Arts - The New York Times

Backstage on Broadway With the Holiday Spirit

By ERIK PIEPENBURG

Yana Paskova for The New York Times

Six boys who play a variety of roles in the “Peter Pan”-themed musical “Finding Neverland” share one tinsel-trimmed dressing room.

Stars of “Finding Neverland, “Wicked” and “On Your Feet” decorate their personal spaces to remind them of the season.

This Season’s Breakout Star: The Border

By JOSH KUN

Fox

A scene from “Bordertown,” which debuts Jan. 3 on Fox.

Through music, film and an animated series, artists are changing the narrative about what separates Mexico and the United States.

Critic’s Notebook

Mariah Carey’s List Is Short: All She Wants Is Immortality

By WESLEY MORRIS

Brian Douglas/Crown Media

Ms. Carey in “A Christmas Melody” on Hallmark.

For two decades, Ms. Carey has had her snow boots planted on the rungs of the holiday music ladder, with “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”

The Actress Cynthia Erivo Rises With ‘The Color Purple’

By MICHAEL PAULSON

Gabriela Herman for The New York Times

Cynthia Erivo in Williamsburg.

Ms. Erivo, a 28-year-old British actress, is the talk of Broadway as critics rave about her performance as Celie in a revival of “The Color Purple.”

Review: In ‘45 Years,’ a Dead Flame Threatens a Marriage

By A. O. SCOTT

Agatha A. Nitecka/Sundance Selects

Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling in “45 Years.”

Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay play a couple whose union is unexpectedly complicated by the discovery of the husband’s long-dead former girlfriend in a glacier.

About That Bear: Alejandro G. Iñárritu Discusses Making ‘The Revenant’

By DAVID SEGAL

Kimberley French/20th Century Fox

Leonardo DiCaprio, left, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu discussing a scene during the filming of “The Revenant.”

The director and others involved in the film, including Leonardo DiCaprio, speak of the movie’s hard-core challenges, natural as well as man-made.

Critic's Notebook

For Larry Wilmore, a Wagging Finger Replaces a Wink on ‘The Nightly Show’

By JON CARAMANICA

Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for Comedy Central

A scene from “The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore.”

In a mock-news ecosystem typically defined by slick jabs and arched eyebrows, Mr. Wilmore’s show often reveals a tone of exasperation.

Checking Back

‘The King and I,’ With Hoon Lee as a More Tragic Monarch

By BEN BRANTLEY

Mr. Lee, who stepped in as His Majesty in September, invests his character with a wit and poignancy and an electric attraction to Kelli O’Hara’s Anna.

Below the Line: Editing ‘Room’

By MEKADO MURPHY

Nathan Nugent didn’t just serve as editor on the film; he also shot some footage. Possibly too much, as he found later when he went to cut it.

ArtsBeat

Morgan Library & Museum Plans Old Masters Exhibition

By GRAHAM BOWLEY

A trove of paintings from Sweden will be shown at the Morgan Library & Museum in 2017.

Beatles Albums to Go on Streaming Services Starting at Midnight

By JOE COSCARELLI

The music of the Beatles will finally be available on nine streaming music services worldwide, including Spotify and Apple Music, beginning Dec. 24.

Books of The Times

Review: Men of Letters, John Updike and Jim Harrison, and Their Poems

By DWIGHT GARNER

One writer buttoned up, another untucked, John Updike and Jim Harrison couldn’t be more different. But poetry strips away external identities to reveal the similarities within.

“Peasants Outside a Farmhouse Butchering Pork” (1641), before restoration.

Dutch Old Master Paintings Exposed (in More Than One Sense)

By JORI FINKEL

Two recently restored works by the 17th-century Dutch artist Isack van Ostade reveal figures behaving less than decorously.

Michael Moore in his latest documentary, “Where to Invade Next.”

Review: ‘Where to Invade Next,’ Michael Moore’s Latest Documentary

By STEPHEN HOLDEN

Mr. Moore travels through Europe in search of solutions to what he considers to be America’s social ills.

The Upshot

What ‘The Big Short’ Gets Right, and Wrong, About the Housing Bubble

By NEIL IRWIN

It’s not that no one suspected there was a bubble; it’s that few people saw its full implications, and how far the contagion might spread.

Joan La Barbara leading singers on Monday on the steps between Fort Washington Avenue and Overlook Terrace in Washington Heights.

In Make Music Winter, Critics Find Their Inner Yodelers and Pilgrims

By CORINNA da FONSECA-WOLLHEIM, VIVIEN SCHWEITZER and ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Whooping, chanting and caroling, reviewers from The Times sampled three of the 12 musical parades organized as part of this annual event.

So Many Sugarplums, Past and Present

By ALASTAIR MACAULAY

Half a dozen ballerinas make their debuts as the Sugarplum Fairy, and great past performances of the role can be appreciated anew.

From left, Giselle Wolf, Brad Fryman, Barbara Wengerd and John Pasha in “The Long Christmas Dinner,” part of “A Wilder Christmas” at the Theater at St. Clement’s.

Review: Darkness Laced With Sentiment in ‘A Wilder Christmas’

By LAURA COLLINS-HUGHES

This double bill of one-acts by Thornton Wilder traces 90 years in the life of a family over a dinner table, and invites audience participation during a fictional train trip.

Nicolas Cage returned the skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar that had been stolen from Mongolia.

Nicolas Cage Agrees to Return Stolen Dinosaur Skull to Mongolia

By KATIE ROGERS

Mr. Cage bought the the skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar at auction for $276,000. But authorities say it was stolen from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

U.S. Says Hacker Stole IDs and Unreleased Scripts From Host of Celebrities

By BENJAMIN MUELLER

The charges against Alonzo Knowles illustrate the ease with which private email contacts, even for security-conscious entertainers, can be exploited.

ArtsBeat

Dallas Symphony, Citing Security Concerns, Cancels Tour

By MICHAEL COOPER

The League of American Orchestras said it was unaware of any other orchestra tours being canceled for safety reasons.

ArtsBeat

$40 Million MoMA Gift from Kenneth C. Griffin Brings Naming Rights to Johnson Wing

By RANDY KENNEDY

A hedge fund manager’s donation to the Museum of Modern Art is one of the largest gifts in its 86-year history.

Noma Dumezweni will portray Hermione in a West End production.

Casting a Black Hermione Granger Underscores a Key Harry Potter Theme

By JAMES PONIEWOZIK

It would be the most perverse kind of fandom for any Potterphile to use the reasoning of a Malfoy.

ArtsBeat

Adele’s ‘25’ Is Now the Best-Selling Album Since Adele’s ‘21’

By BEN SISARIO

The British artist’s third album spends a fourth week at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, while Coldplay’s LP falls from second place to No. 7.

Clockwise from top left: Kamasi Washington, Carly Rae Jepsen, the Weeknd and Justin Bieber.

Popcast: Best Singles of 2015

By BEN RATLIFF

The New York Times’s music critics discuss their favorite songs of the year.

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’

A ‘Star Wars’ Refresher

By LORNE MANLY

Quickly bone up on the films leading up to “The Force Awakens.”

Waiting for the beginning of the movie at the Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan were, from left, David Thompson, 10, Marc Thompson, 41, and Josh Thompson, 12.

‘Star Wars’ Opens Amid Hype and Nostalgia

By BROOKS BARNES and MICHAEL CIEPLY

Americans lined up on Thursday night for the beginning of round-the-clock screenings.

In New ‘Star Wars,’ Daisy Ridley and John Boyega Brace for Galactic Fame

By DAVE ITZKOFF

Ms. Ridley and Mr. Boyega, among the new heroes of “The Force Awakens,” discuss how they are preparing for worldwide visibility and making their marks in a multibillion-dollar franchise.