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Illustrations by Michelle Perez.It’s odd that a movie like Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) should have an unsettling climax. Mike Leigh’s film stars Sally Hawkins as Poppy, a bubbly kindergarten teacher who takes a few driving lessons with a curmudgeonly Scott (Eddie Marsan). He dispatches conspiratorial rants, replete with right-wing dog whistles, and berates her for her clumsiness. He is, in the language of professional wrestling, the heel to Poppy’s face. Poppy’s life is full: She has a difficult job that she loves and performs quite well. She has friends and family who love her and find her inspiring, even if they think her naïve, or grating, or insincerely gracious. She has a boyfriend. Scott sees none of this. He sees Sally as a potential mate, and winds up fantasizing an entirely different woman in her place. So when she pulls over the car during one of his rages,...

The Roundabout Theatre Company tonight renamed its Broadway venue – a 104-year-old building that began as the Selwyn and most recently went by the prosaic American Airlines Theatre – to honor its late artistic director Todd Haimes.

The 42nd Street venue officially became the Todd Haimes Theatre in a dedication ceremony tonight. The name change was announced last June, and becomes official just in time to welcome its first tenant: The revival of John Patrick Shanley’s Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Doubt: A Parable, directed by Scott Ellis and starring Tyne Daly and Liev Schreiber, begins previews this Friday ahead of a February 29 opening night.

The venue’s name change was made to honor, in the words of the company, the “extraordinary dedication to the institution [Haimes] called home, and his enormous contributions to Roundabout and the entire theatre community.”

Haimes, the Roundabout’s artistic director and chief executive for nearly 40 years,...

There has never been Trek like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Episode 9, and there may never be again, which would be a galactic shame.

Ever since Paramount+ released the news at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 that the penultimate offering of the season would be a musical, the fanbase has been split between the canonical stick-in-the-warp-core gatekeepers and those who embrace all that Trek can be.

Haters can just jettison their vitriol now. This is the biggest swing the series -- nay, the franchise -- has ever taken, and they blast it so far out there they probably broke temporal protocols.

It was always meant to be.

Ever since Una confessed her love of Gilbert & Sullivan to Spock on Star Trek: Short Treks Season 2 Episode 1, treating him to a performance of the "Major-General's Song" from The Pirates of Penzance, we've itched to know what Spock would sing, given the chance.

Warning: Spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 2 - "Ad Astra Per Aspera"A reference to Gilbert & Sullivan musicals made by Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) during the court-martial of Number One (Rebecca Romijn) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a deep-cut reference to another Star Trek show. "Ad Astra Per Aspera" is an instant classic of a Star Trek courtroom drama, confronting Starfleet with its problematic attitudes toward those with genetic enhancements. It also provides a considerable amount of backstory for one of Star Trek's more enigmatic characters, Number One, a.k.a. Commander Una Chin-Riley, previously played by Majel Barrett in Star Trek: The Original Series' unaired pilot episode, "The Cage."

In Star Trek's original pilot episode, Number One's defining characteristic appeared to be that she was the only woman that Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) was comfortable with on his bridge. Thankfully, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds...

Picture the ending of the standard-issue based-on-a-true-story film. Once the picture fades on a family’s final teary goodbye or the camera pans up from our hero(ine) in a moment of triumph, there’s a postscript. And then, the inevitable grainy home video or candid photo of the “real” main character, proof that someone in the casting office (or the hair/make-up department) did their job and brought you the closest facsimile of the real thing.

This may be the most common approach, but it doesn’t produce the best biopics. Good biographies recreate a moment; great ones evoke a sprit that reverberates through the current time.

Read More: Director Debuts: The 20 Best First Films of the Last 20 Years

The standout biographical films from the past two decades reflect the different ways that we commemorate figures of fame or infamy. Sometimes we devote three hours of our lives to...

MasterVoices kicks off the 2015-2016 season with The Pirates of Penzance or, The Slave of Dutyon October 15-16, 2015 at 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, New York City. Following the success of our 2012 Mikado at Carnegie Hall, MasterVoices' semi-staged presentation of The Pirates of Penzance will feature a cast of stars from the Broadway and opera worlds, along with Orchestra of St. Luke's performing Arthur Sullivan's original orchestrations under the direction of Artistic Director Ted Sperling. Single tickets are 30-130 and are available at NYCityCenter.org.For more information visit www.mastervoices.orgcity-center-series.

Today in 1981, Joe Papp's revival of THe Pirates of Penzance opened at the Uris Theatre, where it ran for 787 performances. The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied Major-General's Song.

Today in 1981, Joe Papp's revival of THe Pirates of Penzance opened at the Uris Theatre, where it ran for 787 performances. The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied Major-General's Song.

The York Theatre Company continues the Winter 2013 Musicals in Mufti Series with Hollywood Pinafore, with book amp lyrics by George S. Kaufman and music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Hollywood Pinafore was originally produced in 1945. Directed by Mark Kaufmann and with music direction by Beth Falcone, the cast will feature Susan Blommaert, Claybourne Elder, Jennifer Evans, Sara Jean Ford, Tom Galantich, Julie Kotarides, Dennis Parlato, Andrew Ragone, Kilty Reidy, Danny Rutigliano and Mary Stout.

The York Theatre Company James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director Andrew Levine, Executive Producer continues the Winter 2013 Musicals in Mufti Series with Hollywood Pinafore, with book amp lyrics by George S. Kaufman and music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. Hollywood Pinafore was originally produced in 1945. Directed by Mark Kaufmann and with music direction by Beth Falcone, the cast will feature Susan Blommaert, Claybourne Elder, Jennifer Evans, Sara Jean Ford, Tom Galantich, Julie Kotarides, Dennis Parlato, Andrew Ragone, Kilty Reidy, Danny Rutigliano and Mary Stout.

Today in 1981, Joe Papp's revival of THe Pirates of Penzance opened at the Uris Theatre, where it ran for 787 performances. The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied Major-General's Song.

The Muny presents the sixth show of its 94th season, Pirates or, Gilbert and Sullivan Plunderd, through August 5, directed by Gordon Greenberg and choreographed by Denis Jones. Conceived by Gordon Greenburg, Nell Benjamin and John McDaniel, Pirates or, Gilbert and Sullivan Plunderd features lyrics by W.S. Gilbert, and music by Arthur Sullivan. Revised book and lyrics are by Nell Benjamin, and music supervision, new arrangements and orchestrations are by John McDaniel.BroadwayWorld brings you photos from opening night below...

The Muny presents the sixth show of its 94th season, Pirates or, Gilbert and Sullivan Plunderd, through August 5, directed by Gordon Greenberg and choreographed by Denis Jones. Conceived by Gordon Greenburg, Nell Benjamin and John McDaniel, Pirates or, Gilbert and Sullivan Plunderd features lyrics by W.S. Gilbert, and music by Arthur Sullivan. Revised book and lyrics are by Nell Benjamin, and music supervision, new arrangements and orchestrations are by John McDaniel.BroadwayWorld brings you highlights from the show below...

The Muny has announced principal casting for the sixth show of its 94th season, Pirates or, Gilbert and Sullivan Plunderd, July 30 - August 5, directed by Gordon Greenberg and choreographed by Denis Jones. Conceived by Gordon Greenburg, Nell Benjamin and John McDaniel, Pirates or, Gilbert and Sullivan Plunderd features lyrics by W.S. Gilbert, and music by Arthur Sullivan. Revised book and lyrics are by Nell Benjamin, and music supervision, new arrangements and orchestrations are by John McDaniel.

Today in 1981, Joe Papp's revival of THe Pirates of Penzance opened at the Uris Theatre, where it ran for 787 performances. The Pirates of Penzance is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences and critics. Pirates was the fifth Gilbert and Sullivan collaboration and introduced the much-parodied Major-General's Song.

Reviewer: Glenn Heath Jr.

Rating (out of 5): ****½

Mike Leigh's rapturous Topsy-Turvy, now on a lovely new DVD from Criterion (supervised by cinematographer Dick Pope), isn't so much an argument against auteurism, but a concurrence for the beauty of collaboration. Over the course of the sweeping multi-character narrative, Leigh mixes performance, practice, and discourse with effortless precision, showing the "symptoms of fatigue" concerning the artistic process, but also the power of sudden inspiration.

W.S. Gilbert (Jim Broadbent), Sir Arthur Sullivan (Allan Corduner), the troupe of actors led by Richard Temple (Timothy Spall), the costume designers, set decorators, choreographers, producers, and couriers all make a substantial impact on the gloriously textural production of "The Mikado", yet no one artist can claim sole ownership. Leigh's methodical pre-production methodologies (often made up of months of rehearsals) literally appear in front of the camera, and avenues of disappointment and possibility seem organically woven into the mise-en-scene.

A week ago I took my pal Justin to a preview of U.S.S. Pinafore, a new stage show that's a musical marriage of Star Trek with Gilbert & Sullivan's classic British operetta H.M.S. Pinafore. I warned him, this could be the worst show ever -- unless somebody really knows what he's doing. Well, somebody does, and his name is Jon Mullich, the man who adapted and directed this delightful romp. 

Last Friday I returned with my dear friend Nichelle Nichols (Uhura from the original Enterprise crew), and she loved it too. After the performance, which generated laughter throughout and a standing ovation at the end, we met the amazing cast and production team and posed for photos with them (see pic on my Facebook). Nichelle pronounced the show "brilliant." Obviously I agree. It's rare that such a bold and original concept is so professionally executed. 

I cannot recommend it too much.