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    ‘Dune: Prophecy’ Season 1, Episode 4 Recap: Ol’ Blue Eyes

    The sisters have a terrifying vision. Desmond gives a terrifying display of his power and loyalty. Any connection?Season 1, Episode 4: ‘Twice Born’Two blue lights shine in the darkness, like the eyes of an insectoid machine. Guttural sounds, like speech in a language not yet invented, accompany them, but only for a second.Throughout “Dune: Prophecy,” this menacing pairing of sight and sound has recurred in dreams and visions. Are they the eyes of God, judging the Sisterhood, as Sister Emeline argues? Are they the eyes of the tyrannical force that Raquella, the Sisterhood’s first Mother Superior, warned about with her dying breaths? Are they the eyes of whatever entity gives Desmond Hart his “beautiful, terrible” power to burn people alive with his mind? Are all these things one and the same?I suspect we’ll get the answer eventually, but part of me thinks that’s a shame. Right now, the blue lights and the garbled grunts are the most Lynchian thing this franchise has served up since the director David Lynch himself was in charge of it 40 years ago. And as Lynch has demonstrated time and again, sometimes the mystery is its own reward.Not that the Sisterhood would agree. From Emeline on down, all of them — with the alleged exception of Sister Jen — experience simultaneous nightmares one night. They each begin differently, but they end in the same place: in the sands of Arrakis, standing before a sandworm’s maw, ready to fall in and meet that pitiless blue-eyed gaze. Mother Tula’s experiment with automatic drawing to uncover the meaning of the dreams almost ends in disaster when she completely loses control of the trance into which she places the acolytes, leaving them in the clutches of whatever force sent the dream in the first place.In a time of apocalypse, cults of personality spring up like fungus. So it is in the Sisterhood: Emeline revives the teachings of Valya’s rival, Mother Dorotea, whose death, we learn, was labeled a suicide by the Harkonnen sisters and their cronies. (In reality, Valya used the Voice to command Dorotea to kill herself.) In what appears to be a nightmare or a vision — though by the end of the episode, that distinction is slim indeed — Emeline confronts Tula with the truth, vowing to inform the Imperium; then Tula slits her throat. (This is the same fate Emeline met in her own nightmare, though in the dream it was she who wielded the blade against herself.)But the next thing Tula knows, she is sitting placidly by the side of Sister Lila’s stasis chamber once again, where Emeline found and confronted her. There’s no evidence Emeline has been there. But Lila is gone, broken free of her chamber; she emerges from the shadows, her eyes bright blue from overexposure to the psychoactive spice. Are those the eyes everyone is so afraid of?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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    Marvin Laird, Musical Presence on and Off Broadway, Dies at 85

    He conducted Broadway shows and worked with Bernadette Peters. But he was probably best known for writing the music for the darkly comic “Ruthless!”Marvin Laird, a conductor for Broadway musicals and for performers like Bernadette Peters who also composed the music for “Ruthless!,” the campy, award-winning Off Broadway show about a girl who will do anything — including kill — to star in a school play, died in a hospital on Dec. 2 in Bridgeport, Conn. He was 85.His partner in marriage, Joel Paley, said his death, in a hospital, was caused by complications of an infection.Mr. Laird was the assistant musical director for a summer stock production of “Gypsy” in Lambertville, N.J., in 1961 when he met Ms. Peters, who was 13 and was playing two small roles.“He was just the most energetic, charismatic fellow you’d ever want to meet,” Ms. Peters said in a phone interview.He later conducted the orchestras for her concerts and for two Broadway revivals in which she starred: “Annie Get Your Gun” in 1999 and “Gypsy” in 2003. When Ms. Peters appeared in a revival of “Follies” in 2011, he was the associate conductor.“The orchestras loved him,” Ms. Peters said. “He had a great sense of humor and they respected his musicianship.” She added: “He knew what I was going to do before I did it. I don’t sing a song the same way twice; it’s whatever happens to the song. And Marvin could get the whole orchestra to breathe with him.”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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    Hunter Biden and Matt Gaetz Are Church Lady’s Guests on ‘S.N.L’

    Playing his old familiar character, Dana Carvey talks about Jesus, tweaks celebrities for their sins and skewers Satan.A quick primer for the younger readers of this recap: The late 1980s were a creatively fruitful time for “Saturday Night Live” where for some reason every third sketch was a fake talk show. Among the most popular of these recurring bits was a segment called “Church Chat,” in which a piously persnickety host known simply as the Church Lady (played by Dana Carvey) would roast celebrities of the day and accuse pretty much everyone of working in the service of Satan.After a yearslong hiatus, “S.N.L.” brought back “Church Chat” to open this weekend’s broadcast, which was hosted by Paul Mescal and featured the musical guest Shaboozey. Carvey, once again clad in the prim attire of the Church Lady and seated in front of a stained-glass window, said he was back to “ring out the end of 2024, the most satanic year in history.”“Everywhere you look, you’ve got 11-year-olds dressing up like that vixen Sabrina Carpenter,” Carvey proclaimed. “You know who’s the best carpenter? Jesus.”Church Lady then introduced the first “Church Chat” guest, Matt Gaetz (Sarah Sherman), the former representative from Florida, who last month withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald J. Trump’s attorney general.“Are you OK, Matt?” Carvey asked Sherman. “You look a little surprised to be here.”“No, this is just how my face is,” Sherman answered.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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    ‘Wicked’ Alumnae Class Notes: What They Learned at Shiz University

    The graduates of Shiz University are making their alma mater proud.In the 21 years since “Wicked” opened in New York, 43 women have starred full-time as Elphaba or Glinda — frenemies who meet as Shiz undergrads — and many more have taken on the vocally taxing roles in productions across the United States and around the world.Shiz has taught them well. After leaving the show, many have gone on to glittering careers, on Broadway and beyond. Three former Elphabas were nominated for Tony Awards this year, while four former Glindas have appeared in principal roles.As a smash-hit Hollywood adaptation introduces millions more to this revisionist history of Oz, we checked in with alumnae of the stage show to ask what they learned there. These are edited excerpts from our conversations.GlindaKristin ChenowethSara KrulwichChenoweth, who won a Tony Award in 1999 for “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” originated Glinda on Broadway in 2003. She is now one of Broadway’s most-loved stars and is planning to return next season in a musical adaptation of “The Queen of Versailles.”How did you first get involved with “Wicked”?I was called by [the composer] Stephen Schwartz himself, and he said, “Look, I’ve got this part I want you to do.” I didn’t know if I could work out the dates, but I went over to his apartment, and listened to “Popular.” I thought it was really cute and I could have some fun with it, so I was involved in a workshop in L.A., and that’s how it started. I remember the producer Marc Platt going, “Kristin, every once in a while a part comes along — maybe once in a lifetime — that is like a hand to a glove, and this is your part.” Glinda was very much the side character, but they started seeing how Idina and I were working together, and it evolved into a much bigger role. That first night we opened in San Francisco, for our out-of-town tryout, I told Idina, “It’s not going to matter what the critics say. There’s something very special here.” I just knew it.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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    Luke Wilson Finds Inspiration in Michael Heizer’s Desert ‘City’

    “Probably the coolest thing I’ve seen in person,” said the actor, one of the stars of the Netflix TV series “No Good Deed.”The concept of a self-reliant solitary figure “working hard toward a singular goal” appeals to the actor Luke Wilson.“That’s kind of my idea of being a hero,” he said during a video interview.It was mid-November, and he was doing publicity for “No Good Deed,” a dark comedy on Netflix, set to begin streaming Thursday, in which he plays a failed soap star who’s anything but self-reliant. The character is ensnared in what Wilson, 53, describes as a “Svengali-type relationship” with a micromanaging wife.“He’s not very intelligent. We probably have that in common,” he joked, before singing the praises of a few noted individualists, including those he’s watched onscreen or onstage, those he’s read about, and one he’s known all his life. These are edited excerpts.My Mother’s PhotographyWhen I was growing up, she always took pictures, always had a Nikon. In the late ’70s, she went to work for Richard Avedon. From there, she started to publish her own books. Her last book, “The Writers,” I think she worked on for 12 years. She went all over the world, from Mexico to Scotland, and got all these incredible writers. It was interesting how many didn’t want their picture taken, and she kept at them. I admire how hard she worked.Blue JaysI’m from Dallas. In the fall, you hear blue jays, and it always means the heat is over, the cool weather’s coming and it’s football season leading into the holidays. I was just back home, walking around the little house that my dad used as an office and, sure enough, I heard some blue jays, and that really moved me.‘Off to the Side’ by Jim HarrisonA great book about a writer and about the craft. I’ve found a first edition and a signed copy. I just feel a connection to this guy. He was in that hard-drinking, ’70s novelist/poet group that came out of Key West. There was something kind of gentle and poetic about them, even though they were such hard-living guys.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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    How Catherine Russell, of ‘Perfect Crime,’ Spends Her Sundays

    Ms. Russell, who hasn’t missed a performance of her Off Broadway show in nearly 30 years, fills her day with pets, church, teaching and two shows.For most of the last four decades, Catherine Russell has maybe — possibly — murdered someone eight times a week.She has played a wealthy psychiatrist in the Off Broadway murder-mystery thriller “Perfect Crime” for 37 years. Choose any comparison you like — the “Cal Ripken of Broadway,” the “Ironwoman of the Theater District” — but Ms. Russell, 69, has missed only four performances, early in the run, for her siblings’ weddings.She is celebrating 15,000 performances of the show, which began in 1987 and is New York City’s longest-running play. She is powered by coffee and Snickers bars — “I have a terrible diet,” Ms. Russell says — but can also do 180 Marine push-ups without stopping.“I’m a Christian Scientist, so I don’t smoke or drink,” she said. “Maybe that helps.”Ms. Russell is also the general manager of the Theater Center in Times Square, which hosts “Perfect Crime” and three other Off Broadway shows, and teaches college English and acting classes six days a week.She has an adult stepdaughter and lives in a Hell’s Kitchen brownstone with three rescue dogs — Riley, Zoe and Jip — and three rescue cats, Winston, Zaza and Boots.Her late husband, Patrick Robustelli, died in 2019. They were together for 24 years. “He was the great love of my life,” Ms. Russell 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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    Jimmy Kimmel Says Pete Hegseth Cameos Could Be a Thing This Christmas

    The late-night host wondered if the embattled pick for secretary of defense could end up appearing on the online platform in time for Christmas.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Bad BehaviorPresident-elect Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, continues to face allegations of raucous behavior while working for Fox News.Jimmy Kimmel said that reports of excessive drinking by Hegseth and accusations of sexual misconduct have overshadowed that he is “not even remotely qualified to be secretary of defense — that, we’ve already forgotten about.”“Something tells me we might be able to get Pete Hegseth Cameo videos for Christmas this year.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“The latest allegation is that at a 2016 ‘Fox & Friends’ Christmas party, Hegseth reportedly caused a disturbance, leading to a human resource department intervention. Ooh, human resource interventions are the worst: ‘Pete, when you drink, it makes me feel like the company is legally liable.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“The H.R. talking-to clearly didn’t work, because soon after, Hegseth attended the wedding of a Fox News colleague, where he reportedly got so drunk that he struggled to stay upright in a men’s bathroom, and friends asked a producer who was there to get him a ride home. OK, finally! ‘Someone at Fox News who’s responsible,’ is what I would say if that sentence did not end with ‘So he could make it to the set by 6 a.m.’” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Biden’s Last Stand Edition)“Earlier tonight, they had the national Christmas tree lighting at the White House. Yeah. It was a fun night. When President Biden came out, all the kids were like, ‘Look, the Ghost of Christmas Past!’” — JIMMY FALLON“Not only did he light the tree this year, he gave it a pre-emptive pardon just in case it falls over on someone or gets all coked up and throws its gun in the dumpster. Who knows?” — JIMMY KIMMEL“They kept referring to it as ‘Biden’s final tree-lighting ceremony,’ which, when you’re his age, is probably not what you want to hear.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Meanwhile, during tonight’s ceremony, the winds were over 40 miles an hour. Yeah. Biden’s skin looked like when a bulldog sticks his head out of the car window.” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingRonny Chieng caught up with Charles Yu, the creator and executive producer of Hulu’s “Interior Chinatown,” on Thursday’s “Daily Show.”Also, Check This OutAmy Adams channels her feral side in “Nightbitch,” directed by Marielle Heller.Searchlight PicturesAmy Adams stars as a mother who begins to believe she’s a dog in “Nightbitch,” Marielle Heller’s film adaptation of the Rachel Yoder novel. More

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    Avett Brothers Musical ‘Swept Away’ to Close on Broadway After Short Run

    The new musical, about a shipwreck and its aftermath, opened Nov. 19 at the Longacre Theater.“Swept Away,” a darkly elegiac musical featuring the songs of the Avett Brothers, will end its Broadway run Dec. 15, less than a month after opening.The musical, about a 19th-century shipwreck and its aftermath, explores the lengths to which human beings will go in order to survive. Although set in fictional circumstances, it is based on a real 19th-century tragedy that led to an important legal case in Britain.“Swept Away” began previews Oct. 29 and opened Nov. 19 at the Longacre Theater. At the time of its closing it will have played 20 previews and 32 regular performances.The show cost up to $14.5 million to capitalize, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and that money has not been recouped. The weekly grosses were consistently well below what it cost to run, which is unsustainable.“Swept Away” is the second new musical of this season to close shortly after opening, following “Tammy Faye,” at a time when new musicals face an ever-more-challenging path on Broadway.The Avett Brothers have a devoted fan base, and “Swept Away” was praised by the New York Times’s chief theater critic, Jesse Green, who described it as “really about the gravest decisions humans can make, the depths of souls that are darker than the sea’s.”But other reviews were mixed, and the musical, like the actual history that inspired it, includes cannibalism, which, although not featured prominently in marketing materials or press coverage, may have been a turnoff for some potential ticket buyers. Broadway is also packed with shows, many of which feature more familiar titles or performers, and “Swept Away” was unable to break through in that crowded marketplace.Many of the show’s songs were featured on the Avett Brothers album “Mignonette,” and a cast recording is scheduled to be released in February. John Logan, the Tony-winning author of “Red,” wrote the musical’s book, and it was directed by Michael Mayer, a Tony winner for “Spring Awakening.”The 90-minute show centers on four men stranded on a lifeboat — the only survivors of the shipwreck. They are played by John Gallagher Jr., a Tony winner for “Spring Awakening,” as well as Stark Sands (“Kinky Boots”), Adrian Blake Enscoe and Wayne Duvall.The lead producers of “Swept Away” are Matthew Masten, Sean Hudock and Madison Wells Live (founded by Gigi Pritzker). Before arriving on Broadway, the musical had runs at Berkeley Repertory Theater in California in 2022 and at Arena Stage in Washington in late 2023 and early 2024. More