Eliana Willis

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    ‘Forever’ Explores the Timelessness of Teen Romance (and Sex)

    A new Netflix series adapts Judy Blume’s 1970s novel with a contemporary Black cast, flipping the gender roles but preserving its emotional innocence.In Judy Blume’s taboo-busting 1975 novel “Forever …,” a teenage girl has sex for the first time. It does not destroy her life. (That’s the plot twist.) But she is still surrounded by cautionary tales: unwanted pregnancies, untimely marriages and dreams deferred. The stakes of any tryst are higher for her than they are for her more experienced high school boyfriend.When the showrunner Mara Brock Akil considered adapting the novel, a young adult classic, she saw the relationship through different eyes: her own, as a mother to Black sons. In her first meeting with Blume — whose seminal coming-of-age best-sellers helped generations understand their bodies and themselves — she made the case that a TV version should also be told from the perspective of the boyfriend, in a contemporary series focused on Black families.If Katherine, the book’s heroine, seemed socially powerless in her era, “I would posit that Black boys are the most vulnerable at this time,” said Brock Akil, the creator of the beloved 2000s sitcom “Girlfriends,” and several other comedies. “A modern Black family, I feel like we know how dangerous the world is.”Blume wrote “Forever …” in the aftermath of the Pill, in response to her daughter’s request for a story in which a teen girl doesn’t get punished for having, and enjoying, a sex life — the dominant narrative at the time. Blume’s antidote captures the dramatic rush of first love and the fumbling urgency of adolescent exploration in frank language that made it both irresistible for young readers (with dog-eared copies passed around in schools) and one of the most frequently banned books in America well into the 2000s.Brock Akil with Michael Cooper Jr. on the set of “Forever.” In her first meeting with Judy Blume, she pitched the idea of centering the story on a Black family.Elizabeth Morris/NetflixBrock Akil’s interpretation, which debuts on Netflix on Thursday, stars Lovie Simone (“Greenleaf”) and the newcomer Michael Cooper Jr., flipping the original story’s gender roles: Simone, as Keisha Clark, is more experienced and self-assured; Cooper Jr., as Justin Edwards, is the awkward one who falls hard and needs guidance. Winningly, it preserves the source’s emotional innocence — breathe easy, parents; this is not the hard living of teen fare like “Euphoria.” But it builds tension exploring issues of race and class.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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    Review: Will ‘The Death of Rasputin’ Have a Cult Following?

    The immersive production on Governors Island is an attempt to fill the void left by “Sleep No More” and “Life and Trust.”There was an orgy in the next room. Or possibly a riot. Upstairs the aristocracy colluded. Downstairs the workers plotted. Norms were flouted, alternative medicine practiced. The world tumbled toward anarchy and decadence. Honestly, there are worse ways to spend an evening.This was “The Death of Rasputin,” an immersive event created by the collective Artemis Is Burning and staged in an arts building on Governors Island. The much delayed closing of “Sleep No More” in January and the more abrupt shuttering of “Life and Trust” last month have left a vacuum in the immersive scene. “The Death of Rasputin,” which runs through the end of May, is one attempt to fill it. (The bar offerings — pierogi, spicy pickles, an elevated White Russian — are another.) With 10 performers, this show is smaller in scale than those others, but even on a limited budget, it glimmers like a Fabergé egg. Especially if you don’t look too closely at the jewels.Jake Ryan Lozano, center, as Grigory Rasputin, the Russian mystic.Maria BaranovaConceived and directed by Ashley Brett Chipman and written by Chipman and three others, the show is set, loosely, in St. Petersburg (a.k.a. Petrograd) in 1916. Most of the scenes, even the more outré ones, have some basis in fact, though Artemis takes a relaxed approach to language and chronology. Broadly, the shows is in thrall to Grigory Rasputin, the mystic who exerted an unhealthy influence on the Romanov royal family in the years just before the Russian Revolution. His sway unsettled several aristocrats, who conspired in his murder. Legend has it that he was poisoned, shot, bludgeoned, then finally drowned in the Neva River. (The real story is probably duller.)The performance begins with a ride to the island. Ticket holders are instructed to wear black and embrace Romanov chic, albeit in comfortable shoes, which looks a little funny in the electric light of the ferry, a cult afloat. After coat check and perhaps a drink at the bar, there is an introductory scene, then participants can roam at will across two floors and a dozen or so environments in a single building.In structure and style, “The Death of Rasputin” doesn’t diverge too much from recent immersive offerings. There are drawers to poke through, letters to read, eldritch items to caress, a secret passage or two, performers to chase. (Unless you are very, very fast, sightlines remain a problem.) There is also lots of dance fighting and hanky-panky, though in a welcome departure, the characters speak and pains have been taken to offer audiences a coherent experience.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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    ‘Poker Face’ Returns With New Mysteries and Old Friends

    For the second season of the comic crime show, Natasha Lyonne called on her closest pals to guest star as victims or suspects.Natasha Lyonne has been acting since childhood, but she is not a “nepo baby.” (She wanted to be one, she joked, but “they’re telling me it’s too late, and that’s unfortunate.”) What she does have in lieu of famous parents, however, is a universe of famous friends ready to heed her call.“I don’t have parents or kids,” she said. “I’m just always trying to create some sort of an old-fashioned caravan on-the-road family band that is a real town-to-town pickup sport where we get to reunite.”That much is evident in the second season of the Peacock mystery series “Poker Face,” debuting on Thursday. The show stars Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a reluctant crime solver who can tell when someone is lying. The mystery-of-the-week structure allows Lyonne, who is also an executive producer, to call on her closest pals to guest star as victims or suspects. The upshot is that viewers are treated to mini reunions from the stars of cult classics like “Slums of Beverly Hills” (1998) and “But I’m a Cheerleader” (2000).One episode features Lyonne’s “Slums” love interest, Kevin Corrigan, as a Teamster on a film set that turns into a crime scene. Another has her character’s brother from “Slums,” David Krumholtz, as a kind father to a boy accused of killing a pet gerbil.Melanie Lynskey (with John Cho), a friend of Lyonne’s since the 1990s, appears in the new season. Ralph Bavaro/PeacockLater, her “Cheerleader” co-star Melanie Lynskey plays an unsuspecting do-gooder roped into a scheme at a hotel bar. Clea DuVall, Lyonne’s girlfriend from that same comedy, directs an episode that also stars Lynskey’s husband, Jason Ritter; DuVall also played Charlie’s sister in the first season. In real life, Lyonne and Lynskey planned DuVall’s wedding reception.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 Anxiously Awaits the Unveiling of Trump’s Big News

    “The Daily Show” host Desi Lydic said it “could be anything from ‘I’ve achieved peace in the Middle East’ to ‘I just tried bucatini, and I’m never going back to regular spaghetti.’”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Trump, the TeasePresident Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would make a big announcement in the next few days, keeping the details elusive.On Wednesday’s “Daily Show,” Desi Lydic said, “it’s great to have a president who does teaser trailers for world events.”“It’s like when F.D.R. said, ‘We only have one thing to fear, and I’ll tell you what it is after the break!’” — DESI LYDIC“This is Donald Trump, so his big announcement could be anything from ‘I’ve achieved peace in the Middle East’ to ‘I just tried bucatini, and I’m never going back to regular spaghetti.’” — DESI LYDIC“This could literally be about anything. He could be getting rid of the tariffs or installing a Big Mac button on the White House desk.” — JIMMY FALLON“Maybe Melania’s pregnant again. Wouldn’t that be sweet, to have a baby — another baby in the White House?” — JIMMY KIMMEL“This had better not be another set of his Trump NFTs or a golf tournament that he won. This feels like a dad who’s a gambling addict telling his family, ‘I have big news, we’re moving into an RV!’” — JIMMY KIMMEL“But this is what happens when you put a loose cannon into the White House. This — it could be about anything from new tariffs to announcing our next attorney general is Gary Busey. Best-case scenario, Don Jr.’s rabies test comes back negative.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Pope O’Clock Edition)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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    Michael Pitt, ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Actor, Is Arrested on Sex Abuse Charges

    Mr. Pitt faces numerous charges, including assault and strangulation, based on encounters in 2020 and 2021. He has pleaded not guilty.Michael Pitt, the actor known for his role on “Boardwalk Empire,” was arrested on sexual abuse charges this month, according to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.Mr. Pitt was arraigned on Friday in Kings County Supreme Criminal Court on charges based on encounters from April 2020 through August 2021. He was charged with nine counts, including first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree assault and second-degree strangulation.Mr. Pitt pleaded not guilty to all charges; his next court appearance is set for June 17.An indictment outlining the accusations against Mr. Pitt said he forcibly touched an unnamed woman and later engaged in oral sex without her consent. The indictment also said Mr. Pitt had injured her with a four-by-four and a cinder block on separate occasions.Jason Goldman, Mr. Pitt’s lawyer, said on Wednesday that his client had secured bail and was released from custody. Mr. Pitt does not have contact with his accuser, he said.“Unfortunately, we live in a world where somebody like Mr. Pitt — an accomplished professional who would never so much as contemplate these crimes — can be arrested on the uncorroborated word of an unreliable individual,” Mr. Goldman said in a statement.He said the claims had been raised several years after the encounters were said to have taken place, when Mr. Pitt and his accuser were in a consensual relationship. “We have already uncovered exonerating evidence and this case will be dismissed,” he said.A representative for the district attorney’s office declined to comment.Mr. Pitt, whose acting credits include several episodes of “Dawson’s Creek” and the movies “Funny Games” and “Reptile,” played James Darmody, known as Jimmy, on the first two seasons of the HBO drama “Boardwalk Empire.” His character was killed off in a shooting. More

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    ‘Andor’ Season 2, Episodes 7-9: Deaths and Births

    This week’s episodes hinge on events that are so shocking — and happen so fast — the main characters aren’t sure how to interpret them.‘Andor’ Season 2, Episodes 7-9Before we begin, let us raise a glass to Syril Karn, a wonderfully weird villain, who meets his end in this week’s rough and rowdy set of “Andor” episodes.What is there to say about Syril? Do we celebrate the demise of this officious little man, who craved power and hounded our hero, Cassian Andor? Or is he a tragic figure, pushed around by the two women in his life and used as a pawn in the Empire’s violent takedown of the planet Ghorman?To be clear, there is no shame in being a pawn. This is one of the main themes of “Andor”: Pawns have value to the cause. Even the evil ones.Ghorman’s fall is at the center of these three episodes, which are just as much about how the main characters react to events that are so shocking — and happen so fast — that they aren’t sure how to interpret them. Is what just happened good? Bad? Bad for now but good in the long run? The uncertainty of the moment is what makes these episodes so exciting and their outcome so consequential. The fog of doubt envelops Syril and ultimately kills him. The frenzy propels Cassian — though he remains wary of where it is sending him.The big question that drives all the action has to do with how history will record the Ghorman massacre, which sees imperial troops and security droids slaughtering the Ghor by the score while pretending that they are defending their own people from Ghorman’s “inexplicable resistance to imperial norms.” My favorite of these three episodes is the third, in which Senator Mon Mothma aims to give a speech that reshapes public opinion. I have never seen a science-fiction television show be thrilling in quite this way, hinging on the courage of one politician and the will of those aligned to stop her.To get to that episode though, we must endure a stretch of “Andor” that — while expertly crafted — is not exactly what I would call “fun.” Nor should it be.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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    13 Off Broadway Shows to See in May

    Hugh Jackman in “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes” and Maya Hawke in the title role of “Eurydice” — here’s what’s on New York stages this month.‘Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes’ / ‘Creditors’Together, a new company founded by Hugh Jackman and the producer Sonia Friedman, kicks off with two plays presented in repertory at the Minetta Lane Theater, in collaboration with Audible. Jackman himself stars in Hannah Moscovitch’s “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes” alongside Ella Beatty — and when was the last time we saw him in such an intimate space? Starting May 10, the show will alternate with a new adaptation of August Strindberg’s “Creditors” by Jen Silverman (“The Roommate”), starring Liev Schreiber, Maggie Siff and Justice Smith. Both productions are directed by Ian Rickson. (Through June 18, Minetta Lane Theater)‘Goddess’Michael Thurber and Saheem Ali’s new musical, with additional book material by James Ijames, is set in a nightclub in Mombasa, Kenya. Ali directs at the Public Theater, where he staged Ijames’s hit play “Fat Ham” before it transferred to Broadway. Amber Iman (“Lempicka”) plays Nadira, a singer who actually is the title deity, Marimba, the ruler of music. (Through June 8, Public Theater)‘Bowl EP’Skating? Been there, done that onstage, from “Starlight Express” to “Kimberly Akimbo.” Skateboarding is a much rarer beast. Now the Vineyard Theater is getting an in-the-round makeover to accommodate Nazareth Hassan’s new play about hip-hop and the culture that gave us ollies and airwalks. A co-production with National Black Theater in association with the New Group. (Through June 8, Vineyard Theater)‘Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole’Daniel J. Watts, left, and Dulé Hill in “Lights Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole.”Marc J. FranklinYou can’t blame Colman Domingo (“Rustin,” “Sing Sing”) for focusing on acting these past few years — he’s getting the recognition and roles he’s long deserved. Still, it’s nice to see him return to playwriting, in collaboration with Patricia McGregor (who also directed). The story — enhanced with musical numbers — takes place in 1957, on the last night of the TV show hosted by the silky voiced Nat “King” Cole (Dulé Hill). He has just quit after enduring constant bigotry and pressure from the network and national advertisers, and has a lot on his mind. Daniel J. Watts also stars as Sammy Davis Jr. (Through June 29, New York Theater Workshop)‘The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse’The title of this new musical by Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley (“Circle Jerk”) is a reference to a New York Post headline from 2006 about Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. The show imagines that the unholy trinity actually was a quartet — but whatever happened to the last member? An internet sleuth is played by Milly Shapiro, herself one of the four little girls who won Tony Honors for Excellence in Theater in 2013 when they alternated in the lead role of “Matilda the Musical.” (Through June 8; The New Group)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 Doesn’t Mind Canada Putting Trump in the Friend Zone

    The president was firmly told that Canada won’t join the United States, though he says it would be a “wonderful marriage.” “People were, like, ‘How would he know?’” Jimmy Fallon said.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.Just FriendsPrime Minister Mark Carney of Canada visited the White House on Tuesday, where he said that Canada was not and would never be for sale, despite President Trump’s avid interest in annexing it.“Then Trump went back to browsing a world map like it’s Zillow,” Jimmy Fallon said.“Yeah, Trump said if Canada became the 51st state, it would be a ‘wonderful marriage.’ And people — and people were, like, ‘How would he know?’” — JIMMY FALLON“Aw, it’s like watching an episode of ‘Love on the Spectrum’ if the spectrum was fascism.” — DESI LYDIC“Donald Trump has been obsessed with making Canada the 51st state ever since he found out Epstein Island was not eligible.” — DESI LYDIC“I think Donald Trump just got friend-zoned. Canada’s, like, ‘You have been such an amazing ally, but I really think we just work better as sovereign neighbors.’” — DESI LYDIC“Poor Mark Carney had a hell of a job today. It was like an Ewok going to the meeting on the Death Star.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“That’s true, he doesn’t take no for an answer. In fact, he was found liable for it in a court of law.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Newark Edition)“According to a new report, last week, air traffic controllers at Newark lost all communication with planes for over a minute. It’s getting to the point where we really should clap when the plane lands.” — JIMMY FALLON“That’s a terrifying thing to hear. There’s not a lot of backup systems. The pilot can’t be like, ‘OK, forget radar, let’s try something else. Marco!’” — DESI LYDIC“This blackout led to a cascade of problems throughout the week, and after a long investigation, we now know that a fried piece of copper wire sparked the blackout — unlike the other blackouts at Newark, which were caused by the Grand Coconut Margarita at Terminal A Chili’s Too.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingFather Guido Sarducci made a special appearance on Tuesday’s “Late Show” to discuss the upcoming papal conclave. What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightThe “Hacks” star Robby Hoffman will appear on “Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney.”Also, Check This OutLencia Kebede says she admires that in “Wicked,” Elphaba fights “for what she knows is right, even when everyone disagrees.”Lencia Kebede is the first Black actress to play Elphaba full time in “Wicked” on Broadway. More