Kennedy Center Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Into the Woods is a pleasure to behold. The way in which Milky White responds — with resounding sadness at being taken to market by Jack (of Beanstalk fame), or with sheer exuberance, giddily shaking its head side to side and literally smiling during the ensemble’s reprisal of the title song, is the kind of thing that makes theater undeniably magical.The simplicity of the arrangement, with Kanagawa in full, unconcealed view, literally at one with the object, only solidifies the strength of the illusion.“This was my first puppet,” says Kanagawa, whose credits typically veer toward the more traditional side of musical theater (Jesus Christ Superstar, Falsettos), thanks to a silvery tenor that possesses a sturdy, to-the-rafters belt when needed.“Milky White is such a unique puppet that I was able to go in without any preconceived notions of how a puppet was supposed to be operated,” he continues.

Cotton: The Soft Dangerous Beauty of the Past.The series of 35 large-scale photographs was presented as an exhibition in 2018 at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.Dowell’s haunting and often surreal images situate cotton both in the past and in the present of the African-American experience, and evoke the journey from rural Southern fields to the North, specifically the concrete canyons of New York City.Five years later, Dowell’s photography has inspired a new musical work by rising classical composer Damien Geter, one that was imagined, curated, and commissioned by Philadelphia’s Lyric Fest recital series to commemorate its 20th anniversary.Cotton is an intensely moving song cycle by the openly gay, Black composer that responds to Dowell’s imagery but also to original lyrics from eight luminary poets, “nationally renowned voices of the 21st century” also commissioned by Lyric Fest for Cotton: Charlotte Blake Alston, Nikki Giovanni, Afaa Michael Weaver, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Lauren Alleyne, Alora Young, Glenis Redmond, and Trapeta Mayson.Three days after its world premiere later this month in Philadelphia, Washington Performing Arts presents the D.C. premiere of Cotton at the Kennedy Center as the organization’s inaugural Ruth Bader Ginsburg Memorial Recital.Legendary mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, a favorite artist of the late Supreme Court Justice who performed at her funeral, will be joined by up-and-coming baritone Justin Austin and accompanied by pianist and Lyric Fest director Laura Ward, for a multimedia performance enhanced with projections of Dowell’s images, plus video readings from the commissioned poets reading their works during the performance.One night only.

CNN has obtained the exclusive rights to show the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, this year honoring Adam Sandler.

Guys and Dolls depicts life and love as a wild, scintillating game of chance.The quintessential Golden Age-era musical was built around Loesser’s immortal song standards, including “Adelaide’s Lament,” “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat,” and “Luck Be a Lady.”The show was last seen on Broadway a dozen years ago, with a revival that was criticized for being somewhat dull and listless. It ultimately proved to be short-lived.More recently, the show became a direct pandemic casualty: Ford’s Theatre was forced to cancel all performances of its planned production a few days before previews were to start in mid-March of 2020.Fortunately, the Kennedy Center is now preparing its own staging of the show, as the opening production in the new season of Broadway Center Stage, the organization’s popular series of semi-staged, actor-centered productions.

Editor’s Note: This column has been modified slightly from the magazine edition.McLean Community Center 1234 Ingleside Ave. McLean, Va. 703-790-0123www.aldentheatre.orgwww.theamericanpops.org410-783-8000 www.bsomusic.org1635 Trap Road Vienna, Va.

Metro Weekly cover star Dana Tai Soon Burgess.In October, Burgess and his DTSBDC artists bring sculpture and dance together with Surroundings: A Tribute to Maya Lin, premiering at the National Portrait Gallery, while the Kennedy Center hosts September’s annual ultimate dance get-together, National Dance Day.District audiences enjoy a wealth of options for just the right Nutcracker to tickle their fancy, and a few lucky chances to catch super troupes like Mark Morris Dance Group, American Ballet Theatre, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.But blink and you might miss singular treats like beloved twister-tumblers MOMIX, and Farruquito, the flamenco superstar from Seville, stomping through on a mini-tour that’s sure to leave fans swooning.Editor’s Note: This column has been modified slightly from the magazine edition.1333 H St. NE 202-399-7993www.atlasarts.org3443 Carlin Springs Rd. Falls Church, Va.

Tempest for the ages.We’re excited for almost every season offering, but the one thing that fills us with an embarrassment of joy? The return of the Broadway Center Stage series to the Kennedy Center. Prior to the pandemic, the series routinely blew the roof off the national arts center with its extraordinary staged concerts that, in some cases, felt Broadway-ready.Other highlights of the 2022-2023 season include the returns of Les Miserables, Chicago, Wicked and — why not? — Cats; an Olney Kinky Boots; a Bountiful moment with Nancy Robinette at Ford’s; the return of Michael Urie and husband Ryan Spahn to the (boldly, beautifully rebranded) Shakespeare Theatre; Arena Stage tackling Tony Kushner’s gay masterpiece Angels in America; and the long-anticipated “Till Trilogy” at Mosaic. Buy stock in Kleenex now.1524 Spring Hill Rd.

Carmen from this past spring.The opera will screen for free to all those amassed on the field, this year held in the state-of-the-art home stadium of Major League Soccer’s D.C. United.The 17th annual Opera on the Field focuses on Georges Bizet’s beloved, blockbuster tragedy, second only to Verdi’s La Traviata in a recent ranking of the world’s most performed operas.It comes to life with some of opera’s biggest stars, including Isabel Leonard, Vanessa Vasquez, Ryan Speedo Green, and Michael Fabiano.The production was a Washington National Opera debut for the openly gay Fabiano, one of opera’s most in-demand tenors.Fabiano plays Don José, the humble soldier who spurns everything and everyone else after becoming infatuated with the titular seductress, played by fellow opera superstar Leonard.“In light of the way the world is right now, Carmen could seem taboo for some people and some sensibilities, as a man basically violently murders a woman at the end of the opera,” Fabiano told Metro Weekly. “But we still today face huge problems with violence against women in our society, where men stalk women until they’re murdered.

Dear Evan Hansen entered a world pre-too many things to mention, at a moment of unimaginable innocence compared to the here and now.The musical, with a book by Steven Levenson, and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, had its world premiere at D.C.’s Arena Stage in 2015 and enjoyed a moment practically to itself at the forefront of a nuanced conversation about teens and depression, guns, suicide, and the pervasive influence of social media.The lore is long surrounding Michael Greif’s original production — perhaps most fervently among those who missed it — and the early revelation of seeing Ben Platt perform the title role.That was before Pasek and Paul had cemented their golden rep as the Oscar-winning lyricists of La La Land‘s “City of Stars,” and composers of original songs like “This Is Me” for Hugh Jackman’s blockbuster hit The Greatest Showman.That was before director Greif took Evan Hansen to Broadway and the show earned six Tonys, including Best Musical and Best Actor for Platt.Eras and movements have come and gone since the show helped frame new ways of considering a host of hot-button issues — chiefly teenage mental health — and before shocking real-world events, from Parkland to presidential politics, kept reshaping the conversation at a grueling and violent pace.Dear Evan Hansen now comes back around for a second time with the touring production of Greif’s Broadway staging, three years after its first stop at the Kennedy Center.It long ago shed its original cachet as the edgiest pop culture phenom around about disaffected teens. In fact, years of audience-pleasing commercial success might have smoothed some of the show’s formerly sharp edges.

Netflix initially supported the idea when it debuted as a free online tribute. The problem between them began on July 26, 2022, when Barlow and Bear staged what Netflix says is a “for-profit” performance of “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical Album Live in Concert” for a sold-out crowd at the Kennedy Center, with tickets ranging up to $149 each.According to the lawsuit, the live show featured over a dozen songs with verbatim dialogue from the series, along with “dramatic portrayals of ‘Bridgerton’ characters by Broadway actors, emoting through the performance of the songs that comprise the ‘musical.’” Netflix says Barlow and Bear “misrepresented to the audience that they were using Netflix’s BRIDGERTON trademark ‘with Permission,’ while Netflix vigorously objected.”“Defendants Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear and their companies (“Barlow & Bear”) have taken valuable intellectual property from the Netflix original series Bridgerton to build an international brand for themselves,” the lawsuit stated.

George Clooney, “The Empress of Soul” Gladys Knight, “The Queen of Christian Pop” Amy Grant, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and songwriter Tania León, and legendary rock group and humanitarians U2 -- which is comprised of members Bono, The Edge Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr -- will all be honored during this year’s ceremony in Washington, D.C. “Growing up in a small town in Kentucky I could never have imagined that someday I’d be the one sitting in the balcony at the Kennedy Center Honors,” 61-year-old Clooney said in a statement to the Kennedy Center. «To be mentioned in the same breath with the rest of these incredible artists is an honor.

“Sesame Street” was honored. The Eagles were honored in 2016 and Led Zeppelin in 2012.Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter said in an interview that her group has “worked really hard to think about ‘Are we including all of the performing arts?’” as it hands out its awards. She singled out Grant’s music in particular as a different genre being represented in the honors this year.“We’ve had gospel before.

George Clooney, Gladys Knight, U2, Amy Grant and Tania León will receive Kennedy Center Honors at the next ceremony, typically held the first weekend of December.

To Kill a Mockingbird (★★★★☆), Aaron Sorkin’s riveting adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.At some point in U.S. history, the race, class, and gender dynamics driving Lee’s combustible scenario might feel quaint, laughably antiquated, obsolete.

Wilson Chapman editorFunny Or Die owner Henry R. Muñoz III will donate $1 million dollars to establish a theater at the Smithsonian’s future National Museum of the American Latino.Muñoz, who is a health care entrepreneur, announced the news with his husband Kyle Ferari-Munoz on Wednesday.

Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear are taking their popular musical theater album “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” to The Kennedy Center.The two will perform a one-night only concert event at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, set for July 26. The event will see Barlow and Bear perform the songs from their album with accompaniment by the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Steven Reineke.

Carmen. Fabiano is Don José, the humble soldier who spurns everything and everyone else after becoming infatuated with the titular seductress, played by fellow opera superstar Isabel Leonard.“In light of the way the world is right now, Carmen could seem taboo for some people and some sensibilities, as a man basically violently murders a woman at the end of the opera,” he says. “But we still today face huge problems with violence against women in our society, where men stalk women until they’re murdered.

Jon Stewart stood up for comedy in a cancel culture era during his speech as he accepted the Mark Twain Prize on Sunday night.“We’re the banana peel in the coal mine,” he said at the Kennedy Center, where he was honored by comedians and actors including Dave Chappelle, Steve Carell, Jimmy Kimmel and Samantha Bee.“When society is under threat, comedians are the ones who get sent away first. It’s just a reminder to people that democracy is under threat.

When the White House Correspondents’ Association hosts its first dinner in two years on April 30, it’ll be matched by the return of another D.C. tradition: pre- and post- event receptions, dinners and brunches that have made for a weekend of socializing and schmoozing.

Mean Girls, the musical adaptation of Tina Fey’s iconic 2004 film, is now back in “fetch” action.The show’s First National Tour, which had kicked off in Buffalo in the fall of 2019, has finally resumed for a run including a three-week stop at the Kennedy Center.Fey adapted her screenplay to create a plucky and wry book further enhanced by songs as appealing as the story, all developed in hodgepodge pop pastiche fashion by Fey’s husband, composer Jeff Richmond working here with lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde).With Casey Nicholaw as director/choreographer, the musical Mean Girls moves with the same exaggerated, kinetic energy as that of an earlier Nicholaw production, The Book of Mormon.The show also calls to mind Dear Evan Hansen due to Scott Pask’s digitally driven set design, a marvel developed with video designers Finn Ross and Adam Young and using sophisticated and colorful projected LED imagery to frame scenes in the jungle, in school, and at home.Danielle Wade stars as Cady Heron, the Janus-faced heroine who works to infiltrate the “Queen Bees” clique led by Nadina Hassan as Regina George.Megan Masako Haley plays Gretchen Wieners and Jonalyn Saxer plays Karen Smith, while Eric Huffman is “almost too gay to function” as Damian Hubbard and Mary Kate Morrissey plays misfit sidekick Janis Sarkisian.The main cast is rounded out by Adante Carter as Aaron Samuels, Kabir Berry as Kevin G., Lawrence E. Street as Mr.

Don Quixote.In honor of the center’s 50th anniversary season, the acclaimed New York-based company once again revives the signature duet of bravura dancing between the spirited maiden Kitri and her charming amour Basilio — this time performed in its proper place as the stirring climax to the full-length Don Quixote.A sweeping and romantic tale, the rollicking, high-spirited ballet was developed by legendary Russian choreographer Marius Petipa, with further refinement by Petipa’s former student and regular assistant Alexander Gorsky.Set to music by Ludwig Minkus in a staging by ABT’s Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie and longtime Regisseur Susan Jones, Don Quixote offers what the company calls “a feast of choreographic fireworks.”A different coupling of dancers from the company’s starry roster will be featured at each of five performances in the Opera House, kicking off with Isabella Boylston as Kitri and Daniil Simkin as Basilio on Thursday, March 31.The premiere dance organization, decreed “America’s National Ballet Company” by an act of Congress in 2006, will mark its return to the Kennedy Center earlier this week with two evening performances of the mixed-repertory program “ABT Forward.”Billed as a showcase of “the company’s artistry in three dazzling works by today’s modern masters of choreography,” the program includes Bernstein in a Bubble, a work by Alexei Ratmansky developed in pandemic quarantine and inspired by the variety, charm, and quintessentially American spirit of Leonard Bernstein’s Divertimento; ZigZag, a joyous piece, set to songs by iconic crooner Tony Bennett, from Jessica Lang, hailed as a “master of visual composition” by Dance Magazine; and Single Eye, a new, innovative work by Alonzo King and set

Funnier Than Fiction: Real Hot Girl Sh*t, presented in Studio K of the REACH, includes Rabia Chaudry, bestselling author of Adnan’s Story and executive producer of HBO’s The Case Against Adnan Syed, sharing her side of the story of a 1999 Baltimore County murder that got amplified in 2014 through the popular Serial podcast.Another standout is the mononymous Meshelle, self-styled as “the Indie-Mom of Comedy,” as seen on Martin Lawrence Presents The First Amendment Stand Up on STARz and Search for the Funniest Mom in America 3 on Nickelodeon.Also taking the stage is wife and mother Gabby Shea, the “Best Storyteller in Philly” Marjorie Winther, the 2022 Moth StorySLAM Champion Ansa Edim, therapist and DC Writers’ Salon lead Ali Cherry, and Shabnam Aslam, a second-generation Iranian-Pakistani-American passionate about her work grounded in humanitarianism, human rights, and empathetic actions.Friday, March 18, at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $25.

Joe Biden has appointed 14 members to the President’s Advisory Committee on The Arts, in which they will serve as representatives for the Kennedy Center.

Jesus Christ Superstar took shape as a landmark album.Released in 1970 to resounding success, that recording captivated audiences worldwide, spawning the original Tony-nominated production, the cult classic 1973 film, and countless concerts, adaptations, and revivals — including, nearly 50 years later, director Timothy Sheader’s acclaimed London production staged by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.Now, Sheader and choreographer Drew McOnie’s driving, modern-dress iteration is repping the musical’s 50th anniversary on a North American tour, currently anointing the Kennedy Center Opera House with dulcet voices and shredding guitars.Performed by a youthful cast wielding microphones and playing instruments, supported by a stellar orchestra stacked behind them on scaffolding, the show strikes an agreeable balance between concert and theater.“Our production is based off the original concept album,” says Paul Louis Lessard, whose gold-lamé-frocked King Herod is an impish delight in the show, challenging Jesus to prove himself the miraculous Christ. “The idea was, if you put on the record at the beginning of our show and pressed play, what you experience with our production is what it would be like to listen to that record all the way through without stopping.”Because the production’s focus is honoring Webber and Rice’s score, Lessard adds, “our creative team was very encouraging about every performer bringing themself to the role, and making the music the priority of the show and this interpretation.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaEdie Brickell has penned “38 Minutes,” a new musical about her personal experience living through the 2018 false alarm nuclear missile alert that shook Hawaii.The title is a reference to the length of time between when the state’s residents were advised to seek shelter and the moment when officials finally announced that a miscommunication during a drill at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency had triggered the terrifying warning.“38 Minutes” will receive a workshop this February in Los Angeles following a successful 2019 reading. The workshop cast will be led by Tony nominee Carmen Cusack, who starred in “Bright Star,” the 2016 Broadway musical that Brickell wrote with Steve Martin.

ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATERThe acclaimed modern dance company, founded more than 60 years ago, has been an integral part of programming at the Kennedy Center from the very start, performing at the arts complex’s formal opening ceremony in 1971. This year, the company returns to celebrate the center’s 50th anniversary with a week-long run of performances in the Opera House.Per tradition, every performance ends with Revelations, the signature masterpiece Ailey created in tribute to his African-American heritage, drawing inspiration from childhood memories of growing up in the Black church in Texas as well as from the writings of James Baldwin and Langston Hughes.

Jon Stewart, the comedian, activist and former host of “The Daily Show,” will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center. Stewart will be recognized in a gala ceremony and performance April 24 that will be broadcast nationally.

The lifetime achievement awards for artistic excellence were presented to Motown Records creator Berry Gordy, “Saturday Night Live” mastermind Lorne Michaels, actress-singer Bette Midler, opera singer Justino Diaz and folk music legend Joni Mitchell.This year’s event at the Kennedy Center’s main opera house represented a return to political normalcy, with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden attending.President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump skipped the show the first three

Kourtney Kardashian looks super stylish in a black ensemble during a date night out with boyfriend Travis Barker in New York City on Friday (October 15).