Eliana Willis

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    in Theater

    How ‘Passengers’ Retooled After a Performer’s Injury

    The 7 Fingers company was about to begin performances of its multidisciplinary, train travel-themed show “Passengers,” and it was in a big pickle: A cast member was injured while practicing an especially tricky segment. It was anticlimactic — initially nothing seemed askew at the Tuesday evening rehearsal I had been observing — but the consequences were weighing on everybody. The first preview, at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in Lower Manhattan, was a mere two days away.The troupe, which specializes in a hybrid of circus and theater incorporating movement and music, had been running through part of a hand-to-trapeze segment. That discipline combines ground and aerial acrobatics, and is a signature number of the director and choreographer Shana Carroll. She had developed it for the Cirque du Soleil show “Paramour,” then took it to the 7 Fingers, the Montreal-based collective she helped found in 2002.Like many circus acts, hand-to-trap (as it’s commonly referred to), is spectacular but also dangerous. A flyer is catapulted up or dropped down by porters on the floor and one on a trapeze. There is no net or mat underneath the trapeze, because that’s where the floor team stands.The director and choreographer Shana Carroll, with her back to the camera, observing the juggler Pablo Pramparo, during rehearsal of “Passengers.”Amir Hamja for The New York Times“My safety mat becomes my porters, my colleagues,” said Marie-Christine Fournier, who is this production’s flyer.At one point on Tuesday, Fournier was in the air, dangling from the wrists of Eduardo DeAzevedo Grillo, a porter who was hanging upside down, batlike, from a trapeze. He released her and she gracefully dove into the arms of seven company members who were waiting underneath them.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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    in Television

    The Best TV Shows of 2025, So Far

    Returning hits like “Severance” and “The White Lotus” inspired plenty of chatter, but did they make our top TV list?The first half of 2025 saw the return of strike-delayed hit shows, like “Severance,” “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us,” that took turns dominating the cultural conversation. But only one of them made our top TV list.Read on to find out which one and to see which other series, new and old, scripted and nonfiction, impressed our television critics the most (listed alphabetically).‘Andor’Diego Luna reprised his title role in the final season of “Andor.”Lucasfilm Ltd./Disney+A prequel series to “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016) — and arguably the most acclaimed “Star Wars” story of any kind since that film — “Andor” offered one of TV’s deepest explorations of the political realities and human costs of rebellion. Its two-season run wrapped up in May.“Prequels are often where dramatic tension goes to die,” James Poniewozik writes. “How invested can you be in a story whose outcome you already know? The genius of ‘Andor,’ created by Tony Gilroy, is to make that knowledge an asset.”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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    in Television

    Late Night Thinks Trump’s Military Parade Was Kind of Dull

    It was “basically a $50 million version of when a 5-year-old shows you every car in his Hot Wheels collection,” Jimmy Kimmel said on Monday.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.Trump’s Sad BirthdayPresident Trump hosted a military parade in Washington on Saturday — either for the Army’s 250th anniversary or for his own birthday, depending on who you believed. The crowds seemed underwhelming.On Monday, Jimmy Kimmel called it Trump’s “much-anticipated Stupid Sweet 16 disguised as a tribute to the U.S. Army he bone-spurred his way out of.”“You know, after all his talk about how this wasn’t a birthday party for him, it kind of seemed like a birthday party for him.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“The White House is now claiming that over 250,000 people attended the parade. Yeah, it was an estimate, give or take 250,000.” — JIMMY FALLON“This was less a show of overwhelming force and more like a military museum getting in its steps.” — JON STEWART“It was boring. It was basically a $50 million version of when a 5-year-old shows you every car in his Hot Wheels collection.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“You can be the president of the United States, you can have an entire political party and a global media apparatus at your disposal. You can cow the media and the wealthy into obedience. You can command an army and deploy troops and have unlimited wealth and power, but you still can’t force people to come to your [expletive] birthday party. And what is more American than that?” — SETH MEYERSThe Punchiest Punchlines (Can You Hear Me Now Edition)“The Trump Organization today unveiled plans for a new Trump mobile phone service. Best of all, you won’t have any need for a friends and family plan.” — SETH MEYERS“That guy will do anything to try to get his father to answer his phone calls.” — JIMMY KIMMEL, on Donald Trump Jr.’s introduction of Trump Mobile“A lot of words come to mind when you think of Trump, but ‘mobile’ isn’t really one of them.” — JIMMY FALLON“Trump was like, [imitating Trump] ‘It’s called Trump Mobile. But for short, I’m calling it T-Mobile.” — JIMMY FALLONWe 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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    in Television

    HBO Brings Hot Fellas Bakery From ‘And Just Like That’ to Life

    “Who wants a hot croissant?” asked the actor Mario Cantone, reprising his character Anthony Marentino from the HBO show “Sex and the City.”Mr. Cantone, brandishing an apron and a cake server, added an emphasis on the word “hot” and wagged his eyebrows, turning the otherwise ordinary tray of freshly baked pastries into an innuendo.A group of fans in front of him — most of whom were women with their phones at the ready — giggled and took photos.When “Sex and the City” was brought back to life in 2021 as “And Just Like That …,” Mr. Cantone’s character pivoted from a career in wedding planning to starting up a bread delivery business, called Hot Fellas. As the name suggests, his business is staffed by sexy men in short denim rompers so tight that every arm flex or squat teases a wardrobe malfunction.The fictional business became “a fan favorite story line from the moment it first appeared,” Dana Flax, a marketing vice president at HBO Max said in an emailed statement, citing the engagement and enthusiasm for the Hot Fellas on social media.In the most recent episode of Season 3, which was released last week, Anthony opened a Hot Fellas brick-and-mortar cafe (using a pun for male genitalia to alter that phrase) and his current lover, Giuseppe, an aspiring poet played by Sebastiano Pigazzi, temporarily became a Hot Fella to help with its launch — thanks largely to his ability to fill out the skin-tight uniform.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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    in Television

    ‘We Were Liars,’ Plus 7 Things to Watch on TV This Week

    The adaptation of E. Lockhart’s Y.A. horror novel comes to Prime Video, and “The Gilded Age” returns for a third season.Between streaming and cable, there is a seemingly endless variety of things to watch. Here is a selection of TV shows and specials that are airing or streaming this week, June 16-22. Details and times are subject to change.Managing familial expectations.In 2014 E. Lockhart released her young adult psychological horror novel “We Were Liars.” Nearly a decade later the book, after making its rounds on #BookTok, is now coming to small screens as a series with the same name. It follows Cadence Sinclair (Emily Alyn Lind), who returns to her family’s summer home in Beechwood, a fictional island off Martha’s Vineyard, two years after a mysterious incident that left her with amnesia. Three generations of the old-money Sinclair family gather, along with some of Cadence’s childhood friends, and it seems that everyone is keeping some type of secret. Streaming Wednesday on Prime Video.Based on Edith Wharton’s posthumously released and incomplete novel, “The Buccaneers” is back for its second installment. The first season focused on five young women, part of the upper echelon of 1870s high society, who were trying to find their purpose. These new episodes, which feature Leighton Meester in a guest role, will be a little bit more serious, with a focus on motherhood, abusive husbands and will-they-won’t-they relationship arcs. Streaming Wednesday on Apple TV+.If you miss the comfy and cozy atmosphere of “Dawson’s Creek,” you are in luck because the creator Kevin Williamson is back with a new show, “The Waterfront,” which actually takes place in North Carolina (“Dawson’s Creek,” though filmed there, was set in Massachusetts). The series follows the Buckley family, who once ruled the town with their fishing and restaurant businesses but are now struggling to keep things afloat after the patriarch (Holt McCallany) had two heart attacks. Streaming Thursday on Netflix.Every so often my hometown, Troy, N.Y., gets transformed into 1880s moneyed Manhattan with temporary regal facades on every building, gravel on the roads, countless horses milling about — oh, and with the principal cast members of “The Gilded Age” taking up residence to film a new season. This week the third one, which will feature lots of twist and turns, according to one of its stars, Louisa Jacobson, comes to small screens. And, of course, the usual promises of betrothal, household chaos and marriages of opportunity will continue. Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO and streaming on Max.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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    in Television

    Trump’s Parade Drafted the Army Into a War of Images

    After a week of stunning and sobering TV-news scenes, the brassy Trumpy production was a surreal viewing experience.Officially, the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary military parade through Washington was meant to be a straightforward celebration of the service’s history.But as it played out on live TV Saturday, history was overwhelmed by the stormy present.The first complication was the fact that the Army shared a birthday with President Trump, making the military procession seem gift-wrapped for a leader who for years has had one on his wish list. To some, the spectacle smacked of the gaudy self-celebrations thrown by strongmen; to others, it was a symbol of resurgent American strength.Maybe at another time, the parade could have been the mundane, even dull bit of civic history that on the surface it was. But once conscripted into Mr. Trump’s war of imagery, a tank cannot be just a tank.The event also came at the end of a tumultuous week of shocking TV images. It came after the National Guard and Marines were deployed to Los Angeles to quell protests, over the objections of local leaders. It came after Senator Alex Padilla of California was forced to the ground and handcuffed after he tried to ask a question of Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, at a news conference. It came after Mr. Trump gave a political-rally-like speech to cheering troops at Fort Bragg. On top of this were volleys of missiles between Israel and Iran and, on Saturday morning, the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and the attempted murder of another.The result, as it rolled across our screens, was anything but an uncomplicated celebration. It was a split-screen presentation for a split country, in a world that seemed to be riven apart.The major broadcast networks did not carry the parade. CNN and MSNBC covered it on and off, along with the Middle East and Minnesota news, as well as the “No Kings” protests across the country that accused Mr. Trump of antidemocratic overreach.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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    in Television

    Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Busy Caring for a Pony, Pig, Donkey and Malamute

    The longtime actor, now starring in “FUBAR,” on his many animals, good cigars and wanting his kids to outshine him.Arnold Schwarzenegger was smoking a cigar on his patio in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, lamenting all the things that he had decided to trim from his list of 10 essentials. Most of all his five kids.“I cannot live without my children,” he said on a video call as his pet pig, Schnelly, wandered around. “I need to be in touch daily.”Schwarzenegger was sounding a lot like Luke Brunner, his character in the Netflix series “FUBAR,” which just began streaming its second season. In it, he plays the world’s best spy, and perhaps its most overprotective father, who learns that his daughter is a C.I.A. operative with an ego, just like Dad is.“She says, ‘When they say Brunner, I don’t want them just to talk about you. I want them also to talk about me,’” he said. “It’s the same thing as it is in real life with Patrick, my son, being an actor now and being big time and doing fantastic shows,” including a star turn this year in Season 3 of “The White Lotus.”Was the elder Schwarzenegger feeling a bit competitive? “I hope and wish that he will do bigger things than I’ve ever done,” he said before elaborating on his love of chess and driving his M47 tank. “It’s fantastic when kids are performing better than their parents because that is largely because of them, and it’s also because of you. It’s upbringing.”These are edited excerpts from the conversation.ChessI learned to play chess with my father and did that pretty much every day. I have collected chess sets from all over the world, but now 99 percent of the time you play on an app with your friends in Austria or Germany or Hungary or Russia — wherever they are.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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    in Theater

    Harris Yulin, Actor Who Perpetually Played the Bad Guy, Dies at 87

    As an award-winning actor and director, he appeared in scores of stage plays, movies and TV shows over six decades, most often as unsavory characters.Harris Yulin, a chameleonic character actor who for more than six decades portrayed guys whom critics described as unsympathetic, soulful, menacing, corrupt and glowering, both onstage and onscreen, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 87.His wife, Kristen Lowman, said the cause of death, in a hospital, was cardiac arrest.Inspired to pursue an acting career when he first took center stage at his bar mitzvah, Mr. Yulin never became a marquee name. But to many audiences he was instantly recognizable, even as a man of a hundred faces. He played at least as many parts, including J. Edgar Hoover, Hamlet and Senator Joseph McCarthy. Other roles ranged from crooked cops and politicians to a lecherous TV anchorman.“I’m not always the bad guy,” he told The New York Times in 2000. “It just seems to be what I’m known for.”Mr. Yulin, left, earned an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of a mobster in a 1996 episode of the sitcom “Frasier,” with David Hyde Pierce, center, and Kelsey Grammer. Gale M. Adler/NBCU Photo Bank, via Getty ImagesHe wasn’t just any bad guy. One reviewer characterized him as “an eloquent growler.” Another wrote that “his whiskeyed voice sounds just like that of John Huston.”Honors followed. Mr. Yulin was nominated in 1996 for a prime time Emmy Award for playing a crime boss in the TV comedy series “Frasier.” For his work in theater, he won the Lucille Lortel Award from the League of Off Broadway Theaters for his direction of Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful” in 2006. In the late 1990s he won Drama Desk nominations for acting on Broadway in “The Diary of Anne Frank” and Arthur Miller’s “The Price.”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