Entertainment category, Page 197
Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes to host Oscars
LOS ANGELES — After three years without a host, the Oscars are making up for lost time with three hosts for this year’s awards: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes are set to host the 94th Academy Awards, producer Will Packer said Tuesday. Reports say that each actor will...
New York jazz trio’s newest songs named for Pennsylvania disaster townsVideo
To call Moppa Elliott’s approach to music composition “loose” might be an understatement. The Pennsylvania native is a music teacher at Information Technology High School in Long Island City, N.Y., and the bassist for jazz collective Mostly Other People Do the Killing, which will perform in Pittsburgh on Feb. 23...
Boom in vinyl records goes bust for bands facing delays in manufacturing
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s favorite recording artists are starting to pay for the resurgence of vinyl. That includes the Cactus Blossoms, who released a new album last week and are anxiously returning to the road to promote it after two years of tour postponements from covid. One more problem, though: Vinyl...
Dr. Deborah Birx, covid adviser under Trump, has a book deal
NEW YORK — Dr. Deborah Birx has a memoir coming out this spring that will focus on her contentious time as White House coronavirus task force coordinator in the administration of President Donald Trump. Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced Monday that Birx’s “Silent Invasion: The Untold Story of...
Trevor Noah to headline White House correspondents’ dinner
WASHINGTON — Trevor Noah, the host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, will be the featured entertainer for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 30. It will be the first time the event, usually held annually, will take place since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. “Trevor...
Halftime Review: Dre, Snoop and friends deliver epic showVideo
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Dr. Dre & Co. took the weight of the hip-hop culture on the Super Bowl stage, shouldered the pressure from skeptics and delivered a strong halftime show to prove that edgy rap can work at the world’s biggest sporting events. All it took was hip-hop’s most controversial...
‘Death on the Nile’ tops a quiet box office weekend
NEW YORK — Hollywood’s Super Bowl weekend largely fizzled with the muted debut of Kenneth Branagh’s long-delayed Agatha Christie whodunit, “Death on the Nile,” a tepid reception for the Jennifer Lopez romantic-comedy “Marry Me” and modest box-office bumps for Oscar nominees. “Death on the Nile,” Branagh’s follow-up to the 2017...
Idlewild images, history to be featured at Latrobe society meeting
The history of Idlewild Park will be featured this week during the annual membership meeting of the Latrobe Area Historical Society. Local author Jennifer Sopko will share photos and information she has collected about the popular Ligonier Township amusement park during a meeting at 10 a.m. Feb. 19 at the...
‘Book of Boba Fett’ finale, like the series, is messy but fun
It’s tough to reconcile how I feel about “The Book of Boba Fett.” On one hand, it was a series full of great moments, bridging a lot of the current “Star Wars” properties in a way that feels really great, especially as it takes place in the dustier, grittier universe...
Former WPXI reporter Kimberly Easton dies at 56
Former WPXI-TV reporter Kimberly Easton is being remembered as both a consummate professional and a kind, loving person, following her death Monday at her home in Columbus, Ind. She was 56. Her death was attributed to a heart attack. Easton worked at WPXI in Pittsburgh from 2003 to 2010. During...
Eddie Vedder blasts off with new solo tour and album, ‘Earthling,’ while gearing up for Pearl Jam reboot
Can anyone top Eddie Vedder when it comes to fostering unlikely musical convergences that span generations, let alone being a key link between The Beatles and Ramones? That is — to invoke the title of an obscure 1997 Pearl Jam song — hard to imagine. In 2002, Vedder inducted the...
13 romantic dramas to stream for Valentine’s Day
For Valentine’s Day, rom-coms often get all the press — who doesn’t want a charming trifle for this most romantic of holidays? But sometimes, romantic drama is the way to go, getting yourself lost in something gorgeously swoonworthy. Here are a baker’s dozen of my favorite dramas about love. I’ve...
Pittsburgh Opera season promises something for every taste, budget
There’s a misconception that opera is only for those with rarefied musical tastes and deep pockets. Pittsburgh Opera will prove otherwise with offerings in its 2022-23 season, according to general director Christopher Hahn. “We’re continuing the philosophy and mission of Pittsburgh Opera to provide as wide a range of operatic...
Lottery opens for $10 ‘Hamilton’ tickets in Pittsburgh
The first of a series of digital lottery for tickets to the Pittsburgh run of multi-award-winning musical, “Hamilton,” is now open — through noon Feb. 18. Subsequent digital lotteries will begin on each Friday and close the following Thursday for the upcoming week’s performances. A limited number of tickets will...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Feb. 11-13
It’s Super Bowl weekend. Here are some ways to spend it in Pittsburgh. Prehistoric times Jurassic Quest takes over the David Lawrence Convention Center from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Guests can walk among the huge animatronics roaring dinosaurs that...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: Feb. 11-13
Young creators “Artists of the 21st Century,” the 24th annual exhibition of student artwork, opens Friday at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley, off Route 711 south of Ligonier. Hours are from noon-4:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. The exhibit features work by public- and private-school students in Westmoreland County...
Russian gallery says guard added eyes to avant-garde work
MOSCOW — A Russian gallery says one of its security guards has vandalized an avant-garde painting on loan from the country’s top art repository by drawing eyes on the picture’s deliberately featureless faces. It said the damage can be repaired. The Yeltsin Center in Ekaterinburg said the vandalism of the...
Pittsburgh funk music icon Betty Davis remembered: ‘She was bold’
Family members, friends and fans are remembering the public and private sides of pioneering funk musician Betty Davis of Homestead. The cult figure and subject of a 2017 documentary, “Betty — They Say I’m Different,” died Wednesday at 77. To her niece, Cheana Mabry of Carrick, she was the quiet...
Well-Read Black Girl to help launch new literary series
NEW YORK — The world of Well-Read Black Girl, and founder Glory Edim, keeps growing. What began in 2015 as an Instagram book club and a phrase on a T-shirt given to Edim by her boyfriend is now a newsletter, literary festival, podcast and the basis for two published anthologies....
Review: In ‘Marry Me,’ Jennifer Lopez leans into her stardomVideo
Jennifer Lopez is very good at being very famous. That might sound more like a circumstance and not a rarified skill, but that’s just because she’d never let you see the work behind it. The same goes for her competence as a romantic comedy heroine. She might not always get...
Chris Young leads Academy of Country Music nominations
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country star Chris Young combined his skills as an artist and a producer to earn seven nominations at the Academy of Country Music Awards, including album of the year and single of the year. The show’s co-hosts Jimmie Allen and Munhall native Gabby Barrett announced the nominations...
Singer Jimmy Mowery from ‘The Voice’ to perform at The Mall at Robinson
Music is a lot more than notes and harmonies to singer Jimmy Mowery. It’s a way to honor his late father who was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day when Mowery was 11 years old. He turned to music to heal, a career his father gave up to get a...
Family: Bob Saget died after accidental blow to the head
LOS ANGELES — Bob Saget’s death last month stemmed from an accidental blow to the head, his family said in a statement Wednesday. The comedian and “Full House” star was found dead Jan. 9 in a Florida hotel room. He’d performed in the area the night before as part of...
River City Brass wraps 40th-anniversary season with spring programs
River City Brass will wrap up its 40th-anniversary season with a series of spring concerts in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. “This will be the end of a season post-pandemic with all concerts live and in-person,” said artistic and general director James Gourlay, who also conducts the ensemble. March will mark...
Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre postpones ‘Aqualung’ show at The Palace
Martin Barre, the longtime guitarist for progressive rock band Jethro Tull, has postponed his upcoming concert at The Palace Theatre in Greensburg. Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre: “Aqualung” 50th Anniversary Tour, originally set for 8 p.m. Thursday, has been rescheduled for 8 p.m. March 23. All tickets for the original performance...
