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      in Theater

      He Wants People Restarting Their Lives to See Themselves Onstage

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      Tarell Alvin McCraney, the artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, is focused on bringing marginalized people to the theater.At a time when nonprofit theaters are still recovering from the pandemic shutdown and are looking to connect with their communities, Tarell Alvin McCraney is looking in unorthodox places: prisons, homeless shelters and the foster care system.One year into his tenure as the artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, McCraney, 43, doesn’t just want to expand his audience, he wants the theater to be a place where the marginalized and struggling see themselves onstage and feel welcome.“The first thing we do is make sure that they can see plays that reflect their lives,” McCraney said in a recent interview, “plays that deal with folks who are in the system, formerly incarcerated, trying to rebuild their lives.”It is with this priority in mind that McCraney decided to start this season with his own play, “The Brothers Size,” which began previews Aug. 14 and explores the complicated but loving relationship between Oshoosi, just out of prison, and his older brother Ogun. The Geffen has offered free tickets to “populations impacted by incarceration” through its Theater as a Lens for Justice initiative, which McCraney started shortly after his arrival.The Geffen, which has an annual operating budget of about $15 million and a staff of 45 full-time employees, will do the same with its upcoming productions of “Waiting for Godot,” which opens in November, and “Furlough’s Paradise,” which opens next April.These types of outreach efforts might not necessarily translate into ticket sales. But nonprofit theaters all over the country are eager to build their audiences at a time when subscriptions have declined; the Mark Taper theater in Los Angeles suspended productions last year.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Television

      Perry Kurtz, Comedian Who Appeared on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Dies at 73

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      Mr. Kurtz, who was killed in a hit-and-run on Thursday, honed his routine over decades and eventually became a recognizable face at comedy institutions.Perry Kurtz, who worked stand-up comedy circuits for decades and appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” died on Thursday night in a hit-and-run in Los Angeles. He was 73.A daughter, Zelda Velazquez, confirmed his death. Mr. Kurtz was crossing Ventura Boulevard when he was struck by a car, according to the authorities. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver was later arrested.Mr. Kurtz was a familiar face in long-established comedy halls, such as the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, but rose to prominence on the national stage with an appearance on “America’s Got Talent” in 2013 in which he performed a rap wearing a silver suit that gleamed like a disco ball.The performance did not go over well with the judges, who eliminated him from the competition, but it fit a campy persona that Mr. Kurtz embraced.On “The Late Late Show With James Corden” in 2018, Mr. Kurtz walked onstage wearing thick suspenders and a Hawaiian shirt, a keytar hanging around his neck. He proceeded to play “Louie Louie,” made famous by the Kingsmen, using his tongue.“In 1979 I moved to San Francisco to pursue my dream,” Mr. Kurtz said in a 2022 interview with Shoutout LA. “Since then, the only job I’ve had is making people laugh.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Television

      The Pain of Matthew Perry’s Last Days as He Relied on Ketamine

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      Court papers show that Mr. Perry, the “Friends” star who had long struggled with addiction, was increasingly taking ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, in the days before he died.On the day Matthew Perry died, his live-in personal assistant gave him his first ketamine shot of the morning at around 8:30 a.m. About four hours later, while Mr. Perry watched a movie at his home in Los Angeles, the assistant gave him another injection.It was only about 40 minutes later that Mr. Perry wanted another shot, the assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, recalled in a plea agreement that he signed.“Shoot me up with a big one,” Mr. Perry told Mr. Iwamasa, according to the agreement, and asked him to prepare his hot tub.So Mr. Iwamasa filled a syringe with ketamine, gave his boss a third shot and left the house to run some errands, according to court papers. When he returned, he found Mr. Perry face down in the water, dead.Mr. Iwamasa was one of five people who the authorities in California said this week had been charged with a conspiracy to distribute ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, to Mr. Perry. The defendants also included two doctors, a woman accused of being a dealer and an acquaintance who pleaded guilty to acting as a middleman.Mr. Perry, a beloved figure who rose to fame playing Chandler Bing on the sitcom “Friends,” had long struggled with addiction. Court papers filed in the case shed light on the desperate weeks leading up to Mr. Perry’s death on Oct. 28 at the age of 54.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Television

      Four Arrested in Killing of ‘General Hospital’ Actor

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      The police said they arrested three men on murder charges in the fatal May 25 shooting of Johnny Wactor, 37, in Los Angeles. A fourth person was also charged.The authorities have arrested four men in the killing of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, who was shot dead in May as three men attempted to steal the catalytic converter from his vehicle in downtown Los Angeles.The Los Angeles Police Department on Thursday announced the arrests of Robert Barceleau, Leonel Gutierrez and Sergio Estrada. All three men are 18 and from Los Angeles County. They will face murder charges.They were arrested Thursday and were being held on $2 million bond, jail records show. A fourth man, Frank Olano, 22, was arrested on an accessory charge for helping at least one of the suspects evade the authorities.Mr. Wactor was gunned down at around 3:25 a.m. on May 25 when he returned to his parked vehicle after finishing a shift at a downtown Los Angeles bar where he worked. The 37-year-old came across three men who were in the middle of stealing his car’s catalytic converter.“When Wactor arrived at his vehicle, he was confronted by three individuals who had Wactor’s vehicle raised up with a floor jack and were in the process of stealing the catalytic converter,” the police said. “Without provocation, the victim was shot by one of the individuals.”The actor was walking with a co-worker and initially thought that his car was being towed, his mother, Scarlett Wactor, told ABC7 news.She added that one of the persons “looked up, he was wearing a mask, and opened fire.”Mr. Wactor was transported to the hospital by emergency workers where he was pronounced dead.The three men were able to get away in a stolen sedan, the police said in August.Mr. Wactor was known for appearing in more than 160 episodes of the soap opera “General Hospital” as the character Brando Corbin. He also appeared in other shows, including “Westworld” and in one episode of “Criminal Minds,” according to IMDb.Catalytic converter thefts have become more common across America in recent years.The emissions-control devices contain rare and expensive metals like palladium and rhodium, making them a hot target for thieves.In a Thursday evening phone call, Ms. Wactor said she was glad to hear that the arrests had been made and said she hoped the men are convicted.“It’s a great early birthday present for Johnny,” Ms. Wactor said.Her son, she said, would have been 38 on Aug. 31. More

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      in Television

      Gabriel Olds, Los Angeles Actor, Is Arrested on Sexual Assault Charges

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      Gabriel Olds, who played the Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson in the 2021 movie “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” has been accused of sexually assaulting three women.A Los Angeles actor was arrested on Wednesday after three women accused him of luring them into a “false sense of security” on dates and then sexually assaulting them, the police said.The actor, Gabriel Olds, 52, has had roles in television, film and stage productions since the 1990s, including a turn as Pat Robertson, the Baptist minister and broadcaster, in the 2021 movie “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” starring Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield.The Los Angeles police said in a statement on Wednesday that investigators had identified three women whom Mr. Olds sexually assaulted since 2013, as well as two other women who reported “lesser violent sexual conduct.” Mr. Olds, who was charged with seven counts of felony sexual assault, was being held for $3.5 million bail.It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.Because Mr. Olds often traveled for work, detectives believe there may be more victims in other parts of the country who have not come forward, the Los Angeles police said.A New York native and Yale alumnus, Mr. Olds used his status as an Ivy League graduate with a long list of film credits to meet women and arrange dates, the police said. He met some of the women on dating apps, the police said.One of the three women, who was 41, reported on Jan. 19, 2023, that Mr. Olds had raped her at her home in Los Angeles, the police said. The two other women later reported similar assaults dating back to 2013, the police said.“We heard the same story again and again,” Detective Brent Hopkins, a supervisor in the special assault section of the Los Angeles Police Department, said in a statement. “Mr. Olds started off charming, but then used brutal violence to carry out these rapes. Some of these survivors suffered in silence for years before finding the strength to speak up. Now that he’s off the streets, we want to make sure everyone has a chance to be heard.”Mr. Olds’s television credits include appearances in two episodes of “NCIS: Los Angeles” and in a single episode of the NBC series “Blindspot,” according to IMDB. On the New York stage, he played Rodolpho in a 1997 production by the Roundabout Theater Company of Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge.” More

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      in Music

      Man Is Found Guilty in Killing of Rapper PnB Rock

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      Prosecutors said that the man, Freddie Lee Trone, sent his teenage son into a restaurant armed with a handgun to rob the rapper.A man was found guilty on Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of the rapper PnB Rock at a Los Angeles restaurant in 2022 in a brazen attack that shocked his fans and the music industry.A Los Angeles County jury found the man, Freddie Lee Trone, 42, guilty of one count of felony murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said in a news release on Wednesday.The prosecution said that Mr. Trone sent his son, who was 17 at the time, into the restaurant armed with a handgun to rob the rapper and his girlfriend, who were dining there. He then shot and killed PnB Rock, prosecutors said.PnB Rock, whose legal name was Rakim Allen, was part of a wave of rappers whose popularity and unique sound was partly built on their ability to effortlessly switch between singing and rapping. He gained fame in 2015 with his song “Fleek.” Then came “Selfish,” which peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.Deannea Allen, the mother of PnB Rock, said in an interview on Wednesday evening that she was “elated” when the verdict was read.“I just said, ‘Hallelujah, thank God,’” said Ms. Allen, who said she was shaking and so elated that she wanted to scream. “Justice has been served.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Movies

      ‘MaXXXine’ Director Ti West Is Turning Hollywood Into a Horror Show

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      The Vista is a 101-year-old single-screen movie theater, one of the last of its kind in Los Angeles. A few years ago, midpandemic, Quentin Tarantino bought it, fixed it up, even opened a coffee shop next door and named it after the Pam Grier film “Coffy.” When asked why he bought the Vista or the New Beverly, another single-screen he owns, Tarantino has said: “I’ve got a living room. I want to go to a movie theater.” A few weeks ago I went to a sold-out double feature at the Vista: the film “X” and its prequel, “Pearl.” Both came out in 2022, both were released by the art-house mainstay A24 and both were directed by Ti West, a filmmaker sometimes compared with Tarantino — not least because both have made movies that are obsessed with the process, history and mythology of moviemaking itself. For Tarantino, that film was “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” in which two working actors stumble through the Hollywood of 1969, as one film era crashes into another. For West, it is “X” and “Pearl” and the trilogy’s final film, the newly released “MaXXXine.” These are, like most of West’s films, nominally horror movies. But they are also much stranger and more slippery than that label might suggest. In all three films, the horror stems from the characters’ drive toward stardom and their ruthless, sometimes psychotic ambition, which is fully unleashed by the possibilities of the silver screen.Martin Scorsese, a fan of West’s, wrote to me that he thought each film in the trilogy represented a “different type of horror, related to different eras in American moviemaking.” The first, “X,” is “the ’70s, the slasher era”; “Pearl” is “’50s melodrama in vivid saturated color; “MaXXXine” is “’80s Hollywood, rancid, desperate.” They are, Scorsese wrote, “three linked stories set within three different moments in movie culture, reflecting back on the greater culture.” By smuggling thoroughly modern ideas into films that were also steeped in the aesthetics of the past, Scorsese thought, West had done something bold and thoroughly cinematic.That night at the Vista, after “X” played, West sat onstage with the actress Lily Collins, who is in “MaXXXine,” and they talked about the making of the trilogy. Weeks earlier, over breakfast, West had shared with me an idea he was considering for the event: He wanted to surprise the audience by screening the new film instead of “Pearl.” It would be the first time he put “MaXXXine” in front of a real, live, movie-loving audience, as opposed to critics and press and industry types. The director Ti West, left, on the set of “MaXXXine,” the final installment in a horror trilogy that began with “X” and “Pearl.”Eddy Chen/A24Mia Goth in “MaXXXine.” She plays multiple roles across the course of the trilogy.Justin Lubin/A24The idea delighted West, he explained, because he was always interested in the process of leading an audience to that place where they know something is coming, and they probably have an idea of what it might be, but they find when it arrives that it is not at all what they expected. One of his favorite movie moments that does this is in “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” at the end of the bazaar chase, when the crowd separates and a swordsman steps out. Indy looks at him for a beat, and you think to yourself: This is really exciting — he’s going to have a big battle against that guy with the sword! But instead, Indy simply pulls out his gun and shoots the guy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      in Music

      Killer Mike Won’t Face Charges After Grammys Arrest

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      The rapper, who got into an altercation with a security guard after winning three Grammys, has completed community service.Killer Mike will not face charges for the altercation with a security guard that led to his arrest at the Grammys on the same February night he won three awards, Los Angeles authorities announced this week.In a statement, Ivor Pine, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, said the veteran rapper had fulfilled “a community service requirement that was imposed.” The office declined to comment further.Representatives for Killer Mike, born Michael Render, declined to comment.News of the arrest disrupted an otherwise triumphant night for Killer Mike. Minutes before he was escorted from Crypto.com Arena in handcuffs, he had been onstage accepting the award for best rap album for “Michael,” his first solo album in more than a decade. A song from the album, “Scientists & Engineers,” which features André 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane, received two awards.Killer Mike was evasive in comments made to journalists after the arrest, but a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department said he had been arrested on a charge of misdemeanor battery. In his own statement, two days later, the rapper said he had gotten into an altercation with a security guard while trying to enter the venue.“As you can imagine, there was a lot going and there was some confusion around which door my team and I should enter,” the statement read. “We experienced an overzealous security guard, but my team and I have the upmost confidence that I will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing.” More