Steve Pond's Blog, page 194

‘Becoming Eve’ Off Broadway Review: God Herself Would Have to Applaud Richard Schiff

You might remember the controversy, if not the name of the play. Last year, the New York Theatre Workshop had planned to give Emil Weinstein’s first play, “Becoming Eve,” its world premiere at the nearby Connelly Theatre in the East Village. Suddenly, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York decided to flex its muscle to reject the show. Who even knew the church owned the Connelly? The archdiocese released a statement about not letting Weinstein’s play enter its holy domain: “Nothing should take place on church-owned property that is contrary to the teaching of the church.”

Not to be deterred, NYTW found another theater, and “Becoming Eve” opened Monday at the Abrons Arts Center on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan. To say it has been worth the wait is an understatement. “Becoming Eve” confirms what I’ve written repeatedly: We are living in a golden age of American dramatic literature, and Weinstein’s play can take its place at the top of this theater trend with such other recently staged new works as Bess Wohl’s “Liberation” (now Off Broadway) and Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’ “Purpose” (now on Broadway).

Too much ink gets spilled about $900-plus-dollar tickets to gawk at movie stars in “Othello,” “Good Night, and Good Luck” and “Glengarry Glen Ross.” All three are worth seeing, but those outrageous ticket prices give New York theater a bad name. Plays like “Liberation,” “Purpose” and now “Becoming Eve” often have discount tickets available through TKTS, TDF and other sellers. They’re cheaper tickets and better theater, too.

Regarding “Becoming Eve,” I can’t do better than an official press release to describe it: “ ‘Becoming Eve’ tells the remarkable true story of trans rabbi Abby Chava Stein, tracing her journey from a Hasidic rabbinical family to becoming a trailblazing leader in the LGBTSIA+ community.”

Let’s leave out the “trailblazing” part for the moment. That story came after the story told here on stage by Weinstein that’s based on Stein’s 2019 memoir. The play takes place in about the time (under two hours) that it takes Chava (Tommy Dorfman) to tell his rabbi-father (Richard Schiff) that she’s a trans woman. For the meeting, Chava choses a small second-floor synagogue, converted from a public school (set design by Arnulfo Maldonado); and mediating that showdown is a third rabbi, Jonah (Brandon Uranowitz). Adding to the suspense is Chava’s assertion about her family: “My parents are the descendants of the most important men in Jewish history!” Thunderclap.

Chava believes she can use the Akedah to win over her parents. Rather than seeing Abraham’s binding of his son Isaac as a “sacrifice,” Chava interprets the Old Testament story as a “transformation.”

Interspersed with this father-daughter confrontation are scenes that take us back to Stefele/Chava’s childhood, adolescence and the arranged marriage to Fraidy (Tedra Millan), a union that gives the couple a much beloved son.

Flashbacks in the movies or on stage can be a problem. Director Tyne Rafaeli handles these magnificently by introducing each with a crack of thunder and lightning as if her stage manager were the vengeful God of the Old Testament. Kudos to Ben Stanton’s lighting and UptownWorks’ sound design.

The first flashback shows the young Shefele/Chava before his Upsheren, the ritual haircutting of Hasidic boys at the age of three. “I don’t want to be a boy!” the child screams. Actually, it is Dorfman who voices the child Shefele, who is a Bunrahu-style puppet manipulated by two puppeteers, Justin Otaki Perkins and Emma Wiseman.

In the present-day sequences of “Becoming Eve,” the father’s first words after not having seen Chava for two years are, “You shaved your …”

To delay the moment of her revelation, Chava takes off her miniskirt and bra top to wear instead baggy jeans and an equally loose-fitting zip-up hoodie (costumes by Enver Chakartash) to meet her father and mother. When Mami eventually shows up, Judy Kuhn makes her the essence of maternal warmth. That entrance, however, is significantly delayed, because Mami has decided against making the hot two-hour subway ride to the Upper West Side from Williamsburg, which is described as “a hermetically sealed 19th century village that happens to be in Brooklyn.”

“Becoming Eve” happens to be a very funny play, some of the best moments coming in the cultural mashup between Schiff’s Hasidic rabbi and Uranowitz’s “transdenominational Renewal” rabbi, whom the father at one point calls Judas. The timing between these two great actors is vintage vaudeville.

In the flashbacks, as Shefele/Chava grows up, the puppets get bigger. There is a kiss with a Hasidic classmate (Rad Pereira, being beautifully elusive). The puppet is fully adult-size for the first meeting with Fraidy, the bride to be. Rafaeli’s direction works stage magic here: Dorfman always speaks for the puppets, but sometimes she also physically replaces them. Especially moving, and downright erotic, are the scenes of physical intimacy after the couple has married. They eventually divorce, and Tedra Millan’s performance is careful never to portray this female character as either villain or victim.

Schiff’s father could definitely be played as the villain. This theater season, the critical raves for actors has gone to those playing multiple characters in a one-person show. Andrew Scott in “Vanya” and Sarah Snook in “The Picture of Dorian Gray” are impressive, but there’s necessarily a lot of gimmickry going on with all that role-playing. Schiff seemingly drops all masks. If he is acting, he never ever lets us catch him doing it.

The post ‘Becoming Eve’ Off Broadway Review: God Herself Would Have to Applaud Richard Schiff appeared first on TheWrap.

Where Should ‘The White Lotus’ Season 4 Take Place

Now that “The White Lotus” stay in Thailand has come to a close fans are already speculating where the next installation of the HBO series will venture.

The past three seasons have all been filmed at Four Seasons hotels in Hawaii, Italy and Thailand — though set, of course, at entirely fictional White Lotus resort hotels. Max and Four Seasons even had a global partnership to celebrate the third season with an immersive activation at the featured Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui. After three back-to-back coastal locations, writer-director Mike White said that he wanted to get “a little bit out of the crashing waves against rocks vernacular” at a finale screening event Sunday.

Keeping the tone and energy of “The White Lotus” and its guests in mind, narrowing down the list and excluding coastal cities became challenging. Executive producers also revealed that White does not like the cold, so a ski season may be out of the cards.

“I can’t really say where we’re going to land, but chances are somewhere in Europe,” Francesca Orsi said in an interview with Deadline, contradicting a comment White previously made, saying he wanted to visit all seven continents with the show (he’s already knocked out three).

Keep reading for our theories about which Four Seasons resort the fourth season of “The White Lotus” might take place.

(Credit: Four Seasons)African Safari: Serengeti National Park

White has previously stated that he wants to film a season on all seven continents. An African safari stay could check that box off his list. Not only would the scenic Serengeti provide a beautiful visual landscape for the show, but African safari luxury tourism is ripe for an exploration of wealth and class dynamics.

The Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti provides luxury safari suites with an immersive view of the plains, “combining comfort with the thrill of a Serengeti safari,” the website states. The thrill of the pride lands could certainly be the setting for the next “The White Lotus” location and perhaps the site of the next mysterious killing.

(Credit: Four Seasons)French Alps: Megève, France

Although executive producer David Bernad said that Mike White does not like the cold, fans have been itching for a ski resort season of the HBO series. Rich families, couples and maybe even work colleagues in a snowy chalet, risking their lives on the slopes each day, does sound like a potential “The White Lotus” storyline.

The Four Seasons Hotel Megève is a resort in the French Alps with ski-in, ski-out access. Guests can stay in their own lodges, relax in the region’s largest spa and enjoy the Alps in both summer and wintertime, giving White the opportunity to use the resort during the warmer months if he so chooses.

(Credit: Four Seasons)Athens, Greece

With the historic, mythological backdrop of Ancient Greece, Athens would provide a unique lens for White to explore with the next season of the Emmy Award-winning series. Though Season 3 did explore religion with meditative healing and Buddhist practices in Thailand, Athens could give viewers a new perspective with the presence of Greek mythology.

The Four Seasons Astir Palace Hotel Athens is located on a peninsula with three private beaches. The hotel is only 30 minutes away from the historic Acropolis. It may not be a Season 4 pick if White wants to stray from “crashing rocks” but the plot potential is there.

(Credit: Four Seasons)French Riviera: South of France

Executive producers have hinted at a return to Europe, and the series has yet to travel to France. The Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat is a Four Seasons Hotel on the French Riviera and has been in business for over a century. The historic location boasts sea views from Nice to Monaco and a serene sanctuary within its lush gardens.

With only 74 rooms in the entire hotel, guests in the resort could certainly organically interact with one another as they do in previous seasons of “The White Lotus.” Overlooking the coastal South of France, guests at the hotel could also easily take excursions off property and find themselves in more trouble than intended.

(Credit: Four Seasons)Mallorca, Spain

The website describes the Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor as “a vast private playground.” The Mediterranean landscape allows guests to connect to nature with hiking, biking or boating, and the HBO series has yet to visit a Spanish-speaking country.

The resort also has the Alcanada Golf Club on property. White could explore the uppity sport as part of his examination on luxury tourism in the next installment of the series.

(Credit: Four Seasons)Istanbul, Turkey

Venturing to Istanbul would be a change from the coastal locations of the first three seasons of the HBO series. The Four Seasons Hotel in Istanbul at the Bosphorus sits on the Bosphorus Strait. Guests at “The White Lotus” could visit the city’s major attractions like the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, immersing themselves in Muslim practices.

The urban area is rich with history and a viable hub for cultural conversations. And who knows, maybe one of the guests of the next season could be traveling to Turkey for a hair transplant?

The post Where Should ‘The White Lotus’ Season 4 Take Place appeared first on TheWrap.

Madonna and Elton John ‘Buried the Hatchet’ on Decades-Long Feud Backstage at ‘SNL’: ‘Thank You for Forgiving Me’

Now that’s music to our ears! 

Madonna and Elton John ended their decades-long feud this weekend after the pair posted a photo together from behind the scenes of “Saturday Night Live” where John served as the musical guest along with Brandi Carlile.

“We finally buried the hatchet!” Madonna wrote in an Instagram post. “I went to see Elton John perform on ‘SNL’ this weekend! Wow. I remembered when I was in high school, I snuck out of the house one night to see Elton perform live in Detroit. It was an unforgettable performance that helped me understand the transformative power of music. Seeing him perform when I was in high school changed the course of my life. I had always felt like an outsider growing up and watching him on stage helped me to understand that it was OK to be different, to stand out, to take the road less traveled by. In fact, it was essential.”

“Over the decades it hurt me to know that someone I admired so much shared his dislike of me publicly as an artist,” she continued. “I didn’t understand it. I was told Elton John was the musical guest on ‘SNL’ and I decided to go. I needed to go backstage and confront him. When I met him, the first thing out of his mouth was, ‘Forgive me,’ and the wall between us fell down. Forgiveness is a powerful tool. Within minutes we were hugging.”

View Madonna’s full Instagram post below:

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A post shared by Madonna (@madonna)

John himself commented on Madonna’s post and confirmed that there was no longer any bad blood between them.

“Thank you for coming to see me at ‘SNL,’” John wrote. “And thank you for forgiving me and my big mouth. I’m not proud of what I said. Particularly when I think about all the groundbreaking work you have done as an artist – paving the way for an entire generation of female artists to succeed and be true to themselves. You were also one of the very first people to rise up against HIV/AIDS in the ’80s, bringing love and compassion to so many who desperately needed it.

“I’m grateful we can move forward,” the “Rocket Man” singer continued. “I’m increasingly distressed by all the divisiveness in our world at the moment. Both you and I have wholeheartedly been accepted and embraced by communities who are under threat around the world. By pulling together, I’m hopeful we can make great things happen for those who really need support. And have a lot of fun doing it!”

The two pop icons’ feud began all the way back in 2004 at The Q Awards when John publicly insulted Madonna while he accepted an award. He commented on her lip syncing and since then the two have traded jabs at each other whenever possible.    

Even Carlile was thrilled with the news commenting, “Whatever happens to this country the gays won today folks.”

The post Madonna and Elton John ‘Buried the Hatchet’ on Decades-Long Feud Backstage at ‘SNL’: ‘Thank You for Forgiving Me’ appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Boop!’ Broadway Review: First Barbie, Now Betty Gets Dragged Into the 21 Century

You’ve won 16 Grammy Awards and now want to write your first Broadway musical. What source material do you pick? There are so many great novels, movies, straight plays and TV shows out there to choose from.

David Foster, the composer of such hit songs as “I Will Always Love You” and “The Power of Love,” chose a cartoon character born in the Great Depression. You might remember Betty Boop if you’re really old. She’s the curvaceous icon from the 1930s that gave little boys boners before they knew what sex was all about.

“Boop!” is the new musical by Foster that opened Monday at the Broadhurst Theatre. It’s “boop-oop-a-doop” for a show that needs a good spritz of Pooph.

If you’re too young to know about Betty Boop, you will have seen movies that tell this basic story much better. In “Barbie,” the Barbie and Ken dolls are transported to the real world where she becomes a feminist and he becomes a male chauvinistic pig. In “Pleasantville,” a “Father Knows Best” family is transported to the real world when they discover sex. In “The Brady Bunch Movie,” the famous TV family walks out the front door to be transported into the real world of violence and corruption.

When Betty Boop leaves her 1930s cartoon world in “Boop!,” she’s transported (don’t ask how) to a Comic Con convention in New York City where she discovers … color. She also discovers some of the ugliest costumes, by Gregg Barnes, that have ever graced a Broadway stage. After singing “In Color,” Betty makes friends and falls in love immediately with a man (Ainsley Melham, being oddly remote) not in comic book drag. Betty greases her way into the future, as well as the real world, as if she had just bathed in Vaseline. There’s no conflict. She just spreads her joy to a city that appears to be doing fine without her.

Foster and lyricist Susan Birkenhead load “Boop!” with so many anthems they appear to be auditioning for some new “I Love NY” ad campaign. As for Foster’s tunes, you will leave the Broadhurst humming them, because you’ve heard them all before, whether it is caterwauling gospel or anemic jazz or the ubiquitous female power ballad.

It is questionable whether anyone involved with this musical ever watched a Betty Boop cartoon. Birkenhead’s lyrics describe the newly neutered character on stage: “She is strong, she is smart, open mind, open heart” … and later, “She has spunk, she has spine, she’s a saint.”

Sorry, Betty Boop was one hot number. Where’s the part about her being a great lay? That’s why all those barnyard critters were chasing her around the hayloft. No less an entity than the Hays Office censored Betty Boop back in 1935, making her a far more demure and less sexy character. “Boop!” has clearly taken its orders from a Depression-era right-wing censor.

Playing Betty, Jasmine Amy Rogers isn’t given much to do other than squeal cutely. There’s a reason for her new blandness, and that’s because Betty, like Barbie before her, is now a feminist. As Bob Martin’s meandering and relentlessly unfunny book does manage to make evident, the cartoon character is known for hitting other cartoon characters over the head with all sorts of lethal objects. No problem. They’re cartoons.

On stage, it’s a different story. One of the musical’s subplots involves a blowhard who’s running to be mayor of New York. This politician makes an odd brief appearance in Act 1, but gets much more stage time when Betty joins his campaign in Act 2. Spreading her usual cheer, she gives the guy a lot of good press. Playing that creep, Erich Bergen singlehandedly turns “Boop!” into something worth watching after nearly two hours of total tedium. Because he’s stealing her show, Betty hits him over the head with a desk lamp. He’s knocked out cold and never recovers, only to be rolled off stage in an office chair.

This is feminism? When a man clobbers a woman into unconsciousness, even on the stage, he goes to jail. In “Boop!,” he’s the one who ends up in an orange jump suit for the curtain call.

Jerry Mitchell directs and choreographs. I thought the song “In Color, set at the Comic Con convention and populated with Marvel-like icons, was this theater season’s worst staged musical number. But no, that comes just ahead of intermission when Betty visits Times Square to meet other cartoon icons there.

It’s difficult to say what’s more embarrassing: the people in Disney outfits out on the street or the chorus at the Broadhurst in costumes that look just as seedy and smelly. Pooph, anyone?  

The post ‘Boop!’ Broadway Review: First Barbie, Now Betty Gets Dragged Into the 21 Century appeared first on TheWrap.

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 5 Recap: What to Remember Before Season 6

May the Lord open up Season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” because it’s truly been way too long since the last time viewers visited Gilead. But don’t you worry, we’re here with all the details you need as you journey into the hit Hulu drama series’ last season.

It’s been over two years since Season 5 ended, and they left fans off with one hell of a cliffhanger. A lot has changed, but many things remain. June (Elisabeth Moss) is still trying to get her daughter Hannah (Jordana Blake) back, Commander Joseph Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) has a grand idea for a new, more progressive Gilead and Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) is a mother now.

In an effort to jog y’all’s memories, we decided to lay out the seven biggest, most important moments to remember from Season 5. However, there’s one Season 4 tidbit we wanted to mention.

Season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” lands Tuesday, April 8, with the first three episodes. Here are the seven major events that you’ll need to know as you head into the final season of “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Commander Fred Waterford from “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)Commander Fred Waterford Is Dead

We know this went down in the Season 4 finale, but it’s been so long since the show’s been on-air that we thought it’d be best to remind you that the no-good, manipulative, treacherous Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes) is dead. This means two things: Serena is a widow and June will never have to go by the name Offred again.

In a brutal act of revenge, June and a group of former handmaids beat him to death after Nick (Max Minghella) lured him into the forest.

Serena from “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)Serena Is a Mother Now

The woman who stole motherhood from so many women is now a mother on her own, ain’t that something? That’s right, Serena is a mommy now. In Season 5, Serena, with help from June, gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Noah. She gave birth in a barn while hiding out in No Man’s Land, but when she becomes ill she’s forced to enter Canada illegally in order to get medical assistance. There, her child is taken away from her while in an immigration detention center. Noah is briefly given to the Wheelers, a Gilead-faithful family in Toronto. However, she eventually takes her baby and escapes after their attempts to force Serena into a handmaid-esque role.

Hannah from “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)Hannah Is Still in Gilead

Yes, sadly, June’s daughter Hannah is still being held captive inside Gilead. Since being taken, her name has been changed to Agnes. In Season 5, Nick tells June that, at just 12 years old, Hannah is already being prepped to become a wife in Gilead. And if the whole situation wasn’t depressing enough, Hannah’s memory of June has started to fade.

Luke from “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)Luke Was Arrested

There’s no man who fights for June like her husband Luke (O-T Fagbenle), and he’s always willing to put his own life at risk if it means helping June get their daughter Hannah back. In Season 5, Luke and June try to escape on a train heading to Vancouver. However, police are hot on their trail after Luke murdered a pro-Gilead Canadian man who tried to kill June by running her over. In an effort to evade authorities, the couple’s tries to escape on a refugee train heading to “west.”

“The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 5 (Hulu)Serena and June Board the Same Train Heading West

Yeah, so that train…Serena’s on it. Just when June thought she’d somewhat distanced herself from Gilead, here comes Serena and her baby. This reunion between the duo happens at the end of Season 5. What a cliffhanger to leave fans dangling off of for two and a half years.

Commander Lawrence and Nick in “The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 5 (Hulu)New Bethlehem: Gilead 2.0

You’d think Commander Lawrence would be done coming up with ideas after cofounding Gilead, but nope, he’s got more. His latest idea is a new, more liberal province within Gilead that he’s named New Bethlehem. There, there are no handmaids, hangings or cruel practices. For now, it’s stated as a safe haven for Gilead refugees, and it’s been created to level out the ongoing rebellions in Gilead.

Emily in “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)Emily Left

In Season 5, viewers find out Emily (Alexis Bledel) returned to Gilead, seemingly in an effort to get revenge. Anything’s possible, but it is likely that we won’t see her again as Bledel shared that she’d be leaving the show ahead of the Season 5 premiere. And thus, her character was written out of the series.

In a statement obtained by TheWrap, she wrote, “After much thought, I felt I had to step away from ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ at this time. I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily, and to Hulu, MGM, the cast and crew for their support.”

Ever Carradine as Naomi Putnam and Bradley Whitford as Commander Lawrence in “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)Commander Lawrence Marries Naomi Putnam

In Season 5, Commander Lawrence and Naomi Putnam get hitched after her husband Warren Putnam (Stephen Kunke) was arrested and executed for raping and impregnating a handmaid named Esther outside of the ceremony.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 6 premieres with three episodes Tuesday, April 8, on Hulu.

The post ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 5 Recap: What to Remember Before Season 6 appeared first on TheWrap.

Warner Bros. Heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy Take ‘Minecraft’ Victory Lap, Toast a ‘World-Class Achievement’

Warner Bros. Pictures Group studio heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy took a victory lap after the stunning record opening for “A Minecraft Movie” this weekend, telling staffers in a companywide memo Monday, “This is truly a world-class achievement!”

The film, based on the hit video game, dominated the global box office with a staggering $313.7 million gross worldwide.

They also highlighted its record-breaking performance as “the largest domestic opening weekend of 2025, the biggest since July, and Warner Bros.’ largest opening weekend since 2023.”

“This is what happens when we believe in the power of our creativity, each other and the strength of great storytelling,” they added.

The blockbuster success comes at a crucial time for the pair, as CEO David Zaslav has begun taking early-stage talks with potential successors, according to media reports.

The “Jumanji”-esque adventure film stars Jack Black as Steve, the player avatar in the hit video game from Mojang Studios who guides four people lost in the block-filled Overworld and teaches them how to survive against the creatures that lie within. 

“A Minecraft Movie” carries a reported $150 million budget, with 75% footed by Warner Bros. and the rest by Legendary. That is a flip in the production budget share for Warner and Legendary’s 2024 hit “Dune: Part Two,” but nonetheless continues what has been a fruitful partnership between the two studios.

Read De Luca and Abdy’s memo in full below:

Team,

It’s a hit!

This opening weekend, movie-going audiences dug into A Minecraft Movie, making it the no. 1 film in the U.S. and 75 global markets, bringing in an impressive $313.7 million – the largest domestic opening weekend of 2025, the biggest since July, and Warner Bros.’ largest opening weekend since 2023. This is truly a world-class achievement!

Thanks to the creativity and collaboration of teams across WB Pictures and the entire company, our film about the power of imagination and building something bigger than ourselves sparked incredible reactions from audiences everywhere. From viral videos to uncontainable fan excitement, A Minecraft Movie has ignited a worldwide block party! It also paved the way for record-setting partnerships, marketing firsts, and continued progress in harnessing the talent and resources across the entire organization to create cultural moments that truly matter.

A massive congratulations and heartfelt thanks to every colleague who helped craft this epic adventure – together, we’ve built something truly special. A Minecraft Movie is the result of an incredible team effort, brick by brick.

This is what happens when we believe in the power of our creativity, each other, and the strength of great storytelling.

Mike and Pam

Variety first reported the news.

The post Warner Bros. Heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy Take ‘Minecraft’ Victory Lap, Toast a ‘World-Class Achievement’ appeared first on TheWrap.

‘The White Lotus’ Star Aimee Lou Wood Recalls Difficult Days on Set Filming ‘Odd’ and ‘Ominous’ Finale Shooting

Note: This story contains spoilers from “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 8.

“The White Lotus” Season 3 finally revealed the shooting sequence that resulted in the deaths of several guests and workers, which star Aimee Lou Wood recalled as “odd” and “ominous” to film.

“It’s weird, because for about two weeks before we shot it, I felt super weird,” Wood said in during a cast Q&A after a finale screening in Los Angeles on Sunday. “It was like this odd, ominous thing that was just hanging over us, and then it was like the hottest day ever, and Walton had to carry me so many times, and it was so hard.”

While Wood admitted the scene, which ultimately sees her character, Chelsea, dying alongside Walton Goggins’ Rick, was hard to watch, she said “there’s a lot in that episode that made me f–king sob a lot,” staring with Saxon’s “sad face.” “It might just make you sit in that really achy place,” Wood said of the finale. “So I feel achy.”

While the Season 3 finale saw the deaths of Chelsea and Rick — along with several guards and Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) — one character that got off scot-free was Jon Gries, who reprised his role as Greg, also known as Gary.

As for whether Greg could return to “The White Lotus” again, Gries said he doesn’t think he’ll be returning to the HBO drama series, but admitted he doesn’t know. “All I can say is, every time I leave, I assume it’s over,” Gries said.

After paying off Natasha Rothwell’s Belinda with a grand total of $5 million to keep her silent about murdering Tanya, Greg closes out the Season 3 finale with a optimistic outlook, with a high likelihood Charlotte Le Bon’s Chloe makes his fantasy come true. Despite Chloe growing quite close with Chelsea during their week together, Chloe appears to have moved on from her death by the final moments of the finale.

“She probably she cried really, really hard for maybe five minutes, and then she just decided to numb herself again with sex and chaos and party, because that’s what she does,” Le Bon said. “It would have been extremely painful. But, I mean, that’s what she does with pain. She just numbs it.”

While the fate of Sam Nivola’s Lochlan was hanging in the balance during the finale, the Ratliff family left the resort relatively unharmed. Though, of course, they have a ginormous change awaiting them at home, thanks to the missteps of Jason Isaacs’ Tim, whom Isaacs said “genuinely finds real spiritual enlightenment” by the end of the finale.

“I’m happy he’s content with allowing fate to take him where it goes, and has some new faith in his family that he doubted before, that they will be OK, that they’ll find their way,” Isaacs said, while wearing a Duke t-shirt, adding that the family will now have to get jobs. “They’ll rejoin common humanity … they will live and survive however they’re meant to.”

That might be a harsh realization for Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), who, after spending the night at the monastery, admits to her parents that maybe she can’t handle a year at the meditation center.

“She’s so earnest, I feel like she put her whole life into it, and then you’re like, ‘Oh, I guess she is her mother’s daughter,'” Hook said. “I think it’s so brilliant, it’s so fun … she’s just a little rich girl. I couldn’t be happier for her and I’m ready for her to be a hoe now.”

“The White Lotus” Season 3 is now streaming on Max.

The post ‘The White Lotus’ Star Aimee Lou Wood Recalls Difficult Days on Set Filming ‘Odd’ and ‘Ominous’ Finale Shooting appeared first on TheWrap.

7 Shocking Moments From ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Finale

Note: This story contains spoilers from ‘The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 8.

Eight weeks after it began, “The White Lotus” Season 3 has finally come to an end. It has been a wild, tense ride — one full of some of the show’s most astonishing highs (Sam Rockwell’s Emmy-worthy monologue) and frustrating lows (Jason Isaacs’ circular story week-in-and-week-out). Early on, “The White Lotus” Season 3 suggested that it was going to be the series’ darkest, most introspective and most cynical season to date. Its finale, titled “Amor Fati,” proved that to be true.

A fever dream of an episode, the “White Lotus” Season 3 finale delivers all the shocking moments that viewers wanted, as well as fitting endings for all of its characters (with, perhaps, one notable exception). Even the season’s happy endings, however, carry with them a dark, acidic edge, one that reminds us yet again that success in a capitalistic world always requires sacrifice of some kind.

With that in mind, here are the episode’s seven most shocking moments.

Sarah Catherine Hook in “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 8. (Fabio Lovino/HBO)Piper Abandons Her Dream

The episode’s first, major moment comes courtesy of Piper Ratliff (Sarah Catherine Hook), who returns from her and Lochlan’s (Sam Nivola) night at the nearby monastery sporting a tough face that quickly disintegrates. At dinner, she confesses to her mother Victoria (Parker Posey) and father Tim (Jason Isaacs) that the monastery’s food was “so bland” and that her mattress was small and covered in stains. Victoria is all too happy to hear her daughter say that she does not actually want to become a Buddhist but is just suffering from White Guilt over her own, immense privilege. (Tim is less pleased once he realizes that Piper also wouldn’t be happy without her family’s wealth.)

“Dom Hetrakul and Natasha Rothwell in “The White Lotus.” (HBO)Belinda Plays Hardball (and Wins)

After some good-hearted, if naive, pressure from her son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay), Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) meets up again with Greg (Jon Gries). Zion leads the meeting, cockily proposing that Greg pay his mother $5 million — 1% of the net worth that Greg inherited from the murder of his wife Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) — so that she can really get her business off the ground and feel good about keeping Greg’s secrets. Greg initially rejects Zion’s counteroffer, but he eventually accepts it after Belinda makes a show of storming away (only to tell her son to make sure he “closes” the negotiation). 

In the middle of the night, Belinda checks her bank account to see $5 million from Greg sitting there waiting for her. The next morning, she and Zion make a speedy escape from Thailand before Greg can change his mind, and she leaves Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) waving at her from the resort’s beach, his offer to co-found a spa firmly rejected. It is an act that feels eerily reminiscent of the way that Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) left her in Hawaii in “The White Lotus” Season 1. To be fair to Belinda, she does not owe Tanya or Pornchai anything. Those who were hoping for Tanya to receive some form of justice will have to look elsewhere, though, because it won’t be coming from Belinda.

Carrie Coon in “The White Lotus.” (HBO)Carrie Coon’s Emmy Moment

This may not be as “shocking” as the other moments on this list, but it must be included because it might just be the best scene of the entire “White Lotus” Season 3 finale. After Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) confess over dinner just how happy and grateful they are to have spent the last week together, Laurie (Carrie Coon) reveals that she has been “sad” for most of the trip. She goes on to admit that being around her friends and seeing up close just how happy they are with their lives has made her own mistakes and regrets inescapably clear to her.

In the end, Laurie finds meaning and peace in “time,” and in the depth that has grown over the years in her friendships with Kate and Jaclyn. Coon, one of the best actresses alive, has not had as many spotlight moments this season as fans of hers may have wanted. But her speech in “Amor Fati” more than makes up for that. It is a profound, spell-binding and emotionally cathartic moment, and Coon makes the absolute most of it.

Sam Nivola and Jason Isaacs in “The White Lotus.” (HBO)Lochlan Makes a Smoothie

Tim decides at the last moment to ditch his idea to poison Victoria, Piper and Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger) with a cocktail made out of the seeds of the resort’s poisonous fruits. But he does not rinse the blender after he tosses out his family’s deadly piña coladas, and neither does Lochlan when he wakes up the next morning and decides to make himself a version of his brother’s protein shakes. He does not even finish the shake before he begins convulsing, hallucinating and throwing up, and the episode leaves him for several moments lying face up, completely still, near his family’s pool.

Tim wakes up to find his youngest son seemingly dead and begins calling for help in one of the darkest moments of “The White Lotus” to date. Series creator Mike White pulls the rug out from under viewers minutes later, however, when he has Lochlan miraculously come back to life — much to a stunned Tim’s disbelief. “Amor Fati” later leaves the Ratliffs on their boat back to the airport. Tim’s warning that things are about to change for the family is met with mostly confused expressions from his wife and kids. That is, at least, until Saxon checks his phone and sees a notification that causes him to look back up at his father with dawning concern and horror. It looks like Tim will be going to jail, after all, but White stops short of revealing the Ratliffs’ ultimate fate.

Scott Glenn in “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 8. (Fabio Lovino/HBO)Rick Kills Jim Hollinger

Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) returns to the White Lotus with a renewed sense of peace early in “Amor Fati,” and he even reaffirms his commitment to spend the rest of his life with a delighted Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood). That all comes crashing down when Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn) confronts him in the resort’s breakfast space. Jim calls Rick’s mother a “drunk” and a “slut” and tells Goggins’ unstable Rick that he was told a “fairy tale” about his father. Rick is left shaken and enraged by the encounter. Chelsea attempts to calm him down, asking him to stop “thinking about the love you didn’t get” and “think about the love you have.”

While he tries to find some solace and advice again in meditation teacher Amrita (Shalini Peiris), she tells him to wait until her session with Zion is done. He does not do that. Instead, he seizes upon a moment when Jim’s bodyguards are gone and steals the man’s gun from his coat pocket while he is posing for a photograph with his wife Sritala (Lek Patravadi) and Jaclyn. Rick shoots Jim twice in the chest, killing him, only to find out from a horrified Sritala that Jim was actually his father. “He told me!” she screams, cementing the fact that it has always been Rick who has been responsible for his own unhappiness, and not some faceless old man.

Tayme Thapthimtong, Walton Goggins and Aime Lou Wood in “The White Lotus.” (HBO)Chelsea and Rick’s Shared Fate

After shooting Jim in the chest, Rick is chased and pinned down by the Hollingers’ armed bodyguards. Rick easily dispatches with both, but not before one of their bullets hits Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood), who was standing nearby. She dies in Rick’s arms from a bullet to the chest — fulfilling her prediction from earlier in the season that “bad things happen in threes.” She survived a robbery and a snake bite, but she does not survive her boyfriend’s gunfight. Rick starts to carry her away, promising that they really are going to be “together forever.”

He’s right, but only in the sense that he is eventually shot and killed by a reluctant Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong). The couple topple into the resort’s pond — revealing Rick (or Chelsea) to be the body Zion saw at the start of the season. Ultimately, Chelsea was right. She and Rick really were like yin and yang, opposite forces intrinsically linked. Everything he did reverberated onto her, and while she was left floating face down next to him in the resort’s pond, Rick died floating face up. It is a fittingly tragic ending for a pair that felt doomed right from the start — even if Chelsea did deserve a bit better than dying because of Rick.

Tayme Thapthimthong in “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 8. (Fabio Lovino/HBO)Gaitok Gets Promoted

Things end seemingly better for Gaitok, who is promoted to being one of Sritala’s bodyguards for killing Rick. In his final scene of the season, Gaitok — sporting an uncharacteristically black shirt and new sunglasses — hugs an impressed Mook (Lalisa Manobal) before hopping into the front seat of Sritala’s SUV. He seems happy and content, but he definitely does not seem like the Gaitok who viewers have spent the majority of the last eight weeks with. He got the girl and the job, but he sold his morals and beliefs in order to do it. Viewers can decide for themselves whether or not that is a fair trade.

“The White Lotus” Season 3 is now streaming on Max

The post 7 Shocking Moments From ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Finale appeared first on TheWrap.

‘The White Lotus’ Creator Mike White Says Finale Deaths Feel Like a ‘Classic Greek Tragedy’

Note: This story contains spoilers from “The White Lotus” Season 3, Episode 8.

“The White Lotus” creator Mike White equated the resolution of the tense Season 3 finale mystery to a “classic Greek tragedy.”

Episode 8, titled “Amor Fati,” caught up to the tragic shooting at the White Lotus Thailand. Like any fans theorized, Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aime Lou Wood) ended up as two of the victims of the shooting — after Rick started the bloodbath when he shot and killed Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn). Before his death, however, Rick learned from Sritala (Lek Patravadi) that Jim was actually his real father all along.

Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) ended up pulling the trigger on Rick, as he tried to walk away from the scene with Chelsea’s body, who had been shot and killed in the crossfires as he tried to kill off Jim’s bodyguards.

Tayme Thapthimtong, Walton Goggins and Aime Lou Wood in “The White Lotus.” (HBO)

“It’s a classic theme of Greek tragedy, or somebody killing the thing that they love while trying to get some revenge,” White said in a behind-the-scenes featurette. He also commented on how th ending reflects the “romantic fatalism” Chelsea has always displayed in the relationship, begging Rick to let go of the love that he didn’t receive and appreciate what she’s been giving him.

Reflecting on the season overall, While said the Thailand installment had “this kind of mix of association with carnal and spiritual. People wanting to be better than their basic selves, but then having this human, animal side that keeps pulling them back” to their usual behavior.

For the Ratliffs, White said that Timothy’s (Jason Isaacs) entire self hinged on how his family perceives them. So watching his future blow away made him feel like the only solution would be “burn the whole house” rather than face the consequences of his misdeeds — inspired by the real-life story of an aristocrat who killed his whole family to avoid being caught for mismanaging their riches.

Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey in “The White Lotus.” (HBO)

Thankfully Tim doesn’t have to live with killing his son Lochlan (Sam Nivola), who survived the accidental poisoning from the suicide tree fruit. Their ending was left more open, as viewers only see when the family starts looking at their phones and learning what has happened back home — that Tim will be arrested for financial crimes.

“What’s going to happen to them without all of their comforts? I don’t think Victoria (Parker Posey) is the sort of person who can live in poverty,” he added. “I’m sure she can find some other solution.”

Speaking of Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) decision to take Greg’s money and stay quiet on his ex-wife’s murder, White said he thought that would be a “fun way to have somebody else benefit from this tragedy that befell Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge).”

Natasha Rothwell in “The White Lotus.” (HBO)

As for the ladies played by Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan and Leslie Bibb, the creator said their storyline helped explore how reaching a certain age involves “defending the decisions you’ve made or trying to justify your life to yourself.” The storyline reaches its climax with an impassioned monologue from Coon’s Laurie, which will certainly help in her Emmys campaign.

With HBO having already ordered a Season 4, White teased he’ll be wandering away “from the crashing waves against rock’s vernacular.”

“But there’s always room for more murders in the White Lotus hotels,” he added with a laugh.

“The White Lotus” Season 3 is now streaming on Max.

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‘The Last Five Years’ Broadway Review: Nick Jonas & Adrienne Warren Make Love in Reverse

I reviewed the world premiere of Jason Robert Brown’s “The Last Five Years” when it opened Off Broadway in 2002. Back then, I came up with a way-too-cute alternate title for this two-hander musical. I called it “I Do! I Don’t!,” a reference to the 1966 musical by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones that starred Mary Martin and Robert Preston.

That show never entered my mind when, last week, I saw the first Broadway production of “The Last Five Years,” which opened Sunday at the Hudson Theatre. Instead, I kept thinking of another show, one by Stephen Sondheim. Maybe it’s because the Tony-winning revival of “Merrily We Roll Along” opened at the Hudson only a season ago. Maybe it’s because Brown’s show tells the woman’s story, but not the man’s, in reverse à la “Merrily.” And maybe it’s because both musicals are about showbiz. In Brown’s musical, for which he wrote the book and the songs, the last five years is actually her story; his is the next five years. This musical finds its clever balance in the music. While she’s singing downbeat songs as the relationship disintegrates, he’s being very upbeat in the first throes of love; that dynamic is reversed in the show’s second half.

The only time the characters Cathy Hiatt and Jamie Wellerstein actually “meet” is at the show’s halfway point, when they get married. It was a truly magical moment back in 2002 when “The Last Five Years” starred Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz under the direction of Daisy Prince. I wrote that the musical was “never more poignant than during ‘The Next Ten Minutes,’ which begins with Jamie in a rowboat in Central Park as he points out the apartment buildings of the rich and famous to an imaginary Cathy, who only later appears in the person of Scott. He proposes, she accepts, and they are married. Then Cathy steps into the receding rowboat as she remarks on the Central Park West landmarks pointed out to her by an imaginary Jamie, who is no longer present in the person of Butz.”

The Broadway revival eschews the rowboat and the revolving stage. Nick Jonas as Jamie wears a tux and Adrienne Warren as Cathy wears a white wedding dress (costumes by Dede Ayite) and the two of them get to roll around on a big bed (scenic design by David Zinn). They sing magnificently and there’s real chemistry between the two of them, but Whitney White’s direction is literal and unimaginative to the extreme. There’s no emotional payoff in these two stories traveling in opposite directions.

It’s the worst of two possible worlds: the production is minimal while also being messy. Little doll houses on stage represent those famous CPW apartment buildings, and Jonas has to jump way up to enter his apartment, which is on a platform that awkwardly rolls on and off stage. At one point, fortunately, he is able to use one of the doll houses as a balcony.

There’s a toxic back story at play here with this roman à clef musical. Brown and his former wife, Theresa O’Neill, sued each other over “The Last Five Years” and changes were made in the show to make it less obviously about her. Jamie is a very successful novelist; Cathy is a not very successful singer/actor. What kind of a guy writes about his success and his ex-spouse’s lack of it?

Brown wrote “The Last Five Years” when Woody Allen remained a much-lauded icon. Today, the Jewish man teaching the “Annie Hall” shiksa about life is a tired trope.

In her professional failure, Cathy complains about the audition process: “When I walk in the room/There’s a table of men/Always men, usually gay.” And usually Jewish, which goes unmentioned.

The show’s toxicity has apparently affected at least one of its performers. Jonas and Warren are both strong singers, but Warren possesses the better voice. And she doesn’t mind proving that fact. Warren hangs on to high notes, and her fan base is prone to rewarding her with vocal outbursts and applause while she distorts the musical line. In her final duet with Jonas, at the preview I attended, Warren held a high note long after he concluded his. That’s grounds for divorce in the musical theater.

“The Last Five Years” is now open and runs 14 weeks through June 22 at the Hudson Theater on Broadway.

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