Eliana Willis

More stories

  • 125 Shares119 Views

    in Theater

    Poems! Songs! Demands! It’s Not Theater, but It’s … Something

    Performing-arts protesters locked out by the pandemic have occupied playhouses across France, but drama is not allowed. Cue the “agoras.”Dozens of French theater workers walk into a room and occupy it. What happens next? A month later, not nearly as many performances as you might expect.Since early March, the performing arts sector has been in the grip of protests across France, where cultural institutions have been closed since October because of the coronavirus. After trade union representatives in Paris entered the shuttered Odéon Theater, a movement to occupy playhouses spread rapidly. Even as the country has entered a third lockdown, the occupations have shown no sign of diminishing: The number of venues taken over by artists, workers and students has remained around 100.Choreography on the balcony of the Odéon Theater in Paris on Sunday. The sign reads, “Odéon gagged.”Elliott Verdier for The New York TimesYet with the infection rate rising, the movement finds itself facing difficult options. Protesters can’t be seen to flout restrictions or draw large crowds, so there have been no impromptu plays or theatrical tableaux. The messaging has also been carefully adjusted: Instead of demanding the immediate reopening of cultural venues, the movement is calling for more government support and the withdrawal of changes to unemployment benefits.Yet public actions are needed to rally support. As a result, the occupiers have walked a fine, often awkward line amid art, safety and their political demands.The main point of contact between the protesters and the public has been “agoras,” a form of outdoor assembly halfway between a political rally and an open-mic session. The Odéon has staged daily agoras since early March, and some have drawn hundreds of bystanders; elsewhere, they are weekly or biweekly. Anyone wearing a mask is welcome.What happens at an agora depends on the luck of the draw. Prepared political statements read from smartphones are a recurring feature, with protesters from other economic sectors joining in to detail their own demands. The floor is generally open to anyone who wishes to put two cents in. Poems, songs and the odd flash mob or group improvisation bring a little motion to the proceedings.An art-therapy session at La Colline. Protesters and visitors were directed to draw on a large white canvas on the floor in front of the theater. Elliott Verdier for The New York TimesOn Sunday at La Colline, one of the first Paris theaters to be occupied, a three-hour agora started with an art-therapy session. Protesters and visitors were directed to draw on a large white canvas on the ground in front of the theater. Later, during the open-mic portion, three students recited a poem they had written, starting with the question “What do we live for?” Another participant read a text that employed swans as a metaphor for the current situation, asking the powers that be to “let us fly.”After attending half a dozen agoras, I can say with some confidence that the rewards are slim from an audience perspective. The format is barely even agitprop, as occupiers are trying hard not to do anything overtly theatrical — a necessary compromise, perhaps, yet one that makes for arguably limited visibility.If agoras start to look like actual performances, they are at risk of falling foul of the rules, which preclude all cultural events. Only demonstrations are allowed, and organizers must apply for permission. Some local authorities have been more amenable than others. Last Saturday, the Odéon’s daily agora was forbidden by the Paris prefecture, which declared it a “concealed cultural event.” Agoras were able to resume the next day, but without live music. (In the end, musicians were granted permission to return beginning last Monday.)Then there is the fear of public disapproval. On March 21, an unauthorized street carnival that drew thousands in Marseille prompted widespread condemnation, with some participants now facing legal action. Carla Audebaud, one of the drama students occupying the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, in eastern France, said in a phone interview that practicing their craft wasn’t the goal. “We’re trying not to make it look like a show,” she said.Drama students occupied the Théâtre National de Strasbourg, in eastern France week. The writing on their backs means “This country forgets, neglects.”Loïse BeauseigneurWhile most theater directors initially welcomed the occupations, the cohabitation has also grown tense during the third lockdown. In a statement over Easter, a coalition of protesters denounced their “self-proclaimed supporters,” saying, “We’re not fooled by some of your maneuvers aiming to make occupiers leave.”At La Colline, students pushed back against plans by the theater to reduce the number of authorized occupiers to six from 30 and limit access to showers and cooking facilities. The playhouse’s director, Wajdi Mouawad, discreetly attended their weekly agora Sunday and denied in an interview that the goal was to quash the occupation. “We’ve had positive tests among the theater’s team, and we decided to stop all rehearsals. We’re going to reduce the technical staff, and we’ve asked them to reduce their numbers, too,” he said, referring to the students.Mouawad added that he was sympathetic to the protesters. “They don’t have to obey us,” he said.Some protesters now wonder whether the focus on occupying physical venues was misguided. There have been attempts at guerrilla theater instead, with unannounced performances in symbolic public spaces. Last Saturday, dozens of topless students, with political slogans painted in black across their chests, popped up in front of the Ministry of Culture in Paris, chanting: “It’s not onstage that we’re going to die.”As with many agoras, the action was streamed live over Instagram, one avenue for protest that is certain not to create viral clusters. Still, the sprawling nature of the occupations around the country has made them difficult to follow even online. On Instagram, there are nearly as many accounts as there are venues, with the biggest drawing only a few thousand subscribers.Drama students at the T2G theater in Gennevilliers, a suburb of Paris, last month. The movement there has focused on building local relationships.Chloé DestuynderIn that sense, the occupations are both everywhere and nowhere. They have energized a profession even as they have drawn tepid responses from the public and the government. Talks are underway between the Ministry of Culture and theater students, but no demands have been met.The effects are likely to be felt over the long term instead, as the movement has been an opportunity to learn and self-organize. At the Quai theater, in the western city of Angers, young actors have devised their own curriculum by inviting professionals to come and share their knowledge.Others have focused on building relationships at the local level. In Gennevilliers, a suburb of Paris, the students occupying the T2G playhouse have taken to visiting the market weekly to meet inhabitants who have never been to the theater. Some of them now visit the agoras.The group has also asked locals to share their thoughts on camera as a way to collect material that may be used in future creations. “A lot is happening that we’re not seeing right now because we’re right in the middle of it,” Léna Bokobza-Brunet, one of the students, said. “When we’re no longer in this situation, maybe we’ll realize what ties it all together.” In all likelihood, the best pandemic-era political theater is yet to come. More

  • 163 Shares99 Views

    in Television

    Jimmy Kimmel Takes On Matt Gaetz Over His Bid for a Pre-emptive Pardon

    Trump aides denied him a blanket pardon for fear it would set a bad precedent, Kimmel said: “At the time, they were only interested in setting terrible precedents.”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. We’re all stuck at home at the moment, so here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.Pardon Me?Before President Donald Trump left office, Representative Matt Gaetz, one of his most vocal allies, unsuccessfully sought a blanket pre-emptive pardon for any crimes he may have committed, The New York Times reported this week. At the time, the Republican congressman from Florida was the subject of a Justice Department investigation over whether he’d had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and violated sex trafficking laws, though it is unclear whether he or the White House knew about the inquiry.“The reason the White House denied the pre-emptive pardon for Matt Gaetz is because they thought it would set a bad precedent,” Jimmy Kimmel said on Wednesday. “At the time, they were only interested in setting terrible precedents.”“You know, his advisers, according to Maggie Haberman of The Times, talked him out of a full-throated defense of Gaetz, which is sad, because Matt Gaetz really was the son Donald Trump never had, even though he had a couple.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Do you know how shady you have to be for Number 45’s lawyers to go, ‘No, that’s a bad look. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I just farted on camera, my head is leaking, and I’m late for my press conference outside the crematorium dildo shop.’” — STEPHEN COLBERTStephen Colbert noted how close Gaetz had been to Trump at one point. The congressman wrote in a book that Trump would call him frequently while in office.“[imitating Gaetz] ‘The president has called me everywhere: while I was lurking in the bushes outside of a high school, while I was making fake IDs, even while I was tutoring my girlfriend for the SATs.’” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Gaetz says the president called him ‘even in the throes of passion (yes, I answered).’ Thinking about Matt Gaetz having sex, I’m in the throes of up.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Punchiest Punchlines (Blanket-Burning Edition)“Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, but sources say that just before the previous president left office, Gaetz asked for a blanket pardon. Oh, I don’t think the blanket wants a pardon; I think it wants to be burned — it’s seen too much.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“You know you haven’t done anything wrong when you check in with the president to ask for a pardon in case you happen to get accused of a sex crime somewhere down the line.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“The pardon request was reportedly seen as a nonstarter at the White House, which is — that’s saying a lot, considering Donald Trump once wanted to nuke a hurricane.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Bits Worth WatchingThe actress Danielle Brooks talked with Trevor Noah about motherhood, and about playing the legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.The “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson took on Jimmy Fallon in a “Random Instrument Challenge.”What We’re Excited About on Thursday NightPadma Lakshmi will dish on Season 18 of “Top Chef” on Thursday’s “A Little Late With Lilly Singh.”Also, Check This OutA courtroom sketch of Rodney King testifying at a civil trial in 1994. He had sued the city of Los Angeles. Mary Chaney Family Trust, via Library of CongressThe Library of Congress recently added 200 courtroom sketches of the Rodney King police brutality trials to its collection. “We are drawing history in the making,” one sketch artist said. More

  • 100 Shares189 Views

    in Theater

    Erika Dickerson-Despenza Wins Blackburn Prize for ‘cullud wattah’

    The play is about the effect of the Flint, Mich., water crisis on three generations of women.Erika Dickerson-Despenza quit her last non-theater job in 2019, ready to pursue a full-time career as a playwright in New York. And that career was looking good: she was wrapping up a fellowship at the Lark, starting a residency at the Public Theater, and working on a play inspired by the Flint water crisis.The Public scheduled a staging of that play — her first professional production — for the summer of 2020.You can imagine what happened next.The coronavirus pandemic shuttered theaters across America, and with it, scuttled her debut. But now the play, “cullud wattah,” is being recognized with the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a respected annual award honoring work by women and nonbinary playwrights. The prize is a distinctive one — $25,000 for the winner, plus a Willem de Kooning print — and many of its recipients have gone on to great acclaim (among them, the Pulitzer winners Annie Baker, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Marsha Norman, Lynn Nottage, Wendy Wasserstein and Paula Vogel).Dickerson-Despenza, a 29-year-old Chicago native, is thrilled. “It’s a really affirming moment,” she said, “not only for me as an emerging playwright, but also for the way that I am doing my work as a queer Black woman who has intentionally decided to write about Black women and girls.”Her career, like so many others, has been upended by the pandemic. “cullud wattah” is on hold, but a spokeswoman for the Public said the theater still hopes to produce it once it resumes presenting in-person productions.In the meantime, she has been working on a 10-play cycle about the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005. The second play in the cycle, “[hieroglyph],” was staged (without a live audience), filmed and streamed earlier this year by San Francisco Playhouse and Lorraine Hansberry Theater. And next week the Public Theater will introduce an audio production of “shadow/land,” the first installment of her Katrina cycle.“I am interested in what we learn, and do not learn, and what history has to teach us,” she said.She said she had been following the news out of Flint for some time before deciding to write “cullud wattah”; for a while, she said, she just made notes about the crisis and posted them on her wall. The play imagines the effect of the water crisis on three generations of women.“I had a wall full of Flint, and I didn’t know what to do with it,” she said. “The play is not so much about Flint, as it is about how an apocalypse makes everything else bubble to the surface.” More

  • 113 Shares189 Views

    in Television

    ‘A Sense of Belonging’ for Hispanic Children, With Puppets

    “Club Mundo Kids,” a new TV series debuting on April 10, is the latest result of a push for programming that uses Spanish to reach Latino audiences.Standing outside a home, Romina Puga paints endangered animals, plants a garden, hosts guest experts and talks about the news. She is joined by two friends: Coco, a puppet shaped like a coconut, and Maya, a plush pink puppet.Maybe most important, Ms. Puga is as likely to speak in Spanish as in English.Those are scenes from “Club Mundo Kids,” a TV news show debuting April 10 on Televisa and April 11 on Universo, aimed at young, first- and second-generation Hispanic children in the United States, where the large Hispanic population is growing, diverse and often underrepresented in television and in movies.“There is very little content being created that is speaking to U.S. Hispanic, Latinx children and telling their stories,” said Ms. Puga, the show’s 31-year-old host. “The younger generation doesn’t really have anyone breaking things down and talking directly to them in a way that is digestible.”Latinos make up the largest minority group in the United States, accounting for 18.5 percent of the population, and more than one in four newborns are Latino, according to the Pew Research Center.But only 4.5 percent of all speaking characters across 1,200 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2018 were Latino, according to a 2019 study by the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.Broadcasters have occasionally tried to reach young Hispanic audiences, often with cartoon programming like Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer,” about the adventures of a young animated Latina and her friends. In 2016, the Disney Channel introduced “Elena of Avalor,” an animated series praised for featuring Disney’s first Latina princess. Univision has “Planeta U” a Saturday programming block of animated and educational programs aimed at children ages 2 to 8.And for decades, “Sesame Street” has featured Rosita, a blue bilingual puppet from Mexico.“Club Mundo Kids,” in contrast, puts real people in front of the camera, including a host, children and guest experts, and makes a point of talking to children ages 6 and up about Latino life in a real-world context.“It’s a real opportunity to meet Spanish-speaking kids where they are and to help them build language and reading skills, like ‘Sesame Street’ and ‘Reading Rainbow’ has been doing for decades in English,’’ said Jason Ruiz, an associate professor of American studies at the University of Notre Dame.He added that the show, possibly alone among programs for children, “will be symbolically important for giving Spanish-dominant kids a sense of belonging by having a show aimed directly at them.”Hosted by Ms. Puga, a former ABC News correspondent, the series features a mix of live-action and animated segments that explain topics like where food comes from and why there are so many Spanish dialects.Ms. Puga said the show combines elements of the 1990s children’s programs that she watched growing up Chilean-Argentine in Miami, but with current trends, themes and explanatory segments. In an episode about agriculture, for instance, an animated cornstalk named Miguel Maíz explains how some foods act as fuel for our bodies, and Ms. Puga says the different Spanish words for corn (one being “maíz”).And in each episode, children can ask Ms. Puga and guest experts questions that relate to the show’s topic — like, why do our stomachs hurt after eating too many sweets?“Kids will see they can interact, they can be part of the conversation and that it’s also their world,” said Isaac Lee, an executive producer of “Club Mundo Kids.” Mr. Lee said he wanted to create a show where wanted Latinx kids and their friends could get accurate news and information about the country and the world in a way that reflects their realities.The goal, he said, was an “entertaining and engaging” program, said Mr. Lee, a former chief content officer at Univision and now the head of the production company Exile. The pandemic pushed filming into the backyard of a home in the Los Angeles area, but producers are using the setting to encourage children to go outside.Ms. Puga said she hoped the show would “spark curiosity and promote empathy and understanding for other cultures — all while having fun, of course.”Advocates of greater diversity in the entertainment industry praised the trend of media companies trying to reach Hispanic children with educational content that keeps them anchored in their heritage while building cultural bridges through bilingualism.One Latina advocate, Beatriz Acevedo, said the show provided an opportunity for parents who want their children to stay connected to their culture through language.“Hopefully ‘Club Mundo Kids’ will showcase the rich diversity and intersectionality of our Latinidad that the younger generations in our community desperately need to see,” said Ms. Acevedo, who has produced children’s programs and is a founder of LA Collab, a group that promotes the advancement of Latinos in the entertainment industry. More

  • 125 Shares119 Views

    in Television

    Watch These 11 Titles Before They Leave Netflix in April

    These movies and TV shows are leaving U.S. Netflix by the end of the month. Stream them while you can.This month, Netflix in the United States bids adieu (temporarily, one hopes) to some of its very best titles, including contemporary classics from Bong Joon Ho, Todd Haynes, Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino. But we also recommend catching a handful of lesser-seen titles before they’re gone, including a ’60s musical drama with an edge and an action extravaganza with a growing cult following. (Dates reflect the final day a title is available.)Eddie Murphy in a scene from “Delirious.”HBO, via Netflix‘Eddie Murphy: Delirious’ (April 14)Murphy was a “Saturday Night Live” sensation, the star of two smash movies (“48 Hours” and “Trading Places”) and all of 22 years old when he shot this raunchy 70-minute stand-up special in 1983. His tender age is in many ways an asset — the show crackles with the electricity of a performer who was, in many ways, less like a comedian than a rock star — though his immature perspective on certain issues may make some sections hard for contemporary audiences to stomach. (Murphy has apologized for the special’s homophobic material.) But those bits are fleeting, and the classics (including his impressions of James Brown and Stevie Wonder, and his childhood memories of cookouts and “shoe-throwing mothers”) are as funny as ever.Stream it here‘Carol’ (April 19)When Todd Haynes was attached to direct this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel “The Price of Salt,” some wondered if the idiosyncratic filmmaker was starting to repeat himself: Hadn’t he already put his stamp on 1950s melodrama with “Far From Heaven”? But Haynes was up to something quite different here, jettisoning the Douglas Sirk homages and richly saturated cinematography for something closer to the beatnik spirit of its Greenwich Village setting. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara were both nominated for Academy Awards for their work as two women — one rich and in her 40s, one bohemian and in her 20s — whose mutual attraction underscores their inability to be who they’re “supposed” to be in their social circles.Stream it here‘The Great British Baking Show: Masterclass’: Seasons 1-3 (April 21)The setup for this spinoff of the competitive baking series — which has proved to be quality comfort food during quarantine — is quite simple: The hosts, Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, revisit some of the most technically challenging recipes of the series and walk you through their proper preparation themselves. The result is a fairly ingenious spin on the series; while the pressure-cooker competition element is lost, the format allows more time for Mary and Paul to show off their skills, and to playfully jab at each other.Stream it hereJamie Foxx, left, and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Django Unchained.”Andrew Cooper/Weinstein Company‘Django Unchained’ (April 24)Quentin Tarantino picked up an Academy Award for best original screenplay (his second, after “Pulp Fiction”) and directed Christoph Waltz to a trophy for best supporting actor (his second, after “Inglourious Basterds”) for this ultraviolent, wickedly entertaining pastiche of spaghetti western, Southern melodrama and broad, “Blazing Saddles”-style comedy. Jamie Foxx stars as the title character, a riff on the protagonists of countless Italian westerns of the 1960s, here reimagined as a freed slave looking to rescue his wife from a Mississippi plantation. Waltz is the bounty hunter who assists him on his quest, and Leonardo DiCaprio is the plantation owner who proves to be a tricky target.Stream it here‘The Sapphires’ (April 26)Four young Aborigine women become an unlikely but effective R&B quartet in this musical drama from the director Wayne Blair, inspired by a true story. Chris O’Dowd (“Bridesmaids”) co-stars as an Irish music promoter who hears the group singing country songs at a talent competition and becomes convinced that they could make good money touring bases in Vietnam, belting Motown tunes. It sounds like a simple rags-to-riches jukebox musical, but “The Sapphires” has much to say beyond its lyrics, following thoughtful and often heart-rending threads on race, identity, colonialism and war. And beyond that, the songs are divine.Stream it here‘Blackfish’ (April 30)This harrowing documentary from the director Gabriela Cowperthwaite details the practices of the SeaWorld theme parks that keep killer whales in captivity, focusing in particular on the story of Tilikum, an orca who was involved in the deaths of three people while kept at SeaWorld Orlando. In often grisly detail, Cowperthwaite and her team examine attack footage and interview employees and witnesses, investigating the deaths with the precision of a true crime film, albeit one where the question is not who did it, but why.Stream it here‘Can’t Hardly Wait’ (April 30)The John Hughes-style high school learn-a-lesson comedy mostly faded away when Hughes stopped making them, but this 1998 teen treat from the writing and directing duo Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan recaptured some of that particular magic. As was often the case with Hughes’s films (particularly “The Breakfast Club”), “Can’t Hardly Wait” puts a group of specific types — the nerd, the babe, the cynic, the jock, etc. — into a real-time event and bounces them off one another to see what sparks fly. In this case, it’s a wild house party on graduation night. Lauren Ambrose, Seth Green, Ethan Embry and Jennifer Love Hewitt lead the ensemble cast.Stream it hereGerard Butler in a scene from “Den of Thieves.”STX Entertainment‘Den of Thieves’ (April 30)At first glance, this testosterone fueled cops-and-robbers movie from Christian Gudegast looks like a second-rate “Heat” knockoff, from the inciting incident (an armored car job gone awry) to the interlocking narratives to the moody meditations on modern masculinity. To be clear, it is far from Michael Mann territory, intellectually or aesthetically. But Gudegast eventually finds a compelling groove of his own, jettisoning Mann’s existential angst for his own sweaty B-movie scuzziness, and he finds the ideal vessel for that posture in the form of his leading man, Gerald Butler, in top-shelf (and bottom of the barrel) form as a dangerously burned-out lawman.Stream it here‘I Am Legend’ (April 30)Richard Matheson’s durable 1954 novel, previously brought to the screen as “The Last Man on Earth” and “The Omega Man,” gets another go-round in the hands of the director Francis Lawrence (who went on to make three of the four “Hunger Games” films). Will Smith stars as a scientist who seems to be the last man in Manhattan after a virus eliminates most of the human race but leaves behind terrifying mutant creatures that attack at night. The horror and post-apocalyptic sci-fi elements work as well as ever, but the real draw of “Legend” is the skill with which its technicians convincingly empty out New York City — and the eerie prescience of those prepandemic images.Stream it here‘Platoon’ (April 30)By the mid-80s, Oliver Stone was one of the most in-demand screenwriters in Hollywood thanks to his Oscar-winning script for “Midnight Express” and his adaptation of “Scarface,” among others. But his directorial efforts were widely ignored — until 1986, which brought the one-two punch of the political thriller “Salvador” and this haunting reflection on the Vietnam War, inspired by Stone’s own experiences as an infantryman. The script feels personal and powerful in ways that transcend most war narratives, but his thrilling direction is what gives the movie its fire, landing character beats and battle sequences with equal intensity. “Platoon” won Academy Awards for best picture and best director, and Stone’s filmmaking future was finally sealed.Stream it hereTilda Swinton in “Snowpiercer.”Weinstein Company‘Snowpiercer’ (April 30)Before making Oscar history with his simultaneous wins for best picture and best international feature (and for best original screenplay and directing), the South Korean director Bong Joon Ho brought his considerable gifts to American audiences with this 2014 adaptation of the French graphic novel “Le Transperceneige.” Marshaling an impressive international cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris and Chris Evans, Bong crafts a thrilling English-language variation on his signature combination of action spectacle and social commentary.Stream it here More

  • 88 Shares179 Views

    in Theater

    A Theater Photographer Senses a Broadway Bloom

    For Sara Krulwich, who has shot productions for The New York Times for more than two decades, a series of recent assignments hinted at an industry revival.Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.On the first evening in April, Sara Krulwich, a New York Times photographer, visited the Kraine Theater in the East Village, where Mike Daisey, an actor and monologuist, was rehearsing a show for which the seating capacity would be limited to 22. The restriction, Mr. Daisey said, reminded him of his earliest days as a performer, when he was thrilled if even a handful of people were in the audience.For about 20 minutes, Ms. Krulwich photographed Mr. Daisey, adjusting her shutter, she later said, to ensure that “the theater lights and my camera were going to talk to each other in a kindly way.”The next day, Ms. Krulwich photographed part of a performance at the Daryl Roth Theater at Union Square. And on Saturday, she shot a 36-minute performance at the historic St. James Theater in Midtown. Those assignments added up to her busiest stretch of theater work in more than a year.Theatrical productions, dormant since last spring, are resuming in New York City, the first tentative steps toward what actors, directors and others hope will be a strong comeback by the fall. And many in the theater world may see Ms. Krulwich’s presence as a reassuring sign.For more than two decades, she has been a Broadway and Off Broadway fixture, photographing about 100 shows a year, a body of work that led to her receiving a Tony Honor in 2018.After a yearlong absence, Ms. Krulwich began photographing performances and rehearsals, feeling her way back into familiar tasks and reflecting on early traces of a theatrical revival, which, she said, mirrored the stirrings of spring.“The blooms are beginning,” she said by phone. “Even if we’re not seeing the full flowering just yet.”Ms. Krulwich joined The Times as a staff photographer in 1979, working for the Metro, National and Sports desks before becoming the paper’s first culture photographer in 1994.At that time, she said, it was common for news organizations to run theater photographs handed out by producers that tended to present reality in the light most favorable to them. Ms. Krulwich, however, wanted to cover theater with the same journalistic approach that the paper employed while reporting on other events.Ms. Krulwich said that her approach was direct, telling producers that theater was looked upon as news inside The Times and should be documented that way. Eventually, she obtained access to almost every production in the city.Over the years, Ms. Krulwich has captured moments that have become a part of theater lore. She photographed developmental work on the Broadway production of Tony Kushner’s masterwork, “Angels in America.” In 1996, she took what is believed to be the last picture of Jonathan Larson, the writer and composer of “Rent,” hours before his death the night before the show’s first Off Broadway preview.Her Tony, in 2018, made her the first journalist recognized for excellence in the theater, an honor given to people, organizations and institutions that have contributed to the industry but are not eligible to win in other Tony categories.Returning to work inside venues she’s accustomed to, Ms. Krulwich said she took delight in seeing people she has known for many years and looked forward to a time when everyone connected to productions will, once again, be able to make a living.“It’s a small group of people,” she said. “Almost an extended family.”The day after photographing Mr. Daisey, Ms. Krulwich wore an N-95 mask and climbed a ladder at the Daryl Roth while shooting about 20 minutes of a performance of “Blindness,” an audio adaptation of the dystopian novel of the same name by the Portuguese writer José Saramago.And then, the following day, at the St. James, she photographed the dancer Savion Glover and the actor Nathan Lane at the 36-minute event they performed in front of a masked audience of 150.It was, noted Michael Paulson, a Times theater reporter, the first time in 387 days that there was activity inside a Broadway house.Ms. Krulwich said the performance was not the same as one that would have taken place before the coronavirus pandemic, but she added that she felt at home back inside the St. James and appreciated the hints of what is to come.“I must say, it felt familiar to me,” she said. “It’s just a little bit. It’s a tiptoe. It’s the doors opening a crack.” More

  • 88 Shares119 Views

    in Television

    Jimmy Fallon Celebrates Joe Biden’s Early-Bird Special

    Late-night hosts welcomed the news that vaccines would be available to all American adults two weeks ahead of schedule.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. We’re all stuck at home at the moment, so here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.And You Get a Shot!President Biden announced on Tuesday that all American adults would be eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine by April 19, two weeks earlier than his previously stated goal.“Or as Biden calls it: Operation Early-Bird Special,” Jimmy Fallon joked on “The Tonight Show.”“When Joe Biden was running, he promised 100 million shots in 100 days, but we’ve blown past that barrier, baby. The U.S. is now administering about three million shots per day, on average. This administration is delivering pricks in arms. As opposed to the last administration, which delivered armed pricks.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Way to go, Joe! Getting it done early. Although, supporters of the previous president are quick to point out that he was able to finish his entire presidency a whole four years before his original goal.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“You know more people are vaccinated when pajama sales go down and Spanx go up.” — JIMMY FALLON“You get a shot! And you get a shot! And you get a shot! Thanks, President Joe-prah!” — JIMMY KIMMEL“I have to say, this is going to be a solid plan. You get vaxed on 4/19, then you smoke it up on 4/20.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (Opening Day Edition)“Despite warnings from health experts, the Texas Rangers had a full crowd of more than 38,000 people for their home opener. Yeah, when they walked in all of the fans got a Dr. Fauci bobblehead that only shook its head ‘no.’” — JIMMY FALLON“Many of the fans were defiantly maskless. I like that adult men will go to a baseball stadium and wear a glove the whole game, for the one in 98,000 chance they might catch a foul ball. But a mask? No way, out of the question!” — JIMMY KIMMEL“They just couldn’t wait to pee in a trough again.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“You know how they kept the virus away? They did the wave and they just fanned it all the way to Arkansas.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“It was a strange game. It was the first time umpires were trying to get themselves thrown out.” — JIMMY FALLON“For those keeping score, the Rangers lost 6-2. So you can understand why the fans were excited: They only have 80 more chances this season to see the Rangers lose at home.” — STEPHEN COLBERTThe Bits Worth WatchingTrevor Noah broke down the pros and cons of vaccine passports on Tuesday’s “Daily Show.”What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightJulien Baker will perform a track from her latest album, “Little Oblivions,” on Wednesday’s “Late Late Show.”Also, Check This Out“Kung Fu,” a new show on the CW, stars Olivia Liang as an American college student who drops out to train at a monastery in China.Kailey Schwerman/CWThe CW’s “Kung Fu” reboot hopes to right the wrongs of its 1970s predecessor with a female lead and predominantly Asian-American cast. More

  • 125 Shares199 Views

    in Television

    Laura Donnelly’s Week: ‘Dora the Explorer’ and a Poetry Prescription

    When she’s not promoting HBO’s ‘The Nevers,’ the actress listens to Judi Dench’s desert island playlist and watches ‘Harry Potter’ with her kids.The Northern Irish actress Laura Donnelly doesn’t love the “strong female character” label. “I always exchange the word ‘strong’ for ‘complex’ because that’s what we’re looking for,” she said on a video call in late March. “We’re after complexity. We’re after fully rounded, well-drawn characters to get our teeth into.”This may explain why Donnelly recently made an overdue visit to the dentist. An actress of ferocity, precision and jet-black wit, Donnelly played a stern Highland lady on “Outlander” and earned a Tony nomination as a volatile widow in “The Ferryman,” a role written for her by her partner, the playwright Jez Butterworth. In “The Nevers,” which debuts on HBO on April 11, she plays a Amalia True, the leader of a band of Victorian women who manifest unusual abilities. “I wouldn’t quite say superpowers,” Donnelly said. “They’re not all useful.”Amalia, gifted with foresight, has a shadowy past, a legendary right hook and a habit of ditching her walking dresses mid-brawl, because a long skirt can really spoil a roundhouse kick. “You throw yourself at danger like you think it’s going to propose,” a colleague tells her.Donnelly lives more quietly, though she did quit drinking early in the pandemic, which must qualify as an unusual ability. Production on “The Nevers” won’t resume for a few months, so she is currently locked down in London — in the home that she and Butterworth share with their two daughters, 3 and 4 — mothering, batch cooking, trying to get a decent night’s sleep with the help of some meditation apps.Just before she left to receive her first Covid-19 vaccine dose, she detailed a cultural regimen that includes cartoons, poetry and Prince. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.WednesdayIn the morning, I worked out with my stunt trainer. We have “Beyoncé Wednesdays.” It’s the middle-of-the-week slump, and I definitely need energy. We usually put on “Homecoming: The Live Album.” Before I started my training, I watched that documentary and I was like, OK, if Beyoncé can be Beyoncé at Coachella then I can definitely do six weeks stunt training.In the afternoon, I cooked a shepherd’s pie. I figured lamb was almost seasonal. I listened to Judi Dench’s “Desert Island Discs,” the greatest radio show ever. Someone comes on, and they have to choose a certain number of songs that if they would listen to if they were stuck on a desert island. They’re also allowed to choose one book and a luxury item. The most fascinating episodes are always the politicians, because they try to pretend that they are real people with souls and things.Judi Dench, hers is hilarious, she has such trouble trying to bring it down to eight songs, and I feel her pain completely. I always thought that if I was on it, I’d be very tempted to go for a very literal take on being on a desert island — Caribbean stuff. My luxury item would have to be hand cream. I can’t tolerate being anywhere with dry hands.I had a bath, and then I listened to a meditation app for sleep. Meditation was one of those things I’ve kind of done in bits over the years. I’m still not very good at doing it regularly. I should be practicing it more than I do. But most nights I will do a sleep one, usually on Buddhify or Insight Timer. Normally once I closed my eyes, it would take about an hour for my brain to wind down. But with those I am always without fail asleep before the end of the meditation and. I genuinely do find that my quality of sleep is totally different, it’s much deeper and much more peaceful.ThursdayBefore a day of press, my hair and makeup team came. We listened to Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison, mostly for calmness and comfort. I use music for everything. I use it to energize, I use it to relax, I use that to enhance a feeling or change up a bad feeling. It’s the single most important art form in my life.Just before the junket began, I listened to Prince’s “When Doves Cry” and then “I Want You” by Marvin Gaye to put me slightly more in a socializing mood. For a junket like that, it’s six minutes with any journalist and, most of the time, similar questions over and over again. I want to be genuine, I want to engage as best I can. But I’m not a hugely sociable person. I wouldn’t naturally drift towards parties and events. I was pretty comfortable with the level of social interaction I was getting in lockdown.Afterward, I listened to an audiobook, “Conflict Is Not Abuse,” by Sarah Schulman. It has to do with mutual accountability in a culture of underreaction to abuse and overreaction to conflict. Our current tendency to scapegoat people really results in a lack of accountability and a lack of self-examination. I find it particularly fascinating, just in regards to our cancel culture, because I’m trying to get my head around it.Kalpesh Lathigra for The New York TimesFridayI was up at 7 a.m. with my kids. They didn’t have to go to school, and we had a nice lazy start to the day. We watched “Dora the Explorer.” I know a lot of “Dora the Explorer.” And all of her many songs. The vast majority of my cultural consumption at the moment is aimed at my children. Lots of Disney films, lots of Pixar, all that stuff.I had another press junket day and got in very late. My mind was racing at the same time as I was physically exhausted. So I did a sleep meditation and went off to sleep.SaturdayI had a rare lie in, and I read a quick chapter of Charlie Chaplin’s autobiography. That man’s life was something else. I put less pressure on myself to fully consume something. Biographies I find good for that. I tend to have several books on the bedside, and I go in and out of whatever I feel like that day. Joan Didion always works. I don’t tend to read a lot of modern fiction. The only exception recently was “Shuggie Bain” by Douglas Stuart. It’s just the most beautiful, beautiful piece of fiction and so tenderly written.With the girls, we listened to a playlist of The Faces and Bert Jansch. Ninety-eight percent of the music that I listen to is from the last century, mostly from before I was born. We made a pact that as much as we could, we’d introduce the girls to our music from the start. We just didn’t want to be listening to the Little Mermaid on a loop for four hours. So we decided really early that they weren’t going to know what kids’ music was.At lunchtime, we watched “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” They’re still too young to really move on to the next one. I had never watched them [the “Harry Potter” movies]. It’s genuinely a world I know so little about, so it we’ll be discovering it together.In the evening, we watched “The Innocent Man” on Netflix. I will watch anything about either a true crime or a cult. I’ve watched “The Jinx” about six times. I’m just constantly looking for somebody else to watch “The Jinx” with. I love a documentary, my favorite one of late was Fran Lebowitz’s “Pretend It’s a City.” I don’t think I’m alone in wishing she and I were best friends. And “In and of Itself” on Hulu. Oh my goodness, I was thinking about it for weeks afterwards.SundayI had a long car ride by myself, precious time, despite going to get my mouth prised open by the dentist. I have been long avoiding the dentist. I listened to a friend of mine’s podcast. It’s called “Persistent and Nasty.” The women presenting it are actresses, and so they have very intelligent and bold and powerful conversations with other women in the arts.The dentist was really amazing. He has cured me of my aversion. On the way home I listened to Catherine Gray’s “The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober.” Toward the start of lockdown, I decided to stop drinking alcohol. And that was just based around a desire to feel more present in my life. I like listening to books like this, and hers is particularly lovely, because it’s not a deep and dark dive into someone’s terrible addiction. It’s a celebration of everything that she has gained from not drinking.In the afternoon, I dipped into “The Poetry Pharmacy” by William Sieghart. God, it’s a lovely book. It has a list of what do you want from a poem and then it gives you a poem. The condition I read on was failure to live in the moment. So I read “Golden Retrievals” by Mark Doty: “A Zen master’s bronzy gong, calls you here,/ entirely, now: bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow.” More