BROADWAY POISED TO MAKE A POST-COVID COMEBACK

PHIL SPECTOR’S HOUSE IS SOLD

The Netflix series “Zero” that premiered globally last month is the first Italian TV production ever to feature a predominantly black cast. That is being seen as a bright spot in a bleak Italian television landscape where the persistent use of racist language and imagery is sparking new protests. Comedy teams in Italy are asserting their right to use racial slurs and make slanty-eye gestures as satire. Italy's main state broadcaster RAI is advising against — but not banning — the use of blackface in variety skits. Antonio Dikele Distefano, who co-wrote the “Zero” series, says “the battle is to live in a place where we all have the same opportunity."

On May 6, 1965, guitarist Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones came up with the riff that formed the foundation of the song ”(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” He was staying at a motel in Clearwater, Florida, at the time.

Former reality TV star Josh Duggar will be released as he awaits trial on charges that he downloaded and possessed child pornography. U.S. District Judge Christy Comstock on Wednesday ordered Duggar confined to the home of family friends who have agreed to serve as custodians during his release. The judge barred Duggar from any Internet-accessible devices. Duggar starred on TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting” until it was pulled from the network in 2015 following revelations that Duggar had molested four of his sisters and a babysitter. He was indicted on the federal child pornography charges on Friday. 

The stock of the diaper and baby-wipe seller founded by actress Jessica Alba soared more than than 40% in its stock market debut. That gave the Los Angeles-based Honest Co. a market value of nearly $2.1 billion. Alba founded Honest Co. a decade ago. She said she was prompted to start the company after baby laundry detergents that she was using caused her allergic reactions. Its stock, trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “HNST,” rose 7% to close at $23. Alba, who has starred in “Sin City” and the “Fantastic Four” films, has a 6.1% stake in Honest Co. that was worth nearly $130 million after the stock’s first day of trading. 

Singer Bob Seger is 76. Singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 76. Singer and comedian Lulu Roman (“Hee Haw”) is 75. Actor Alan Dale (“Lost,” ″Ugly Betty”) is 74. Actor Ben Masters (“Passions”) is 74. Actor Richard Cox (“Alpha House,” ″American Tragedy”) is 73. Host Tom Bergeron (“Dancing with the St…

Many Broadway productions are scrambling to resume ticket sales in the coming days to welcome theater-goers this fall after city and state leaders have green-lit a reopening of the Great White Way at full capacity. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says Broadway theaters can reopen Sept. 14 and will be allowed to decide their own entry requirements, like whether people must prove they’ve been vaccinated to attend a show. Selling tickets will allow theaters to gauge interest before stages open, said Robert Mujica, Cuomo’s budget director. The Broadway that reopens will look different, with “Frozen” and “Mean Girls” deciding not to restart.

Willie Mays is turning 90, and no mistaking that number. The great Giants center fielder played in a sport measured by milestones. And now here’s one more. On Thursday, baseball’s oldest living Hall of Famer will be serenaded with renditions of “Happy Birthday to You.” But it might be time to expand the playlist. A player of infinite variety deserves as much. There’s plenty to choose from. Musical references to Mays cut across the years and genres —rock, pop, folk, rap, hip hop. Just about everyone saw something in Mays. Maybe it was the way he dashed around the bases, his cap flying. Or the slashing hits to all fields.

Gia Coppola had a famous filmmaking surname, a promising debut film under her belt and a timely idea about skewering internet influencer culture, but it still took nearly seven years to get “Mainstream” off the ground. Her film, an internet age update of Elia Kazan's 1957 satire “A Face in the Crowd," stars Andrew Garfield as a street corner philosopher who a young artist played by Maya Hawke starts filming. Garfield came on not just as a star but as a producer as well which helped a great deal. “Mainstream,” an IFC Films release, is available in theaters and on demand Friday. 

The Yankees and Mets can increase capacity from 20% to 100% at their ballparks for home games starting May 19 — as along as fans are vaccinated against COVID-19. And both teams will be giving away free tickets along with vaccinations. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the announcement at a news conference with Yankees president Randy Levine and Mets president Sandy Alderson. While full capacity will be allowed in vaccinated sections, attendance in unvaccinated sections will be capped at 33%. Masks will continue to be required. Cuomo also said Broadway theaters will reopen Sept. 14.

A former Virginia priest has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor four decades ago. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced Tuesday that Paul David Ryan has been indicted by a grand jury on two felony counts of carnal knowledge by force of a minor under the age of 18. Herring said in a news release that the alleged assaults took place between 1979 and 1980 while Ryan was assigned to Star of the Sea Parish and the affiliated Star of the Sea School. Herring said Ryan has been living in Australia. He said Ryan is currently in custody and in the process of being extradited back to Virginia for trial.  

Roman Kropachek, American tech millionaire and a serial IT entrepreneur, is selling the first digital house on the Moon created as an 'NFT' or 'non-fungible token' starting at $100,000

Love letters that John F. Kennedy wrote to a Swedish paramour a few years after he married Jacqueline Bouvier are going up for auction. Boston-based RR Auction says Kennedy wrote the letters to aristocrat Gunilla von Post in 1955 and 1956. Kennedy closed out one of the handwritten letters to von Post by scribbling: “You are wonderful and I miss you.” The pair met on the French Riviera in 1953, a few weeks before Kennedy wed Bouvier. JFK, who would go on to become the 35th U.S. president, was a Massachusetts senator at the time. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and von Post died in 2011.

He's known throughout most of Europe as Mr. Brexit, but not so well known at home in France. With a new book out this week, and interviews in national media, Michel Barnier is trying to raise his profile ahead of next April's presidential election. Barnier is not saying outright that he plans to run. But the 70-year-old former government minister told French radio this week that he wants to play a role in the vote and that “I think I can bring something to it.” Polls suggest President Emmanuel Macron would win in a run-off against far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Barnier must first convince the conservative “The Republicans” party that he should lead the party ticket.

Glenn Close recently made music-related headlines for her playful performance of “Da Butt” at the Oscars, but the revered actor has some real music news: she’s releasing an album with Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist-composer Ted Nash. Close had worked with Nash on his previous albums, but the two are co-stars on “Transformation: Personal Stories of Change, Acceptance, and Evolution,” an 11-track spoken word jazz album that tackles heavy topics like race, politics, identity and more. The project includes original songs along with hand-picked selections by Glenn from poets Ted Hughes and Conrad Aiken, biologist E.O. Wilson and playwright Tony Kushner. “Transformation” is out Friday.

Romain Grosjean will do demonstration laps before the French Grand Prix and then a special one-off test for Mercedes exactly seven months after his crash in Bahrain. The test makes good on a promise from Mercedes head Toto Wolff that Grosjean's crash last November would not be the Frenchman's final ride in an F1 car. Grosjean suffered serious burns to his hands in the crash. He has since moved to IndyCar in the United States. The Frenchman says he is thrilled to drive at his home track again. He will be in Lewis Hamilton's championship-winning car from 2019.

Fans of newspaper comics will instantly notice something missing in many of the strips this Friday — pants. More than 25 cartoonists behind strips from “Blondie” to “Zippy the Pinhead” are celebrating the quirky holiday No Pants Day in a way that helps charities get clothing to those in need. Participating artists are drawing their characters without trousers and urging readers to donate old clothing to thrift and second-hand stores hard-hit by COVID-19. Cartoonists were contacted in February about the project and the finished comics started to come in by March. 

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2021--

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2021--

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2021--

SKOKIE, Ill., May 5, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Music Theater Works presents “Legends Of The 50s And 60s: Greatest Hits” at North Shore Center For The Performing Arts (9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, IL 60076) from June 18, 2021 through June 27, 2021 as the first production of the 2021 season.

BROADWAY STARS RAISING MONEY TO FIGHT LOU GEHRIG'S DISEASE

YFN LUCCI INDICTED ON GANG CHARGES

On May 5, 1968, Buffalo Springfield performed its last concert in Long Beach, California. Surviving members reunited in 2010.

An aspiring actor was indicted in Los Angeles Tuesday on suspicion of running a massive Ponzi scheme that solicited hundreds of millions of dollars from investors for phony Hollywood film licensing deals. Zachary Joseph Horwitz, who has appeared in low-budget movies under the screen name Zach Avery, was charged by a federal grand jury with multiple counts including securities fraud, wire fraud and identity theft. It wasn’t immediately known if Horwitz has an attorney. The Los Angeles Times says more than 200 investors, including three of Horwitz’s closest college friends and their family members, lost about $230 million.

A U.S. tax court has handed a major victory to the estate of Michael Jackson in a years-long battle. The court found Monday that the IRS inflated the value of Jackson’s assets and image at the time of his 2009 death. The IRS had estimated the value of the disputed aspects of Jackson’s worth at about $482 million. The judge put that figure at $111 million. Jackson's heirs had been hit with a $700 million estate tax bill that will now be recalculated. The estate's executors called the decision a huge, unambiguous victory for Michael Jackson’s children. 

Two sports events last week, the Kentucky Derby and first round of the NFL draft, pulled in more television viewers than the Academy Awards less than two weeks earlier. That's something that would have been inconceivable just a few years ago, and an indication of how awards shows have fallen out of favor. The Nielsen company says 14.5 million people watched Medina Spirit win the Kentucky Derby on NBC Saturday. The draft's first round was seen by 12.6 million people. Earlier last month, ABC could barely pull 10 million viewers in to see the Oscars. The draft has become a big event since going prime time a decade ago.

The Dutch king has laid a wreath at a monument to the country’s war dead at a solemn commemoration ceremony devoid of the usual huge crowds for the second year because of coronavirus lockdown measures. King Willem-Alexander marked the Netherlands’ Remembrance Day with his wife, Queen Maxima, and other dignitaries at the national monument on Dam Square in downtown Amsterdam. The national day of commemoration, at which flags fly at half staff throughout the country, is followed Wednesday by a national holiday to celebrate the country’s liberation from Nazi German occupation at the end of World War II. 

Actor Pat Carroll is 94. Actor Michael Murphy is 83. Actor Lance Henriksen (“Millennium,” ″Aliens”) is 81. Comedian-actor Michael Palin (Monty Python) is 78. Actor John Rhys-Davies (REES DAY’-vis) (“Lord of the Rings,” ″Raiders of the Lost Ark”) is 77. Former MTV News correspondent Kurt Lode…

JUDGE RULES KEVIN SPACEY ACCUSER CAN'T BE ANONYMOUS IN COURT

Bruce Springsteen has won the Woody Guthrie Prize, which is given annually to an artist seen as carrying on the spirit of the folk singer whose music focused on the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. Guthrie, who grew up in Okemah, Oklahoma, was a towering figure of American folk music and penned hundreds of songs before his death in 1967, including “This Land is Your Land.” Deana McCloud, who heads the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, said in announcing this year's winner Tuesday that, “As an observer of the human condition and a reporter about the plight of common people, Bruce Springsteen is a true child of Woody Guthrie.” Springsteen will be honored during a May 13 virtual ceremony.

The Chicago Auto Show is returning this summer. The city's most famous auto show that has been held for more than a century will take place July 14-19 at McCormick Place. At a Tuesday news conference, Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the announcement particularly exciting because it represents a return for the city that, like so many others, was forced to cancel scores of events, shutter restaurants and close schools last year to slow the spread of COVID-19. Officials say auto show attendees will be required to wear masks and must select a specific time to attend to reduce the size of crowds. 

A person with knowledge of the injury told The Associated Press that New York Jets standout defensive lineman Quinnen Williams broke a bone in a foot and is expected to have surgery and be sidelined eight to 10 weeks. Williams was hurt last week during on-field workouts at the team’s facility in Florham Park, New Jersey. The person spoke to the AP on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the Jets didn’t announce the injury. NFL Network first reported Williams’ injury. He is expected to miss organized team activities and minicamp, but should be healthy in time for the start of training camp in late July.

An avowed anti-Semite who fatally shot three people at Jewish sites in Kansas has died in prison. The Kansas Department of Corrections said in a news release Tuesday that 80-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. died Monday at the El Dorado Correctional Facility. Miller, who was also known as Frazier Glenn Cross Jr., was sentenced to death for the killings in 2014 in suburban Kansas City. The corrections department says an autopsy will be conducted to determine a cause of death, but preliminary indications were that Miller died of natural causes. Miller said during his trial that he didn’t expect to live long because he had chronic emphysema. A corrections department spokeswoman declined to comment further on his cause of death or his medical condition.

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Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is releasing her first children's book next month. Random House Children’s Books announced Tuesday that “The Bench,” a story about the moments a diverse group of fathers and sons share, will be out on June 8. Meghan will also narrate an audiobook edition. In a statement, Meghan says the book grew out of a poem she wrote for Prince Harry for their first Father's Day, which was a month after their son Archie was born in May 2019. “The Bench” is illustrated by Christian Robinson," whose books include “Another” and “You Matter.”

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2021--

Billie Eilish completed the third stop of her massive tour, and was just two days away from headlining Madison Square Garden, before she had to cancel the trek because of the coronavirus pandemic last year. Now she’s returning to New York City as one of the headliners of the Governors Ball Music Festival this fall. Founders Entertainment announced Tuesday that Eilish, A$AP Rocky, J Balvin, Post Malone, DaBaby and Megan Thee Stallion will perform on Sept. 24-26 in Queens at the Citi Field complex, the stadium’s exterior area (none of the performances will take place within the stadium). 

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army released "The Calling," a new animated film series that profiles the deeply emotional and diverse origin stories of five Soldiers as they make the most important decision of their lives: answering the call to serve. At a time of a widenin…

His famly says music producer, singer and songwriter Tommy West, who played a role in the success of musician Jim Croce, has died of complications associated with Parkinson’s disease. The 78-year-old, who was born Thomas Picardo Jr. in Jersey City, died Sunday in hospice care in New Jersey. He met Croce while both were students at Villanova University in 1961. West and Terry Cashman co-produced three albums for Croce in the early 1970s which went on to platinum status. “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim,” “Life and Times” and “I Got A Name” included such hit singles as “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” and “Time in a Bottle.” Croce was killed in a plane crash in Louisiana at age 30 in 1973.

Nothing like a prominent life in public service to help your other career as a romance novelist. At least that’s the case for Stacey Abrams. Berkley announced Tuesday that it had acquired rights to three out-of-print novels by Abrams that she had written under the name Selena Montgomery. Berkley, a Penguin Random House imprint, will begin reissuing the books _ “Rules of Engagement,” “The Art of Desire” and “Power of Persuasion” _ in 2022. Abrams’ other books include the nonfiction releases “Our Time Is Now” and “Minority Leader.” Her legal thriller “While Justice Sleeps” comes out next week.