Latest news with #OvertheRainbow
The Citizen
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
From nurse to author, an autobiography on identity, faith, and healing
From nurse to author, an autobiography on identity, faith, and healing SEDIBENG. – A former resident of Rus-Ter-Vaal, Ronnie Eric van der Merwe, now residing in Braamfischer, Soweto, has written an autobiography. From the Inside Out is Van der Merwe's second book, which he promises will be more revealing and entertaining than his first – his memoir Over the Rainbow. Van der Merwe said that the autobiography is an honest look at his life, where he delves into the most sacred spaces of his soul and leaves no stone unturned. These include his sexuality, HIV/AIDS, COVID, and adoption. Van der Merwe is proudly gay, and a single parent to a 10-year-old girl. 'There is no shame but only gratitude as I highlight my mistakes and triumphs. I also proudly stand up for my faith and beliefs. In doing so, I hope that my book will inspire readers to fight for their beliefs too,' he said. Van der Merwe is a professional nurse at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. His official book launch at the Rus-Ter-Vaal Library is scheduled for September 6. 'I have learned how to turn my wounds into wisdom, and I want to share that with my readers. Our secrets make us sick.' At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Chicago Tribune
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Elgin News Digest: Carpentersville police officers lauded for saving a life with AED; Elgin Summer Theatre to present ‘Wizard of Oz' at Hemmens
Three Carpentersville police officers who used an AED device to save the life of a 40-year-old man in August 2024 are being celebrated on the Firehouse Subs Foundation website. According to the post, the officers found the man unconscious and not breathing. They used CPR and an AED defibrillator to help revive him and keep him alive so he could be taken to a local hospital. Carpentersville Police Chief Todd Shaver said the incident happened in the 1600 block of Seminole Lane. The officers who saved the man's life were Jose Chamorro, Ryan Miles and Nick Valzano. Each was recognized by the Carpentersville Fire Department with a Life Saving Award at an awards banquet earlier this year. In 2023, the village received a donation of $23,979 from Firehouse Subs for lifesaving equipment, which allowed the department to purchase AEDs, Shaver said. Elgin Summer Theatre's production of 'The Wizard of Oz' will be presented by the Up And Coming Theatre Company and the city of Elgin at The Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin. Shows will be presented at 7:30 p.m. July 11-12 and 18-19 and at 3 p.m. July 13 and 20, according to the city of Elgin's website. The musical is a stage adaptation of the classic 1939 movie, which is based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.' Songs from the movie, including 'Over the Rainbow' and 'We're Off to See the Wizard,' will be part of the show. Tickets are $24 and $30 and can be purchased at To show its appreciation for the community's support, the Food for Greater Elgin food pantry will hold an open house from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, July 11, at its Elgin warehouse at 1553 Commerce Drive. The 'Open Doors, Full Hearts' event will feature behind-the-scenes tours of the facility, light refreshments and a chance to meet volunteers and staff, according to the nonprofit's website. For more information, go to or email Emily Tyler at etyler@ The Rotary Club of Carpentersville will host 'Blind Flights,' a picnic-style craft beer tasting, from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 12, in Carpenter Park, 275 Maple Ave., Carpentersville. Attendees will vote on their favorites in various categories without knowing which brewer produced what beer, according to the club's website. The event will feature beers from 11 breweries as well as food for purchase from No Manches and Duke's Blues-N-BBQ, a social media post said. Proceeds will help support Rotary programs, including those that provide winter coats for kids in need, fund scholarships and assist local food pantries. Tickets are $38.10 and can be purchased at
Business Wire
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Wire
LIONS, TIGERS, AND SCORES – OH MY! THE ICONIC SOUNDS OF OZ COME TO SPHERE
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR) announced today new details around the sound, score and infrasound haptic seats for The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, a fully immersive experience that will make audiences feel like they have stepped inside the film. Sphere Studios is leveraging Sphere's audio technologies, along with newly discovered archival material, to create an experience that remains true to the filmmakers' intent while layering in technologies that bring it new life. 'There's Dorothy and 'Over the Rainbow' as you heard them before, and there will be Dorothy and 'Over the Rainbow' as you hear them now, with the film's classic music taking on new clarity and immersion through Sphere Immersive Sound,' said Carolyn Blackwood, Head of Sphere Studios. ' The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, heard and felt through our cutting-edge technologies, will create a new emotional connection to The Wizard of Oz that is only possible at Sphere.' To take advantage of Sphere Immersive Sound's 167,000 programmable speakers, and ability to direct sound anywhere in the venue, the original film's mono score was re-recorded to take on new clarity via Sphere Immersive Sound, while preserving the casts' vocal performances. The mono audio had to first be separated into individual stems of vocals, dialogue, and sound effects. This process, a collaboration between Sphere Studios and Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services, used advanced audio technologies to create the individual components without distortion or artifact. Inside Sphere, the stems are being layered together to create a sound mix that reveals a depth and clarity unheard in the 1939 film. At Sphere, our respect for this Academy Award-winning music extended to re-recording the score on the same scoring stage as the 1930s original – retaining the same acoustic environment. To further maintain the integrity of the original score, the re-recorded score features more than 80 musicians playing in the 1930s style of film music, including techniques such as pizzicato and vibrato that were standard for the era, but are less common in modern scores. Additionally, an ocarina, a small wind instrument used during the original recording session of 'If I Only Had a Brain,' was also used for The Wizard of Oz at Sphere recording, having been passed down through generations of musicians. While re-recording the score, each section of the orchestra was also recorded individually with state-of-the-art miking. Coupled with Sphere Immersive Sound's directional capabilities and the vocal and sound effect stems, it will seem as though sound travels around the venue. For example, as the Tin Man tilts back and forth during his number, the isolated sound of the strings will also oscillate to emphasize his movement in visual and sonic unison. 'We approached the recording and mixing process for The Wizard of Oz at Sphere with a deep reverence for the original music, resulting in a breathtaking blend of legacy and innovation,' said Julianne Jordan, Grammy Award-winning music supervisor of The Wizard of Oz at Sphere. 'Sphere Immersive Sound offers opportunities for sound mixing that go well beyond a traditional theater, and this score will now be heard and felt with a level of clarity and immersion that was previously impossible.' To enhance the immersion in The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, Sphere's infrasound and haptic seat technology is being used for the first time to not only create vibrations, but also emit tones that emphasize moments in the film experience. For example, when the characters enter the haunted forest, an eerie tone will emanate from the seats, bringing the audience into the foursome's perspective and imposing the same ominous feeling. 'This is the first time sound technology has been used in this way in any venue,' said Paul Freeman, Vice President and Principal Audio Artist, Sphere Studios. 'We developed a physical way of delivering sound that allows us to not only vibrate the seats, but also place tone in them that puts you in the film – audiences will literally feel what they are hearing.' The vibrations, infrasound, and Sphere Immersive Sound will come together for maximum impact during key moments of The Wizard of Oz at Sphere. When the main characters visit the Wizard in his throne room, his voice will boom throughout the venue, complemented by tremors and low frequency sounds from the seats. Intentional reverberations will be created within the venue to completely immerse the audience in sound – and anticipation. The Wizard of Oz at Sphere will transport audiences, making them feel like they are in Oz traveling down the yellow brick road alongside Dorothy and her friends on an adventure to the Emerald City. The original film, shot for a 4:3 movie screen in the 1930s, will now fill Sphere's 160,000 sq. ft. interior display plane, which wraps up, over and around the audience to create a fully immersive visual environment. The Wizard of Oz at Sphere will utilize environmental effects and custom scents to make audiences feel as if they are part of the movie and have landed in Kansas and Oz. The sound creative team for The Wizard of Oz at Sphere includes Grammy Award-nominated music producer/sound designer Paul Freeman (Spies); Grammy Award-winning music supervisor Julianne Jordan (A Star Is Born); Academy Award-nominated composer David Newman (Anastasia); and Academy Award-winning sound engineer Shawn Murphy (Jurassic Park). And from Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services: sound engineer Tony Pilkington (Sinners); Academy Award-winning supervising sound editor/sound designer Richard King (Dune: Part Two); and Cinema Audio Society-nominated re-recording mixer Tim LeBlanc (Superman). The Wizard of Oz at Sphere opens August 28, 2025, with multiple showtimes daily. Tickets start at $104 and are on sale now at For groups of nine or more, please contact 725-258-7775 or groups@ For suites, please contact 725-258-6743 or suites@ Hotel packages are available for a limited time exclusively through The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, the resort connected to Sphere. For more information, visit or call 866-682-6155. For press assets related to sound, please click here. For an embeddable YouTube link to the sound video, please click here. For the complete The Wizard of Oz at Sphere EPK, please click here. About Sphere Immersive Sound Sphere Immersive Sound was specifically developed for Sphere's curved interior. The system includes 167,000 individually amplified loudspeaker drivers. The system's 3D audio-beamforming technology creates unique, highly controlled soundwaves, ensuring that levels and quality remain consistent from point of origin to destination. The system also utilizes wave field synthesis, a spatial audio rendering technique that leverages virtual acoustic environments, allowing sound designers to create a virtual point of origin, which can then be placed in a precise spatial location in the venue. About Sphere Sphere is a next-generation entertainment medium that is redefining the future of live entertainment. A venue where the foremost artists, creators, and technologists create extraordinary experiences that bring storytelling to a new level and take audiences to places both real and imagined. The venue hosts original Sphere Experiences from leading Hollywood directors; concerts and residencies from the world's biggest artists; and premier marquee events. The first Sphere venue opened in Las Vegas in September 2023, and is a new Las Vegas landmark, powered by cutting-edge technologies that ignite the senses and enable audiences to share experiences at a never-before-seen scale. More information is available at
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘It's Dorothy!' Review: ‘Wizard of Oz' Protagonist Gets a Deep-Dive Cultural Analysis in Wide-Ranging if Overstuffed Appreciation
A favorite nugget of Wizard of Oz lore for many of us is the sublimely funny TV guide blurb written for a 1998 TCM airing of the MGM classic: 'Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.' The inclusion of amusing oddities like that is what pulls It's Dorothy! back whenever it threatens to go from exhaustive to exhausting, from dissection to dissertation. Welcome humor comes also from new discoveries — at least to me — like the bizarrely kitsch spectacle of eliminated contestants on BBC talent search show Over the Rainbow removing their jeweled slippers and handing them to Andrew Lloyd Webber on a throne before being carried off the set on a cutout moon. WTF? The winner — or survivor — of that Brit reality TV horror, Danielle Hope, went on to star in London as Dorothy Gale in Lloyd Webber's 2011 stage musical adapted from the 1939 film that starred Judy Garland and the 1900 children's novel by L. Frank Baum, on which it was based. More from The Hollywood Reporter Harris Yulin, Actor in 'Scarface,' 'Training Day' and 'Ozark,' Dies at 87 LGBTQ Representation in Film Drops to Three-Year Low, Says GLAAD Report 'Surviving Ohio State' Review: HBO's Sexual Abuse Doc Is Thorough and Persuasive, but Lacks a New Smoking Gun Hope is one of five former Dorothys from film, TV and the stage who speak with disarming tenderness about the experience — the ways in which the character intersected with their own lives at the time; their connection to the search for home that was fundamentally a search for herself; and the influence the Kansas farm-girl runaway had on their place in the world. One interviewee notes of actors who have played Dorothy, whether in a school production or a big-budget movie: 'When they put on the slippers, there's some sense of self that gets cracked open that maybe they couldn't see before.' There's almost too much to savor in writer-director-editor Jeffrey McHale's archivally loaded Dorothy-pedia. But it's the emotional transparency of the women personally touched by the character at formative times in their lives that gives the doc its big-hearted infectiousness. I could have listened for hours to the captivating Shanice Shantay — cast as Dorothy in the 2015 NBC special, The Wiz Live! — talk with candor about the highs of that one-and-done performance and the plummet back to real life that followed. Nichelle Lewis, who made her Broadway debut in the 2024 revival of The Wiz, gives a touching account of the way Dorothy's escape into fantasy mirrored her own coping mechanisms when she lost her father at age 9. Lovely input also comes from Fairuza Balk, in an audio interview, looking back on her screen debut at age 11, playing Dorothy in 1985's unofficial sequel, Return to Oz, which explored a much darker side of Baum's fiction series. Despite the film's underwhelmed reception as a 'sad downer,' Balk has fond recollections of people approaching her for years afterwards to praise her performance and share how the film provided an escape from whatever bad things life had thrown at them. Comparable responses have met countless versions of the story in its extraordinarily durable 125-year lifespan, whether on the page, in illustrated editions, cartoons, features, television or musical theater. While the literary property had generated a 1902 Broadway musical and three silent films before Victor Fleming's canonical screen retelling, McHale devotes much of the first half to the MGM movie, particularly in terms of the blurred lines separating Garland from Dorothy. He also makes clever use of clips from across Garland's entire filmography to enhance key points, meaning the actress is as much the core of the film as her most iconic character. Gregory Maguire, author of the revisionist novel on which Wicked was based, says, 'L. Frank Baum gave us a foundational myth for America that I do believe won't die as long as America is a country. Dorothy still has a great deal of energy and power.' A wide range of commentators weigh in on the central theme of yearning for something just out of reach that made generation after generation identify so strongly with Dorothy. She is given no physical description in the novels, allowing readers to imprint themselves onto the character — whether that's young girls at a transitional moment in life or queer communities finding kinship in a character being denied some innate need. The yellow brick road itself is an essential part of the queer narrative. It encapsulates a journey to which many LGBTQ people at any given time can relate, the flight of the outsider away from small-town isolation to the big city in search of an identity. There are conflicting opinions about when 'friend of Dorothy' became a coded term to refer to gay men, just as there are debunked myths built around the close timeline proximity of Garland's death to the Stonewall riots, which marked a turning point for gay rights. But one commentator makes the valid point that it doesn't really matter what's true and what's not when it comes to Dorothy's significance in queer culture. Hilarious commentary from John Waters and Margaret Cho expands on that connection, while Lena Waithe eloquently straddles the queer perspective and that of a Black woman. The latter becomes more central once The Wiz fully enters the conversation, first as a Broadway hit that seemed doomed when it opened but went on to dominate the 1975 Tony Awards, and later in Sidney Lumet's critically reviled 1978 movie adaptation, which nonetheless became a cultural touchstone for multiple generations of Black Americans. Diana Ross, who controversially played Dorothy as an adult in that version, does not participate in the doc, but McHale makes effective use of relevant passages lifted from her audiobook memoir. The Luther Vandross song written for the show, 'Brand New Day,' is an anthem of freedom and liberation contextualized in the Black experience, which plugged into a transitional phase in Ross' career. She credits the movie with giving her strength as a woman and a performer. An uplifting illustration of that is footage of her storied 1983 Central Park concert, which shows her joyfully performing in pouring rain in an orange sequined bodysuit and billowing coat. Gorgeous archival interview clips with the young Stephanie Mills, Broadway's original Dorothy in The Wiz, underline the gulf between audiences' love for her and the unkind barbs of critics at the time. R&B star Ashanti, who played Dorothy first in the 2005 TV movie The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (always fun to see Miss Piggy throwing shade at a female co-star) and four years later in a limited New York run of The Wiz, also makes thoughtful contributions, recalling her first exposure to the Motown-produced Lumet film around age 7, and the huge inspiration she drew from Ross' performance. McHale clearly adores Garland, and there's so much here — both widely known and freshly insightful — that he could easily have made the entire doc about the Judy-Dorothy symbiosis, and the enduring resonance of the MGM star's signature song, 'Over the Rainbow.' Extending his insatiably curious gaze far beyond that brings many illuminating observations — not to mention fabulous clips from both well-known and obscure versions as well as pop-culture nods from Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park and Dora the Explorer, to name a few — but it also results in some elements feeling shoehorned in for the sake of comprehensiveness. The wrap-up section on Wicked seems almost an afterthought; glimpses of wacky merchandizing and commercial tie-ins are too quick to appreciate; and self-described 'Dorothy Gale enthusiast' Rufus Wainwright deserves more time, both singing 'Over the Rainbow' and addressing the current resurgence in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric: 'We really are being pursued again by this dark force that wants us dead and wants to eliminate us and wants to steal our ruby slippers.' Perhaps the most rushed section is an account by Baum's great-granddaughter Gita Dorothy Morena, first of being introduced to the novels as a child, and later, traveling with her mother to different places where the author had lived. A stop in South Dakota, where Baum was editor of a Dakota Territories newspaper, yielded a shocking discovery for Morena. Her great-grandfather had penned an 1890 editorial stating that the only way to ensure the safety of Americans was to continue the wrongs done to the country's Indigenous people for centuries and wipe 'these untamed and untamable creatures' from the face of the earth. Morena and another descendant later returned to South Dakota to issue a formal apology to the Native population. Writer and academic Roxane Gay adds that such discoveries don't mean we can never watch our favorite movie again, but that contemporary audiences can benefit from some foregrounded context: 'That way people know a human being made this art, and human beings make mistakes all the time.' All of this is fascinating stuff, even if the material might seem more suited to a limited series that would allow the many distinct parts more breathing space and a few more song interludes that aren't just fragments (more of Lewis singing 'Home' on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts, please). It's more reverential and consequently less playful than McHale's Showgirls reappraisal, You Don't Nomi. But it's smart, analytical and stacked with magical visuals, not least of them the enchanting transition from B&W to color in the Garland film. Now, time for therapy to address my childhood deprivation of the LEGO Wizard of Oz set. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
Miami Herald
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
AGT contestant's journey from living in her car to golden buzzer wows everyone
Charity Lockhart will have quite the story to tell at her 50th birthday party later this year. The 49-year-old singer, who appeared on 'America's Got Talent' on June 10, went from being stopped by judge Simon Cowell midway through her set to earning a golden buzzer just minutes later. Now, she has hopes of winning America's largest talent show and, one day, earning herself a Grammy. And she has quite the story to go along with her ambitious goal. As is tradition on the show, Lockhart shared her story and reason for auditioning — arguing that, while she loves singing and loves music, she primarily does it for her two kids. She then joked that she's raising two 'little' children: a 27-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son. Following a divorce years ago, Lockhart says the trio were forced to live in a car while she performed at clubs and bars to make ends meet. 'All I had was my voice,' she told the audience as her two kids looked on. 'I asked live bands if I can sing with them, and they would give me a little money at the end of the night.' The family's first big break came when Lockhart won a local singing competition — which she joked was not as big as the stage she was standing on now. 'We won a monetary reward, and that gave us our first apartment,' she said to a crowd of cheers. According to her website, Lockhart won $1,000 in that competition in Arizona. She went on to create an Aretha Franklin tribute show that she says was approved by the Franklin family. The show was regularly performed on cruise ships and was 'rated one of the best-received acts on the international waters,' per her website. Prior to her audition, Cowell encouraged Lockhart by telling her that 'anything is possible' when you have talent. 'So, we are all honestly rooting for you right now. Come on!' he said. Lockhart's AGT audition starts off on the wrong foot For her first song, Lockhart sang an a capella of Judy Garland's 'Over the Rainbow.' Her talent was obvious, but she was cut short after just 30 seconds as Cowell put two hands in the air and asked her to stop. 'I stopped you because I like you, but it just wasn't working for me,' Cowell said to a crowd of boos. 'Have you got another song?' Cowell asked, giving Lockhart a chance at redemption. For her second song, she performed a version of 'Golden Slumbers' by The Beatles — this time with background music. 'Look, I really want this to work for you. And I know this is a lot of pressure. But come on, you've got it in you. Let's hear the other song,' Cowell said before she started singing. Sofía Vergara's jaw dropped 30 seconds later, and Cowell's jaw followed. And that was before she started hitting whistle notes. Mel B liked it so much that she was the first to stand up and cheer when the song ended — and the entire audience (including Cowell) followed. 'This is what a great audition is all about,' Cowell said. 'You know when people are going to talk about you the following day — that was one of those auditions. It was that good.' Mel B uses her second golden buzzer of the season As for Mel B, she had a golden look in her eye the entire performance. 'Oh man, you know what, every once in a while you see somebody, you connect with them and they just bring more and more to the table,' she said. 'I think you're amazing and I want to give you this right now,' she said — pressing the golden buzzer. The 'golden buzzer' is a button that AGT judges can press when they are so impressed by an act that they want to send them directly to the live shows. You can watch the golden moment in its entirety below: It was Mel B's second use of the buzzer this season after sending the Messoudi Brothers straight to the live shows during the second night of auditions. 'Oh, I know instantly,' she told NBC Insider of her golden buzzer sense. 'Both my golden buzzers, I knew. And I'm like, 'Nobody on the desk knows that I'm gonna buzz?' I even went to everybody else to see what they thought. I played it well,' she added, per NBC News. Live shows begin airing Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
