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☆ Broadway Babies, Singing Show Tunes for Seniors
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Sarah Bahr | More About Sarah Bahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

“Oh, baby, give me one more chance,” sang Corey J, a former Little Michael in the Broadway musical “MJ.” Dressed in a black rimmed hat and a black turtleneck, jacket and pants, he slipped through the explosion of joy that is the chord progression of the Jackson 5 song “I Want You Back.”He had performed the song hundreds of times in the Broadway show, a biographical Michael Jackson jukebox musical, at the Neil Simon Theater. But on this particular afternoon, he was on a much smaller stage: an Upper East Side senior center, where about 50 residents seated in floral chairs clapped along to the beat.

Persons: ”, Corey J, Little Michael, Jackson, Michael Jackson, Neil Simon Organizations: Broadway, East

WASHINGTON (AP) — The newest group of Kennedy Center honorees, including comedian Billy Crystal and actor Queen Latifah, are being feted Sunday night at a star-studded event commemorating their lifetime achievement in arts and entertainment. Opera singer Renée Fleming, music star Barry Gibb and prolific hitmaker Dionne Warwick also are being honored at the black-tie gala. Bill Cosby received both honors, but they were rescinded in 2018 following his sexual assault conviction, which later was overturned. Along with his late brothers Robin and Maurice, the trio launched a nearly unmatched string of hits that defined a generation of music. Fleming sang the national anthem while Latifah performed “America the Beautiful.”

Persons: Billy Crystal, Queen Latifah, Renée Fleming, Barry Gibb, Dionne Warwick, Kennedy, Deborah F, Rutter, “, Jodie Dallas, ”, Harry Met Sally, Bride ”, Crystal, Mark Twain, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Lily Tomlin, Carol Burnett, Neil Simon, Bill Cosby, Burt Bacharach, Hal David, Bacharach, ” Fleming, Barack Obama, England’s Royal Academy of Music . Gibb, Robin, Maurice, Latifah, Dana Owens, Fleming Organizations: WASHINGTON, Kennedy Center, of, England’s Royal Academy of Music, Bee Locations: “, Warwick, Chicago, America

☆ How Jewish People Built the American Theater
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +46 min

Let Us Tell You A Story How Jewish people built the American theater as we know it. The theater, which for many Jews was a major way of becoming American in the first place, seems unable to acknowledge that the danger that American Jews face is not just historical, and not just onstage. (Both of Adler’s parents were Yiddish theater stars — her father, Jacob Adler, was a renowned Shylock in 1903.) Embedding their own observation and experience within Stanislavsky’s, along with the best of Yiddish theater and a generous dollop of Freud, they converted the American theater to Judaism. Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesThe Jewish contribution to the creation of the American theater was built on the acknowledgment of a larger humanity alive within each of us, available to some, with natural empathy and rigorous training.

Persons: Glocca, “, Lerner, Loewe, ”, Isidore Hochberg, Burton Lane, né Burton Levy, William Goldman, “ Killybegs, Sammy Davis Jr, Julie Andrews, Connie Francis, Rosemary Clooney, Tommy Dorsey, Davis, —, Arthur Miller’s “, joyously, Jason Schmidt, Christine Jones, Miller, I’ve, Marilyn Monroe, Robert Brustein, Neil Simon’s, ” Cynthia Ozick, Sholom, Philip Roth, Simon, Leonard Bernstein, Matt Nadel, Bradley, Bernstein, “ Maestro, Shylock, William Shakespeare’s “, Venice ”, Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe’s, Farah Karim, Cooper, Bard ”, “ Merchant, Tom Stoppard’s, Sara Krulwich, Ansky’s, Stella Adler, Bessie Berger, Clifford Odets’s, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, Francis Joseph Bruguière, Billy Rose, Eugene Smith, Roth, Arthur Schnitzler, Juliet Stevenson, Ruth Wolff, Lorraine Hansberry’s, Sidney’s, Alex Edelman’s “, Leo Frank, Bernard B, Frank, Mandy Patinkin, James Lapine, Stephen Sondheim’s, George, Martha Swope, outspokenness, creatives, Oscar Isaac, Sidney, “ Sidney Brustein, Isaac, Stevenson, Robert Icke, Roman Catholic Cooper, Rachel Brosnahan, Maisel, Joan Rivers —, Brosnahan, Sidney Brustein’s, Alec Guinness, Fagin, “ Oliver Twist, I’m, Micaela Diamond, Ben Platt, Lucille, Alfred Uhry, Jason Robert Brown’s, Rivers, Wolff, Robert, Republic ”, isn’t, LEE Strasberg, Konstantin Stanislavsky’s, Fyodor Ivanovich, Strasberg, Israel Strassberg, Zalmon, Srulke, Joseph Stein, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock’s “, Bette Midler, Jackie Hoffman, Photofest Stanislavsky, Theater’s, Isaac Butler, Stanislavsky, Harold Clurman, George Bernard Shaw, Henrik Ibsen, Clurman, Adler, Jacob Adler, Freud, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Ruthie Rivkin, Jerome Weidman, Harold Rome’s “, John Weidman, disown Strasberg, Sanford Meisner, Bobby Lewis, né, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Meisner, Robert Duvall, Lewis, Meryl Streep, Clifford Odets, Jacob Garfinkle, Jules Garfield, Odets, Sam Feinschreiber, Garfield, Ralph Berger, wasn’t, John, Tovah Feldshuh, Golda Meir, William Gibson’s, Aaron Epstein, exigencies, Bessie, Feinschreiber —, loveless, William Fox, Louis B, Mayer, Jack Warner, Marjorie Morningstar ”, Morgenstern, Marjorie, Natalie Wood, Anne Frank ”, Millie Perkins, Audrey Hepburn, Susan Strasberg —, Ibsen, Sholom Aleichem, August Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Thomas Jefferson, Lin, Manuel Miranda’s “ Hamilton ”, Adrian Lester, Emanuel Lehman —, Barbra Streisand, Marmelstein, George Silk, Miller’s, Sophie Okonedo, Elizabeth Proctor, Ben Whishaw, John Proctor, Jan Versweyveld, Don’t, — Bernstein, Stoppard, Schnitzler, Jeanine Tesori, Tony Kushner’s “ Caroline, Sharon D Clarke, Adam Makké, Noah Gellman, Leo, Stoppard —, Hermine, ” Leo Frank, there’s, Matthew Broderick, Eugene Jerome, it’s, Edelman’s, Queens bigots, David Yosef Shimon ben Elazar Reuven Alexander Halevi Edelman, Woody Allen, Joshua Harmon’s, — George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Porgy, Bess ”, Barns, Alex Edelman, Paula Vogel, Harvey Fierstein, Jordan Taylor Fuller, — that’s, Wendell Pierce, Friedman, Jacobs, Hirschfeld, Gershwin, Rodgers, PAULA VOGEL, BRANDON URANOWITZ, DAVID CROMER, MICAELA DIAMOND, TONY KUSHNER, Diamond, Monica Rich Kosann, Marco Bicego, JESSE EISENBERG, MATTHEW BRODERICK, AMY HERZOG, LESLIE RODRIGUEZ KRITZER, JOEL GREY, Herzog, Michael Kors, Kritzer, Marco, HARVEY FIERSTEIN, LIEV SCHREIBER, ETHAN SLATER, IDINA MENZEL, TINA LANDAU Organizations: Broadway, Broadway’s Lyceum, “, of Venice, New York Times, Defamation League, New York Public Library, Performing, Vandamm, Billy, Billy Rose Theatre Division, Performing Arts, New, Jacobs, Empire State, Nazi, Goyim Defense, The New York Public Library, Roman Catholic, New York City, Street, Moscow Art, Group, Hollywood, Disney, Everett, The New York Times, Philadelphia, Brit, Times Locations: Poland, American, kilts, E.Y, Harburg, Kilkerry, Kildare, Philadelphia, New York, Polish, Massachusetts, Vichy, Biloxi, Venice, Malta, of, ”, Germany, playgoers, Sweden, England, United States, Pittsburgh, Nazi, Brustein’s, Greenwich, Georgia, Gutenberg, “, Atlanta, Republic, New, Konstantin Stanislavsky’s Moscow, Russian, America, Moscow, Stanislavsky’s, Clurman, Eastern Europe, Czech, Austrian, Auschwitz, Heini, Southern, Brighton, Rivers, French Republic, “ Brigadoon

☆ Frances Sternhagen, Actress Who Thrived in Mature Roles, Dies at 93
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Anita Gates | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Frances Sternhagen, the Tony Award-winning actress who played leading roles in stage productions of “Driving Miss Daisy” and “On Golden Pond” as formidable older women when she was so young that she had to wear aging makeup, died on Monday at her home in New Rochelle, N.Y. She was 93. Ms. Sternhagen won Tonys as featured actress in a play for her performances in two very different productions. In a 1995 Broadway revival of “The Heiress,” based on Henry James’s novel “Washington Square,” she was Cherry Jones’s well-meaning, matchmaking Aunt Lavinia. In “The Good Doctor,” Neil Simon’s 1973 take on Chekhov, she played multiple roles in comedy sketches. She received Tony nominations for her roles in the original productions of “On Golden Pond,” “Equus” and the musical “Angel” and in revivals of “Morning’s at Seven” and “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window.”

Persons: Frances Sternhagen, Daisy ”, Tony Carlin, Sternhagen, “, ”, Henry James’s, Cherry Jones’s, ” Neil Simon’s, Chekhov, Alfred Uhry’s “, Ernest Thompson’s “, Tony, “ Morning’s Locations: New Rochelle, N.Y, ”, Brustein’s

NEW YORK (AP) — Frances Sternhagen, the veteran character actor who won two Tony Awards and became a familiar maternal face to TV viewers later in life in such shows as “Cheers,” “ER,” “Sex and the City” and “The Closer,” has died. Sternhagen died peacefully of natural causes in her home in Washington, D.C., her son, John Carlin, said in a statement posted to Instagram. She was nominated for Tonys four other times, for starring or featured roles in "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window," "Equus," "Angel" and "Morning's at Seven." In 2013, she played Edie Falco’s mother in the off-Broadway play “The Madrid.”“I have been very fortunate,” Sternhagen told the Daily Breeze of Torrance, California, in 2002. “And I think a lot of that is because I’m considered a character actor — which really means you can do a variety of things.

Persons: — Frances Sternhagen, Tony, ” “, ”, Sternhagen, John Carlin, ” Carlin, ” Sternhagen, Neil Simon's, Edie Falco’s, I’m, —, you’re Organizations: City, Washington , D.C, Broadway, Daily Locations: Washington ,, “, Brustein's, Madrid, Torrance , California

☆ Opinion: Why Matthew Perry was my favorite among ‘Friends’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( Lee Smith | Dean Obeidallah | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

ABC/Disney Entertainment/Getty Images Perry co-starred in "Friends" with Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston. NBC/Getty Images Perry is seen in the 1995 "Friends" episode "The One with the Evil Orthodontist." NBC/Getty Images Perry co-stars with Salma Hayek in the 1997 romantic comedy film "Fools Rush In." NBC/Getty Images Perry and Cox are seen in the 2000 "Friends" episode "The One With Rachel's Assistant." Warner Brothers/Getty Images Perry and Cox pose for a photo during the 2001 "Friends" episode "The One With Monica And Chandler's Wedding."

Persons: Dean Obeidallah, Matthew Perry —, —, ”, Chandler, Dean Obeidallah CNN Chandler, I’m Chandler, “ I’m, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow —, NBC’s, CBS ’ “ Young Sheldon, Matthew Perry, Chandler Bing, Perry, Michael Ochs, Christina Applegate, Martha Plimpton, Lisa Kudrow, Cox, Jay Leno, Salma Hayek, Michael Clarke Duncan, Warner, Monica, Danny Feld, Joe Quincy, Amy Stewart, Richard Schiff, Milo O'Shea, Kelly Reilly, Toby Melville, Reuters Perry, Merv Griffin, Jean, Paul Aussenard, LeBlanc, Mark J, Terrill, John Inwood, Zach Braff, John C, McGinley, Mitch Haddad, Amanda Peet, Bruce Willis, Everett, Chris Pizzello, Phil McCarten, Tom Williams, Lindsay Sloane, Michael Yarish, Ted Kennedy, James Corden, Terence Patrick, Julia Weeks, Matt Brennan, Dania Maxwell, Matthew, “, haven’t, Perry didn’t, Matty, ” Perry, Pete Davidson, Davidson, Chad Lowe, Sunshine ”, Neil Simon’s “ Organizations: CNN, “, Warner Bros . Television, Warner Bros ., Variety, CBS, NBC, Getty, Michael Ochs Archives, Limelight, ABC, Disney Entertainment, Columbia, Warner Brothers, Bank, Comedy Theatre, Reuters, Merv Griffin Beverly Hills Country, Actors Guild, Guild of America, Los Angeles Dodgers, Capitol, National Association of Drug, Inc, Los Angeles Times Festival of, Los Angeles Times, CBC, People Locations: ”, Los Angeles, Williamstown , Massachusetts, New York City, British, Chicago, London, Canada

☆ Under the Leather Jackets: Anxiety, Bravado and the Keys to TV Stardom
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Henry Alford | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Winkler’s affective shortcomings throw his social anxiety and bouts of verbal diarrhea into high relief. But, Hollywood being Hollywood, when the film came out Winkler was asked to do press. As my former boss might have written, VTEBNLPBI (very tidy ending, but no less powerful because of it). John Stamos, he of “Full House” and “E.R.” and Broadway, takes longer to warm to on the page. Stamos is blessed with some of Winkler’s candor — he admits to having had two nose jobs and having gone to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Persons: Paul McCartney, Winkler, chattering, Neil Simon’s, Simon, “, ”, —, Barry ” —, John Stamos, candor —, John Organizations: Hollywood, Anonymous

☆ Alan Arkin, Oscar-winning actor, dead at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Alan Arkin, the Oscar-winning star of “Little Miss Sunshine,” has died, his family announced Friday. Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin, in "Little Miss Sunshine" in 2006. Alan Arkin and director Ben Affleck on set for "Argo" in 2012. Alan Arkin, Johnny Depp in 1990 in "Edward Scissorhands." May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”“Did ANYONE have the range Alan Arkin had?,” Oswalt tweeted.

Persons: CNN — Alan Arkin, Oscar, “, ”, Adam, Matthew, Anthony Arkin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin, Arkin, Ben Affleck, Claire Folger, Neil Simon’s “, Johnny Depp, Edward Scissorhands, Hunter ”, Argo ”, Viola Davis, Patton Oswalt, ” Davis, ” Oswalt, ” Arkin, Suzanne, Anthony, Molly, Emmet, Atticus, Abigail, Elliott Organizations: CNN, Fox Searchlight, Everett, Bennington College, Warner Bros ., Broadway, Sunshine, Fox, Golden Globe, Netflix Locations: Brooklyn, Russian, Los Angeles

☆ U.S. composer Burt Bacharach dies at age 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Bacharach and David had 30 Top-40 hits in the '60s alone. I'd hear his melodies and I'd hear lyrics. I'd hear rhymes, I'd hear thoughts and I'd hear it almost immediately." Bacharach and David scored the Neil Simon Broadway musical "Promises, Promises," which won them two Tonys and a Grammy. While star performers made his songs hits, Bacharach said he also enjoyed performing himself and making a personal connection with smaller audiences.

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