MARK KENNEDY

AP Entertainment Writer
FILE - Director Ron Simons poses for a portrait during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 23, 2011 in Park City, Utah. Simon, an actor who turned into a formidable screen and stage producer, winning four Tony Awards and having several films selected at the Sundance Film Festival, has died. He was 63. (AP Photo/Victoria Will, File)
Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Ron Simons dies at 63
Ron Simons, an actor who turned into a formidable screen and stage producer, winning four Tony Awards and having several films selected at the Sundance Film Festival, has died. He was 63.
 
FILE - Ariana DeBose speaks on stage at the 76th annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 11, 2023, at the United Palace theater in New York. DeBose, who hosted both the 2023 and 2022 Tony Awards, will be back this year for the ceremony June 16, and will produce and choreograph the opening number. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
Tony Award host Ariana DeBose says viewers should expect a ‘full Broadway experience’
Ariana DeBose promises the Tony Awards on Sunday will move “like a Broadway show.” That means viewers will see transitions between scenes, with cast members coming on stage to help move items and sets changing in front of the audience.
 
FILE - A view of the stage appears before the start of the 75th annual Tony Awards on Sunday, June 12, 2022, at Radio City Music Hall in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
At the Tony Awards, a veteran host with plenty of stars and songs on tap
The Tony Awards are Sunday with a familiar host and a new venue, Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater in Manhattan. Academy Award winner and Tony nominee Ariana DeBose, who hosted both the 2023 and 2022 ceremonies, will be back this year.
 
This image released by MGM+ shows Yul Vazquez, from left, Danny Pino and Michael Chiklis from "Hotel Cocaine." (Carlos Rodriguez/MGM+ via AP)
‘Hotel Cocaine’ on MGM+ gives viewers disco, drama and plenty of blow in Miami in the late ‘70s
The lapels are wide, “Disco Inferno” is blasting and lines and lines of nose candy are on offer in the new intriguing Miami-based series “Hotel Cocaine.”
 
This image released by ABC News Studios shows Demi Moore, left, and Andrew McCarthy in a scene from the documentary "Brats." (ABC News Studios via AP)
Movie Review: Andrew McCarthy hunts the ‘Brat Pack’ blowback in the documentary ‘Brats’
Back in 1985, rising star Andrew McCarthy was lumped into an amorphous group of young actors who were changing Hollywood. They were called the “Brat Pack.”
 
Tony Award nominee Will Butler poses for a portrait on Monday, June 3, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Christopher Smith/Invision/AP)
Meet Will Butler, the singer-songwriter who makes Broadway’s ‘Stereophonic’ rock
The assignment was daunting: Write a song for an onstage moment of transcendence. Make it kind of funny and exciting and for a five-piece band. And, oh, it must plausibly be a rock hit in 1976.
 
This cover image released by Weldon Owen shows "Out There: A Camper Cookbook: Recipes from the Wild" by Lee Kalpakis. (Weldon Owen via AP)
How to make great outdoor dishes, from a chef who lived in a camper
If crafting a meal outdoors is in your plans this summer, check out Lee Kalpakis’ new cookbook. She lived for just under two years in a 22-foot camper in upstate New York, refining the 75 recipes in the book, “Out There.”
 
FILE - Muppet creator Jim Henson poses with one of his creations at Henson's 69th Street office in New York City on Feb. 6, 1984. Henson is the subject of the documentary "Jim Henson: Idea Man." (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File)
Movie Review: Muppets creator Jim Henson gets a documentary as exciting as he was Update 2
The origins of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy are part of the engrossing and enlightening documentary “Jim Henson Idea Man.”
 
FILE - Muppet creator Jim Henson poses with one of his creations at Henson's 69th Street office in New York City on Feb. 6, 1984. Henson is the subject of the documentary "Jim Henson: Idea Man." (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File)
Movie Review: Muppets creator Jim Henson gets a documentary as exciting as he was Update 1
The origins of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy are part of the engrossing and enlightening documentary “Jim Henson Idea Man.”
 
Dolly Parton is seen during CMA Fest on Thursday June 6, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
Dolly Parton plans for a musical on her life using her songs to land on Broadway in 2026
Broadway has had great success with “Hello, Dolly.” Now get ready for “Hello, I’m Dolly.” Dolly Parton is writing new songs to go along with some of her past hits and co-writing a stage story inspired by her life for a musical that she hopes to land on Broadway in 2026.
 
FILE - Maria Friedman, director of the Broadway revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” attends the Meet The Tony Award Nominees press junket at the Sofitel New York in New York on May 2, 2024. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
Maria Friedman, a longtime friend of Stephen Sondheim, teaches ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ to sing
On opening night of the Broadway revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” one person in the audience strangely wasn’t nervous — the director.
 
FILE - Bob Hope and Janis Paige hug during the annual Christmas show in Saigon, Vietnam, Dec. 25, 1964. Paige, a popular actor in Hollywood and in Broadway musicals and comedies who danced with Fred Astaire, toured with Bob Hope and continued to perform into her 80s, has died Sunday, June 2, 2024, of natural causes at her Los Angeles home, longtime friend Stuart Lampert said Monday, June 3. (AP Photo, File)
Janis Paige, star of Hollywood and Broadway, dies at 101
Janis Paige, a popular actor in Hollywood and in Broadway musicals and comedies who danced with Fred Astaire, toured with Bob Hope and continued to perform into her 90s, has died. She was 101.
 
This image released by National Geographic shows actor Francesco Di Rauso, portraying combat medic Waverly Woodson Jr., who served with the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion on D-Day, in a scene from "Erased: WW2's Heroes of Color." (National Geographic via AP)
Idris Elba helps uncover the WWII soldiers of color who never got their due
 
FILE - Muppet creator Jim Henson poses with one of his creations at Henson's 69th Street office in New York City on Feb. 6, 1984. Henson is the subject of the documentary "Jim Henson: Idea Man." (AP Photo/G. Paul Burnett, File)
Movie Review: Muppets creator Jim Henson gets a documentary as exciting as he was
The origins of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy are part of the engrossing and enlightening documentary “Jim Henson Idea Man.”
 
This image released by Carnegie Mellon University shows CJay Philip at the Black Box Theater in Baltimore on May 18, 2024. Philip will receive the 2024 Excellence in Theatre Education Award on June 16 at the Tony Awards in New York City. (Pamela Wigley/Carnegie Mellon University via AP)
The special Tony Award for educators goes to Baltimore community artist CJay Philip
The special Tony Award that honors educators is going to a Baltimore-based actor, educator, choreographer and Broadway veteran who has created arts opportunities for everyone from kindergartners to senior citizens.
 
FILE - Jessica Stone attends the Broadway opening night for "Water For Elephants" at The Imperial Theatre on Thursday, March 21, 2024, in New York. (Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP, File)
Jessica Stone, who knits Broadway and circus in thrilling ‘Water for Elephants,’ enjoys a Tony nod
You don’t initially see a full elephant at the Broadway musical “Water for Elephants.” It’s more like a tease. First come a pair of enormous ears. Then a trunk. And then the legs.
 
FILE - Mickey Mouse, from left, Elizabeth Gluck, Richard M. Sherman and Minnie Mouse pose for a photo at the ceremony honoring the Sherman Brothers with the rename of Disney Studios Soundstage A at the world premiere of Disney's "Christopher Robin" at the Walt Disney Studios, July 30, 2018, in Burbank, Calif. Sherman, one half of the prolific, award-winning pair of brothers who helped form millions of childhoods by penning classic Disney tunes, died Saturday, May 25, 2024. He was 95. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
Richard M. Sherman, who fueled Disney charm in ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘It’s a Small World,’ dies at 95
Richard M. Sherman, one half of the prolific, award-winning pair of brothers who helped form millions of childhoods by penning classic Disney tunes, has died. He was 95.
 
FILE - Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock participate in the BUILD Speaker Series to discuss the film, "Go North", at AOL Studios on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017, in New York. Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life’s work, famously eating only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who skewered fast food industry, dies at 53
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar nominee whose most famous works skewered America’s food industry and who notably ate only at McDonald’s for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died of cancer. He was 53.
 
This cover image released by Roxie Records shows "Blue Electric Light" by Lenny Kravitz. (Roxie Records via AP)
Music Review: Lenny Kravitz leans on the funk with glorious ‘Blue Electric Light’
The bass is banging, the guitars are shrieking and Lenny Kravitz is howling on “Blue Electric Light,” the rocker’s best stuff in years, offering a welcome blast of funk in 2024.
 
FILE - Sarah Pidgeon attends the Meet The Tony Award Nominees press junket at the Sofitel New York on May 2, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
Sarah Pidgeon finds her voice, her inner rock god and a Tony nomination in Broadway’s ‘Stereophonic’
Sarah Pidgeon is making her Broadway debut this season in a celebrated, thoughtful show about how art is created. And getting her first Tony Award nomination. And in a play that’s transformed her into a member of a rock band.
 
This image released by Sony Pictures shows characters Odie, voiced by Harvey Guillén, from left, Vic, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, and Garfield, voiced by Chris Pratt, in a scene from the animated film "The Garfield Movie." (Columbia Pictures/Sony via AP)
Movie Review: ‘The Garfield Movie’ is a bizarre animated tale that’s not pur-fect in any way
If you catch the latest Garfield movie, you might not expect to find the famous orange feline at one point running from bad guys on the top of a speeding train. Lasagna eating? Sure. But any sort of cardio?
 
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows a scene from "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
Movie Review: The ‘Mad Max’ saga treads (hard-to-find) water with frustrating ‘Furiosa’ copy....
Creator and director, George Miller has taken the coolest role of his “Mad Max: Fury Road” and built a whole prequel around her. But Associated Press critic Mark Kennedy says “Furiosa” has the titular character overshadowed by everyone else.
 
FILE - Kecia Lewis attends the "Hell's Kitchen" Broadway musical opening night performance at the Shubert Theatre on Saturday, April 20, 2024, in New York. The Broadway veteran — now celebrating 40 years in the business — portrays the formidable piano teacher Miss Liza Jane in “Hell’s Kitchen” who inspires the show's young heroine to embrace music. (Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP, File)
Kecia Lewis in Broadway’s ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ delivers the soul and earns a Tony Award nomination
It’s fitting that Kecia Lewis has had her most successful theater season while playing a mentor. The Broadway veteran portrays the formidable piano teacher Miss Liza Jane in “Hell’s Kitchen” who inspires the show’s young heroine to embrace music.
 
FILE - Actor Dabney Coleman, who stars in NBC's "Sooner or Later, appears in Los Angeles on Nov. 14, 1988. Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in "9 to 5" and the nasty TV director in "Tootsie," died Thursday, May 16, 2024, his daughter, Quincy Coleman, told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 92. No other details were immediately available. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies at 92
Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in “9 to 5” and the nasty TV director in “Tootsie,” has died. He was 92.
 
FILE - Matt Shultz, left, and Nick Bockrath of Cage The Elephant perform at the All In Music & Arts Festival on Sept. 4, 2022, in Indianapolis. The band has a new album called "Neon Pill." (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
Rock band Cage the Elephant emerge from loss and hospitalization with new album ‘Neon Pill’
To say Cage the Elephant’s latest album had a turbulent birth would be an understatement. The band dealt with the deaths of loved ones, the pandemic and their lead singer’s arrest and hospitalization.
 
FILE - Michael McDonald, of the Doobie Brothers, poses for a portrait at Show Biz Studios in Los Angeles on Aug. 17, 2021. McDonald has a new memoir titled, "What a Fool Believes." (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Soulful singer Michael McDonald looks back in his new memoir, ‘What a Fool Believes’
Something stopped Michael McDonald from telling his story publicly — him. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer with multiple Grammys just didn’t think he had one.
 
FILE - George Clooney attends a special screening of "The Boys in the Boat" in New York on Dec. 13, 2023. Clooney will make his Broadway acting debut next year in a familiar project for the Hollywood star: “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Clooney will play legendary TV journalist Edward R. Murrow in a stage adaptation of the 2005 movie. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
George Clooney to make his Broadway debut in a play version of movie ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’
George Clooney will make his Broadway acting debut next year in a familiar project for the Hollywood star: “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Clooney will play legendary TV journalist Edward R.
 
This cover image released by Dey Street Books shows "You Never Know" a memoir by Tom Selleck with Ellis Henican. (Dey Street Books via AP)
In new memoir, Tom Selleck looks back at the hard years that made him a star in ‘Magnum, P.I.’
 
This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Noa, played by Owen Teague, in a scene from "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." (20th Century Studios via AP)
Movie Review: ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ finds a new hero and will blow your mind
Fans of the “Planet of the Apes” franchise may still be mourning the 2017 death of Caesar, the charismatic ape leader. Not to worry: He haunts the next episode, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”
 
★★★★
This cover image released by Atlantic Records shows "Reasonable Woman" by Sia. (Atlantic Records via AP)
Music Review: Sia soars with first solo album in 8 years, ‘Reasonable Woman’
A whole album of Sia is great — great, don’t get us wrong — but Sia paired with the icon Chaka Khan? Fire.
 
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