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Lea Thompson admitted she was surprised when she heard about her former Dancing with the Stars partner Artem Chigvintsev’s arrest and recalled the “crazy thing” he told her during a difficult working relationship.

The Back to the Future actress competed in Season 19, and she and dance pro Chigvintsev finished sixth after being eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Monsters and Critics reported that Chigvintsev’s wife, Nikki Bella, was considering divorce after his arrest for alleged domestic violence.

Thompson recently appeared on former professional dancer Cheryl Burke’s Sex, Lies, and Spraytans podcast and spoke about her experience with him while on the show.

She discussed Chgvintsev’s “intense” demeanor and surprising sexist comments.

In addition, Thompson compared her time on Dancing with the Stars to The Hunger Games.

Lea Thompson recalls the ‘crazy thing’ Chigvintsev told her during DWTS

While on Burke’s podcast, Thompson said it was a “sensitive” topic to discuss,...

There must be something in the air lately because I have been seeing and reviewing a number of really good and intriguing documentaries on iconic showbiz figures. At Cannes I saw new docus on Faye Dunaway (Faye), Elizabeth Taylor (Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes) and others on Michel LeGrand and Jacques Demy. Currently on Max you can see a wonderful docu on the great Albert Brooks directed by his longtime friend Rob Reiner, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.

Add to the list of must-sees in this sector Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story, which clearly has the star’s blessing because she is prominently interviewed in it. The focus ultimately on how she became her own person, especially how she managed to navigate the spotlight put on her after mother Judy Garland’s all-too-tragic death caused much speculation that the same thing might happen to her equally talented powerhouse performer of a a daughter.

New York, NY, February 26, 2024 – The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will present the world theatrical premiere of Merce Cunningham: The Events at Dia Beacon, a 40-minute film drawing on footage from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s unique, site-specific Events at Dia Beacon in 2008 and 2009. The screening will take place on Monday, April 8, at 6pm, at the Library’s Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center.

From 2007 to 2009, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company presented a series of Cunningham’s Events in the galleries of Dia Beacon. This film, edited by award-winning film director/editor Daniel Madoff, is a compilation from five of these site-specific stagings with footage from the dress rehearsals and live performances.

Says producer Nancy Dalva: “The film creates an entirely new cinematic event with linkages revealing the choreographer’s idiosyncratic methodology and acute sensitivity to environment. Cunningham arranged these multi-stage performances after careful site visits,...

“Merce is in the purse” has become another infamous line on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, thanks to Erika Jayne.

The Pretty Mess singer certainly has a way with words, and her one-liners tend to live on forever.

This hilarious one-liner, courtesy of a drunk Erika Jayne, has a lot of Rhobh fans wondering about Merce.

It all began when Sutton Stracke brought the ashes of her lifelong friend, Merce Cunningham, with her to Spain so she could spread them.

Sutton revealed she’d had them for over 10 years before Erika reminded everyone they were in a Zip-Loc bag.

The episode got The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills viewers asking about Merce and his friendship with Sutton.

Who is Merce on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?

Merce Cunningham was a famous dancer, choreographer, and teacher in New York City who owned Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The company was...

Step into the enchanting world of dance with the legendary Dame Darcey Bussell as she takes center stage in “Darcey Bussell on The Magic of Dance.” Set to grace the screens at 11:10 Pm on Monday, January 1, 2024, on BBC Four, this special episode is a journey into the BBC’s dance archives, featuring the timeless gem, The Magic of Dance, originally transmitted in 1979 and hosted by the iconic Margot Fonteyn.

Dame Darcey, herself a renowned ballet dancer, guides viewers through her favorite moments of the series, unveiling the magic of dance through the lens of celebrated performances. From the cool tap masterclass with Sammy Davis Jr. to the exquisite routine by the Latvian virtuoso Mikhail Baryshnikov, and a glimpse into the innovative world of modern dance with Isadora Duncan, the episode promises a captivating exploration of the art form’s rich history. For dance enthusiasts and novices alike, “Darcey Bussell...

From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.

Starring Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian, Jena Malone, Anna Baryshnikov, with Dave Franco and Ed Harris watch the trailer now for Love Lies Bleeding.

Anna Baryshnikov, daughter of Mikhail Baryshnikov, starred in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea in 2016.

Katy O’Brian is best known for her roles as Jentorra in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, George in Syfy’s zombie show Z Nation, Major Sarah Grey in The CW’s superhero series Black Lightning and Kimball in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. She also plays Imperial communications officer Elia Kane in the second and third seasons of The Mandalorian. O’Brian will be featured in the upcoming movie Twisters.

Stars of Netflix’s recent movie May December Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton convened in New York for a special screening of the film and further conversation.

Among the participants in the conversation were screenwriter Samy Burch and director Todd Haynes.

Media personality Katie Couric moderated the conversation with the film’s cast and creators. The discussions delved into various aspects of the film and provided insight into its production and themes.

The event took place at The Whitby Hotel and was attended by an impressive lineup of A-list celebrities, which included Michael J. Fox, Chloe Grace Moretz, Lucas Hedges, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Dianna Agron.

May December, just short of two hours, is the story of an actress (Portman) who travels to Georgia to study a controversial woman (Moore) she is set to play in a film. Based on a true story, Moore plays Gracie Atherton-Yoo, a schoolteacher...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including events for Candy Cane Lane, Origin, Wif Honors and Family Switch.

Renaissance premiere

Beyoncé brought her Renaissance concert film to the big screen on Saturday night with its Los Angeles premiere, attended by a starry list of guests.

Simone Joy Jones, Coco Jones, Gabrielle Union and Tia Mowry Halle Bailey and Chloe Bailey Tina Knowles and Tyler Perry

Candy Cane Lane premiere

Eddie Murphy, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jillian Bell, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede and Chris Redd attended the Los Angeles premiere of their Amazon Christmas movie on Tuesday.

Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross Eddie Murphy with Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, and Mike Hopkins, senior vp Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios and Freevee.

Family Switch premiere

Director McG, star and producer Jennifer Garner and co-stars Ed Helms,...

Eddie Merrins, the gentlemanly golf pro at the Bel-Air Country Club who taught the game to the likes of Bing Crosby, Ringo Starr, George C. Scott, Dean Martin, Celine Dion and Jack Nicholson, has died. He was 91.

Merrins died Wednesday after a long illness, according to UCLA, where he coached for 14 years. His son Michael had launched a GoFundMe campaign this year to help the family with expenses.

Nicknamed “The Little Pro,” the 5-foot-7 Mississippi native played on the PGA Tour before serving as Bel-Air’s head pro from 1962 until he was asked to step aside in 2003. However, he remained a beloved fixture at the fabled club as pro emeritus in a jacket/sweater, tie and white driving cap.

Remarkably, Bel Air, which opened in 1925, has had only three head pros: Joe Novak, Merrins and now Dave Podas.

Inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame in 2009, Merrins arranged for Jack Nicklaus to meet Tiger Woods,...

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who was an influential partner to her husband, Jimmy Carter, in his unlikely rise to the Georgia governor’s mansion, then to the White House and later in his impactful post-presidency, died today at the age of 96, the Carter Center announced.

Carter, who suffered from dementia, entered hospice care on Friday. She died at 2:10 p.m. Et at her and her husband’s home in Plains, Ga, the center said.

Jimmy Carter said in a statement, “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished. She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.” The Carters were married for 77 years, the longest of any presidential couple. The former president, now 99, entered hospice care earlier this year.

As first lady from 1977 to 1981, Carter used her platform...

Season after season, Sex and the City fans watched their four Cosmopolitan ladies date a string of losers. Even Samantha Jones, best known for treating sex like a competitive sport, managed to bed a couple of duds. Despite all of that, there were good men in the mix. Charlotte York’s second husband, Harry Goldenblatt, is a great example. Some fans would insist Carrie Bradshaw’s first fiance, Aidan Shaw, was one of the good ones, too. Finally, Samantha’s Smith Jerrod was the perfect man to get Samantha to settle down. Still, we could argue that two rejected Sex and the City love interests were actually the most respectful of their partners. Trey MacDougal and Aleksandr Petrovsky were tossed aside far too soon. They also tend to get a bad rap.

Respect and honesty were a real issue for the ‘Sex and the City’ love interests

Carrie and her...

The list of Oscar-winning directors for short films who have gone on to major careers in the feature-length realm is shorter than you might imagine. Andrea Arnold, Martin McDonagh and Claude Berri achieved arthouse success; David Frankel made multiplex hits like “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Marley & Me.” But perhaps only Taylor Hackford, a winner in 1979 for an affecting little mockumentary titled “Teenage Father,” became a full-scale Hollywood brand — a name associated with a certain temperature of sleek studio gloss and versatile genre smarts.

In an industry increasingly given over to auteur reverence, Hackford has instead consistently proven the essential value of the distinguished craftsman — the kind that keeps the industry running, even if the status doesn’t earn you as many glittering prizes or prestigious festival berths. Consider the Festival Lumière’s tribute to Hackford a welcome exception. The four films selected by the festival to represent the...

Over a career spanning six decades, Don Mischer has directed TV specials and events featuring the likes of Prince, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Muhammad Ali and Taylor Swift (among many others). He’s now putting his memories of some of those experiences on paper.

The multi-time Emmy winner’s memoir, :10 Seconds to Air: My Life in the Director’s Chair, is set to be published on Nov. 14 from Unnamed Press and Rare Bird. The book will trace Mischer’s path from his childhood in Texas to directing and producing Oscar and Emmy telecasts, Super Bowl halftime shows and a host of TV specials ranging from 1983’s Motown 25 — where Michael Jackson debuted his moonwalk — to the inauguration of Barack Obama as president.

Mischer was a student at the University of Texas at Austin in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. As he recounts in the book, he lent...

Five of New York’s Most Celebrated Companies,

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre,

Ballet Hispánico, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and New York City Ballet,

Return for Five Nights as part of Summer for the City at Lincoln Center

Free: July 25-29, 2023 at 7:30pm

Made possible by Chanel

New York, NY – Five of NYC’s most iconic dance companies—Ballet Hispánico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem—return for the third annual Baand Together Dance Festival, sharing the spotlight and an outdoor stage as a part of Lincoln Center’s second annual Summer for the City.

From July 25–29, audiences will be treated to exciting evenings of programming curated collaboratively by the artistic directors of the companies, featuring works that are quintessential of each company’s style and brilliance, as well as the World Premiere of Pas...

Series finales are fickle things. Some of them have the power to redeem an entire show, to reframe the audience’s perceptions of what came before. Those massive twists rarely land, so more often than not, TV shows end not with a bang, but with a melancholy whimper.

And then there are the other times when a big series finale swing goes so awry that it can undo many seasons’ worth of goodwill. Recency bias rears its ugly head and some lifelong fans use these last episodes as a reason to sour on a particular show.

That’s why that the best finales don’t always come from the best shows. “Battlestar Galactica,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Dexter,” and more often reached brilliance over the course of their runs, but rang less true with their final notes. Some of IndieWire’s choices below come from shows that wouldn’t...

Baryshnikov Arts Center (Bac) announces the New York premiere of Miguel Gutierrez’s I as another (2022) on May 4-7, 2023 at Bac’s Jerome Roberts Theater, 450 W. 37th Street, NYC. Tickets are $25 and are available at bacnyc.org/performances/performance/miguel-gutierrez.

I as another is Miguel Gutierrez’s newest work, a duet performed with Laila Franklin. The piece takes place in a future/present dystopia and explores the virtual architecture of memory, what it means to be alongside one another, and how existential despair has come into public view. Drawing inspiration from Martinican philosopher Édouard Glissant and his conceptions of Relation and opacity, I as another examines what it means for difference to come into contact and how unknowable we can be.

Text composed by Miguel Gutierrez, lighting design by Carolina Ortiz Herrera, additional sound design by Rosana Cabán, and dramaturgical support by Stephanie Acosta.

Miguel Gutierrez is a choreographer, music artist,...

Sex and the City followed the personal and professional lives of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) as they navigated their lives and experiences in New York City.

As much as fans loved and adored the series, which ran for six seasons, there is an argument to be made that the show could have ended after season 4. In fact, the ending was a better finale for the series overall.

Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw filming ‘Sex And The City’ outside of Tiffany’s Fifth Ave and 57th St.| Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images How did ‘Sex and the City’ end?

During the Sex and the City finale, much to her friends’ apprehension, Carrie quits her column and leaves behind her life in New York City to follow Aleksandr Petrovsky (Mikhail Baryshnikov) to Paris.

Sex and the City gave fans an in-depth look at Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) life as she navigated her thirties living in New York. Though the series also centered on her best friends, Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), and Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall).

Carrie’s dating life is a major theme in the show, but she had one boyfriend who was absolutely horrible.

Sarah Jessica Parker seen on the set of “And Just Like That…” the follow up series to “Sex and the City” | James Devaney/Gc Images Carrie had a lot of terrible boyfriends in ‘Sex and the City’

The premise of Sex and the City was single women navigate dating in New York City. As a result, fans saw more than a few peculiar men that Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte. Carrie had her fair share of terrible beaus. Mr. Big was flaky and treated her terribly.

Sandra Seacat, the actress and influential acting coach who as a Lee Strasberg disciple taught the craft to the likes of Laura Dern, Mickey Rourke, Harvey Keitel, Common, Andrew Garfield, Michelle Williams and many others, has died. She was 86.

Seacat died Tuesday of natural causes in Santa Monica, family friend and publicist Stan Rosenfield announced.

Seacat’s students said her innovative techniques were able to extract out of them their most truthful, powerful and naturalistic performances.

“Sandra lived by seeing magic and possibility in everything,” Dern said in a statement. “She met the discovery of character and story with equal protectiveness, irreverence, humility and grace. She taught us the practice of investigating healing through acting.

“But more than that, she invited us to know ourselves as artists and humans in ways I could’ve never begun to explore without her. She’s been my teacher since age 17, and I had...

Disney+ is doubling down on the holidays.

The streamer has unveiled three new unscripted holiday specials.

Best in Snow is hosted by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burgess, Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays features the eponymous a cappella group and Run D.M.C’s Rev Run is making The Hip Hop Nutcracker.

Disney D23 Expo 2022 Photo Gallery: Marvel, Star Wars, and More

The specials were unveiled by Ayo Davis, president, Disney Branded Television at the company’s D23 expo.

Best in Snow introduces teams from around the world as they’re transported to a magical snowy village, Snowdome, and into a competition for the title of Best in Snow. With the help of Snowdome’s finest carvers, teams transform 10-foot, 20-ton blocks of snow into creations inspired by Pixar, Marvel, Walt Disney Animation, Walt Disney Studios, and The Muppets Studios. It also features musical performances by Tituss Burgess, Kermit the Frog,...

By the early 1980s, Hollywood thought it had Robin Williams pegged. Based on four mostly successful seasons of "Mork & Mindy" and two explosively funny HBO specials ("Off the Wall" and "An Evening with Robin Williams), he was a whirling dervish of hilarity who existed to light up your living room. He was easily one of the best, most agile-minded comedians on the planet, but his talent was specialized. If you wanted to hear Elmer Fudd sing Bruce Springsteen's "Fire," Robin Williams was your man. No one wanted to see him straitjacketed in a dramatic role.

Paul Mazursky believed otherwise. Though the writer-director of comedic character studies originally conceived of "Moscow on the Hudson" as a star vehicle for ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov, who was to play a Russian ballet dancer who defects during a stop in New York City, he quickly adjusted the screenplay for Williams when Misha passed.

The ambitious production of The Orchard, Igor Golyak’s adaptation of Chekhov’s classic, The Cherry Orchard, which opened last week off-Broadway at Manhattan’s Baryshnikov Theatre, begins with the stooped figure of the serf Firs (Mikhail Baryshnikov) skittering about the stage. Firs is in service to a family about to lose their orchard estate to a foreclosure auction. Robots, […]

The post Baryshnikov Shines In Futuristic Production Of ‘The Orchard’ appeared first on uInterview.

As Hollywood events slowly return to New York and Los Angeles amid the recent surge of Covid-19 cases, here’s a look at the week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings, including red carpets for Jackass Forever, Moonfall and Reacher.

Moonfall world premiere

Roland Emmerich’s end-of-the-world flick premiered at Tcl Chinese Theatre on Monday, marking the first official premiere event of 2022 after six weeks of red carpet cancellations amid the omicron variant. The director was joined by stars Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson, along with composer Harald Kloser and special guests Joey King and Heidi Klum. Following the Hollywood screening, Emmerich hosted an afterparty for premiere guests at his Los Angeles home.

Jackass Forever premiere

The Jackass Forever team, including Johnny Knoxville, “Danger Ehren” McGhehey, Eric Andre, Chris Pontius, Jason “Wee Man” Acuna and Machine Gun Kelly walked the red carpet for the film’s premiere at the Tcl Chinese on Tuesday.

If HBO’s “Sex and the City” promoted an influx of women coming to the Big Apple in search of adventure and romance, Netflix’s “Emily in Paris” is already looking to do the same for (pardon the pun) an American in Paris. And even with narrative similarities, and the shared presence of longtime dream-maker and creator Darren Star, there is even one more connection: production designer Anne Seibel.

“I was approached by the French side of production, I think, because I worked on the two last episodes of “Sex in the City,” says Seibel, referring to the final installments of that hit series where lovestruck Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) decided to leave her beloved NYC for a shot at fulltime fairy-tale swoon with her Russian artist beau (Mikhail Baryshnikov) in Paris and ended up with a bad case of ennui. “I don't know if it's linked but French...

Twyla Tharp on Zoom with Herman Cornejo and Misty Copeland in Steven Cantor’s Twyla Moves Photo: Zoom Stick Figure Films

Steven Cantor’s intimate and fierce Twyla Moves showcases the legendary Twyla Tharp working on a Zoom dance from New York during the height of the pandemic with Misty Copeland, Benjamin Buza, Herman Cornejo, Maria Khoreva, Kaitlyn Gilliland, and Charlie Neshyba-Hodges in other locations. She invites the great production designer Santo Loquasto to have a look. Twyla has collaborated with composers Philip Glass, David Byrne, David Van Tieghem, and Glenn Branca, won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Movin’ Out, featuring the songs of Billy Joel, staged dances for Miloš Forman’s Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus, and Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in Taylor Hackford’s White Nights.

Dancer, featuring Sergei Polunin, and Tyler Peck’s Ballet Now round out Steven’s trilogy of dance films.

From New York,...

Season 2 of Apple TV+’s “Dickinson” is a story about whether or not to seek fame, and that plotline could just as easily be applied to Anna Baryshnikov, who plays Emily Dickinson’s (Hailee Steinfeld) sister, Lavinia. “I really tried to go into the show telling myself I was an Emily,” Baryshnikov told IndieWire. And so, despite not playing a character as well known, the actress made Lavinia into someone just as unique.

Baryshnikov took Lavinia, who started Season 1 as a cat-loving young woman desperate for normalcy, and transitioned her into a fun and sexily awkward character. When the series debuted, the actress explained she was more focused on the source material and translating “Vinnie” from page to screen. Season 2 was different. “I found a groove of working off of the character we created in Season 1 and getting to dip back into the historical facts when I felt I was getting lost or needed inspiration,...

“We’re all trying to keep up with [Twyla],” says famed ballerina Misty Copeland in the opening moments of “Twyla Moves,” an absorbing documentary from PBS American Masters about the legendary American choreographer Twyla Tharp. While most mere mortals have little in common with Copeland, she hit the nail on the head there — the pace at which Tharp waxes poetic on such a vast array of topics is so impressive, even filmmaker Steven Cantor can’t seem to keep up.

In interviews, Tharp speaks quickly but deliberately, with a dry sense of humor that belies her arresting candor. She’s the perfect subject for a documentary — not just because the wealth of work is so monumental, though that certainly helps —but because she’s so quick and opinionated that she could give Fran Lebowitz a run for her money.

“Even at this stage in her life, she’s setting the standard for where dance is evolving,...

Roy Christopher, a 10-time Emmy winning production designer and art director whose credits include decades of work on Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy awards broadcasts, died of natural causes Tuesday, Feb. 2, at his home in West Hollywood. He was 85.

His death was confirmed by the Television Academy.

Art Directors Guild Nelson Coates said in a statement, “Roy Christopher was a legendary designer and gentleman who consistently raised the bar for excellence in production design through his career and by mentoring the next generation of designers. He was a major influencer on popular culture and the visual presentation of our industry to the world.”

In addition to the awards ceremony broadcasts, Christopher’s extensive roster of credits include art direction for all seasons of Welcome Back, Kotter, Wings, the original Murphy Brown, Frasier and Becker. Production design credits include many of those series in addition to Just Shoot Me!, American Playhouse,...

Arguably the most important choreographer living today, Twyla Tharp continues to push herself to new creative heights even in the midst of the pandemic. The unstoppable force of modern movement will get a feature film treatment in “Twyla Moves,” which PBS is releasing in March as part of its American Masters series.

The documentary will feature interviews alongside select footage of Tharp’s more than 160 choreographed works, “including 129 dances, 12 television specials, six major Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines.” A pioneer of both modern dance and ballet, Tharp is famously prolific, hard-working, and constantly evolving. “Twyla Moves” promises a rarified glimpse into the living legend’s nimble mind and rigorous creative process.

“Talking about one’s personal history is — as everyone who’s ever interviewed me knows — not my forte, and not my chosen mode of expression,” Tharp said during a virtual panel...

More “Sex and the City” is on the way. Sarah Jessica Parker confirmed yesterday that her iconic onscreen counterpart Carrie Bradshaw would reunite with BFFs Miranda Hobbs (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York (Kristin Davis) for an HBO Max limited series titled “And Just Like That…” (Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones will not be involved). The “new chapter” will follow the three New Yorkers, now in their 50s, as they continue navigating the ups and downs of relationships, friendships, careers and, of course, sex.

“Sex and the City” went off the air in 2002 after six seasons, but Carrie and company’s story continued with two (very divisive) feature films that premiered in 2008 and 2010. That means it’s been over a decade since fans last saw Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte — so there will be lots to catch up on when “And Just Like That…” graces our TV screens later this year.

Before then,...

Tommy Rall, the actor and dancer who brought Broadway skills to Hollywood films including Kiss Me Kate, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Girl and Pennies From Heaven, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure in Santa Monica. He was 90.

His death was announced by friend Cynthia Wands on Facebook.

“A hospice nurse was by Tommy’s bedside,” Wands wrote, “and found a box that held the cards and letters that had been sent to him in the last few weeks. She spent the afternoon reading each one to him, and when she finished reading the last one – he peacefully stopped breathing and passed away.”

As a dancer in the 1950s, Rall shuttled between Broadway and Hollywood, choreographed onstage by Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion (Small Wonder) and Agnes de Mille (Juno) and directed on screen by Stanley Donen (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), George Sidney (Kiss Me Kate...

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk had called for dropping charges.

Prominent Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov has been found guilty of fraud in a Moscow court today (June 26) and been given a three-year suspended sentence.

Two of his co-defendants, Yury Itin, and Konstantin Malobrodsky, were also found guilty, whilst a fourth, Sofia Apfelbaum, was “unaware” of the fraud, according to the judge.

In 2017, Serebrennikov and his co-defendants were charged with embezzling 129 million rubles (€1.66 million) for a performing arts project called Platform, which received state funding and which promoted modern dance, theatre, and music in Russia.

Among the accusations pursued by...

International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk had called for dropping charges.

Prominent Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov has been found guilty of fraud in a Moscow court today (June 26). Sentencing is expected to follow later today.

Two of his co-defendants, Yury Itin, and Konstantin Malobrodsky, were also found guilty, whilst a fourth, Sofia Apfelbaum, was “unaware” of the fraud, according to the judge.

Film organisations, including the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (Icfr), had previously called on prosecutors in Russia to drop the charges against Serebrennikov and his co-defendants.

In 2017, Serebrennikov and his co-defendants were charged with embezzling 129 million rubles...

As parts of the world begin to lift quarantine, whether officially or otherwise, a group of more than 200 high-profile artists, scientists, and thought leaders have signed a call to arms published in Le Monde last week asking citizens and leaders to take measured action to avoid ecological disaster.

Titled “No to a Return to Normal,” the letter is penned by actor Juliette Binoche with French physicist and philosopher Aurélien Barrau, and its many signatories include Robert De Niro, Cate Blanchett, Joaquin Phoenix, Alfonso Cuarón, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Rooney Mara, Marion Cotillard, Adam Driver, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Paolo Sorrentino, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Pedro Almodóvar, Guillaume Canet, Penelope Cruz, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nathalie Baye, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe.

The letter asks that society reconsider its value systems and look beyond consumerism before hastily returning to normal life, which would mean risking further global collapse in the form of a possible second wave. The silver lining of this situation,...

As parts of the world begin to lift quarantine, whether officially or otherwise, a group of more than 200 high-profile artists, scientists, and thought leaders have signed a call to arms published in Le Monde last week asking citizens and leaders to take measured action to avoid ecological disaster.

Titled “No to a Return to Normal,” the letter is penned by actor Juliette Binoche with French physicist and philosopher Aurélien Barrau, and its many signatories include Robert De Niro, Cate Blanchett, Joaquin Phoenix, Alfonso Cuarón, Barbra Streisand, Madonna, Rooney Mara, Marion Cotillard, Adam Driver, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Paolo Sorrentino, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Pedro Almodóvar, Guillaume Canet, Penelope Cruz, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Nathalie Baye, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe.

The letter asks that society reconsider its value systems and look beyond consumerism before hastily returning to normal life, which would mean risking further global collapse in the form of a possible second wave. The silver lining of this situation,...

A group of over 200 high-profile artists and scientists from around the world has signed an editorial published in today’s Le Monde, calling on world leaders and citizens “to undertake a profound overhaul of our goals, values, and economies,” in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, “if we want to avoid ecological disaster.”

Signatories include Juliette Binoche, Cate Blanchett, Robert De Niro, Joaquin Phoenix, Alfonso Cuaron, Barbra Streisand, Madonna and Marion Cotillard.

Titled, “No To A Return To Normal,” the call to arms was penned by Oscar winner Binoche and astrophysicist Aurélien Barrau. They write that the Covid-19 tragedy is “inviting us to examine what is essential. And what we see is simple: ‘adjustments’ are not enough. The problem is systemic.” (See full text below.)

Calling the “ongoing ecological catastrophe” a “meta-crisis,” the op-ed warns “the massive extinction of life on Earth is no longer in doubt, and all indicators...

Ralph Fiennes celebrated his latest directorial outing, “The White Crow,” on Monday night in New York City.

The Sony Pictures Classics film tells the story of legendary dancer Rudolf Nureyev.

“It’s been a very, very long road. We were mad. We were mad to take on this subject of Rudolf Nureyev. Mad. Completely mad,” Fiennes said. “But we did it … many of you here, who know the film business or are close to the film business, you know how hard it is to put a film together, to raise the finance, to get the resources, especially when the independent film world is so challenged at the moment.”

Andy Cohen and Sarah Jessica Parker were among the guests who turned out for the premiere.

“Ralph is a dear friend of mine. He has been working on this film for a long time. This is such a labor of love for...

It would be absurd to say that Rudolf Nureyev lived, or danced, in anyone’s shadow. He was a man who leapt and twirled and flew onstage, all muscle but light as a feather, with a freedom and force that reconfigured the human spirit. There’s no denying, though, that over the last few decades, and especially since 1993 (the year he died of AIDS), the image of Nureyev as the flashing erotic god of ballet has been eclipsed, more than a little bit, by that of his compatriot and inheritor Mikhail Baryshnikov. There are several generations who are now more familiar with the life story, and the unearthly grace, of Misha than they are with the florid Cold War animal magnetism of Nureyev.

That makes a finely crafted, impeccably researched documentary like “Nureyev” a very welcome experience. The film’s release, on April 19, is clearly timed to coincide with the...

American Ballet Theatre (Abt) hosts its annual Holiday Benefit dinner and performance on Monday, December 17, 2018 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills.

The evening will feature a one-night-only special performance by the world-renowned artists of the American Ballet Theatre, including Principal Dancers Stella Abrera, Isabella Boylston, Misty Copeland, Sarah Lane, Hee Seo, Christine Shevchenko and Cory Stearns performing scenes from the Company’s unrivaled repertoire, followed by a post-performance dinner and dessert with the dancers. Four-time Emmy nominated, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winning actress, Jennifer Garner will serve as master of ceremonies.

The 2018 Annual Holiday Benefit performance will include excerpts from the holiday classic The Nutcracker, created by celebrated choreographer and Abt Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, as well as scenes from Ratmansky’s Harlequinade, which will have its West Coast premiere at the Segerstrom Center in January. This performance also features excerpts from Jessica Lang’s Garden Blue,...

On Tuesday, October 16, the Princess Grace Foundation-USA (Pgf-USA) celebrated the 2018 Princess Grace Awards Gala at Cipriani 25 Broadway in New York.

Katharine McPhee, Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco, David Foster

Credit/Copyright: Getty Images for Princess Grace Foundation-usa

Held in the presence of Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco, the Awards Gala honored actor, director, producer, and philanthropist Tim Daly, Tony Award-winning director Sam Gold, and founder of the dance company A.I.M (Abraham.In.Motion) Kyle Abraham. Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Bebe Neuwirth served as mistress of ceremonies for the event.

Tim Daly was honored with the the distinguished Prince Rainier III Award for his outstanding artistry and exemplary give-back, which was presented to him by his sister, Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress, Tyne Daly. The Prince Rainier III Award recognizes a renowned leader in the arts whose own accomplishments are coupled with demonstrated service to their community.

The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (Pgf-USA) is proud to announce that award-winning actor, director, producer, and philanthropist Tim Daly will accept the distinguished Prince Rainier III Award for his outstanding artistry and exemplary give-back.

Daly will be honored at the Princess Grace Awards Gala at Cipriani 25 Broadway in New York on October 16, 2018.

It was also announced that the Awards Gala will be hosted by Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Bebe Neuwirth, and will feature Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Tyne Daly, singer-actress Katharine McPhee and Tony Award-winning actor Leslie Odom Jr. (2016 Princess Grace Statue Award Recipient) as presenters. Additionally, the evening will include a special musical performances by Chicago Med actress Emma Duncan (2014 Princess Grace Award Winner), American Housewife actress Carly Hughes (2003 Princess Grace Award Winner), and dance performance by A.I.M (Abraham.In.Motion) dancer Marcella Lewis (2018 Princess Grace Award Winner).

The 2018 Princess Grace Awards Gala continues...

The nightclub Studio 54 sought to be a disco paradise in the 1970s, a utopia made up of sex, drugs, dancing, and celebrity display. Many gay men of a certain age in Manhattan still claim to have been one of the shirtless waiters in tight shorts at Studio 54, and like so much else about that club, these claims are hard to verify.

Documentarian Matt Tyrnauer (“Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”) sits down with the two surviving co-owners of the club, Ian Schrager and Jack Dushey (the latter functioned as a silent partner), and tries to get them to reveal the tale behind its rise and fall, but this often proves difficult for him. Steve Rubell, the exuberant public face of Studio 54, died of AIDS-related complications in 1989, and so he isn’t around to tell his part of the story. The feeling persists in “Studio 54” that we are...

The Tonys start on CBS tonight at 8 p.m. Pt and Et. While the telecast will go out live to TV viewers on the east coast, the show will be delayed for west coast theater fans. The ceremony takes place at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, just blocks away from Broadway. Two past Tony Awards nominees will be your hosts: Sara Bareilles (“Waitress”) and Josh Groban.

Among those tapped as Tony Awards presenters are Oscar winner Robert DeNiro, Grammy champ Billy Joel and Kennedy Center honoree Mikhail Baryshnikov. Emmy winners set to hand out these top theater honors include Uzo Aduba, Christine Baranski, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Tina Fey, Tatiana Maslany, Jim Parsons and Amy Schumer.

Past Tony champs slated to return to the stage to name new winners include John Leguizamo, Patti LuPone, Kelli O’Hara, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

Also...

CBS must be breathing a sigh of relief.

That’s because Bruce Springsteen has agreed to take the stage at the Tony Awards on Sunday, injecting some genuine star power into the congenitally low-rated telecast. The Boss will perform live, giving the American public a glimpse at what most people can’t afford to experience — a number from his current smash “Springsteen on Broadway.” Tickets for the show can cost as much as $850.

Springsteen won’t just rock the Radio City Music Hall. He’ll also receive a Special Tony Award.

The Tony Awards will be hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban. It will also feature appearances from the likes of Uzo Aduba, Christine Baranski, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rachel Bloom, Matt Bomer, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Robert De Niro, Billy Joel, Kelli O’Hara, Tina Fey, John Leguizamo and Amy Schumer.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita Rivera will receive lifetime achievement awards.

Christine Baranski, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jeff Daniels, Robert De Niro, Brandon Victor Dixon, Tina Fey, Billy Joel, John Leguizamo, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Patti LuPone and Kerry Washington are among the latest confirmed to present Tony Awards at this Sunday’s ceremony.

Also added to the still-growing list were Ming-Na Wen, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Amy Schumer, among others. They’ll join the previously announced line-up that includes Uzo Aduba, Matt Bomer, Claire Danes, Armie Hammer, Tatiana Maslany, Leslie Odom, Jr., Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto and Andrew Rannells.

Others presenting or appearing at Sunday’s event will be Bernadette Peters, Melissa Benoist, Erich Bergen, Rachel Bloom, Rachel Brosnahan, Tituss Burgess, Christopher Jackson, Katharine McPhee, Matthew Morrison and Kelli O’Hara, with Tony Award Lifetime Achievement recipients Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita Rivera also taking the stage.

The 72nd Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, will air live from...

Tina Fey, Robert De Niro and Jeff Daniels are among the presenters set to take the stage at the Tony Awards on Sunday.

Additional stars scheduled to make appearances on the show — which honors the outstanding theater performances, writing and craft contributions of the Broadway season — include Amy Schumer, Billy Joel, Kerry Washington, Carey Mulligan, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Christine Baranski, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Melissa Benoist, Erich Bergen, Rachel Bloom, Rachel Brosnahan, Tituss Burgess, Brandon Victor Dixon, Christopher Jackson, James Monroe Iglehart, Katharine McPhee, Matthew Morrison, Kelli O’Hara, Ming-Na Wen and Marissa Jaret Winokur.

Tony honorees John ...

Robert De Niro is supporting comedian Michelle Wolf’s performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner last Saturday – despite backlash from some journalists, politicians, and even President Donald Trump.

At the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s annual Chaplin Award Gala in New York on Monday evening, where Helen Mirren was honored for her impressive body of work, De Niro, who was last year’s recipient, took to the stage and began a passionate three-minute long rant about his dissatisfaction with President Trump’s policies and how Wolf was unfairly criticized for mocking Trump and his administration.

“Congratulations Helen on being honored with this year’s Chaplin Award,” he began his speech. “This is what happens when you have weak immigration laws. Would we be honoring Helen Mirren tonight if that wall had been built? Please, don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you, Helen. I just feel...

Pianist Cecil Taylor, a legend of free jazz whose career spanned six decades, died Thursday evening at his home in Brooklyn, New York, NPR confirmed early Friday. He was 89.

“Cecil is of jazz, and also beyond it,” Ben Ratliff, author and longtime jazz critic for The New York Times, told NPR. “The thing that Cecil was doing in 1959 or whatever, the stuff that had basically a steady beat, but was pushing out on all sides with strange harmonies and strange dynamics — you know, we’re doing stuff now that’s more like that. And to think that at that point in the late ’50s, Cecil Taylor was just saying, ‘Yeah, this is the right way to play, this is the way to do it,’ is truly amazing.”

He was a pivotal figure of free jazz and released one of the essential albums of the genre, “Jazz Advance,” in 1956. Along with other leaders,...

Paolo Virzì on Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland as Ella and John Spencer: "It is a love story because we were telling the story of two persons who shared an entire lifetime." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

In the final installment of my conversation at the St Regis in New York with Paolo Virzi on The Leisure Seeker, the director and co-screenwriter (with Stephen Amidon, Francesca Archibugi and Francesco Piccolo), spoke about adapting the book by Michael Zadoorian. He praised the work of production designer Richard A Wright, and we discussed Carole King's It's Too Late (Baby), Chet Baker's silver lining, jealousy and the monologue by Gretta Conroy of The Dead in James Joyce's The Dubliners, filming the Hemingway cats, and the casting of non-professional actors including his on-set translator Lilia Blouin.

The film stars Helen Mirren who will be honored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...

Series finales are fickle things. Some of them have the power to redeem an entire show, to reframe the audience’s perceptions of what came before. Those massive twists rarely land, so more often than not, TV shows end not with a bang, but with a melancholy whimper.

And then there are the other times when a big series finale swing goes so awry that it can undo many seasons’ worth of goodwill. Recency bias rears its ugly head and some lifelong fans use these last episodes as a reason to sour on a particular show.

That’s why that the best finales don’t always come from the best shows. “Battlestar Galactica,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Dexter,” and more often reached brilliance over the course of their runs, but rang less true with their final notes. Some of IndieWire’s choices below come from shows that wouldn’t...