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    in Television

    Janey Godley, Scottish Comic Who Brought Humor to Harrowing Topics, Dies at 63

    A Scottish performer, she said she believed there were “funny sides” to terrible experiences, including some that she drew from her own times of loss and hardship.Janey Godley, a Scottish comedian, actor and writer whose hard-hitting, candid wit established her as a comedy star and who became widely known for her parody voice-overs of elected leaders during the coronavirus pandemic, died on Saturday in Glasgow. She was 63.Her death, at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, was caused by ovarian cancer, according to her manager, Chris Davis. Ms. Godley announced in September that she had exhausted her treatment options and had entered palliative care.She gained a following during the coronavirus pandemic performing parodies that reimagined what officials were saying — or perhaps secretly thinking — during their public addresses. One favorite subject was Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s leader at the time.Ms. Sturgeon seemed to appreciate the humor, calling Ms. Godley her “alter ego.” Ms. Godley’s videos, some observers said, led her to become a distinctive voice helping to spread public health messages during the pandemic.Other world leaders were not spared Ms. Godley’s voice-over treatment. Her targets also included Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Theresa May of Britain, President Donald J. Trump and Queen Elizabeth II.“Here’s the thing: Women my age are constantly being told we don’t know how to work the internet — but I nailed it,” she joked in an interview. “I showed these 22-year-olds how it’s done.”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

  • 150 Shares99 Views

    in Television

    Specials by Tom Papa and Others to Distract You From the News

    Tom Papa, James Adomian and Emily Catalano take very different, very funny approaches in their new hours.Tom Papa, ‘Home Free’(Stream it on Netflix)If the scroll of election news has you in the mood for some light distraction and cheer-me-up laughs, Tom Papa’s latest special arrives just in time. The ultimate escapist comedian, Papa has built a soothingly funny body of work with a persona that stands out in these anxious times: a sensible optimist who thinks you are too hard on yourself. The title of his last special sums up his message: “You’re doing great!”Papa — the perfect name for his brand of middle-aged dad comedy — tells well-crafted jokes about family secrets and hot-dog-eating contests with the spirit of a self-help guru. Even his complaints come out as gratitude. “A good day is any day I don’t have to retrieve a username and password,” he once joked.In his new special, he opens with an unexpectedly sunny take on being an empty-nester. It’s set up with an unshowy deftness that lets you know you are in good hands. His delivery is lilting and subtle. When one of my daughters was getting a little weepy about the prospect of her sister leaving home, I showed this joke to her and the mood lightened. Papa shot the special in Washington, D.C., and nods to Americans’ exhaustion with politics, before suggesting we take a break from the news now and then. “You can know too much,” he says. “Ignorance is bliss” is a theme.He loves that therapy is popular, but it’s not for him. “I’m having a good time,” he says. “If I go to therapy, they’re going to stop it.” And yet, Papa can sound like a therapist — or at least a comedian version of one.He asks questions that reframe your perspective to something healthier. Is there some “power of positive thinking” hokum here? Sure. But there’s also an entertainer’s ethos that the job is to make you forget your troubles — come on, get happy. This doesn’t mean avoiding darkness. In fact, Papa understands that grim news is necessary to find the incongruity that will make you laugh. In explaining to a child what “nuclear Armageddon” means, he gives it as rosy a slant as one could. “We’re all going to die someday and there’s a way we can all die on the same day.” Then he smiles and does a little dance.James Adomian, ‘Path of Most Resistance’(Stream it on YouTube)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

  • 175 Shares119 Views

    in Television

    New Comedy Specials by Tom Papa and Others to Distract You From the News

    Tom Papa, James Adomian and Emily Catalano take very different, very funny approaches in their new hours.Tom Papa, ‘Home Free’(Stream it on Netflix)If the scroll of election news has you in the mood for some light distraction and cheer-me-up laughs, Tom Papa’s latest special arrives just in time. The ultimate escapist comedian, Papa has built a soothingly funny body of work with a persona that stands out in these anxious times: a sensible optimist who thinks you are too hard on yourself. The title of his last special sums up his message: “You’re doing great!”Papa — the perfect name for his brand of middle-aged dad comedy — tells well-crafted jokes about family secrets and hot-dog-eating contests with the spirit of a self-help guru. Even his complaints come out as gratitude. “A good day is any day I don’t have to retrieve a username and password,” he once joked.In his new special, he opens with an unexpectedly sunny take on being an empty-nester. It’s set up with an unshowy deftness that lets you know you are in good hands. His delivery is lilting and subtle. When one of my daughters was getting a little weepy about the prospect of her sister leaving home, I showed this joke to her and the mood lightened. Papa shot the special in Washington, D.C., and nods to Americans’ exhaustion with politics, before suggesting we take a break from the news now and then. “You can know too much,” he says. “Ignorance is bliss” is a theme.He loves that therapy is popular, but it’s not for him. “I’m having a good time,” he says. “If I go to therapy, they’re going to stop it.” And yet, Papa can sound like a therapist — or at least a comedian version of one.He asks questions that reframe your perspective to something healthier. Is there some “power of positive thinking” hokum here? Sure. But there’s also an entertainer’s ethos that the job is to make you forget your troubles — come on, get happy. This doesn’t mean avoiding darkness. In fact, Papa understands that grim news is necessary to find the incongruity that will make you laugh. In explaining to a child what “nuclear Armageddon” means, he gives it as rosy a slant as one could. “We’re all going to die someday and there’s a way we can all die on the same day.” Then he smiles and does a little dance.James Adomian, ‘Path of Most Resistance’(Stream it on YouTube)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

  • 138 Shares159 Views

    in Theater

    John Leguizamo on His Play, ‘The Other Americans,’ and Latino Representation

    In his new play, “The Other Americans,” John Leguizamo stars as Nelson Castro, a Colombian laundromat owner in Queens whose life begins to unravel as his family struggles to, as Leguizamo puts it, “survive the American dream.”Most of his previous stage outings have been solo shows, like “Mambo Mouth” and “Spic-O-Rama,” but Leguizamo wrote this new play for an ensemble. He said a full cast was necessary to flesh out the strain in the Castro household, but he also wanted to write a Latino family drama that could stand next to the greats, to show that Latino writers can produce plays as good as those of Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill or David Mamet.Leguizamo has called for more Latino representation in entertainment, including this year through a full-page ad in The New York Times in June and a speech at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in September. “Turns out not complaining didn’t change anything,” he said during that speech. “So for the past few years, I’ve been complaining.”Leguizamo and Rosa Arredondo in “The Other Americans,” which is scheduled to run through Nov. 24 at Arena Stage in Washington.T. Charles EricksonWhile he praised the television industry for some progress, he told The Times he felt Latino representation in the theater world was “abysmal,” which was one reason he wanted to write “The Other Americans.”The actress Luna Lauren Velez, who plays Castro’s wife, Patti, said of the play: “It made me realize just how little you see this kind of material for us.”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

  • 100 Shares159 Views

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    Wendi McLendon-Covey Is No Longer a Brunch Person

    “I don’t know how to have one mimosa,” said the actress, one of the stars of the new sitcom “St. Denis Medical.” Now she’s a fan of “dunch.”If Wendi McLendon-Covey had her druthers, she and her husband, Greg Covey, would see every band that rolled into Los Angeles.“We usually go to a concert a month,” the actress said. “You’ll see us dancing in the first 10 rows of whatever shows we can get into.”This year, McLendon-Covey, 55, known for her comedic roles in “The Goldbergs,” “Reno 911!” and “Bridesmaids,” has rocked out considerably less because of a packed work schedule. She spent six months filming the new NBC workplace mockumentary “St. Denis Medical,” in which she plays a plucky hospital executive who puts a positive spin on budget crises and bed shortages. The sitcom, the latest from Justin Spitzer (“The Office,” “Superstore”), mines the chaos for levity and normalcy and is set to premiere on Nov. 12.“In every hospital everywhere, there are people that are trying to have a baby shower in the break room while other things are going on,” McLendon-Covey said. “There’s always someone that doesn’t pay in for the ice cream cake, and you’re holding a grudge against that person, but someone has a gunshot wound and you have to attend to that.”On a video call from her home in Long Beach, Calif., she talked about the “ridiculous and hilarious” book that reminds her of doomscrolling, her seven cats and the one band she’s glad she didn’t miss this year. These are edited excerpts.Steely DanWe saw them earlier this year at the Forum. “Peg” is my theme song. Because I love them so much, on “Reno 911!” they wrote in something about my character going on to be a groupie for Steely Dan after we all got fired from the department. In 2007, my husband and I got to see them at Tower Theater in Pennsylvania and go backstage. Walter Becker gave us a shout-out during “Hey Nineteen.” It was like all my Christmases came at once.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

  • 138 Shares99 Views

    in Theater

    Hit Play About U.S. Constitution Debuts in Canada. Amended, of Course.

    How do you retool “What the Constitution Means to Me” for those unfamiliar with the U.S. Constitution? Consult Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.“What the Constitution Means to Me,” Heidi Schreck’s Tony-nominated exploration of the document’s gender and racial biases, will be the most performed work in the United States for the second year in a row. And this week, just days before the U.S. presidential election, it will have its Canadian premiere.The timing is intentional. By presenting the work starting Friday, at the Soulpepper Theater in Toronto, its artistic director, Weyni Mengesha, said she wants the production to not only inspire Canadian audiences to pay attention to what’s happening in the United States but also in their own political sphere.“Things that happen down south affect things up here,” Mengesha said. “And we’re feeling a similar sense of divisiveness.”Canadians are contending with a housing crisis, sky-high grocery bills, debates about immigration, and a leader — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — whose own party wants him to step down.But how do you retool a highly specific work for audiences who may be unfamiliar with the finer points of the U.S. Constitution?Toward the end of U.S. productions of “What the Constitution Means to Me,” the protagonist debates a high schooler about whether to keep or scrap the U.S. Constitution. In Toronto, the production’s star, Amy Rutherford, and a local student will instead debate the merits of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was created in 1982 as part of the country’s Constitution.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

  • 150 Shares169 Views

    in Theater

    ‘Phantom of the Opera’ Closed on Broadway. Now It’s Hitting the Road.

    The enduring Andrew Lloyd Webber musical will begin a multiyear tour in Baltimore in November 2025.When “The Phantom of the Opera” ended its record-setting run on Broadway last year, even its producer suggested it would only be a matter of time before musical theater’s most famous masked man once again haunted these shores.Now a plan is afoot to bring the music of the night back to the United States, although not, at least initially, to Broadway. A reconfigured version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber show — slimmed down a bit to make it more economical to run, although its producer insists it remains as full-bodied as ever — will begin a North American tour late next year in Baltimore.“The Phantom of the Opera,” which began its life in 1986 in London, ran on Broadway from 1988 to 2023, and remains the longest-running Broadway show ever. Over its 13,981 performances on Broadway, it played to 20 million people; it has also toured widely, playing to over 160 million people in 195 cities and 21 languages.The original London run closed in 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 a reconfigured production, with a smaller orchestra and a redesigned set, opened in the West End, where it is still running, and it is a version of that production that will tour North America. The first performances will be in November 2025 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theater.The touring production will feature a 38-person cast, which is comparable to the size of the Broadway company, and 14 musicians, compared to 27 in the Broadway orchestra. The production is directed by Seth Sklar-Heyn, based on Harold Prince’s original direction; the original choreography by Gillian Lynne is being recreated and adapted by Chrissie Cartwright. (Key members of the original creative team, including Prince and Lynne, have died.) The lead producer is Cameron Mackintosh, who also produced the original; he is presenting the show with the Really Useful Group, which is Lloyd Webber’s company.The show, based on a Gaston Leroux novel, is about a disfigured musician who wreaks havoc on the Paris Opera House after becoming obsessed with a young soprano. The music is by Lloyd Webber and the lyrics are by Charles Hart with contributions from Richard Stilgoe; the book is by Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber.There have been three previous American tours, all based on the original production. More

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    Jimmy Kimmel Trashes Trump’s ‘Cosplay Garbage Man’

    Kimmel said that when Trump delivered a speech while wearing an orange safety vest, it was “like a 4-year-old who wants to wear his costume to school.”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 as Trash ManOn Wednesday, former President Donald Trump spoke to reporters from inside a garbage truck while wearing an orange safety vest.Jimmy Kimmel called Trump “a cosplay garbage man” on Thursday, joking that “the garbage is driving the truck.”“That vest will come in handy when he’s on the side of the highway picking up trash with the other inmates.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“And then this lunatic decides to stay in the garbage costume for the whole duration of his speech, like a 4-year-old who wants to wear his costume to school.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“I have to say; if there is a single image that we will look back on and say, this defines what America was going through in 2024, I think it will be the Republican nominee for president dancing to the song ‘Y.M.C.A.’ in a garbage man costume.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Donald Trump could never make it as a sanitation worker. It’s a tough job with actual stakes, genuine responsibilities, and no amount of cosplaying can make up for the fact that he’d be really bad at it. He wouldn’t last a day. If Trump was a sanitation worker in New York City, we’d have garbage piled higher than the Empire State Building, as opposed to what we currently have, which is only half as tall.” — SETH MEYERSThe Punchiest Punchlines (Last-Minute Costume Idea 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