Entertainment category, Page 94
Paramount to lay off hundreds of staffers in cost-cutting effort
Layoffs are hitting Paramount Global. The media giant that owns the famed Paramount Pictures movie studio, plus CBS, Nickelodeon and other networks, will eliminate roughly 800 jobs as part of a broad streamlining effort, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment. There is...
Robert Plant, Alison Krauss bringing Can’t Let Go tour to PittsburghVideo
It’s been a long time since Robert Plant rock and rolled in Pittsburgh, but fans won’t have to wait “Evermore” — just until June. Plant, the former lead singer of Led Zeppelin, will reunite with Alison Krauss for the Can’t Let Go tour, with a stop June 15 at the...
Pain, sweat and sandworms: In ‘Dune 2’ Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and the cast rise to the challengeVideo
LOS ANGELES — Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler were really looking forward to their fight. The actors had been training, separately, with a Kali instructor in Los Angeles to prepare for the climactic showdown between Paul Atreides and Feyd Rautha in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two. ” When they finally...
Movie Review: Dakota Johnson is fun enough, but ‘Madame Web’ is repetitive and messyVideo
There is a lot of pretty niche comic book mythology swirling around “Madame Web,” the inspiration for the newest of Sony’s “Spider-Man” spinoffs. This is a character who goes back to 1980 and whose powers of clairvoyance helped Peter Parker at some point. She’s elderly and blind and sits atop...
Beyoncé acknowledges country music roots with 2 singles, upcoming album
During the Super Bowl, Beyoncé used a commercial to announce her next album — a country-themed follow-up to “Renaissance” being referred to as “Act II.” The new album will drop March 29, according to her website, which updated after the Verizon ad played shortly after halftime, saying “Drop the new...
A new exhibition aims to bring Yoko Ono’s art out of John Lennon’s shadow
LONDON — Before there was John and Yoko — and after — there was just Yoko Ono. The Japanese-American artist became a global celebrity through her marriage to John Lennon, her partner for more than a decade until his murder in 1980, as well as her collaborator on peace-protest “bed-ins”...
New Orleans’ Carnival season marks Fat Tuesday with celebrities and pretend monarchsVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Festivities marking Mardi Gras, the climactic day of New Orleans’ Carnival season, hit full swing early Tuesday, with costumed revelers gathering on the narrow streets of the French Quarter and families and tourists lining major thoroughfares to watch parades. The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club handed...
Guitarist Selwyn Birchwood, nominated for 4 Blues Music Awards, heading to PittsburghVideo
Guitarist Selwyn Birchwood said he felt like calling his music blues wasn’t specific enough, so he invented the description of “electric swamp funkin’ blues” instead. “I think if you just say blues it doesn’t quite cover it,” Birchwood said earlier this month from St. Augustine, Florida. “But we do a...
Records show Usher and longtime partner Jenn Goicoechea got married after Super Bowl
LAS VEGAS — Usher and longtime partner Jenn Goicoechea married in Las Vegas just hours after the R&B superstar’s headline appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show, according to officials and documents. The officiant who wed the pair is known to dress as an Elvis Presley impersonator. The couple married...
Super Bowl creates social media meme frenzy with Taylor, Kelce, Reid, Usher
Though the Super Bowl is over, the memes and commentary on social media haven’t stopped. By opening X, formerly known as Twitter, users will come across a flood of various posts. The Super Bowl game went into overtime between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs emerged...
TV Talk: Best/worst Super Bowl ads; Pittsburgh native Jeff Goldblum appears in 3
Advertisers largely avoided weird, non-sequitur ads in favor of celebrity-starring commercials during Super Bowl LVIII. And often the spots didn’t feature just one star — additional bold-name folks made cameos. Pittsburgh native Jeff Goldblum not only starred in an Apartments.com ad but he also had a cameo in a Homes.com...
TV Talk: WPXI-TV back on DirecTV; Jon Burnett and CTE
A little more than a week after Cox Media Group stations, including Pittsburgh’s WPXI-TV, went dark on DirecTV, the two companies reached a deal. Channel 11 is now back on DirecTV. The retransmission dispute began on Feb. 3 and was resolved just in time for Cox-owned CBS stations in other...
Poet Terrance Hayes reads at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in celebration of Black History Month
The light beamed down on Terrance Hayes on Saturday afternoon as he stood center stage in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s lecture hall. The award-winning poet and South Carolina native read several poems from his selections “So to Speak,” “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin” and others, as...
Looking for a logistical nightmare? Try to get rid of a piano
Getting into the piano business is a heavy decision. While that’s a bit of a bad pun, it’s also the truth. Piano dealers mostly have their own infrastructure in place to deal with one of the world’s heaviest instruments. But for people who have a piano and don’t want it...
TV Talk at TCA: ‘Percy Jackson’ and its Pa. teen star plot 2nd season; ‘Ghosts’ returnsVideo
PASADENA, Calif. – Last week, Disney+ renewed “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” for a second season that will be based on the novel “Sea of Monsters” and on Saturday, the show’s three young lead actors described how their lives have changed since the show’s premiere. “Mostly it’s been with my...
Taylor Swift reaches LAX in journey from Tokyo to Super Bowl, online sleuths say. Will she make it?
TOKYO — Will she make it in time? Intrepid flight trackers online seem to think so. On social media, fans of Taylor Swift and aviation journalists believe they’ve identified Swift’s private jet, labeled “The Football Era.” It arrived from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Los Angeles’ LAX airport just after 3:30...
Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Cher, Sade, Oasis, Ozzy Osbourne among Rock Hall nominees for ’24
NEW YORK — Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Cher, Lenny Kravitz, the late Sinéad O’Connor and heavy metal’s Prince of Darkness are some the 2024 nominees for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a wide musical net that also includes the pop-soul of Sade and Britpoppers Oasis....
TV Talk at TCA: ‘Space Race’ profiles Black astronauts; Peak TV peaksVideo
PASADENA, Calif. — “The Space Race: The Untold Story of the First Black Astronauts” (9 p.m. Monday, National Geographic Channel; next day on Hulu, Disney+) profiles NASA legends past and present, including Ed Dwight, who had a successful military career before he was recruited to an Air Force training program...
Dan Marino, Scarlett Johansson have fun with almost being champions in Super Bowl ad
LAS VEGAS — Actor Scarlett Johansson and NFL and University of Pittsburgh legend Dan Marino come from different professions, but they have two things in common: Both have a sweet tooth and an infatuation with M&Ms. Johansson and Marino will star in the Super Bowl commercial that will focus on...
Here’s what you can expect from Super Bowl commercials this Sunday
NEW YORK — Big name advertisers will be pulling out all the stops on Super Bowl Sunday — enlisting high-profile actors, investing in dazzling special effects and, they hope, going for laughs as they seek to win over viewers during game breaks. Marketers will use Sunday’s game, which will air...
Westmoreland student musicians to perform at annual Young Artists Competition recital
Franklin Regional student musicians had a strong showing in the annual Young Artists Competition, hosted by the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra and Seton Hill University. Panther students swept the competition’s Level I instrumental category, and earned nine spots on the winners’ list. Winners will take part in a recital Sunday at...
Justin Timberlake extends Forget Tomorrow tour, including Pittsburgh concertVideo
Justin Timberlake added 15 more concerts to his Forget Tomorrow tour, including a Pittsburgh date. The “My Love” and “SexyBack” singer will visit PPG Paints Arena on Dec. 14. For his first tour in five years, he will be out in support of his upcoming album, “Everything I Thought It...
‘Gentle Larceny’ a 1-man show featuring Ligonier actor will be staged at Unity hotel
When he started planning his nonprofit theater company, former University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg professor Stephen Schrum wanted to look for works that strayed from the traditional theater production. Without a dedicated venue to perform in, Schrum said he hoped to adapt the medium to fit into new and unique...
5 things to do in Pittsburgh this weekend: Feb. 9-11
It’s the weekend. Here are some ways to spend it. Monster Jam The Monster Truck show rolls into PPG Paints Arena this weekend. Shows are at 7 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. More than 100 truckloads of dirt were dumped onto the...
Usher says it’s been a challenge to squeeze 30-year career into 13-minute Super Bowl halftime showVideo
LAS VEGAS — Usher found fitting a successful three decades of music into a super-short Super Bowl halftime show a challenge, but the multiple Grammy winner decided to concentrate on past hits, moments from his popular Las Vegas residency and possibly draw from his new album. “I was very mindful...
