A Stranger Things play will debut late this year at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End, Netflix announced Wednesday.
Based on an original story by the Duffer Brothers, who created the streaming phenomenon, as well as former show writer Kate Trefry and English theater veteran Jack Thorne,Stranger Things: The First Shadow will be directed by Tony Award winner Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin.
The production will take place before the famously ’80s-set show. The producers tease, “Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach.”
Netflix adds, “Brought to life by a multi-award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the Stranger Things story – and may hold the key to the end.”
For their part, a “beyond excited” Matt and Ross Duffer enthused, “Collaborating with the brilliant Stephen Daldry has been nothing short of inspiring, and Kate Trefry has written a play that is at turns surprising, scary, and heartfelt. You will meet endearing new characters, as well as very familiar ones, on a journey into the past that sets the groundwork for the future of Stranger Things. We’re dying to tell you more about the story but won’t – it’s more fun to discover it for yourself.”
The added, “Can’t wait to see you nerds in London!”
Diane Warren is supporting PETA’s attempt to call out the cruelty of the annual Iditarod dogsled race, which kicks off Saturday in Alaska.
The songwriter has donated her Oscar-nominated track “I’m Standing With You” for a new PETA ad, which features footage of Iditarod dogs chained up in the cold, as well as images of PETA supporters rallying on the dogs’ behalf.
“The images of trembling dogs chained up alone in the snow and ice and others limping from being run to the brink of collapse are hard to watch, but the protesters who show up to the Iditarod every year to speak up for these dogs give me hope that this cruel event will end,” Warren shares. “I’m standing with PETA and the kind people worldwide who are demanding an end to this cruel race.”
According to PETA, more than 150 dogs have died in the two-week race through the snow, ice and wind, not including dogs they say are killed during the off season or because they aren’t fast enough.
“I’m Standing With You,” from the 2019 movie Breakthrough, was sung by This Is Us’Chrissy Metz and earned a Best Original Song Oscar nomination. It lost to Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman.
Kelly Rowland is back to judging, this time for Audible Inc.’s new podcast Breakthrough. The former X Factor judge has been tapped alongside Sara Bareilles to judge what is the first singing competition show launched exclusively in this kind of format.
The pair will mentor and guide five contestants, whose physical appearances will be concealed as they go through the season’s various challenges. Prizes will be awarded over the course of nine episodes to the winners of each challenge.
“I am so happy to be a part of this series that highlights and gives a voice to emerging artists,” says Kelly. “Audible is an ideal space for this and Breakthrough is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to up-and-coming musicians. I’m rooting for them all!”
Breakthrough, hosted by Daveed Diggs, will premiere on June 1.
(WASHINGTON) — The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted Wednesday to approve a bill that would give President Joe Biden the authority to ban TikTok in the United States despite objections from some lawmakers and advocates who say the measure could disrupt online speech freedoms.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday he hasn’t read the bill yet and wouldn’t comment on it. Ultimately, it would be up to McCarthy and House GOP leadership to bring the bill to the floor, where it would be expected to pass.
The Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries Act — or the DATA Act — aims to create a legal framework that would allow the executive branch to ban TikTok and other apps owned by Chinese companies.
The bill, introduced Friday by Committee Chair Mike McCaul, R-Texas, before moving quickly through the committee process, would allow President Biden or any future president to impose sanctions, including a possible ban, against any company that “knowingly provides or may transfer sensitive personal data” to any foreign person or company that is “subject to the jurisdiction or direction of … China.”
The panel’s vote comes just days after the Biden administration ordered federal agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have TikTok on any federal devices, and to ensure that contractors meet the same standard within 90 days. TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, has long maintained that it does not share data with the Chinese government and that its data is not held in China.
The legislation would change what’s known as the Berman amendment to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which blocks the U.S. government from restricting the free flow of “information and informational materials” in overseas trade. Those amendments have always been considered an impediment for any executive action to ban TikTok.
Democrats on the committee warned the bill is overly broad. In a letter to McCaul and Ranking Member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the Americans Civil Liberties Union warned this legislation “creates a slippery slope” that could “erode” the Berman amendment’s protections for the free flow of movies, books, and artwork.
Milky Chance has announced a new album called Living in a Haze.
The fourth full-length effort from the “Stolen Dance” duo arrives June 9. It includes the previously released singles “Colorado” and “Synchronize.”
Two more Living in a Haze songs — the title track and “Frequency of Love” — are out now via digital outlets. The song “Living in a Haze” is accompanied by a video, which is streaming now on YouTube.
Living in a Haze is the follow-up to 2019’s Mind the Moon. Since then, Milky Chance released their two Trip Tape compilations, as well as an acoustic version of their debut album, Sadnecessary.
Milky Chance will be touring the U.S. alongside Young the Giant beginning in May.
(EAST PALESTINE, Ohio) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran DeWine, are visiting the train derailment site in East Palestine to get an update on the hazardous waste removal from the area.
Track removal is set to begin as soon as Wednesday, nearly four weeks after the train derailed and released several toxic chemicals — including vinyl chloride, ethyl acrylate and isobutylene — into the environment, according to an update from the governor’s office.
Officials from both the state and federal Environmental Protection Agency are “finalizing the process that Norfolk Southern will use to ensure the safe, complete, and effective cleanup of the hazardous waste under the train tracks at the derailment site,” the office said.
The DeWines will also be visiting Sulphur Run and Leslie Run, two waterways that were contaminated from the accident, to get an update on surface water testing and sediment washing.
Last week, Norfolk Southern’s CEO Alan Shaw elaborated that the company would be “temporarily” removing the tracks, beginning in early March, so it could excavate and remove the remaining contaminated soil.
The track removal is a change from Norfolk Southern’s original plan, which did not include tearing up the tracks.
Shaw last week said the original plan “would have effectively and safely remediated the soil under our tracks,” but after vehement concern and pressure from East Palestine residents, the company changed its strategy.
Meanwhile, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced Tuesday it is planning on conducting door-to-door chemical exposure surveys in East Palestine to get “critical feedback” from first responders involved in the derailment.
Additionally, regional EPA Administrator Debra Shore lauded the agency’s new mobile lab that collects real-time air monitoring and sampling analysis during the waste removal and cleanup phase.
“This means we don’t have to send samples away for analysis — we can analyze them right here in the bus, as we collect them, and provide the results very quickly,” Shore said at a news briefing Tuesday.
The bus will be able to drive around town for those rapid air quality spot checks, she added.
Shore was asked repeatedly whether the cleanup and recovery response will include testing for dioxins, a group of toxic chemical compounds.
The burning of vinyl chloride can release dioxins into the air. According to the EPA, dioxins are known as persistent organic pollutants, meaning once they are released into the environment, they take a long time to break down.
If they are ingested, they take a long time to break down in the body because they are absorbed by fat tissue.
Dioxins are very dangerous and can cause a number of health issues including damage to the immune system, reproductive and developmental problems, hormone interference and even cancer.
Teams tested for dioxins immediately after the controlled burn but did not find high levels of the compounds, Shore said.
“There’s a whole suite of chemicals that they can test for,” Shore said. “We did — specifically after the vent and burn, look for the primary byproducts of the burning of vinyl chloride, which are phosgene and hydrogen chloride.”
She continued, “Dioxin is a secondary byproduct. We didn’t find elevated levels of those primary byproducts. Which suggested to our scientists that there was not a further risk of dioxin exposure.”
Severe weather has also been impacting clean up efforts. Heavy rains Monday caused “minor damage” to some of the containment, collection and stream treatment systems, DeWine’s office said in a statement Tuesday evening.
The damage may have caused a “small amount” of contaminants from Sulpher Run to enter Leslie Run, Ohio’s EPA said, but that those contaminants were heavily diluted.
A spokesperson for Norfolk Southern told ABC News the rain caused “very minor issues” with the cleanup effort and that it was “fixed within a matter of hours.” Those issues were not at the “core derailment site,” the spokesperson said.
The downpour also rapidly filled the storage bins that hold the contaminated liquid on site.
Norfolk Southern reported those bins are now roughly 90% full due to the recent rain, according to DeWine’s update.
A “bulk transfer method” will now be used for this excess of contaminated liquid caused by the rain, which was approved by the federal and state authorities overseeing the cleanup, the update said.
Gov’t Mule is headed back out on the road this spring.
The band just announced a new set of tour dates, kicking off May 5 at the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans, Louisiana. The special show, taking place during Jazz Fest, will feature guests George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners.
The 10-show run features stops in Memphis, Cleveland, Nashville and more, including a two-night stand in Warren Haynes’ hometown of Ashville, North Carolina. The trek also includes a July 23 show at the Great South Bay Music Festival in Patchogue, New York.
Artist presale tickets begin Friday at 10 a.m., with the general sale set for March 8 at 10 a.m. local time. A complete list of dates can be found at mule.net.
The Whohas added a special new show to their tour schedule. The band is set to perform at the royal family’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England.
The concert is set to go down August 28 and will have the band backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The exclusive concert will also feature special guests Richard Ashcroft and The Lightning Seeds.
“Very pleased and excited for The Who to be one of the first artists to perform at the Country Home of the British Royal Family on The Sandringham Estate,” Pete Townshend shares. “Opening up the Estate to large scale concerts is a fantastic way of keeping us uplifted and enjoying congregation at what I’m sure will be a fabulous summer celebration. We can’t wait!”
Those interested in going to the show must register for a chance to purchase tickets, and those who share the info on their social media pages will earn a chance to win VIP guest passes.
The outdoor concert will be the band’s final show of their 2023 The Who Hits Back! United Kingdom tour, which kicks off July 6 in Hull, England.
On Wednesday, Paramount+ dropped the steamy, intense teaser to its forthcoming series based on the hit 1987 film Fatal Attraction, which starred Michael Douglas and Glenn Close.
The series stars Joshua Jackson as Douglas’ Dan Gallagher and Lizzy Caplan as Close’s bunny-boiling jilted lover, Alex Forrest.
The pair are shown meeting on an elevator, and getting increasingly — and eventually intimately — closer as the sneak peek builds to a crescendo: When Amanda Peet, playing Jackson’s wife, Beth, “introduces” Dan to Alex in their home.
“I know him already,” Alex says to Beth, as a smile drains from Dan’s face.
The streaming service calls the eight-episode series a “deep-dive reimagining of the classic psychosexual thriller and ’80s cultural touchstone” that will “explore fatal attraction and the timeless themes of marriage and infidelity through the lens of modern attitudes toward strong women, personality disorders and coercive control.”
The first three episodes of the show premiere April 30 on Paramount+.
Niall Horan‘s fans got to see him dressed like a pirate Tuesday night as he pretended to seize a British naval ship.
Niall donned fake facial hair and a tricorn hat for the music-filled skit on The Late Late Show with James Corden. He and Corden attempt to scare a captive British naval officer by performing a slew of over-the-top Broadway-style numbers — complete with dramatic lighting, mood-setting fog, tap dancing and more.
According to Niall, the singing and dancing is designed “to strike fear into your heart and spread the terrifying tale of Captain Dreadbeard.” Unfortunately, their captive expresses mounting confusion instead of terror.
The captive sparks a mutiny by asking a slew of questions after each number, such as how long the crew spends on rehearsals.
Niall and Corden’s crew raise a series of complaints about how they’re not pillaging enough and that their leaders are always hogging the lead parts. To regain control, Niall decides the British officer is causing too much trouble and orders him to walk the plank — but not before putting on a final number that includes costume changes and a Rockettes-style kickline.
As confetti rains from the sky, the naval officer declares, “I’d rather take my chances,” and throws himself overboard.
Niall is gearing up for the release of his third album, The Show, which arrives June 9.
