Justin Peck On The Making Of ‘Illinoise’ And The Guiding Vision Of Sufjan Stevens – Tony Watch Q&A

Lexi Carson It was in 2010 at the New York City Ballet when Brandon Stirling Baker, the lighting designer of Broadway’s “Illinoise” met Justin Peck, the director and choreographer. One of the first things they ever talked about was Sufjan Stevens‘ 2005 indie folk concept album “Illinois,” Baker says. “And that wasn’t that we had any agenda.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off the Cannes Film Festival where it won several awards, Mohammad Rasoulof‘s “The Seed of The Sacred Fig” has been acquired by a flurry of high profile distributors in major international territories. Films Boutique, which represents the critically acclaimed political drama globally, has sold it to Lionsgate for the U.K.

The Scottish Maritime Museum and Irvine Clean Up Crew are inviting adults and children to come along for a day of fun and positive action on World Ocean Day.

D:Ream have spoken to NME about their shocked reaction to their 1993 hit ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ returning to the charts after being played over Rishi Sunak announcing a general election in a downpour – and how it has led to them being asked to play Glastonbury 2024.Last Wednesday (May 22), as a drenched Sunak took to a podium outside 10 Downing Street to reveal the snap July 4 election date, in the background protester Steve Bray played the Northern Irish band’s Number One song which had long been associated with Tony Blair’s landslide victory in 1997.The clip has since gone viral on social media platforms and entered the iTunes chart Top 10 within 24 hours.According to D:Ream singer Peter Cunnah, though, the political connotations of the song had become an albatross for the band over the New Labour years and beyond.“My first reaction was ‘not again, please let me move on’,” he told NME. “We all wanted that change in ’97, that sense of positivity.

Fly and flop getaways are all well and good, but if you want to burn off some of that breakfast buffet – and really explore the area you’re staying in – then a specialist walking holiday might be for you. With something for all fitness levels, these organised trips either involve staying at one hotel, which you set out from on foot every day, or moving between locations, with your luggage transported so it’s waiting for you at your next accommodation.

Nearly 1,500 banks in the UK have either shut their doors or announced their intention to close since February 2022. That's nearly two a DAY across the country.

EXCLUSIVE: Buffalo 8 has acquired worldwide rights out of Cannes to The President and the Dragon, a Jimmy Carter documentary from Sudanese writer, director and producer Waleed Eltayeb and Irish director-cinematographer Ian D. Murphy.

The Royal Family have cancelled a string of upcoming engagements, following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's call for an early UK general election this July. Although the King and Queen's D-Day 80th anniversary appearances in Portsmouth and Normandy in June are expected to go ahead as scheduled, there is now major disruption with other events in the forthcoming royal diaries.

Netflix's latest hot property programme has finally landed - and its cast features some familiar faces.

A brand new music festival headlined by Idlewild and The View has this week been given the green light by Perth and Kinross Council (PKC).

Have you ever watched “Game of Thrones” and thought, “Man, I’d love to see a version of this where there are no dragons and cosplayers take the place of kings and queens?” No? Well, HBO hopes you do, as it has a three-part documentary, titled “Ren Faire,” coming your way. In all seriousness, “Ren Faire” is a docuseries about the largest Renaissance festival in the world and the one man who rules over it, an 86-year-old George Coulam.

Tatiana Siegel Zoe Saldaña says the future of female representation in the film industry is dependent on women continuing to shatter the glass ceiling. And those who do cannot get complacent. “We need more female CEOs.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Wake up, fans of “The Sandman,” we’ve got some Season 2 news for you: The Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s epic graphic novel series has cast the final three siblings in the “Endless Family” of Tom Sturridge’s Dream — Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, Adrian Lester as Destiny and Barry Sloane as “The Prodigal.” In “The Sandman” comic book series, The Prodigal is the estranged Endless sibling named Destruction, but Netflix has taken care to label Sloane’s role as “The Prodigal,” which is the way the character is referred to throughout the first volumes of the story. The three new castings point to “The Sandman” Season 2 covering the graphic novel’s iconic installment, “Season of Mists.” The trio of new “The Sandman” Season 2 actors will join the Endless siblings returning from Season 1: Death (Kirby), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), Despair (Donna Preston) and Dream, The Sandman himself.

Gregg Goldstein Raoul Peck‘s life is as fascinating as his films, filled with unexpected twists and turns. From his early stints as a cab driver and journalist, to a minister of culture post in his native Haiti, to teaching, to founding his Velvet Film production shingle to his breakthrough when he earned an Oscar nomination as producer/director with the James Baldwin doc, “I Am Not Your Negro,” the common denominator is Peck’s drive to make life better through his work.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Katie Kimmel says her parents – Jimmy Kimmel and his first wife, Gina – didn’t blink when she told them she wanted to be an artist. “There was no shock,” says Katie, a ceramist who is best known for her whimsical dog and cat sculptures. (Full disclosure: This reporter commissioned a vase of my pooches earlier this year.) “My dad is a really great artist.

Ireland’s screen industry is having a moment. With the Cannes Film Festival well underway, there’s a notable strong Irish presence in this year’s line-up including Element Pictures’ three entrants – Competition title Kinds of Kindness from Yorgos Lanthimos, Rungano Nyoni’s sophomore feature On Becoming A Guinea Fowl and Ariane Labed’s directorial debut September Says (both in Un Certain Regard). There’s also Competition title The Apprentice, which is co-produced with Irish outfit Tailored Films and Lorcan Finnegan’s Nicolas Cage starrer The Surfer premiering in the Midnight Screenings strand. Even Andrea Arnold’s Competition title Bird is rich with Irish talent with star Barry Keoghan and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Robbie Ryan both having worked on the film. 

Eurovision contestant is likely to face charges, according to police.Joost Klein – who was set to represent the Netherlands with his song ‘Europapa’ – was disqualified from the contest in Malmö, Sweden just hours before Saturday’s finale (May 11). At the time, police stated that the decision was made after he was accused of making verbal threats towards a female member of production crew.The incident marked the first time that an act had been disqualified after reaching the Grand Final in the competition’s 68-year history and, before his disqualification, the 26-year-old singer was named as one of the favourites to win.Now, a spokesperson for the police, Jimmy Modin, has spoken to The Guardian about the indecent and revealed that it is looking likely that Klein will face legal action.Modin confirmed that the investigation was over, and a decision about whether or not to press charges should arrive “within the next couple of weeks”.Emil Andersson, the police officer in charge of the case, shared a similar sentiment with Swedish broadcaster SVT.

Eurovision Song Contest 2024.This year’s competition, which was ultimately won by Switzerland’s Nemo, was surrounded by controversy for allowing Israel to compete amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.A statement shared by the EBU to both The Mirror and The Irish Times read: “We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö didn’t respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts. We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention.It continued: “The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the ESC in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.A post shared by European Broadcasting Union (@ebu_hq)“Individual cases will be discussed by the event’s governing body, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group made up of representatives from participating broadcasters, at its next meeting.”The statement’s release comes after the slew of controversies that took over this year’s edition of the song contest.

Bambie Thug has given a special message at the end of their gripping Eurovision performance – watch it below.The Irish Eurovision entry has been tipped as one of the favourites to win this year, with them ranking fourth on the bookie’s odds to win the contest.However, the Cork singer has also faced significant challenges throughout the competition due to their pro-Palestinian stance. It was revealed they were forced to remove the words ‘ceasefire’ and ‘freedom for Palestine’ in a medieval script from their costume due to Eurovision’s political neutrality clause.Though they were prevented from saying the words ‘ceasefire’, Bambie seemed to allude to the Israel-Palestine conflict at the end of their powerful performance.

The official page of the Netherlands' Songfestival, which sends acts to Eurovision Song Contest, has finally broken its silence on Dutch act Joost Klein's disqualification.They revealed that the incident leading to Joost's disqualification involved him being filmed despite his repeated objections.The statement from the Netherlands' Songfestival also mentioned that Dutch radio and television broadcaster AVROTROS found Joost Klein's disqualification "disproportionate". Detailing why Eurovision officials have barred Joost from participating in Saturday's final, the statement read: "An incident occurred after last Thursday's performance.