Entertainment category, Page 190
TV Talk: Western Pa. teen continues to advance on ‘American Idol’Video
From failing to make it onto the show last season to now advancing three times this season, Morgan Gruber of Franklin Township, Beaver County, is on a roll. In Sunday’s duets-themed episode, taped in December, platinum ticketholder Jay Copeland picked Gruber to be his duet partner, and they advanced to...
Jon Batiste tops Grammy Awards, winning 5 trophies
LAS VEGAS — Jon Batiste won album of the year honors for “We Are” at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, giving him five trophies on a night that saw the ’70s funk of Silk Sonic take record of the year and song of the year and newcomer Olivia Rodrigo take...
Weighed down by bad reviews, ‘Morbius’ opens with $39.1M
NEW YORK — Sony Pictures’ Marvel adaptation “Morbius” landed with dismal reviews but still managed to debut with $39.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That was enough to easily hand “Morbius,” starring Jared Leto as a vampire-transforming biochemist, the top spot at the box office —...
Estelle Harris, ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Toy Story’ actor who grew up in Tarentum, dies at 93
NEW YORK — Estelle Harris, who hollered her way into TV history as George Costanza’s short-fused mother on “Seinfeld” and voiced Mrs. Potato Head in the “Toy Story” franchise, has died. She was 93. As middle-class matron Estelle Costanza, Harris put a memorable stamp on her recurring role in the...
Pandemic isolation helps shape Greensburg family band’s new albumVideo
On “Lonely Telephone,” an EP released by Greensburg band Essential Machine about a decade ago, acoustic-based tunes bubble and float, underpinned by quirky xylophone pings and an indie-folk-music aesthetic. As the band — husband and wife R.J. and Karen Dietrich and their son, 20-year-old Robert — prepares to release its...
Carnegie Mellon’s 2022 International Film Festival explores what’s ‘Behind the Mask’
Carnegie Mellon University’s theme for its 2022 International Film Festival can be interpreted literally and figuratively. “Faces Behind the Mask,” the title of the festival, explores face coverings — the physical ones people have been wearing during the pandemic as well as those that aren’t seen. “What masks do we...
Will Smith resigns from film academy over Chris Rock slap
LOS ANGELES — Will Smith resigned Friday from the motion picture academy following his Oscars night slap of Chris Rock and said he would accept any further punishment the organization imposed. Smith in a statement released Friday afternoon he would “accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate. I will...
Grammy-nominated Rhonda Vincent brings bluegrass to the Lamp TheatreVideo
Rhonda Vincent learned to play the drums at age 6, the mandolin at 8, and the fiddle all before reaching her teenage years. She’s been recording bluegrass music since she was 5, with her family on “The Sally Mountain Show.” She is the fifth generation of her Missouri family to...
Bruce Willis’ aphasia battle: Living in a country where you don’t speak the language
Living with aphasia has been compared to living in a country where you don’t speak the language. Gestures, sign language or other forms of communication may not be much help. And the people who want to help you struggle to understand. “You know what things are. You are the person...
Unity’s Victory Brinker earns Guinness Record as youngest opera diva
Among pint-sized opera singer Victory Brinker’s early public appearances were the openings of the two Westmoreland Art Nationals exhibitions in spring 2019. “Her dad got in touch with us and asked if she could perform,” said Diane Shrader, executive director of the Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival, which sponsors the...
TV Talk: Very Local highlights Pittsburgh chefs; PBS offers a biography of Benjamin Franklin
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the coming week. The latest Pittsburgh show on Hearst’s Very Local streaming service, available via Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Android TV and Roku devices, offers profiles of several Pittsburgh chefs in each half-hour episode. Unlike Very Local’s hosted culinary...
Fox News hires Caitlyn Jenner as contributor, commentator
NEW YORK — Fox News Channel says it has hired Caitlyn Jenner as a contributor, with her first appearance set for Thursday on Sean Hannity’s program. Jenner, the former Olympic decathlete, ran an unsuccessful campaign for California governor last year. The network said she’ll offer commentary and analysis across various...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces changes to covid-19 restrictions
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced Wednesday requirements for proof of covid-19 vaccination and face masks will be determined on a per event basis starting Monday. The artist or promoter of the event will decide whether guests need to show they’ve been vaccinated, present a negative covid test and/or wear a...
Pitt-Greensburg theater director ends tenure with ‘Trailer Park Musical’
Welcome to Armadillo Acres Trailer Park, where an unlikely romance develops between an exotic dancer running from an ex-boyfriend and a highway toll collector with an agoraphobic wife. Trouble is brewing in “The Great American Trailer Park Musical,” which Pitt-Greensburg Theatre Company will stage tonight through Sunday in Ferguson Theater...
Chris Rock takes to comedy mic, still processing Oscars slap
BOSTON — Chris Rock received several standing ovations before he told one joke Wednesday at his first comedy show since Will Smith slapped him in the face onstage at the Oscars. Rock only briefly addressed the slap to the sold out crowd in Boston, saying he was “still kind of...
Maple House Music + Arts Festival to debut in Hartwood Acres Park
Entertainment manager Da’Lyn Bauman was meeting with Ghost Hounds, a Pittsburgh rock and blues band she manages. Music brought a harmony between them. “We quickly learned how drastically different our musical experiences had been, but the through-line that tied us all together was a deep love for storytelling and timeless...
Harmar guitarist’s band earns multiple Iron City Rocks awards
When he was teaching himself to play guitar at 12 years old, Matthew Kamenicky imagined being in a rock ’n’ roll band someday. What he couldn’t have imagined was that, not long after forming the rock group Steel Mill Rising, he’d be getting a call from an ESPN official asking...
Immersive Frida Kahlo exhibit in Pittsburgh encompasses artist’s tumultuous life
Frida Kahlo lived most of her life in pain. Her art reflects the hurt. The Mexico native’s work is being showcased in Immersive Frida Kahlo at Lighthouse ArtSpace Pittsburgh on the North Side. The exhibit opened Saturday and will continue at least through May. “Frida’s parents urged her to paint...
Academy: Will Smith refused to leave Oscars, broke conduct codeVideo
NEW YORK — The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences said Sunday that Will Smith was asked to leave the Oscars after hitting Chris Rick but refused. Many have questioned why Smith was allowed to remain seated front row at the Academy Awards after the incident. On Wednesday, the...
Grammy predictions: AP writers debate who’ll triumph Sunday
The number of nominees for the Grammys’ top awards keeps growing, up to 10 this year, making the competition stronger, but predictions a lot trickier. Are too many pop artists going to split the vote, making an upset more likely? Can we even count on past wins as a guide?...
Bruce Willis, diagnosed with aphasia, steps away from acting
NEW YORK — Bruce Wills is stepping away from acting after a diagnosis of aphasia, a condition that causes loss of the ability to understand or express speech, his family announced Wednesday. In a statement posted on Willis’ Instagram page, the 67-year-old actor’s family said Willis was recently diagnosed with...
Readers recommend these mystery novels that are also funny
It’s a tall order to ask for a mystery novel that’s also funny, like wanting a dog who can both fetch and mix a cocktail. But such things do exist (the novels, not the dog, though surely you’ll tell me if I’m mistaken), and a number of you responded to...
Apple TV+’s journey from Hollywood outsider to first streamer with a best picture OscarVideo
LOS ANGELES — It was only three years ago when Hollywood was looking at Apple with intense skepticism. Before launching its streaming service Apple TV+ in late 2019, the iPhone maker had confused traditional film and television industry players with a presentation that was heavy on star power — Oprah...
‘The Flash’ actor Ezra Miller arrested at Hawaii karaoke bar
HONOLULU — An actor known for playing “The Flash” in “Justice League” films was arrested at a Hawaii karaoke bar, where police say Ezra Miller yelled obscenities, grabbed a mic from a singing woman and lunged at a man playing darts. Miller took issue late Sunday with people singing the...
Stoney Richards stars in ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)’
If you’ve missed popular morning radio host Charles David “Stoney” Richards since he left his “Y’d Awake” morning show on WDSY-FM (Y-108), you’re in luck. You can catch Richards in the hilarious “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” opening at Pittsburgh’s Threadbare Cider House on Wednesday evening. It’s being...
