Entertainment category, Page 194
‘Harry Potter’ fired from Broadway’s ‘Cursed Child’ production
NEW YORK — The actor playing Harry Potter has been fired from the Broadway production of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” following a complaint by a co-star about his conduct. Producers said Sunday night that, after an independent investigation of the incident, they decided to terminate the contract of...
‘Spider-Man’ comes back swinging, takes No. 1 from ‘Scream’
After spending one weekend in second place, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” proved it still had some fight left. Sony’s superhero juggernaut swung back to first place in its sixth weekend in theaters and became the sixth highest grossing film of all time, globally. The film topped the North American charts...
‘Stop Right There!’: Ellen Foley recalls epic duet with Meat Loaf
“Stop Right There!” Three words of warning — and three words that Ellen Foley credits with launching her career in music. It was Foley who belted out the words to Meat Loaf about halfway through their eight-and-a-half minute duet “Paradise By the Dashboard Light,” the epic seduction song on his...
Ian Alexander Jr., only child of Regina King, dies at age 26
Ian Alexander Jr., the only child of award-winning actor and director Regina King, has died. He turned 26 on Wednesday. “Our family is devastated at the deepest level by the loss of Ian,” a family statement shared Saturday by a King spokesman said. “He is such a bright light who...
‘SignTasTic!,’ game show featuring sign language, filming in Pittsburgh
A unique new game show aiming to raise awareness about American Sign Language and the deaf community is being filmed in Pittsburgh. Each episode of the show, dubbed “SignTasTic!,” features two contestants who have to learn 50 sign language words before the show. The show then tests how well they’ve...
Louie Anderson, Emmy-winning comedian, dies at 68Video
LOS ANGELES — Louie Anderson, whose four-decade career as a comedian and actor included his unlikely, Emmy-winning performance as mom to twin adult sons in the TV series “Baskets,” died Friday. He was 68. Anderson died at a hospital in Las Vegas of complications from cancer, said Glenn Schwartz, his...
Ben Folds announces 2022 Pittsburgh tour stop
Singer/songwriter Ben Folds hasn’t performed in Pittsburgh since the start of the pandemic. But if the title of his current tour is any indication, Folds is very excited about being back in the ‘Burgh. Folds is bringing his “In Actual Person Live for Real Tour” to Heinz Hall on June...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: Jan. 21-23
Boogie (some) more Southern rock fans, don’t flirt with disaster by missing Molly Hatchet at 7 p.m. Friday at The Lamp Theatre in Irwin. Formed in Florida in 1971, the band had its heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s, releasing the platinum-selling hit records, “Molly Hatchet” in 1978,...
Meat Loaf, ‘Bat Out of Hell’ rock superstar, dies at 74
NEW YORK — Meat Loaf, the heavyweight rock superstar loved by millions for his “Bat Out of Hell” album and for such theatrical, dark-hearted anthems as “Paradise By the Dashboard Light,” “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” and “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” has died....
Sports talk radio mainstay Jim Colony retiring from 93.7 The Fan
Not since legendary meteorologist Bob Kudzma left the KDKA-TV airwaves two decades ago has a New England native left such an impression on the Pittsburgh media landscape. Jim Colony, who brought a vast knowledge of sports, a self-deprecating sense of humor and a bit of a New England twang to...
Trafford’s Theatre Factory stages Tony, Pulitzer award-winner ‘Doubt’
Some dramatic themes are relevant generation after generation. So it is with “Doubt: A Parable,” according to Jeff Johnston, who is directing a production of the play opening Jan. 28 at The Theatre Factory in Trafford and running Thursdays-Sundays through Feb. 5. “This piece calls into question a lot of...
New Mo Willems ‘Pigeon’ book to be released in September
NEW YORK — An imprint launched last week by Barnes & Noble has signed up one of the country’s top children’s author-illustrators, Mo Willems, best known for his “Pigeon” picture books. Willems has a five-book deal with Union Square Kids, including for “The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster!”, scheduled...
Pitt jazz week focuses on local music legend Erroll Garner
The 51st annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert will focus on a local jazz legend, the late Erroll Garner. Running Monday through Jan. 29, the event will feature performances by Pitt jazz students and faculty, a symposium on musicians’ rights, a virtual tour of the Erroll Garner Archive housed at...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh native’s Zachary Quinto film gets Sundance screening; gorgeous ‘Gilded Age’ debuts
Most viewers first got to know Pittsburgh native Zachary Quinto as the sinister Sylar on NBC’s “Heroes.” He plays another dark, complex character in “Chaperone,” a 16-minute short film written/directed by Pittsburgh native Sam Max that’s now streaming through Jan. 30 as part of the virtual Sundance Film Festival. Max...
Greensburg native’s directorial debut will premiere Jan. 21 on NetflixVideo
A few years ago, Sujata Day would likely have described her directorial debut, “Definition Please,” in terms of the number of theaters and cities where it would be opening. And while the Greensburg native’s debut won’t be premiering in theaters, she could conceivably say it will be opening on 95...
Jon Stewart to receive Mark Twain lifetime award for comedy
Comedian, talk show host and political influencer Jon Stewart has been named the 23rd recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Award for lifetime achievement in comedy. The 59-year-old Stewart — born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz — rose to prominence as a standup comic and host of multiple failed talk shows...
Explainer: Microsoft’s Activision buy could shake up gaming
Microsoft stunned the gaming industry when it announced this week it would buy game publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, a deal that would immediately make it a larger video-game company than Nintendo. Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, said the deal would be good for gamers and advance...
Greensburg Art Center exhibition reveals artists’ ‘Ah-Ha!’ moments
The moment that inspiration strikes is explored in a new members’ exhibition at Greensburg Art Center. “Ah-Ha!” will open with a reception from 2-4 p.m. Saturday in the center at 230 Todd School Road, Hempfield. Organizers of the open show asked artists to submit works that reveal moments of inspiration...
Wordle up: Online word game is viral brain teaser
Mary Briggs calls herself a “wordy.” “I just love words,” said Briggs, of North Huntingdon. “I have always been an avid reader because my parents constantly read to me when I was a child. When I get up every morning, I make coffee and read several newspapers, then I do...
Former AG William Barr’s memoir to be published March 8
NEW YORK — Former Attorney General William P. Barr has a memoir coming out March 8 titled “One Damn Thing After Another,” and billed by his publisher as a “vivid and forthright book” of his time serving two “drastically different” presidents, Donald Trump and George H.W. Bush. “Barr takes readers...
Book review: An imperialist repents in ‘Gangsters of Capitalism’
“Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire” by Jonathan M. Katz (St. Martin’s Press) Plenty of U.S. veterans of the country’s 21-century “forever wars” — men and women who lost buddies and limbs to roadside bombs and suffer psychic scars — struggle...
‘Pretty Woman’ musical headed for Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center
Broadway regular and Tony Award nominee Adam Pascal will tread the boards of the Benedum Center in “Pretty Woman: The Musical,” coming Feb. 1-6 as part of the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh Series. The national touring cast also features rising Broadway star Olivia Valli, playing the role of Vivian Ward...
‘This Is Us,’ ‘black-ish’ salutes set for Paley TV festival
LOS ANGELES — “This Is Us,” “black-ish” and “Better Call Saul” are among the shows to be saluted at the Paley Center for Media’s annual TV festival, returning to live events after two years of pandemic-caused virtual editions. The trio of shows, all set to end this year, will be...
Pittsburgh Opera presents dark, fairy tale-based ‘Rose Elf’
Pittsburgh Opera is traveling to the land of make-believe for its next production. “The Rose Elf,” based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Elf of the Rose,” opens Friday at the Bitz Opera Factory, the opera’s headquarters at 2425 Liberty Ave. While it is currently sold out, the...
‘Yellowjackets’ creators break down ‘heartbreaking’ finale — and your fan theories
Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, the married writing duo behind Showtime’s “Yellowjackets,” started with a simple idea: What if a girl’s sports team was in a plane crash and had to survive? What materialized is a compelling and unnerving coming-of-age tale —a chilling remix of “My-So-Called Life,” “Now & Then,”...
