Walter McBride News

A 'Big' salute to songwriters Maltby & Shire, hosted and music-directed by Michael Lavine, brings us 'Closer Than Ever' to perfection. As tributes go, the one filled with the songs of Maltby and Shire, as they were bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award, was tops. Filled with theatre and cabaret performers, it was a great night.

Actor Donald Sutherland has passed away. Learn more about Sutherland's life and work.

David Tennant, Jonathan Pryce, Naomi Ackie, Daniel Mays, and Henry Lloyd-Hughes have rounded out the cast for the upcoming British comedy The Thursday Letter Club. The upcoming film from Chris Columbus revolves around a group of retired friends who solve murders for fun in their retirement community. After a murder happens for real, they employ their skills to solve the real crime.

Emily Blunt, who was recently nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in Oppenheimer, may be appearing in the next film from prolific director Steven Spielberg. If cast, Blunt is said to be playing one of two leads. This will be the first time she works with the director.

Actor Tony Lo Bianco has passed away. Learn more about Venza's life and work.

Playwright David Mamet has written the screenplay for a new feature drama called The Prince. The description reveals that the film 'chronicles an addict’s tumultuous odyssey through the highstakes world of power, pleasure, and pain on a transformative journey toward recovery.'

Deadline has reported that Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will be writing new songs for the upcoming animated film Oh, the Places You’ll Go!  based on the Dr. Seuss classic. Pasek and Paul are the Tony Award-winning songwriters behind such shows as Dear Evan Hansen, Dogfight, and A Christmas Story. The film already has theatrical roots in director Jon M. Chu, who is helming the forthcoming Wicked films.

In a new interview as part of Deadline's Sound and Screen Television, Tony-award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul praised Steve Martin's performance singing 'Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It' from Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. The song, written in collaboration with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, was helmed for the in-universe musical Death Rattle Dazzle starring Martin's character, Charles-Haden Savage.

In a new interview, director Richard Linklater touched on his forthcoming film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along and his relationship with the late composer. The movie is based on the musical that is currently on Broadway and follows three friends throughout their lives and careers.

Tony Award Winner Mandy Patinkin will executive produce the first documentary feature film from Ivan Cash, The Ever Curious Man, alongside Executive Producer, actor and writer Kathryn Grody and producer Jake Ewald. The Ever Curious Man focuses on the artistic legacy of a compulsive 80-year old artist. The film explores the staggering beauty and sobering cost of being an artist, through the lens of glass sculptor Sydney Cash.

According to reports Demi Moore's chihuahua Pilaf loves attending plays as much as the rest of us. 'She recently saw Tom Holland in Romeo And Juliet in London. She was quite moved. She thought the performance was extraordinary, as it was.'

Jennifer Lopez has announced that she will no longer be embarking on her summer tour, effectively canceling all 30 shows. This follows a previous cancellation of seven dates in March. In support of her new album, This is Me...Now, the tour would have been her first North American tour in five years.

In a new interview, comedy legend and Broadway performer Carol Burnett answered some big questions about her life and career, including the part that she has always wanted to play. She revealed that she would have loved to have appeared in a production of Jerry Herman's classic musical, Mame, playing the role originated by Angela Lansbury.

Food Network kicks off the summer Bobby Flay-style with brand-new seasons of hit primetime series Bobby’s Triple Threat and BBQ Brawl. In the season three premiere on Tuesday, July 9th at 9pm ET/PT, legendary chef Marcus Samuelsson takes on the titans in a cooking match for the ages. BBQ Brawl’s fifth season begins Monday, July 8th at 9pm ET/PT.

According to reports, Kerry Washington has become the latest actor to be announced for the upcoming Knives Out installment, Wake Up Dead Man. She joins the previously announced Josh O'Connor, Cailee Spaeny, and Andrew Scott. The details of their roles are being kept under wraps. The highly anticipated film will hit Netflix sometime in 2025.

According to a new report, Jennifer Lopez, who recently finished filming the upcoming film Kiss of the Spider Woman, said working with composer John Kander on the film was 'a dream.' Kander wrote the score for the 1993 Broadway musical, winning a Tony alongside lyricist and frequent collaborator Fred Ebb. “John Kander, who is 97 years old, was in the studio with me,” Lopez said. “He is the most beautiful man.'

At its inaugural upfront presentation, Prime Video announced that it has ordered the Legally Blonde prequel series Elle from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, a part of Candle Media.  Creator Laura Kittrell is set as showrunner and executive producer, with Reese Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter, Lauren Kisilevsky, and Marc Platt also serving as executive producers. Elle follows Elle Woods in high school as we learn about the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first Legally Blonde film.

National Geographic and New York Times bestselling author and the Emmy® Award-winning “Queer Eye” star Antoni Porowski have announced the star-studded lineup of friends that will return home with Porowski on global culinary adventures for the upcoming docuseries NO TASTE LIKE HOME WITH ANTONI POROWSKI. Guests include Awkwafina, Henry Golding, James Marsden, Florence Pugh, and more.

According to reports, Jennifer Aniston will be producing a reimagining of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 for 20th Century Studios. Aniston will be producing through her production company Echo Films, alongside co-founder Kristin Hahn. The script for the reimagining is being written by Diablo Cody, who previously scripted Juno, Jennifer's Body and the recent horror comedy Lisa Frankenstein.

Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes are all in talks to star in the 28 Years Later, which serves as a sequel to the 2002 Boyle horror flick. Boyle is returning to direct, which features a script by Alex Garland who also penned the original. At this time, it is unknown who the three actors will play in the film, which is said to be the first of a new trilogy.