Excitement was definitely in the air for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, New York City Premiere! The show has been notoriously popular since the 60s with its greeting salute and Spock eyebrows. As soon as the actors began arriving on the red carpet, even the press photographers started happily cheering them on.
Entertainment
On Monday, May 2, 2022, a red carpet took place in Universal City, California, for the last remaining 11 semi-finalists who performed on the all-live music competition series, American Song Contest. These artists came back to the stage with a next-level performance of their original song.
American Song Contest is a new music competition series that features 56 artists to represent all 50 states, five US territories, and our nation’s capital. Spanning from undiscovered talent, to rising stars, to legendary icons, the artists are competing against one another to win the country’s vote for the best original hit song. Each week, these artists (solo, duo, group, or band) take the stage to deliver a broad diversity across styles and genres. America has the chance to cast their vote via the NBC App and TikTok.
We had a chance to speak with the 11 semi-finalists from the Semi-Finals, Part Two:
- Broderick Jones from Kansas, a singer/songwriter known for his smooth vocals and gravitating stage performances
- Chloe Fredericks from North Dakota, powerhouse vocalist who draws inspiration from Patsy Cline and other country legends
- Christian Pagán from Puerto Rico, a singer, songwriter, musician, and actor known for his win on Idol Puerto Rico
- ENISA from New York, a singer whose distinctive cover versions earned her millions of views and critical acclaim
- Grant Knoche from Texas, known for his synth-driven, deep bass, and intimate pop songs, and most recently called ‘One of today’s finest rising pop stars’ by Ones to Watch
- John Morgan from North Carolina, a singer with a style defined by melodic grit and a craftsman approach to songwriting
- Michael Bolton from Connecticut, a Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter who has sold more than 65 million records globally and continues to tour the world
- Stela Cole from Georgia, a rising star with millions of monthly listeners already and fast-growing
- Sweet Taboo from California, a Latinx group with a distinct sound mixture of R&B, hip-hop, and pop with a Latin flair
- Tenelle from American Samoa, a Grammy Award-nominated and Billboard-charted artist
- Tyler Braden from Tennessee, an artist with more than 70 million streams to his name and a growing list of major tour credits
Learn all you should know about the states and territories these artists are representing as they compete for this season’s ‘Best Original Song’ in our exclusive video below.
American Song Contest is brought to you from the producers of Eurovision Song Contest and The Voice, as well as hosts Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson. The ultimate ‘Grand Final’ for season one will air on Monday, May 9, on NBC, at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Only one state or territory will emerge victorious. Is it you? Is it me? Who will it be, who will it be?
This week on Fear The Walking Dead, we saw the demise of John Dorie Sr.
Almost a year after his son was shockingly killed, his dad meet the same fate. The circumstances were different however as John Sr. got baby Mo to her safety. During that journey out the tower, John Sr. got a walker bite and he was devoured by the last scene.
It has been quite a while since we got a major death on Fear The Walking Dead. This one felt like it mattered. That is because John Sr. admitted to Strand that he planted the radio in Howard’s room. Strand tested him to throw Howard off the tower and off he goes! The back and forth exchange between Strand and John Sr. is great as it showcased how compelling and convincing these two actors are. The Fear writers could have went away with the legacy talk. Especially since it is a zombie apocalypse and nobody should care about legacies or statuses.
As good as this episode is, did Morgan have to be the first person to respond to John Sr.’s radio call? Strand has all the radios and not one person heard the call? I was really annoyed by the super radios since season five and it is a comical trope on Fear now.
My favorite scene on this episode are the scenes between John and June. I was made to believe that one of them would be doomed for death when the water poured in with those walkers. Sure, they talked for a bit too. The action and sense of tension really brought out the quick time actions between the characters. They did everything they could do to save little Mo.
There are only a few more episodes left for the current season of Fear The Walking Dead. My main concern is, when is this so called “war” going to start that Alicia declared?
On The Scene: Jennifer Simard, Jelani Alladin, Krysta Rodriguez and more Talk All Things Off-Broadway At The Lucille Lortel Awards
This season of off broadway has taken viewers to magical places, shown us the true meaning of life and morality, made us laugh with hilarious solo shows, and so much more. It’s truly been an incredible season, and Sunday’s Lucille Lortel Awards celebrated the magic of these beautiful shows. Created in 1985 by the Off-Broadway League and named for the award winning actress and producer who was honored with a theater in her name, the awards honor the excellence of the time, dedication and craft of Off-Broadway shows.
It was the first time the awards had been held in person in three years, and it was a joyous occasion for all involved. Awards were given to recipients in 16 categories, with two honorary awards also bestowed. The Awards were distributed in a ceremony at NYU Skirball hosted by three pairs of stars from stage and screen: Jared Grimes (Broadway’s “Funny Girl”) and Jeff Hiller (HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere”), Krysta Rodriguez and Jelani Alladin (“Hercules”), and Jennifer Simard and Christopher Sieber (“Company.”) The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by TDF.
The big winners of the night were David Lindsay-Abaire‘s Kimberly Akimbo, and Heather Christian’s Oratorio For Living Things, each taking home three awards. Additional winners included Black No More, English, Fairycakes, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, Letters Of Suresh, On Sugarland, Prayer for the French Republic, Sanctuary City, The Chinese Lady and TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992.
The inaugural Outstanding Ensemble award was presented to the cast of Ars Nova’s Oratorio For Living Things. Both Performer in a Musical awards were presented to Kimberly Akimbo – Lead to Victoria Clark andFeatured to Bonnie Milligan. The Atlantic Theater Company production with Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and Music by Jeanine Tesori, also received the award for Outstanding Musical. Sanaz Toossi’s English, a co-production of Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company, took home the award for Outstanding Play.
Two special honorees this year we’re granted incredible awards. Deirdre O’Connell was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by Heidi Schreck; and David Henry Hwang was inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk by Jeanine Tesori.
We we’re so honored to witness this beautiful celebration of off broadway! Here more about the awards here!
Are ya 1? Are ya 2? Are ya 3?…and the extension of the “Happy Birthday” song continues, much to the dismay of those dreading adding another year to their tally. Noah Haidle’s latest play (and Broadway debut), Birthday Candles challenges the negative connotations of the passage of time and ideas associated with getting older, as it focuses on aging as the concept of adding tools to life’s toolkit and wisdom to one’s rhetorical autobiography (and on the amount of goldfish and buttery, vanilla cake one can consume).
But truly, what’s in a lifetime? Time doesn’t end when you go to college. Time doesn’t end when you find love. Time doesn’t end if/when you get married. Time doesn’t end when you have kids, grandkids, and then on. Hell, time doesn’t end if you end a first marriage and pivot the direction of your career at age 48. If anything, time moves on and new opportunities are presented to you. The good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly, and everything in between. Birthday Candles touches a bunch of extremely relatable themes such as mental health, questioning one’s self identity, priorities, boundaries, but most importantly (in my opinion) is that it’s never too late.
We had the remarkable opportunity to sit down with Noah and connect on Birthday Candles.
TK: Firstly, what a BRILLIANT piece of work. Congratulations! Poignant, sophisticated, yet casual, relatable, funny yet emotional. How did you go about approaching a piece that could tap into all of those emotions and more?
NH: I knew if I got this one right it could be a very effective play (as opposed to some of the plays I’ve written which have been complete shit), so I tried to approach it with great caution.
TK: Process wise, how long did this take you to write?
NH: Six years. The first word I wrote for this play was in April of 2016 and the last was a week before opening in April of 2022. With a total of just over 15,000 words, that’s like 6.8 words a day, which is pretty much as many as the list of ingredients of mayonnaise. Pretty slow.
TK: One of the things I love most about Birthday Candles is that it shows that life is not perfect, but it happens. People make mistakes. Sometimes huge mistakes, but it’s never too late to change your mind and revisit prior thoughts. Was this theme based on any event(s) in particular for you?
NH: Yes. More than I would prefer.
TK: Debra Messing. That’s it. The way she portrays Ernestine at every stage, it’s remarkable. Do you have a favorite aged Ernestine of hers?
NH: My favorite is her hunched and surly 107 year old. I don’t know if I’ll be so lucky to make it that long, but if I do, I want to be exactly like Debra’s rambunctious yet open hearted 107, including, of course Debra’s otherworldly sense of comedic timing.
TK: Bravo to you for tackling mental health, aging, divorce, illness in relatable and practical ways – what is one key takeaway you wish for audience members to take away from seeing Birthday Candles? (it can be more than one)
NH: That life is a miracle. (Might as well go big, right?)
TK: How many goldfish have you owned in your life?
NH: One. As a kid. Spot. The idea for the play began when I was telling my wife about Spot and she misinterpreted my reminiscences as an expression of deep longing to own another goldfish and surprised me with a new, unwanted goldfish for my birthday. (If you haven’t seen the play, this anecdote will mean nothing, if you haven’t seen the play, you totally should).
We loved chatting with Noah as much as we loved watching his writing play out on stage. With brilliant direction by Vivienne Benesch, this play is funny, heart-wrenching, emotional at its core – a work for all ages.
P.S. – Debra Messing is truly outstanding in this work! What she is able to accomplish in those 100 minutes is beyond impressive and worthy of a visit to the American Airlines Theatre alone.
Birthday Candles is a Roundabout Theatre Company production and runs thru May 29. You can learn more about the show and ticket information by visiting: https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/
Last week, guests walked back in time with HBO’s Human By Orientation, who hosted a lavish uptown affair in an Upper East Side mansion that felt it could have belonged to Gentleman Jack‘s main character herself. Gentleman Jack, a queer period drama is now in its second season and is based on the collected dairies of Anne Lister. Those diaries contain over four million words and are written largely in secret code, documenting a lifetime of lesbian relationships maintained by Lister. The first season was celebrated for its exploration of the complex social landscape of the 19th century and the subtle wit and passion of Lister (expertly portrayed by Suranne Jones).
In our own way, guests were able to luxuriate in Lister’s atmosphere by way of the soirée in a hallowed home: the austere, dramatic Fabbri house, built in 1916. The property and building were bought and financed by Margaret Louis Vanderbilt Shepard as a wedding gift to her daughter, Edith Shepard Fabbri. It was said that dinners would not begin until after 1am and guests would stay weeks.
Today, we partake in a similar pleasure in the spare and delightfully cold Italian interior (already of antique demographic by 1916), warmed by candle sticks lining the walls and halls, a string quartet providing music through the evening, and even period-influenced dances by Cortney Key and Lenai Wilkerson. Cocktails were prepared in the spirit of the period on the mezzanine, served in glassware of a rare regal scale and quality, weighing more than 2 pounds each. In the courtyard, a Mercedes-Benz SL350 “Pagoda” sat, the car Ms. Lister would have been well-likely to drive if she had the choice. The grand library of the Fabbri house was converted into a screening area where guests watched the first episode of the new season of Gentleman Jack. The drawing room with its important and intricate ceiling (coming way of Italy by boat) was the site of a photo studio, complete with gorgeous floral arrangements by Nicole Absher framing a period sofa.
The beautiful florals continued into the dining room, where a U-shaped table was arranged at the foot of an imported mantle. Guests assembled for a multi-course meal prepared by celebrated chef Melissa King (Melissa was quite busy this week as she had the MET Gala dinner to serve yesterday as well). The menu, according to Melissa, was heavily influenced by the period (especially the pea soup, “Always the pea soup”). But Melissa also included a part of her own legacy, that of being a queer person with Cantonese heritage. “There are some Asian influences here, especially in the selection of ingredients”.
Read more about Lister and her diary at the West Yorkshire Archive Service Exhibit blog. Gentleman Jack seasons one and two are streaming now on HBO Max as part of their Queer Voices collection. Learn more and watch the series here. Follow along with HBO’s LGBTQ community on Instagram @humanbyorientation.
Exploding Carbonated Holiness at Altitude: Sun Valley Film Festival 2022
After months of COVID and the emotional whiplash from shifting of one emotion to another, or a remote task or meeting to another, a beloved in-person event can provide a bit of a respite. It doesn’t happen without recognition of the obvious: Sun Valley, Idaho, had one of highest per capita rate of COVID in the states in March 2020. Since then, like many cities that have shifted and strained over the last two years, it has reflected on its identity and recognized the difficulty of the COVID experience.