As Start Of Year 3 Of Covid Approaches, Media And Entertainment Companies Fine-Tune Return-To-Work Plans

Hilary Duff’s darlings! The actress has welcomed three children with partners Mike Comrie and Matthew Koma over the years.

Gordon Cox Theater EditorNow that omicron is in decline, Broadway optimism is on the rise.After a bumpy holiday season rife with performance disruptions, show closures and hiatuses due to the highly contagious COVID variant, there are signs of recovery in the New York theater industry — and producers are becoming increasingly bullish about a busy spring season.“When there was a bump in the road, people stopped and regrouped, but then we safely went on,” says James L. Nederlander of the Nederlander Organization, which owns nine Broadway theaters and also produces the new musical starring Billy Crystal, “Mr.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIt’s been a long time coming — two years, in fact — but the Songwriters Hall of Fame has confirmed that its twice-pandemic delayed 51 Annual Induction & Awards Gala will take place on Thursday, June 16, 2022, at its longtime location, the Marriott Marquis New York’s Times Square.The 2022 date, originally set for June 10, 2020, will induct previously announced songwriters, Mariah Carey, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), Ernie Isley / Marvin Isley / O’Kelly Isley / Ronald Isley / Rudolph Isley / Chris Jasper (the Isley Brothers), Steve Miller, Pharrell Williams / Chad Hugo (the Neptunes), Rick Nowels and William “Mickey” Stevenson. Master songwriter Paul Williams will be receiving the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award and Universal Music Publishing Chairman-CEO Jody Gerson will receive the Abe Olman Publisher Award.

many COVID-19 mandates starting Monday.“Our current guidance is through April 30, and we are scheduled to update that guidance on April 1,” Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin said in a statement.

A+E Networks has taken a minority stake in management and production firm Range Media Partners. No financial details are being disclosed but the stake is believed to be in the high teens percent and the deal in the $50 million ballpark, with Range’s valuation at around $300 million. That is a hefty valuation, especially for a company that is just a year and a half old. It is close to what one of Hollywood biggest, most established management-production companies, 3 Arts, sold for in 2018 after 27 years in the business.

If you’re a Twilight superfan, you may have questions about why Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart broke up and where they are now years after their cheating scandal and split.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeTwo years after production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “So You Think You Can Dance” is making a comeback. Fox announced on Wednesday that the long-delayed 17th season of the dance competition series will premiere this summer.Auditions for the new season will take place in March, as the show looks for “highly skilled dancers between the ages of 18 and 30, showcasing their talents in various dance styles, including contemporary, tap, hip-hop, ballroom, animation, breaking and more.” Aspiring contestants can sign up at danceshow2022.castingcrane.com or fox.com/dance.

J. Kim Murphy After several shifts around the release calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Batman” finally rolled out the red carpet for its world premiere at Lincoln Center in New York on Tuesday evening. Though Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz and other stars in attendance, the evening was missing one key contributor.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick were full of gratitude during the opening preview of their Broadway show, Neil Simon’s. On Saturday, the couple took the stage at the Hudson Theater before a sold-out crowd. During the curtain call, the 56-year-old actress gave a passionate thank you to the audience.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are making their debut in “Plaza Suite” at New York’s Hudson Theatre. 

Veteran actress Patti LuPone tested positive for Covid-19 before Saturday’s Broadway matinee of Company, triggering increased testing protocols for the rest of the performers and staff.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaPatti LuPone tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. The theater legend will sit out her ongoing role in the current Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” while she recovers from the virus. She is expected to return to the production on Tuesday, March 8, a spokesperson for the show said.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are taking a bow!

Conservative news organizations and social media have pounced on comments made yesterday by The View‘s Joy Behar in which the liberal co-host seemed to bemoan vacation plans ruined by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Wilson Chapman editorAnne del Castillo has been reappointed as the commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday.Del Castillo was first appointed as commissioner of media and entertainment in 2019, shortly before the pandemic, by former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. In her role, del Castillo focuses on partnering with all areas of New York’s creative economy, including the film industry, the nightlife sector and the theater industry.

CBS is moving on to its comedy pilots.

Antonio Ferme editorBlame it on Andy Warhol?Playwright Ryan Raftery’s new stage show, “The Trial of Andy Warhol,” sees the late pop artist put on trial in the afterlife for laying the foundation for today’s obsession with social media and celebrity worship.“What Warhol did with his work is make being famous more famous,” Raftery tells Variety. “He’s had such a huge hand in creating the world that we live in today, especially social media and reality television.”Raftery previously focused on the likes of Andy Cohen and Martha Stewart; “The Trial of Andy Warhol” marks the sixth celebrity bio-musical he has written and starred in.

Wilson Chapman editorForbes Entertainment and Entertainment One have partnered to produce multiple projects based on the alleged bitcoin laundering operation of Heather Morgan and Ilya Lichtenstein, the companies announced Wednesday.As reported by The New York Times, Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested on Feb. 8 under charges relating to a 2016 hack of the Bitcoin virtual currency exchange.