Entertainment category, Page 256
Franklin Regional Thespians rehearse for virtual fall play, ‘A Delightful Quarantine’Video
The Franklin Regional Thespians were originally planning to perform “A Christmas Carol” as their fall production. But they certainly weren’t going to risk an asymptomatic Scrooge passing the coronavirus to Bob Cratchit. And, while this season’s virtual fall play has “Quarantine” in the title, it has nothing to do with...
Actor Lori Loughlin reports to prison in college scam
BOSTON — “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin has reported to a federal prison in California to begin serving her two-month sentence for her role in the college admissions bribery scandal, authorities said Friday. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston said Loughlin was being processed at the federal lockup in Dublin,...
KDKA’s century of radio is filled with broadcasting firsts and iconic personalitiesVideo
Frank Conrad was never one to think small. An assistant chief engineer at Westinghouse Electric’s East Pittsburgh Works, Conrad had taken the unprecedented step of putting a microphone next to a phonograph so listeners of his home-built station, 8KX, could hear music. Then he brought an even bigger idea to...
Pittsburgh artist creates scene with replica of President Trump head
Yes, that indeed is a 7-foot gold replica of President Donald Trump’s head one might see, strapped to the bed of a U-Haul pickup truck driving around Pittsburgh. Arjen van Lith, a Dutch artist and writer living in Shadyside, designed and created the piece. It’s comprised of 3 millimeter coroplast,...
Scarlett Johansson, Colin Jost marry in private ceremony
LOS ANGELES — Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost have tied the knot a year after engagement. Meals on Wheels America announced Thursday on Instagram that Johansson and Jost married over the weekend in an intimate ceremony. The post said the couple’s wedding followed the covid-19 safety precautions as “directed by...
Hampton teen inspired by Taylor Swift wins WYEP’s singer-songwriter competitionVideo
Lindsay Liebro hasn’t had years of vocal training or lessons on a musical instrument. The 16-year-old Hampton High School junior says she developed her vocal style by singing in the choir and performing in school musicals. And she is self-taught on the guitar, which she says “came so naturally.” But...
Pitt Library System acquires August Wilson archive
An adage taken from the title of a Thomas Wolfe novel states, “You can’t go home again.” However, August Wilson is doing just that. Or at least his archive is. The University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS) has acquired the August Wilson archive with the help of Wilson’s widow, Constanza...
SiriusXM launches 14 of its holiday music channelsVideo
SiriusXM announced today that 14 of its 17 holiday music channels are available now on the app. The lineup will include 17 ad-free channels including a new channel, Jolly Christmas. The holiday music channels include traditional songs, classic Christmas carols, holiday pop, country Christmas, contemporary, soul, Hanukkah and Christmas favorites....
TV Talk: CBS’s ‘Mom’ returns next week with Pittsburgh native directing
When CBS’s “Mom” returns next week (9 p.m. Nov. 5, KDKA-TV) the show will have some big changes in store as star Anna Faris’ Christy departs off-screen. It’s a changing-of-the-guard “Mom” series director and Pittsburgh native Jamie Widdoes has overseen before on TV series. He was there when “8 Simple...
PICT Classic Theatre streams ‘wicked drama,’ announces 24th season
PICT Classic Theatre is inviting theater lovers to enjoy “a wicked drama with great voices,” with its classic radio theater production of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll,” streaming through Saturday. PICT also will present an audio experience of the holiday classic, “Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol,” streaming Dec. 17-Jan....
Plans for PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh continue to evolve; ‘Hamilton’ confirmed for 2022Video
There’s good news and bad news about the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series, currently on hiatus due to pandemic restrictions. “I want to promise you and assure you that Pittsburgh will see Broadway again,” said Pittsburgh Cultural Trust CEO Kevin McMahon on Tuesday, during an online town hall meeting for...
Review: With high sorcery, ‘The Craft: Legacy’ casts a spellVideo
More than a few Halloweens ago — two dozen to be exact — came a film that looked like a treat but ended up as a trick. “The Craft” was about four teenage witches who eventually turned their powers against each other and lost everything, leaving the film with a...
The late Whitney Houston makes history with 3rd diamond albumVideo
The late Whitney Houston has earned her third diamond-certified album, becoming the first Black artist to achieve the feat. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Legacy Recordings announced Wednesday that Houston’s 1987 sophomore album, “Whitney,” has reached diamond status, which is equivalent to selling 10 million albums. Her...
TV Q & A: What happened to ‘Pennsylvania’s icebox’ in TV weather forecasts?
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Sunday Tribune-Review. Q: Pittsburgh TV weather forecasters’ temperature maps always used to include what the late Joe DeNardo called Pennsylvania’s icebox, Bradford, Pa. Now none do. What caused...
TV Talk: ‘This is Us’ spotlights Pittsburgh’s Jonny Gammage
Please note: This article includes spoilers from the fifth-season premiere of “This is Us” that originally aired 9-11 p.m. ET on Oct. 27, 2020. NBC’s partially Pittsburgh-set “This is Us” often imports real-life Pittsburgh, whether it’s references to sports figures, locations, characters dressed in Steelers gear or a 1970s-era visit...
‘Voice’ co-stars Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani engaged
“The Voice” co-stars Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani are engaged and sharing the good news on social media. Shelton and Stefani posted a picture Tuesday announcing the engagement between the country star and the pop singer. View this post on Instagram Hey @gwenstefani thanks for saving my 2020... And the...
Pitt-Greensburg plans online radio play version of ‘An Enemy of the People’
Clayton Gregg, a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, sees one advantage to the pandemic-driven practice of presenting Zoom versions of theater productions. “It might be good for someone with stage fright,” he said, to act from the comfort of home. Gregg will play the part of Peter...
Final ‘Miss Peregrine’ novel to be published in February
We’ll soon be saying farewell to peculiars, non-peculiars and ymbrynes: Ransom Riggs has written his final tale of “Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children.” Penguin Young Readers announced Tuesday that “The Desolations of Devil’s Acre” will come out Feb. 23, again featuring young Jacob Portman and the pipe-smoking headmistress Alma LeFay Peregrine....
Westmoreland-based Derek Woods Band earns Hollywood music award nominationVideo
The first award nomination for a Westmoreland County-based band is a bright spot in a challenging year. “Unforgiving Tree,” a song and video by the Derek Woods Band, is nominated in the Americana/Folk/Acoustic category of the Hollywood Music in Media Awards to be announced Jan. 27. “We’re in a network...
Lost interviews hold new Bob Dylan insights
For nearly half a century, they were blowin’ in the wind: lost interviews that contained surprising new insights about celebrated singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Transcripts of the 1971 interviews with the late American blues artist Tony Glover — and letters the two friends exchanged — have surfaced at a Boston auction...
Halloween week is the perfect time to tune into ‘Dead and Buried Treasures’
Erik Sprowls recalled watching “Chiller Theater,” a Saturday night show of horror, fantasy and science fiction movies. It was on years ago and hosted by the late Bill Cardille known as “Chilly Billy,” on WIIC-TV, now WPXI-TV. Sprowls has created a production, “Dead and Buried Treasures,” where he shows similar...
‘Borat’ star Sacha Baron Cohen offers Trump a role in next film: ‘You’ll need a job’
If Donald Trump doesn’t achieve great success in the upcoming presidential election, Sacha Baron Cohen has a new gig lined up for the president. After Trump called the English comedian an unfunny “phony” and “a creep” in response to his buzzy new mockumentary, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” Baron Cohen had a...
Fox News anchors quarantine after virus exposure on flight
NEW YORK — Several Fox News Channel on-air personalities were exposed last week to someone on a private plane who later tested positive for covid-19, leading the network to take extra precautions this week. The network said in a memo to staff members on Monday that there had recently been...
It’s a (big) boy: White rhino born at Disney World
ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s a boy — a big boy. A 150-pound white rhinoceros was born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World in Florida over the weekend. The as-yet-named rhino was born to Kendi, who was the first white rhinoceros born at the animal theme park...
TV Talk: Netflix horror series ‘Archive 81’ to film in Pittsburgh
New Netflix supernatural horror series “Archive 81” begins filming in Pittsburgh next month. A production office is already open and hiring crew. Netflix confirmed the series comes from veteran horror director James Wan (“Saw,” “The Conjuring”) who executive produces “Archive 81” alongside showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine (“The Boys,” “The Vampire Diaries”)....
