Conductor Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

teaser on Tuesday, the Bradley Cooper-led film about the life and loves of legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein received some criticism about Cooper's appearance in the film.Most of the backlash centered on Cooper, a non-Jewish man, donning a large prosthetic nose to play Bernstein, who was the son of Jewish immigrants.On Wednesday, Bernstein's three children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein, released a statement on social media in defense of the film, which Cooper also co-wrote and directed.«Bradley Cooper included the three of us along every step of his amazing journey as he made his film about our father,» the statement began. «We were touched to the core to witness the depth of his commitment, his loving embrace of our father's music, and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration.

Leonard Bernstein‘s children are speaking out.

Maestro, the Leonard Bernstein biopic starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, will have the Spotlight Gala slot at this fall’s 61st New York Film Festival.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” has been announced as the spotlight gala film at the 61st New York Film Festival. “Maestro is a bravura achievement for its director and star, a work of conviction and imagination that does justice to the brilliance and complexity of its subject,” said Dennis Lim, artistic director of New York Film Festival. “We are honored to have Bradley Cooper’s enthralling film as a gala presentation at this year’s festival, and doubly so to be showing it in a venue that is synonymous with Leonard Bernstein.” “Maestro” is a biographical romance in which Cooper plays the famed conductor Leonard Bernstein.

Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan star in the newly-released trailer for “Maestro”.

Katie Reul editor Netflix has revealed the first official trailer for “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper’s second directorial effort that sees the actor star as conductor Leonard Bernstein. The biographical romance, which Cooper also co-wrote and produced, chronicles the life of the acclaimed conductor and composer with a focus on his tumultuous 25-year marriage to Felicia Montealegre. Co-starring opposite Cooper is “She Said” actor Carey Mulligan as Montealegre.

American-born conductor and composer Carl Davis, who had lived in the UK since 1961, has died in Oxford aged 86.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has boarded international sales on “Not a Word,” which will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in the competitive Platform section. The cast is led by Maren Eggert, who won the best acting award at the Berlin Film Festival for “I’m Your Man.” The film is written and directed by Hanna Slak, whose credits include the Slovenian Oscar entry “The Miner,” and was lensed by Claire Mathon, the cinematographer of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Saint-Omer,” “Stranger by the Lake” and “Spencer.” Eggert plays ambitious musician and conductor Nina.

Alissa Simon Film Critic Bulgarian multi-hyphenate Stephan Komandarev completes his trilogy on social problems and moral ills in contemporary Bulgaria with “Blaga’s Lessons,” world premiering in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Crystal Globe competition. Heretic is the sales agent. After “Directions” (2017), which centers on tough times for some Sofia taxi drivers over a long and eventful night, and “Rounds” (2019), about police officers patrolling the capital, Komandarev and his co-writer Simeon Ventsislavov use an older woman duped by a telephone scam to look at issues afflicting their parents’ generation. Komandarev says: “The Bulgarian pensioners turned out to be the real victims of the so-called ‘transition’ (the time from 1989 to today.) These people, who have worked and created persistently all their lives, have lost basic safety and security, normal food, adequate medical care, heating, etc.”

Have you ever wondered how much money Broadway actors make?

Brian Eno has announced details of his first-ever solo tour. The run of European dates, scheduled for October, come in support of his 2016 album The Ship. Tickets will be available from Thursday, June 8.

K.J. Yossman Sean Bean and Miranda Richardson are set to star alongside John Malkovich in the biopic of Romanian composer Sergiu Celibidache, Variety can reveal. Also joining the cast is Ben Schnetzer (“The Book Thief”), who has replaced Rupert Friend after scheduling difficulties meant Friend had to drop out of the project. Schnetzer will play a young version of Celebidachi while Malkovich will play the composer later in life. They will be joined by Kate Phillips (“Downton Abbey”), Anton Lesser (“Game of Thrones”) and Charlie Rowe (“Rocketman”). “The Yellow Tie” tells the story of controversial classical conductor Sergiu Celibidache, one of Romania’s best known classical music artists. He battled homelessness and prejudice before becoming the youngest ever conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

EXCLUSIVE: Ben Schnetzer has signed on to star as famed Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache in The Yellow Tie replacing Rupert Friend. Schnetzer will have a central role in the feature, playing the young Celibidache with John Malkovich set to play an older version of the conductor.

Anna Marie de la Fuente L.A.-based Janek Ambros, founder of production and film financing company Assembly Line Entertainment, will receive the Auteur Filmmaker Award at Spain’s Roots of Europe (Raíces de Europa) festival, landing him in the company of such noteworthy cinematic auteurs as Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi alongside Spain’s Aitor López de Aberásturi and Juanma Bajo Ulloa, among others. The festival, which runs May 2 – 12, will also be showcasing a number of Ambros’ films during the event, in recognition for his work in experimental, narrative, and documentary films primarily shot in Europe. It was just three years ago when Ambros presented Zanussi with the coveted award where he conveyed a written message from Scorsese.

Have you ever wondered how much money Broadway actors make?

The North of England's biggest train operator has angered unions by handing its managers £1,800 bonuses while refusing to give drivers a pay rise.

Princess Diana once smacked Prince Harry after he mocked the accent of a Punjabi bus driver, royal biographer Robert Jobson has claimed in his upcoming book. Robert has written a number of royal biographies, including two on the late Princess Diana, co-written with her Scotland Yard personal protection officer Inspector Ken Wharfe.The new book, titled Our King: Charles III: The Man and the Monarch Revealed, looks at the life of King Charles, including his marriage to the late Princess, and how he fathered his children Prince William and Prince Harry.

Nothing beats a scenic train journey, whether it’s passing through breathtaking countryside or whizzing by tiny villages. With its impressive mountains and lush green valleys, Wales is home to more than its fair share of beautiful train journeys.

Prime Video has rounded out the fifth and final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with a stellar list of guest stars and a key recurring.Hank Azaria (Brockmire), Sutton Foster (The Music Man), Darren Criss (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story), Danny Strong (Dopesick) and Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) are joining the fifth and final season as guest stars with David Paymer returning to reprise his role as Harry Drake. Additionally, Tony-nominated Alexander Gemignani (Carousel) has been tapped for a heavily recurring role in Season 5. Character details, other than Paymer, are not being revealed.

Lisa Kennedy During his early years of theater and indie film acting, Luiz Guzmán did a spell as a youth counselor in New York City. The actor with a grizzled countenance and a world-weary voice appears to have tapped into those memories for drama “Story Ave.” The actor brings an anchoring warmth to his portrayal of the MTA conductor who is held up by the unsure and anguished, but also infuriating, protagonist in Aristotle Torres’ affecting debut feature (co-written with Bonsu Thompson). Asante Blackk — of “This Is Us” and “When They See Us” — is Kadir, a high-schooler and aspiring artist whose younger brother has just died. A post-funeral reception makes clear that he and his mother (along with her boyfriend) are not a comfort to each other in this time of grief. Kadir is bedeviled by vivid nightmares that seem to damn him for not having done something to save his brother, who had cerebral palsy. His notebook brims with sketches of his beloved younger sibling.

need to break character, they almost need to joke around with the crew.” He continued, “Some actors obviously, as we know, are complete opposite. They want to stay in the zone of the scene the whole day, and neither is right or wrong. But I would just say, as a testament to Florence, she just has a way, almost like jumping into a hypnotic state of going to such a dark, deep, authentic place, and then kind of popping out of it, and turning to the grips and asking, you know, ‘What was the score of the game?’ or something like that.

Three West Lothian wind bands were celebrating Gold Awards at the recent Scottish Concert Band Festival National Finals in Perth.

@LydiaTarReal has been openly operating as parody since launching in November, picking up nearly 27,000 followers in a few short months. Then during the Oscars, @LydiaTarReal tweeted a clumsy Photoshop of a “light tumble” she said she took down the stairs at the Dolby:Please, stop sharing this image. Yes, I took a very light tumble down the stairs after being disrespectfully rejected from the venue.

Michelle Yeoh is gaining attention for something she posted and deleted online, and it might have gone against the Academy rules as a nominee in the Best Actress category.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor During the final hours of Oscars voting on Tuesday, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” nominee Michelle Yeoh caused a stir when snippets of a Vogue article were shared on her Instagram account. Yeoh shared each paragraph in multiple images of the article titled — “It’s Been Over Two Decades Since We’ve Had a Non-White Best Actress Winner. Will That Change in 2023?” One of the slides references her fellow best actress nominee Cate Blanchett of “Tár.” It reads: “Detractors would say that Blanchett’s is the stronger performance — the acting veteran is, indisputably, incredible as the prolific conductor Lydia Tár — but it should be noted that she already has two Oscars (for best supporting actress for The Aviator in 2005, and best actress for Blue Jasmine in 2014). A third would perhaps confirm her status as an industry titan but, considering her expansive and unparalleled body of work, are we still in need of yet more confirmation?”

Oscar voting is about to close on an awards season has been one of the most volatile in years. Even though a consensus may seem to have formed around certain titles, there is still a nagging sense that anything could happen — and well might. It’s entirely appropriate, then, that Todd Field’s Tár — a film about a mercurial artist holding on through a turbulent time — is still holding a dogged course through these choppy seas, with a campaign driven by Cate Blanchett’s universally acclaimed performance as the troubled conductor Lydia Tár. Here, Field discusses (and declines to discuss) the strengths and the strangeness of a film that has somehow come to mean all things to all people.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains major spoilers for “Tár.” Todd Field’s “Tár” ends with disgraced conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) conducting the score of “Monster Hunter,” a fantasy video game series, for a group of cosplayers in Southeast Asia. It’s a huge fall from grace from her previous post as head of the Berlin Philharmonic. Countless theories exist on the internet about the character’s ending. Is she hallucinating? Is Tár herself a monster who has been hunted, as her downfall comes as a result of allegations of misconduct and abuse of power. Or is it something else?

Mancunians have branded the Rochdale Canal an “eyesore” after the grim reality of what lies on the bottom of the busy city centre waterway has been exposed.

revolution for the last six months, the dark side is on the rise. Hollywood is in her villain era. Her Disney villain era. Look at Gigi Hadid in Mugler in Times Square the other day.

Cate Blanchett hit the red carpet in a chic turtleneck look for the premiere of her newest movie, TÁR, held during the 2023 Berlinale Film Festival in Germany on Thursday (February 23).

A fire which caused passengers to evacuate a station near Manchester is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault. Plumes of smoke could be seen at Wilmslow station last night (February 22) after a train caught fire.

Passengers were forced to rush off their train and flee from Wilmslow station after a train caught on fire this evening.

Emiliano De Pablos Athens-based company Stefi Productions is developing mini-series project “Letters to Leonard,” a real life inspired drama that explores events in the personal relationship between legendary conductors Leonard Bernstein and Greece’s Dimitris Mitropoulos. Described as a story about friendship, love, betrayal and the passion for music, the series has been co-created by Pierros Andrakakos, whose credits take in directing Antenna Studios’ series “Save Me,” plus servng as an assistant director on Universal Pictures’ “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” and Paramount Pictures’ “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.”  Also co-creator and the series’ producer, Giorgos Linardakis is known for his work as line producer on Greek TV series such as “Agapi Paranomi” and “Voices in Deep.” 

Cate Blanchett says there is a danger that society will be “destined to repeat” its mistakes if we continue to follow cancel culture.Blanchett, who has recently faced accusations of being ‘anti-woman’ following the release of new movie TÁR, made her thoughts on the boycotting movement clear in a recent interview. The Titanic actor argues that it’s important to continue studying history and art (amongst other things) even if they might be deemed controversial or “problematic” today.She told The Radio Times (as per The Independent): “If you don’t read older books that are slightly offensive because of what they say in a historical context, then you will never grapple with the minds of the time [and] we are destined to repeat that stuff.”She continued her argument by highlighting the example of an artist who would be deemed highly problematic by our standards as a society today.

Northern has blocked fraudsters who try to cheat ticket checks on its trains in a scam akin to 'Netflix password sharing'.

The music community has been paying tribute to Burt Bacharach, who has died aged 94. A representative confirmed to media that the legendary music-maker died on Wednesday at home in LA of natural causes.Born in Kansas City, Bacharach studied music at universities and schools in Montreal, New York and California.