From Royal Stages to Retail Sales: How Celebrity Choices and Fashion Dynamics Shape Today’s Headlines

The world of fashion and entertainment collided in intriguing ways in recent events, showcasing a blend of glitz, tradition, and economics—elements that keep the public and markets perpetually engaged. Recently, the storied corridors of the British monarchy and the bustling stock exchanges of the NASDAQ found common ground through the lens of celebrity and commerce.

Robbie Williams, the charismatic singer with notable ties to the Royal Family, made headlines by declining an invitation to perform at King Charles III’s coronation concert. This decision raised eyebrows, especially given Williams’ history as the opening act at the 2012 Diamond Jubilee concert, an event marked by jubilant celebrations and royal fanfare. Explaining his decision on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,” Williams said, “There was a reason. I was working. I got something I couldn’t turn down because of money.” His candid admission highlights the complex interplay of career choices and financial priorities in the life of a global entertainer.

The coronation concert saw performances from other stalwarts of the music industry, including Williams’ former band, Take That, along with the likes of Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. However, the stage was notably absent of other rumored big names such as Adele, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Elton John, and the Spice Girls. The absence of these stars sparked curiosity and speculation, underscoring the often unpredictable nature of celebrity engagements and commitments.

Meanwhile, in the realm of high-end activewear, Lululemon Athletica caught the attention of both consumers and investors with its latest price adjustments and stock market activities. Shoppers are abuzz with Lululemon’s “We Made Too Much” sale, where coveted items like the Align High-Rise Mini Flare Pants have seen a price cut from £108 to £79. Known for their buttery soft texture and flattering fit, these leggings have become a staple in casual fashion, earning high praise for their comfort and style. “These are super comfy and cute—the fabric feels so soft and stretchy, like a second skin,” said one satisfied customer.

On the financial front, Lululemon Athletica’s stock has garnered optimistic forecasts from several equities research analysts. With target prices being consistently adjusted upwards, major players such as TD Securities, Raymond James, and Morgan Stanley have expressed confidence in the brand, reflecting robust market performance and potential investor gains.

The brand’s latest earnings report further bolstered its stock profile, showcasing notable revenue growth and a consistent increase in earnings per share compared to the previous year. This solid performance is echoed by strategic moves from insiders and hedge funds, with significant share transactions shaping Lululemon’s ownership landscape.

In essence, the intersection of fashion, celebrity, and commerce presents a dynamic tableau where choices resonate far beyond the immediate spotlight and into the intricate weave of cultural and economic narratives—each actor, whether a pop star or a retail giant, plays a crucial role in the unfolding drama of modern life.

Beloved Sitcom Star Betty White May Not Have Been as Sweet as She Seemed

All in the Family’s Sally Struthers is recalling a not-so-fond memory of beloved Golden Girl Betty White. During the January 13 episode of the Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti podcast, Struthers recalled an incident where White “fat-shamed her.” Noting that she knows precisely how beloved White was (as is), she shared what happened when the two were collaborating on the pilot for a game show.

“I have to say, now that she’s gone, I wanna talk about Betty White for just a moment. And I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much. They signed petitions to get her to guest host ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I know all that. I didn’t have such a great experience with her — very passive-aggressive woman.

She asked her housekeeper to bring in a plate of whatever to us while we were all sitting and talking about what was working about the game show and what wasn’t. Then the plate was set in the middle and it was cookies, I think.”

That’s when Struthers reached for a cookie, and White spoke up…

“She said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you dear, you don’t need a cookie.’ Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room. And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’”

Sally Struthers’ Bad Experiences on ‘All in the Family’ Close

White, best known for her work on shows like The Golden Girls, Hot in Cleveland, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and movies like The Proposal, died on December 31, 2021, just weeks shy of celebrating her 100th birthday. Upon her passing, fans and celebrities mourned, recounting their favorite White experiences and her funniest moments. Among the most highlighted were memorable quips made by White’s sweet, naive, and sometimes bizarre Golden Girl Rose Nylund.

Struthers, who lived close to The Golden Girls house in Brentwood, CA., shared her experience with another legendary series star: Bea Arthur. Arthur and Struthers had previously collaborated on All in the Family, where Arthur guest starred as Maude, before starring in her spin-off, Maude. Remembering Arthur, Struthers recalled how Arthur would “put all sorts of expletives in her lines to shock” the stone-faced producers and network execs. She fondly remembered Arthur as “filthier than a drunken sailor.”

Related Betty White Fans Outraged as Her Home Is Demolished Barely One Year After Her Death

A shared Instagram photograph of Betty White’s demolished Los Angeles home triggered a reaction amongst her fans.

Posts

For her role as Gloria in the acclaimed classic sitcom All in the Family, Struthers earned two Emmy Awards. While speaking with Saperstein and Belloti, she discussed her weight being brought up by All in the Family creator Norman Lear when he explained why he cast her. Lear felt that “Archie was a lot to swallow for the American audiences with his bigotry and his social slurs,” so they thought that they could “soften him up if he had a soft spot in his heart for his daughter.” She recalled Lear telling her:

“So, we hired you because, just like Carroll O’Connor, you have blue eyes and a fat face.”

Arthur, White, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty led the enduring The Golden Girls for seven seasons from 1985 to 1992. White, Getty, and McClanahan reprised their roles for the short-lived spin-off The Golden Palace. Struthers went on to join a different beloved group of girls, the Gilmore Girls, where she portrayed Lorelai’s quirky neighbor Babette during the show’s seven-season run, later returning for Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Struthers most recently appeared in the Ted Danson-led A Man on the Inside. White’s legacy, meanwhile, will live on when the US Postal Service releases her postage stamp this March.

The Golden Girls Sitcom Where to Watch stream rent buy

Not available

Not available

Not available

*Availability in US Release Date September 14, 1985 Network NBC

Conan O’Brien Will Receive the Mark Twain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Comedy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Comedian and host Conan O’Brien was named the newest recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for lifetime achievement in comedy on Thursday.

O’Brien, 61, has carved out an improbable decadeslong career arc, moving from goofy television interloper to comedic elder statesman. Along the way, he survived one of the most public failures in the history of television on “The Tonight Show” — only to launch a successful, and sustained, next act.

His travel series “Conan O’Brien Must Go” sparked popular and critical acclaim, with a second season coming. In March, O’Brien will host the Academy Awards three weeks before his own Mark Twain ceremony in Washington.

Deborah Rutter, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in a statement called O’Brien “a master of invention and reinvention, consistently pushing the envelope in search of new comedic heights.”

O’Brien offered his own tongue-in-cheek assessment, saying in the Kennedy Center statement that he would be “the first winner of the Mark Twain Prize recognized not for humor, but for my work as a riverboat pilot.” He will be honored on March 23 in a special ceremony in which he will receive a bronze bust of Twain, the iconic American writer and satirist whose real name was Samuel Clemens.

Mark Twain recipients are honored with a night of testimonials and video tributes, often featuring previous award winners. The ceremony will stream on Netflix at a later date yet to be announced.

O’Brien leaped into the spotlight from near-total obscurity in 1993, when he was chosen to replace the legendary David Letterman as host of “Late Night” despite no significant on-camera experience. The former Harvard Lampoon editor had spent the previous years as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons,” appearing on camera only as an occasional background extra in “SNL” skits.

Bringing a skittish, awkward energy that contrasted with Letterman’s deadpan persona, O’Brien constantly made fun of his own gangly appearance and inappropriateness for the job. He went on to host “Late Night” for 16 years, longer than any other host.

In 2009, O’Brien’s career and persona took a turn. He became the man who publicly gained and lost his dream job while America watched.

O’Brien was tapped to replace Jay Leno as host of “The Tonight Show” despite public warnings from his own guests that Leno wasn’t ready to cede the throne. After seven months of declining ratings, NBC executives brought Leno back for a new show that would bump “The Tonight Show” back. O’Brien refused to accept the move, leading to a public spat that ended with a multimillion-dollar payout for O’Brien and his staff to exit the network in early 2010.

The aftermath split the comedy world, with Leno cast as the villain and O’Brien as the victim who was set up to fail.

In an emotional goodbye on his final “Tonight Show,” O’Brien described himself as lucky and refused to sound bitter.

“Every comedian dreams of hosting ‘The Tonight Show,’ and for seven months I got to do it,” he said. “I did it my way with people I love, and I don’t regret one second.”

He ended with a sort of generational rallying cry.

“All I ask is this one thing, particularly of young people that watch: Please do not be cynical,” O’Brien said, his voice cracking. “Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

O’Brien reemerged later in 2010 with a new talk show on the cable station TBS. Despite the channel’s lower profile, the show ran for 11 years while he launched parallel ventures like the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” and the travel show “Conan Without Borders,” a precursor to his current show.

Other comedians receiving the lifetime achievement award include both Letterman and Leno, along with George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett and Dave Chappelle. Bill Cosby, the 2009 recipient, had his Mark Twain Prize rescinded in 2019 amid multiple allegations of sexual assault.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

‘All in the Family’ star Sally Struthers says Betty White once ‘fat-shamed’ her

‘Golden Girls’ writer Stan Zimmerman told Fox News Digital about the dynamics on set when the cameras stopped rolling and why he thinks Betty White would make jokes about Estelle Getty.

“All in the Family” star Sally Struthers is opening up about an experience with the late Betty White that was “not nice.”

During a recent appearance on the “Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti” podcast, the 77-year-old actress recalled her time working on the popular American sitcom, before the topic changed to Bea Arthur and then White.

The actress shared that “now that (White is) gone,” she’s going to speak up about her negative experience with the TV legend. White died in December 2021 at the age of 99, just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday.

“I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much,” Struthers said on the podcast. “They signed petitions to get her to guest host ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I know all that. I didn’t have such a great experience with her.”

‘ALL IN THE FAMLIY’ STAR SALLY STRUTHERS RECALLS CLOSE BOND WITH CARROLL O’CONNOR: ‘I GAINED A FATHER AGAIN’

She explained that she found White to be a “very passive-aggressive woman,” recalling the time she met with White at her home to discuss the pilot of a new game show they were working on.

While they were working, Struthers recalled White asking “her housekeeper to bring in a plate” of snacks for everyone to enjoy while determining “what was working about the game show and what wasn’t.”

“Then the plate was set in the middle, and it was cookies, I think,” Struthers said. “So, I reached for a cookie, and she said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, dear. You don’t need a cookie.’ Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room. And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’”

This wasn’t the first time someone commented on Struthers’ weight. Earlier in the podcast, she recalled a moment she shared with “All in the Family” creator Norman Lear after he told her she wasn’t the funniest person who auditioned to play Gloria Stivic on the sitcom.

When she asked Lear why she was cast if he didn’t think she was the best person for the role, he told her that when deciding on who would play Gloria, he and the producers thought it would be better for the longevity of the show if the character was “more like a mama’s girl or a daddy’s little girl” type.

“We thought Archie was a lot to swallow for the American audiences with his bigotry and his social slurs,” she recalled Lear telling her. “So, we thought we could soften him up if he had a soft spot in his heart for his daughter, and she could be daddy’s little girl. So, we hired you because, just like Carroll O’Connor, you have blue eyes and a fat face.”

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

“So I reached for a cookie, and she said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you dear. You don’t need a cookie.’ Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room. And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’”

— Sally Struthers

Struthers won two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Gloria and played the character for nine seasons on CBS, from 1971 to 1979.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

While the “Gilmore Girls” actress found it difficult to get along with White, she was good friends with another “Golden Girls” star, Bea Arthur, sharing that the two of them would often run into each other while shopping in Brentwood, and Arthur would “would trash everyone we ever knew.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

The two first met when Arthur guest starred on “All in the Family” as Maude, the cousin of Jean Stapleton’s Edith Bunker. Struthers laughed as she recalled Arthur being “filthier than a drunken sailor” and making everyone crack up during rehearsal, saying she “put all sorts of expletives in her lines to shock these men.”

“Bea Arthur comes in, and she’s a force of nature,” Struthers shared. Arthur’s performance as Maude impressed Lear and other network executives so much, it led them to think, “We should give her her own show.”

“And then we get ‘Maude,” Struthers said, referencing Arthur’s hit show that ran on CBS for six seasons. “So, that’s how ‘Maude’ happened, and because of ‘Maude,’ that’s how she got ‘Golden Girls.’”

‘Conclave’ leads race for British BAFTA awards, one more than ‘Emilia Perez’

LONDON (AP) — Papal thriller ” Conclave,” which stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal overseeing the election of a new pope, leads the race — just — for the British Academy Film Awards, with nominations in 12 categories, one more than the genre-busting trans musical ” Emilia Perez.”

But with the wildfires in Los Angeles over the past week fresh in the minds of everyone in the movie industry, Wednesday’s announcement of the latest BAFTA nominations was understandably subdued.

“We are very much thinking of our colleagues, friends, community over there,” BAFTA chair Sara Putt told The Associated Press. “It’s devastating what’s going on.”

She wouldn’t be drawn on whether the fires may impact the BAFTA ceremony, which is due to take place on Feb. 16.

“The ceremony is a month away, it would be inappropriate and far too early to say anything about that,” Putt said.

The five films nominated for the prestigious best film award were “Conclave,” “Emilia Perez,” the 215-minute postwar epic ” The Brutalist,” the Palme d’Or-winning comedy/drama ” Anora ” and the Bob Dylan biopic ” A Complete Unknown.”

“The Brutalist” ended up with nine nominations, including leading actor for Adrien Brody, who faces stiff competition from Fiennes and Timothee Chalamet, who plays the young Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.”

The other actors nominated are Hugh Grant for his creepy role in the horror film ” Heretic,” Colman Domingo in real-life prison drama ” Sing Sing ” and Sebastian Stan for his portrayal of a real estate mogul — a certain Donald Trump — in ” The Apprentice.”

“Anora,” the sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked” each received seven nominations. “A Complete Unknown” received six nominations, as did “Kneecap,” the Irish-language hip-hop drama.

The prizes — officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards — are Britain’s equivalent of Hollywood’s Academy Awards and will be watched closely for hints of who may win at the Oscars on March 3.

Putt lauded the variety in the list of nominations, noting that six different genres were represented on the best film list.

“There’s some really exciting stories in there and just a real glorious range of film-making this year,” she said.

She also highlighted that 14 of the 24 nominations in the acting categories were first-timers, and that whoever wins the best actress award will be a first-time BAFTA winner.

Demi Moore is in with a chance for that, having been nominated for lead actress for her role in the body horror film ” The Substance.”

Other notable female nominations for best supporting actress were Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande for their roles in “Emilia Perez” and the musical “Wicked.”

Like other major movie awards, Britain’s film academy has introduced changes in recent years to increase diversity. In 2020, no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white.

The voting process was rejigged to add a longlist round in the selection before the final nominees are voted on by the academy’s 8,000-strong membership of industry professionals.

‘Severance’ Season 2 Is the Best Show on TV

Expectations can destroy a good TV show. For most new series, the first season is all about grabbing attention, introducing a group of characters people actually want to spend time with, and telling a good story. If that debut season succeeds? Well, the weight of success settles in. Things slow down. The temptation to run it all back and simply repeat what worked before. True Detective, anyone?

That said, you can understand why Severance fans worried that season 2 would return after a three-year break, only to just to serve audiences more in-office shenanigans and lob mystery after mystery with few answers. If this is the first review of Severance season 2 you’ve read, let me be the first to tell you: Not only is that not the case, but the Apple TV+ series makes a strong case for itself as the best show on TV. Hell, I would’ve waited another three years if I knew that season 2 was this damn good.

Before we discuss the new episodes, let’s rewind. After a successful first season, it was clear that Severance’s work-life balance separation technology was as thematically rich as George Orwell’s thoughtcrimes, Isaac Asimov’s rules of robotics, Philip K. Dick’s A.I. replicants, and the Wachowskis’s simulated realities. After all, Not to mention, the season 1 finale saw the best TV twist since The Good Place cast found out they were living in the Bad Place. Judging by the few episodes released to the press ahead of Severance’s return on January 17, it makes sense why the Apple TV+ workplace drama took so long to make it back onto our screens. Quality! At this point in the streaming wars, it’s a lost art. Severance understands that.

When season 2 opens, we’re told that it’s only been five months since the incident in the season 1 finale. Mark S. (Scott) chooses to believe this — although you can’t exactly trust Lumon — and he finds himself situated with an all-new team. Bob Balaban heads, this is your moment. The newcomers are short-lived, however, as Mark quickly works to uncover what happened to his original team and how to get them back in the office. If you recall from the finale, Helly R. (Britt Lower) found out that she is the daughter of Lumon CEO Jame Eagan. Irving (John Turturro) lost his Innie’s romance with Burt (Christopher Walken), and Dylan (Zach Cherry) learned that his Outie has a wife waiting for him at home. It’s not exactly easy coming back to work once you’re hit with news like this. But for the Outies, it’s as if nothing happened at all.

Though I will tell you that — much like many employers in the post-pandemic workplace — season 2 whips out new corporate-speak and unsettling offerings to foster better mental health at the office. It’s painfully poignant — more so than season 1, even. Season 2, in a way that I will also not reveal, also has very Severance-y thoughts about what it means to mourn the loss of a coworker after layoffs. And Lumon grinds further and further upon the will of its workforce, the series finds more opportunity to build upon its characters and not just out. Meaning: as life experience stacks on top of Innies who are technically only weeks old, season 2 sees the likes of Mark, Dylan, and Helly actually start to build an inner life.

Before I tell you exactly how Adam Scott elevates Mark into an all-time TV character in season 2, I much touch on how cool it is that Ben Stiller is a director and executive producer on Severance, working alongside creator Dan Erickson. We really don’t appreciate this as much as we should. Commend a comedian for being funny all day — Stiller’s contemporaries, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, and Adam Sandler are all hilarious actors — but directors? At this level of ingenuity? I’m looking at Meet the Fockers’ Gaylord Focker as if he’s Terry Gilliam directing Brazil.

As for Adam Scott? Mark S. will go down as the former Parks & Recreation actor’s defining role. Even in a show as packed with amazing performances as Severance, Scott’s sense of dread and confusion captures the anxiety — and more often than not, fear — of the modern-day corporate drone. He’s also granted an amazing foil in deputy manager Mr. Milchick (Tramell Tillman), who deftly plays with and subverts the character’s season 1 persona over the course of the new episodes.

Meanwhile, Helly R. (Britt Lower) is forced to reckon with the fact that her Outie is one of the Egans perpetrating her Innie’s hellish existence. Not many actors other than Scott are given the opportunity to showcase both sides of the coin, but season 2 offers a lot for Lower to chew on inside and outside of the office. Irving (John Turturro) and Burt’s (Christopher Walken) fleeting romance is given one of the most deliciously uncomfortable scenes in the series yet. Plus, Dylan’s (Zach Cherry) season 2 arc — he seeks to learn more about his Outie — is especially strong.

For those who are still wondering about the big reveals, some questions are answered — and some are some are not. The delightfully scary new employee Miss Huang (Sarah Block) and a manic Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) will likely open even more mysteries. But I can promise that season 2 is so entertaining and forthcoming about its intent to one day deliver answers that whatever theory you’ve conjured up is likely true. (Or just as good.)

Severance isn’t True Detective or Yellowjackets. Erickson and Stiller aren’t obsessed with slowly unraveling the mystery while patting themselves on the back for making it nearly impossible to figure out. Even with all of its similarly twisting hallways and occasionally frustrating ambiguity, Severance holds on to the core idea of any good sci-fi story: any attempt to remove our humanity only strengthens our desire to preserve it.

Country Star Orville Peck Sets Broadway Debut in “Cabaret. “Will He Unmask?

The famously masked singer will star as the Emcee in the revival, alongside Grammy winner Eva Noblezada

Broadway’s Tony Award-winning revival of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club has a new Emcee, and it looks to be a role that’ll be very revealing for the star playing him.

On Wednesday, Jan. 15, producers announced that queer country star Orville Peck will step into the shoes of the leading character in director Rebecca Frecknall’s production of the landmark 1966 musical, currently running at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City.

It’s a milestone moment for the South African-born, Canadian-raised singer, who makes his Broadway debut in the production. And it just might be a milestone moment for fans of Peck’s, too.

In his professional performance career, the deep-voiced crooner has famously concealed his face a different mask each time he performed, a move he said he started as a nod to the troupe of the country outlaw. And though the Emcee wears many masks himself in Cabaret, they’re more metaphorical, begging many to wonder whether Peck will ditch his trademark anonymity when he takes the stage by showing his face.

Related: Orville Peck ‘Refused’ to Give Up Despite People ‘Laughing in My Face’ for Being Openly Gay Artist (Exclusive)

Fans will have to wait until this Spring to see it for sure. The 37-year-old begins performances on Monday, March 21. His limited 16-week engagement wraps on Sunday, July 20.

Joining him in the production will be Grammy winning theater star Eva Noblezada, currently treading the boards in The Great Gatsby. She’ll play Sally Bowles, the fictional English singer who performs at the Emcee’s Kit Kat Club.

Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho, who are currently in the roles, will play their final performances in the production on Saturday, March 29.

Related: Adam Lambert Covers Cabaret’s ‘I Don’t Care Much’ in New Music Video: ‘There’s a Timelessness to This Song’ (Exclusive)

Prior to launching his wildly successful musical career, Peck studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and worked in classical theater on London’s West End.

“The Emcee has been my dream role since I was a teenager,” said Peck, in a statement released Wednesday. “The nature of the character allows for complete freedom of individual expression. It can be portrayed through such a vast range of emotions, perspectives, and performance styles. That kind of freedom is every actor’s dream.”

“I truly cannot believe I’m getting to make my Broadway debut in one of my favorite shows and in probably my favorite role in all of musical theater,” he added. “I grew up in the theater. I was a working actor and a dancer for many years before I started making music. I did the hustle, and the struggle, for a long time, trying to make things happen for myself. But it taught me so much of who I am as a performer and a person, so it feels very full circle to be making a return to it at this point in my career.”

Related: See Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho Prepare for Broadway’s Cabaret in First-Look Rehearsal Photos (Exclusive)

Noblezada, who wraps her run as ‘Daisy Buchanan’ in The Great Gatsby on Jan. 30., also expressed her excitement about the role.

“While studying musical theater in school, Cabaret always stood out,” the 28-year-old, two-time Tony nominee said. “I was, and am, amazed by the lineage of theater royalty who have been in the show. And Sally Bowles to me is simply… fascinating. She is like a totally conscious child who is also completely unhinged. Almost clownish. But real and raw and in your face. And that character amidst and against that backdrop of such an evil reality is painfully surreal.”

“I am totally psyched to start learning more,” she said. “And I am ready to be as submissive as possible to the iconic world that is Cabaret.”

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club originally opened on April 2024, with Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin.

Based on John Van Druten’s 1951 play I Am a Camera, which in turn was adapted from the 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, the musical follows fictional American writer Clifford Bradshaw as he moves to Berlin amid the rise of the Nazi party. His observations about the eccentric characters that populate the Kit Kat Club provide the groundwork for both the musical and his future novel.

The musical has long been a success both on the stage and screen, first hitting Broadway in 1966. before being turned into the 1972 film of the same name starring Oscar-winner Liza Minnelli as Sally. It was revived on Broadway in 1998 and in 2014, both with Alan Cumming as the Emcee.

A score, by Kander & Ebb, is made up of a string of songs that have become musical theater mainstays, like “Willkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mamma,” “Mein Herr,” “Two Ladies,” “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” “Money,” “Maybe This Time” and, of course, “Cabaret.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The production also stars two-time Tony Award winner and 2024 Tony Award nominee Bebe Neuwirth, Calvin Leon Smith as ‘Clifford Bradshaw,’ 2024 Tony Award nominee Steven Skybell as ‘Herr Schultz;’ Henry Gottfried as ‘Ernst Ludwig,’ and Michelle Aravena as ‘Fritzie/Kost.’

Other stars in the cast include Gabi Campo as ‘Frenchie,’ Ayla Ciccone-Burton as ‘Helga,’ Colin Cunliffe as ‘Hans,’ Kayla Jenerson as ‘Rosie,’ Marty Lauter as ‘Victor,’ Loren Lester as ‘Herman/Max,’ David Merino as ‘Lulu,’ Julian Ramos as ‘Bobby,’ MiMi Scardulla as ‘Texas,’ and Paige Smallwood. Maya Bowles, Hannah Florence, Pedro Garza, Christian Kidd, Corinne Munsch, Chloé Nadon-Enriquez, and Karl Skyler Urban are swings.

Severance” Cast Draws Huge Crowd in Grand Central Station to Promote Season 2

“Severance” Cast Draws Huge Crowd in Grand Central Station to Promote Season 2

Charna Flam

January 15, 2025 at 6:58 AM

Severance is sharing an exclusive peek into their severed office.

The acclaimed Apple TV+ series deployed an unlikely marketing tactic ahead of its second season — which premieres on Friday, Jan. 17. The series cast Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman and Patricia Arquette all gathered as their respective characters Mark Scout, Helly Riggs, Dylan George, Seth Milchick and Harmony Cobel at Grand Central Station on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Several social media users posted videos of the installment and documented the cast portraying their characters in their makeshift office space in the center of the train station.

AppleTV+ also shared a series of photos of the event to the streaming platform’s official Instagram and TikTok accounts.

Along with the cast appearing at the N.Y.C. station, series director and executive producer Ben Stiller supported the event. There, the Emmy winner, 59, took photos and videos of the cast in the enclosed office space as onlookers watched.

Several fans commented on the setup; one wrote: “THIS is amazing marketing.” Another added, “kinda insane they got the real actors to do this.” One user commented, “Top tier marketing. Someone is getting a promotion. No. Not the Severance characters.”

Related: Severance Season 2: All About the Sci-Fi Thriller Starring Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette

The workplace thriller follows a group of employees who have undergone “severance,” a procedure that separates their work personas (or “innies”) from who they are in the real world (known as their “outies”).

Scott stars as Mark, a Lumon worker who agrees to severance as a way to cope with the death of his wife. But after the mysterious disappearance of his best friend and former Lumon employee Petey, he teams up with new hire Helly (Lower) and other coworkers Dylan and Irving (John Turturro) to uncover the company’s web of conspiracies.

Related: Severance Season 2 Trailer: Lumon Is ‘Tightening the Leash’ on Its Innies as They Seek the Truth About Their Mysterious Employer

The series also stars Dichen Lachman, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus and Christopher Walken.

The series was renewed for a second season days before the season 1 finale. Since then, several stars were announced as new cast members, including Gwendoline Christie, Alia Shawkat, Bob Balaban, Merritt Wever, Robby Benson, Stefano Carannante, John Noble and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson.

Scott, 51, previously credited Stiller’s role in the casting process, telling PEOPLE in April 2024, “One of Ben Stiller’s superpowers, I think, is casting and finding the right people for roles. He’s really, really good at it.” Adding, “Our core cast is unbelievable already, but we have some just great people coming in for season two, that I can’t wait for everyone to see.”

The series was created and written by Dan Erickson, and became an instant success among viewers and critics after its April 2022 premiere. It received 14 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022, and won two awards for main title design and musical score.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Severance season 2 premieres on Jan. 17 on Apple TV+. The remaining nine episodes will air every Friday through March 21.

Read the original article on People

Country Star Orville Peck Sets Broadway Debut in ‘Cabaret’ — Will He Unmask?

Dave Quinn is a Senior Editor for PEOPLE. He has been working at the brand since 2016, and is the author of the No. 1 New York Times best-selling book, Not All Diamonds and Rosé: The Inside Story of the Real Housewives from the People Who Lived It.

Broadway’s Tony Award-winning revival of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club has a new Emcee, and it looks to be a role that’ll be very revealing for the star playing him.

On Wednesday, Jan. 15, producers announced that queer country star Orville Peck will step into the shoes of the leading character in director Rebecca Frecknall’s production of the landmark 1966 musical, currently running at the August Wilson Theatre in New York City.

It’s a milestone moment for the South African-born, Canadian-raised singer, who makes his Broadway debut in the production. And it just might be a milestone moment for fans of Peck’s, too.

In his professional performance career, the deep-voiced crooner has famously concealed his face a different mask each time he performed, a move he said he started as a nod to the troupe of the country outlaw. And though the Emcee wears many masks himself in Cabaret, they’re more metaphorical, begging many to wonder whether Peck will ditch his trademark anonymity when he takes the stage by showing his face.

Fans will have to wait until this Spring to see it for sure. The 37-year-old begins performances on Monday, March 21. His limited 16-week engagement wraps on Sunday, July 20.

Joining him in the production will be Grammy winning theater star Eva Noblezada, currently treading the boards in The Great Gatsby. She’ll play Sally Bowles, the fictional English singer who performs at the Emcee’s Kit Kat Club.

Adam Lambert and Auli’i Cravalho, who are currently in the roles, will play their final performances in the production on Saturday, March 29.

Prior to launching his wildly successful musical career, Peck studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and worked in classical theater on London’s West End.

“The Emcee has been my dream role since I was a teenager,” said Peck, in a statement released Wednesday. “The nature of the character allows for complete freedom of individual expression. It can be portrayed through such a vast range of emotions, perspectives, and performance styles. That kind of freedom is every actor’s dream.”

“I truly cannot believe I’m getting to make my Broadway debut in one of my favorite shows and in probably my favorite role in all of musical theater,” he added. “I grew up in the theater. I was a working actor and a dancer for many years before I started making music. I did the hustle, and the struggle, for a long time, trying to make things happen for myself. But it taught me so much of who I am as a performer and a person, so it feels very full circle to be making a return to it at this point in my career.”

Noblezada, who wraps her run as ‘Daisy Buchanan’ in The Great Gatsby on Jan. 30., also expressed her excitement about the role.

“While studying musical theater in school, Cabaret always stood out,” the 28-year-old, two-time Tony nominee said. “I was, and am, amazed by the lineage of theater royalty who have been in the show. And Sally Bowles to me is simply… fascinating. She is like a totally conscious child who is also completely unhinged. Almost clownish. But real and raw and in your face. And that character amidst and against that backdrop of such an evil reality is painfully surreal.”

“I am totally psyched to start learning more,” she said. “And I am ready to be as submissive as possible to the iconic world that is Cabaret.”

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club originally opened on April 2024, with Eddie Redmayne and Gayle Rankin.

Based on John Van Druten’s 1951 play I Am a Camera, which in turn was adapted from the 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood, the musical follows fictional American writer Clifford Bradshaw as he moves to Berlin amid the rise of the Nazi party. His observations about the eccentric characters that populate the Kit Kat Club provide the groundwork for both the musical and his future novel.

The musical has long been a success both on the stage and screen, first hitting Broadway in 1966. before being turned into the 1972 film of the same name starring Oscar-winner Liza Minnelli as Sally. It was revived on Broadway in 1998 and in 2014, both with Alan Cumming as the Emcee.

A score, by Kander & Ebb, is made up of a string of songs that have become musical theater mainstays, like “Willkommen,” “Don’t Tell Mamma,” “Mein Herr,” “Two Ladies,” “Tomorrow Belongs to Me,” “Money,” “Maybe This Time” and, of course, “Cabaret.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The production also stars two-time Tony Award winner and 2024 Tony Award nominee Bebe Neuwirth, Calvin Leon Smith as ‘Clifford Bradshaw,’ 2024 Tony Award nominee Steven Skybell as ‘Herr Schultz;’ Henry Gottfried as ‘Ernst Ludwig,’ and Michelle Aravena as ‘Fritzie/Kost.’

Other stars in the cast include Gabi Campo as ‘Frenchie,’ Ayla Ciccone-Burton as ‘Helga,’ Colin Cunliffe as ‘Hans,’ Kayla Jenerson as ‘Rosie,’ Marty Lauter as ‘Victor,’ Loren Lester as ‘Herman/Max,’ David Merino as ‘Lulu,’ Julian Ramos as ‘Bobby,’ MiMi Scardulla as ‘Texas,’ and Paige Smallwood. Maya Bowles, Hannah Florence, Pedro Garza, Christian Kidd, Corinne Munsch, Chloé Nadon-Enriquez, and Karl Skyler Urban are swings.

‘Severance’ Creator Teases Season 2 Reveals: “People Deserve Some Answers”

Dan Erickson, the creator and executive producer of the compelling Apple TV+ sci-fi drama Severance, is still fairly tight-lipped about what revelations Season 2 has in store for fans. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t above teasing a few details about where the narrative is going.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Erickson acknowledged the hunger for information on the part of the viewers, and promised that answers to some questions are definitely coming — but also warned that those answers will lead to other questions. He said:

“People deserve some answers, but at the same time, you can take the magic out of something by answering it too quickly or explaining it too completely. And so we were trying to hit that balance… It takes a lot of work, but I’m very happy with what we came up with for Season 2.”

So, what exactly will we learn this season? Erickson hinted that audiences will find out a bit more about what the Lumon Corporation is actually up to. “We do get to explore other parts of the severed floor that were glimpsed in season 1… And I think people are going to be excited to see more of that and start to get a sense of the bigger tapestry of what’s going on on that floor.”

Erickson also said that Milchick (Tramell Tillman) will play a bigger role in the upcoming season, and that this particular character has had quite the journey since his initial inception. He was written more as a second banana to Patricia Arquette’s Cobel, but once Tillman began speaking the lines, the character took on a life of his own.

Erickson Loves All the “Kooky” Fan Theories About the Show Close

As far as the numerous fan theories out there, Erickson admits he is painfully up-to-date on all of them, as surfing Reddit for theories and fan art is one of his favorite pastimes. Some of the theories even get fairly close to the actual trajectory of the series.

“I love all of them and some of them are kooky, but the show is kooky, so it makes sense,” he explained. “I would not say that I’ve seen anybody get it totally right… I don’t think that I’ve seen anything where I’m like, ‘Oh God, they got it. Time to leave the country and change my name.’”

Related Everything to Remember About ‘Severance’ Before Season 2

After a three-year hiatus, there are a handful of key points about ‘Severance’ that viewers will want to remember.

Posts

Erickson even said some of the theories were so good, he wished he could deviate from the already mapped-out course to try the idea. “I’ll see a theory, and I’ll be like, ‘That’s such a good idea, I wish that we were doing that.’ But at the end of the day, we know what we’re doing, and the job is just to continue in that story.”

Severance will return to Apple TV+ on Jan. 17, 2025. For those who are curious but aren’t currently subscribed to the streaming service, Apple has made the entire first season available to stream for free via Roku until Jan. 19.

Severance TV-MA DramaMystery Sci-Fi Release Date February 18, 2022 Cast Adam Scott , Britt Lower , Zach Cherry , Tramell Tillman , Jen Tullock , Dichen Lachman , Michael Chernus , John Turturro , Christopher Walken , Patricia Arquette , Sarah Bock , Marc Geller , Michael Cumpsty Seasons 2 Writers Dan Erickson Streaming Service(s) AppleTV+ Directors Ben Stiller Expand