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    With ‘Étoile,’ Amy Sherman-Palladino Gives Ballet Another Whirl

    Her “Bunheads” and other ballet shows were canceled quickly. This new series, created with her husband, centers on fictional companies in New York and Paris.The dancers streamed across the stage of a historic Paris theater, leaping and turning, the women lifted high into the air and whirled aloft, before aligning to bow on the final chords of the music. “Bravo! Bravo!” cried the enthusiastically applauding audience.Then Amy Sherman-Palladino, sporting a white baseball cap, walked onstage with a Steadicam operator, consulted the choreographer Marguerite Derricks, and clapped her hands sharply. “Let’s go!” she called. Moments later, the cameraman was running frantically amid the dancers as Sherman-Palladino peered at a monitor, watching the way their movement was captured from inside the groupings.“That was great, you guys were fabulous,” she called out at the end. She turned to the audience “What do you think?” Much applause. The cameraman took a little bow.It was last May at the Théâtre du Châtelet, where Sherman-Palladino; her husband and creative partner, Daniel Palladino; and their team were filming “Étoile,” a new Amazon Prime Video series debuting on Thursday.The show (the title means “star” in French) tells the story of two major ballet companies — the Ballet National (a thinly veiled Paris Opera Ballet), and the New York-based Metropolitan Ballet Theater (a mash-up of American Ballet Theater and New York City Ballet) — collaborating on an exchange of artists in order to boost sales and drum up publicity.Charlotte Gainsbourg, center, stars as a French ballet company director who “pretends to be a very strong boss but on her own is vulnerable,” she said. “It spoke to me, that double face.”Philippe Antonello/Amazon MGM StudiosWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Best Movies and Shows Streaming in April: ‘Étoile,’ ‘Hacks,’ ‘The Last of Us’ and More

    “Étoile,” “Government Cheese” and an Oklahoma City bombing documentary arrive, and “Hacks” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” return.Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of April’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)New to Amazon Prime Video‘The Bondsman’ Season 1Starts streaming: April 3Kevin Bacon plays the hard-boiled Georgia bounty hunter Hub Halloran in this action-comedy, which has a supernatural twist. Hub dies in the opening scene of the first episode, then gets reincarnated thanks to some satanic intervention. He is then given a new job, hunting demons who have escaped from Hell. Created by Grainger David and produced and written by Erik Oleson for the horror-friendly Blumhouse Television, “The Bondsman” features all the gory splatter one might expect from a show about a heavily armed monster-killer. But the series also explores its undead antihero’s complicated personal life, which involves a an ex-wife, Maryanne (Jennifer Nettles), whose budding country music career is being handled by a highly suspicious creep named Lucky (Damon Herriman).‘Étoile’ Season 1Starts streaming: April 24The writer-producer husband-wife team of Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino — best-known for “Gilmore Girls” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” — are back with a new series, set in the world of dance, just like their short-lived gem “Bunheads.” Luke Kirby plays the leader of a venerable New York ballet company. Charlotte Gainsbourg plays the leader of a venerable Paris ballet company. When their organizations struggle, they decide to generate some public interest by swapping their top stars. “Étoile” generates comedy and drama from the very different theatrical cultures in Europe and America. The supporting cast is filled with professional dancers, so the ballet sequences should be realistic and dynamic — and not just something to fill the space between the creators’ usual fast-paced, witty banter.Also arriving:April 1“America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation” Season 2April 8“Spy High”April 10“G20”April 17“#1 Happy Family USA” Season 1“Leverage Redemption” Season 3Jon Hamm in “Your Friends & Neighbors,” Season 1.Jessica Kourkounis/Apple TV+New to Apple TV+‘Your Friends and Neighbors’ Season 1Starts streaming: April 11In this offbeat crime drama, Jon Hamm plays Andrew Cooper, a.k.a. Coop, a swaggering New York money manager who loses everything — including his wife and job — and compensates by becoming a gentleman thief, stealing from his wealthy pals. The show emphasizes the ironic fragility of Coop’s situation, as someone who has lived and socialized with some of the richest people in the United States, yet is suddenly on the verge of going broke. Created by Jonathan Tropper (“Banshee,” “Warrior”), “Your Friends and Neighbors” is about the high-end homes that only some people can access, and about how someone who is trusted enough to be let inside can treat these personal spaces like an A.T.M.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