Last night, Broadway’s Andrea McArdle held court at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, downstairs of the West Bank Café, in the heart of New York City and Hell’s Kitchen.

This “jewel box” of a venue and this location are now iconic, as is the star that was on the stage last night. Making her entrance in a lovely red dress and a glorious head of red hair, I couldn’t help but think of Rita Hayworth.

At one point, Andrea shares with the sold-out house (and the livestream viewers) that she will be 63 in a matter of days, is a mother and twice a grandmother. It does take your breath away.

Having a “residency” at the theatre, along with other notable stars, was the brainchild of owners Tom D’Angora and Michael D’Angora and they participate throughout the evening, turning the engagement into family and showbiz fun. McArdle, her Musical Director, Steve Marzullo, and “the fellas” are all on hand to create a joyous atmosphere in which to play.

As for Andrea McArdle, I must say that the voice is in pristine condition. It is also one of those “iconic” voices that scream Broadway and bring back a flood of memories. Eda and I had seen her before, but never like this and never so game to entertain and interact with the audience. She doesn’t just read the room, she owns it.

Andrea sets a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, friendly feelings and shares plenty of her storied life, good and not so good, but always with lessons learned.

Apparently, every month, it’s different and, last night, Michael D’ worked the room with two buckets: STORIES & SONGS. An audience member could choose between the two and we’re off to the races.

Last night, along with many notables in the house, were Producer Michael Alden (lead producer of the upcoming 50^th Anniversary Production of ANNIE), her brother Michael McArdle, Felicia Finley,  Sasha Charnin Morrison (daughter of Martin Charnin) with her husband, William, and her longtime friend Director/Producer Richard Jay-Alexander who has worked with her on multiple occasions ,especially on Les Misérables where her daughter also played Young Cosette during the run. As luck would have it, someone pulled out “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Misérables and we could all see how moved Richard got. What I had never seen before, is that he threw his shoe to her at the end of the song, which I didn’t know was “high praise.” The two bantered a bit and it was so beautiful. He got his shoe back only to throw it back again after a medley of The Theme from ICE CASTLES paired with “The Way We Were” both by Marvin Hamlisch.

The evening was full of surprises, including being presented a framed piece of ANNIE history from Sasha Charnin Morrison and her husband. It hung in her Dad’s office forever. Also, a beautiful pairing with a girl named  Joanna Pacitti, who you might remember, was unceremoniously let go from the 20^th Anniversary Production of ANNIE when the search was a contest, conducted by MACY’S. She was only 12 and had played the role in a National Tour, where she did 106 performances. Andrea generously gave her the stage, where she performed a thrilling “Hold On” from THE SECRET GARDEN. The mother in Andrea shone brightly here and everyone was moved, especially when they divided up the song  “Maybe” together. It was the kind of night where you just had to be there. I can only strongly recommend you come to the residencies at the Laurie Beechman Theatre and have dinner before, either upstairs or downstairs. The food is excellent and everyone needs a night out.

ANDREA McARDLE

ANDREA McARDLE & STEPHEN SOROKOFF

ANDREA McARDLE

ANDREA McARDLE

ANDREA McARDLE

ANDREA McARDLE

MICHAEL D’ANGORA

MICHAEL D’ANGORA & MICHAEL McARDLE

MICHAEL ALDEN

ANDREA McARDLE & JOANNA PACITTI

ANDREA McARDLE & JOANNA PACITTI

ANDREA McARDLE & JOANNA PACITTI

TOM D’ANGORA

ANDREA McARDLE & RICHARD JAY-ALEXANDER’S shoe

ANDREA McARDLE & LIBERACE

ANDREA McARDLE & MICHAEL JACKSON

SASHA CHARNIN MORRISON & ANDREA McARDLE

SASHA CHARNIN MORRISON & ANDREA McARDLE

SASHA CHARNIN MORRISON

ANDREA McARDLE

ANDREA McARDLE

ANDREA McARDLE

ANDREA McARDLE

MICHAEL D’ANGORA, ANDREA McARDLE, RICHARD JAY-ALEXANDER, TOM D’ANGORA, JOANNA PACITTI

ANDREA McARDLE & RICHARD JAY-ALEXANDER

ANDREA McARDLE, MICHAEL ALDEN, JOANNA PACITTI

DOUG MIDDLEBROOK, EDA SOROKOFF, TOM D’ANGORA, RICHARD JAY-ALEXANDER

FELICIA FINLEY & RICHARD JAY-ALEXANDER

WEST BANK CAFE, LAURIE BEECHMAN THEATRE

Jack Alcott, Kadia Saraf, Marcos Siega, Clyde Phillips, Michael C. Hall, James Remar, Uma Thurman, Bokeem Woodbine, and Scott Reynolds attend Dexter: Resurrection & 20th Anniversary of Dexter at PaleyFest NY at The Paley Museum in New York City on October 9.

Dexter Cast and EPs_Panel

Michael C. Hall, Uma Thurman and the cast of Dexter: Resurrection bring a little delicious darkness to The Paley Center for Media.

Michael C. Hall

Twenty years, countless victims and more lives than the proverbial cat. Television’s most compelling serial killer is still making audiences root for the man they should probably be running from. On Friday evening, The Paley Center for Media embraced the darker side of television with a sold-out PaleyFest NY celebration marking the 20th anniversary of Dexter and offering a tantalizing look at the second season of Dexter: Resurrection.

Uma Thurman

The evening, presented with support from Citi, brought a decidedly glamorous collection of television’s morally compromised to the red carpet. Michael C. Hall, the man who made Dexter Morgan an unlikely cultural icon, was joined by Uma Thurman, James Remar, Jack Alcott, Bokeem Woodbine and Kadia Saraf, along with showrunner Clyde Phillips and executive producers Scott Reynolds and Marcos Siega.

EPs_Marcos Siega_Michael C. Hall_Clyde Phillips_Scott Reynolds

Inside the Bennack Theater, fans were treated to an advance screening of the Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 premiere, followed by a conversation moderated by Deadline Associate TV Editor Rosy Cordero. The celebration was also part of a milestone year for PaleyFest NY, which introduced the inaugural PaleyFest Award, recognizing excellence in media and entertainment among its participating programs.

Bokeem Woodbine

For Hall, the enduring fascination with Dexter remains something of a surprise. “Twenty years later it’s mind blowing,” he admitted. “I had no anticipation it would be as broadly appealing.”

Jack Alcott

Yet the appeal is hardly mysterious. Dexter accomplished something few television series dare attempt: it invited audiences into the mind of a murderer and made them care about his survival. Beneath the blood, the carefully controlled rituals and the infamous code lies a character perpetually wrestling with identity, inheritance and the uncomfortable distance between what people are and what they pretend to be.

James Remar

Remar, who plays Dexter’s father Harry Morgan, offered a succinct explanation for the show’s longevity. “It’s complex but it’s believable,” he observed. “There’s a reason why we’re sitting here so fully engaged with these characters.”

Kadia Saraf

That complexity is no accident. Phillips acknowledged that the writers deliberately create seemingly impossible situations, explaining, “We paint ourselves into a corner on purpose.” The objective, naturally, is to keep viewers perpetually off balance. Woodbine credited the writing itself, noting that “what appeals to people is the level of intelligence of the script.”

While murder may provide the spectacle, family remains the franchise’s most intriguing psychological battlefield. Reynolds suggested that each season explores something fundamentally relatable, and Phillips revealed that the new chapter places particular emphasis on the father-son relationship between Dexter and Harrison.

Alcott, who portrays Harrison, sees a young man grappling with an inheritance considerably more disturbing than an awkward family resemblance. Harrison has “got a propensity for violence,” he explained. “He’s nowhere near his father, but there’s something there.”

It is a fascinating premise. Can a father’s darkness become a son’s destiny, or is recognizing that darkness the first opportunity to escape it? For a franchise built around a killer’s elaborate moral code, the question of what passes from one generation to the next feels especially appropriate.

The new season also promises complications for the characters surrounding Dexter. Woodbine hinted at unexplored dimensions of Captain Mixon, acknowledging a darkness within the character that he has yet to fully understand. Saraf, who portrays Detective Claudette Wallace, promised considerably heightened stakes and a season that would be both compelling and unexpectedly affecting.

Thurman, meanwhile, brings her formidable screen presence to Charley Brown, a woman whose conscience may prove as troublesome as her decisions. “Charley is burned by having a conscience and she’s made compromises that she thought she could square away,” she explained, describing the character as “exciting” and “morally ambiguous.”

Morally ambiguous, of course, might as well be the official dress code of the Dexter universe.

Hall offered an equally intriguing glimpse into his character’s evolution. When audiences first encounter Dexter in Resurrection, he explained, the character has recommitted himself to the code that has governed his actions for so long. Unfortunately, “that doesn’t prove to be enough.”

For a man who has spent two decades attempting to impose rules upon his darkest impulses, that admission suggests the most dangerous confrontation may not be with another killer, but with the limitations of his own carefully constructed morality.

There is also a new leading character in the franchise: New York City itself. Siega explained that the creative team wanted to embrace the city’s visual character, declaring there was no “better place to shoot.” With its shadowy streets, restless energy and endless possibilities for disappearing into a crowd, New York provides a particularly seductive playground for a character who has always depended upon remaining unnoticed.

What makes Dexter such an enduring television phenomenon is not simply its willingness to explore violence, but its understanding of the contradictions that make human beings fascinating. Its characters are capable of affection and brutality, loyalty and betrayal, conscience and calculated cruelty. The audience is continually asked to reconsider whom it trusts, whom it condemns and why.

Twenty years after Dexter Morgan first appeared on television, those questions remain disturbingly entertaining. The blood may be fictional, but the moral dilemmas have never been entirely comfortable.

Cordero concluded the evening by congratulating the team on its latest incarnation, apologizing in advance for the inevitable pun: “I’m sorry for the pun but, you’ve killed it.”

For once, nobody needed to investigate the confession.

And judging by the enthusiasm inside the Bennack Theater, Dexter Morgan’s next resurrection may be his most deliciously complicated yet.

Times Square Durga Utsav Association brought Sharadiya Durga Puja to the heart of New York with devotion, music, dance, community supporters, and royal celebrity speakers welcomed by a cheering crowd.

Anupam Dutta, Chair – Guest Relationship and Hospitality Times Square Durga Utsav Association welcomed the Royals in Person, they are close friends since years.

The grandeur of Durga Utsav in Times Square carried a special meaning as the Times Square Durga Utsav Association presented the second annual Sharadiya Durga Puja, a cultural and devotional gathering shaped by faith, artistry, and a proud South Asian spirit in one of the world’s most recognized public spaces.

At the center of the celebration was the presence of Goddess Durga, honored through ritual, music, poetry, dance, and community participation. The event reflected the enduring strength of Bengali tradition while embracing the wider international character of New York, where heritage is often celebrated in full public view and shared across generations.

The program unfolded on Saturday, October 10, with the image of the Goddess setting the tone for a day devoted to reverence and cultural expression. The visual identity of the event presented Durga with warmth and dignity, while the schedule revealed a carefully arranged sequence of devotional moments, artistic performances, addresses, and public acknowledgments.

Times Square Durga Utsav Association proudly placed the festival within the rhythm of the city, presenting a gathering that felt ceremonial, inclusive, and confidently rooted in tradition. The occasion was organized as a community celebration, yet its setting gave it a larger civic presence, turning the rituals of Sharadiya Durga Puja into a public cultural statement.

The day began with Chandi recitation by Satyam Ray Chowdhury, followed by Gaane Stotre Mahalaya directed by Riddhi Bandyopadhyay. The Mahalaya songs, presented by the chorus under the direction of Mohitosh Talukdar Tapas, offered a devotional bridge between sacred observance and collective performance.

A Day of Ritual and Cultural Continuity

The early program continued with poetry recitation before the Puja rituals began at 12:30. The invocation of the Goddess, known as Devi Bodhan, was followed by consecration rituals, Adhibas, Shashthi Puja, and Maha Saptami, with Puja Priest Prabhas Chakraborty guiding the sacred observances.

These rituals formed the devotional heart of the celebration. In a public setting known for lights, movement, commerce, and global tourism, the Puja created a focused space for prayer and tradition. The presence of ritual in Times Square gave the event a distinct character, preserving the integrity of worship while welcoming the city into the experience.

The afternoon continued with floral offerings, Pushpanjali, followed by the distribution of prasad. Bhagavad Gita recitation was directed by Sutipa Chowdhury, adding another layer of spiritual reflection to the program. Each segment helped build the festival’s rhythm, with devotion and performance moving naturally through the day.

The cultural program began with an inaugural musical performance by Sangeet Sadhana, directed by Malabika Chatterjee. This opening performance reflected the role of music as one of the most powerful carriers of memory and identity in Durga Puja celebrations, especially among diaspora communities.

Naba Ananda Jago followed, with Bhasha Saha, Durga Chowdhury, Purna Dey, Alice Howlader, Raj Pantha Das, and Monika Biswas acknowledged in the program. Their presence in the listed cultural schedule helped emphasize the community foundation of the event, where many individual contributions combined to create the day’s full cultural expression.

Dance and music performances by Shubhra Goswami and Shweta Goswami brought additional energy to the afternoon. Their performance continued the event’s commitment to presenting diverse cultural forms as part of the Durga Puja experience.

Anjali was presented by Adda, with dance direction by Srijita Hiya and Amanjit Kar and coordination by Alpana Guha and Sumitra Sen. This section demonstrated the collaborative nature of the festival, where choreography, coordination, and community support came together in a polished public presentation.

Sivanshi Chatterjee Mohanty then appeared in a dance performance, continuing the sequence of artistic offerings that gave the day its lively cultural momentum. The program maintained a steady balance between devotional seriousness and festive celebration, a balance central to the spirit of Durga Puja.

Royal Celebrity Speakers Receive Cheers in Times Square

One of the most visible public moments of the gathering came during the international segment, where a broad circle of supporters was acknowledged. The program recognized Zohra Mamdani, Mayor of New York, along with the Consul General of India, the Consul General of Bangladesh, the Consul General of Nepal, and the Consul General of Thailand as supporters of the celebration.

Ashok Rakshit, Chairman of CAAB, Milan Aon, Convener of NABC 2026, and Jai Prakash Biswas, Former President and Trustee of Ananda Mandi, were also listed as supporters. Their acknowledgement reflected the civic, cultural, and community network surrounding the Times Square Durga Utsav Association and its expanding annual celebration.

The segment also honored Chair Mridul Pathak and Host Dr. Kallol Basu, whose roles helped shape the public-facing character of the program. In a festival of this scale, such leadership and presentation are essential to keeping the day cohesive, welcoming, and dignified.

A special highlight came with the presence of H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe and his mother, Dr. Antonia Prinzessin zu Schaumburg-Lippe, who were celebrated as royal celebrity speakers and received cheers from a full Times Square. Their appearance added a distinctive international dimension to the gathering, connecting the Durga Puja celebration with a wider world of public culture, philanthropy, diplomacy, and ceremonial recognition.

H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe was introduced as His Highness and Excellency Global Peace Ambassador Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe, a working royal, award-winning television and event host, Bertelsmann Random House author, public speaker, and philanthropist. His public profile includes media, literary, charitable, and cultural engagements, making his presence especially resonant within a festival dedicated to community, continuity, and shared celebration.

Prince Mario-Max is the son of royal dignitaries H.H. Dr.h.c. Prince Waldemar and H.H. Dr. Princess Antonia of Schaumburg-Lippe. His grandmother is H.R.H. Princess Feodora of Denmark. The family is connected with the Royal Danish Nachod Line of the Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe, described in the event materials as the founding family of Hamburg, Lübeck, and Kiel.

Dr. Antonia Prinzessin zu Schaumburg-Lippe appeared alongside him with elegance and warmth, contributing to the celebratory tone of the international gathering. Together, their recognition as royal celebrity speakers offered the audience a ceremonial point of connection between heritage, public service, and cultural diplomacy.

The response from Times Square reflected the enthusiasm of the day. The cheers that greeted H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe and Dr. Antonia Prinzessin zu Schaumburg-Lippe underscored how the Durga Utsav had become more than a local observance. It had grown into a public occasion where faith, culture, and international goodwill could meet in a highly visible civic setting.

Later in the afternoon, Nevi Das performed a solo dance, followed by a solo musical performance by Shah Mahbub. President Sasadhar Howlader delivered an address, further grounding the day in organizational leadership and community gratitude.

The evening program included Dash Maha Vidya, a dance production featuring more than 60 performers, presented by Nrityanjali with choreography and direction by Chandra Banerjee. With its scale and devotional theme, this production stood as one of the most ambitious artistic moments of the celebration.

The festival also featured a concert by Mekhla Das Gupta and her group, bringing a contemporary musical presence to the close of the cultural schedule. Her performance added a bright evening dimension to the program and reflected the continued importance of live music in Durga Puja celebrations across the diaspora.

The program concluded with a vote of thanks by Nirupama Saha, acknowledging the many people and groups who contributed to the day. Partners Asha for Education and other supporting organizations were also included in the festival’s public materials, reinforcing the event’s community-oriented foundation.

What made the second annual Sharadiya Durga Puja in Times Square especially meaningful was its combination of devotional authenticity and public visibility. The event honored the sacred structure of Puja while welcoming a wide audience into the cultural life surrounding it.

For Bengali and South Asian communities in New York, Durga Puja is both a spiritual observance and a homecoming of memory. It carries the sounds of recitation, the beauty of song, the precision of ritual, and the shared experience of gathering with family, friends, artists, teachers, elders, and children.

In Times Square, those traditions took on an added civic presence. The location transformed the Puja into an open cultural expression, one that belonged to the community while being visible to the city and its visitors.

The Times Square Durga Utsav Association presented the celebration with confidence, creating a program that moved across ritual, performance, international acknowledgement, and public fellowship. The event showed how heritage can be preserved without being confined, and how sacred tradition can be shared with dignity in a global public square.

The inclusion of supporters, cultural leaders, artists, royal celebrity speakers, and community organizers gave the day a layered identity. It was devotional, artistic, international, and deeply communal, with each part contributing to the festival’s full expression.

The presence of H.H. Dr. Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe and Dr. Antonia Prinzessin zu Schaumburg-Lippe gave the gathering a memorable ceremonial highlight, while the many performances and rituals kept the focus firmly on Durga Puja and the community that brought it to life.

As the second annual celebration, the event suggested a tradition still growing in stature. With each year, Times Square Durga Utsav Association has the opportunity to deepen its role as a cultural platform, a devotional gathering, and a public celebration of South Asian heritage in New York.

The festival’s strength came from its many contributors, from priests and performers to coordinators, directors, supporters, speakers, partners, and audience members. Together, they created an occasion that honored Goddess Durga and celebrated the living culture around her worship.

In a city defined by movement and diversity, the second annual Sharadiya Durga Puja stood as a dignified expression of faith and cultural pride. It brought devotion into public view, welcomed international recognition, and affirmed the power of community to create beauty, meaning, and celebration in the heart of Times Square.

The St. James Theatre will welcome Dolly’s life story this December, with opening night set for what would have been the legend’s 81st birthday.

Broadway has always loved a star, but few stars have possessed the combination of talent, wit, generosity, determination and sheer individuality that made Dolly Parton a cultural institution. Now, as Broadway prepares to bring her extraordinary life to the stage, the occasion carries a poignancy nobody originally anticipated. As was Dolly’s wish, DOLLY: A True Original Musical will begin previews December 7 at the St. James Theatre, with its official opening scheduled for January 19, 2027, what would have been her 81st birthday.

The show must go on, and in this case, those words carry considerably more meaning than the familiar theatrical expression. Dolly was not merely the subject of this musical. She helped create it, wrote new songs specifically for the production and collaborated with Emmy Award-winning writer Maria S. Schlatter on the book. This is her story told through her own music, her own humor and her own understanding of the remarkable journey that took a little girl from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee to international superstardom.

Crystal Kellogg

The producers have now announced the complete Broadway company, with Crystal Kellogg joining the principal cast as Judy Ogle, Dolly’s best friend since the third grade. It is an especially meaningful role in a musical about a woman whose fame never completely severed her connection to the people and places that shaped her.

Katie Rose Clarke

Kellogg, whose credits include Finding Neverland, School of Rock and the national tour of & Juliet, joins Katie Rose Clarke and Carrie St. Louis, who will portray Dolly at different stages of her life, with Norah Nunes appearing as Little Dolly. John Behlmann takes on the role of Carl Dean, Dolly’s famously private husband, while Gabriel Ebert portrays Porter Wagoner, the country music star whose professional partnership with Parton became one of the defining chapters of her early career.

Carrie St. Louis

There is rich theatrical material in those relationships. Dolly’s marriage to Dean endured for decades despite her very public career and his determination to remain outside the spotlight. Her association with Wagoner helped introduce her to a national audience, but their eventual professional separation also became part of her extraordinary journey toward artistic independence. It was that separation that inspired one of her most enduring compositions, “I Will Always Love You,” a song whose emotional generosity has often obscured the remarkable strength behind its creation.

Norah Nunes

Under the direction of Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, the musical promises to explore the woman behind the rhinestones rather than simply assemble a parade of greatest hits. The score includes “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You,” alongside new material written by Parton for the stage. With a catalog containing more than 3,000 songs, the challenge is hardly finding enough music. It is choosing which songs best illuminate the life that produced them.

John Behlmann

And what a life it was. Born into poverty in rural Tennessee, Parton built a career that crossed musical genres, generations and cultural boundaries. She became a country music legend, a successful actress, a businesswoman, a philanthropist and one of the rare celebrities whose appeal extended far beyond the audience that first made her famous. Beneath the wigs, the elaborate costumes and the perfectly delivered jokes was a songwriter with an extraordinary gift for expressing complicated emotions in language anyone could understand.

Gabriel Ebert

That gift is precisely what makes her story so promising for musical theatre. Dolly understood character, conflict, longing and the power of a memorable refrain. Her songs frequently tell complete stories in a matter of minutes. The challenge for this production will be to weave those individual stories into a theatrical portrait that reveals something more than audiences already know.

The company surrounding the principal cast is substantial, with Piper Allen, Bill Army, Josh Canfield, Lincoln Cohen, Ryan Demoville, Haley Fish, Sarah Hunt, Erin Kei, Evan Kinnane, Ryland J. Mar, Jenny Mollet, James Moye, Julian Ramos, Larkin Reilly, Maddie Robert, Alex Ross and Quinn VanAntwerp completing the ensemble. Sarah Bockel, Sadie Daniels, Tiffany Engen, Michael Milkanin and Rixey Terry will serve as swings. The company brings together established Broadway performers, returning members of the Nashville production and artists making their Broadway debuts.

Behind the scenes, Sher has assembled a formidable creative team. Mandy Moore provides choreography, Derek McLane designs the scenery, Jennifer Moeller creates the costumes, Donald Holder handles lighting and Peter Hylenski designs the sound. Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom are responsible for video design, with Robert Pickens overseeing hair and Studio Pickens creating makeup. Stephen Oremus serves as music supervisor, Charity Wicks as music director and John Clancy as orchestrator. Longtime Parton collaborators Richard Dennison, Gregg Perry and Kent Wells bring an invaluable connection to the musical world she created.

The production arrives on Broadway following its world premiere in Nashville at Belmont University’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. The sold-out engagement became the most successful production in the venue’s history, establishing an enthusiastic foundation for the show’s New York debut. Broadway, of course, is another matter entirely. It will be interesting to see how a musical conceived with its subject’s personal involvement evolves into a lasting theatrical tribute.

In true Dolly fashion, the producers are also finding a way to make the celebration accessible to fans. On Monday, November 9, when the St. James Theatre box office opens at 10 a.m., the first 100 people in line will have the opportunity to purchase two tickets for just $9.25 each for select performances between January and May 2027. The offer is available exclusively in person, and the price is a playful nod to Dolly’s beloved 9 to 5. Fans who turn out that morning will also receive a complimentary cup of her new Cup of Ambition coffee.

It’s difficult to imagine a more fitting promotion. Dolly built an empire without ever losing her appreciation for the ordinary people who helped make it possible. A Broadway ticket priced at $9.25, accompanied by a cup of coffee, feels like the kind of gesture she would have enjoyed immensely.

But the emotional center of this production remains its opening date. January 19 was meant to be a birthday celebration. It will now be something more complicated and, in many ways, more moving: an opportunity for the Broadway community to celebrate an artist whose creative imagination continued expanding long after she had conquered virtually every other corner of the entertainment industry.

There will undoubtedly be tears mixed with the laughter, and an unmistakable sense of absence amid the rhinestones and music. Yet there is also something wonderfully appropriate about honoring Dolly Parton not with silence, but with a Broadway musical filled with the songs she gave the world.

Dolly spent her life refusing to be limited by other people’s expectations. She turned what others dismissed as excess into an unmistakable signature, transformed personal experiences into universal songs and built a career on the conviction that being a true original was worth far more than fitting comfortably into someone else’s idea of success.

Now Broadway gets to tell that story.

While Dolly herself will not be standing in the wings on opening night, her fingerprints will be everywhere: in the music, in the characters, in the humor, in the heart and, undoubtedly, in every rhinestone that catches the light.

The curtain will rise on January 19. The birthday girl will be missing, but the celebration she dreamed of will go on.

DOLLY: A True Original Musical begins previews December 7, 2026, and officially opens January 19, 2027, at the St. James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street. Tickets are available at dollymusical.com, with the initial booking period running through November 21, 2027.

G.H. Harding

THE TRIAL OF ALEC BALDWIN — The wattage on Alec Baldwin has definitely simmered down. I saw him a few weeks back in the Hamptons, but other than that, he’s been under the radar. The film Rust, which interrupted everything is out; was minimally shown in May in about 115 theaters and was released on various on-demands. But the powers that be have kept it basically under wraps. Ironically, the few reviews I read noted how good it looked, rather than dwell on the tragic incidents that occurred.

Now, from documentarian-Rory Kennedy comes the film The Trial of Alec Baldwin. Both stories which I’ve posted below say the very first thing you see is a statement saying that Baldwin had no input into the making of the film. I haven’t seen it, but I think everything I need to know has always been disclosed.

Baldwin made himself a target and whatever did really happen; he was in the bulls-eye for certain. I’m sure I’ve relayed this story before, but I had an unfortunate incident with him, but several months later had a conversation with him, at his El Dorado Films, and he couldn’t have been more receptive. Acting? Who knows, but I was suitably charmed.

Don’t forgot, Baldwin is one hell of an actor. Check out his astonishing scene in Glengarry GlenRoss:

What happened was awful, but awful things happen every day, and the truth remains perhaps we’ll never know the truth.

ttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-trial-of-alec-baldwin-review-rory-kennedy-documentary-1236723653/

TCM LIVES — Turns out that so far there’s one golden-nugget from the Skydance takeover and that’s is the fact that the TCM channel will remain. Spielberg and Scorsese jumped onboard the channel a few years back and they’ll stay very much involved along with Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t watch everything on TCM, but more often than not they’ll have a gem on.

Clearly Ellison didn’t want tor rattle-the-cages too soon. I’m sure that will come, but just not now. Take a read from Deadline on the story: https://deadline.com/2026/10/turner-classic-movies-skydance-film-group-1237150281/

actor Michael Douglas promo image from his Netflix show The Komisky Method

SHORT TAKES — The Michael Douglas book PR-engine moves ever forward. I just checked Facebook and there were 3 postings from Douglas and his pub-company Grand Central Publishing. As I said last column, I think you can save $46.00 buying the book and just read and listen to everything that’s out. He did Diane Sawyer for ABC; The View; Morning Joe; Jimmy Kimmel; the 92 Street Y; CBS Sunday Morning; LA Times; andDeadline (where ghost-writer Mike Fleming, Jr. in an editor) … what else is left? Actually, as I was leaving my apartment I turned on the Today Show to see Catherine Zeta-Jones plugging her latest TV-movie (Killing Jackie)and she plainly said, she had no plans to read the book. Smart gal …

David Zaslav

David Zaslav, aka Zaz The Butcher, will receives about $600 million, for the Warner Bros sale.

Mandy Patinkin

Amazing …  (Via Deadline) Mandy Patinkin really digs Digger. In an effusive video message, posted soon after watching Digger in a theater, the Homeland star implored his followers to ignore the haters and watch Tom Cruise’s ecological disaster movie. Patinkin described Alejandro G. Iñárritu-directed Digger as an “instant classic” and said it was “one of the greatest pieces of film I have ever seen in my entire life.” “This is an incredible piece of work. It puts the heart and soul back into the cinema. Everything we all love about cinema, this is it. Please, please, please, run! Don’t walk, run, and see this film,” he continued. You just know, the tide will turn .. Just in: Pershing Square bar at Grand Central in NYC will close after 3 decades in business. Sad as it was a great spot to wait for Metro North! … Who hasn’t spent time in a good, old-fashioned diner? 200 have closed in the metropolitan area so far. Check out this article on them from the New York Post: https://nypost.com/2026/10/08/lifestyle/nycs-evolving-love-affair-with-diners-enters-a-new-era/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nypost_trending&fbclid=IwY2xjawU15FlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mBWJyaWQRMURwUUx2UHRmME9oT05xeTBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeDhyVr1Rp_BbBfebFdI2ovl87xm3BGk7uwgnerZv-kSYKIYz3gK6c5kDqN90_aem_az9ap3hQOvpiIueQ9aC-Vg

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