Washington Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Jesse Martin is joining the Motion Picture Association as senior vice president and associate general counsel, content protection and legal affairs, focused on outreach to third party intermediaries in anti-piracy efforts.

Dixie’s Tupperware Party. The brisk, 95-minute show — funny, joyful, and personable, which earned Andersson a Drama Desk nomination in 2008 — recently began a month-long run at the Kennedy Center’s Family Theater.Despite having played the character for 17 years, Andersson has never grown tired of hosting the nightly parties to an audience all-too-eager to be whisked back to simpler times.“I get to share time with wonderful people every night, so it doesn’t really feel like a job or a hassle at all,” he says.

The Onyx Collective’s Reasonable Doubt will return with its second season on August 22 with two episodes. New episodes stream on Thursdays via Hulu.

Later today, the Cannes Film Festival will reverberate with the sound of one of America’s great jazz singers.

A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled a group of Montgomery County parents cannot “opt out” their children from classes in which lessons or books on LGBTQ-related topics are taught.

Alex Garland’s Civil War has been set for a June 7 theatrical release date in China. This marks the first time an A24 production will officially hit cinemas there. The dystopian thriller was acquired by Huahua Media in the market with Alibaba set to partner on the local release. 

There were SO many stars in attendance at the 2024 Disney Upfront presentation held on Tuesday (May 12) at Javits Center in New York City.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Four-time Academy Award-nominated Ethan Hawke is attached to star in “The Last of the Tribe,” a jungle thriller set in Brazil’s Amazon. Written by Mark Bailey (“Downfall,” “The Volcano”), “The Last of the Tribe” is produced by Brazil’s Academy Award-nominated Fernando Meirelles (“The Two Popes,” “City of God”) and Academy Award-winning producer Ed Saxon (“Silence of the Lambs,” “Adaptation”). Hawke is set to play William Phelan — a washed-out Chicago cop turned corporate gun-for-hire — who finds himself in a wildly unfamiliar landscape, his assignment the murder of the last surviving member of an uncontacted Indigenous tribe.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Alex Garland’s critically-acclaimed “Civil War” has confirmed a theatrical release in mainland China. Marking the first A24 production to be released in China, it will arrive in cinemas from June 7. Huahua Media took rights to the film for China. Tech and entertainment giant Alibaba will also be partnering with Huahua throughout the release. Depicting a dystopian future America, the film’s story follows a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach Washington DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

After a two-year absence from the upfront stage, Jimmy Kimmel was back Tuesday to take aim at Bob Iger, P Diddy, CBS and the new Golden Bachelorette.

The Guardian, the list is being described as “explosive”, and was said to have been sent anonymously to the National Centre for Cinema in Paris along with other “leading finance companies in France.”Both Le Figaro and Le Canard enchaîné claim that festival organisers have set up a crisis management team ahead of the allegations being made public.On Wednesday (May 15), a short film about abuse in the industry is also set to premiere, Moi Aussi, and it is expected to further hold France’s art sector to account.The film was made by Judith Godrèche who has been described as the French “ambassador of #MeToo” after she spoke out about assaults she claims to have experienced early in her career.The film includes the words of many women working in the arts. “Suddenly, before me was a crowd of victims, a reality that also represented France, so many stories from all social backgrounds and generations,” Godrèche said of the piece (via The Guardian).

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor After nearly 35 years with CNN, longtime Washington bureau chief Sam Feist has been named CEO of C-SPAN. Feist will remain at CNN through June and take the reins of C-SPAN later in the summer, succeeding co-CEOs Rob Kennedy and Susan Swain. Founded in 1979 by a group of cable operators, C-SPAN is devoted to televising the activity in the chambers of the U.S.

Naman Ramachandran The Seattle-based Tasveer Film Festival has unveiled several high-profile partner sponsors for its inaugural South Asian film market, ahead of its launch at the Cannes Film Festival. The sponsors include Amazon, NBCUniversal Launch, Film Companion, credit union BECU, civil liberties organization ACLUWA, University of Washington South Asia Center and Bully Media. The newly rechristened Tasveer Film Festival & Market will take place Oct.

For Vicky McClure, catching Line Of Duty’s bent coppers and defusing bombs as Trigger Point’s Lana Washington is all in a day’s work. So for her latest role, she is stepping outside of her comfort zone – by playing an office worker. “I wanted to wear five-inch heels,” she laughs.

On April 15, 2024, the CDC announced that fake Botox had , affecting 19 people in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, and Washington. The 19 individuals reported adverse reactions, with nine undergoing hospitalization for conditions such as blurred vision, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, constipation, fatigue, and shortness of breath.One of the 19 victims, who has requested anonymity, agreed to speak with Glamour about her experience developing botulism, a serious illness caused by toxins attacking the body’s nervous system, after she was unknowingly injected with counterfeit Botox at a New York City med spa. Ahead, she details her symptoms, her misdiagnosis from two hospitals, and her progress on the road to recovery.It’s been three months since I got botulism from fake Botox.

“Definitely the most challenging thing I’ve had to do thus far as an actor, a lot of mental gymnastics involved,” Jharrel Jerome admits about the uniqueness of his role in the Boots Riley-created absurdist series I’m A Virgo, on which he plays a previously extremely sheltered 13-foot-tall Oakland teen. “At no point do I look my scene partners in the eye, and as an actor that’s so critical, you know, as connection.”

Nilüfer Yanya has announced a 2024 UK, European and North American tour set to kick off later this year.Kicking off on September 28 at the Underground Arts in Philadelphia, Yanya will make her way across the US with stops in major cities such as Washington D.C., New York, Boston, Montreal, Chicago, Nashville and more. The North American leg of the tour will wrap up on October 24 at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles.From there, she will make her way to Europe with shows in Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris before heading over to the UK for gigs in Brighton, Bristol, London and Nottingham.

Jennifer Lawrence has attacked former US vice president Mike Pence over his alleged beliefs around conversion therapy.The harmful practice aims to change a person’s sexual or gender identity, and has long been discredited by medical and mental health experts, causing harmful effects on mental health.Speaking at the GLAAD media awards last night, the Oscar-winning actress was presenting the Vito Russo Award to singer Orville Peck when she cracked a joke at Pence.“I love the gay community. In fact, I was in love with a homosexual.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Pinnacle Peak Pictures is bringing a slate of faith-based films to the Cannes market, including a new installment in the “God’s Not Dead” franchise. Entitled “God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust,” the film will be released theatrically in the U.S. this fall, but, like the rest of Pinnacle’s slate, foreign territories are available to buyers.

METAMORPHOSESPsalmayene 24 directs an exciting new production of visionary Mary Zimmerman’s Tony-winning play which places the tales of Ovid into a modern-day setting, in this case the African diaspora.Folger Theatre’s production features a powerful all-Black cast that includes Edwin Brown III, Renea S. Brown, DeJeanette Horne, Yesenia Iglesias, Billie Kirshawn, Manu Kumasi, Miss Kitty, Jon Hudson Odom, Kalen Robinson, Gerrad Taylor, and Renee Elizabeth Wilson.Through June 16 at the Folger, 201 East Capitol St.

Prince Harry may encounter significant issues when the time arrives for him to renew his visa in the United States. This warning comes from an immigration solicitor, soon after allegations surfaced intimating that the Duke of Sussex may not have been entirely honest on his original US visa application.

Breitbart News argued the performance “should still be drawing big crowds during Broadway’s peak season – the month before the Tony Awards,” which is right now.The play first opened on Broadway last month, following an Off-Broadway run that started in 2022 in New York City’s “The Public” theater. The musical was by singer-songwriter Shaina Taub, directed by Leigh Silverman, and produced by lead producers Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman, along with co-producers Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai.Breitbart also noted that Vice President Harris’s niece, Meena Harris, is another producer on the stage play.The three-hour-long play brings the women’s suffrage movement of the early 1900s to the stage.

Imagine a world where “Bluey” didn’t know what a dunny or a bin chicken was, or where she sounded more like Skye from Paw Patrol than her true-blue Queenslander self.It’s indeed awful to imagine, but according to multi-platinum musician Megan Washington, that’s almost what happened when Ludo Studio was trying to work out how to take the beloved show around the world.“I remember 100 years ago, when I was in the Ludo offices and the question of the day, or the problem of the day was, were they going to have to dub the show into an American accent for American audiences?” Megan, who plays Bluey’s teacher Calypso, said on an interview with Robin Bailey and Kip Wightman on KIIS 97.3 [Australia radio station].“It was the true question of the day: ‘How are we going to deal with this? What’s going to happen?”In the end, the idea of dubbing “Bluey” was impossible; removing the accents can’t erase the inherent Australian-ness of the show.Megan said she was impressed with the decision not to dub.

Harry J. Pappas, whose Pappas Telecasting Companies was at one time the largest privately-held commercial television broadcast group in terms of household coverage in the United States, died on April 24 in Reno, according to The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences San Francisco/NorCal chapter. He was 78.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large “The Bear,” “Bluey,” “Reservation Dogs,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “The Last of Us” and “Jury Duty” are among the series set to receive this year’s Peabody Award, the org was set to announce on Thursday morning. The Peabody Awards’ board of 32 jurors have selected 34 winners, all of which received unanimous vote from TV, podcast/radio and web/digital nominees in entertainment, news, documentary, arts, children’s/youth, public service, and interactive programming.

Mark your calendar for July 17. That’s when all eight episodes of Unprisoned start streaming exclusively on Hulu. 

UnPrisoned, starring Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo, was renewed for season two in February, and now Glamour can exclusively reveal that the second season will premiere on Hulu this summer.The series—which also counts Kerry Washington as an executive producer—is inspired by creator Tracy McMillan’s life and follows single mom, relationship therapist, and social media influencer Paige Alexander (), and her dad, Edwin (Lindo), after he gets out of prison and moves in with Paige and his teenage grandson. The original series launched in March 2023 as Onyx Collective’s most-viewed premiere on Hulu.And now we can announce that season two will premiere Wednesday, July 17, 2024, on Hulu.

Grease, has died aged 72.Buckner played cheerleader Patty Simcox in the film, which starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Her character can be remembered for chanting the rallying cry for Rydell High School.She was born in 1952 in Seattle and, as a young woman she began performing in beauty pageants, winning Miss Washington in 1971 and becoming a Miss America finalist in 1972.Her acting career began in 1976, mainly appearing in popular television shows such as The Brady Bunch Hour and The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries.She finished up her acting career in the early ’80s, with appearances in nine episodes of comedy show When The Whistle Blows, and a role in Wes Craven’s 1981 slasher movie Deadly Blessing.According to People magazine, Buckner spent the later years of her life directing children’s theatre at a school in Florida, as well as being a dance instructor at a gym.A publicist for the family spoke of Buckner’s death, which took place on May 2 in Miami, Florida, (via People).

Catfish & The Bottlemen have announced a North American headline tour for this year – find all the details below.The Van McCann-fronted band will hit the road in the US and Canada this autumn, with gigs scheduled in Austin, Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and other locations.Tickets go on sale at 10am local time this Friday (May 10) – you’ll be able to buy yours here. Alternatively, fans can sign up for a pre-sale to access tickets at the same time today (8).Check out the announcement post and the full list of dates below.A post shared by Catfish and the Bottlemen (@catfishandthebottlemen)OCTOBER04 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits05 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium08 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater11 – Austin, TX – Austin City Limits14 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre17 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre18 – Nashville, TN – Marathon Music Works19 – Atlanta, GA – The Eastern21 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre22 – Detroit, MI – Saint Andrew’s Hall23 – Chicago, IL – The Riviera Theatre25 – Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre26 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s27 – Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall29 – Boston, MA – Royale30 – New York, NY – Terminal 5NOVEMBER01 – New Haven, CT – College Street Music Hall02 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts03 – Washington D.C. – 9:30 ClubIn February, Catfish returned with the single ‘Showtime’ – marking their first new music in five years.

Jack Dunn Susan Buckner, an American actor best known for her role as Patty Simcox in the 1978 musical “Grease,” died May 2. She was 72.