Open Thread

Billboard Magazine reports: French duo Justice made an appearance Thursday night in New York City as the surprise headliners of Frank Ocean’s Prep+ launch party. Taking place at Basement, Knockdown Center’s underground venue, the event was the first in a series of queer club nights described as an “homage to what could have been of the 1980s’ NYC club scene …

The Wrap reports: Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald and Mary J. Blige have all joined the ensemble cast of MGM’s Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” starring Jennifer Hudson, the studio announced Friday. Tituss Burgess, Tate Donovan and Marc Maron are also joining the life story of the queen of soul, as are Broadway stars Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Heather Headley …

Playbill reports: An October 31 #HAM4HAM performance of Broadway’s Hamilton will offer every seat for $10 for the second year in a row. Tickets are available through a digital lottery, now open through October 25 at 8 AM ET via the official app. Beginning October 25, winners will be notified if they have won the lottery. A credit card is …

Billboard Magazine reports: Nevermind the film’s controversial plot. Joker, the R-rated box office smash about one socially isolated man’s descent into violence, recently came under fire for including a song by convicted pedophile Gary Glitter in its soundtrack. Much of the public outcry has centered on whether Glitter — who is currently serving a 16-year jail sentence for sexually abusing …

The Associated Press reports: Authorities say a Florida man repeatedly called 911 to report that his roommate had stolen his marijuana. A deputy for the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office posted a Twitter response to the man’s calls Saturday night: Stop calling. Deputy Neal Zalva says in the Twitter video that he called the man back to tell him to quit …

Playbill reports: The trailer for Season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel shows Midge on the road as she travels on her first tour with singer Shy Baldwin, set to a brand-new recording of “Perfectly Marvelous” from Cabaret, sung by two-time Tony winner Sutton Foster. The Amazon series returns December 6, reuniting a cast featuring Emmy winners Rachel Brosnahan as …

Deadline reports: Billy Porter has confirmed he’ll be joining Sony’s upcoming adaptation of Cinderella. In a Q&A Saturday evening at the New Yorker Festival, Porter told attendees he’ll play the Fairy Godmother opposite Camila Cabello, who’s set to star as the glass slipper-wearing lead character. As Deadline reported earlier this week, Porter had been in talks to join the film …

Playbill reports: Julie Andrews sat down with Diane Sawyer to discuss her career and personal life ahead of the release of her new book, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, out October 15. The three-time Tony nominee talks about the life-changing surgery that ended her singing career in the clip above, which aired on Good Morning America. Andrews …

Boing Boing reports: Greta Thunberg’s Joan of Arc-grade tongue-lashing to the world’s leaders at the UN makes for some incredible mashup possibilities: it’s not merely that her excellent delivery lent itself to death metal, but also her use of the phrase “right here, right now,” was tailor-made for insertion into Fatboy Slim’s track of the same name — hence Fatboy …

Newsweek reports: A man was shot dead by police after he went on a rampage and rammed his car into a Chick-fil-A in Lincoln, Nebraska, before chasing after customers. An employee at the restaurant told the Lincoln Journal Star that a guy “just went off.” The man started flipping tables and throwing trays before he was confronted and left the …

USA Today reports: A Florida man is accused of enticing an alligator to bite his arm and pouring beer into its mouth after his friend caught the reptile. Timothy Kepke, 27, of Hobe Sound and Noah Osborne, 22, of Stuart were arrested Oct. 3. Each was charged with unlawfully taking an alligator, a felony. According to a Florida Fish and …

Billboard Magazine reports: Barbra Streisand took to Twitter today to pay tribute to her iconic “Happy Days Are Here Again” and “Get Happy” duet with Judy Garland back in 1963. “Such a special moment in my career,” Streisand wrote. “She was incredible. Totally unique. Just been reminded this aired 56 years ago today on CBS.” The collaboration between the two …

UPI reports: Security cameras at a New York state hair salon captured the moment a deer crashed through the window of the business and ran loose inside. Video shared on Facebook by the Be.you.tiful Hair Salon in Suffolk County, Long Island, shows the antlered buck crash through a large window, striking a woman sitting on a couch just inside the …

NPR reports: Who doesn’t love big, fat bears? At least from a distance. And who doesn’t love filling out a bracket where winners move on and losers go home? Combine the two and you’ve got Fat Bear Week — a kind of Ursine March Madness, in October. There are an estimated 2,000 bears in Katmai National Park & Preserve, a …

UPI reports: A public art installation in Philadelphia gives new meaning to the phrase “Ghost Ship” by featuring a hologram of an 18th century ship floating in the water. The Ghost Ship installation, by the Europe-based Biangle Studio, premiered Friday just off the Race Street Pier in the Delaware River. The installation uses light and water to create the three-dimensional …

Billboard Magazine reports: On Friday (Oct. 4), alongside the release of his long-awaited fifth studio album, Mika released a new video for his song “Sanremo,” a shimmering pop jam about finding a place just for you and your lover. The video follows that thread, but down a much darker and more unexpected path. Taking place in what appears to be …

NBC News reports: A Florida man has been sneaking around his neighborhood tampering with electric scooters parked on the streets, police say. Fort Lauderdale police posted a surveillance video Tuesday showing a man walking up to an electrical scooter on the street, slapping a white sticker on its QR code, and cutting its brake lines. Police say that more than …

Billboard Magazine reports: What happens when you take a Broadway and B-movie classic, restage it for a modern audience and get Pose star Mj Rodriguez and Be More Chill‘s George Salazar to star? According to their latest performance, you get gold. On Tuesday (Oct. 1), Rodriguez and Salazar appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden to perform “Suddenly …

Billboard Magazine reports: With King Princess readying her debut album on Mark Ronson’s Columbia imprint Zelig Records, the fast-rising genderqueer artist and the super-producer combined forces for a cover of an old ’60s standby. It’s The Turtles’ “Happy Together,” the 1967 psych-rock No. 1 hit that’s been covered by many, many artists since. On this brand new cover, King Princess …

Billboard Magazine reports: Lil Nas X opened up about his journey to coming out as gay in an interview with Gayle King set to air on Tuesday’s CBS This Morning. In a preview of the sit-down released Monday, the rapper told Gayle King that he “knew” growing up that he was gay. “Especially during my teenage years, I would just …