Entertainment category, Page 256
Robinson man wins home theater system on ‘Let’s Make a Deal’
Michael Murray is going to feel like a king watching movies in his new home theater. The Robinson man dressed like royalty to appear on today’s episode of “Let’s Make a Deal.” Offered a choice between $1,000 and something concealed behind a door, he made the right choice. He came...
TV Talk: Pittsburgh families renovate, go ‘Home Again with the Fords’ on HGTV
The Pittsburgh-set home renovation series “Restored by the Fords” morphs into “Home Again with the Fords” for a new season that premiered at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HGTV. Pittsburgh natives and siblings Leanne (the designer) and Steve (the builder) Ford refer to it as “Season 3-1” since it’s their third...
Freeport native Alex Isenberg making all the right moves
Freeport native Alex Isenberg had been dancing his way through life, landing professional gigs with celebrities such as Madonna and Liza Minnelli and performing around the world. Then the pandemic brought much of the entertainment industry to a halt. “No live shows, no filming, no in-person auditions, nothing,” said Isenberg,...
Cicely Tyson, groundbreaking award-winning actor, dies at 96Video
NEW YORK — Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” died Thursday at age 96. Tyson’s death...
Westmoreland-based Derek Woods Band wins national music awardVideo
“I really didn’t see that coming,” said musician Derek Woods about winning an award at Wednesday’s Hollywood Music in Media Awards. The Westmoreland-based Derek Woods Band took honors for Americana/Folk/Singer Songwriter Song of the Year for “Unforgiving Tree” during a livestreamed program that Woods and his band mates watched from...
Greasepaint Players’ ‘Beauty and the Beast Jr.’ plans livestream, live audience
Greensburg Civic Theatre’s Greasepaint Players are working on a production of “Beauty and the Beast Jr.” to play for both livestream and in-person audiences. About having a live audience, director Becky Ziegler Koch said, “People might say, ‘Why are you doing this now?’ But we thought it was important to...
TV Talk: Weekend anchor Brittany Hoke leaves WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV weekend evening anchor/reporter Brittany Hoke announced on her Facebook page she chose to walk away from her “dream job” at Channel 4 in favor of “freedom.” In her lengthy post, Hoke wrote there are “a lot of” reasons for her departure — she does not name them — but...
Stamp honoring August Wilson will be dedicated through virtual ceremony
A Forever stamp honoring award-winning playwright August Wilson will be dedicated today by the U.S. Postal Service. The virtual ceremony can be viewed starting at 11:30 a.m. on the postal service’s Facebook and Twitter pages. “August Wilson was an American trailblazer and literary genius who richly deserves this recognition as...
Interest continues to grow in inaugural poet Amanda Gorman
Within hours of Amanda Gorman’s reading of the inaugural poem last week, bookstores were hearing from their customers. “Hopefully this will be a bridge that brings a lot of people to poetry,” says Mike Wysock, who manages The Book Stall in Winnetka, Illinois. Interest in the 22-year-old Gorman and demand...
TV Talk: Media companies prioritize streaming services over cable
If one thing became clear about the TV business in the past year, it’s that media conglomerates are more interested in their streaming services than in their legacy broadcast and cable networks. Viewers can see it in the diminishing number of original series on basic cable networks (particularly among scripted...
Pittsburgh to honor local jazz musicians virtually for Black History Month
Pittsburgh jazz legend Roger Humphries marches to his own beat. The musician from Pittsburgh’s North Side began playing the drums at the age of 3. He wanted to be like his older brothers. “Music is in my blood,” said Humphries, who turns 77 on Saturday. “I recall lying on the...
Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Cloris Leachman dies at 94Video
LOS ANGELES — Cloris Leachman, an Oscar-winner for her portrayal of a lonely housewife in “The Last Picture Show” and a comedic delight as the fearsome Frau Blücher in “Young Frankenstein” and neighbor Phyllis on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” has died. She was 94. Leachman died in her sleep...
Black artists’ work creates ‘constellation’ in Downtown Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh-based fashion designer Tereneh Idia says she’s been thinking about constellations since visiting the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. “I’ve been obsessed with the idea of how constellations are made and how we identify constellations in space,” she said. “I saw that there are peoples of these countries...
Munhall comic book creator Ed Piskor launching horror title ‘Red Room’Video
Munhall’s Ed Piskor knows his new comic book series “Red Room” isn’t for everybody. The gore-soaked, sci-fi/horror monthly series launches in May. Here’s the synopsis of “Red Room”: “In Red Room, criminals livestream murders on the dark web for fun and profit. The series will be told through a series...
TV Talk: New ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ spin-off debuts in May
The latest spin-off from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” puppet show “Donkey Hodie,” debuts on PBS stations, including WQED-TV, on May 3. Produced by Spiffy Pictures and Pittsburgh-based Fred Rogers Productions, “Donkey Hodie” is the second series inspired by “Neighborhood” characters, following animated PBS Kids series “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” which premiered in...
How the Flaming Lips pulled off covid-distancing space bubble showsVideo
The Flaming Lips pulled off their first full-length space bubble concerts this past weekend in Oklahoma City, with both the band and audience members sequestered in their own zip-up bubbles. The band performed a couple of sold-out shows in promotion of its 2020 album “American Head,” featuring 100 inflatable audience...
Things to do in Western Pa.
Looking for some home renovation or decor ideas? Head down to the Washington County Fairgrounds for the annual Washington County Home Show. Have a short story idea rattling around your head? It might be a fit for Parsec Ink’s annual speculative fiction writing contest. Wondering how writers for the “The...
TV Q&A: When will Chris Meloni’s ‘Law Order’ spin-off air?
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: Do you know when the new “Law & Order” spin-off with Christopher Meloni reprising his role at Elliot Stabler debuts? — Scott via Facebook Rob:...
Journalism pioneer Nellie Bly featured in Women’s Press Club virtual program
She was a pioneering journalist who completed an around-the-world journey in 72 days and made a name for herself with other feats of derring-do. And she’s from Western Pennsylvania. On Thursday, Feb. 4, Nellie Bly will be the subject of a special virtual program, “Trailblazing Women in Journalism: The Legacy...
Gabby Barrett welcomes baby girl
Pittsburgh’s celebrity songstress is a new mom. “American Idol” alum and Munhall native Gabby Barrett and husband Cade Foehner welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Baylah May, on Jan. 18. Barrett, 20, updated her fans with the big news in various social media posts including a Twitter post...
Michaela Goade becomes 1st Native American to win Caldecott Medal
NEW YORK — Illustrator Michaela Goade became the first Native American to win the prestigious Randolph Caldecott Medal for best children’s picture story, cited for “We Are Water Protectors,” a celebration of nature and condemnation of the “black snake” Dakota Access Pipeline. “I am really honored and proud,” the 30-year-old...
Jane Fonda to receive Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award
LOS ANGELES — Jane Fonda cemented herself into Hollywood allure as a chameleonlike actor and social activist, and now the Golden Globes will honor her illustrious career with its highest honor. Fonda will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award during the 78th annual awards ceremony on Feb. 28, the Hollywood...
Nemacolin’s watch parties search for glimpses of the resort on ABC’s ‘The Bachelor’Video
A red carpet lines the staircase. As you make your way up the steps into the spacious resort lobby, you spot 400 vases filled with fresh roses. You almost expect Matt James to walk by. Nemacolin in Farmington, Fayette County, is where James is the leading man for the 25th...
The Westmoreland’s recent acquisitions bolster permanent collection
There is a story behind every piece of art acquired by The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Doug Evans, the museum’s director of collections and exhibition management, is the keeper of many of those stories — some that he can share and others he can’t. One shareable story concerns an...
TV Talk: Eureka! Syfy debuts comedic drama ‘Resident Alien’Video
Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week. With media companies prioritizing streaming services over their basic cable networks, the number of original scripted shows on cable has started to decline. Other than “The Magicians,” which ended last year, Syfy’s scripted originals have...
