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    How Did ‘Hercules’ Get So Lame?

    A Disney musical based on the 1997 animated movie feels as though its creators wanted to get to the finish line and move on.How could a show about such an outsize hero as Hercules be so lame? That’s the question hovering over a Disney-backed musical that arrived at the Theater Royal, Drury Lane, in London on Tuesday, just nine months after the playhouse waved goodbye to “Frozen,” another screen-to-stage cull from the Disney catalog.First seen in New York’s Central Park in 2019, “Hercules” has undergone significant changes in personnel on its way to the West End, including a German-language premiere in Hamburg. But all the tweaking hasn’t made a satisfying whole out of material that ought to feel a lot mightier than it does. Indeed, the production is so short — the second act is barely 40 minutes — that it begins to feel like its creators just wanted to get to the finish line and move on.Based on a 1997 animated film (midlevel Disney in my view), “Hercules” casts its strongman central character (Luke Brady) as a puppyish young man trying to find his way in the world: as god, or mortal, or a hybrid of the two. To quote one of the better-known songs from Alan Menken and David Zippel’s score, Hercules needs to go from “zero to hero in no time flat.” That itself may help explain the rushed feel of the director Casey Nicholaw’s production.Standing in the way of young Herc, as he is known, is his evil uncle Hades, who lords it over the underworld and casts a resentful eye on his brother Zeus’s perch on Mt. Olympus. The role of venomous Hades has been given to Stephen Carlile, whose previous stage credits include the sneering Scar in “The Lion King,” a villain cut from comparable cloth.Hades’ two minions, Pain and Panic in the movie, here go by the rather more neutral names Bob and Charles. An inevitable love interest arrives in the cougarish form of Meg (Mae Ann Jorolan, a holdover from the Hamburg production), who has been enslaved by Hades but is quickly drawn to Hercules’s string vest (He is 10 percent toga and the rest muscle, we’re told, and the show features a largely bare-chested male chorus; for a family musical, “Hercules” doesn’t stint on suggestive eroticism.)While Hades whines and moans — “I’ve lost everything but weight,” is how Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah’s jokey book puts it — Hercules takes advice from the wisecracking trainer Phil (Trevor Dion Nicholas), who advises the young man to “go the distance.” That happens to be the title of the show’s best-known song, which was nominated for an Oscar in 1998 and gets several reprises here without ever raising the roof.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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    Gailard Sartain, Character Actor and ‘Hee Haw’ Regular, Dies at 81

    Though best known for comedy, he also played serious roles, including a sinister sheriff in “Mississippi Burning.” The director Alan Rudolph cast him in nine films.Gailard Sartain, a character actor who moved easily between comedy, as a cast member on the variety series “Hee Haw”; music, as the Big Bopper singing “Chantilly Lace” in “The Buddy Holly Story”; and drama, as a racist sheriff in “Mississippi Burning,” died on Thursday at his home in Tulsa, Okla. He was 81.His wife, Mary Jo (Regier) Sartain, confirmed the death but did not specify a cause.Mr. Sartain spent 20 years on “Hee Haw,” the country equivalent of “Laugh-In,” hosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark, which combined cornpone sketches with music. The characters he played included a bumbling store employee, a chef at a truck stop and Officer Bull Moose. At the same time, he also developed a movie career that began with “Nashville” (1975), Robert Altman’s improvisational drama set against the background of the country music industry.In that film, Mr. Sartain played a man at an airport lunch counter talking to Keenan Wynn. “I just said, ‘Ask Keenan what he’s doing in Nashville,’ and he did,” Alan Rudolph, the assistant director of the film, said in an interview. But Mr. Rudolph saw something special in Mr. Sartain and went on to cast him in nine films he directed over the next two decades, including “Roadie” (1980) and “Endangered Species” (1982).“I only wish I could have fit him into another nine,” he said. “Gailard had a certain silly magic about him. Most of my films are serious and comedic at the same time. In ‘Roadie,’ he was opposite Meat Loaf, as beer truck drivers, and that was about 700 pounds in the front of a beer truck. That should be funny.”One of Mr. Sartain’s most notable roles was in “Mississippi Burning” (1988), Alan Parker’s film about the F.B.I.’s investigation into the murders in 1964 of the civil rights workers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were buried in an earthen dam. Mr. Sartain played Ray Stuckey, a county sheriff whose deputy was among the Ku Klux Klansmen who killed the men.Mr. Sartain played a racist Southern sheriff in the 1988 movie “Mississippi Burning.” “Nobody likes to be typecast as a barefooted hillbilly,” he said, “so when I had the opportunity to do other roles, I happily did it.”Orion PicturesWe 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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    Why the Salary for Dakota Johnson’s Character in ‘Materialists’ Is Such a Game-Changer

    By making the number explicit, Celine Song’s new film reflects modern dating realities in a way rom-coms rarely have before.Almost everyone who sees “Materialists,” the writer-director Celine Song’s new spin on the old romantic comedy formula, seems to want to talk about one number: $80,000. That’s how much Lucy (Dakota Johnson) says she makes in her job as a matchmaker. She brings it up to goad Harry (Pedro Pascal) into revealing his own salary, but he will only say that he makes “more” — which, as a finance guy working in private equity and owner of a $12 million bachelor pad, he certainly does.The viewer conversations are over whether Lucy’s salary is realistic for her lifestyle: she wears relatively nice clothing, and lives alone in what appears to be a peaceful and brightly lit apartment, though we don’t see much of the interior. The film’s production designer revealed in an interview that her home is a teeny-tiny studio on the edge of the affluent Brooklyn Heights neighborhood, with a rent that Lucy probably shouldn’t be paying relative to her salary. Yet this matches her character’s single-minded aspiration: to be surrounded by wealth.We could debate whether the rest of her lifestyle, like her clothing, is realistic on her salary; I tend to think it could be, but in a Carrie Bradshaw, leveraged-to-the-hilt way. After all, we live in a world where direct-to-consumer brands sell decent silk slip dresses, and everyone’s thrifting or renting outfits — not to mention that anything looks good on Dakota Johnson.Knowing the character’s salary, viewers have debated her lifestyle choices.Atsushi Nishijima/A24But the fact we’re even debating that specific number is remarkable, and hints at what makes “Materialists” feel so very 2025. At my screening, the salary detail provoked a collective gasp that briefly sucked the air out of the room. It wasn’t even the amount, really: It was the fact that someone had said a number at all.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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    5,000 Sondheim Sketches and More Head to Library of Congress

    The musical theater titan left behind material from beloved shows like “Sweeney Todd” and “Sunday in the Park With George.”The Library of Congress has acquired Stephen Sondheim’s vast collection of manuscripts, drafts and ephemera, the library announced on Wednesday. The material could be a valuable resource for academics and artists alike.Sondheim, who died at 91 in 2021, left the library more than 5,000 items from his long career as a musical theater composer and lyricist, including sketches, scrapbooks and more from shows like “Sweeney Todd,” “Sunday in the Park With George” and even “Here We Are,” the musical he was writing at the time of his death.“There’s no question he was brilliant, a genius,” said Mark Horowitz, a senior music specialist in the library’s music division. “But here, you’re really seeing the perspiration behind it all. The amount he put behind each song is staggering.”In 1993, Sondheim visited the Library of Congress and saw the manuscript of George and Ira Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” He was moved to tears and, Horowitz said, made the decision to leave the library his own archive, and later persuaded his collaborators Arthur Laurents and Harold Prince to do the same. (Sondheim previously donated a collection of manuscripts to the Wisconsin Historical Society in the 1960s; copies of those are available in Washington.)Unlike memorabilia sold last year in a blockbuster Sondheim auction at Doyle, the items at the Library of Congress are limited to those with research value. But they are treasures nevertheless: a one-page inner monologue written as subtext for the song “Send in the Clowns”; opening-night telegrams from the likes of Prince and Leonard Bernstein; and a notebook of ideas going back to his early days as a student at Williams College.Horowitz was struck, he said, by how much more lyric and musical sketches there are over time. There are three boxes worth of drafts for “Company” (1970), for example, but nine for “Sunday in the Park With George” (1984).“I’ve never seen a composer who has so many music sketches, trying out different melodic lines, different harmonies, rhythms, chord progressions,” Horowitz said. “Even with classical collections, I’ve never seen this.”The song “A Little Priest,” from “Sweeney,” has 40 pages of lyric sketches. In that comic Act I finale, Todd and Mrs. Lovett trade punny hypotheticals of what type of people could be baked into meat pies, a little more than 30 in all. Those were just a sampling of a much longer list.“He does lists in the margins: rhymes, synonyms, emotions of things,” Horowitz said of Sondheim. Sketches like that will be helpful for researchers looking to add to the existing wealth of academic work on Sondheim’s life and career, but Horowitz has other hopes for the collection’s future, too.“One of my fantasies is that young songwriters will come for inspiration for how to write a song,” he said. “You can really see how one approaches songwriting at this kind of level.” More

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    ‘Natasha,’ a Film About a Murdered Russian Activist, Takes Its Own Risks

    The widely condemned killing of Natalya Estemirova is the subject of a documentary that those involved say needed to take heed of the dangers of speaking out.For a decade, Natalya Estemirova documented brutal human rights abuses in Chechnya. Her work led to her becoming one of the most prominent and respected human rights defenders working in that small predominantly Muslim region of Russia.But on the morning of July 15, 2009, as she was leaving her apartment, she was abducted and murdered, crimes for which no one has been charged but are viewed by many as precipitated by her work.Years later, filmmakers and former colleagues trying to tell her story encountered their own set of risks as they endeavored to draw attention to her heroism and the conditions that provoked it.The resulting short 35-minute documentary, “Natasha,” as Natalya was known, premiered this month at the Tribeca Film Festival.Andrew Meier, one of the two producers and directors of the film, said he does not imagine it will be shown in Russia anytime soon.“Even revisiting Natasha’s work and Natasha’s murder is a taboo, to put it mildly,” he said in an interview. “It’s one of the big cases you just don’t talk about in Chechnya.”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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    Late Night Is Taken Aback by Trump’s Potty Mouth

    Seth Meyers said that even with “zero standards of expectations for Trump,” he was shocked to see the president use profanity on the White House lawn.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.F-Bombs AwayPresident Trump dropped the F-bomb on live television on Tuesday, while talking to reporters in front of the White House about Israel and Iran violating their previously announced cease-fire. “We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the [expletive] they’re doing,” he said.Seth Meyers said that even though he has “zero standards of expectations for Trump, it’s still surprising to see the president drop an F-bomb on the White House grounds.”“Wow, based on that language and that level of analysis, I’m surprised that they didn’t give him the local news chyron.” — SETH MEYERS“Remember when Biden whispered it to Obama and everyone on the right lost their [expletive] minds?” — SETH MEYERS“Nothing says ‘Everyone remain calm’ like dropping an F-bomb on live TV.” — JIMMY FALLON“Meanwhile, C-SPAN was like, ‘It’s OK. Nobody’s watching anyway.’” — JIMMY FALLONThe Punchiest Punchlines (Fake News Edition)“Last night, President Trump announced that Israel and Iran agreed to a total cease-fire and declared that the war has ended. Yeah. And for about 59 minutes, he was right.” — JIMMY FALLON“President Trump announced yesterday in a post on Truth Social that Israel and Iran have agreed to a cease-fire and added, ‘CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!’ Congratulations to everyone? Are you brokering a cease-fire or hosting the Tonys? ‘Congratulations to all our winners tonight, get home safe!’” — SETH MEYERS“In another post on Truth Social, President Trump defended his recently-announced cease-fire between Israel, Iran and the U.S. and said, ‘THE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT. PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!’ Well, that oughta do it. This reminds me of the time my bodega put up a ‘No shoplifting’ sign. You know what happened? Someone took it.” — SETH MEYERSThe Bits Worth WatchingDiego Luna brought his immigration lawyer to his second night hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Tuesday.What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightThe “Bridgerton” star Jonathan Bailey will appear on Wednesday’s “Tonight Show.”Also, Check This OutReneé RappMario Anzuoni/ReutersReneé Rapp and Ethel Cain are two of eight rising pop singers you should be listening to this summer. More

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    ‘Duke & Roya’ Review: He’s Got Swagger, She’s No-Nonsense

    Jay Ellis stars as an American rapper who falls for his Afghan interpreter at an Army base in Charles Randolph-Wright’s new play.With an American behaving brashly at an overseas military base, getting locals into trouble and considering consequences only later, “Duke & Roya” feels like scarcely more than a retooling of “Madama Butterfly.” Like that old problematic chestnut, Charles Randolph-Wright’s new play is not without its pleasures, but lacking soaring melodrama, it’s hard to believe in its music.Here, the visiting Westerner is Duke (Jay Ellis), a hip-hop star at the height of his fame. In a present-day press interview, he recalls his visit to Afghanistan in 2016, during the country’s U.S. occupation, to perform for troops at a large air base near Kabul. The play, which opened Tuesday at the Lucille Lortel Theater, then flashes back to his arrival and his immediate attraction to his Afghan interpreter, Roya (Stephanie Nur).She’s a no-nonsense type, and he’s always on vacation mode. But Roya, who works for a women’s education organization, has done her research, and knows that the party boy, born to British and American diplomats, was once a bookish English major. His quoting Rumi and James Baldwin impresses her, and Duke appreciates how she challenges him.It’s the standard romance of a down-to-earth civilian who grounds a starry hot shot, and Ellis and Nur lend it enjoyable chemistry.Charm comes naturally to Ellis, a classic romantic lead in the HBO series “Insecure” who makes an amiable stage debut here. His swaggering Duke teases out the word “serendipitous” with the cascading, sweet-talking drawl of a Southern rapper, and he adeptly handles a few verses (penned by Ronvé O’Daniel). Nur finds appealing spaces for wit and agency in her more reserved, reactive role.But does the play know there’s a war on?Despite an opening scene of martial seriousness, Randolph-Wright treats Afghanistan like a Harlequin romance playground. When the two sneak out of the base for Duke to buy a piece of lapis lazuli, they’re thrown into unsurprising peril. Danger! Excitement! Two worlds collide!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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    ‘Ironheart’ Review: Marvel Follows Suit

    Our biggest cinematic universe ends its current phase with a Disney+ series about a young engineering genius with Ironman dreams.Marvel Studios tries to give some order to its oozing lava flow of movies and television shows by dividing them into “phases.” These divisions seem to be determined simply by the calendar rather than by anything happening onscreen. We are currently in Phase 5 — six features, eight series — and it has been defined less by themes or story arcs than by the odor of desperation coming off dreary films like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels.”Phase 5 ends with the release of “Ironheart,” a series about the young tech genius Riri Williams, who was introduced back in Phase 4 in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” (Three of six episodes premiere on Tuesday, on Disney+.) If you’re still hanging on with Marvel, this isn’t the one that will make you give up; it’s a respectable piece of work. But it’s not going to revive anyone’s flagging interest.“Ironheart” opens with Riri (Dominique Thorne) back in school at M.I.T., her Wakanda adventures in the past. She is obsessed with building her own Iron Man-inspired armored suit, telling skeptical teachers that it will be a boon for first responders, but she’s forced to crowdsource funds by doing other students’ projects for them.When M.I.T. loses patience and kicks her out, she heads home to the show’s setting, working-class Chicago. Her determination to find the money needed to perfect the suit brings her into contact with a criminal gang led by a man (played by Anthony Ramos of “Hamilton” and “In the Heights”) whose hooded cloak gives him supernatural powers.As Riri at first abets the gang in its elaborate capers and then turns against it, the usual array of Marvel elements is on offer. Action is lower in the mix than you might expect for a show built around a battle suit, and the fights and chases are not very imaginative, though the imperfections of Riri’s nuclear-powered suit allow for Iron Man-style physical comedy.Fan service is prominent — the back story of the hooded cloak’s powers involves the introduction of characters from various Marvel mythologies. Spoiler consciousness prevents revealing who some cast members, like Sacha Baron Cohen, are playing; one addition that has been made public is the magician and Doctor Strange associate Zelma Stanton (Regan Aliyah).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