Day: December 7, 2022

Amid a long shutdown, she had some grand moments

For Megan Hilty, the all-or-nothing world of show business hit some extremes.
The Covid shutdown lingered. There were no Broadway shows, no on-camera roles. “To have that taken away was a shock,” she said.
But then there was one busy stretch, a year ago. First, she was hurriedly added to NBC’s “Annie Live,” replacing Jane Krakowski, who had Covid. Two weeks after that, she was in Salt Lake City, surrounded by the 300-voice Tabernacle Choir (formerly Mormon Tabernacle Choir). “It is enormous,” she recalled in a virtual press conference. “It’s almost like bathing in sound.”
That Christmas concert (shown here) will air at 8 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 13) on PBS and 8 p.m. ET Dec. 18 on BYU-TV. It almost didn’t happen. Read more…

Best-bets for Dec. 9: Christmas classics collide

1) Christmas classics, 8-10 p.m. Here are three of the best holiday films — each made for theaters, not TV. “A Christmas Story” (1983), on TNT, alternates between nostalgia and cynicism, as a boy (Peter Billingsly, shown here) struggles with a 1940s holiday. “Scrooged” (1988), on the Paramount Network, is a satire, with Bill Murray as a cold-hearted TV executive. “Elf” (2003), at 8 and 10 on AMC, has a guy (the 6-foot-3 Will Ferrell) realizing he’s not really an elf. Read more…

Menzel has had her ups (big ones) and downs

A strange, sad Thanksgiving seemed to prepare Idina Menzel for any bumps ahead.
She was 15 and doted-upon. Ever since she was 3, she would burst into song for her parents, her younger sister and anyone else nearby.
Then, suddenly, her parents called the guests to cancel Thanksgiving dinner. Thye told the girls there would be a divorce (an amicable one) … and then took them to a grim dinner in a restaurant.
That was an eye-opening experience, Menzel (shown here) says in her new film on Disney+. She learned that “in life, nothing is what you expect.” Read more…