'Birthday Candles' Playwright Noah Haidle on the Deferred Dream of a Broadway Opening (Guest Column)

This was to be a month of celebration and joy. Just a few weeks ago, I was supposed to debut my feature film Golden Arm during the first weekend at SXSW.

By Stacey Sher

In an attempt to fight boredom in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, one local Ontario family has come together to recreate the iconic opening to “The Simpsons”.

It spoils nothing to reveal that in the Modern Family finale, there is a group hug so spectacularly COVID-unsafe that one 6-foot space is occupied by 16 different people. If Seinfeld was a show about nothing (Was it? Did any comedy ever have more plot?), Modern Family was always, unabashedly, about emotion.

By Peter Csathy

YNW Melly has tested positive for coronavirus while awaiting trial in Florida's Broward County Jail, the rapper's Instagram account confirmed on Thursday (April 2)."He’ll be filing a motion for restricted release in hopes of better care due to any jails not being prepared to treat this new virus," the post alongside a photo with his family reads.

As the U.K.’s coronavirus crisis steadily escalated, Argonon Group-owned Britespark Films raced to complete a fast turnaround documentary on the pandemic for broadcaster Channel 4. Britespark director of programs Tom Porter details the extreme logistical hurdles involved.  

Doireann Garrihy decided to keep her new romance close to her chest but things don’t keep secret for long in Ireland.

We love movies about women in peril. From “Gaslight” to “King Kong” to Jennifer Lopez with a ridiculous haircut in “Enough,” audiences will almost always pay to watch a woman stare helplessly as a doorknob slowly turns, or hold her breath as a shadow looms next to where she is hiding.

As a female cinematographer, I am constantly asked how to find work or break into the system. Shooting the pilot for “Unbelievable” showed me that being a woman in this business isn’t about finding just any job — it’s about finding the right job with the right story and collaborators.

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced that the upcoming productions of the musical Caroline, or Change and the play Birthday Candles will be pushed back to the fall.

If you talk to any artist, they will tell you their influences and inspirations are many and varied. I can easily say the same thing. When I think of a pivotal person who influenced me and my career, I can only think of one person, Wynn Thomas.

By Greg Evans

The media and entertainment business was thriving as we entered the new decade in 2020 B.C. (“Before Coronavirus”).

Hollywood, we need your help.

Martin McDonagh’s “Hangmen” will not resume performances on Broadway, the play’s backers said on Friday. The show, which was expected to be a major contender at the Tony Awards, never officially opened. It was still in previews when a decision was made to close all New York City theaters last week in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Radio, I’ve just about had enough of you and your abandonment of your defining purpose as broadcasters. With the coronavirus pandemic now ravaging everyday life and suspending every reliable comfort from work routines to sports and entertainment or actual human contact, we’re looking for steadiness somewhere — an echo of the familiar, a kindred connection.  Anything to tether us to something recognizable. A service the radio dial used to provide.

Although I never realized this reality until recently, most of my adult life has been invested in training for the coronavirus pandemic. As a cardiac surgeon, my highlight reel never included media, but after opening one too many chests with a band saw became overwhelmingly disheartening (figuratively and literally) I realized many of the indications for surgery could have been prevented through lifestyle changes.