On the Scene: âSpring Awakeningâ Returns �� Matt Stevens��Reporting from BroadwayMatt Stevens for The New York TimesTickets for the benefit, ranging from $50 to $5,000, sold out quickly. The line to enter the theater, on 45th Street near Eighth Avenue, would eventually stretch down the block.Because of delays seating attendees, the show started over an hour late. More
The actress, who stars in the gritty British crime drama âRagdoll,â also has a soft spot for âGreaseâ and âI Love Lucyâ reruns.When most kids try to swipe something while their parents arenât looking, itâs a cookie or a bar of chocolate.For Lucy Hale, it was her momâs nursing books.âEven as a little kid, I gravitated toward the darker things in life,â said Hale, 32, who stars in the gritty new British crime drama âRagdoll,â which premieres on AMC+ on Nov. 11. âMy mom was in nursing school, and I would steal her nursing books because I wanted to know about diseases and ailments. I was a very strange child.âThough sheâs best known for teen dramas like âPretty Little Liarsâ and the short-lived âRiverdaleâ spinoff, âKaty Keene,â her new venture into the macabre sees her starring as a recently recruited American detective â Lake Edmunds â tasked with tracking down a serial killer in London who sews parts of his victimsâ dismembered bodies together into a grotesque creation referred to as âthe Ragdoll.â The six-part series is based on Daniel Coleâs 2017 novel.âIâve never played a detective,â she said. âBut I had written in journals that I had wanted to play a character like this, so it definitely felt natural.âIn a Zoom audio call from her home in Los Angeles earlier this month, Hale shared her admiration for Lucille Ball and âForensic Files,â and explained why Graceland is her happy place. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.1. âGreaseâEveryone always asks me, âWhere did you get the bug for performing?â And it goes back to sitting on my grandmotherâs living room table. She put on âGreaseâ for the first time when I was 6 or 7, and I was hypnotized. Iâve probably seen the movie 100 times, and even as an adult, I still enjoy it the way I did when I was a little kid â the music, the chemistry between John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, the hair and the makeup. I heard a rumor that theyâre remaking it â Iâll keep an open mind, but itâs so classic.2. The Pattern AppI first heard about it a couple of years ago when Channing Tatum posted about it on Instagram, and itâs now the most-used app on my phone. You type in the city where you were born, your name, your birth date, your birth year and the time of day. Then it calculates a birth chart for you, which is almost like a personality reading. Itâs the most accurate one Iâve ever read. If youâre dating someone new, you can plug in their information and then compare how you guys are similar or different. It also gives you reminders; I checked mine first thing this morning, and it says I identify with being the giver in my relationships, and I derive my self-worth and identity from being the provider. And so today, my reminder is that I need to be sure to check in with myself.3. The Rose Bowl Flea MarketImagine the Rose Bowl, but with thousands and thousands and thousands of people with suitcases ready to buy vintage items. Itâs incredible. It happens the second Sunday of every month at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, and you have to get there at like 6 or 7 a.m. to find parking. There are hundreds of vendors; they have a clothing section categorized by era, and thereâs an amazing vendor who has the most beautiful turquoise jewelry Iâve ever seen. You definitely have to devote a day to it, and you have to be willing to dig and be patient.4. âJagged Little Pillâ by Alanis MorissetteThis was the first album that I bought with my own money. I remember seeing the cover for the first time when I was really young, in vivid red and green and blue with her hair blowing everywhere. I would have been around 7, so I was too young to understand the angst. But I would put her CD in my boombox, and I just loved the tone of her voice â the honesty and the passion.5. âI Love Lucyâ RerunsThere will never be anyone like Lucille Ball. She was big and bold and not afraid to make crazy faces and be physical, be wild and wacky. During that time, that just wasnât what a lot of women entertainers were doing â sheâs truly a comedic genius. And her and Ethel are one of my favorite duos of all time, so much so that I named my puppy for her. So weâre Lucy and Ethel. (Iâm actually named after a grandmother of mine.)6. IkoyiThis is an African-inspired restaurant in London that was rated one of the top 50 restaurants in the world last year. I know about it because a friendâs brother, Jeremy [Chan], is the chef. I went there for the first time about a month ago, and it is, without a doubt, the most extraordinary culinary experience of my life. Iâm just blown away by how people can think, like, âOh, this would taste great with this.â For instance, there was a really nice white fish with vanilla bean foam. And another dish with a paste on the side that he said was inspired by Warheads candy. All these out-there flavors, but it all seamlessly works together, and the presentation is truly art.7. Frances BerryFrances Berry is this extraordinary painter out of Memphis, where Iâm from. A lot of her paintings are these gorgeous female bodies with wacky colors and stripes and different textures. But she also does these cool Pop Art paintings â I have a custom Elvis Presley one here. A lot of her work is very feminist and supportive of women. She does sayings, like âSmokinâ Naked,â and then she has a female form with a cigarette. Sheâs just very cool â she wears roller skates to do her art in.8. GracelandMy grandmother was a huge Elvis Presley fan, as am I, and you definitely get a feel for the type of person he was walking through this home. Thereâs a room with like 10 TVs in it because he liked to watch different things at the same time, and thereâs the animal room, which is all animal prints â floor, ceiling, furniture. Itâs just very â70s, very tacky in the best way.9. âForensic FilesâIt was nighttime over 10 years ago, and Iâm flicking through the channels, and I hear that creepy intro music â the âForensic Filesâ theme song. I love the show because itâs not scripted â itâs purely about how detectives find the people who do horrible things to people. Thereâs hundreds of episodes, and you can always find âForensic Filesâ on any given channel at nighttime. In a weird way, itâs like a comfort show for me.10. Yosemite National ParkThis is the place I go to when I feel like I need a break from everything. Itâs five or six hours north of L.A., and for the last couple of years, Iâve taken these solo hiking trips there. You look at these waterfalls, and these mountains, and these cliffs, and it truly looks like a painting. More
Meyers said Bannon was more like âa coked-up flunky who would get hired to help cousin Greg shred some documents and accidentally screw it up.âWelcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous nightâs highlights that lets you sleep â and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.More Like Cousin SteveSteve Bannon turned himself in to the F.B.I. on Monday morning after refusing to provide information related to the events of Jan. 6. Bannon made a statement in which he referred to himself as âCaptain Bannonâ and promoted his political podcast.Seth Meyers, referring to the hit HBO series âSuccession,â joked that Bannon âdefinitely likes to think of himself as a Logan Roy type, but heâs more like a coked-up flunky who would get hired to help cousin Greg shred some documents and accidentally screw it up.ââRight now, a congressional committee is trying to determine if President Trump and allies were involved in the violent attempt to overturn the election, and one of the people they most want to hear from is Steve Bannon, former Trump adviser and the only person who maybe should try horse dewormer. I mean, it couldnât hurt.â â TREVOR NOAHâSteve Bannon might finally face justice and, if he goes to prison, take a shower.â â STEPHEN COLBERTâBannon was indicted Friday on two charges of criminal contempt after he refused to show up for a deposition ordered by the House Jan. 6 committee. When he turned himself in, the F.B.I. were like, âOh, really, do we have to? We have to take him?ââ â JAMES CORDENâAnd like any innocent person, Trump told his people not to cooperate with law enforcement at all. So Bannon defied a congressional subpoena to testify, and this morning, he turned himself in, arriving at an F.B.I. office looking like heâd already served 10 years in prison.â â TREVOR NOAHâAlso, it really undercuts your attempt at defiance and bravado when thereâs a guy right behind you holding up a sign that says âCoup plotter.ââ â SETH MEYERSâSteve, did you hear what he said about you the second it was convenient? Respect yourself and move on!â â STEPHEN COLBERT, on Trumpâs disparaging comments about BannonâBannon, though, already has a plan if he does get sent to prison. His first day there he is just going to go up to the biggest, meanest, worst guy in the entire yard and help him get elected president in 2024.â â JAMES CORDENThe Punchiest Punchlines (The P Word Edition)âWow, Trump is gangster. [imitating Trump] âWhy would I dispute it? The guy is a total [expletive] â why would I dispute it?ââ â TREVOR NOAH, on Trumpâs refusal to dispute that he told Mike Pence he âcould be a patriot or he could be a [expletive]â on the morning of Jan. 6âWell, we all know the word for someone who does exactly what their bully tells them to do: patriot.â â STEPHEN COLBERTâYou know what I love about Trump is that even if he didnât say it, heâs the type of guy that would pretend he said it just because it sounded cool. [imitating Trump] âYeah, yeah, thatâs a good line. I totally said it, I said it. Patriot or [expletive], I love it.ââ â TREVOR NOAHâAlso, I love how the reporter says, âExcuse my language; excuse my language, sir,â as if Donald Trump is going to be offended. My man, itâs Donald Trump â if anything, he would be like, [imitating Trump] â[Expletive], my favorite topic. Thank you for bringing this up, letâs talk about it.â â TREVOR NOAHâSometimes itâs good to be a [expletive]. Oftentimes history is made by [expletive]. I mean Gandhi? total [expletive]. Yes. Britain was, like, âAre you going to fight us or are you a [expletive]? And Gandhi said, âI am a [expletive]. You must be the [expletive] you wish to see in the world â that is what we need more of.ââ â TREVOR NOAHâWhat if he tried to grab Mike Pence by the patriot?â â JIMMY KIMMELâMike Pence now claims he has no problems at all with his former boss, so I guess Trump was right.â â JIMMY KIMMELThe Bits Worth WatchingBill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson talked with Jimmy Fallon on Mondayâs âTonight Showâ about reuniting for the newest movie in the âGhostbustersâ franchise.What Weâre Excited About on Tuesday NightThe retired N.B.A. star Dwyane Wade will talk about his new memoir on Tuesdayâs âLate Show.âAlso, Check This OutIn âThe Sex Lives of College Girls,â Alyah Chanelle Scott, Pauline Chalamet and Amrit Kaur play three suite mates from diverse backgrounds at a prestigious university.HBOMindy Kalingâs new HBO Max series, âThe Sex Lives of College Girls,â treats undergraduate intimacy with the friendly skepticism it deserves. More
Whether itâs reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, Times Video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world.Whether itâs reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, Times Video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. More
Paul Osbornâs 1930s play is revived, with its thin psychology, predictable structure and somewhat bitter slice of small town life intact.Paul Osbornâs âMorningâs at Sevenâ debuted on Broadway in 1939, and has clung to the fringes of the theatrical canon ever since. A dyspeptic example of American realism, like an apple pie lightly dusted with arsenic, it plunks its audience into the adjoining backyards of two modest Victorian houses that a few sisters in their 60s and 70s call home. During a late afternoon and the following morning, marriages crumble, siblings quarrel, a brief affair surfaces, an engagement breaks, a mother smothers. Just one big not especially happy family.Old fashioned even when it opened, âMorningâs at Sevenâ became a regional theater darling and yielded two Broadway revivals, likely because it provides hefty roles for aging actors. Now, it is being staged at the Theater at St. Clementâs, where a new production by Dan Wackerman for his Peccadillo Theater Company opened Monday evening. It has a typically imposing cast â including Lindsay Crouse, Alma Cuervo, John Rubinstein, Tony Roberts â that would have been a bit starrier, but Judith Ivey tore a tendon during previews. Luckily, Alley Mills sidled in, reuniting with Dan Lauria, her spouse on âThe Wonder Years.âPeccadillo provided the last show I saw, âSideways: The Experience,â in March 2020, before theaters closed for the pandemic. It was a work written and staged with such casual and thoroughgoing sexism, I started to think that maybe shutting down some theater wasnât so bad after all. So to say that âMorningâs at Sevenâ is an altogether more pleasurable experience is maybe not saying very much. With its thin psychology, predictable structure and characters to laugh at, not with, the play serves a snoozy, somewhat bitter slice of small town life. Imagine Thornton Wilder without the radicalism, William Inge without the melancholy, Lillian Hellman without the flash.Those neighboring Gibbs sisters â living with their husbands, except for Arry (Mills), who remains unmarried â have enjoyed relative contentment for 40 or so years. But one afternoon, Homer (Jonathan Spivey), the 40-year-old, failed-to-launch son of Ida (Cuervo), has come for an overnight visit and brought Myrtle (Keri Safran), his girlfriend of a dozen years. Somehow, that triggers the temporary cave-in of at least two marriages and considerable unrest in the home that Cora (Crouse) shares with her husband, Thor (Lauria), and kid sister, Arry.As expected, these practiced actors perform with relish and finesse. Crouse is nicely sour as Cora, the villain of the piece until she isnât. And Cuervo neatly represses some of Idaâs hysteria. Roberts, as David â the husband of Esty (Patty McCormack), the eldest Gibbs sister and the only one who doesnât effectively live with them â earns outsize laughs for some of the playâs meanest speeches. As the younger couple, Spivey and Safran overplay their roles, but seemingly with Wackermanâs encouragement.Mild yet ungentle, âMorningâs at Sevenâ â which borrows its title, ironically, from a cheery Robert Browning lyric â lets its characters politely abrade each other for the first two acts before tying up the story in a tidy comedic bow. Whatâs most distinct about the play is the acidity that runs through it, and the suggestion that maturity doesnât necessarily breed content.âI always thought of getting old sort of like going to bed when youâre nice and drowsy,â Arry says. âBut it isnât that way at all.â In its grimmer moments, the play hints at something wormy at the heart of this American pastoral. But instead of offering a wake up call, it repairs its broken family and just goes back to sleep.Morningâs at SevenThrough Jan. 9 at Theater at St. Clementâs, Manhattan; morningsat7.com. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes. More
Since the pandemic, San Francisco has embraced work-from-home policies. Now venues and concert halls are wondering if weeknight audiences are a thing of the past.SAN FRANCISCO â As live performance finally returns after the pandemic shutdown, cultural institutions are confronting a long list of unknowns.Will audiences feel safe returning to crowded theaters? Have people grown so accustomed to watching screens in their living rooms that they will not get back into the habit of attending live events? And how will the advent of work-from-home policies, which have emptied blocks of downtowns and business districts, affect weekday attendance at theaters and concert halls?Nowhere is that last question more urgent than here in San Francisco, where tech companies have led the way in embracing work-from-home policies and flexible schedules more than in almost any other city in the nation. Going to a weeknight show is no longer a matter of leaving the office and swinging by the War Memorial Opera House or the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall.âAs people work from home, it is going to change our demographics,â said Matthew Shilvock, the general director of the San Francisco Opera. âItâs something that could be a threat. Weâre all trying to wait and see whether thereâs a surge of interest in live activity again or is there a continuation of just being at home, not coming into the city from the suburbs.âArts groups are trying to gauge what the embrace of more flexible work-from-home policies will mean for their ability to draw audiences in a city whose housing crunch has already driven many people to settle far from downtown. Close to 70 percent of the audiences at the San Francisco Opera and the San Francisco Symphony â two nationally recognized symbols of this cityâs vibrant network of performing arts institutions â live outside the city, according to data collected by the two organizations.âAs people work from home, it is going to change our demographics,â said Matthew Shilvock, the general director of the San Francisco Opera, which presented a new production of Beethovenâs âFidelioâ this fall.Cory Weaver/San Francisco OperaSome economists see the trend of remote work persisting. âItâs likely we are going to have more people working from home than other places,â said Ted Egan, the chief economist for the city and county of San Francisco. âThe tech industry seems to be the most generous for work-from-home policy, and employees are expecting that.âTwitter announced in the early months of the pandemic that it would allow almost all of its 5,200 employees, most based at its San Francisco office, to work at home permanently. At Salesforce, which has 9,000 employees, employees will only have to come to work one to three days a week; many will be allowed to work at home full time. Dropbox, which has its headquarters in San Francisco, also has adopted a permanent work-from-home policy. Facebook and Google, both of which have a significant presence in San Francisco, have implemented work-from-home policies.Egan said that the trend might pose more of a problem for the cityâs bars and restaurants than for its performing arts institutions. âMy suspicion is that performing arts are going to be less sensitive to working from home than other sectors,â he said. âItâs not the kind of purchase you do after work on a whim, like going for happy hour.âAttendance has been spotty as this cityâs art scene climbs back. Just 50 percent of the seats were filled the other night for a performance of âThe Displaced,â a âgentrification horror playâ by Isaac GĂłmez, at the Crowded Fire Theater. âWe had sold-out houses on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and much lower participation on Wednesday and Thursday night,â said Mina Morita, the artistic director. âItâs hard to tell if this is the new normal.âThere were some patches of empty seats across the Davies Symphony Hall the other night, as the San Francisco Symphony presented the United States premiere of a violin concerto by Bryce Dessner, even though it was the third week of the long-delayed (and long-anticipated) first season for Esa-Pekka Salonen, its new music director. The concerto, with an energetic performance by Pekka Kuusisto, the Finnish violinist, was greeted by repeated standing ovations and glowing reviews.Attendance in October was down 11 percent compared to before the pandemic, but the symphony said advance sales were strong, suggesting normal audiences might return in spring.Twitter announced in the early months of the pandemic that it would allow almost all of its 5,200 employees, most based at its San Francisco office, to work at home permanently.Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency, via Getty ImagesâThe audience is back,â Salonen said in an interview before he took the stage. âNot what it was, but they are back. Some nights have been a little thinner than others. By and large, the energy is good. Our worst fears have been dispelled.âThe San Francisco Opera also began its new season with a splashy new hire: a new music director, Eun Sun Kim, who in August became the first woman to hold the position at one of the nationâs largest opera companies. She conducted a new production of Beethovenâs âFidelioâ this fall that incorporated chain-link fences and flickering video screens to update the story of the liberation of a political prisoner.Even so, the opera, which can seat 2,928 with Covid restrictions, sold an average of 1,912 tickets per show for âFidelio,â its second production of this new season. Thatâs better than its second production in 2019, Brittenâs âBilly Budd,â a searing work that does not always attract big crowds. But it drew fewer people than the operaâs second production in 2018, âRoberto Devereux,â which sold an average of 2,116 tickets a performance.âThe urgency to be bold, to be innovative, to be compelling to get audiences to come back or give us a try for the first time has never been stronger,â Shilvock said. âThere will be a hunger for things that have an energy, that have a vitality, that give a reason to come into the city.âEven before the pandemic, cultural organizations were dealing with challenges that threatened to discourage patrons, including a stressed public transportation system, traffic, parking constraints and the highly visible epidemic of homelessness. And many institutions were struggling to make inroads in attracting audiences and patrons from the tech industry, which now accounts for 19 percent of the private work force.Now, facing an uncertain future as they try to emerge from the pandemic shutdown, arts organizations are embracing a variety of tactics to fill seats..css-1xzcza9{list-style-type:disc;padding-inline-start:1em;}.css-3btd0c{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:1rem;line-height:1.375rem;color:#333;margin-bottom:0.78125rem;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-3btd0c{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.5rem;margin-bottom:0.9375rem;}}.css-3btd0c strong{font-weight:600;}.css-3btd0c em{font-style:italic;}.css-w739ur{margin:0 auto 5px;font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.3125rem;color:#121212;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-family:nyt-cheltenham,georgia,’times new roman’,times,serif;font-weight:700;font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.625rem;}@media (min-width:740px){#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-w739ur{font-size:1.6875rem;line-height:1.875rem;}}@media (min-width:740px){.css-w739ur{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.4375rem;}}.css-9s9ecg{margin-bottom:15px;}.css-uf1ume{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}.css-wxi1cx{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:column;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;-webkit-align-self:flex-end;-ms-flex-item-align:end;align-self:flex-end;}.css-12vbvwq{background-color:white;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;width:calc(100% – 40px);max-width:600px;margin:1.5rem auto 1.9rem;padding:15px;box-sizing:border-box;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-12vbvwq{padding:20px;width:100%;}}.css-12vbvwq:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}#NYT_BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION .css-12vbvwq{border:none;padding:10px 0 0;border-top:2px solid #121212;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-12vbvwq[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-qjk116{margin:0 auto;overflow:hidden;}.css-qjk116 strong{font-weight:700;}.css-qjk116 em{font-style:italic;}.css-qjk116 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-thickness:1px;text-decoration-thickness:1px;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:visited{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration-color:#326891;text-decoration-color:#326891;}.css-qjk116 a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}Hope Mohr, the co-director of Hope Mohr Dance, said that her organization was spending $1,400 per night to livestream performances, so audiences could choose between coming into San Francisco or watching from their living rooms.âA hybrid experience â I have to do that from now on,â she said. âMy company usually performs in San Francisco, and I have audience coming from all over the bay.âThese calculations are taking place in an atmosphere of uncertainty and anxiety. It is not clear how much these early attendance figures represent a realignment, or are evidence of audiences temporarily trying to balance their hunger for live performances against concerns about the spread of the Delta variant â even in a city where 75 percent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated. Lower attendance figures have been reported by performing halls across the country.âThe audience is back,â Esa-Pekka Salonen, the music director of the San Francisco Symphony, said. âNot what it was, but they are back. Some nights have been a little thinner than others. By and large the energy is good. Our worst fears have been dispelled.âChristopher M. Howard Opening nights have found performers relieved to be playing to real crowds again and audiences delighted to be back. âThe convenience of at-home entertainment has made it not as desirable for some folks, â said Ralph Remington, the director of cultural affairs for the San Francisco Arts Commission. âBut that being said, even though the density of the numbers isnât as great as it was prepandemic, the audiences that are coming are really enthusiastic.âAdvance sales for âThe Nutcrackerâ at the San Francisco Ballet, with one-third of the tickets going for just $19 a seat to help bring in new patrons (the average ticket price is $136), have been moving briskly.Danielle St. Germain-Gordon, the balletâs interim executive director, said she hoped that working from home had made people eager to break out of their increasing isolation. âI would do anything to get out,â she said. âI hope thatâs a good sign for our season.âAt the height of the pandemic, about 85 percent of San Francisco-based employees worked from home; that number is about 50 percent now, said Enrico Moretti, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley.âI think itâs possible that people are not going to commute from Walnut Creek at night to go to downtown San Francisco for the opera to the same extent,â he said. âBut I donât expect those office buildings will sit empty. There will be other people moving into them.âThe Magic Theater, a 145-seat-theater in Fort Mason, just beyond Fishermanâs Wharf, has been experimenting with different kinds of programming, such as a poetry reading, and pay-what-you-can seats to lure patrons who live â and now work â far from the theater.âThis is going to be an interesting year for everyone,â said Sean San JosĂŠ, its artistic director. âAre people going to come back? The zeitgeist is telling us something. Maybe we should listen. This ainât a pause. We have got to rethink it.â More
Ji-Young, a guitar-playing Korean American character, will bring rock music and conversations about racism to the long-running childrenâs show starting on Thanksgiving Day.âSesame Streetâ is welcoming its first Asian American muppet to the neighborhood. Ji-Young, a Korean American 7-year-old who loves playing her electric guitar and skateboarding, will make her debut next week.Ji-Young wonât just be sharing her love for rock music and tteokbokki, or Korean rice cakes, on the show. She will also play a role in countering anti-Asian bias and harassment at a time of heightened awareness around the issue.Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that produces âSesame Street,â said it created Ji-Young to support families of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage as part of its racial justice initiative, Coming Together. Sesame Workshop introduced the initiative in the summer of 2020, after the murder of George Floyd and as racism and violence targeting Asians and Asian Americans surged during the pandemic.âSesame Streetâ has been on air for more than 50 years, but Ji-Young is its first Asian American muppet.The show has had human characters and guests of Asian descent, including Alan Muraoka, who is Japanese American and owns the fictional Hooperâs Store. In June, âSesame Streetâ released a video called âProud of Your Eyes,â in which Mr. Muraoka helped Analyn, a Filipino American girl, after she was teased about the shape of her eyes. Muraoka and Wes, a muppet, told Analyn that her eyes were beautiful and part of what made her who she was.Nancy Wang Yuen, a sociology professor at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., and an expert on race and racism in Hollywood, said that when she first immigrated to the United States from Taiwan at age 5, she learned more English from âSesame Streetâ than from the E.S.L. classes at her school.The show was more diverse than most childrenâs programming of the time, but Ms. Yuen said it was missing characters who looked like her when she was growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s.âI think having this muppet who is more culturally specific and is able to speak another language, especially in the current time of rising anti-Asian hate, is so essential to representation,â she said.Kathleen Kim, Ji-Youngâs puppeteer, with the finished muppet.Zach Hyman/Sesame WorkshopJi-Young made her television debut on the âTodayâ show on NBC on Monday. âYou know whatâs really cool about âSesame Streetâ is that no matter what you look like, or how you play or where you come from, you belong, and thatâs really cool,â Ji-Young said.She will be introduced on âSesame Streetâ during a special episode on Thanksgiving Day on HBO Max and on local PBS stations. The show, âSee Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special,â will also feature Simu Liu and Naomi Osaka.Mr. Liu, who plays the title character in âShang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings,â welcomed Ji-Young to âSesame Streetâ on Twitter on Monday, after The Associated Press reported on the new muppetâs debut.âIâve had the privilege of experiencing so many incredible things over the past couple of years, but this definitely sticks out,â Mr. Liu said. âWelcome to Sesame Street, Ji-Young! Iâm so glad I got to hang out with you.âIn the special episode, the residents of Sesame Street celebrate Neighbor Day, a community event with food, music and games. Someone offscreen tells Ji-Young to âgo back home,â and then the other residents, guest stars and friends, like Elmo, offer her support.Ji-Youngâs puppeteer is Kathleen Kim, who is Korean American. âMy one hope, obviously, is to actually help teach what racism is, help teach kids to be able to recognize it and then speak out against it,â Ms. Kim, 41, told The A.P. âBut then my other hope for Ji-Young is that she just normalizes seeing different kinds of looking kids on TV.â More
Ntozake Shangeâs choreopoem begins performances in March at the Booth Theater, home to the original 1976 production.The previously announced Broadway production of Ntozake Shangeâs 1976 âfor colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf,â directed by Camille A. Brown, now has an opening date. After beginning previews on March 4, 2022, the show will open on March 24 at the Booth Theater, producers announced Monday.Brown, who will be making her Broadway directorial debut, choreographed the director Leah C. Gardinerâs well-received 2019 revival of Shangeâs choreopoem for the Public Theater. But this Broadway production, which Brown will also choreograph, will be fully reimagined.âOf all the shows to be given as an opportunity to debut as a first-time Broadway director and choreographer, âfor colored girls âŚâ feels like a gift,â Brown said in a news release Monday. âIâm thrilled that Iâve been entrusted to combine all the parts of myself â dance, music and theater arts â to shape and share this timeless story again with the world.âShangeâs landmark work incorporates poetry, song and dance to tell the stories of seven women who are identified only by the hues of the dresses they wear. In his review of the recent Off Broadway revival, Ben Brantley detailed some of the showâs history as it made its way from bars and clubs to become âone of the most unexpected theater hits to emerge from the chaotic 1970s.â He added: âShangeâs free-form text was neither linear nor literal in its depiction of Black women struggling to claim their own voices from a society that had either ignored or actively silenced them.âShange has inspired many, and her death in 2018 prompted a renewed interest in her work. The playwright Keenan Scott II has credited Shangeâs âfor colored girlsâ as an initial inspiration for his debut Broadway production, âThoughts of a Colored Man.â He recently said that in college, a class screening of the Shange work was his first â and essentially his only â exposure to theater by Black playwrights at the time.Brown is a Tony Award nominee for her choreography in âChoir Boy.â She most recently choreographed and co-directed the Terence Blanchard opera âFire Shut Up in My Bones,â which debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in September. The Timesâs dance critic Gia Kourlas said Brownâs step number for the opera âstops the show in its tracks.âCasting will be announced at a later date. More
