Latest news with #Maisel
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Etoile' Canceled at Amazon After One Season — Despite Two-Season Order
Amazon's Prime Video has canceled Étoile after a single season — even though the streamer had initially asked for two. The news comes about six weeks after the series, from Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, premiered its full eight-episode season. Étoile is set in the world of ballet and centers on the heads of historic but struggling companies in New York and Paris (played by Maisel alum Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg) who decide to swap their principal dancers. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'The Better Sister' Stars React to Murder Mystery Reveal: "They Totally Threw Me Off and I Was There" 'Lee Soo Man: King of K-Pop' Director and Subject Talk New Prime Video Documentary "It's Just for the Pure Love of This Art Form": 'THR Frontrunners' Panel With 'Étoile' Showrunners Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino Prime Video gave the show a two-season, straight-to-series order in 2023 as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was in its final season. Such deals often have contingencies, however, by which a streamer or network can opt out after part of a multi-season order. That was the case with Étoile. In the three weeks of Étoile's release for which data is available, the show has not dented Nielsen's top 10 streaming charts. That would make a second season of the pricey series, which filmed on location in New York and Paris, a tough sell. Amazon MGM Studios, which produces the show and where the Palladinos have an overall deal, is also going through a leadership change: Former studio head Jen Salke, who greenlit Étoile, left Amazon in late March (though she struck a producing deal on her way out). TV chief Vernon Sanders and film boss Courtenay Valenti continue to run their respective divisions, now reporting directly to Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and the studio, rather than Salke. Along with Kirby and Gainsbourg, Étoile stars Gideon Glick, Lou de Laâge, David Alvarez, Ivan du Pontavice, Taïs Vinolo, David Haig, LaMay Zhang and Simon Callow. Sherman-Palladino and Palladino executive produced the series with Dhana Rivera Gilbert. Scott Ellis was co-EP. Deadline first reported the news. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Studio': 30 Famous Faces Who Play (a Version of) Themselves in the Hollywood-Based Series 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Étoile' creators on ‘secret weapon' choreographer Marguerite Derricks
If there's a common thread to the Palladino-verse (beyond the fast-talking), it's dance — the actors in shows created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino glide across our screens as if performing on a stage, as do the cameras tracking them. That's credit to choreographer Marguerite Derricks, who's been part of the Palladino pack for years — but with Étoile, she gets to strut her stuff. 'I've done a lot,' she says, referring to her long career, 'and I finally feel like Étoile is my thing.' Gold Derby: Marguerite, tell me your origin story. How did you first connect with Dan and Amy? More from GoldDerby 'Only Murders in the Building' Emmy odds for Selena Gomez, the Martins, and all those guest stars 'Dune: Prophecy' showrunner teases the Fremen and which books Season 2 could cover Eriq La Salle on developing 'On Call's' 'imperfect' hybrid style and returning to acting Marguerite Derricks: I first connected with Dan and Amy on the TV show Bunheads. That was our first. Étoile is our fourth show together. So we did Bunheads, which was heaven, absolute heaven. And then they wrote a bunch of dance in the Gilmore Girls reboot. And then Amy reached out to me after the pilot of Maisel was released and told me to look at it because she wanted it to leap and swirl around the screen. And then here we are with Étoile. Dan Palladino: And we have eight more that we're going to do, Marguerite, so get ready, get some sleep. We have eight more shows that we're going to do together over the next 20 years. You didn't realize this was a lifelong contract. Derricks: I'm ready, I'm always ready. I always have two suitcases in my front room because it's always jumping on a plane and I would do it in a hot second for Amy and Dan. Palladino: Marguerite has a go bag for fires and for us. I really appreciate that. Amy Sherman-Palladino: We call Marguerite our secret weapon because it's so deeply obvious what her value is, but the thing about Maisel is she did so much that people don't even realize. Obviously, when we got into like the Wolford or the strip clubs or the Catskills dance number, that's obvious to people that that is choreography and that a choreographer came in and did that. But I did a big shot of Rachel walking down what was supposed to be Christopher Street in the Village, and that was all staged and choreographed. We did a whole thing through the garment district and that was all staged and choreographed, even though it wasn't necessarily jetés. Marguerite would come in and anything where we had group scenes or movement because our camera moved so much. We needed to be able to have somebody who had that eye and who could keep an eye on things, especially in these big group numbers. She was seeing something that we weren't seeing. So she's been a part of us, whether you knew it or not, all the way through Maisel. And so now on Étoile, it's front and center. So what did it mean to you to finally get to a show that's all dance? Derricks: Well, the first time Amy whispered in my ear, I think it was two years before we even started, she whispered ballet and Paris into my ear. And I lost my stuff then! It's a dream. My son said to me a couple of years ago, 'I don't think you've had your thing yet.' I've done a lot. I think Étoile is my thing. I really feel like it's my thing. I started off as a young girl in ballet and my dream was to be a ballet dancer, but I'm short and that didn't happen for me. I played a ballet dancer on Fame, one of my first jobs, but I never got to fulfill that. I really felt like I got to fulfill that dream. It started with Bunheads, but really escalated on Étoile. And to work with those world-class dancers, for any choreographer, it was just a dream. How did you all work together in deciding what ballets you were going to include? I read that it was 29 ballets altogether. Sherman-Palladino: Wow. Was it? Holy moly. That was a lot! We should keep track of that s--t. One of the greatest things that I think sets her apart from a lot of choreographers is she really understands story and she understands comedy and she understands camera. She can do any beautiful dance in any style that you want her to do. And she can do it in a hot second, but it's different to do something that is feeding the story and is pushing the story forward or is pushing the comedy forward. She'll have worked with 20 dancers, and then Dan and I will come in and we'll go, "Yeah, that's great, can you turn it all sideways?" And she's like, "Yes, all right." And in five minutes, General Patton has redone the entire thing. And it's exactly what you need for camera. It's terrifying to watch because it's like, "OK, where do I go?" But it's that understanding of story. Every time we put a piece of dance into Étoile, it needs to push the narrative forward or it needs to say something about the story. We didn't want to be just a show that stopped for a pretty ballet. So if you're going to see a Tobias ballet, Gideon Glick's character, the ballet had to say something about what Tobias was going through or what he was pushing or what his style was, which tells you who he is as a character. So it's not enough just to do a cool ballet. Marguerite had to step back and think, what motions feed Tobias's brain? What rhythms are in his head? He's a guy who has his headphones on, so he's actually listening to music other than the music that is in his head that he's choreographing to. So what is that madness all about? And so what comes out as these really great, cool ballets, the thought process that went into them was actually much more intense than 'Let's do something with tutus.' Even the phone call in the pilot, which is the union guy talking to Genevieve as they're in the phone negotiating whether they're going to go and strike or not, we needed to see something in the background of what they were going to lose of who these dancers were, of what they were striking for, of what the point of this was. So we needed something that was motion and the dancers could come on and off and on and off and be part of it because it was about their story. So even the smallest little piece of dance, the discussions were quite elaborate just in terms of what was the story it was feeding into. Marguerite, how did you weave your dance into the story? Derricks: Amy and Dan, they put it all in the script. For a choreographer, I've been doing this for a million years, and usually it says, 'And they dance.' There's nothing there, and they dance because people don't know what they want. They don't know how important dance is and how it can drive the story forward. So for me, it's really, really easy. I love when they challenge me. I love when I see those marbles coming across the floor and they want to change something around because the direction is always there. It's always on the page. Amy and Dan always lay it out. I wouldn't want to do dance just for dance anymore. Dance driving the story is just magic. It's really magic. I feel bad for any choreographer that does not get to work with Amy and Dan. Palladino: Balanchine, sorry, dude, you are out of luck. Is there a moment that you're proudest of, given the amount of dance that's in it? Derricks: Gosh, I couldn't even say. I can't stop watching the show because I am just so blown away by what we all did and how beautiful it is. Sherman-Palladino: I'll blow Marguerite's horn for her. I'll blow it for you, young lady. We had a dance in the pilot that was supposed to introduce Cheyenne as a dancer and a personal dance that was emotional. And we did it and it was fine, but none of us were really, really happy with it. Our time was ticking, and we were coming to the end of our shoot. And Marguerite and I looked at each other and it's like, we need something else. We're telling people how great Cheyenne is. We've seen Romeo and Juliet, but that was really from Jack's point of view and how he viewed her. We need the audience to meet Cheyenne the dancer. And I threw her 'Big in Japan,' this Tom Waits song that's been in my head, in a hot second and she came up with this thing. I don't know if it was even overnight that she came up with this dance that tells you everything you need to know about Cheyenne, a woman who can't channel her emotions or frustrations in any other way but dance. The other dance we could have left in, and it would have been fine. But there was something about this moment that elevated this character so that you got her completely, and that was me throwing her a piece of music at the last minute and saying, 'What do think about this?' And Constance came in, who's Cheyenne's dance double, and she killed it. I said to McConkey, 'Strap on your Steadicam, let's go.' Marguerite and I dragged him around the room and we got that thing in record time, and it's exactly what we needed. Marguerite, how much of Tobias is based on you? Derricks: We became one! Gideon and I became one. Even reading Tobias, I auditioned eight pillows when I moved to New York for [Étoile]. All of his quirkiness, I just connected with. Gideon would come to rehearsals and he would stalk me and I would stalk him. So I always tell Gideon that we literally became one on the show. For me, Tobias is my biggest voice in the show. It's where I really got to strut my stuff and do something different with ballet that I've been wanting to do for a long time. Sherman-Palladino: 100 percent. It was the hardest thing to do because you're creating a character through dance. Because Tobias is all about the dance. He can't talk at all. He's the worst people person on the face of the earth. Maybe even worse than Cheyenne. So his whole vocabulary is dance. So if the dance didn't fit who we were trying to tell the audience he was, the character wouldn't have resonated at all. Watch our other recent Dream Team stories featuring Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, plus the two creators with star and cinematographer . This article and video are presented by Prime Video. 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Pink Villa
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Étoile Cancelled After Season 1 at Prime Video Despite 2-Part Deal, Details Inside
Fans hoping for an encore of Étoile will be disappointed — Prime Video has decided not to move forward with a second season of Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino's ballet-centered dramedy, Deadline reports. The decision comes despite the show's original two-season order and positive critical reception. Originally greenlit in 2023 with a rare two-season commitment, Étoile followed the success of Sherman-Palladino's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. However, like all multi-season deals at the streamer, renewal beyond the first season required a fresh green light — which ultimately wasn't granted. Sources say the cancellation was driven by a performance-versus-cost analysis rather than internal studio leadership changes. Though Étoile boasted an 85% Rotten Tomatoes score, it failed to crack Nielsen's Top 10 and quickly fell off Prime Video's own trending charts after a brief stint behind Reacher. The series, a passion project for Sherman-Palladino, was an ambitious and costly production, filmed in both New York and Paris with elaborate sets and dance sequences. It depicted two ballet companies uniting to save their legacies — a concept that may have struggled to attract casual viewers outside the creator's loyal fanbase. Despite its artistry and timely message about supporting the performing arts post-pandemic, Étoile didn't generate the social buzz or universal acclaim of Maisel. Still, its cancellation leaves multiple storylines unresolved, including a cliffhanger romance teased between characters Jack (Luke Kirby) and Cheyenne (Lou de Laâge). The ensemble cast included Kirby, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gideon Glick, David Alvarez, Ivan du Pontavice, and several Gilmore Girls and Maisel alums. The series was produced by Amazon MGM Studios with Sherman-Palladino, Palladino, and Dhana Rivera Gilbert as executive producers. While Étoile may have taken its final bow, its impact on the conversation around the future of performing arts endures. For now, fans can savor its singular season — a love letter to ballet and creativity — and hope the story someday returns to the stage.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
For Luke Kirby, ‘Étoile' Was a History Lesson
After charming audiences as New York City comedian Lenny Bruce in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Luke Kirby returns this week as a new New York star: Jack McMillan, director of the (fictional) Metropolitan Ballet Theater. Kirby's protagonist leads Étoile, Prime Video's ballet dramedy from Maisel co-creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino (the wife-husband team also made Gilmore Girls and Bunheads). In a last-ditch attempt to spark ticket sales, Jack agrees to trade his company's biggest stars with France's (also fictional) Le Ballet National, helmed by Charlotte Gainsbourg's Genevieve Lavigne. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Étoile' Review: Amy Sherman-Palladino's Amazon Ballet Dramedy Pirouettes Gracefully Before Stumbling in the Final Act 'The Amateur' Star Rachel Brosnahan Insists She Still Feels Like an Amateur Amy Sherman-Palladino Recalls "Weird" Network Notes For 'Gilmore Girls': "Why Isn't Rory Having Sex?" Étoile's eight episodes are stuffed with whimsical characters, sharp humor and an impressive cast of real dancers and great ballet. Through it all, Jack and Genvieve's fight to save their beloved art form becomes the show's most central duet. Below, Kirby talks to The Hollywood Reporter about returning to a Palladino set, stepping into the ballet world and learning about how our history can inform our future. *** When did you first hear about ? I'm pretty sure it was 2022. Amy and Dan called me out to dinner and it was right on the heels of Maisel wrapping. What was the pitch? I think it was a free meal (laughs). It may have involved the promise of wearing nice clothes, but I think it was mostly the free meal. And then we started to talk about our shared affection for the dance world. We talked about our romantic notions about ballet and the dance world and then with it being Amy and Dan, the potential for folly inside of that world. It's a workplace. We know that workplaces are ripe for folly. The world of ballet is — as with all art forms, there's the threat of people taking this thing very, very seriously. People that work in the arts, it's serious. It's as important as water. Did you know anything about your character, Jack, at that point? More than anything I remember the idea that this was a guy who was from the city, who had grown up immersed in the world of New York. I certainly romanticized New York in the 1980s, it was a very hot time creatively, a hot and painful time. I thought about this kid — Jack — growing up in that world and having all that greatness within reach. I just got excited about the idea of this guy. Did you look to anyone specific for inspiration? Nobody in the contemporary world. The biggest one was Lincoln Kerstein, because his passion for ballet was so evident. [Famous for his contributions to New York City's arts throughout the 20th century, Lincoln Kerstein co-founded New York City Ballet with George Balanchine in 1948]. Kerstein was such a good spokesperson for dance — he had a clear affection for it, and he was so committed to making it something culturally important in America. That degree of drive is so juicy and exciting. I think he probably had an artistic bent that was never fully fulfilled, and I see Jack similarly. Jack definitely has that drive, but this show is set in the 21st century, and post pandemic at that. The arts are in a different place than they were in Kerstein's world. That feels like part of the comedy, almost, the way your character feels out of place. I think that's right. I think Jack probably laments the age we're in. Born a little bit too late, for sure. I think Amy and Dan have this knack for writing really irreverent characters. I think we like the characters for that reason. They're characters who tell truths we're too afraid to tell. They're certainly not afraid to have cruelty be a part of their nature. But [Amy and Dan's] affection for people — for ballet — comes from a purebred heart. They'll never give you enough time to tell you how serious they are about it without pulling the rug out from underneath that sincerity. Part of how the show gets away with being irreverent and funny is the way the Palladinos hired so many real dancers. The art form is very respected. The dancers were fantastic. They adopted this idea that I was the head of their actual company. They were fully invested, fully engaged in the story. And they had to do the hardest work on set by repeating those moves day in and day out. I found them to be the biggest inspiration, seeing how early in the day they would get there and how dedicated they would be all day. Just as the case was with Maisel, everybody on the crew worked to make the immersion into the world fluid. And those dancers just provided this environment where you just — everything was in a constant state of motion. It felt very kinetic. Kinetic is a great word. I love how much of the show features dancers in the background, warming up or stretching or just talking to each other. It's quite beautiful. I love the touch at the end of the episodes showing dancers in more documentary style, too. Amy and Dan are so specific in that they reject close-ups at every turn, But to give the dancers a closer look at the end just makes it very clear what this love letter is about. Did you learn anything about ballet or dance yourself? I learned a lot about the history of ballet. The biggest thing that stood out was the way that for the first 200 years of the art form, there was nothing written down. The dances lived in the dancers' bodies and they told these stories to each other over the course of time. When you consider the history of turmoil of the countries who practice ballet, it's so remarkable. You get a sense of the meaning of survival of an art form. I don't know if 'hope' is the right word, but it's something. Charlotte Gainsbourg plays your Parisian counterpart, and Europe's arts face similar and different challenges from the U.S. — how did you two play off of your contrast? I think they kind of mirror each other. They find great relief in knowing that there's another one [of them] out there. I think they both share this mysterious thirst-quenching affection for ballet, but also they don't know what odds they'd have at any kind of art [themselves]. I'm such a fan of [Gainsbourg]. Her work is always so compelling, and just to get to have her around for this was a remarkable gift. I couldn't believe our luck. I think she's really remarkable in this show. She's like Gena Rowlands to me, her talent, her ease is really remarkable. The is already confirmed. Do you have any hopes for where the next installment will take us? I do have hopes, but I dare not say them. My feeling with Amy and Dan is that they are the guiding light to this stuff. They're so committed to their stories and I'll follow them. I just hope that they keep digging. I think that there's a lot to be [drawn] from this world. I did have a request for Amy a long time ago, I told her that I wanted to be in a cape. I was really jealous that Tony Shalhoub got to wear a cape [on Maisel] and I don't think that he should be the only one. *** All eight episodes of Étoile season one are streaming on Prime Video. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Étoile' Review: Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg Anchor Amy Sherman-Palladino's Grand Dance Drama
Since 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' ended its 22-time Emmy-winning run in 2023, TV series have been awfully short on temperamental artists, fast-talking New Yorkers and whip-smart female characters. The new Prime Video series 'Étoile' boasts all of those things — plus pouty Parisians, complex choreography and the most leg warmers you've seen since the 1980s. For their much-anticipated follow-up to 'Maisel,' husband-wife writing-producing team Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino chose to leap into the rarified world of classical dance, spotlighting two fictional companies, the Metropolitan Ballet Theater in New York and Le Ballet National in Paris. Their anxious but charismatic leaders — Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby, an Emmy winner for his turn as controversial comedian Lenny Bruce on 'Maisel') and Geneviève Lavigne (French actress-singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, impossibly chic), respectively — agree to a single-year foreign-exchange, swapping their top artists — dancers, choreographers, conductors — in order to boost ticket sales and revitalize interest in a centuries-old art form. 'A lot of our dancers have abandoned toe shoes for TikTok, the dressing rooms are filled with screaming babies and asshole rescue dogs — a generation of young people was lost,' pleads Geneviève. But it's not as simple as coordinating a college semester abroad. The gifted but socially inept MBT choreographer Tobias Bell — played by Gideon Glick (Alfie the magician in 'Maisel'), also a story editor on the series — goes into a transatlantic tailspin without his toothpaste. The Paris-bound Mishi (Taïs Vinolo), daughter of the minister of culture, is labeled a 'knee-poh' baby. The 'étoile' — aka prima ballerina — whom Jack demands, Cheyenne (Lou de Laâge), is a generational dancer with a hurricane-like presence and hair-trigger temper. And MBT's aging artistic director, Nicholas (David Haig), spends an alarming amount of time talking about sex and drugs. The whole enterprise is funded by the Machiavellian billionaire benefactor Crispin Shamblee (impish British character actor Simon Callow), whose motives are as mysterious as his sources of income. Packed with terrific choreography by 'Maisel' alum Marguerite Derricks, the luxe-looking series — Season 1 comprises of eight hour-long episodes — is filmed on location at familiar, postcard-worthy locales: the Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Comique, Opéra national de Paris, Lincoln Center, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, P.J. Clarke's, et cetera. While a few actors have doubles — de Laâge's is Constance Duvernay, who's also part of the 'Étoile' MBT company — Vinolo, a French ballerina, does her own dancing. So does David Alvarez — a standout as Bernardo in Steven Spielberg's 'West Side Story' remake and an original star of Broadway's 'Billy Elliot' musical — as Gael, an MBT persona non grata who returns to partner with Cheyenne. Sharp-eyed dance enthusiasts will also spot Tiler Peck and Robbie Fairchild, current and former New York City Ballet principals, respectively, in recurring roles. Super-hot choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, whose pieces are actually performed in 'Étoile,' appears as himself in a couple late-season episodes. Speaking of appearances: Fans of Sherman-Palladino's 2000–2007 series 'Gilmore Girls' will be tickled to see Yanic Truesdale, that show's snippy French concierge Michel, as Geneviève's snippy French co-worker Raphaël; Dakin Matthews, Headmaster Charleston on 'GG,' as an MBT board member; and Kelly Bishop, the patrician Emily Gilmore, as Jack's mother, the patrician Clara McMillan. And who else remembers Bishop's and Sherman-Palladino's previous ballet-themed show, 'Bunheads' (2012–2013)? Fun fact: Long before she became an award-winning writer-director-producer, Sherman-Palladino was an aspiring dancer. If you've never seen 'Swan Lake' — or even 'Black Swan' — don't fret. If you don't know a plié from a pirouette, not to worry. 'Étoile' is about the people, not the bends, leaps and spins. 'Étoile' premieres Thursday, April 24, on Prime Video. The post 'Étoile' Review: Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg Anchor Amy Sherman-Palladino's Grand Dance Drama appeared first on TheWrap.
