." He said taking the stage has helped him bring out his empathy. "I came back to Leo clearer about the person in front of my staff, clearer about the person in front of my parents, and my students," Rawls said. "Also with a sense of vulnerability in front of each one of those audiences." And that is the key. Normally a program like this would cost hundreds of dollars, but thanks to fundraising it's free. To learn more about Civic Actors Studio, including the nomination process, send an email to civicengagement@ Do you know someone a person or place that brings you joy? We want to share your story. Send us your "Eye on Chicago" ideas using the form below (or clicking here):
The Guardian
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘What would a kid do in this situation?' Engineering Starlight Express's dazzling return
Howard Hudson (lighting designer): I saw the original production many times. The scale and feel of it were unlike anything else. Complete escapism. I used to skate around the living room singing the songs. Andrzej Goulding (video designer and animator): It's such a part of popular culture – Starlight Express is even referenced on Family Guy. But I didn't know a huge amount about the musical aside from the fact that it was on roller-skates and it was trains. Tim Hatley (set designer): I was studying at Central Saint Martins in the 80s and went to see Starlight because its designer, John Napier, was coming in to do a project with us. We'd been doing Shakespeare but this was almost like a fairground ride. I mean, they high-fived the audience – some of whom had seen the show 50 times. Gabriella Slade (costume designer): People who saw Starlight when they were kids are now bringing their own families. In our audience you can be up close with some of these characters and costumes. That's quite rare. Tim Hatley: For those who saw it the first time round, we wanted to give it a different spin. With a flexible space like this, the world is your oyster. Do it in the round? Have it like a tennis court? We had lots of thoughts and lots of models. Everybody's waiting on me to come up with the concept. Lighting, video, even skating and choreography – they can't get on with their work until they know where the slopes are and how steep they are and where the video wall is. Gabriella Slade: The original Starlight is probably one of the most iconic shows of all time. From a design point of view, it's just heaven. On a revival it's important, I think, to reference what has been before to a degree – we wanted to continue that spirit but also, 40 years on, shape it for a new generation. Tim Hatley: We didn't want to just copy what John had done before. And we didn't want to be stuck with real trains running through tunnels and over bridges. Gabriella Slade: The brief is really tricky! In our early conversations, we talked about the core components of a train and how to present those in a costume for performers who need to be able to move as easily as possible and to fall safely. There was a lot of aerodynamic chat! Andrzej Goulding: As soon as we landed on the idea of train tracks through space, where we're sat as an audience became the race planet. There are other planets out there, like Electra's and Greaseball's. There's no direction of that in the script. It's completely left up to the team. References can come from anywhere but there's that amazing 80s advert for Milky Way with the red car and the blue car where they're kind of floating through the air. It's that kind of world. Tim Hatley: With video gaming, what kids are used to now is very different to playing with the old Hornby train sets. Andrzej Goulding: I had a train set as a kid, one of those little wooden ones. You pretend they're anything. Starlight was like mixing Mario Kart with trains and setting it in space. The reason you can go over the top is it's the point of view of a child. Having the kid, Control, on stage is a bit of a masterstroke – you can do even more because they're directing what happens. We'd often ask: What would a kid do in this situation? Gabriella Slade: We're in a child's bedroom – Control's outfit had to look like it had been made at home or bought, or a hybrid of the two. The jumpsuit vibe felt right – a bit cosmic. Howard Hudson: We had to keep the childlike essence of the piece – this is a child's imagination – while using such ultra-modern technology. So there are moments that are incredibly simple, like a single star flying in. Tim Hatley: There were three separate designs: auditorium, front of house and the show. As a theatre designer, you're not usually governing where the audience are going to sit – or worried about where they are going to be coming in and out. With this, it was a priority. Gabriella Slade: First off, you read the script, listen to the music and collate research images. From there, you form sketches or initial shapes and start to think about fabrics. Then you go into much more fully rendered concept sketches integrating the fabrics. That, of course, is costed and there's a process of research and development. We had a skate school for a number of weeks so were able to access our company quite early on for fittings. Some of the shapes are not form-fitting, so we needed to make sure they would be all right going around corners in the auditorium. Tim Hatley: I'm very old fashioned. I work with model boxes. We had an enormous one for this because there were so many collaborators who weren't necessarily in the world of theatre, but also because it was a space that didn't really exist yet. So people needed to understand the auditorium. Howard Hudson: The skaters had to get used to having mega bright lights in their eyes as they try to navigate these routes around the space. There are more than 600 moving lights in the show, which has probably one of the biggest rigs for a musical. For the Starlight sequence in act two we have 250 of these star units that fly above the audience – each has got six LEDs on it. Then there's however many kilometres of LED tape. Tim Hatley: We've got LED set into the floor and the skaters go over that. It's not like using the old tungsten lights which got very hot, but it does warm up, which causes the plastic on top to expand. So there was a lot of development. I was able to give Howard places to put lights where you normally wouldn't have them, like coming up through the floor. It became clear to me that it needed a rock concert feel. The songs were rearranged to have a more contemporary, poppy sound too. Howard Hudson: Early on, we built a pre-visualisation studio with huge screens and had a 3D version of the set on a computer. Andrzej was able to feed his content into that and we had the whole rig there. So we would watch actors rehearse a number then go into our studio and work out how to light it. Andrzej Goulding: Lighting and video are closely intertwined because there's only so many photons you can throw on stage. Howard and I have worked together several times. The Starlight rehearsal room had a full set and the two of us sat there tracking the race, drawing a map of what goes where. The hardest thing in theatre, compared with film, is that an audience can look anywhere. Our job is to pull the attention of the observer. We used a live camera in the races to help follow the characters. And we used a leaderboard. It took us a long time just to sculpt the journey of those races. Tim Hatley: For the ramps, we talked to skaters who had been in the show before. How do we get that amount of speed up in that amount of space? Those were technical problems which were all new to me. We collaborated with a company that builds skate ramps and parks. It's a timber surface – we've used some metallic paints in there too, to pick up the video. We've got moving scenery but where those joins are the surfaces have to be perfect and seamless. You can't have any little gaps that might get worse during the run. Andrzej Goulding: Video design should only be there if it's serving the story. If you're just doing something for the sake of looking fun, it weirdly makes things slower. There's also only so much spectacle you can do. A show is all about peaks and troughs, following the storytelling. If you're peaking the entire time, it's boring. Howard Hudson: Luke [Sheppard, the show's director] has the most technical mind. I'm convinced he could be a lighting designer if he wanted to. We've collaborated for years and have developed a kind of shorthand – we started out at the Finborough and now work on these massive commercial musicals together. Set designers build models and costume designers do drawings whereas lighting is so visceral. You need to see the lights in the space, so we're always the last people to come in. And we're doing our job in front of 150 people in the theatre. So it's a bit nervy. Gabriella Slade: It was important to make sure that each group of characters had a visual identity: carriages, trucks, steam engines, electric trains. They needed to feel cohesive when put together but have differentiations as well. Campbell Young and Helen Keane were our wigs and hair designers and Jackie Saundercock was our makeup designer. We had a brilliant collaborative relationship. The integration of the hair and makeup feels like one unit, which is always the aim. Each character has their own iconography, too. The designs need to be bold enough for you to identify who's who and where they are in the races. Howard Hudson: For Electra's song AC/DC we wanted laser units to give a quality of light you don't get from normal fixtures. We went down to a laser company and spent a day experimenting with the looks we could get. It almost comes out of nowhere in the show and adds another layer of spectacle you don't get out of a traditional lighting unit. Gabriella Slade: The backpacks have handles, which are important for racing together. For me, the backpacks suggest a power bank or a battery – and they light up so actually have their own batteries! It's all an extension of the actual costume. Greaseball's spark gun creates another really lovely extension of the image. It's got the same yellow and black scheme and that moment really fits the energy of her song. Howard Hudson: We couldn't use traditional manual followspots because people are moving so quickly. So we use an automated system called Zactrack. Performers wear tags that send tracking data to the lighting desk, and we're able to tell the lights which person to follow around the space. Andrzej Goulding: Video is slow. Every time we want to do something, it's got to be rendered. We've got all these multiple layers. You've got to put in a lot of hours. I'll sit up until three in the morning if I'm not happy with one little thing. I just want to make sure it's right. The scale of it was enormous. I tend to work on my own but got the biggest team I've ever had on a show. If you surround yourself with the right people it's fun to do. And super satisfying when everything's working in synergy. Howard Hudson: Whenever I go in and see it again, I think: Crikey, how on earth did we achieve that? Tim Hatley: There's not a bad seat in the house, and they're all very different. I don't think I've designed a show where that has been the case so much. Sitting in what we call the side tracks, looking down, you're very close. If you're at the back, you get the whole overview and a real sense of the video. Gabriella Slade: Some fans come in costume. It's so lovely to have people recreate the designs. I'm never not amazed that they want to spend the time to do that. Andrzej Goulding: The craziest thing was going on to do a 'normal' show afterwards – one without people on roller skates! You're wondering why everyone's moving around the stage so slowly. Starlight Express is booking at Troubadour Wembley Park theatre, London, until March 2026
