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    ‘Downstate’ and ‘Catch as Catch Can’ in Playwrights Horizons New Season

    The company has announced five works for its 2022-23 lineup, which will include Agnes Borinsky’s “The Trees,” directed by Tina Satter.“Downstate,” a Bruce Norris play that The New York Times’s chief theater critic, Jesse Green, has called a “squirmy moral-thrill-ride,” will make its New York premiere in October as part of Playwrights Horizons’s new season, the company announced on Monday.As Adam Greenfield, the artistic director for Playwrights Horizons, put it: “If theater is here to catch us off guard, to shake our foundations, to make us rethink our values and realize the ways in which we’re hypocrites,” Norris can really point that all out.“I sometimes think he’s like the Molière of our time,” Greenfield said in a recent Zoom interview.The 2022-23 season will be Greenfield’s first full, in-person season since assuming the role of artistic director in 2020. And the five-show lineup, which features coproductions with Page 73 Productions, MCC Theater and WP Theater, is packed with themes emerging from the pandemic lockdown, including a variety of perspectives on “normalcy.”The lineup includes Mia Chung’s “Catch as Catch Can,” a drama in which two white, working-class New England families examine what Greenfield called “the slipperiness of identity and the way identity can fall apart or collapse,” and the debut of Agnes Borinsky’s “The Trees,” a parable of two siblings who fall asleep in the park and wake up literally rooted to the landscape.“Catch as Catch Can,” which, in 2018, The Times called a “tender horror story,” returns in October. This time, it is being staged with an all Asian cast playing the Irish and Italian working class — with actors also playing double roles of father and daughter, mothers and sons.“The Trees,” which will premiere in February 2023, is special to Greenfield. He knew this Borinsky play was the first work he wanted to program when he became artistic director.“She sees the world sweetly despite seeing all of the reasons not to,” he said. The play, which, Greenfield described as involving two people who turn into trees and the community that forms around them, will be co-produced with the incubator theater company Page 73 Productions (the company’s latest work was the spooky political drama, “Man Cave”).The earthy Off Broadway production will have plenty of shine from Broadway visionaries. “The Trees” will be directed by Tina Satter, whose fall 2021 Broadway docudrama “Is This a Room” received critical acclaim. And the last time Playwrights Horizons and Page 73 teamed up, it was to debut “A Strange Loop,” which won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for drama and opens on April 26 for its own Broadway run.The other shows, slated to debut in March 2023, are the world premiere of Julia Izumi’s “Regretfully, So the Birds Are,” (a coproduction with WP Theater), described by Greenfield as a surprise-filled “Swiss Army knife of a play” with “a delicious sense of goofy comedy” centered on three siblings making sense of unreliable parents.Also in March is John J. Caswell Jr.’s “Wet Brain” (co-produced with MCC Theater), a candid drama that follows siblings (also a set of three) struggling to find language for closure and grief — in outer space. It’s a science fiction version of the American family play that, Greenfield said, “explodes open.” More

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    ‘Balkan Bordello’ Review: A Tragic Tale Reborn for a Time of War

    In this international production, you can check into the Balkan Express Motel, if you dare, and fulfill an ancient generational curse.To Orestes, the discord between his parents is part of “the family dysfunction.” That’s true as far as it goes, but it does gloss over some gruesome details: his military commander father, Agamemnon, sacrificing Orestes’s sister, Iphigenia; and his mother, Clytemnestra, avenging her favorite child’s death by killing Agamemnon when he returns home from war.It’s the sort of history that might leave a person haunted, and so it does in the angry and eloquent “Balkan Bordello,” a contemporary retelling of Aeschylus’ “The Oresteia” by the Kosovan playwright Jeton Neziraj. When Agamemnon’s ghost steps out of the fog one night, like Hamlet’s restless father come to sic his son on the one who wronged him, more bloodshed quickly follows.Harm begets harm in this cursed cycle of violence and retribution, with one generation’s grievances handed down to the next in a society devastated by war and living in its long, ugly aftermath. In theory, then, “Balkan Bordello” is unusually well suited to this moment, when so many anxious eyes are on the myriad blossoming horrors of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Directed by Blerta Neziraj, the playwright’s wife, at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theater, this show does look splendid, on a set the color of blood and rage, lust and heat. The production’s very provenance — as a collaboration involving La MaMa; Qendra Multimedia in Pristina, Kosovo; Theater Atelje 212 in Belgrade, Serbia; and the international group My Balkans — is emblematic of hope.And its cast of 10 includes two Serbian actors who deliver performances of thrilling magnetism — Svetozar Cvetkovic as Aegisthus, Clytemnestra’s pompous, prolific poet lover, and Ivan Mihailovic as a war veteran who returns alongside Agamemnon, with the captured Cassandra (Verona Koxha, a Kosovan actor) slung over his shoulder like a sack of grain.But there is a chaos to the production that has nothing to do with the disorder of the little world it depicts, inside Clytemnestra’s Balkan Express Motel, where she and Agamemnon raised their children. On Thursday night, the show felt under-rehearsed and underconfident, with spotty sound and some American actors seemingly uncertain of their lines.The greater frustration, less likely to resolve itself, is that the set (by Marija Kalabic and Nico de Rooij), so flatteringly lit (by Yann Perregaux and de Rooij), is too far-flung for the play’s intimate, intricate machinations. In its vast space, the staging muddies the storytelling.Audience members sit at either end, a few at cafe tables — an unwise choice for people who don’t want to become part of the show, particularly those who would cringe at being urged to get up and dance. Wherever you sit, some of the action is likely to be lost on you because of sightlines and distance and occasional onstage tumult.Smoothly translated by Alexandra Channer and performed in English, with much of the dialogue projected (also in English) on an upstage backdrop, the play is nonetheless a smart and striking take on “The Oresteia.” Its surreal qualities are amped up by Gabriel Berry‘s madcap costumes — Aegisthus, in jacquard jacket and velvet pants, is an absolute dandy; Clytemnestra wears golden shoes — and Gjergj Prevazi’s choreography, into which characters erupt, sometimes while still seated at cafe tables.But there is a kind of abstraction to the performances by the members of La MaMa’s Great Jones Repertory Company, in contrast to the immediacy of the Balkan actors’ work. George Drance’s Agamemnon exudes a hail-fellow-well-met energy, without any of the smoothed-over barbarity you might expect. Even with Cassandra, his human war prize, he lacks menace.Admittedly, the charismatic, fully realized performances by Cvetkovic and Mihailovic put the scales of the production out of whack. Kushtrim Hoxha, a Kosovan actor, is also strangely compelling as Pylades, Orestes’s choreographer friend from Berlin — a representative of the non-Balkan Western world and its condescension toward the region.While Clytemnestra (Onni Johnson) and Orestes (Eugene the Poogene) both end up with blood on their hands here, Mihailovic is the one who brings a sense of simmering violence and physical danger into the room. When he makes a furious, stomping exit up the risers on one end of the stage, the threat of savagery reverberates in his every footfall. When Pylades asks him about his experiences in the war, his answers are unnerving, but the slow smile on his face is even more so.It is left to Aegisthus, the poet, to rail against the war and what it has wrought. “Oh my people,” he writes. “Beware the warlords, my people.”Not that he is innocent, of course. Before Clytemnestra does away with Agamemnon, her lover has his own thirst for blood.“I like to imagine his body cut into pieces, his eyes staring out like a dead fish,” Aegisthus says, with an even-tempered hatred that makes him entirely terrifying. “But all that matters is that he’ll be over with. He’ll be done, and we’ll live happily ever after.”That’s the eternal fantasy, isn’t it — that just one more act of violence will even the score, and retribution will cease. Spoiler/not spoiler: Aegisthus ends up murdered, too.“They’ve sent me to hell by mistake,” his ghost says. “I have filed a complaint.” More

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    What’s on TV This Week: A Pair of New Docs, and ‘Killing Eve’

    Major documentaries about Benjamin Franklin and Tony Hawk are on PBS and HBO. And “Killing Eve” airs its final episode.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, April 4-10. Details and times are subject to change.MondayBENJAMIN FRANKLIN 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). In the last half-century, Ken Burns has become among the most prominent chroniclers of American history — so maybe it was only a matter of time before his attention panned to Ben Franklin. This two-part, four-hour documentary from Burns looks at Franklin’s life and legacy. The first installment, subtitled “Join or Die,” focuses on the years of 1706 to 1774. Part 2, “An American,” covers 1775 through 1790, the year of Franklin’s death; it will air at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.JOHN AND THE HOLE (2021) 8 p.m. on Showtime Showcase. Michael C. Hall is probably best known for starring in the serial-killer drama “Dexter,” which was revived last year. But in the eerie, surreal drama “John and the Hole,” it is Hall’s character who gets put in the ground. He plays the father of John (Charlie Shotwell), a 13-year-old who traps his family in a large hole in the forest. (John’s mother is played by Jennifer Ehle; Taissa Farmiga plays John’s older sister.) In her review for The New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis praised the “excellent” cast, but wrote that the underlying ideas of the story aren’t given the same attention as the eerie atmosphere. “Chilly, enigmatic and more than a little spooky, ‘John and the Hole’ patrols the porous border between child and adult with more style than depth,” she wrote.TuesdayTony Hawk in a scene from “Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off.”HBO Documentary FilmsTONY HAWK: UNTIL THE WHEELS FALL OFF (2022) 9 p.m. HBO. At the Academy Awards, Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater and Shaun White introduced a tribute to 60 years of James Bond movies by saying that no one Bond actor could possibly be considered the greatest of all time, before reconsidering. Hawk said: “Well, I don’t know about that,” there are a few athletes who you know are clearly the greatest in their field.” That the line got a laugh — more than two decades after Hawk made history by landing the aerial trick known as the 900 at the 1999 X-Games — speaks to how much Hawk remains synonymous with professional skateboarding. This documentary from the photographer and director Sam Jones gives a deep look at Hawk’s life and career. It pays particular attention to the challenges that came with his fame.WednesdayTHE KARDASHIANS — A ROBIN ROBERTS SPECIAL 8 p.m. on ABC. The “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts takes a late shift for this prime-time interview with the famous sisters Kim, Khloé and Kourtney Kardashian and their mother, Kris Jenner.ThursdayDR. WHO AND THE DALEKS (1966) 10:15 p.m. on TCM. Here’s a curiosity: A vintage, noncanonical “Dr. Who” film with Peter Cushing in the title role. Shot in Technicolor by Amicus Productions, a British studio known for low-budget science fiction and horror movies, the movie imagines Dr. Who as an older human scientist who, in his efforts to invent a time machine, accidentally transports himself and a few companions (including two granddaughters) to another planet, where they get mixed up in a battle of good versus evil.FridayA BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW 11 p.m. on HBO. Puppets, cannibalism and a “funeral ball” with a dance floor are some of the things teased in a recent trailer for the new, third season of Robin Thede’s successful sketch comedy show, which debuts Friday. Like the previous two seasons, Season 3 has a stacked lineup of guests, including Wanda Sykes, Jay Pharoah and Ava DuVernay.SaturdayJoaquin Phoenix and Woody Norman in “C’Mon C’Mon.”A24 FilmsC’MON C’MON (2021) 8 p.m. on Showtime 2. Joaquin Phoenix plays an uncle who steps in to parent his nephew in this black-and-white drama from Mike Mills (“20th Century Women”). Johnny (Phoenix) is a single radio journalist with no children. When his sister, Viv (Gaby Hoffmann), asks him to take care of her 9-year-old, Jesse (Woody Norman), so she can deal with a family crisis, Johnny takes Jesse on a cross-country road trip. In her review for The Times, Manohla Dargis wrote that the movie can’t quite carry the emotional weight that it tries to, but she praised Mills’s ability to create believable, recognizable people and places. “Although he always lavishes conspicuous attention on the visual scheme of his movies — everything is very precise, very arranged — his gift is for the seductive sense of intimacy among characters,” she wrote, “which quickly turns actors into people you care about.”SundaySandra Oh, left, and Jodie Comer in “Killing Eve.”Anika Molnar/BBC AmericaKILLING EVE 8 p.m. on BBC America. The fourth and final season of this dark and funny spy thriller ends on Sunday night, bringing to a close the layered relationship between the former MI6 agent Eve (Sandra Oh) and the assassin she has long pined for, Villanelle (Jodie Comer). When Oh and Comer spoke to The Times recently, they naturally had only vague discussions about the ending (“we were together on set,” Comer said), but went deeper in their discussion of the relationship between Eve and Villanelle — which is itself ambiguous. “A lot of people describe this as a ‘cat and mouse,’ and I understand that within the first season,” Oh said. But, she added, “for me, the show is really exploring the female psyche and how these two female characters need one another.”ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (2021) 9 p.m. on CNN. The documentarian Morgan Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor”) looks at the life, career and death of Anthony Bourdain, the chef turned writer and TV host. The movie presents two overlapping sides of Bourdain: It celebrates his idiosyncratic energy, curiosity and charisma while also examining the struggles that led to his death by suicide in 2018. “In many ways, his strengths were his weaknesses, too,” Neville said in a 2021 interview with The Times. “His deep romanticism, his wanderlust, his profound curiosity and seeking, were his strengths, but also things that really kept him unrooted and unable to kind of sit back and enjoy things.” More

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    ‘Billions’ Season 6, Episode 11: I Like Mike

    Prince’s grand plan is revealed. Chuck is less than impressed.Season 6, Episode 11: ‘Succession’“Michael [expletive] Prince is running for president.”There you have it, as summed up by Chuck with all his usual verbal panache. After a season of oblique references and sotto voce hints, Mike Prince’s grand plan beyond all his other grand plans is revealed, with a bumper sticker reading “I LIKE MIKE 2028.” Behind the seizure of Axe Cap, behind the creation of the Prince List, behind the moonshot play for a New York Olympic Games, behind this episode’s introduction of universal basic income in the form of Prince-funded “Mike money,” behind every hard-to-parse interaction with his right-hand man, Scooter, and his wife, Andy, there it is. Mike Prince, billionaire, wants to become Mike Prince, president of the United States of America.You can all but feel the shock waves roll through the characters who wise up to this plan in real time. For starters, there’s Wags, who brought Prince a plum deal with the Chinese government only to watch the bossman blow it up as publicly as possible over human rights violations, and who wonders why Prince would offer a job to Chuck Rhoades, of all people. The move against China is an attempt to carve a path as an ethical billionaire; the job offer is an attempt to take an enemy off the board for good.Then there’s Taylor and Philip, the characters who theoretically give this episode, “Succession,” its title. (I’m inclined to believe it’s a cheeky reference to television’s other tale of the lifestyles of the rich and shameless; it’s a bit like that meme of the two Spider-Men pointing at each other.) They spend most of the episode jockeying for position as Prince’s heir apparent, although neither can quite fathom why he has chosen to name a successor at all.Taylor’s pitch involves the proverbial “move fast and break things” approach. Philip’s approach is more methodical. But when the dust settles, both of these wunderkinds realize they’re better off presenting themselves as a team of two, in which the strengths of one complement those of the other. This seems to free up space in their brains to finally puzzle out the why of Prince’s maneuver, and that why comes emblazoned with the presidential seal.Finally, there’s Chuck and Dave. Rhoades has set up shop in an old office straight out of “Mad Men” — complete with an aging secretary rumored to be one of the boss’s sexual conquests — maintained by his father for tax purposes. It is here that he is ensconced when his latest move against Prince — a digital billboard outside Prince’s home that gives a running tab of his personal fortune — becomes a viral sensation. It is here where Scooter and Kate Sacker come to encourage Chuck to join Prince’s team, an offer he predictably declines.When Prince’s “Mike money” plan is rolled out, ostensibly with the Brooklyn borough president (played by Joanna P. Adler) on board, Chuck encourages Dave to pull the plug by reclaiming all the land Prince bought in service of his Olympic bid, on the grounds that with the Games no longer in play, he is violating the compact under which he purchased the parcels.It ought to be a kill shot since Prince had been counting on leveraging the land and a private-public partnership to bankroll his universal basic income scheme. But Prince then makes the very un-billionaire move of promising to fully fund the “Mike money” initiative himself. When Dave and Chuck put their heads together to puzzle out why he would go out so far on a limb, there is only one conclusion they can draw, and it comes soundtracked by “Hail to the Chief.”Running parallel to all of this is the surprise story line to which we were introduced last week: Wendy Rhoades’s book. Turns out it’s a nonfiction effort of sorts: “Rewards of the Ruthless: How I Make Wall Street Killers,” a chronicle of her tenure as Axe/Prince Cap’s performance coach. The book includes very thinly disguised versions of all your favorite traders, from the timid Tom (a Tuk analogue) to the hard-charging Lance (Victor all the way).Wendy attempts to soften the blow of the book’s existence by giving pretty much everyone an advance copy so they can weigh in on their own portrayals. The idea is to involve them as, essentially, co-conspirators instead of springing the book on them after the fact — effectively daring them into libel lawsuits.But Wendy ultimately puts the kibosh on the book herself, burning it up with her Buddhist priest by her side. She realizes this wasn’t an attempt to vent her bile but to service her ego. “In the end,” she says, “it’s a ride that only leads to needing more, which is exactly what I don’t need.” If only any other character on this show would realize the same.Loose change:To the usual “Billions” soundtrack staples — your Bruce Springsteen’s “Badlands” and so forth — this episode adds the playfully raunchy tune “Chaise Longue” by the British indie-rock darlings Wet Leg. Crank it up, folks.“A man in your position can’t afford to look ridiculous,” Wendy quotes at Ben Kim when he, Tuk and Bonnie angrily confront her about her book. “I wasn’t going to quote ‘Godfather’ at you,” Ben replies, but he has to admit that she’s right. Cue the Nino Rota.I don’t know about you, but Prince and Wags’s meeting with the Chinese officials was a little bit too “inscrutable foreign menace” for my taste. Don’t we have domestic menaces enough?Chuck refers to Prince as “Greg Stillson from ‘[The] Dead Zone,’” a reference to the Stephen King book in which a psychic sets out to stop a wildly dangerous presidential candidate by that name. Prince may be fictional, but take a look around the political landscape: Greg Stillsons are one thing this country still manages to produce in bumper crops.Am I the only person who wonders why Victor, Prince Cap’s most intimidating trader, is not in line for successor alongside Taylor and Philip? It’s weird to see him grouped alongside the likes of Ben Kim and Tuk instead of with the alphas.That said, I was pleased to see Sarah Stiles return as Bonnie, another Type A trader, when the crew confronts Wendy about her book. I’m still holding out hope she joins Mafee and Dollar Bill at their breakaway firm.The most prominent “appearing as himself” in this episode is the journalist John Heilemann, the star of Showtime’s “The Circus.” Here’s hoping for a “Dexter” crossover next time.Heilemann also earns this episode’s wrestling reference, in which Prince compares him to the chrome-domed monster George Steele, known also as the Animal. Sadly, Heilemann does not seem to have a green tongue from eating turnbuckle padding the way the Animal did.Prince’s aversion to obscenity is so pronounced in this episode — his exclamations include “Dang it!” and “Mother husker!” — that when he refers to Chuck as “that son of a [expletive]” in the end, it has a real impact. Will this stop me, personally, from dropping f-bombs in polite conversation all the time? Probably not, but it’s something to reflect on. More

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    Review: In ‘Paradise Square,’ Racial Harmony Turns to Discord

    In a new musical starring Joaquina Kalukango, the love between Black and Irish New Yorkers in a Manhattan bar is threatened by Civil War riots.Everything in “Paradise Square” is true. Nothing in “Paradise Square” is true.Yes, history shows that in 1863, after Abraham Lincoln extended the Civil War draft to include all white men between the ages of 25 and 45 — Black men being excepted because they were not considered citizens — mobs of disgruntled Irish Americans rose up against Black people in New York, burning buildings and killing many in their path.And it’s true that in the impoverished, piano-shaped district of downtown Manhattan called Five Points, some Black and Irish neighbors who had been living together in relative harmony joined forces to resist the mobs.But in hammering these large-scale events into individual stories, and in manipulating them so performers have reason to sing at top volume and dance nearly nonstop, the uplifting, star-making, overwrought new musical, which opened on Sunday at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, turns history on its head. Racism becomes an individual character flaw instead of a systemic evil; resistance, the solitary moral genius of a hero.Chloe Davis, foreground center left, and Sidney DuPont in the musical.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesIn this case, the hero is Nelly O’Brien, or really Joaquina Kalukango, who plays her with enough guts, stamina and vocal bravura to make you believe in a character glued together from the shavings of history. Nelly is the proprietor of a (fictional) Five Points bar and brothel called Paradise Square: “a little Eden” where, as one of the bald lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare puts it in the title song, “We love who we want to love/with no apology.”Indeed, Nelly is married to the Irish American Willie O’Brien (Matt Bogart, suitably strapping). His sister (and Nelly’s best friend), Annie Lewis (Chilina Kennedy, absurdly fierce), is married to a Black minister, the Rev. Samuel Jacob Lewis (Nathaniel Stampley). When Annie’s nephew Owen (A.J. Shively) arrives from Ireland, around the same time that Samuel, a stationmaster on the Underground Railroad, brings Washington Henry (Sidney DuPont) to Paradise Square en route from Tennessee to Canada, the joint begins to seem like a rooming house for incendiary plot points.The cast of “Paradise Square” includes, foreground from left: Gabrielle McClinton, DuPont, Kalukango, Chilina Kennedy, Nathaniel Stampley and Davis.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesMost of the characters — and there are 10 major roles — seem less like people than ideas with human masks. Willie’s war buddy Mike Quinlan (Kevin Dennis) represents the unemployed Irish workers easily swayed by demagogic politicians. A white pianist and composer who turns plantation tunes into uptown hits (Jacob Fishel) represents, somewhat anachronistically, the problem of cultural appropriation — though it’s a nice touch that some Stephen Foster songs, like “Camptown Races,” are reappropriated in Jason Howland’s music.Another Foster song — “Oh! Susanna” — gets an even more interesting overhaul, insidiously connecting the show’s all-purpose villain, Frederic Tiggens, as he fans the Irish rebellion, to racist Southern tropes. (Foster’s melody is reset with the lyric “You were true to a country that wasn’t true to you.”) Alas, none of Tiggens’s dialogue is as subtle; a vaguely defined “uptown party boss” set on shutting down the “depravity” of places like Paradise Square, he leaves the performer John Dossett little to do but metaphorically twirl his mustaches.If most of the score suffers from a mild case of overstatement — whipping up a series of generic rock ballads and throat-shredding anthems — the book and staging suffer from full-blown emphasitis. The book, credited to Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas and Larry Kirwan, is especially problematic. Based on Kirwan’s musical play “Hard Times,” and apparently rewritten heavily in nine years of development, it strips everything down to the naked basics as it tries to accommodate so many characters along with a checklist of sensitivities.Kevin Dennis, far left, and A.J. Shively, top right, rise up against the draft in the musical.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesI’m a sucker as much as the next critic for liberal pieties, and I appreciate the stance of a musical centered on Black lives that has its heroine say, near the end, “We pass on to you this story on our own terms.” But strong stances do not make up for weak characterization or suggest why such strength is necessary. That the position of the Irish and other white immigrants is not nearly as effectively dramatized as that of the Black characters is morally good but theatrically dull.In that combination, I feel the meaty hand of the producer Garth H. Drabinsky, who seems to have used his influence to shape “Paradise Square” into a likeness of his previous hits. Like “Ragtime” in 1998 and the 1994 revival of “Show Boat,” it frames social unrest as the product of a few representative individuals and tries to fill the inevitable gaps with big sound and stagecraft. It also borrows a famous plot device from “Show Boat” — which is effective here even if the debt goes otherwise unpaid.But unlike those musicals, which were built on the frames of strongly written novels by authors with singular voices, “Paradise Square” feels almost authorless despite its many contributors, and the direction of Moisés Kaufman, known for a strong hand and conceptual coherence, does little to erase the impression of anonymity. (The design elements are likewise merely efficient.) Contingent and anxious, the show seems more interested in saying the right things than in telling a coherent story.DuPont, left, and Shively in the show, which has choreography by Bill T. Jones.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesWait — I take that back: It does tell a coherent story, in two ways. One is in the dancing, which employs a kaleidoscopic crash of contextual styles, including step dance for the Irish characters and Juba for the Black ones, to explore, far more subtly than the book, the place where appropriation and joyful sharing meet. (If unlikely as a plot point, the dance-off between Owen and Washington is a high point emotionally.) Again, many hands are at work here, with Bill T. Jones heading a musical staging team of at least five other choreographers, but the result scores its points effectively.The other source of coherence in “Paradise Square” is Kalukango, who somehow alchemizes the remarkable difficulties of the role into her characterization, making it incredible in the good way instead of the bad. Having seen her previously as Cleopatra in “Antony and Cleopatra,” Nettie in “The Color Purple” and Kaneisha in “Slave Play,” I am not exactly surprised, but they were more successful pieces of writing. Nothing really prepares you for the moment when an actor brings everything she has to the stage and essentially writes what needs to be said while you watch. It makes you believe in making history.Paradise SquareAt the Ethel Barrymore Theater, Manhattan; paradisesquaremusical.com. Running time: 2 hours and 40 minutes. More

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    ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Recap: Neither Seen Nor Heard

    This week, “Picard” increases the stakes with unpredictable villains and ancestors with a lot to lose.Season 2, Episode 5: ‘Fly Me to the Moon’OK, kids: The word of the day in this week’s “Picard” is Ancestor.The newly discovered lineages of some very famous “Trek” figures are figuring into the plot more frequently as this season progresses, which is not too dissimilar from what happened last season. This has been a running theme of the show — an in-depth exploration of how our histories, both personal and political, shape the world we live in.The Watcher — who looks like Laris but isn’t? — reveals that Renée Picard, Jean-Luc’s ancestor, is about to take off for a seminal spaceflight — the Europa mission — which leads indirectly to the first encounter with an alien organism and the Federation as we’ve come to know it. (Is it just me or is this pretty much the plot of “Star Trek: First Contact?” If so, you’d think Picard would mention his previous experience going back in time to deal with a similar thing.) The Watcher is a Guardian of the Galaxy type, and simultaneously a Supervisor, a reference to the original series episode, “Assignment: Earth,” another classic time travel story.Something else goes unmentioned: Picard had a young nephew, René, who dies in “Star Trek: Generations.” Presumably, he was named after Renée.Picard is informed by The Watcher that she “watches” Renée but is never seen. (An alumnus of Milford Academy, it appears.) She’s also responsible for protecting the tapestry of the universe, but somehow doesn’t actually make contact with her or seemingly anyone else. (So what would you say you do here?) She creepily keeps track of Renée’s therapy sessions and it’s revealed that her therapist is Q — with a German accent! (Some Watcher we have here. So good at watching and doesn’t realize something is off with the doctor.)To be honest, it was a bit off-putting watching Picard and the crew plot out how to keep Renée’s anxiety in check so she can make the Europa flight. She really seems to be anxious to the point that it’s not safe for her to take off. So why is it assumed that Q is in the wrong to tell her she shouldn’t do it? How is Jean-Luc qualified to comment on Renée’s mental health one way or another?We meet another Soong played by Brent Spiner. Spiner is an actor with limitless range — that he plays another one of Data’s ancestors with a new twist is impressive. Here, Dr. Soong is a geneticist with a dying daughter. He’s running unmonitored, illegal genetic experiments on soldiers in an effort to save his daughter, who cannot encounter sunlight. The daughter appears to be whom Soji and Dahj were created after. This was a nice touch to bring Isa Briones back into the fold. It’s easy to imagine a world in which Data finds an ancient Soong to model his daughters after.(Side note: The Soong appears to be the father of Arik Soong, whom we meet in “Star Trek: Enterprise.” If this episode is any indication, this will begin generations of problematic genetic engineering done by Soongs.)But what’s Q’s aim? This has been a lingering question all season. Here, he seeks out this Soong to present him with a cure for his daughter. In return, he wants Soong to help him get rid of Picard. This seems like an odd approach. Even though Q’s powers appear limited, he’s still strong enough to change entire timelines. So logically, he shouldn’t need a human like Soong to achieve his aims, unless they are completely unexpected. The Watcher brings this up herself and Picard doesn’t have an answer.Here’s a thought: What if the 2024 event that changes the timeline isn’t Renée’s flight, but rather Q giving this Soong a genetic cure which didn’t previously exist?We also check in on Operation Rescue Rios, where Rios is on a detention bus primed to be rescued by Seven and Raffi. Seven remarks, “If we beam him out in front of a dozen eyewitnesses, who knows what effect teleportation might have on the 21st century?”Raffi’s aghast reaction was the same as mine: “Time travel rules?!”Time travel episodes in “Trek” always involve a character randomly moralizing about the effects on the timeline. But such concerns feel a bit out of character for the Seven we’ve come to know in “Picard.” She’s a rogue bounty hunter type. Raffi is the Starfleet officer — she’s the one who should care about the temporal prime directive, an actual Starfleet policy. (Honestly, just by transporting to the 21st century, they’ve changed the timeline. And Raffi already recklessly shot off a phaser in the last episode, so that horse has left the barn.)Ultimately, Seven presses a button on a tricorder which causes the bus holding Rios to come to a stop. Somehow, this doesn’t violate Seven’s standards for impacting the 21st century, but let’s move on. Rios is rescued, and our brief look at the inhumane immigration system has come to an end.It’s still unclear exactly what the Borg Queen’s plan is, though it seems to involve taking on Jurati as a partner, similar to what she tried to do with Data in “First Contact.” Like Q, the Queen is totally unpredictable, which means Picard is fighting a battle on multiple fronts. All we know is that she wants to resurrect the Borg as a force. The reveal at the end, that Jurati has been kind of, sort of assimilated was a solid punch to end the week.This season has spent way more time in 2024 than one might expect, which gives the show less of a science fiction feel. Even so, there is enough material and enough quality performances to keep the season compelling. More

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    Will Smith Resigns From Academy After Slapping Chris Rock at Oscars

    The producer of the telecast said that Smith had been asked to leave after slapping Rock, and that he had urged officials not to “physically remove” him. LOS ANGELES — Will Smith, who slapped the comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars, said Friday that he was resigning from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, saying that he had “betrayed” its trust with conduct that was “shocking, painful, and inexcusable.”The sudden announcement came late Friday afternoon, days after the Academy had condemned Mr. Smith’s actions and opened an inquiry into the incident. “I have directly responded to the Academy’s disciplinary hearing notice, and I will fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct,” he said in a statement on Friday. “I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work,” he said in the statement. “I am heartbroken.”He said that he would “accept any further consequences the board deems appropriate.”“Change takes time,” he concluded, “and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.”The academy said that it accepted his resignation. “We have received and accepted Mr. Will Smith’s immediate resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,” David Rubin, its president, said in a statement. “We will continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy’s Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18.”Now that he has resigned, Mr. Smith will no longer have access to academy screenings and events. He will also not be able to vote in the Academy Awards. However, he could still be nominated for an award, since being a member is not a requirement for eligibility. Mr. Smith’s resignation came roughly 12 hours after Will Packer, the lead producer of the Oscars telecast, spoke publicly about the episode for the first time. In an interview with Good Morning America” on ABC, the network which also broadcasts the Oscars, Mr. Packer said that after Mr. Smith had been asked to leave the ceremony, he urged the Academy leadership not to “physically remove” him from the theater in the middle of the live broadcast.Mr. Packer said he had learned from his co-producer, Shayla Cowan, that there were discussions of plans to “physically remove” Mr. Smith from the venue. So he said he immediately approached academy officials and told them that he believed Mr. Rock did not want to “make a bad situation worse.”The Altercation Between Will Smith and Chris RockThe Incident: The Oscars were derailed when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock, who made a joke about Mr. Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.His Speech: Moments after the onstage altercation, Mr. Smith won the Oscar for best actor. Here’s what he said in his acceptance speech.The Aftermath: Mr. Smith, who the academy said refused to leave following the incident, apologized to Mr. Rock the next day after the academy denounced his actions.A Triumph Tempered: Mr. Smith owned Serena and Venus Williams’s story in “King Richard.” Then he stole their moment at the Oscars.What Is Alopecia?: Ms. Smith’s hair loss condition played a major role in the incident.“I was advocating what Rock wanted in that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time,” Mr. Packer said. “Because as it has now been explained to me, that was the only option at that point. It has been explained to me that there was a conversation that I was not a part of to ask him to voluntarily leave.”In the interview, Mr. Packer also said that Mr. Rock’s joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair was unscripted “free-styling.”“He didn’t tell one of the planned jokes,” he said of Mr. Rock.Someone close to Mr. Rock who asked to speak anonymously because the Academy’s inquiry into the incident is ongoing said that Mr. Rock was never asked directly if he wanted Mr. Smith removed. Had he been asked, it was not clear how Mr. Rock would have responded, the person said. Mr. Rock was only asked if he wanted to press charges, and he said that he did not, the person said.Mr. Packer said that, like many viewers at home, he had originally thought the slap might be part of an unplanned comedic bit, and that he was not entirely sure until he spoke with Mr. Rock backstage that Mr. Smith had actually hit the comedian.“I just took a punch from Muhammad Ali,” Mr. Packer recalled Mr. Rock telling him.Mr. Packer said that Mr. Smith reached out and apologized to him the morning after the Oscars. And he praised Mr. Rock for having kept his cool. “Chris was keeping his head when everyone else was losing theirs,” he said.“I’ve never felt so immediately devastated,” Mr. Packer said of the incident.Asked if, after hearing Mr. Smith’s acceptance speech, he wished that the actor had left the ceremony, Mr. Packer said that he did, noting that Mr. Smith had not used his remarks to express real contrition and apologize to Mr. Rock.“If he wasn’t going to give that speech which made it truly better, then yes, yes,” Mr. Packer said when asked if he wished Mr. Smith had left the ceremony. “Because now you don’t have the optics of somebody who committed this act, didn’t nail it in terms of a conciliatory acceptance speech in that moment, who then continued to be in the room.”Mr. Smith did not apologize to Mr. Rock until Monday evening, after the Academy had condemned his actions and initiated disciplinary proceedings against him. Mr. Packer’s comments came after days of questions about why Mr. Smith had seemed to face no repercussions for striking a presenter on live television.The academy said in a statement earlier this week that Mr. Smith had been asked to leave the awards ceremony following the slap, but had remained. Then several publications questioned that account, citing anonymous sources, and reported that Mr. Packer had suggested he stay. Shortly after the ceremony ended Sunday, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a statement saying that the person who had been slapped had “declined to file a police report.”In the interview, Mr. Packer described his recollection of law enforcement’s involvement.“They were saying, this is battery, we will go get him,” Mr. Packer said in the interview. “We’re prepared to get him right now. You can press charges. We can arrest him.”“Chris was being very dismissive of those options,” Mr. Packer continued. “He was like, ‘No, I’m fine.’ He was like, ‘No, no, no.’”Both on Sunday night and in subsequent interviews this week, the Los Angeles police have maintained that Mr. Smith’s slap qualified as misdemeanor battery under California law — and that as a misdemeanor, officers cannot take action unless the victim in the case files charges, which Mr. Rock did not do.In an interview on Thursday, Deputy Chief Blake Chow, of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Bureau, described the department’s role in less dramatic terms. At the Oscars, police officers are primarily responsible for patrolling outside the Dolby Theater and the Academy hires a security company to handle issues inside the building, he said.On Sunday, one police captain was stationed backstage as a liaison, the deputy chief said. The police captain inside did not observe the slap himself; but he quickly became aware of it, the deputy chief added. The police captain made contact with a representative for Mr. Rock shortly after the comedian had finished presenting an award and had returned backstage with his team, Deputy Chief Chow said.The representative communicated “Chris Rock’s wishes” that he did not want to press charges or file a police report, the deputy chief said. “He didn’t want to do anything.”The police department was not asked to escort Mr. Smith out of the venue, and even if the police had been asked to do that, such a request would not have fallen within the department’s purview, the deputy chief said.Detectives followed up on Monday with Mr. Rock’s representatives to ensure that he still did not want to take action. He reaffirmed that he did not, the deputy chief said.Mr. Rock made his first public comments about the incident on Wednesday at a comedy show in Boston. “I’m still kind of processing what happened,” Mr. Rock said, while promising to discuss the episode in greater depth later. “It’ll be serious, it’ll be funny, but I’d love to — I’m going to tell some jokes.”After nominating only white actors and actresses for its awards in 2015, drawing widespread criticism, the academy did it again the next year — overlooking performances like the one Mr. Smith gave in “Concussion.” At the time, Ms. Pinkett Smith was outspoken about what many people saw as an urgent need for the academy to become more inclusive. Smith was less pointed in his criticism, but joined her in a boycott of the ceremony, drawing attention to the #OscarsSoWhite movement.Nicole Sperling More

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    The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to HBO, Hulu, Apple TV+ and More in April

    Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of April’s most promising new titles.(Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)Rinko Kikuchi in “Tokyo Vice.”Eros Hoagland/HBO MaxNew to HBO Max‘Tokyo Vice’ Season 1Starts streaming: April 7This TV adaptation of the journalist Jake Adelstein’s memoir is a spiritual successor of the influential 1980s show “Miami Vice,” examining organized crime and its effect on a nation’s social order in the 1990s. Ansel Elgort plays Adelstein, who struggles to be accepted as an American working in the highly competitive Japanese newspaper business. He later gains respect when he begins investigating the Yakuza. Created by the Tony-winning playwright J.T. Rogers (best known for “Oslo”), “Tokyo Vice” explores the complexities of class and race in an era when Japanese business was booming and some of the people making money didn’t want anyone — and especially not some upstart foreigner — to look too closely at how and why.‘The Flight Attendant’ Season 2Starts streaming: April 21Although Season 1 of “The Flight Attendant” deftly — and thoroughly — adapted Chris Bohjalian’s thriller novel of the same name, the series was so well-received that it was bound to get a sequel. At the start of Season 2, the alcoholic flight attendant Cassie (played by Kaley Cuoco, also one of the show’s executive producers) has cleaned up her life after helping international law enforcement solve a murder for which she was once the prime suspect. In the new episodes, Cassie settles into her new part-time gig as a spy and gets caught up in another dangerous mystery. Much of the series’ terrific supporting casts returns, including Rosie Perez as Cassie’s friendly colleague and Zosia Mamet as her best pal.‘Barry’ Season 3Starts streaming: April 24After a three-year layoff, Bill Hader returns as the hit man and aspiring actor Barry Berkman in the dark comedy “Barry,” the series he cocreated with Alec Berg. Season 2 took chances with its story, playing up the inherent absurdity of a stoic killer getting in touch with his feelings in a drama class. Taking cues from classic modern TV crime dramas like “Breaking Bad,” Hader and Berg ratcheted up the tension as Barry ducked the mob, the law and a vengeful old associate played by Stephen Root. Season 3 will continue down that path, while also spoofing the pretensions of Hollywood wannabes, including the promising ingénue Sally (Sarah Goldberg) and the big-hearted acting coach Gene (Henry Winkler).‘We Own This City’Starts streaming: April 25The latest Baltimore-centered series from David Simon, creator of “The Wire,” is a collaboration with his frequent writing partner, the best-selling crime novelist George Pelecanos. Based on the crime reporter Justin Fenton’s nonfiction book of the same name, “We Own This City” stars Jon Bernthal as Sgt. Wayne Jenkins, who becomes involved with Baltimore’s Gun Trace Task Force, a well-meaning but ultimately corrupt organization that attempted to quell crime by tracking how gangs armed themselves. Set in the years immediately after the city’s police department came under increased scrutiny because of the death of Freddie Gray in its custody, “We Own This City” is a gritty drama about how some entrenched institutions respond to attempts at reform: by learning the new laws well enough to skirt them.Also arriving:April 4“The Invisible Pilot”April 5“Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off”April 8“A Black Lady Sketch Show” Season 3April 14“The Garcias” Season 1April 24“The Baby” Season 1April 27“The Survivor”April 28“The Way Down: God, Greed, and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin” Part 2Cynthia Erivo in “Roar.”Apple TV+New to Apple TV+‘Slow Horses’ Season 1Starts streaming: April 1Gary Oldman stars in this twisty British spy drama as Jackson Lamb, the grouchy supervisor of a ramshackle MI5 division known as Slough House, where disgraced agents are sent to do drudge work. Jack Lowden plays River Cartwright, a young operative determined to claw his way back from the bottom by doing some unauthorized investigating on a tricky case — and ends up dragging his misfit cohorts into it. Based on a Mick Herron series of mystery-thriller novels, “Slow Horses” features a terrific cast (including Olivia Cooke as Cartwright’s savvy-but-cynical colleague, Jonathan Pryce as his disappointed father and Kristin Scott Thomas as an upper-level MI5 boss) and a plot rooted equally in old-fashioned espionage stories and the modern realities of European security.‘Roar’ Season 1Starts streaming: April 15The writer-producer team of Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch — the cocreators of the TV series “GLOW” — go the anthology route with their new project “Roar,” which features lightly surreal half-hour dramas and comedies about women struggling to be seen and heard. Nicole Kidman is an executive producer, and also stars in one episode as an Australian woman taking her increasingly senile mother (Judy Davis) on a road trip, in a desperate effort to keep their family memories alive. Other episodes feature Issa Rae, as a best-selling author who travels to Hollywood and gets ignored by the people who want to adapt her book; Betty Gilpin, as a retired model whose husband (Daniel Dae Kim) puts her on a shelf as a literal trophy wife; and Merritt Wever, as a woman who falls in love with a duck.Also arriving:April 8“Pinecone & Pony” Season 1April 22“They Call Me Magic”April 29“Shining Girls”Andrew Garfield in “Under the Banner of Heaven.”Michelle Faye/FXNew to Hulu‘Under the Banner of Heaven’Starts streaming: April 28In Jon Krakauer’s controversial 2003 nonfiction book “Under the Banner of Heaven,” the author combined the true story of a heinous crime committed by a Mormon splinter group with the story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints itself — making the argument that the line between fringe fanaticism and mainstream religion is thinner than many presume. The TV adaptation was written by the Oscar-winning “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, who grew up Mormon (and who also worked on the HBO series “Big Love,” about polygamous families in Utah). This mini-series focuses mainly on the murders covered in Krakauer’s book, with Andrew Garfield playing the detective investigating the case.Also arriving:April 1“Love Me” Season 1“Night Raiders”“Snakehead”April 4“Madagascar: A Little Wild” Season 7April 5“The Croods: Family Tree” Season 2“Monster Family 2: Nobody’s Perfect”April 6“The Hardy Boys” Season 2April 7“Agnes”April 8“Woke” Season 2April 9“American Sicario”April 10“The Hating Game”April 14“The Kardashians” Season 1April 21“Captive Audience”April 29“Crush”Rueby Wood, center, as Nate in “Better Nate Than Ever.”David Lee/Disney+New to Disney+‘Better Nate Than Ever’Starts streaming: April 1Based on Tim Federle’s Y.A. novel, “Better Nate Than Ever” tells the story of the enthusiastic and socially awkward middle school theater kid Nate Foster (Rueby Wood), who hops a bus from Pittsburgh with his best friend Libby (Aria Brooks) to attend an open audition for a Broadway musical. Federle wrote and directed this movie adaptation, which retains two of the central ideas from his book: that it takes a winning personality and a lot of good luck to make it in show business, and that Nate won’t succeed until he is honest with himself and with his loved ones about his sexuality. Lisa Kudrow plays a pivotal role as Nate’s Aunt Heidi, whose fading dreams of stage stardom still inspire her nephew.Also arriving:April 13“Scrat Tales” Season 1April 22“The Biggest Little Farm: The Return”“Explorer: The Last Tepui”“Polar Bear”April 27“Sketchbook” Season 1New to Peacock‘Killing It’ Season 1Starts streaming: April 14The affable comic actor Craig Robinson anchors the half-hour dramedy “Killing It,” playing a particular kind of Florida Man: an unflappable dreamer named Craig, who keeps pursuing his plans to become an entrepreneur even as he stumbles repeatedly into catastrophes. Rell Battle plays Craig’s brother Isaiah, who tries to lure him into a life of crime, while Claudia O’Doherty plays Jillian, an upbeat Australian ride-share driver who presents him with a strange and uniquely Floridian business opportunity: the chance to kill giant snakes for reward money. Cocreated by the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” writers Luke Del Tredici and Dan Goor, “Killing It” is a show about people following especially rocky paths as they chase their versions of the American Dream.Also arriving:April 20“So Dumb It’s Criminal” Season 1April 28“Smother” Season 2Christopher Walken in “The Outlaws.”James Pardon/Amazon StudiosNew to Prime Video‘The Outlaws’ Season 1Starts streaming: April 1Stephen Merchant is best known for co-writing the Ricky Gervais sitcoms “The Office” and “Extras,” but he tries something different with “The Outlaws,” a show halfway between a broad comedy and a crime drama. Merchant plays one of a handful of eclectic British citizens sentenced to community service to atone for various petty misdemeanors. As they shovel garbage in a blighted neighborhood, the members of this motley crew get to know each other, learning there’s more to their lives than their mistakes. The cast of cons also includes Christopher Walken as an aged reprobate, Darren Boyd as an uptight businessman, Eleanor Tomlinson as a celebrity influencer, Rhianne Barreto as an honors student who compulsively shoplifts, and Gamba Cole as a reluctant gangster who accidentally gets everyone into bigger trouble.Also arriving:April 8“All the Old Knives”April 15“Outer Range” Season 1April 29“Undone” Season 2 More