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    How the ‘Purpose’ Writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and Cast Juggled Revisions

    Ahead of the Tony Awards, the playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and the acclaimed ensemble reflected on the challenges of balancing the many script revisions.Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Tony-nominated play “Purpose,” set in the Chicago home of a family of Black upper-class civil rights leaders, seems, at first, to be inspired by the political drama involving the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s clan. But those assumptions are upended by the play’s highly original take on the themes of sacrifice, succession, asexuality and spirituality.The family saga, which won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for drama, showcases even more of the vivid language, spitfire dialogue and sweeping sense of American history that garnered Jacobs-Jenkins a Tony Award last year for “Appropriate.” And like that production, this play’s ensemble has been nominated for multiple acting awards — five in all.Originally staged in 2023 at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater, and directed by Phylicia Rashad, “Purpose” was revised, refined and expanded throughout its Broadway preview period. Jacobs-Jenkins readily admits that this process is not unusual for him, much less the writers he has studied intently, like August Wilson or Tennessee Williams. On a recent afternoon, however, a conversation about his collaboration with the cast turned lively with Jacobs-Jenkins calling it “family therapy.”We were sitting on the Helen Hayes Theater stage — at the dining-room table where the play’s most memorable fight plays out — with the show’s six cast members, Harry Lennix, who plays the patriarch and preacher Solomon Jasper; LaTanya Richardson Jackson, as the pragmatic and perspicacious matriarch Claudine Jasper; Jon Michael Hill, as the narrator and the monastic younger son, Nazareth; Glenn Davis, as the beguiling older son, Junior; Alana Arenas, as his windstorm of a wife, Morgan; and Kara Young, who plays Nazareth’s naïve friend Aziza. (Arenas, Davis and Hill are all the Steppenwolf members around whom Jacobs-Jenkins originally conceived of the play.)Purpose Broadway“This is so naked,” Jacobs-Jenkins said, “because I never had this conversation in front of you all before. I’ve said all this to individual journalists.” These are edited excerpts from the conversation.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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    ‘Marjorie Prime’ and ‘Becky Shaw’ Are Coming to Broadway This Season

    Second Stage Theater, a nonprofit, will put on the two plays, both of which were Pulitzer finalists, at its Helen Hayes Theater.Second Stage Theater, one of the four nonprofits with Broadway houses, said it would present the plays “Marjorie Prime” and “Becky Shaw,” both of which were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in drama, at its Helen Hayes Theater this season.The organization, beginning the first season programmed by its new artistic director, Evan Cabnet, said that it would continue its focus on work by contemporary American writers.“Marjorie Prime,” written by Jordan Harrison, is about an older woman whose companion is a hologram of her dead husband fueled by artificial intelligence. The play was staged by Center Theater Group in Los Angeles in 2014, then by Playwrights Horizons in New York in 2015, and was adapted into a movie in 2017. Ben Brantley, then a theater critic for The New York Times, called the play “elegant, thoughtful and quietly unsettling”; the Pulitzer board described it as “a sly and surprising work about technology and artificial intelligence told through images and ideas that resonate.”The new production will be directed by Anne Kauffman, who also directed the Off Broadway production. It is scheduled to begin previews on Nov. 20 and to open on Dec. 8.“Becky Shaw,” written by Gina Gionfriddo, is a dark comedy about a bad date. The play was staged at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Ky., in 2008, and then opened at Second Stage’s Off Broadway theater in 2009. Charles Isherwood, then a theater critic for The Times, called the play “as engrossing as it is ferociously funny, like a big box of fireworks fizzing and crackling across the stage from its first moments to its last”; the Pulitzer board described it as “a jarring comedy that examines family and romantic relationships with a lacerating wit while eschewing easy answers and pat resolutions.”The new production will be directed by Trip Cullman, beginning previews on March 18 and opening on April 8.Second Stage did not announce casting for either play. The nonprofit organization said its new season would also include three Off Broadway plays: “Meet the Cartozians,” written by Talene Monahon and directed by David Cromer; “Meat Suit,” written and directed by Aya Ogawa; and a revival of “The Receptionist,” a 2007 play written by Adam Bock. All three will be staged at the Pershing Square Signature Center, where Second Stage has presented its Off Broadway work since giving up its lease on the Tony Kiser Theater. More

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    ‘Beetlejuice’ Is Coming Back to Broadway

    The national tour production will haunt the Palace Theater for 13 weeks, beginning Oct. 8.“Beetlejuice” isn’t dead quite yet.The national tour production of the fan-favorite musical comedy, which has had two previous Broadway runs in 2019-20 and 2022-23, will head to the New York stage this fall, producers announced Tuesday.The show, which is adapted from Tim Burton’s 1988 film and tells the story of a goth girl and a pushy poltergeist, is set to play the Palace Theater for 13 weeks, beginning Oct. 8 and running through Jan. 3, 2026. Casting will be announced at a later date.In his review of the original Broadway production, which starred Alex Brightman as the titular ghoul in a striped suit, The New York Times’s Ben Brantley praised Brightman’s performance and the “jaw-droppingly well-appointed gothic funhouse set” by the set designer David Korins (“Hamilton”), though he lamented that the show “so overstuffs itself with gags, one-liners and visual diversions that you shut down from sensory overload.”No matter: The musical became a fan favorite, with people dressing in costume, lip-syncing to the cast recording on TikTok and showering the show’s cast with fan art.With a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect, and direction by Alex Timbers (who won a Tony Award for directing “Moulin Rouge!”), the stage production was nominated for eight Tony Awards, but won none.“Beetlejuice” is having a bit of a cultural moment: A popular sequel film, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” also directed by Burton, was released last year, more than three decades after the original, which starred Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice), Alec Baldwin (Adam Maitland), Catherine O’Hara (Delia Deetz) and a young Winona Ryder (Lydia Deetz).The national tour production, which began performances in 2022, has played 88 cities over the last two and a half years. The musical has also had productions in Tokyo; Seoul; and Melbourne, Australia; and is heading soon to Sydney. More

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    Late Night Mines Laughs From Trump’s Biden Replacement Theory

    “You’re saying that the Joe Biden who doesn’t even know where he is, is actually an incredibly advanced cloned robot? How much ketamine are you on?” Jon Stewart asked.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.Joe-boCop?On Saturday night, President Trump amplified a conspiracy theory on social media about former President Joe Biden that posited falsely that the former president had been replaced by a robot clone. While mindful to note that this was likely meant “to distract us,” as Jon Stewart said on “The Daily Show,” late night hosts couldn’t help but tackle the topic like the sci-fi movie it needs to be — with incredulity.“You’re saying that the Joe Biden who doesn’t even know where he is, is actually an incredibly advanced cloned robot? How much ketamine are you on?” — JON STEWART“You can’t be a robot and a clone, OK?” — STEPHEN COLBERT“How is this not on the front page of everything? The president of the United States is spreading deranged stories about his predecessor being a robot.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“It was a perfect plan with only one flaw: The Joe Bot couldn’t recognize George Clooney.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Hey, Republicans. Remember when you were very concerned Joe might not have the mental acuity to be president? Come get your guy, because he thinks Biden was executed and replaced by a clone, a ‘robotic clone.’ I mean, if your dad was saying stuff like this, you’d start looking for an assisted-living facility.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“The media needs to stop being polite when they report this stuff. This is the headline from NBC: ‘Trump Shares Unfounded Conspiracy Theory Claiming Biden Was “Executed” in 2020.’ Never mind ‘unfounded,’ this is not even a theory. That headline should be ‘Convicted Felon Posts Insane Fairy Tale About Cancer Patient While Constipated on Toilet.’” — JIMMY KIMMEL“And, by the way, whoever built that Joe Biden robot is very bad at building robots. I mean, if anyone was replaced by a robotic clone, it’s Melania, right?” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Side Effects Edition)“Trump was effusive in his praise for Musk. He thanked him for working ‘tirelessly.’ Well, yeah, of course he was working tirelessly. They say he was gobbling down 20 different kinds of uppers every day when he was there.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Over the weekend, The New York Times published a crazy story about Elon Musk, claiming, among other things, that he was taking ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms, pills believed to be Adderall, and so much ketamine it was affecting his bladder control, which is a delightful detail. Between him and Trump, that Oval Office has got to smell like an abandoned nursing home.” — JIMMY KIMMELWe 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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    ‘Eurydice’ Review: Maya Hawke in the Underworld

    The actress stars in Sarah Ruhl’s reimagining of this classic myth, with a focus on a daughter’s reunion with her beloved father after death.The young couple on the beach are coltishly enamored — snuggled up close, their long limbs entangled. When he ties a string around her left ring finger, to remind her of his love, she squeak-squeals with pleasure and agrees to marry him.She is Eurydice and he is Orpheus, legendary musician nonpareil, and the handed-down myth about them says their union will be short. She will die abruptly, he will be bereft, and it will not go well when he descends into the underworld and tries to lead her back to the land of the living.Their relationship does figure in “Eurydice,” Sarah Ruhl’s tear-dappled masterwork, yet the play’s primary grief is Eurydice’s own — for her dead father, a gaping, missing presence on the day she and Orpheus wed. In this poetic, heightened comedy of mourning and oblivion, the surest, most steadying love is between parent and grown child.Les Waters’s marvelously burnished revival, which opened on Monday night at Signature Theater, stars an instantly likable Maya Hawke as a self-possessed Eurydice, cerebral but with a romantic streak, and a beautifully understated Brian d’Arcy James as her mild father, funny here in a dadly way and immensely moving, too. Caleb Eberhardt plays Orpheus, gentle and determined, pouring his misery into music and writing to his dead wife.“I’ll give this letter to a worm,” he tells her, signing off. “I hope he finds you.”Waters’s breathtaking 2006 staging of “Eurydice” was my introduction to Ruhl’s slender play, which she and the composer Matthew Aucoin have more recently adapted into an opera. This Off Broadway revival is similar to that earlier Waters production, yet even more eloquent in execution — the work of a director who by now knows the play’s every ripple and depth.Crucially, he has brought along two members of the crack creative team from that production: Scott Bradley, whose glamorous, slant-walled set is all watery blues and greens, part painted tiles, part forlorn grid of handwritten letters; and Bray Poor, whose often delicately musical sound design evokes the near-omnipresence of water in this very liquid play.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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    Jonathan Joss, ‘King of the Hill’ Voice Actor, Is Fatally Shot by Neighbor, Police Say

    A neighbor in San Antonio who opened fire on the actor during a dispute was charged with murder, the authorities said. Mr. Joss also appeared in “Parks and Recreation.”Jonathan Joss, the actor best known for his voice work on the animated television show “King of the Hill,” was shot and killed by a neighbor on Sunday night during a dispute in San Antonio, the authorities said.Mr. Joss, who was 59, voiced John Redcorn on “King of the Hill” and also appeared in “Parks and Recreation,” “Ray Donovan” and “Tulsa King.”The neighbor, who was identified by investigators as Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez, 56, was taken into custody shortly after the altercation and charged with murder, the San Antonio Police Department said on Monday.The police did not say what had led to the dispute, which happened around 7 p.m. on the south side of San Antonio.But in a post on Mr. Joss’s Facebook page on Monday, his husband, Tristan Kern de Gonzales, described the shooting as a hate crime and said that the two of them had been repeatedly harassed because they were gay. He wrote that they had returned to a property where Mr. Joss’s home had burned down earlier this year when the shooting occurred. “He started yelling violent homophobic slurs at us,” he wrote in a statement. “He then raised a gun from his lap and fired.”Mr. Kern de Gonzales said that he and Mr. Joss had reported the harassment several times in the past to the authorities, but that it had continued.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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    ‘Love Island USA,’ Plus 7 Things to Watch on TV this Week

    This reality competition show picks back up for its seventh season, and the Tony Awards celebrate Broadway on Sunday.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 2-8. Details and times are subject to change.From yachts to villas.“Below Deck Down Under” just wrapped, and luckily for those of us who can’t get enough of life and drama at sea, the new season of “Below Deck” is setting sail with Capt. Kerry Titheradge at the helm this week. Fraser Olender is also back as chief stew on the show that follows the crew of a luxury charter yacht. In a preview released by Bravo, we already saw a crew member calling the maritime police and, well, everyone making out with everyone. Monday at 8 p.m. on Bravo.Toooonight (said in Iain Stirling’s voice): “Love Island USA” is back for its seventh season. Though there may be some flawed logic in sending a group of hotties to a remote island villa in an attempt to form long-lasting relationships, it does make for ridiculously fun TV. New episodes arrive every day of the week except Wednesdays, with Ariana Madix back as the host. Things are sure to be messy. Streaming starting on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Peacock.Warning: If you watched the original seasons of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” this new show might make you feel a little old. Teresa Giudice’s daughter, Gia, who was 8 years old when she first appeared on that series, will be in “Next Gen NYC,” alongside adult children of other “Real Housewives” franchise stars, with some New York City influencers mixed in. As the cast members of other Bravo shows like “Summer House” and “Vanderpump Rules” age out of their hard-core partying days, maybe this new cast will fill those roles. Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Bravo.A big week for theater.From Tom Francis’s “Sunset Boulevard” walk to Cole Escola’s Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” and Audra McDonald’s return to the stage in “Gypsy,” there has been a lot of theater to celebrate this season. And that is exactly what will happen at the Tony Awards. Alongside the usual performances from this year’s biggest shows, it was announced last week that original “Hamilton” cast will reunite for a performance during the broadcast. The New York Times theater critic Jesse Green saw all of the 42 eligible Broadway productions and ran through his predictions for the show. Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBS.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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    This ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ Star Knows She’s Intimidating

    As she exits the stage door of “Buena Vista Social Club,” the Broadway actress Natalie Venetia Belcon can see it in their eyes. The waiting fans thrust Playbills and pens into the hands of her co-stars, but when Belcon comes down the line, she senses their shyness, their wariness.“They’re afraid,” she said. “It’s so weird. I’m like, ‘You guys, I’m pretending!’”Onstage, Belcon, 56, plays the middle-aged version of Omara Portuondo, the famed Cuban singer known as “the queen of feeling.” (Isa Antonetti portrays the teen version.) Belcon’s Omara is stately, imperious. “You’re not the kind of woman one forgets,” a bandmate in the show tells her. She can dismiss a person with a tilt of the head, a wave of the hand. The role has earned Belcon a Tony nomination, her first, for best performance by a featured actress in a musical.Natalie Venetia Belcon as Omara, with members of the onstage band, in “Buena Vista Social Club” at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesBelcon is, she insists, not Omara, but some of this same majesty was evident even over a casual afternoon snack of calamari and plantains at Cuba, a restaurant in Manhattan’s West Village neighborhood. The waiter seemed honored to shake up a mojito for her. Belcon, dressed like some expensive, resplendent bird in a blue-and-yellow skirt and matching jewelry, looked regal as she sipped it.Then she pointed to the stalk of sugar cane in the glass. “Oh, I love sugar cane!” she said delightedly. “I grew up chewing on it. Then you catch yourself in the mirror, like, ‘That doesn’t look sexy!’”Belcon insists that in her downtime, offstage, away from journalists, she is an everyday sort of woman who prefers oversize T-shirts and yoga pants. She loves to put on her bunny slippers and watch the UFC.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