Open Thread

Playbill reports: The Metropolitan Opera’s Nightly Met Streams series features a range of new and classic broadcasts in its 17th week, which begins July 6 with the latest filmed capture of Franco Zeffirelli’s famed staging of La Bohème. Later offerings this week include an all-star Eugene Onegin with Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, and Mariusz Kwiecień, as well as two comparatively …

Deadline reports: As the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians examine their team names and logos in contemplation of changing what many deem offensive, one other baseball team has remained outside of the debate. The Atlanta Braves, who once spotlighted Chief Noc-a-Homa, a Native American who would emerge from a teepee and do a war dance when a team player hit …

Billboard Magazine reports: The ongoing mask debate across the United States has gotten the Hamilton treatment just in time for the musical’s Disney+ premiere this weekend. A YouTube parody brings the coronavirus pandemic pro-mask and anti-mask sides head to head, with lyrics themed the soundtrack of Hamilton. The clip, uploaded by the Holderness Family, gets straight to the topic as …

Deadline reports: Just days after Actors’ Equity Association urged members not to take jobs with Florida’s Walt Disney World until the resort agrees to provide COVID-19 testing, the amusement park reports that “tens of thousands of cast members” are preparing to return for the phased opening that begins July 11. In addition to playing Disney characters, Cast Members (a Disney …

Billboard Magazine reports: Vanilla Ice cooled off plans for a concert in Texas after taking considerable heat for an event that sought to gather hundreds of fans in one of the nation’s coronavirus hot spots. The 1990s rapper with the hit single “Ice Ice Baby” had been scheduled to play a lakeside show just outside Austin on Friday (July 3), …

New from our pal Matt Baume: New York. 1987. The city is in the middle of a violent crime wave, income inequality in Manhattan is among the worst in the country, and a callous presidential administration is ignoring an epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of people. But inside the Imperial Elks Lodge on West 129th Street, a group …

Billboard Magazine reports: With Pride Month coming to an end on Tuesday (June 30), virtual celebrations around the world are officially wrapping up — but singer and actress Nikki Blonsky is giving herself one more thing to celebrate before the festivities are over. On Sunday (June 28), Blonsky, who played the role of Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film version …

The New York Times reports: Broadway will remain closed for at least the rest of this year, and many shows are signaling that they do not expect a return to the stage until late winter or early spring. The Broadway League said Monday that theater owners and producers will refund or exchange tickets previously purchased for shows through Jan. 3. …

Playbill reports: Fifty-one years to the day since the first brick was thrown at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Playbill presents the Pride Spectacular concert June 28, 2020, at 8PM ET at Playbill.com/PridePlays. The presentation will be presented with a closed-captioning option. A celebration and commemoration of the launch of the modern gay rights movement at Stonewall and Pride, …

Billboard Magazine reports: Turns out Lizzo is 100% her own “Soulmate,” so she enlisted the Fab Five from Netflix’s Queer Eye to gas her up in the new lyric video for the self-love anthem. She dressed up her Cuz I Love You track from last year with a rainbow-colored animated visual today. Bobby Berk officiated Lizzo’s wedding to herself, which …

Trax Source reports: The message behind the music is that no matter where you come from, on the dancefloor there’s acceptance and hope. Nothing could be clearer in ‘Finally Ready’, The Shapeshifters’ first collaboration with Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award-winning singer, actor, director, composer and playwright Billy Porter. Co-written by Billy, ‘Finally Ready’ is a declaration of Pride, of breaking …

Playbill reports: The stars aligned for a Pride special when the cast and creators of Pose—including Tony winners Billy Porter and Patti LuPone, Mj Rodriguez, Janet Mock, and Indya Moore—got together virtually for a performance of Porter’s single “Love Yourself.” Check it out in the video below ahead of the Pose-A-Thon June 26 at 10 PM ET. The video also …

Billboard Magazine reports: Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie has joined the list of artists asking Donald Trump to stop playing their music at his rallies, requesting that “High Hopes” be removed from the President’s playlist. Urie posted his plea on Twitter, addressing a note to the Trump campaign after “High Hopes” was reportedly blasted at the half-empty arena …

Variety reports: Just when you thought that lengthy quarantining might mean you’d have a chance to get completely caught up on the Internet, Twenty One Pilots have come along to remind you that that goal remains ever so slightly out of grasp, with a spontaneously regenerating new music video that bears the promise of being endless. “Level of Concern (Never …

The New York Daily News reports: The original cast of “Hamilton” is going back to the room where it happened. Disney+ unveiled the first trailer for the filmed version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway musical late Sunday in preparation for its July 3 unveiling on the Mouse’s streaming site. The movie, filmed at The Richard Rodgers Theatre in June 2016, …

Playbill reports: Tune in to Playbill’s Pride Spectacular concert, set to stream live June 28 8 PM ET. The one-night-only event, a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (matching sponsor the Seaport District NYC), will be viewable only at Playbill.com/PridePlays. Thanks to our presenting sponsors Gilead and Nissan, as well as featured sponsors Ketel One, Audible, and Geico, audiences can …

Deadline Hollywood reports: We have just received word that No. 2 film exhibitor Regal Cinemas is requiring all patrons to wear face masks. In an updated policy made public on the chain’s website, “As related to our employees, guests will also be required to wear masks. Disposable masks will be made available as needed,” noted Regal. Regal’s previous policy was …

A new Sylvester mini-doc from our pal Barry Walters: In partnership with filmmaker Lauren Tabak and writer/consulting producer Barry Walters, we dive into the music career of Sylvester, starting from church choir in South Central LA to his early years in San Francisco. It follows his ascent to stardom through his evergreen, international hits “Dance (Disco Heat)” and “You Make …

Playbill reports: Pride Plays has announced an all-star cast for its upcoming live stream of Mart Crowley’s The Men From the Boys, the 2002 sequel to The Boys in the Band, which won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. The play revisits a handful of characters from Boys in the Band approximately 30 years later, with …

Billboard Magazine reports: In the midst of Pride Month, Pablo Alborán took to social media to share a very personal message with his fans. “We need to reconsider our lives, careers, what does and doesn’t make us happy,” he said of the “bittersweet” year. “I think that we often forget about the love that unites us and makes us stronger.” …