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    From Winona Ryder to Jenna Ortega, a Goth Girl Timeline

    From “Beetlejuice” to its sequel, these are the actresses and roles that made us embrace the darkness.Is it just fashion? No, it’s an attitude, a lifestyle. And a beloved character type. The goth girl is the lovable-yet-scary outcast whose grim and ghastly exterior belies wit, smarts and a dry sense of humor that never fails to cast an honest light on the disappointing world around her. As “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” brings together two generations of legendary goth girls — Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega — we look at some of the actresses and roles that have defined the archetype since the original “Beetlejuice” in 1988.1988Winona Ryder Sets the Standard“My whole life is a dark room. One big dark room.”Winona Ryder in “Beetlejuice.”Warner Bros.When Lydia Deetz appears in her family’s new Connecticut home early in “Beetlejuice,” she glances around curiously, her eyes wandering beneath her short, spiky black bangs, stopping at the sight of a spider in a web along the stairwell. Unlike her shallow, distracted parents, Lydia is clued in to the supernatural happenings of her new surroundings and has no trouble befriending the undead residents of the house.The role was one of Winona Ryder’s earliest in a career largely defined by goth girls and dark-attired outsiders. In the black comedy “Heathers,” Ryder played Veronica Sawyer, the reluctant friend to the popular girls, who prance around in bright matching outfits. Veronica, however, dresses in blacks and grays and gets drawn into a string of homicides that leaves multiple teenagers dead.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Aaron Pierre: From Action Prince to Lion King

    The British actor stars as an ex-Marine in the new Netflix thriller “Rebel Ridge” and as the titular cat in the upcoming “Mufasa: The Lion King.”Aaron Pierre was an unsure British teenager when he took his first acting gig: a narrator in a secondary-school production of “Moby Dick.” The school didn’t have a dedicated drama program and produced a play once every three years; Pierre had focused on athletics before giving the stage a try.As he recalled during a recent video call from his apartment in Los Angeles, his adolescent mind was thinking, “What’s going to happen to me walking through the halls if I do this play?”The show turned out to be painless. He went out, hit his mark at the corner of stage left and looked at the audience as he said his few lines. “I remember getting backstage and just being like, ‘That was amazing,’” Pierre said.The roles have grown a bit larger. Pierre, 30, played the hard-luck soldier Cassio in a 2018 production of “Othello” at the Globe Theater. The film and TV director Barry Jenkins saw him and was impressed enough to reach out to the actor on Twitter. That led to Pierre’s role as the yearning and enslaved Caesar in Jenkins’s mini-series “The Underground Railroad.”Since then, Pierre has played an ill-fated rapper in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Old” (2021) and Malcolm X in the anthology series “Genius: MLK/X.” He currently has another major role, in “Rebel Ridge” (streaming on Netflix), directed by Jeremy Saulnier (“Green Room”); Pierre plays Terry Richmond, an ex-Marine who faces off against civil forfeiture and a corrupt police force. In December, he voices the digitally animated lead of “Mufasa: The Lion King,” reuniting with both Jenkins and the actor Kelvin Harrison Jr., who played the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in “Genius.”Pierre didn’t appear to be too caught up in the anticipation. “I don’t take myself seriously, but I do take my craft extremely seriously,” he said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A Film That Makes the Stationary Lives of Oysters Into a Wondrous Tale

    “Holding Back the Tide” weaves facts and dreamy moments into an unconventional take on the nature documentary that very much affects humans.To say that “Holding Back the Tide” is about oysters is technically true. But that description might give the impression of a more conventional nature documentary, the kind with stunning footage narrated in the sonorous voice of a British man. I mean no slight to those films, which are often incredible. But “Holding Back the Tide” (at the Firehouse theater in New York) is something entirely different, and it’s wonderful.The director, Emily Packer, faced an inherent challenge in making a film about oysters, which is that you can’t really observe them doing anything, the way you might with lions or whales. They’re stationary. They don’t have facial expressions. They don’t make noise. But oysters are also incredibly important to our environment, especially in regions like New York City, where eroding shorelines pose a real threat not just to the natural world but to the city’s human inhabitants, too. Oysters also help improve water quality. And, at least to some of us, they’re pretty delicious.All of these facts come up in “Holding Back the Tide.” In interviews and a number of observational scenes, we meet the people and organizations who work to restore the oyster population in the New York region, including the Billion Oyster Project, which among other things partners with top restaurants on shell collection and education. We learn that without oysters, the city might not have existed, at least not the way we imagine it. We find out about historical figures and fascinating biological details. But the factual documentation scenes are just one mode that the film operates in.That’s because Packer sees more in an oyster than just a beach defender or a tasty snack. It’s both a literal creature and a rich symbol for thinking about civilization. Oysters are ancient. They’ve seen a lot. Their history is tied up with the history of race and labor; their disappearance from some areas tells a story about pollution and environmental decay. And oysters can change gender during their lives, with most starting out as male and transitioning to female after the first year of life, which gives them the capacity to fertilize their own eggs.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    20 Pop and Jazz Albums, Shows and Festivals Coming This Fall

    Anticipated debuts and long-awaited follow-ups are due this season. Our critics plucked out a list of the most notable.Some of the year’s buzziest artists (Charli XCX, Chappell Roan) are headlining tours and festivals this fall, and a bevy of new albums from established stars (Shawn Mendes, Jelly Roll) and up-and-comers (Flo, Nemahsis) are on the way. Dates and lineups are subject to change.SeptemberNILÜFER YANYA The British musician Nilüfer Yanya makes pensive, intricately layered songs that revel in unexpected textural jolts. On “Like I Say (I Runaway),” the lead single from her third album, “My Method Actor,” the deadpan, Sade-like cool of Yanya’s vocals is interrupted by a sudden eruption of PJ Harvey-esque guitar distortion. A melodically rich meditation on identity, desire and the reverberations of heartache, “My Method Actor” is a confident and hypnotic follow-up to her 2022 release, “Painless.” (Sept. 13; Ninja Tune) LINDSAY ZOLADZNEMAHSIS Nemahsis — the songwriter Nemah Hasan, who has Palestinian roots — sings about seizing her tangled identity as an independent artist, a Muslim, the daughter of immigrants and a self-questioning but determined individualist. On her debut album, “Verbathim,” her producers include Drake’s regular collaborator Noah (40) Shebib, with songs that can be folky or test the electronic edges of hyperpop. (Sept. 13; Verbaithim) JON PARELESSEXYY RED Fresh off several high-profile collaborations with Drake, Sexyy Red, the 26-year-old St. Louis rapper, makes the leap to headlining arenas on her Sexyy Red 4 President tour, on which she’s playing songs from her latest mixtape, “In Sexyy We Trust.”. That’s one way to kick off election season. (Sept. 17; Barclays Center) ZOLADZSexyy Red’s tour started in late August and comes to Brooklyn in September.Torben Christensen/Ritzau Scanpix Denmark, via ReutersCHARLI XCX AND TROYE SIVAN Most live performances by the British pop singer, songwriter and producer Charli XCX tend to feel more like semi-legal warehouse raves than highly choreographed arena shows, but the breakout success of her sixth album, “Brat,” means that, on the Sweat Tour that she is headlining with the Australian pop star Troye Sivan, the 32-year-old industry veteran will be playing some of the largest venues of her career. Bid farewell to Brat Summer in style starting Sept. 14 in Detroit. (Sept. 23; Madison Square Garden) ZOLADZWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Classical Music and Opera This Fall: Programs, Premieres and More

    Osvaldo Golijov’s Lorca-inspired opera comes to New York, and the pianist Igor Levit plays with the Cleveland Orchestra, among other highlights.The Metropolitan Opera’s gamble on contemporary work continues. Celebrations of big anniversaries for two musical innovators, Charles Ives and Pierre Boulez, are worth seeking out. And Carnegie Hall will host world-class orchestras. But don’t expect Gustavo Dudamel, the New York Philharmonic’s next music director, to be a fixture yet; until 2026, he is dedicated to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which opens Carnegie’s season with a three-night residency. Here are highlights from this fall’s performance calendar. (Locations are in Manhattan unless otherwise specified; dates are subject to change.)SeptemberATLANTA OPERA Not quite 50 years old, this company is bucking the belt-tightening, season-shrinking trend in American opera. It is presenting “La Bohème” (updated to the Covid-19 pandemic) and “Rent,” the Broadway musical that transplanted Puccini’s classic to the AIDS era, both staged by Tomer Zvulun, its artistic director, and Vita Tzykun. (Sept. 18-Oct. 6; Pullman Yards, Atlanta)‘INDRA’S NET’ How about a hopeful perspective on our divided times? The invaluable Meredith Monk created and will perform in “Indra’s Net,” the conclusion to a trilogy of works about our relationship with the natural world and inspired by Buddhist and Hindu legends. (Sept. 23-Oct. 6; Park Avenue Armory)Meredith Monk’s “Indra’s Net,” performed here at the Holland Festival, is coming to the Park Avenue Armory in September.Ada Nieuwendijk‘THE LISTENERS’ Missy Mazzoli, who is working on an operatic adaptation of George Saunders’s “Lincoln in the Bardo,” first brings another work with literary inspiration to Opera Philadelphia: “The Listeners,” with a libretto by Royce Vavrek, based on Jordan Tannahill’s unsettling novel about the search for meaning and a cultish leader who claims to have answers. (Sept. 25-29; Academy of Music, Philadelphia)OctoberLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC Gustavo Dudamel will be at the podium for three nights to start Carnegie Hall’s season: with Lang Lang in Rachmaninoff’s Second piano concerto; with Alisa Weilerstein in a new cello concerto by Gabriela Ortiz; and with the Mexican singer-songwriter Natalia Lafourcade. (Oct. 8-10; Carnegie Hall)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Rich Homie Quan, Melodic Atlanta Rapper, Dies at 34

    The rapper, who was at one time affiliated with Young Thug, had a 2015 hit with “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh),” which spawned a dance craze.Rich Homie Quan, an Atlanta rapper who played a role in the city’s thriving hip-hop scene in the 2010s, died on Thursday at a hospital in Atlanta. He was 34.His death was confirmed by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, which did not provide a cause.A melodic rapper who broke out in one of the country’s most fertile rap scenes over a decade ago, Rich Homie Quan has more recently become a character in the sprawling gang conspiracy trial in Georgia centered around Young Thug, the Atlanta superstar.Quan’s early career was closely tied to that of Young Thug; the two were members of Rich Gang, a group assembled by Bryan Williams (a.k.a. Birdman), one of the founders of the label Cash Money.Their slow-rolling debut single from 2014, “Lifestyle,” was a Hot 100 hit and has been certified platinum. The pair later fell out over what Quan said were issues around ego and money, and parts of their feud have spilled over into testimony at the trial.In 2013, Quan broke out solo with “Type of Way,” a song about ambition and romance that the Michigan State football team adopted as an anthem. In The New York Times, the critic Jon Caramanica wrote about the track, proclaiming Quan part of a new generation of rappers “who deliver lines with melody and heart, like singers on the verge of a breakdown.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A Barrier-Breaking Conductor Will Lead the Seattle Symphony

    Xian Zhang will be the first woman and person of color to lead the Seattle Symphony, and one of only two women leading a top-tier American orchestra.Xian Zhang, a renowned conductor who has helped bring the New Jersey Symphony to new heights over the past eight years, will be the Seattle Symphony’s next music director, the orchestra announced on Thursday.When she takes the podium in 2025, Zhang, 51, will be the first woman and the first person of color to lead the Seattle Symphony in its 121-year history, and one of only two women leading a top-tier American orchestra. (The other is Nathalie Stutzmann, the Atlanta Symphony’s music director since 2022.)Zhang, who was born in Dandong, China, and moved to the United States in 1998, said she would work to attract new audiences in Seattle, including more young professionals, families and people of color.“My goal is to have the symphony become even more of a musical icon and a magnet for the city,” she said. “We need to be more obvious and attractive.”Zhang, whose full name is pronounced she-YEN JONG, emerged as a favorite because of her “impeccable technique” and her warm relationship with the orchestra’s musicians and audiences, said Krishna Thiagarajan, the orchestra’s president and chief executive. She made her debut with the Seattle Symphony in 2008 and has been a regular in recent years, earning praise from critics and audience members.“There’s an electricity between her and the orchestra, and an electricity between her and the audience,” Thiagarajan said. “You can feel it in the hall.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Review: Delightfully Undead Again

    Tim Burton has brought the band back together — Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, even Bob the shrunken head guy — for a fun but less edgy sequel.After more than three decades and assorted ups, downs and spinoffs like an animated series and Broadway musical, most of the key players in the original “Beetlejuice” band — Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Bob the shrunken-head guy — are back together. A lot has predictably changed along the way, yet one of the enjoyable aspects about reunion tours is that when a group has charmed its way into your consciousness, like this one did back in the day, a.k.a. 1988, you don’t mind (too much) its sporadically sour notes and slack timing.And, so, enter the dependably delightful Ryder as Lydia Deetz, the onetime Goth Girl whose family got into so much trouble the last time. Dressed in her customary black, from bangs to booted toe, her face as ethereally pale as ever, Lydia is the host of a paranormally inclined TV show, “Ghost House With Lydia Deetz,” and now a minor celebrity. She puts on a good front on camera, but Lydia remains a haunted soul, and now there’s more than memories of Beetlejuice (Keaton) that plague her: She’s a widow, and her daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), is an eyeball-rolling, heavy-sighing mini-me of gloom, one who’s just itching to have her world rocked.Burton seems anxious to do just that, and he gets this party started without ceremony, cranking it into nicely morbid life as the characters make their introductions. Among these is the first film’s most clueless chucklehead, Lydia’s stepmother, Delia (O’Hara), an arty artist with an outsize ego and cruel lack of talent. Lydia is on warmer terms with her, partly because she needs someone on her side, given that her father is soon dead; he’s dispatched early in a satisfyingly bloody animated sequence. (The character was played in the first film by Jeffrey Jones, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to not updating his registration as a sex offender.)Her father’s death becomes the excuse for Lydia and the rest to return to the family’s old shrieking ground, a hillside fun house with an airy porch and troublesome pests. Once there, Burton cuts loose his cheerfully malignant clowns, and the characters settle down to business with magic portals and visitors from beyond. In bland strokes, Burton et al. also toss in a few romantic complications, partly, it seems, because someone here believes that female characters require love interests. One entanglement involves Lydia and her producer-boyfriend, Rory (Justin Theroux, farcically insufferable), a mindful kick-me-sign; the other, less developed one concerns Astrid and a local cutie, Jeremy (Arthur Conti).I don’t know why anyone thought that Beetlejuice needed any kind of love interest outside Lydia, his old crush. Whatever the case, Monica Bellucci turns up as his ex, the latest in a line of showy Burton vixens. Given her character’s soul-sucking toxicity, it’s hard not to wonder if the filmmakers are making a joke about bad divorces. Bellucci doesn’t have much to do but look hot, which is easy. Like Willem Dafoe — who’s predictably diverting playing a hammy (totally canned) dead actor — Bellucci is attractive filigree, something to admire amid the chats, chuckles and appealingly humble practical effects that still carry the touch of the human hand.The greatest special effect remains Keaton’s Beetlejuice, however attenuated. The original movie was at once a funfair and a comic family meltdown with heart (and other body parts), but what pushed it joyously over the top was Keaton. With his deathly white face and electric-chair shock of hair, Beetlejuice had been designed to seize your attention (and maybe evoke Jack Nicholson in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”). What held you rapt, though, was Keaton’s exciting expressive range and unpredictability. With his wild eyes and raspy growl, he pushed and pulled at your affections, and made you wonder about the guy under the get-up. He seemed borderline dangerous, which gave the film frisson. Even as “Beetlejuice” playfully hit its genre notes, Keaton’s vocalizations — he spat words and all but scatted — and his twitchy physicality kept the film from slipping into the generic.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More