Pop Culture

Kimberly Akimbo, the acclaimed David Lindsay-Abaire-Jeanine Tesori Broadway musical, will launch a 75-week, 60-city North American tour in September 2024, producers announced today. The tour will begin at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, with casting, exact dates and additional cities to be announced. The musical made its world premiere at the Atlantic Theater

From Agatha Christie to Enid Blyton, the modernisation of much-loved classics has turned fiction into another frontier in the culture wars. Take Roald Dahl, for instance. When plans emerged to print re-edited versions of some of his classics to remove words like “fat” and “ugly” it caused an uproar, which drew in the likes of

It has been almost 30 years since one of the UK’s most notorious murder cases – the gangland shooting of three drug dealers whose bodies were found in a Range Rover parked up on farmland in a small village in Essex. Patrick Tate, 37, Tony Tucker, 38, and Craig Rolfe, 26, were each shot in

Frank Skinner has paid tribute to comedian Gareth Richards as he introduced a special edition of a podcast featuring the best bits of the radio show they co-hosted. Richards’ death was announced yesterday almost two weeks after he suffered brain injuries in a motorway crash. Describing Richards as a “former colleague and dear friend”, Skinner

Comedian Gareth Richards, a former radio co-host of Frank Skinner, has died almost two weeks after suffering brain injuries in a motorway crash. Skinner broke down in tears live on his show in the days after the collision as he told listeners that his friend was fighting for his life. Richards died of his injuries

Pop acts including members of Steps and Blue have spoken of their heartbreak over the death of S Club 7 star Paul Cattermole. The singer, whose cause of death is unknown, was found at his home in Dorset on Thursday afternoon. His family and S Club 7 announced on Friday that he died unexpectedly, months

S Club 7’s Paul Cattermole has died at the age of 46. Cattermole’s death comes just weeks after the group announced it was going on a major reunion tour. The band’s management said: “We are truly devastated by the passing of our brother Paul. There are no words to describe the deep sadness and loss

Sam Neill has told Sky News he is “absolutely fine” following the revelation he had been treated for blood cancer. The Jurassic Park star said he had been suffering from stage three blood cancer, while promoting his new book – which he wrote while he was undergoing chemotherapy. Speaking to Sky News in a UK

A man has pleaded guilty to providing actor Michael K Williams with fentanyl-laced heroin, which resulted in his death in 2021. Irvin Cartagena, 39, sold the drugs in “broad daylight” in New York City, according to lawyer Damien Williams, who said he was “feeding addiction and causing tragedy”. “In doing so, he dealt the fatal

Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan are heading to Broadway later this month in Lorraine Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, producers announced today. The production, which opened a sold-out run Off Broadway at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in February, is now set to be the final production of the 2022-23 Broadway season. Opening

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker has stood by his tweet about the government’s “cruel” asylum policy which resulted in him being taken off air by the BBC. The former England footballer was asked to “step back” from the popular highlights show over his comments comparing the language used to launch a new government

EXCLUSIVE: Broadway casting director Benton Whitley announced today the creation of Whitley Theatrical, a New York City-based casting and producing office for theater, film, and television. Whitley is the co-founder, with former business partner Duncan Stewart, of the Broadway casting agency Stewart/Whitley. As reported by Deadline yesterday, Stewart is joining RWS Entertainment Group to head

A 68-year-old Spanish actress has revealed how she used her son’s DNA to create a surrogate baby – to fulfil his dying wish to have a child. Ana Obregón said Aless Lequio García’s sperm was preserved before his death from cancer in 2020 – with the intention of conceiving a child with a surrogate mother.

Obie Award-winning writer and performer Alex Edelman will bring his solo show Just For Us to Broadway this summer following critically acclaimed engagements Off Broadway and in London, Edinburgh, Boston and other cities. The Broadway limited engagement – Edelman’s first – will begin previews at the Hudson Theatre on Thursday, June 22, with an opening

“Did any child in the ’80s not play Super Mario Brothers?” It’s a question that’s helped pile on the pressure when it comes to the latest iteration of the classic video game – which is one of the best-selling of all time. The franchise has already seen numerous games, an animated TV series and animated

Puns grow knee-high – and in bawdier moments a bit higher – in Shucked, the new musical comedy that combines the winking hayseed humor of Green Acres and Hee Haw with the decidedly urban, gently subversive camp that peppered the Off Broadway scene in the ’90s with kitschy fare like Ruthless!, The Real Live Brady

Hugh Jackman has revealed he has undergone two biopsies following a new skin cancer scare. The Hollywood star has been treated several times for a form of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma, having first had cancerous cells removed in 2013. In a new video shared on social media, Jackman, 54, said he would receive

With two weeks left in its 35-year Broadway run, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera posted a huge box office gross last week of $3,247,106, nearly 10% of Broadway’s total take for the seven-day period ending April 2. The beloved musical – which, Lloyd Webber has suggested, might well find its way back

Paul O’Grady spoke of the “joy” he felt when he returned to Battersea Dogs & Cats Home for his long-running ITV show in an interview conducted before his death. The presenter, who died “unexpectedly” last week at the age of 67, visited the charity for the upcoming series of Paul O’Grady: For The Love Of