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Top stories: Watch highlights from Broadway Celebrates Juneteenth, all new footage of Maude Apatow and Mason Alexander Park in Cabaret in London, and more!

Ariana DeBose is taking on the role of voodoo priestess Calypso in Sony Marvel's new film, Kraven the Hunter. The film shares the story of how one of Marvel's biggest villains came to be. Taking place before his battle with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson takes on the title role in the R-rated new film. Watch DeBose in the bloody new trailer now!

Alice Childress’s riveting play Wedding Band – a profound meditation on injustice and intolerance – starts performances at the Stratford Festival’s Tom Patterson Theatre on Tuesday in a production directed by Sam White.

Vintage Trouble comprises lead singer Ty Taylor, guitarist Nalle Colt, bassist Rick Barrio Dill, and drummer Richard Danielson. Taking the best parts of James Brown, Mick Jagger, Bruno Mars and Prince, vocalist Ty is widely regarded as one of the finest frontmen of his generation. The band will also be bringing their electric live show to the UK.

Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Blitz Bazawule, and more brought The Color Purple to the 27th American Black Film Festival. Check out photos from the first look screening and Q&A at day four of the festival now!

All new footage has been released of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club starring Maude Apatow and Mason Alexander Park. Check out the video here!

Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced promotions for the 2023/24 season: Christopher Gerty to Principal Dancer and Josh Hall, Peng-Fei Jiang and Larkin Miller to Second Soloist.  

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, renowned as one of the most prestigious vocal competitions in the world, has reached its pinnacle this evening as Adolfo Corrado from Italy is crowned the 2023 winner.

Fulton Theatre sets the wayback machine to 1959 with their latest production of Grease on the mainstage.  Most audience members have high expectations of this musical based on the iconic film and soundtrack.  The Fulton delivers with mixed results.

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE has announced six special productions this summer.

The Neurodivergent New Play Series has announced its first five play selections to be presented at the Vino Theater, located at 274 Morgan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. Beginning in September, performances will be held the 3rd Sunday of the month at 2pm EST.

Collingwood Music Festival has announced additional events at the festival, running July 8 – 15.

Lucy and Charlie are Asian American newlyweds on that “Vigilante Sh*t” (to borrow from Taylor Swift) in Matthew C. Yee’s premiere musical LUCY AND CHARLIE’S HONEYMOON.

Fulton Theatre will present a Benefit Concert of Ahrens and Flaherty's Ragtime on July 15, 2023. The cast of 64 will be directed by Marc Robin and the 28 piece orchestra will be led by Ben McNaboe.

The Mansion of Saratoga kicked off its 801 Concert Series this summer with a tribute to Joan Rivers on what would be the caustic comic’s 90th birthday. Check out the photo here!

Rehearsal photos have been released for Greenwich Theatre’s revival of Philip Ridley’s shattering hate-crime drama Vincent River. Check them out here!

Next week, 54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club and 2022 Tony Awards Honoree for Excellence in the Theatre, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. 54 Below celebrates Broadway musicals and writers of the past and present, promoting an ongoing engagement with their work.

Wild West Spectacular the Musical in Cody, Wyoming has announced its 2023 summer season cast. The production runs from June 23 through August 6th.

Watch Maude Apatow perform 'Don't Tell Mama' from Cabaret with an introduction by Mason Alexander Park at West End Live!

Syracuse Stage closes its 2022-23 season with the madcap farce, Clue. Based on the iconic 1950’s board game of the same name, Clue spoofs whodunit mysteries, film noir, 1950’s pop culture and gothic horror films. The play is adapted for stage from the 1985 film that was a critical flop but has since become a cult classic. Set during McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee hearings, a time fraught with suspicion and accusation, the mansion owned by Mr. Boddy becomes the gathering point for six invited guests. These guests we find out are all guarded about their pasts, are all being blackmailed and are referred to by aliases that correspond to the famous characters in the board game. Each guest is then gifted one of the six murder weapons. In all, there are six potential murderers, six weapons and nine rooms in the mansion, 324 possibilities for who, what and where; as Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes agree, now “the game is afoot.” The gothic mansion, the dark and stormy night, the suspenseful reality of the play merge with Parker Brothers’ (now Hasbro’s) rule book and the characters become mashups of villains and game pieces. They punctuate the endings of scenes with comic confusion, mad scrambling and a kind of frantic skipping, like game pieces moving on a board after a dice roll. Scenic designer, Czerton Lim, creates the perfect 3-D version of the original board game. Upon entering the theatre, the audience sees a classic gothic foyer, complete with crystal chandelier, mahogany woodwork, marble stairs and a tiled floor fashioned to replicate the spaces on a game board. As the play progresses, the set becomes a character in itself as it transforms into the rooms of the mansion required by both the game and the play. His design is beautiful and functional. It not only provides a setting but also helps establish the humor and tempo of the play. It always surprises and delights. Likewise, original music by Michael Holland and sound design by Todd Mack create a comically suspenseful mood and punctuate the zany exploits on stage. Along with lighting design by Jared Gooding, the cliché of a dark and stormy night permeates the atmosphere and heightens the tension and anxiety of this mock thriller. The production is at its best when the actors are highly choreographed and in tune with the music, sound and light cues. In fact, the funniest moment in the play is prompted by a single gunshot. Director Benjamin Hanna establishes a fast pace from the very beginning of the play. It is so fast and furious that neither the audience nor the actors are allowed to get their bearings. The characters in Clue are obvious stereotypes but the portrayals all share the same frenetic quality without ever establishing basic, underlying traits and motivations. Characterization, for the most part, has been sacrificed to blatant silliness and camp. (There is nothing in the script that requires the beginning to move at such a pace.) Once the first murder occurs and the stakes are raised the speed can and should pickup through the end. For example, Plum is a stereotypical Professor, haughty and cerebral but cursed with an inflated libido. Beethovan Oden has a nice general feel for the character and indicates his personality traits, but he isn’t able to develop those qualities from the onset of the play. If he had, then as the pace became more frantic the audience could have enjoyed watching him first struggle then ultimately fail to keep his composure. Clearly many of the actors are talented. John Taylor Phillips as Wadsworth has a natural presence on stage as well as crisp comic timing but never fully embodies the stereotypical reserved, unflappable and ultimately arrogant butler. Emily Berman as Miss Scarlet is also clean and precise. Miss Scarlet is a stereotypical Madame but the actress is not allowed to explore the cynism and sexuality of the character who should have a slower, more voluptuous pace than some of the others. Henry Woronicz’s Colonel Mustard vacillates appropriately between being doddering and demanding. He sketches out an interesting frame for his character but again seems to fall prey to the tempo of this runaway train. Claire Wilcher makes a strong acting choice to play Mrs. Peacock with the nervous energy of a bird. Her comedy is broad and eccentric while still grounded in reality. Even when she is in the background of the action, she is always in the moment. When given focus, she commands the stage and rate of action. As a result, her portrayal is very funny and very satisfying to watch. Her least successful moments occur when directed to do something out of character simply for a laugh. Less successfully, Eric Sharp’s Mr. Green and Emjoy Gavino’s Mrs. White just seem lost in the silliness and frenetic mayhem. As lovers of farce and broad comedy, we were disappointed that more care wasn’t taken to create an underlying believability before descending into comic chaos. A stock character when presented by an actor still needs to have specificity. Silliness can be funny, comic bits enjoyable and a fast pace exciting, but they need to be balanced and well executed. By the end of the production, it felt like all 324 murder possibilities were explored, but few realities remained. If you are looking for an evening of fast-paced silliness, screwball comedy and sight gags this production satisfies. As a farce poking fun at human frailty and foibles, Benjamin Hanna’s Clue misses the mark. Clue runs through Sunday, June 25th. Tickets can be purchased by visiting SyracuseStage.org or by calling (315) 443-3275 or by visiting the box office at 820 East Genesee Street. did our critic think of CLUE at Syracuse Stage?