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L’Rain’s Songs Maintain Ghosts, Demons and Therapeutic

L’Rain’s Songs Hold Ghosts, Demons and Healing

Cheek has a full-time job presenting performances; she is an associate curator at MoMA PS1 in Queens, augmenting exhibitions with live shows and leading the committee that produces PS1’s consistently forward-looking summer music series, “Warm Up.” She has also backed up and collaborated with other musicians, lately with Vagabon and Helado Negro.

She was between bands in the mid-2010s when she started making her own music as L’Rain; Lappin gave her a decisive nudge: “My mom would always say, ‘You should just sing and play piano.’ And I just brushed her off. And then the bands I was in fell apart, and Andrew Lappin said, ‘Have you ever thought about making your own record?’ He was the catalyst. And my mom, also, with me eventually realizing, ‘OK, you were right.’”

Cheek had been warehousing dozens of musical ideas on a private SoundCloud page: “Anything from six seconds to two-and-a-half minutes,” Lappin recalled. As he helped her sift through them, they saw the potential for a coherent project, and “L’Rain” emerged as a moody, liquid, atmospheric album, with Cheek’s vocals often blurred amid the instruments.

For “Fatigue,” Lappin and Cheek decided to make her voice and lyrics clearer, and to allow more visceral, aggressive moments. “The first record was like a bunch of sounds all at once, and it’s hard to tell where one begins and one ends,” Cheek said. “This one is more defined. We were trying to be bolder with the sonic palette, and making more decisions.”

They recorded in New York and in Los Angeles, where Lappin worked at the venerable Sunset Sound studios. Some of L’Rain’s vocals were run through the same reverberation chamber — an isolated stonewalled room — that the Beach Boys used when recording “Pet Sounds” in 1966. L’Rain used live instruments, computer manipulation, assorted amplifiers and even a cassette player, along with Cheek’s field recordings; a deep drone she recorded on a subway ride was sampled and pitch-shifted to provide one song’s bass line.

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‘Stoker,’ ‘Synchronic’ and Extra Hidden Streaming Gems

‘Stoker,’ ‘Synchronic’ and More Hidden Streaming Gems

This month, tucked away in the quiet corners of your subscription streaming services, you’ll find a trio of modest sci-fi indies, a handful of powerful character dramas, a smart and savvy rom-com, and a pair of thoughtful documentaries on entertainment figures of both the mainstream and the fringe.

Stream it on Hulu.

There is a scene midway through Harry MacQueen’s marvelous drama, in which Tusker (Stanley Tucci), a novelist, begins to give a big speech at a gathering of family and friends. But Tusker has early-onset dementia, and he cannot get through it — so he hands the speech to Sam (Colin Firth), his partner of decades, to read for him. Firth attempts to read his partner’s words without choking up, and Tucci listens with a mixture of shame and conviviality. The entire film has that kind of power, as its stars, who do some of the best acting of the year, convey the running jokes and sly little jabs of a long, comfortable, lived-in relationship, and show how they must summon up all of its accumulated emotion to make it through the toughest trial of their lives.

The great South Korean director Park Chan-wook (“The Handmaiden,” “Oldboy”) crafts an exhilarating riff on Hitchcock’s classic “Shadow of a Doubt” with this story of a young woman (here played by Mia Wasikowska) and her mysterious, and perhaps murderous, “Uncle Charlie” (Matthew Goode). But Park isn’t content with empty homage; he and the screenwriter Wentworth Miller can take their story to places Hitchcock, in his era, could not, and they do so gleefully and unapologetically. Park’s direction is stunning, homing in on details, textures and moods, keeping the viewer unbalanced with bizarre compositions and left-field dark comedy, and his entire cast (which also includes Nicole Kidman, Jacki Weaver and Dermot Mulroney) is superb.

Stream it on Netflix.

The writing and directing team Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl mine a working class sci-fi groove, reminiscent of “Alien” and “Moon,” in this story of a father (Jay Duplass) and daughter (Sophie Thatcher), prospectors for hire on a gem-mining mission on a distant moon. The filmmakers neatly fold in Western and action elements, as the duo encounters a verbose outlaw (Pedro Pascal) and wind up fighting not only for their job, but their lives. Caldwell and Earl use their modest budget ingeniously, creating a convincing, otherworldly environment, while Pascal’s “Mandalorian” fans should enjoy the film’s similarly freewheeling fusion of genres and influences.

Frank Langella is at his absolute best — wry, funny, cranky and compelling — as a retired jewel thief who puts together one last score with an unexpected accomplice: the robot companion who’s intended to take care of him in his golden years. Peter Sarsgaard voices “Robot,” and it says much about the skill of both actors that we not only believe the relationship, but root for it. The director Jake Schreier and the screenwriter Christopher Ford create a believable (slightly) futuristic setting, working through the slight tweaks to current technology that would make Frank’s “butler” not only possible, but ideal for the task at hand.

Stream it on Netflix.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the filmmakers behind the brainteasers “The Endless” and “Spring,” tell the story of two New Orleans EMT drivers (Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan) sniffing out the source of a dangerous synthetic drug. At least, that’s what it seems to be about; the script takes a hard turn in another, unexpected direction just past the halfway mark, into territory best left unspoiled. Crackerjack work from a sturdy ensemble cast, but the standout is “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” star Mackie, who does some of his best work to date as a man with nothing left to lose.

Stream it on Amazon.

Snowy, mournful and frequently bleak, this introspective action-tinged drama from the director Daniel Nettheim stars Willem Dafoe (in yet another powerhouse performance) as a mercenary who is hired by a mysterious client to track and kill the Tasmanian tiger — long thought extinct, and valuable in ways he may not fully understand. What could’ve been a mindless thriller or a clumsily earnest environmental exposé instead plays as a thoughtful meditation on nature and our place in it. And it’s a first-rate character study, brought to life by a stirring actor whose work here, even in lengthy scenes of totally silent preparation and execution, is never less than fascinating.

Join Times theater reporter Michael Paulson in conversation with Lin-Manuel Miranda, catch a performance from Shakespeare in the Park and more as we explore signs of hope in a changed city. For a year, the “Offstage” series has followed theater through a shutdown. Now we’re looking at its rebound.

Stream it on HBO Max.

Jennifer Westfeldt’s comedy-drama was marketed as something of a companion piece to the previous year’s “Bridesmaids,” mostly since the films shared four key cast members (Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O’Dowd and Jon Hamm). But that was about all they had in common, and “Friends” suffered in comparison — unfairly, as Westfeldt (who writes, directs and stars) is quite a different filmmaker, and “Friends with Kids” is a much more direct and intimate examination of maturity, relationships and the quest for happiness. Westfeldt and Adam Scott are Harry and Sally-style best friends who decide to have a child without getting romantic; complications, as you might imagine, ensue. But Westfeldt’s wise script avoids the easy outs, while displaying a keen ear for character-driving dialogue.

Stream it on Hulu.

The penultimate feature film of the acclaimed director Abbas Kiarostami was a notable departure in setting, marking only the second time he made a film entirely outside of Iran, this time working with a Japanese cast in Tokyo. But his mesmerizing style is as present as ever in this modest but moving story of three people — a young sex worker, her oblivious boyfriend, and the old man who begins as her client, but becomes more of a confidante. Kiarostami lets his scenes unfold with a dreamlike delicacy, yet his touch is precise; it’s the kind of film that sneaks up on you, casting a spell that isn’t clear until it comes to its shattering conclusion.

Stream it on Amazon.

In 1999, Whitney Houston went on a world tour, accompanied by her husband Bobby Brown, her best friend (and onetime romantic partner) Robyn Crawford and a documentary crew that was given total access to her, onstage and off. That footage never saw the light of day — until the director Nick Broomfield coupled it with additional archival footage and contemporary interviews, in an attempt to puzzle out why happiness so evaded Houston that she turned for refuge to the drugs that eventually took her life. The result of this marriage of materials is an unflinching portrait of addiction and codependence, by turns heart-wrenching and insightful.

Stream it on Amazon.

In 1979, the filmmaker Trent Harris met a strange guy named “Groovin’ Gary,” switched his video camera on, and turned their conversation into a short film called “The Beaver Kid.” Two years later, he reenacted that conversation with an unknown young actor named Sean Penn to make another short film; four years later, he did it again with another then-unknown actor, Crispin Glover. Harris’s “Beaver Trilogy” became an underground sensation, one of the first of what we now call “viral videos,” and this smart, funny and knowing documentary from the director Brad Besser not only tells that story, but also explores how these strange little short films changed the lives of those who made them. Bill Hader narrates.

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‘Within the Heights,’ The place the Streets Explode With Dance

‘In the Heights,’ Where the Streets Explode With Dance

“The streets were made of music,” Usnavi, the hero of “In the Heights.” says to a group of children near the start of the movie.

His description of Washington Heights may be true, but it tells only a part of the story: In this film, the streets are paved with dance. The most invigorating ingredient in this movie is its ardent, joyful commitment to bodies in perpetual motion. It doesn’t matter if they’re dancing or just moving through those streets. “In the Heights” is a dance film in which movement, as it passes down from one generation to the next, represents the pulse and velocity of a neighborhood.

Whether it’s mambo on 2 — a New York style, in which dancers break forward and back on the second beat of the measure — or just a simple walk, how does rhythm radiate out of the body? Where does a step find its bounce?

Immediately, in the film’s nimble opening moments, we are swept into the rhythm of Washington Heights, a neighborhood at the northern tip of Manhattan, with Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) leading the way. As he stands with his back to the window in his bodega, a flurry of choreography ignites the street behind him. He steps outside and finds himself at the center of ecstatic action — bodies pirouette around him, and just beyond, spread across the street and sidewalks, is a synchronized sea of dancers with swiveling hips, emphatic, circling arms and undulating spines flying through a tapestry of movement, including mambo on 2, Afro-Cuban and son Cubano. It’s breathtaking.

The last time I felt such a sense of release watching dancers spill onto the streets in a movie was in “Fame.” Like “In the Heights,” which tells the story of immigrants from the Caribbean and other parts of Latin America, “Fame” (1980) was about more than dance. But after all these years, what sticks? Dance, dance and Debbie Allen.

“In the Heights” is both a remarkable recording of different dance genres — mambo on 2, certainly, but also litefeet, a street style born in Harlem known for its rapid-fire, seemingly weightless footwork; as well as contemporary dance and even touches of ballet — and a rich document of New York and East Coast dancers.

The film’s creators have been facing complaints about the casting of its main actors, with a lack of dark-skinned Afro-Latino actors in prominent roles. (Lin-Manuel Miranda apologized for falling short in “trying to paint a mosaic of this community.”) The dancers, though, are a more diverse group — both in terms of skin tone and styles. Rennie Harris, the Philadelphia hip-hop legend, makes an appearance. So do Jhesus Aponte, the celebrated Puerto Rican dancer; Nayara Nuñez, a Cuban dancer featured in the film “Dancing for My Havana”; and Karine Plantadit, a former Alvin Ailey dancer who starred in Twyla Tharp’s “Movin’ Out.” And on and on.

The choreographic mastermind of “In the Heights” is Christopher Scott. (He previously worked with the film’s director, Jon M. Chu, on the web series “The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers.”) Scott, who comes from the street dance world of Los Angeles and is not Latino, worked with a team of associate choreographers who specialized in a range of styles, including Latin dance, hip-hop, ballet and contemporary dance. He didn’t want to let the dance world down.

“So often in the commercial world, dance is misrepresented,” Scott said in an interview. “It’s like I’m going to get the best flexers New York has to offer, because I want flexers to watch it with pride and look at themselves reflected and represented at the highest level.”

His team of associate choreographers is solid: Eddie Torres Jr. for Latin dance, with Princess Serrano as assistant Latin choreographer; Ebony Williams for ballet, contemporary dance, Afro and dancehall; Emilio Dosal, a popper who is versatile in many styles and brings the hip-hop element to the film; and Dana Wilson, who had a hand in everything — like all of the choreographers — but specifically worked with the actors to help them nail the physicality of their characters.

The choreographers used their personal contacts to find performers. They’re real people. “Princess and I were reaching out to everyone that we knew in the community — of all ages, because we needed the older with the young,” Torres said. “And I mean, like, everyone. Casting dancers was so last minute, honestly. It wasn’t, ‘You have three months.’ This was like, ‘Can you come in tomorrow? I need you.’”

Originally, Scott hoped to hire Torres as a performer. But when they talked, Torres blew Scott away with his knowledge of Latin dance, specifically mambo. Torres said his father created the syllabus and technique of mambo on 2 in the 1970s; his mother, the flamenco dancer Nélida Tirado, appears in the film. (Torres uses the word “mambo,” not “salsa,” which to him is something you eat, not something you dance.)

“It became a history lesson every single day,” Scott said. “And it changed my life.”

For Torres, the film was an “opportunity to show the world the real Latin dancing, not the commercialized side of it all,” he said. “To really bring an authentic vibe to the whole film, the film needed roots. It needed a foundation to really grow.”

In the club scene, which focuses on New York mambo, Scott wanted Torres, who choreographed it, to have his moment. On the first day of rehearsals, Scott decided not to tell the dancers who the stars of the film were. “They weren’t pampered,” he said. “The dancers were like, ‘No, it’s not that’ and ‘fix your arm.’ And it was stressful for the actors. But I wanted to make sure that Eddie had the space to not dumb anything down.”

The result is thrilling: The camera, here and elsewhere, creates the sensation of being inside of the dance. (“Fame” was like that, too: messy, visceral, real.)

The movie makes room for many movement sensibilities. “Paciencia y Fe” is a sweeping, dream ballet featuring Abuela Claudia (Olga Merediz) on a subway train that moves from the past to the present. Choreographed mainly by Williams, a former member of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet who has danced with Beyoncé and on Broadway, it’s a contemporary piece. But Williams wanted to instill the sequence with a feeling of the culture. “For me, Latin movement has lots of circles, movement of the hips and freedom of the neck,” she said. “I wanted it to carry all those things.”

The choreography had to come from a real place. The galvanizing spectacle, “96,000,” a homage to Busby Berkeley shot at Highbridge Pool in Washington Heights on a rainy, bone-chilling day, is a case in point. For a moment, Scott was contemplating bringing in a synchronized swimming group, but he couldn’t find one that represented the Latino community.

Instead the scene featured “90 dancers who have never done anything like that,” Scott said. It was gratifying, he added, to work on a project that was “going to be a little raw” and “a little rough” — one that’s “not going to be easy.”

For all the splendor of the pool dance, what makes it memorable is that grit and brazenness — the sense of moving and splashing, as if time were running out.

Whenever the story starts to become ponderous (and it does at times), dance comes to the rescue, rebooting the senses. The numbers feel wholly alive, which has to do with the spontaneity of the dancers, most of whom come from the New York scene. This is not Los Angeles commercial dance, which, while incredibly precise, can tend toward the slick. But at the start, Scott wasn’t sure. After his first New York audition, he was worried.

“They didn’t look great doing the choreography that I brought to the audition,” he said. “I was kind of like, ‘Oh, no.’ So we did an audition in L.A., and it was night and day. It was a very clean. Everyone that you would expect at an audition — just killing the combo. But it lacked that personality, it lacked the rawness, it lacked New York.”

Scott realized that he needed to let go of what he was used to in order to get the look and feel he wanted, because, as he said, “We’re trying to create real moments even though they’re dancing in the street.”

There’s nothing worse than a perfect, over-rehearsed performance, and this film proves it: The dancing has depth and feeling because the dancers perform as if they don’t know, or care, that they’re being watched. Toward the end comes “Carnaval del Barrio,” a seven-minute dance set in a courtyard on a blistering day. It’s a display of the kind of sweaty, sticky dancing that fervently sums up the joy of being alive. In this celebration of mingling cultures, generations of bodies spill out of every pocket of the yard.

It was shot in just one day. “People were coming up to me on set with bloody knees saying, ‘I just need to bandage up real quick because I’ve got to get back in,’” Scott said.

Even after the shoot, no one left the set. “We kept dancing,” Torres said. “We were all jumping in a huddle. I can’t explain it, but our spirits were lifted — it was energy that just came through us. It was so authentic. I love ‘on 2’ and I love mambo, but when I say authentic, I mean that it’s a cultural dance. It’s a dance that you grew up with at home. You don’t know what it is to take a class. You’re brought up along with this music. And that is as raw as it gets.”

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Watch Jimmie Herrod’s America’s Received Expertise Audition | Video

Watch Jimmie Herrod's America's Got Talent Audition | Video

“Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular . . .” Lady Gaga’s viral string of compliments may have been originally intended for Ryan Murphy back in 2015, but they could absolutely be used to describe Jimmie Herrod, too. A 30-year-old singer from Portland, OR, Herrod auditioned for America’s Got Talent on Tuesday night and showed off quite the impressive superpower: the ability to change Simon Cowell’s opinion. Sounds damn-near impossible, but rest assured he made it happen.

Herrod chose to perform a rendition of “Tomorrow” from Annie, which Cowell described as the “worst song in the world” upon hearing the selection. Despite this, he stuck to his guns, belted out the joyous lyrics on stage, and wound up wowing all four judges and the entire crowd. “Wow, wow, wow. It’s not my worst song anymore,” Cowell admitted with a laugh after Herrod concluded. Meanwhile, Sofia Vergara initially pretended to be unimpressed by Herrod’s vocals, but soon relinquished her poker face and slammed the golden buzzer, sending metallic confetti flying through the air. Between Peter Rosalita, the Northwell Health Nurse Choir, and now Herrod, the competition is shaping up to be pretty darn fierce among the singers on AGT this season.

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Britney Spears Quietly Pushed for Years to Finish Her Conservatorship

Britney Spears Quietly Pushed for Years to End Her Conservatorship

Confidential court records reveal Ms. Spears’s concerns that her father was hardly the person to be setting, and enforcing, the rules that governed her life.

Ms. Spears’s first tour under the conservatorship, The Circus Starring Britney Spears, was designed to be a dry one, with cast and crew forbidden from drinking alcohol — or even energy drinks — around Ms. Spears, according to three people who worked on it.

During this period, a former nanny and housekeeper for Ms. Spears claimed Mr. Spears engaged in “verbal abuse, tirades, inappropriate behavior and alcoholic relapses,” according to a legal letter sent in 2010 that threatened a lawsuit.

In 2014, Mr. Ingham told the court that Ms. Spears believed her father was drinking, according to a transcript of the closed hearing. Lawyers representing the conservatorship responded that Mr. Spears had voluntarily submitted to regularly scheduled alcohol tests and never failed. Mr. Spears’s lawyer said he took one random test, but refused to take any more, calling the request inappropriate.

“Absolutely inappropriate,” the judge replied. “And who is she to be demanding that of anybody?”

Mr. Ingham told the court that his client was upset that it was not taking her concerns seriously. “She said to me, when she gave me this shopping list, that she anticipates that, as it has been done before, the court will simply sweep it under the carpet and ignore any negative inferences with regard to Mr. Spears,” Mr. Ingham said, according to a transcript.

Mr. Ingham also raised Ms. Spears’s urgent desire to terminate the conservatorship altogether. She had even mentioned the possibility of changing her lifestyle and retiring, but believed the conservatorship precluded that, he said, according to a transcript.

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‘Within the Heights’ y el colorismo: lo que se pierde cuando se borra a los afrolatinos

‘In the Heights’ y el colorismo: lo que se pierde cuando se borra a los afrolatinos

HERRERA En el fondo, el acto de la crítica es una labor de amor. Criticamos los objetos culturales porque tenemos esperanza en ellos y queremos que sean mejores. A menudo pienso en una entrevista de 2019 en The Nation con el poeta y escritor Hanif Abdurraqib. Habla de la noción de que la crítica es algo que surge de la ira, la amargura o los celos. Para mí, esa ira está al servicio de algo más: nos permite imaginar un futuro político más justo. Como dice: “La crítica, para mí, tiene que ser un acto de amor, si no, es una pérdida de tiempo. Así que tengo que encontrar la manera de honrar a los artistas que me importan sin dejar de entender que mi trabajo no es necesariamente inclinarme ante ellos”. También me ayuda a interpretar el arte fuera de “esto es bueno” y “esto es malo”.

SCOTT Ese es un punto tan importante sobre la crítica, que con demasiada frecuencia se malinterpreta como “odiar” o “cancelar”. La otra noche, en el programa The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Rita Moreno trató de defender a Miranda —“un hombre que, literalmente, trajo la latinidad y la puertorriqueñidad a Estados Unidos”— deseando, en efecto, que sus críticos se callaran, o que esperaran hasta un momento no especificado y más apropiado. Desde entonces se ha disculpado, y un reciente documental detalla la intolerancia a la que se enfrentó a lo largo de su carrera. En cualquier caso, proteger las obras de arte de las críticas no les hace ningún favor. Es tan simplista como descartarlas por sus defectos.

HERRERA Creo que un aspecto importante de este debate es que ha puesto de manifiesto una vez más las limitaciones de una conversación centrada en la representación. Durante mucho tiempo, la representación ha sido anunciada como una solución al racismo; momentos como este realmente exponen la farsa de esa idea. A menudo se argumenta que la representación, especialmente en espacios donde las comunidades marginadas han sido históricamente excluidas, nos salvará de la discriminación. Pero lo que puede hacer la representación tiene sus límites.

Cuando centramos toda nuestra atención crítica en la representación y la inclusión, nos distrae del trabajo de comprender las condiciones que crean el racismo en primer lugar. La conversación no es solo sobre In the Heights o sobre el número de creadores latinos en Hollywood, sino sobre la historia de la antinegritud, que ha permitido que los latinos blancos y de piel más clara sean los más visibles en todos los aspectos de nuestra cultura.

El hecho de que haya un latino en la sala no significa que no pueda perpetuar sistemas de poder dañinos, o que no sea capaz de excluir. Así que quiero terminar con un recordatorio a mis compañeros latinos blancos, que tienen una responsabilidad única de escuchar este tipo de conversaciones. No voy a hablar desde un pedestal y pretender que no soy cómplice de estas dinámicas como mujer blanca dominicana. Pero quiero que pensemos profundamente en cómo estamos usando nuestro privilegio en estas industrias. No para centrar la blancura en la conversación, sino porque necesitamos considerar la forma en que usamos nuestro acceso a ciertos espacios y si estamos comprometidos con el trabajo antirracista en ellos, sin importar lo incómodo que nos pueda resultar.

Isabelia Herrera es crítica de arte becaria en el Times. Cubre la cultura popular, con especial atención a la música latinoamericana y latina en Estados Unidos. Anteriormente fue editora colaboradora en Pitchfork y ha escrito para Rolling Stone, Billboard, GQ y NPR, entre otros. @jabladoraaa

Concepción de León es una reportera de viajes que vive en Nueva York.

Maya Phillips es crítica principal de The New York Times. Es autora de la colección de poesía Erou (Four Way Books, 2019) y de NERD: On Navigating Heroes, Magic, and Fandom in the 21st Century, que Atria Books publicará en el verano de 2022. @mayabphillips

A.O. Scott es crítico principal y cocrítico jefe de cine. Se unió al Times en 2000 y ha escrito para Book Review y The New York Times Magazine. También es autor de Better Living Through Criticism. @aoscott

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5 Issues to Do This Weekend

5 Things to Do This Weekend

Adolphus Hailstork has bridged vintage classical traditions and multiple genres of American music for half a century. In 2019, the conductor Thomas Wilkins said of the composer’s work: “It’s quite tonal, but it’s not without chromaticism. And some of the time, because he’s sort of hinting at a blues lick or a jazz gesture, we find notes that are bent or twisted.”

The Harlem Chamber Players ensemble has been among Hailstork’s most committed advocates in recent years. And its latest concert — taped and set to stream at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday at thegreenespace.org — brings the premiere of a new piece from the composer: “Tulsa 1921 (Pity These Ashes, Pity This Dust).”

The mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges stars in the work, which commemorates the Tulsa Race Massacre. And the concert may also whet appetites in advance of a New York Philharmonic program planned for the upcoming season. When the orchestra comes to Carnegie Hall in January, it will play the composer’s “An American Port of Call.”
SETH COLTER WALLS

For over a decade, the artistic collaborators Mark Dendy and Stephen Donovan have tackled social and political issues through singular, surreal dance theater: “Dystopian Distractions!” examined the military industrial complex; “Whistleblower” imagined the experience of Chelsea Manning; and “Elvis Everywhere” explored American cultural decline.

Now, for the American Dance Festival, Dendy and Donovan are presenting their debut film, “tHe aGe oF aNXieTy,” which responds to the anguish and insanity of the past year. The 40-minute work features a cast of 16 dancing exuberantly among New York City landmarks and follows the character Monsieur le Clown as he dreams of post-pandemic and post-Trump freedom. The film vividly depicts personal and collective despair but finds pockets of optimism as it celebrates the spirit and tenacity of the city and its inhabitants.

The film streams from 9 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday until 11 p.m. on June 26. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at americandancefestival.org.
BRIAN SCHAEFER

KIDS

The makers of “All One Tribe” are promoting harmony — in every sense of the word.

Featuring 24 artists and bands, this album from Aya World Productions affirms all families’ common humanity while also emphasizing the particular achievements and goals of people of color. One of those objectives — to recognize Black voices in children’s music — gave rise to 1 Tribe Collective, the consortium that produced the project and will celebrate its release on Saturday.

At 2 p.m. Eastern time, the musicians Aaron Nigel Smith and Shawana Kemp (a.k.a. Shine) will host a free virtual concert that also honors Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating slavery’s end in America. The event, which will stream on 1 Tribe Collective’s YouTube channel (where it will remain afterward) and the YouTube and Facebook pages of the album’s distributor, Tuff Gong International, will comprise music videos, artist interviews and live performances.

Those appearing include Jessica DeShong, singing “Black People Who Change the World,” and Ms. Janis, whose poignant “Say Their Names” is an album highlight.
LAUREL GRAEBER

Theater

When it came to keeping yourself safe from coronavirus, singing — or enjoying live music and its aerosols — had been strictly contraindicated. But with vaccinations on the rise and case loads declining, karaoke rooms and piano bars have begun a slow reopening.

Put down the knitting, the book and the broom as cabaret has come back, too. Feinstein’s/54 Below, the supper club and Broadway hangout in the depths of Studio 54, has unlocked its red door to a vaccinated, limited-capacity audience. Guests will notice some fresh décor, like plexiglass partitions between tables. As concerns the supper part, there’s a new menu from the club’s consulting chef, Harold Dieterle.

Opening weekend highlights include George Salazar, the star of “Be More Chill,” and the composer Joe Iconis doing their “Two Player Game!” act on Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 7 p.m. (with more performances in the coming week starting on Tuesday), and Larry Owens (“A Strange Loop”) offering a Sondheim tribute on Saturday at 9:45 p.m.
ALEXIS SOLOSKI

With her bruising, bawdy and boastful rhymes, Young M.A, a Brooklyn native, is a New York M.C. in the grand tradition. And as one of just a handful of openly queer women to prosper in rap’s mainstream, she’s also something of a trailblazer. Following the success in 2016 of her breakout hit “OOOUUU” — a woozy, liquor-soaked ode to stealing guys’ girlfriends — M.A has released a steady beat of rock-hard and technically tight songs, including “Hello Baby,” a recent collaboration with her fellow Brooklynite Fivio Foreign. Arguably even more compelling than her records are her freestyles — a good reason to seek out her live shows.

On Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern time, Young M.A will represent the Big Apple in Los Angeles, where she’s set to perform a livestreamed concert from the stage of the Wiltern, as part of the club’s ongoing series that also includes the rapper Freddie Gibbs and the Australian R&B group Chase Atlantic. Tickets start at $15 and are available at youngma.veeps.com.
OLIVIA HORN

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Who Was Gossip Lady within the Guide Collection?

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As we anxiously await the Gossip Girl reboot coming to HBO Max, we have plenty of time to reflect on the original Gossip Girl — no, not the 2000s show starring Leighton Meester and Blake Lively, the book series written by Cecily Von Ziegesar. This YA book series is what the first show was based on, although it features some notable differences (like, um, Blair has a brother? What?). One main question you might have: who was Gossip Girl in the books? As someone who devoured this book series in the early aughts, consider me your resident GG expert. Keep reading for the 4-1-1 (note: spoiler alerts ahead).

So, unless you lived under a rock or just subconsciously banished it from your memory, everyone knows that Dan Humphrey was behind the sassy online blogger Gossip Girl in the TV series (I’m honestly still reeling from that, although now that Penn Badgley is Joe from You, it all makes a little more sense).

Von Ziegesar’s book series is similar to the TV shows in many aspects — they are both set on the Upper East Side in New York City, where Serena, Blair, Chuck, Nate, Jenny, Dan, and other attends lavish parties, dabble in partying and drugs, and have more steamy hookups than any teenager should be allowed. Oh, and the drama! It is just as ever-present through the pages of the books, I’m happy to report. But the biggest difference? Gossip Girl is never actually revealed! Wait, what? Yes, it’s true. All through 11 books in the series, from Gossip Girl to Don’t You Forget About Me, plus the bonus holiday-themed book and the Psycho Killer edition of book one (LOL!), the true identity of the mysterious Gossip Girl is never once revealed. Maybe that’s because all the characters took turns playing her? You’ll never know . . .

The good news is, Kristen Bell is returning as the voice of Gossip Girl, so all is right in the world, no matter who is revealed to be behind the moniker this time. Time will only tell. You know you love it, XOXO!

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Entertainment

Foo Fighters Convey Rock Again to Madison Sq. Backyard

Foo Fighters Bring Rock Back to Madison Square Garden

The house lights inside Madison Square Garden went down Sunday night, and the thousands of fans, packed like sardines in their seats, stood as if on cue. As they roared their approval, bouncing in place on the balls of their feet, the ground began to tremble. Cellphone flash lights illuminated the darkness.

The sound of a keyboard echoed through the rafters. Dave Grohl, the Foo Fighters’ frontman, appeared on the stage.

“It’s times like these, you learn to live again,” Grohl sang.

The lyrics had seldom felt so on point.

After many difficult months of illness, death, hardship and pain, and shifting limits on how many people could gather, especially indoors, arena rock returned to New York City just over a year after the city was the center of the outbreak. It was the Garden’s first concert in more than 460 days, and it drew a full-capacity crowd that was asked to show proof of vaccination to enter. Inside, people grooved, tightly packed, with few masks visible.

On Sunday, a concert attendee would have had to squint to see signs of the pandemic persisting. In many ways, the evening felt like prepandemic times.

In a sea of thousands, only a few patrons here or there wore face coverings. Thousands of vaccinated people, their faces bare, belted out the lyrics to well-known songs, sending aerosols flying through the air. No one seemed concerned.

Fans were packed together. A sudden arm gesture could send a beer flying. Strangers hugged and high-fived. They bumped into each other in the busy concourse. They punched the air, swung their hair and danced, twisting and swaying at their seats in a state of high-decibel music-induced bliss.

It was “just epic,” said Rachael Cain, 51, who was among the first people to arrive at the Garden on Sunday afternoon.

But there were subtle reminders of the pandemic everywhere. Hand sanitizer pumps were clamped to the walls, and wipes could be found near any napkin dispenser. Ticketing was digital and concession buying appeared mostly cashless.

At the entrances, staff members checked people’s vaccine cards with varying levels of scrutiny. Some asked for identification to match with proof of inoculation, in a slow-moving process. Other checkers simply waved people through as they flashed their passes while walking by. A small anti-vaccine protest on the sidewalk outside drew little attention.

Several patrons said that the vaccine requirement helped them feel safe about returning to such a big indoor gathering.

“I was expecting it to be a little longer before I came to a concert again,” said Nick Snow, 29, who was among the few fans who wore a mask while inside the arena. “The precautions with the vaccinated only, they help.”

Grohl himself took care to acknowledge from the stage the unique milestone he and his band were participating in. At various points during the roughly three-hour show, he asked the crowd rhetorically if they had missed music, and mused about how good it felt to be around thousands of people while playing rock songs. The band sang “My Hero” as a tribute to those who had made the concert possible. And in a surprise cameo to celebrate the occasion, the band brought out the comedian Dave Chappelle to sing a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep.”

“Welcome back, New York City!” Chappelle yelled as he exited the stage.

The show represented the return of some old, familiar comforts that music lovers may not soon take for granted again. There was call and response; people gesturing wildly to no one in particular; fans screaming the lyrics to songs only to realize their voices were drowned out by the music; and an entire floor section jumping up and down as one wave.

“I would get vaccinated 10 times over just to see a live show like this with people,” said Rich Casey, 53, of Massachusetts.

Having reached the ground floor of the venue and the echoey plaza that leads to the street, Foo Fighters fans seeking one last communal experience for the night sent up a chant, reveling again in one of the band’s most well-known songs, “Best of You.”

Ohhhhhh
Ohhhhhh.
Ohhhhhh.
Ohhhhhh.

Then they erupted in one final cheer and walked out into the New York night.

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Entertainment

How David Ellison Constructed Skydance Into Hollywood’s Sensible Guess

How David Ellison Built Skydance Into Hollywood's Smart Bet

The equity deal with RedBird and CJ Entertainment valued Skydance at about $2.3 billion. At its current pace of growth — revenue is expected to increase more than 40 percent this year compared with last, the company said — Skydance could be worth $5 billion or more in a few years. Mr. Ellison would most likely pursue a sale or an initial public offering at that point.

Skydance could quickly become an acquisition target. After Amazon’s $8.45 billion purchase of MGM, content engines with access to established intellectual property, Skydance included, are hot prospects. Even if Skydance parts ways with Paramount next year, the expiring deal gives Skydance an incredible perk: the continuing right to invest in the Paramount franchises with which Skydance is already involved. “Star Trek.” “Mission: Impossible.” “Jack Ryan.” “G.I. Joe.” “Top Gun.”

Comcast, which needs to boost its Peacock streaming service, could be a buyer. So could Apple, which considered picking up MGM. This spring, Skydance received feelers from a special-purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC, led by Kevin A. Mayer, Disney’s former streaming chief.

“It’s true that we have had some interesting conversations lately, but our growth curve is still significant and if we keep working hard and stay adaptive that should afford us a lot of optionality in the future,” Mr. Ellison said, sounding more like an M.B.A. graduate than a budding entertainment tycoon.

Skydance has wide-ranging expansion plans. Amy Hennig, a former senior creative executive at Electronic Arts, is building a video game division. Another department focuses on virtual-reality content. Mr. Ellison recently hired Luis Fernández, a 20-year Disney veteran, to start a consumer products business. But Skydance’s future rests on scripted content and the degree to which it can create pay-dirt movie and television franchises out of whole cloth, as it appears to have done with “The Old Guard.”

Some people in Hollywood remain skeptical that Skydance has the creative expertise to pull it off. Mr. Ellison and his team have excelled at putting projects together (29 films and television series sold to streaming services in two years). But execution — quality — has been inconsistent. And quality matters: The Skydance-made “6 Underground,” an action comedy directed by Michael Bay, drew views from a blockbuster 83 million Netflix accounts in late 2019. But the movie also received less-than-stellar reviews, lessening Netflix’s interest in a sequel.

A stream of well-reviewed original hits would force Hollywood to finally take Mr. Ellison seriously as a creative power.