TORONTO -- Cameron Bailey has been appointed CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival.
In announcing the news, TIFF's board of directors cited their confidence in Bailey's ability to steer the non-profit organization through an ever-changing industry.
Bailey ascends to the top job after serving as co-head with Joana Vicente, who left her post to become CEO of the Sundance Institute on Oct. 31.
Bailey previously served as TIFF's artistic director under former CEO Piers Handling, and was co-director before that.
He began his career at TIFF in 1990 as a seasonal film programmer, and previously worked in the media as a film critic.
The news comes as TIFF also announces that Jeffrey Remedios, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Canada, has been named TIFF's new chair of the board. He replaces Jennifer Tory who has held the role since 2016.
Remedios touted Bailey's leadership in a release issued Tuesday, saying: "There is no one better suited to drive TIFF forward."
Bailey called it "both a joy and an enormous responsibility" to lead the cultural organization.
"I'm indebted to TIFF's founders and to each of TIFF's previous leaders for building an organization dedicated to making positive change in the world for filmgoers, filmmakers, and all the professionals who make movies matter," he said in a release.
In addition to running the September film festival, TIFF's endeavours include various events at TIFF Bell Lightbox, a downtown film hub with five cinemas, learning and entertainment facilities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2021.
The 58-year-old American author, known for her memoir Lucky and novels like The Lovely Bones, apologized on Tuesday (November 30) to Anthony Broadwater, who was exonerated last week in the 1981 rape that served as the basis for her memoir.
Click inside to read more…
She said she was struggling with the role she played “within a system that sent an innocent man to jail,” via AP.
The now 61-year-old man was convicted in 1982 of raping her when she was a student at Syracuse University. He served 16 years in prison. After his release in 1998, he remained on New York’s sex offender registry and worked as a trash hauler and handyman.
His conviction was overturned on November 22 after prosecutors reexamined the case and determined there were serious flaws in both his arrest and trial.
In a statement, she said that as a “traumatized 18-year-old rape victim” she chose to put her faith in the American legal system.
“My goal in 1982 was justice – not to perpetuate injustice. And certainly not to forever, and irreparably, alter a young man’s life by the very crime that had altered mine,” she said.
Alice Sebold wrote in 1999′s Lucky of being raped and then spotting a Black man in the street several months later who she believed was her attacker. She went to police, and an officer said the man must have been Anthony Broadwater, who had been allegedly seen in the area.
She failed to identify him in a police lineup, picking a different man as her attacker because she was scared of “the expression in his eyes.”
Still, he was put on trial and convicted, largely due to the author identifying him as her rapist on the witness stand and testimony that microscopic hair analysis linked him to the crime, which has since been deemed “junk science by the U.S. Department of Justice.”
He told the AP last week he was crying “tears of joy and relief” after his conviction was overturned by a judge in Syracuse.
“I am grateful that Mr. Broadwater has finally been vindicated, but the fact remains that 40 years ago, he became another young Black man brutalized by our flawed legal system. I will forever be sorry for what was done to him,” Alice went on to say.
“It has taken me these past eight days to comprehend how this could have happened. I will continue to struggle with the role that I unwittingly played within a system that sent an innocent man to jail. I will also grapple with the fact that my rapist will, in all likelihood, never be known, may have gone on to rape other women, and certainly will never serve the time in prison that Mr. Broadwater did.”
Melissa Swartz, an attorney for the man, said he had no comment on the statement.
Aaron Carter thinks his family is actively working to place him under a conservatorship ... and he claims they've been going behind his back and talking to his now-ex to do so.
Aaron tells TMZ ... he was FaceTiming with his friend Monday and was told his fiancee Melanie Martin regularly communicates with his twin sister, Angel Conrad, a revelation that felt like betrayal.
Remember, Aaron is estranged from his family -- in 2019 Angel got a restraining order against him after claiming he threatened to send hitmen to her door -- and he tells us Melanie knew he did not want her talking to his fam.
Aaron and Melanie have an on-again-off-again relationship, and every time they broke up he claims his family would reach out to her and see if she was OK ... but he thinks they weren't being nice, there were ulterior motives.
The way Aaron sees it ... his family is trying to gain an ally in Melanie as part of a plan to get a conservatorship over him, using her to gather information for the case.
However, Melanie tells TMZ .. she doesn’t believe his family is trying to get a conservatorship and they never grilled her on info.
Aaron says he confronted Melanie after Monday's FaceTime and claims she denied talking to his family initially, but then admitted it was true and copped to communicating with them.
Sources close to Aaron's brother, Nick Carter, tell TMZ … Nick and his wife, Lauren, have no part in wanting to put Aaron under a conservatorship, and they haven't talked to Melanie because they have no relationship with Aaron or Melanie.
We're told people close to Nick see this as another way of Aaron trying to bring Nick and his family down.
Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.
Aaron says Melanie wouldn't tell him what she's been talking to his family about ... and that's why he decided to end their relationship. With a newborn baby, Aaron says the timing of the split is unfortunate ... but he says it's his life and he feels like he's being taken advantage of.
Warning: This story may be triggering for those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
Authorities searched the home of rock musician Marilyn Manson on Monday after allegations of physical and sexual abuse by several women.
Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Eva Jimenez said a search warrant was served on the home of Manson, whose legal name is Brian Hugh Warner. She gave no further details.
The Sheriff's Department said in February that its detectives had begun investigating Manson over reports of domestic violence between 2009 and 2011 in West Hollywood, where he lived at the time.
The women involved were not identified, but several women have publicly alleged this year that they were physically, sexually and emotionally abused by Manson around the time of the incidents under investigation, and some have filed lawsuits.
Manson's attorney Howard E. King declined immediate comment. Manson has denied the allegations, and King has called them "provably false."
Westworld actor Evan Rachel Wood, Manson's former fiancée, named the 52-year-old shock rocker as her abuser for the first time in an Instagram post in February.
In May, Game of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco sued Marilyn Manson in federal court, alleging sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Bianco says that Manson violated human trafficking laws by bringing her to California from England for non-existent roles in music videos and movies.
The lawsuit alleges that Manson deprived Bianco of food and sleep, locked her in a bedroom, whipped her, gave her electric shocks and threatened to enter her room and rape her during the night.
Bianco's attorney also said she was interviewed by law enforcement.
LISTEN | Unpacking Marilyn Manson's alleged history of abuse on CBC Radio's q:
Q13:56Unpacking Marilyn Manson's alleged history of abuse
On this week's Q This music panel, CBC reporter Lisa Christiansen and Canadian music journalist Laina Dawes discuss Rolling Stone's recent investigation into the sexual assault and abuse claims against shock rocker Marilyn Manson. 13:56
Manson's former assistant has also accused him of sexual assault, battery and harassment in her own lawsuit, saying he used "his position of power, celebrity and connections to exploit and victimize during her employment."
Manson emerged as a musical star in the mid-1990s, known as much for courting public controversy as he was for hit songs like The Beautiful People and hit albums like Antichrist Superstar in 1996 and Mechanical Animals in 1998.
If you are the victim of sexual violence, reach out to your provincial hotline.
For you there are no limits. Your birthday chart is so good this year that no matter how many bad things may be going on in the world at large, your personal world will be full of love and light. Help other people find love and light too.
ARIES (March 21 - April 20):
Check all facts and figures carefully today as the planets warn there is a possibility that someone may try to mislead you. Fortunately, with both the sun and Mercury on your side at the moment it’s highly unlikely you will fall foul of their lies.
TAURUS (April 21 - May 21):
If a friend or loved one asks for your opinion about something today it might be wiser to tell them what you think they want to hear, even though it’s a long way from the truth. Chances are no harm will come of it, and they’ll be happy.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21):
If routine matters seem to be taking up too much of your time then you must get tough with people and tell them you’re no longer prepared to get involved with the small stuff. Focus your mind on matters that mean something in the greater scheme of things.
CANCER (June 22 - July 23):
If you know what you want from life there is little doubt you will get it, especially if you are the sort of Cancer who refuses to be beaten. Keep your mind clear of unnecessary thoughts over the next 24 hours – focus only on issues that truly matter.
LEO (July 24 - Aug. 23):
Although Leo is a sign noted for its leadership abilities you don’t have to always lead from the front. Try letting others set the pace for a while. You can tack in their slipstream and let them pull you along. Why exhaust yourself when you don’t have to?
VIRGO (Aug. 24 - Sept. 23):
Your strong opinions about someone you work or do business with can no longer be hidden, so you might as well speak up and let everyone know what they are. You may be surprised how many people agree with you but a confrontation is still necessary.
LIBRA (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23):
Just because you understand why something happened does not mean you can forgive what happened. According to the planets it’s time to get tough with someone who has taken far too many liberties. This time you must lay down the law and mean it.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22):
You have never been the sort to change your opinions at a moment’s notice and it’s highly unlikely you’ll become one over the next 24 hours. No matter how much others urge you to adopt a more “modern” viewpoint you’ll stick with what you know and trust.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 - Dec. 21):
As the sun joins forces with Mercury in your sign you can and you must put a name to your dreams. Don’t be vague about what it is you desire – spell it out so friends and loved ones know too. They may be able to get it for you.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22 - Jan. 20):
Try not to fall into the trap of believing that all those ideas whizzing around inside your head are related to reality. They’re not. At this time of year more than most your imagination can lead you in all sorts of interesting – and wrong! – directions.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19):
There are times when you have to be direct in what you say, even at the risk of upsetting people, and this is one of them. Call it as you see it and don’t worry that you might alienate your friends. On the contrary, they will welcome your honesty.
PISCES (Feb. 20 - Mar. 20):
What you need to bear in mind at all times today is that actions always have consequences. On the work front especially it is of the utmost importance that you weigh both your words and actions carefully – so they don’t come back and hurt you some day!
Prosecutors have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling that overturned comedian Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction, arguing in a petition Monday that a decision not to prosecute announced in a media release does not give a defendant lifetime immunity.
Prosecutors said the ruling could set a dangerous precedent if convictions are overturned over dubious closed-door deals.
Cosby, 84, became the first celebrity convicted of sexual assault in the MeToo era when the jury at his 2018 retrial found him guilty of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand, a Canadian women's basketball administrator, in January 2004. He spent nearly three years in prison before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court set him free in June.
Petition calls decision a 'grievous wrong'
"This decision as it stands will have far-reaching negative consequences beyond Montgomery County and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Supreme Court can right what we believe is a grievous wrong," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele wrote in the petition, which seeks a Supreme Court review under the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Cosby's lawyers have long argued that he relied on a promise that he would never be charged when he gave damaging testimony in an accuser's civil suit in 2006.
The admissions were later used against him in two criminal trials.
The only written evidence of such a promise is a 2005 media release from then-prosecutor, Bruce Castor, who said he did not have enough evidence to arrest Cosby.
The release included an ambiguous "caution" that Castor "will reconsider this decision should the need arise." The parties have since spent years debating what that meant.
Castor's successors, who gathered new evidence and arrested Cosby in 2015, say it falls far short of a lifetime immunity agreement. They also doubt that Castor ever made such a deal. Instead, they say Cosby had strategic reasons to give the deposition rather than invoke his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, even if it backfired when "he slipped up" in his rambling testimony.
However, defence lawyers say the case should never have gone to trial because of what they call a "non-prosecution agreement."
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., has been asked to review the ruling from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that saw Cosby released from prison early in June. (Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press)
Review bid considered a long shot
Steele's bid to revive the case is a long shot. The U.S. Supreme Court accepts fewer than one per cent of the petitions it receives. Legal scholars and victim advocates will be watching closely, though, to see if the court takes an interest in a high-profile MeToo case.
Two justices on the court, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, were accused of sexual misconduct during their bitterly fought confirmation hearings.
Appellate judges have voiced sharply different views of the Cosby case. An intermediate state court upheld the conviction. Then the seven justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court wrote three separate opinions on it.
The majority found that Cosby relied on the decision not to prosecute him when he admitted giving a string of young women drugs and alcohol before sexual encounters. The court stopped short of finding that there was such an agreement, but said Cosby thought there was — that reliance, they said, marred his conviction.
But prosecutors call that conclusion flawed. They note that Cosby's lawyers objected strenuously to the deposition questions rather than let him speak freely.
Cosby himself has never testified about any agreement or promise. The only alleged participant to come forward is Castor, a political rival of Steele's who went on to represent former president Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial. Castor said he made the promise to a now-dead defence lawyer for Cosby, and got nothing in return.
He never mentioned it to top assistant Risa Ferman, who led his Cosby investigation.
She later became district attorney, and reopened the case in 2015 after a federal judge unsealed Cosby's deposition.
At a remarkable pretrial hearing in February 2016, Castor spent hours testifying for the defence. He said he typed out the media release himself, after office hours, and intended it to convey different layers of meaning to the lawyers, the media and the public.
The judge found him not credible and sent the case to trial.
Andrea Constand, left, reacts at a news conference with prosecutor Kristen Feden after Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years for sexual assault on Sept. 25, 2018, in Norristown, Pa. He was found guilty of drugging and molesting Constand in January 2004. (Matt Slocum/The Associated Press)
'An affront to fairness'
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in its June 30 ruling, called Cosby's arrest "an affront to fundamental fairness."
Weeks later, the ruling prompted the state attorney general to dismiss charges against a jail guard accused of sexually abusing female inmates, because of an earlier agreement with county prosecutors that let him resign rather than face charges.
Cosby, a groundbreaking Black actor and comedian, created The Cosby Show in the 1980s. A barrage of sexual assault allegations later destroyed his image as "America's Dad" and led to multimillion-dollar court settlements with at least eight women. But Constand's was the only case to lead to criminal charges.
Five of those women testified for the prosecution to support Constand's claims, testimony that Cosby's lawyers also challenged on appeal. However, the state's high court declined to address the thorny issue of how many other accusers can testify in criminal cases before the evidence becomes unfair to the defence.
In a recent memoir, Constand called the verdict less important than the growing support for sexual assault survivors inspired by the MeToo movement.
"The outcome of the trial seemed strangely unimportant. It was as if the world had again shifted in some much more significant way," Constand wrote in the book, The Moment.
CHICAGO -- A popular actor steps out onto the street and is brutally reminded that, despite his fame and wealth, places still exist where the colour of his skin and sexual orientation put him in danger.
That was the story that ricocheted around the world after Jussie Smollett, a Black and openly gay actor, reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a hate crime.
Nearly three years later, Smollett is about to stand trial on charges that he staged the whole thing.
He was charged with felony disorderly conduct after law enforcement and prosecutors said he lied to police about what happened in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2019, in downtown Chicago. He has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday. Disorderly conduct, a class 4 felony, carries a sentence of up to three years in prison but experts have said it is more likely that if Smollett is convicted he would be placed on probation and perhaps ordered to perform community service.
Smollett told police he was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop at 2 a.m. when two men he said recognized him from the TV show "Empire" began hurling racial and homophobic slurs at him. He said the men struck him, looped a makeshift noose around his neck and shouted, "This is MAGA country," a reference to then-President Donald Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again."
Reaction to his reported assault underscored the increasingly polarized political landscape; Democratic politicians and others called it a shocking example of Trump-era bigotry and hate, while Republicans accused liberals of rushing to paint the president's supporters as racists.
Just weeks later came the stunning announcement that Smollett was charged with staging the attack to further his career and secure a higher salary. And, police said, he hired two brothers from Nigeria, to pretend to attack him for US$3,500.
This made the spotlight on Smollett shine even brighter, but this time he was vilified as someone willing to use one of the most potent symbol of racism in the U.S. to further his career.
"The most vile and despicable part of it, if it's true, is the noose," Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr., who is Black, said during Smollett's first court appearance. "That symbol conjures up such evil in this country's history."
Smollett also became a national punch line. He was the subject of a "Saturday Night Live" skit and a host of Black celebrities, from NBA analyst Charles Barkley to comedian Dave Chappelle, took turns poking fun at him.
Then came the anger that Smollett's fame accorded him influence that is out of reach for most. Reports indicated Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, at the request of former first lady Michelle Obama's onetime chief of staff, communicated with a member of Smollett's family early in the investigation. Foxx recused herself from the case then her office suddenly dropped the charges, and Foxx found herself at the center of a media firestorm as she refuted the suggestion that her office gave the television star a break.
All that set the stage for what turned a simple question of Smollett's innocence or guilt into a convoluted legal saga that has dragged on for nearly three years.
Trial was delayed in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought cases around the country to a halt for months. But also, charges were filed, dropped and filed again by a special prosecutor who was brought in to take over the case.
Smollett -- whose career has since faded -- will this week return to the glare of the media spotlight, but this time as he passes the forest of news cameras as he makes his way to and from court.
The producers of "Empire," on which he starred for four years, renewed his contract for the sixth and final season in 2019, but he never appeared in an episode. Nor has he released any music or given significant musical performances.
He has, however, directed an independent film, funded by his own production company, that is premiering at the American Black Film Festival this month. The movie, "B-Boy Blues" is an adaptation of a 1994 novel, the first in a series, about the lives of gay Black men in New York.
But once in court, what will unfold will be what may sound like a bad movie for the simple reason that a short movie is exactly what authorities have long maintained Smollett was trying to create.
Key witnesses will be the brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, who say Smollett wrote them a check to stage the attack. They are expected to characterize Smollett as the star and director of an "attack" in full view of a surveillance camera that he mistakenly believed would record the whole event.
And, according to their lawyer, the brothers will also describe how Smollett drove them to the spot where the incident was to play out for a "dress rehearsal."
"He was telling them `Here's a camera, there's a camera and here's where you are going to run away,"' said their lawyer, Gloria Rodriguez.
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Associated Press reporter Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.
Disney’s Encanto took the top spot over the long holiday weekend while Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci had the best opening weekend for adults in two years.
Encanto grossed $40.3 million over the five-day weekend and proved to be a big hit with families along with the second weekend of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Encanto can also claim the title for the best start of the pandemic era for an animated title. The pandemic is a key factor here because while this is a good opening, Disney has fared better with their animated films over this particular holiday in the past prior to the pandemic. The last original movie to launch over the holiday, Coco, posted a five-day domestic gross of $72.9 million in 2018. Among franchise installments, Frozen II amassed more than $125 million for the five days in 2019. It’s not really fair to hold Encanto to these standards but there was some hope that the well-received animated film could’ve soared a bit higher out the gate. That being said, Encanto could see solid word of mouth as the film registered an “A” CinemaScore with audiences and is 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Overseas, Encanto opened to $29.3 million from more than 47 markets for a global launch of $69.6 million.
Falling to second but experiencing a fantastic hold is Ghostbusters: Afterlife with a five-day gross of $35.3 million. The film fell about 44% from its three-day total but it was probably the most consistent performer of the bigger releases throughout the Thanksgiving holiday frame. Domestically, the film has grossed $87.7 million to date and has a global figure of $115.8 million.
Strutting into third place is House of Gucci with a gross of $21.8 million over five days. The adult audience hasn’t really been heading to the movies due to the pandemic but they did for House of Gucci as the film boasts the best opening for a film targeted to the adult demo in two years. Nearly half of ticket buyers, or 45 percent, were between the ages of 18-34, while 34 percent were 45 and older. The film earned a “B+” CinemaScore which is good for a film that has been split with critics (60% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing) and while the film may take a bit of a tumble next weekend, we have to call this a win for adult audiences because we haven’t seen them come out like this for a film in a while.
In fourth we have Eternals with a gross of $11.4 million over five days. The film fell a slim 29% and it experienced the Thanksgiving bump that it needed to make up for some of the more steep declines it witnessed after its opening weekend. Eternals has grossed $150.6 million to date at the domestic box office and after pulling in $10.2 million from 49 international markets, the film brings its global haul to $368.4 million.
Rounding out the top five is Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City which took in $8.8 million over the five-day weekend. This particular film struggled a bit over the holiday but it fell perfectly in line with expectations from Son Pictures which predicted an opening gross in the $8 million range. The film carries a $25 million budget and it’s unlikely to see that figure domestically because I’m predicting a swift decline for the movie next weekend but it could be saved from its global figure. The film is only open in 15 foreign markets where it grossed $5.1 million over the weekend. We’ll have to wait and see if this will be a one-and-done or the birth of a new franchise.
What are YOUR thoughts on this weekend’s box office? *Note the below chart reflects the five-day grosses for the top ten box office.
Virgil Abloh, fashion’s highest profile Black designer and the creative mind behind Louis Vuitton’s menswear collections, died on Sunday of cancer, Vuitton’s owner LVMH said.
The French luxury goods giant said Abloh, 41, had been battling cancer privately for years.
“Virgil was not only a genius designer, a visionary, he was also a man with a beautiful soul and great wisdom,” LVMH’s billionaire boss Bernard Arnault said in a statement.
LVMH, Louis Vuitton and Off White are devastated to announce the passing of Virgil Abloh, on Sunday, November 28th, of cancer, which he had been battling privately for several years. pic.twitter.com/CytwZLvSFu
Abloh, a U.S. national who also worked as a DJ and visual artist, had been men’s artistic director for Vuitton, the world’s biggest luxury brand, since March 2018.
His arrival at LVMH marked the marriage between streetwear and high-end fashion, mixing sneakers and camouflage pants with tailored suits and evening gowns. His influences included graffiti art, hip hop and skateboard culture.
The style was embraced by the group as it sought to breathe new life into some labels and attract younger customers.
In July this year, LVMH expanded his role, giving him a mandate to launch new brands and partner with existing ones in a variety of sectors beyond fashion.
Serena Williams wears tutu in U.S. Open win after controversy over her previous attire
Serena Williams wears tutu in U.S. Open win after controversy over her previous attire – Aug 30, 2018
LVMH also bought a 60 per cent stake in Abloh’s Off-White label, which it folded into the spirits-to-jewelry conglomerate.
Abloh drew on messages of inclusivity and gender-fluidity to expand the Louis Vuitton label’s popularity, weaving themes of racial identity into his fashion shows with poetry performances and art installations.
With an eye to reaching Asian consumers grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, the designer sent his collections of colorful suits and utilitarian-flavored outerwear off to Shanghai last summer, when many labels canceled fashion shows.
“Virgil Abloh was the essence of modern creativity,” said an Instagram post by Alexandre Arnault, one of Bernard Arnault’s sons and executive vice president for product and communications at U.S. jeweler Tiffany, which LVMH bought this year.
(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by John Irish and Catherine Evans)
The Mean Girls actress shared that she and boyfriend Bader Shammas got engaged on Sunday (November 28).
Click inside to read more…
“My love. My life. My family. My future. @bader.shammas #love 💍” she captioned a series of cute selfies together.
Bader is the assistant vice president of global investments bank Credit Suisse.
The two have been together for about two years, and first sparked romance rumors back in February of 2020 when she posted about having a “boyfriend” on her Instagram account.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Lindsay is making her acting return in a Netflix Christmas romantic comedy – see the first set photo!
Famed American musical composer, lyricist and legend Stephen Sondheim has died at the age of 91 at his home in Connecticut.
Sondheim created such iconic musicals as “Sweeney Todd,” “Company,” “Into the Woods,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Assassins,” “Follies,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “Sunday in the Park With George” along with writing the lyrics for “West Side Story” and “Gypsy”.
He has won nine Tony Awards, eight Grammy Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, a Pulitzer Prize and an Oscar.
His Academy Award win came for Madonna’s “Sooner or Later,” one of the five songs he wrote for 1990’s “Dick Tracy” film adaptation by Warren Beatty. Another from that film, “More,” won a Grammy.
He also contributed to Beatty’s “Reds” in 1981, wrote a song for Herbert Ross’ 1976 adaptation of Nicholas Meyer’s “The Seven Percent Solution,” and wrote the score for the 1974 Alain Resnais film “Stavisky”. He only ever penned one film script – co-writing the murder mystery “The Last of Sheila” with Anthony Perkins.
Cinema had an influence on Sondheim in other ways though. Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 feature “Smiles of a Summer Night” served as the inspiration for Sondheim’s 1973 stage production “A Little Night Music” which included the famed song “Send in the Clowns”.
Tim Burton adapted “Sweeney Todd” to the screen back in 2007, Rob Marshall adapted “Into the Woods” onto film in 2014, Steven Spielberg adapted “West Side Story” which is releasing in a few weeks, and Richard Linklater is currently working on a movie retelling of “Merrily We Roll Along” which is being filmed over a twelve-year timespan.
OTTAWA -- Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds is the recipient of the 2021 National Arts Centre Award.
The award, part of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, recognizes work of an extraordinary nature and significance in the performing arts by an individual artist and/or company in the past performance year. Recipients are selected by the National Arts Centre.
The Vancouver native and Hollywood star tweeted a video of Canadian musician Steven Page singing a song in his honour.
"Last night, Canada honoured me with a Governor General's Award and this video. I'm not crying. It's just maple syrup," Reynolds tweeted.
"Steven Page is a friend and a legend for wasting this amazing song on me," he added, while thanking Governor General Mary May Simon and the National Arts Centre for the honour. "I'm a wreck."
"Ryan Reynolds is one of Canada’s most beloved and widely recognized actors. In a repertoire ranging from TV sitcoms to animated and feature films, he has established himself as a versatile and engaging performer with a charismatic and quirky persona," reads the statement announcing his receipt of the award. "Most recently, he has earned popular and critical acclaim for his portrayal of the title character in the hugely successful action movies Deadpool and Deadpool 2."
He was congratulated on social media by many public figures, including Ottawa mayor Jim Watson.
This is so well deserved. Ryan, your kindness and generosity has touched many in your former city of Ottawa - from your support to our food bank to doing an interview with three young podcasters @DudesInterview Congratulations and thank you for just being NICE https://t.co/F82BhRNRPA
Last year, Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively, donated $1 million to Food Banks Canada and Feeding America. Some of the funds went to the Ottawa Food Bank, with a note from Reynolds saying he spent some of his childhood in Vanier.
Earlier this year, he appeared as "Bruce", Ottawa Public Health's notorious fictional intern who was famously blamed for a widely seen tweet in which he appeared to bungle a post congratulating the winner of the Super Bowl. The health unit reacted to the award by saying "Bruce" is the this is the first member of a public health communications team to win a Governor General’s Award.
"I recommend making a list of people you appreciate, then immediately telling them," Reynolds said in a follow-up tweet, joking that he's glad he didn't "have to be dead to experience something like this."
I’m glad I don’t have to be dead to experience something like this. I’m so beyond touched right now. I recommend making a list of people you appreciate, then immediately telling them. You don’t even have to write this list with the blood of your enemies. Just a regular pen works.
Other recipients of Governor General's Performing Arts awards in 2021 include actor Catherine O'Hara--best known for her roles in SCTV, Home Alone and Schitt's Creek--composer Alexina Louie, Métis actor Tantoo Cardinal, Compagnie Danse Nyata Nyata founder Zab Maboungou, and Innu singer–songwriter and guitarist Florent Vollant, all of whom received lifetime achievement awards. Lynda Hamilton was awarded the 2021 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts.
Legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, widely credited with transforning musical theatre, died on Friday at the age of 91, his publicist said.
Sondheim – renowned for musicals including West Side Story and Sweeney Todd – died at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, spokesperson Kathryn Zuckerman told Reuters news agency by email, saying she had little additional information. The news was reported earlier by the New York Times which said he had celebrated Thanksgiving with friends the day before.
“There are no words. He had them all. And the music. He was incomparable,” the UK-based Stephen Sondheim Society, which is dedicated to promoting and studying his work, tweeted along with three heart emojis, one of them broken.
“He was God to many of us. We loved his work. And god he was good.”
Born on March 22, 1930, to an affluent family in New York City, Sondheim was involved in musical theatre from an early age.
He started playing piano at age seven and, after his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to Pennsylvania, learned to write musicals with neighbour Oscar Hammerstein II, who with partner Richard Rodgers wrote hugely popular shows including The Sound of Music.
Sondheim’s got his first big breakthrough on Broadway in 1957 with West Side Story, which transplanted Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to working-class Manhattan.
‘We are all blessed to have been alive at the same time as this theatre legend… & to have received from him a gift as precious as his art’
He left us with so many words, but none enough for this post. Goodbye, old pal. Thank you, Stephen Sondheim, for so much brilliance in the theatre and sharing your music with us all. pic.twitter.com/Qe55GcDQeS
Sondheim’s songs were celebrated for their sharp wit and insight into modern life and for giving voice to complex characters.
Later successes included Sweeney Todd, about a murderous barber in London whose victims are served as meat pies, which opened in 1979, and Into the Woods, which opened on Broadway in 1987 and used children’s fairy tales to untangle adult obsessions.
“I love the theatre as much as music, and the whole idea of getting across to an audience and making them laugh, making them cry – just making them feel – is paramount to me,” Sondheim said in a 2013 interview with National Public Radio.
‘Singing your songs forever’
Sondheim won numerous awards during his career including eight Grammy awards, and eight Tony awards, including the special honour of Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. He also picked up one Academy Award and a Pulitzer Prize, and was nominated for many more Grammys and Tonys, as well as two Golden Globes.
In 2015, then-US president Barack Obama presented Sondheim with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour, for his life’s work.
Several of Sondheim’s musicals have been turned into films including West Side Story in 1961, which won an Oscar, and Into the Woods, starring Meryl Streep, in 2007. A new version of West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg, is due to be released next month.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who created the smash-hit rap musical Hamilton and was mentored by Sondheim, has called him musical theatre’s greatest lyricist.
Sondheim, who was gay, reportedly lived alone until his 60s, keeping his sexuality under wraps. In 2017, he married his partner Jeffrey Romley, who survives him.
“Thank the Lord that Sondheim lived to be 91 years old so he had the time to write such wonderful music and GREAT lyrics!” tweeted singer Barbra Streisand.
Actress and singer Lea Salonga, who was the first Asian woman to win a Tony for originating the lead role of the musical Miss Saigon, thanked Sondheim for his “vast contributions to musical theatre”.
“We shall be singing your songs forever. Oh, my heart hurts,” she wrote on Twitter.
Avril Lavigne has announced her first cross-Canada tour in more than a decade.
The “Bite Me Canada 2022” tour is set to hit 14 cities between May 3 and 25, with special guests GrandsonandMod Sun.
The Napanee, Ont., singer recently released the single “Bite Me” featuring Travis Barker, her first release since 2019’s “Head Above Water.”
Lavigne calls the track “an anthem about knowing your worth, what you deserve, and not giving someone a second chance who doesn’t deserve you.” She says new music and a new album will follow in 2022.
Next year also marks the 20th anniversary of Lavigne’s debut album “Let Go,” which featured hit singles “Complicated” and “Sk8er Boi.” Lavigne was 17 when the album was released.
The “Bite Me Canada Tour” stops in Moncton; Halifax; Quebec City; Montreal; Ottawa; Toronto; London, Ont.; Windsor, Ont.; Winnipeg; Saskatoon; Edmonton; Vancouver; Victoria and has two shows in Calgary.
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