Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas discuss their starring roles in ‘Chicago’ in an interview that aired April 8, 2026, on ‘Good Morning America.’ (ABC News)
What happens in the ballroom doesn’t always stay there.
After captivating audiences on Dancing with the Stars, Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas are back together — only this time they are on Broadway, starring in Chicago at New York City’s Ambassador Theatre.
“If someone would have said a year ago that the two of you would be on the cover of the playbill, Chicago on Broadway, what would your reaction have been?” ABC News’ Will Ganss asked the duo in an interview that aired Wednesday on Good Morning America.
“I probably would have been like, ‘You’re crazy. What? How?'” Leavitt said with a laugh.
“Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. Speechless,” Ballas added.
Leavitt, who rose to fame on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, is now leading Chicago to its highest-grossing week in the show’s 30-year history while playing Roxie Hart.
“She’s definitely sassy. She’s very sassy. I’d say sassy, impulsive and always just, like, learning,” Leavitt said of her character.
Asked what she and Roxie Hart have in common, Leavitt replied with a laugh, “Every single one of those things.”
Amid her success on Broadway, Leavitt said she is still deciding what her future looks like on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, the hit Hulu reality TV show.
“We’re figuring it out in real-time. I don’t really know,” Leavitt said. “I feel sometimes that it’s like time to venture out. Like, this is what I’m passionate about.”
In Chicago, Ballas joins Leavitt as Billy Flynn, following in the footsteps of stars like Patrick Swayze and Usher.
The moment marks a full-circle journey that began during their time on DWTS, when they danced to the song “Cell Block Tango” from the Broadway show.
The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC and Hulu.
Carly Pearce’s Monday benefit at City Winery raised $45,000 for Nashville’s Pet Community Center.
Ashley Cooke opened the show and returned during Carly’s set to sing Ashley McBryde’s part on “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.” Carly’s stripped-down performance included music from her upcoming album, including “Dream Come True” and her new hit, “If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay.”
“I am honored to be here tonight to raise money and awareness for needy pets in our community,” she told the audience. “Pet Community Center does tremendous work to provide veterinary care, food, supplies, and spaying and neutering services to the most vulnerable pets in Nashville. As a dog mom of Johnny and June, I am here to honor them tonight!”
In addition to donating her time, Carly gave $5,000 to the cause.
Alleged serial killer Rex A. Heuermann appears inside Judge Tim Mazzei’s courtroom with his attorney Michael Brown at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead for a frye hearing on July 17, 2025 in Riverhead, New York. (Photo by James Carbone-Pool/Getty Images)
Heuermann, a New York City architect, was arrested in 2023 and initially pleaded not guilty to killing seven women whose remains were found on Long Island. His trial had been set for September.
Heuermann’s ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and his daughter are at the courthouse for Wednesday’s high-stakes hearing.
Heuermann’s victims date back to 1993, when Sandra Costilla was killed. Her remains were found in North Sea on Long Island.
Valerie Mack was killed in 2000 and Jessica Taylor was killed in 2003. Partial remains of Taylor and Mack were found near Gilgo Beach and in Manorville on Long Island.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes was killed in 2007 and found near Gilgo Beach.
Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello were killed between 2009 and 2010 and also recovered near Gilgo Beach.
Pink Floyd is set to release a new compilation album.
Titled 8-Tracks, the release will, as the name suggests, feature eight curated classic tracks from the 1971-1979 era of Pink Floyd.
Songs on the album include iconic tunes like “Money,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2,” “Time” and “Comfortably Numb,” along with early Pink Floyd tracks “One Of These Days” and “Wot’s… Uh The Deal.” The final track is a full version of “Pigs on the Wing,” which prior to this was only available on the eight-track release of 1977’s Animals.
According to the album’s description, 8-Tracks is a “starting point for new listeners to discover the depth and breadth of Pink Floyd’s peerless album catalogue, as well as a carefully curated collection for longtime fans to appreciate.”
8-Tracks will be released June 5 on vinyl, CD and digitally. It is available for preorder now.
Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi answers questions from the media at the United States Capitol on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Matt McClain/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is not expected to sit for a closed-door deposition next week, after the Department of Justice informed the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that its subpoena is essentially moot because it sought Bondi’s testimony in an “official capacity as Attorney General” — and President Donald Trump removed her from office last week.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Iranians hold national flags as they gather in Tehran’s Revolution Square after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, on April 8, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — As President Donald Trump pulled back from threats to annihilate “a whole civilization” when the Iranian regime agreed to a ceasefire and open the critical Strait of Hormuz, some people in the Islamic Republic expressed relief after juggling feelings ranging from despair to doom.
Trump had given the Iranian regime a deadline of 8 p.m. ET Tuesday — which would have been Wednesday, April 8, at 3:30 a.m. in Tehran — for the Iranian government to strike a peace deal or risk the destruction of all bridges and power plants in Iran.
He later extended the deadline to two more weeks as Iran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz and work to forge a peace deal.
Sohreh, a 33-year-old journalist and resident of Tehran, told ABC News she felt an immediate sense of “relief” when she heard that a ceasefire agreement had been brokered.
“My heart was about to stop,” Sohreh said in a written message to ABC News of the hours she and other Iranian citizens spent on Tuesday bracing for the massive U.S. to strike on its power plants, bridges and infrastructure before the attack was called off. “I cried all day for Iran and prayed to a God I don’t believe in: ‘A miracle, please, send a miracle. I can’t live after the destruction of Iran.'”
Leading up to the ceasefire announcement, Iranians who have been in contact with ABC News throughout the conflict, which began with a Feb. 28 U.S.-Israel joint attack, recalled moments of joy as it appeared the Iranian regime was about to be toppled and disappointment that the Islamic Republican Guard Corps (IRGC) had refused to give up the fight.
An internet blackout imposed by the regime has made it challenging to communicate with people inside Iran, so it’s difficult to gauge how people in the country are feeling. Some have managed to get messages to ABC News.
“I am against the regime and I want them gone with every cell of my body. I have participated in the protests against the regime. But by no means I agree with a foreign power destroying what has been built by my people, for my people, and for the future of our children,” Fatemeh, a 40-year-old engineer who lives in Tehran, told ABC News in a written statement on Monday.
Citing security reasons, Iranians like Fatemeh and Sohreh who have communicated with ABC News, spoke on condition that their real names not be used.
Sohreh recalled a rollercoaster of emotions since the conflict began, from hope that the regime would be toppled to despair that it was hanging on and prolonging the pain of regular Iranians.
“I danced so much to the news of Khamenei’s death, so much that my legs hurt and I fell,” Sohreh said in a message to ABC News on Monday, referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, who was assassinated in a strike on the first day of the conflict.
But as the war dragged on, Sohreh said she battled doubts that the U.S.-Israel attacks would bring the regime to its knees. “We ask ourselves what if the war continues?” she said.
“When they hit Asaluyeh, everyone was feeling terrible,” Sohreh said of Monday’s strike by Israel Defense Forces on Iran’s southern petrochemical infrastructure in the Persian Gulf port city of Asaluyeh. “We wonder what to do if they hit the infrastructure. They don’t belong to the Islamic Republic. They are built by our own children. They belong to Iran and the future of Iran.”
On Tuesday morning, Trump posted an ominous message on his social media platform, saying, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”
“I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump wrote. “However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”
During a news conference on Wednesday morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared “a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield.
“A capital V military victory,” said Hegseth, adding that the U.S. military had “achieved every objective.”
Hegseth said that prior to the ceasefire being announced, the U.S. military was prepared to carry out the threat Trump made on Tuesday morning.
“Had Iran refused our terms, the next target would have been their power plants, their bridges and oil and energy infrastructure, targets they could not defend and could not realistically rebuild. It would have taken them decades. And we were locked and loaded,” Hegseth said.
He added, “President Trump had the power to cripple Iran’s economy in minutes, but he chose mercy. He spared those targets because Iran accepted the ceasefire under overwhelming pressure.”
Trump’s ominous statement on Tuesday came after he told reporters on Monday during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, “The Iranian people, when they don’t hear bombs go off, they’re upset.”
“They want to hear bombs because they want to be free,” Trump said without attributing where he was getting his information from.
He went on to claim that the only reason Iranian civilians have not taken to the streets en masse to demonstrate against the regime is that “they will be shot immediately, and that’s an edict. That’s in writing.”
Leila, a 36-year-old resident of Tehran who works as a manager of a shipping company, said she agreed with Trump, telling ABC News on Monday that when she doesn’t hear bombs, she feels “upset.” Leila, who described herself as anti-regime, said she longs for the day she sees American soldiers in Iran to save them.
In an earlier message Leila sent to ABC News on March 30, she said, “We don’t have fear from the missile attacks, we just get very happy to watch them burning the bases of the IRGC.”
Darius, a 38-year-old anthropologist from Tehran, told ABC News in a message sent on March 25 that he was initially anti-regime, but as the bombing continued, his opinion of the regime had started to change.
“The noise of the bombs and the fact that they are actually killing a lot of civilians pushes us more towards let’s say rallying around the flag,” Darius wrote. “We are fighting this war as a country and even though the Iranian state is not my cup of tea and even though I detest many of the things they do, still, I prefer to stand by their side against a Nazi in the White House.”
At least 3,546 people, including 244 children and 1,616 other civilians, have been killed in Iran due to the U.S.-Israeli strikes since the war began, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News agency reported on Sunday.
Record Store Day is happening later this month, and ahead of the annual celebration of independent record stores, Robert Plant has been honored with the Record Store Legend award.
The award honors the Led Zeppelin frontman for his “lasting impact on music around the world” as well as his support for new artist and record stores,” according to a post on the Record Store Day’s Instagram.
Plant was on hand for the unveiling of a special plaque to mark the honor at Spillers Records in Cardiff, Wales, the world’s oldest record store.
“Record stores have always been a part of my life. For me, once you get to the physical record it’s because you really want to know and be a part of what the artist was considering,” said Plant. “And I know, as a guy who’s been making records since 1966, people want to take home something very special, to enjoy all the elements of what an artist has put together. We want a connection between the music and the art of the whole thing.”
Record Store Day is happening April 18. Plant, with his band Saving Grace and singer Suzi Dian, is set to release a four-track EP, Saving Grace: All That Glitters, this year.
Elton John was the first recipient of the Record Store Legend award in 2017; The Smiths’ Johnny Marr was honored with the award in 2025.
Cheap Trick, Steve Miller, Chicago and Deep Purple were among the artists inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Cheap Trick was inducted by Kid Rock and performed “I Want You to Want Me,” “Dream Police” and “Surrender,” while Chicago was inducted by Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas, performing “Saturday in the Park,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” with Thomas, and “25 or 6 to 4.”
Deep Purple, inducted by Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, performed three songs, including their classic “Smoke on the Water.”
Steve Miller was inducted by The Black Keys, and performed “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Rockin’ Me” and “The Joker,” but his induction was not without controversy. He made headlines for his negative remarks about the Hall of Fame, and claimed the Rock Hall nixed his idea to have Elton John induct him. The Black Keys, longtime fans of Miller, later said they regretted their participation.
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Monday, April 6, 2026. Signs of last-ditch efforts to secure a truce in the war that has rattled global markets spurred a cautious advance in stocks as oil retreated. (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Stocks soared and oil prices plunged in early trading on Wednesday, just hours after the U.S. and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire.
The Dow Jones Industrial average surged 1,215 points, or 2.6%, while the S&P 500 climbed 2.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 3.4%.
As part of the accord, Iran says it will allow tankers passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for oil and gas, as long as they coordinate with the nation’s military. Investors appeared optimistic that the agreement would ease one of the worst global oil shortages in decades.
U.S. oil prices plummeted 18% on Wednesday, registering at about $92 a barrel. Still, the price of oil remained well above pre-war levels of about $67 a barrel.
President Donald Trump touted the ceasefire in a social media post on Wednesday, saying there would be “no enrichment of Uranium,” despite the Iranians claiming that the U.S. agreed to its plan, which includes numerous concessions.
The president added that “the United States will, working with Iran, dig up and remove all of the deeply buried (B-2 Bombers) Nuclear ‘Dust.'”
The Iranian Supreme National Security Council’s statement on Tuesday included “acceptance of enrichment” in its 10-point plan.
Investors will likely pay close attention to a potential uptick in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Typically, scores of ships carry a fifth of the world’s oil through the strait each day, but Iran effectively closed the passage over the course of the war. That oil shortage sent crude prices soaring, and it threatened far-reaching price increases that some economists feared could tip the U.S. economy into a recession.
ABC News’ David Brennan, Jon Haworth and Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.
The Half Manofficial trailer has arrived. Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd created, executive produced and stars in the new HBO six-episode limited series. The show debut April 23 on HBO and will also be available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes will debut weekly on Thursdays through May 28 …
Dark Matter season 2 has set its premiere date at Apple TV. The sci-fi series starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly will make its debut on Aug. 28, with a new episode dropping every Friday through Oct. 30. Dark Matter is based on the book by bestselling author Blake Crouch. If follows a physicist who is abducted and taken into an alternate version of his life …
There are a few new faces coming to the fifth and final season of The Boys. Prime Video has announced that Ely Henry, Dylan Colton, Emma Elle Paterson and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan have joined the cast of the superhero satire TV series. Henry will take on the role of The Worm, while Colton, Paterson and Ramakrishnan will be the members of Teenage Kix, an all-teenage superhero team …
