Despite lingering concerns over the Delta variant, Broadway productions have ramped back up, and that’s good news to fans — and to veterans of the Great White Way like Idina Menzel.
The Wicked Tony winner tells ABC Audio that she’s happy there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic, which shut theaters down on March 12, 2020.
“I’ve felt a lot of sadness about it,” she said of the locked-down period. “I am excited that people are going to be going back to work, and that my friends in the community will be doing what they love to do — and what is so good for our for the world when they are doing the thing that they’re most passionate about.”
Idina continues, “Having not been able to do that, people being out of work, to be a creative person, not be able to get up there and just do what you have to do…there’s a hunger and sadness in that that goes beyond what you would expect.”
Menzel, who can currently be seen opposite Camila Cabello in Cinderella on Amazon Prime, adds, “I just hope everyone’s safe and we can start seeing the marquees light up again.”
She enthuses, “And there’s some great shows that are coming back. I mean, Wicked is my family, you know. …So I’m glad that more generations are going to be able to go back and see Wicked. And all the real classic shows are coming back. And then there’s some new ones, like Music Man with Sutton [Foster] and Hugh Jackman and a bunch of other shows.”
Adds Idina, “But yeah, it feels good to see, for all of us to start going back to work and doing what we love to do.”
Howard University has honored one of its most famous alumni, Chadwick Boseman, by naming its fine arts building after the Black Panther star.
“The letters were installed over the now official Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. An icon in his own right who has left an immeasurable legacy for the next generation. Thank you, Mr. Boseman,” the university tweeted.
Boseman, whose credits also include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Da 5 Bloods, Marshall, Get On Up and 42, graduated from Howard in 2000 with a bachelor of fine arts in directing.
“It is my honor to ensure his legacy lives on through the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts with the support of his wife and the Chadwick Boseman Foundation,” said Howard University president Wayne A. I. Frederick, according to USA Today.
Walt Disney Company’s chairman Bob Iger has also pledged to build a “new, state-of-the-art facility” for the college, as well as establish an endowment in honor of Boseman.
August 28 marked the one-year anniversary of the actor’s death from colon cancer at age 43. Black Panther stars Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong’o were among the many celebrities honoring Boseman’s memory.
Jordan shared a photo of the two at a formal event and captioned it, “Not a day goes by bro… Love and miss you but I know you still with us.”
“I did not know that I could miss both his laughter and his silence in equal measure. I do. I do… One year after his passing, the memory of @chadwickboseman remains this alive in me,” wrote Nyong’o on Twitter, alongside a photo of the two sharing a hearty laugh.
Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott and Paula Abdul are among the stars featured in a teaser for the upcoming Janet Jackson documentary, simply titled JANET.
The “Control” singer debuted the clip Monday on Instagram, declaring, “This is the truth. Take it or leave it. Love it or hate it. This is me.”
The teaser reveals never before seen images from her iconic, five-decade career, which began at the age of ten on The Jacksons TV variety series in 1976. Tito Jackson also speaks in the teaser, which features a photo of Janet with her late brother, Michael.
“This is what a superstar looks like,” Missy says.
Mariah adds, “She’s an empowered women.”
Paula Abdul, who choreographed Janet”s 1986 “Nasty” video, comments, “She is a force to be reckoned with.”
The two-night, four-hour documentary celebrates the 40th anniversary of Jackson’s 1982 self-titled debut album. The five-time Grammy winner served as an executive producer on the project, along with brother Randy Jackson.
JANET will premiere in January 2022 on Lifetime and A&E.
Jason Mraz is going back to his roots with a reissue of his debut live album.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of Live at Java Joe’s, Jason is re-releasing the album as Live & Acoustic (20th Anniversary Edition) with two unheard bonus tracks and pressed on vinyl for the first time.
Originally releasedin 2001, the album captures Jason’s early days performing in the San Diego coffee shop scene where he got his start. It features “You and I Both,” which went on to become the chart-topping second single off Jason’s 2002 debut studio album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come.
The singer-songwriter is also celebrating the album’s legacy with a tour that begins in his native Virginia on November 26 and concludes on December 22 in Riverside, California. Joining him on the road his Toca Rivera, whom Jason met at Java Joe’s and was part of the singer’s touring band.
Live & Acoustic (20th Anniversary Edition) will be available on November 5.
(WASHINGTON) — As COVID-19 case rates remain at a level not seen since before vaccines were widely available in the United States, President Joe Biden is set to deliver remarks Thursday on a new strategy to stop the spread of the contagious delta variant, White House officials confirmed Tuesday.
“On Thursday the president will speak to the American people about his robust plan to stop the spread of the delta variant and boost vaccinations,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
In the remarks, “the president will lay out a six-pronged strategy,” involving both the public and private sectors, she added.
Biden has already made significant moves in requiring vaccines among public sector workers. He instituted a vaccine requirement for the nation’s 2.1 million federal employees, and the Department of Defense will require vaccination for 1.3 million active duty service members.
But realistically, Biden has limited legal authority to institute a broad vaccine mandate for most Americans.
“Yes, that’s — that’s true,” Psaki said Tuesday, confirming Biden’s hands are tied when it comes to a widespread mandate.
Psaki did seem to suggest that Biden will call on the private sector to institute more mandates. Major corporations such as Facebook, Google and Citigroup have already announced vaccination requirements.
“We don’t have any preview quite yet. I will note that we’ve seen that there are a range of ways that we have increased vaccinations across the country, or vaccinations have increased, I should say. One of them is private sector companies mandating in different capacities that their employees get vaccinated. Or certain school districts mandate,” Psaki said Tuesday.
Biden alluded to his plan to lay out his COVID-19 strategy in economic remarks Friday, focused on the disappointing August jobs report.
“There’s no question the delta variant is why today’s jobs report isn’t stronger. I know people were looking, and I was hoping, for a higher number. But next week, I’ll lay out the next steps that are going to — we’re going to need to combat the delta variant, to address some of those fears and concerns,” Biden said Friday.
Part of the strategy Biden referenced Friday is to ask states and local governments to consider using federal funding to extend unemployment benefits in hard-hit areas.
“I want to talk about how we’ll further protect our schools, our businesses, our economy, and our families from the threat of delta. As we continue to fight the delta variant, the American Rescue Plan we passed continues to support families, businesses, and communities. Even as some of the benefits that were provided are set to expire next week, states have the option to extend those benefits and the federal resources from the Rescue Plan to do so. Not more federal taxes, state taxes, but they have the federal money to be able to do that. States continue to have access to a wide array of support, like help for schools that are reopening, help for childcare centers to make them available and affordable, and other resources to help our economy get back to normal,” Biden said Friday.
But no states have indicated a plan to take Biden up on his proposal.
The remarks are scheduled for just 11 days before the administration is set to begin widely rolling out booster shots of Pfizer, a process that has been mired by confusion as some public health experts say the data doesn’t yet support the need for boosters, and as Moderna failed to meet the data reporting deadline to begin offering boosters the same day as Pfizer.
As children return to school for the fall semester, many in-person for the first time since the start of the pandemic, fears are rising that classrooms could host even more virus spread.
“We need to continue to take more steps to make sure school districts are prepared and make sure communities across the country are prepared,” Psaki said Tuesday.
The administration did announce one positive milestone Tuesday: at least 75% of adults in the U.S. have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the White House COVID-19 data director.
Ronnie Milsap is mourning the loss of his wife of 54 years, Joyce. The Country Music Hall of Fame member reveals that she’s passed away at age 81.
“There are no words, and not enough songs in the world to explain how much I love my Sapphire,” Ronnie said in an obituary, as reported by People. “She was the music and the feeling inside all of those songs, so if you loved my music, you understand some of how much I loved my my beautiful, beautiful wife.”
Ronnie praised Joyce for how inspirational she was to his own music.
“When people tell me they love my music, I always smile, because that music is pure Joyce,” Ronnie said. “We went through lean times laughing, good times beyond our imagination, tough times where we held on to each other for dear life.”
Ronnie, 78, also mentioned their late son, Todd, who passed away in 2019, declaring, “She was the love of my life, the mother of my son, the world’s happiest grandmother.”
No cause of death was given, though Joyce Milsap battled leukemia as recently as 2014. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
The NBC sitcom AP Bio has found a new home on the network’s streaming site Peacock for its fourth season, and that’s good news for fans — and star Patton Oswalt.
The comedian, The Goldbergs narrator and Ratatouille voice-over star plays the principal of an Ohio high school at which Glenn Howerton‘s Jack is a teacher — and because Jack doesn’t want to be there, he often makes Principal Durbin’s life difficult.
But the back-and-forth between the two isn’t your typical Summer School “teacher-vs.-authority figure” trope, Patton says.
“I love playing an authority figure with no actual authority, which I think is how a lot of people — a parent, a manager at a Subway — like that’s…the position a lot of people are in, where you just don’t have the authority that you think you have,” he explains.
Adds Oswalt, “I just love…where there’s moments where it’s almost like Jack treats Durbin like a kid that you’re playing a board game with. And it’s like, ‘I’m just going to let him win, so that it can give him a little bit of confidence here,’ where he has to let him feel like, ‘Yes, Durbin, you stepped in and you fixed things.’ It’s such a sweet relationship.”
Their relationship certainly spices up this season, particularly in one episode that shows the pair like they’ve never been seen before.
“There is a whole episode where the students are shipping the various teachers and administrators and hooking them up in different combinations,” Oswalt notes, “but we see it acted out.”
He adds, laughing, “Not only do we shoot a romance scene, I think we kind of shot a Sergio Leone scene that turns into a romance. They went so far with this stuff, it was insane.”
Three music superstars united recently, as Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and Nicki Minaj enjoyed time together with Nicki’s husband and her baby boy.
On Monday, Pink Barbie shared Instagram photos and videos of RiRi and Rocky hanging out with her, husband Kenneth Petty and their son, who turns one year old on September 30.
“#RokNRiha #QueenRih #CaribbeanGirlsRunit Love her downnnnnnn #NewYorkS**t #YKTFV,” Minaj captioned the photos of their New York at-home double date.
In another post, Minaj shared a video of her and RiRi blowing kisses at the camera before Rihanna says, “Caribbean things, you know what I’m sayin’?” In another video, Minaj and Rihanna’s niece, Majesty, give a shout-out to the “Anaconda” rapper’s fans, declaring her love for the “Barbz.”
Minaj’s 156 million followers were ecstatic seeing the two female icons together.
“Doesn’t get any better than this!!,” one fan commented, while another wrote, “Caribbean girls run it.”
Rihanna and Nicki collaborated on the platinum hit “Fly,” from Minaj’s 2010 debut solo album, Pink Friday. Many fans hope they record together again soon.
One fan commented, “Uh oh I smell a hit in the air.”
(NEW YORK) — The president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the U.S., was terminated Monday night for allegedly helping former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his response to sexual harassment allegations.
Alphonso David, a former lawyer for Cuomo, was voted out by the Human Rights Campaign and its foundation boards of directors “for cause, effective immediately, for violations of his contract.”
The Aug.3 New York Attorney General report, which alleged Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, alleged David sent files relating to accuser Lindsey Boylan’s employment history to Cuomo staff at the request of Cuomo’s then-secretary Melissa DeRosa in December 2020. The files were later shared with several journalists after Boylan tweeted that the Governor had sexually harassed her, the report said.
David, who worked as chief counsel to the governor from April 2015 until becoming president of the HRC in August 2019, was not working for the Cuomo administration at the time he sent the files.
Further, the report stated that the governor and a group of advisors worked on a draft letter in response to Boylan’s sexual harassment allegations. David reportedly received a draft of that letter. When the governor suggested to put signatures on the letter, “Mr. David testified that he told Ms. DeRosa that he was not signing the letter but was willing to reach out to others to see if they would sign it,” the AG report stated.
HRC and its boards of directors announced an investigation into his actions related to the AG report last month.
“As outlined in the New York Attorney General report, Mr. David engaged in a number of activities in December 2020, while HRC President, to assist Governor Cuomo’s team in responding to allegations by Ms. Boylan of sexual harassment,” Morgan Cox and Jodie Patterson, Human Rights Campaign and Foundation Board Chairs, said in a statement.
“This conduct in assisting Governor Cuomo’s team, while president of HRC, was in violation of HRC’s Conflict of Interest policy and the mission of HRC,” they added.
After news of his firing, David shared a statement on social media stating, “Expect a legal challenge.”
“After I demanded truth and transparency, the HRC board co-chairs who should stand for human rights elected to hide in darkness. They unjustly provided notice of termination to me in order to end my fight for the integrity of the review process and for what is right. I asked for the report, they refused. They lied about producing the report,” he said.
“As a Black, gay man who has spent his whole life fighting for civil and human rights, they cannot shut me up,” he added.
In a statement shared on his social media Sunday he said, “I was shocked and sick to my stomach and immediately called on Governor Cuomo to resign,” adding “I was also the one who called for HRC to conduct an independent review, and I participated in it fully.”
Joni Madison, the current chief operating officer and chief staff of the HRC will serve as interim president as the board search for a replacement.
His exit is the latest fallout from the report that also led Roberta A. Kaplan, the co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, which fights for sexual harassment victims, to resign after the report named Kaplan as allegedly being involved in an effort to discredit one of Cuomo’s accusers. She resigned despite contesting the claim that she counseled Cuomo in responding to an accuser.
DeRosa, one of Cuomo’s top aides, also resigned last month after state investigators alleged she was part of the “retaliation” against one of his accusers.
Cuomo resigned last month after the damning report and amid a mounting chorus of calls for him to step down. He has consistently denied all allegations of sexual harassment.
Pop star Selena Gomez isn’t the only chart-topping musician in the new Hulu seriesOnly Murders in the Building: Sting also has a role. In fact, the former Police frontman rock legend is starting to look like the prime suspect in the murder that the characters played by Selena and her co-stars Steve Martin and Martin Short are investigating. But despite the fact that they’re both musicians, Selena said talking shop with the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer was the last thing on her mind while filming the show.
“Oh, gosh, no, no, no!” Selena tells ABC Audio when asked if she and Sting discussed collaborating. “But I will say this: [There] was a very cool moment.”
As Selena recalls, “There was a piano on set and I was just playing piano and all of a sudden I hear Sting playing exactly what I’m playing, on the guitar! And I’m like, ‘O.K., this is a surreal moment I’m going to remember for the rest of my life.’ ‘Cause…like, I don’t bother [other stars] with anything; I just wanted them to have a great experience.”
More about Sting and his motivations will be revealed in the fourth episode of the show, which arrives today on Hulu. It’s called “The Sting,” and in it, we’ll find out that there’s a definite connection between the rocker and the victim, Tim Kono, played by Julian Cihi.
Like Selena, Sting has had an acting career running parallel to his music career for years. But according to Entertainment Weekly, the reason Sting is in Only Murders is because he’s been friends with Steve Martin and the show’s casting director, Bernard Telsey, for a long time.
