Harry Potter play might hit Broadway
Alert the Department of Magical Transportation. Harry Potter is considering a trip to New York.
The lead producers of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child said this weekend that, having won over critics and audiences in London, they are ready to start thinking about a Broadway production.
The producers, Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, said in a joint telephone interview that they have made no decisions, but they expect to begin conversations in London this week and to schedule meetings in New York in the fall.
“Harry Potter, the brand and the story, are as iconic over there as anywhere in the world, and Colin and I being theatre producers and Broadway producers, of course it’s on our radar. But where, how, when and with whom, we have no idea,” Friedman said.
Although there have been reports that the producers were considering a production in Toronto before New York, Callender dismissed that.
“I don’t know where the Toronto gossip came from, but it’s not based on anything,” he said.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is unlike anything that is succeeding on Broadway now. It is a play in an era dominated by musicals, it has a running time of five hours, 15 minutes, staged in two parts, and it does not (thus far) rely on celebrity casting.
Nonetheless, a Broadway production of the play is as close to a surefire success as one can imagine. The New York Times
Teen Choice Awards tackle gun violence
The Teen Choice Awards called on young viewers to help put an end to gun violence on Sunday.
“Many of those impacted by these acts of violence are teens,” presenter Jessica Alba said before introducing teenagers who lost loved ones in the shootings in Orlando and Newtown, Conn., among others. The last to be introduced was Cameron Sterling, the 15-year-old son of Al
ton Sterling, the African-American man killed by a Baton Rouge police officer earlier this month.
“Tonight, we stand united in our call for peace. Now more than ever, we need to stop, feel and ask what’s going on,” Alba said.
Singer Ne-Yo followed with Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” as the uncharacteristically quiet audience waved lighted cellphones.
“We need to come together as one. Now, if you feel as we do that we have to do better, I need you to stand up right now and take out your phones. Come on. All over the place,” Ne-Yo said. He and a tearful Alba asked the audience to take a picture of the courageous teens onstage and post with the hashtag #StopTheViolence, which started trending on Twitter soon after. USA Today
Grimmie fans unleash on awards
Christina Grimmie, the 22-yearold pop star who was shot and killed in June while signing autographs after a concert in Orlando, won the Teen Choice Award for choice music web star, but it was not one of the trophies distributed during Sunday’s awards broadcast.
The Fox network confirmed her win in a news release after the ceremony ended.
While some felt the win was a nice gesture, many Grimmie fans were upset about the way it was handled. On social media, viewers chastised the awards for using Grimmie’s name to promote the show yet not paying tribute to the singer during the actual ceremony. Both the choice female web star and choice male web star winners were announced.
“Using Christina Grimmie’s death to get more viewers & then not even giving her any sort of tribute? Or acknowledgment? Beyond disgusted,” tweeted one angry fan.
One person started a Change.org petition asking that the “Teen Choice Awards & Fox formally apologize for disrespecting Christina Grimmie.”
Fox did not respond to a query about the issue. The Washington Post
Marge and Homer back Hillary Clinton
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has won another celebrity endorsement, courtesy of Marge and Homer Simpson.
In a clip on Fox’s animation You- Tube channel, Marge tells her husband that she’s conflicted about who to vote for in the upcoming election. Homer helpfully turns on the television and the couple watches a parody of that infamous “3 a.m.” ad that ran during Clinton’s 2008 campaign against then-Sen. Barack Obama.
In the animated version, Clinton is well prepared to take that earlymorning call, but Donald Trump initially rejects it because he is busy tweeting about Elizabeth Warren. Trump answers the phone the second time, but doesn’t bother heading to the Situation Room until he’s undergone an elaborate grooming regimen.
Marge announces that she’ll vote for Clinton and Homer comes onside after some pressure from Marge. The Washington Post
Suicide Squad gets props for casting
Viola Davis doesn’t know many people who fly around in capes, but she does know a few women like her Suicide Squad character, no-nonsense intelligence officer Amanda Waller.
White men pervade most big-budget comic-book movies, but not Suicide Squad (in theatres Friday). Director David Ayer wanted a diverse band of bad guys.
Of the 11 core actors, only three ( Joel Kinnaman, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney) are white males; four (Davis, Cara Delevingne, Margot Robbie and Karen Fukuhara) are
women, and three (Davis, Will Smith and Adewale AkinnuoyeAgbaje) are black.
Jay Hernandez is Mexican-American, Adam Beach is indigenous Canadian and Fukuhara is JapaneseAmerican.
Shawn Edwards, co-founder of the African-American Critics Association, says he “absolutely” loves the Squad casting. “It’s a beautiful thing to see.” USA Today