Pop Culture

Patti LuPone and Company are doubling down on their message to Broadway theatergoers: Wear a mask. Or get the f*ck out. Ok, so the latter part goes unsaid in a new (and silent) PSA posted on the official Twitter account of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical revival, but LuPone wasn’t so reticent in an audience Q&A

Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra have been voted through to the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest. It means the band have solidified their position as favourites in the competition. Others countries which also progressed from the first semi-final to Saturday’s final were Switzerland, Armenia, Iceland, Lithuania, Portugal, Norway, Greece, Moldova and the Netherlands. The UK,

Actors’ Equity is blasting an audience member who secretly videotaped Jesse Williams’ nude scene while performing in Take Me Out at the Second Stage Theater in NYC and then released it on Twitter. Equity called it an act of “sexual harassment and an appalling breach of consent.” The NYC theater, which collects audience members’ cell

Rebekah Vardy has suffered “immense distress” as a result of Coleen Rooney’s now infamous “Wagatha Christie” allegations and “had no choice” but to take her to court “to establish her innocence and vindicate her reputation”, the High Court has been told. Vardy is suing Rooney after being publicly accused of leaking “false stories” to the

With nearly all 36 productions settling into full schedules last week, the Broadway box office tally climbed a modest 7% from the previous week, totaling $31,199,660, with attendance of 249,219 showing a 3% bump. The attendance figure represents about 76% of available seats, indicating that the recently crowded line-up could be spreading the audience pool

Believe it or not, the Eurovision Song Contest is one of the biggest, most-watched annual television events in the world. Hundreds of millions of people across the globe watched last year’s competition in Rotterdam – where Italy’s Maneskin topped the leader board with Zitti E Buoni and the UK’s James Newman scored the dreaded nil

Fat Ham, playwright James Ijames’ comedy-drama reinvention of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, received the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama today, just days before the acclaimed play is to make its New York debut at the Public Theater Off Broadway. “A funny, poignant play that deftly transposes Hamlet to a family barbecue in the American South to grapple

Supermarkets, cars and lifts are just some of the unusual birth places reported for babies who have made speedy entrances into the world. But one newborn in Brazil now surely lays claim to the most rock ‘n’ roll arrival of all time. Two-day-old Luan Figueiró was born at a Metallica gig at the Couto Pereira

Refresh for updates… Patti LuPone, Billy Crystal, Ruth Negga, Jaquel Spivey and Mary-Louise Parker are expressing their thanks for today’s Tony Award nominations, with LuPone and Negga extending appreciations to her co-stars who were not nominated. “We are led every night by the beautiful, soulful, and extremely talented Katrina Lenk,” LuPone said in a statement.

The government’s plan to sell off Channel 4 was front and centre at this year’s BAFTA TV Awards, as stars pledged to fight to keep the broadcaster in public hands. Director Steve McQueen, who won an award for his documentary Uprising, told the audience at the Royal Festival Hall in London that the public should

Dennis Waterman, the veteran actor known for shows such as Minder and The Sweeney, has died. He was 74. A statement from his agent said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved Dennis, passed away very peacefully at his home in Spain.” “The family kindly ask that our privacy is respected at this

While Channel 4 may be battling for its future amid government calls for its privatisation, the success of one of its dramas – one of the most talked about pieces of TV of last year – is hitting home the channel’s undeniable popularity with viewers. It’s A Sin leads the field at this year’s BAFTA

Fred Savage has been dropped as director and executive producer of the remake of US comedy series The Wonder Years following complaints of misconduct. Former child actor Savage starred as protagonist Kevin Arnold in the original series in the late 1980s and early ’90s. The beloved series was rebooted in 2021, starring Elisha “EJ” Williams

With a career spanning almost 50 years, a huge body of work and no fewer than eight Academy Award nominations, it would be fair to assume there’s not a lot Glenn Close hasn’t done when it comes to acting. But for her latest role – in the international spy drama series Tehran – the star

ITV weather presenter Ruth Dodsworth has shared her fears over the release of her abusive ex-husband from prison. The 46-year-old broadcaster has spoken out about the coercive control she endured and her own experience in a controlling marriage in a new TV programme. In Controlled By My Partner? The Hidden Abuse, previously unseen police footage

Toddlers and Tiaras star Kailia Posey died after taking her own life, the 16-year-old’s family have confirmed. Ms Posey starred in the TLC reality series which ran from 2009 to 2013 and featured families who prepared their children to compete in beauty pageants. She became a popular GIF when a clip of her ear-to-ear grin went

Welcome to Backstage – the film and TV podcast from Sky News. This week with entertainment reporters Claire Gregory, Stevie Wong and Sky News arts and entertainment editor Amy Hitchcock we discuss: Subscribe to the Backstage podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker • The upcoming TV Baftas • Dr Strange In the Multiverse

Rapper Kidd Creole, who was a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for stabbing a homeless man to death. The 62-year-old rapper, born Nathaniel Glover, was found guilty of manslaughter last month for the death of John Jolly, who was stabbed twice in the

The man accused of attacking Dave Chappelle on stage at the Hollywood Bowl will not face felony charges. Prosecutors have decided that while criminal conduct occurred, the evidence did not constitute felony conduct. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office referred the case to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, which will consider possible misdemeanour

The outgoing head of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has said that only disabled actors should now be cast as Richard III. Gregory Doran, who announced he was stepping down as artistic director last month, said that choosing able-bodied actors for the role “would probably not be acceptable”. Richard III, often referred to in the