Stars commit to virtual plays
Meryl Streep, Marylouise Parker, Audra Mcdonald, Kevin Klein, Carla Gugino and Keanu Reeves have signed on to perform in a new virtual play series this spring while Broadway is closed.
The series kicks off Thursday with “The Thanksgiving Play” by Larissa Fasthorse, directed by Leigh Silverman starring Reeves, Bobby Cannavale, Heidi Schreck and Alia Shawkat.
The next show — on April 8 — will feature “Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous” by Pearl Cleage directed by Camille A. Brown and starring Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad.
Also on tap is Lillian Hellman’s “Watch on the Rhine” with Burstyn; Adrienne Kennedy’s “Ohio State Murders” with Mcdonald; Sarah Ruhl’s “Dear Elizabeth” with Streep and Kline; Paula Vogel’s “The Baltimore Waltz” with Parker; and Wendy Wasserstein’s “The Sisters Rosensweig ” with Kathryn Hahn. Dates have yet to be announced.
Individual tickets start at $10 and all seven plays go for $49. Proceeds will benefit The Actors Fund. The series is created by Jeffrey Richards with Jacob Soroken Porter and Jim Glaub.
— Associated Press
Banksy raises $23M for U.K. charities
A Banksy painting honoring Britain’s health workers in the pandemic has sold for a record $23.2 million, auction house Christie’s said Tuesday. Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund health organizations and charities across the U.K., it said.
The work by the mystery
street artist, titled “Game Changer,” first appeared on a wall at Southampton General Hospital in southern England in May, during the first wave of the pandemic. The black-and-white picture depicts a young boy sitting on the floor playing with a nurse superhero toy, as Batman and Spiderman toy figures lie in a wastepaper basket next to him.
At the time it went up, the hospital said Banksy left a note for workers there saying: “Thanks for all you’re doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it’s only black and white.”
Christie’s said the sale price was a world auction
record for Banksy. The auction house said it will donate a “significant portion” of the buyer’s premium to health organizations.
A reproduction of the picture will stay at the hospital, Christie’s added.
“Banksy is an extraordinary artist who is a constant barometer of nationwide sentiment,” said Katharine Arnold, who heads the European postwar and contemporary art division at the auction house. “With the perfect image of a little boy playing with his superhero doll, a nurse sporting the international Red Cross, he perfectly captured the essence of this moment in time.”
The sale came on the day Britain held a minute’s silence to mark one year since Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the first national lockdown.
Foxx to play Tyson in boxer’s TV series
Mike Tyson is getting in the TV drama ring against himself.
On the heels of Hulu’s announcement of a Tyson miniseries to be made without his involvement, the boxing great said he’s producing a limited series starring Jamie Foxx. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese and Foxx also are among the producers.
“I have been looking to tell my story for quite some time,” Tyson said in a statement Monday. He said he looks forward to creating a series that “not only captures my professional and personal journey but also inspires and entertains.”
The announcement did not include when and on what outlet it will be shown.