MARK KENNEDY Entertainment Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

Arson ignites the Dennis Lehane-created Apple TV+ firebug series ‘Smoke’

June 25, 2025

Dennis Lehane, whose literary canon includes the novels-turned-movie hits “Gone, Baby, Gone” and “Mystic River,” has turned to fire for his latest project — Apple TV+’s new nine-episode crime drama “Smoke.” It debuts Friday. It’s based on the true story of a former arson investigator who was convicted in 1998 of serial arson, captured in part after he wrote a novel about a firefighter who was a serial arsonist. The case — chronicled in the 2021 podcast Firebug — sparked something in Lehane. The show marks a reunion between Lehane, Greg Kinnear and Taron Egerton, who previously worked together on the 2022 Apple TV+ series “Black Bird.”

Pint-size pioneer ‘Dora the Explorer’ celebrates her 25th anniversary

June 23, 2025

Twenty-five years ago, a little girl with a bob haircut appeared on our TVs, speaking a mix of English and Spanish, with a spunky, can-do spirit. This was, of course, “Dora the Explorer,” the first Latina to lead a major cartoon series and the girl who helped spearhead the rise of multicultural children’s programming in the U.S. on her way to becoming a cultural phenomenon. Nickelodeon is celebrating Dora’s 25th anniversary with the feature-length live-action movie “Dora and the Search of Sol Dorado,” a third season of the rebooted animated series “Dora,” the podcast Dora’s Mermaid Adventures, an album of songs and plenty of toys and apparel.

A Grammy category is created for album covers just as Sabrina Carpenter’s takes the spotlight

June 12, 2025

The Recording Academy has tweaked some of its rules for the 2026 Grammy Awards, including carving out a stand-alone category for best album cover. It came a day after Sabrina Carpenter revealed the title and release date for her new album, “Man’s Best Friend.” The image shows Carpenter kneeling on the ground while pulled by the hair. Some fans said was demeaning while others argued was satirical. That album is scheduled for release just before the eligibility window closes. Other Grammy changes include the creation of a best traditional country album category, while the existing best country album category has been renamed best contemporary country album.

Tony Awards draw best audience in 6 years for CBS

June 9, 2025

The Tony Awards on Sunday lured 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years. CBS says Monday that Nielsen data shows the telecast — hosted by “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo — scored a 38% increase over last year’s 3.53 million viewers. That’s the largest audience for the Tonys since 2019, when the telecast that year nabbed 5.4 million viewers and “Hadestown” was crowned best new musical. The latest version also had to compete with the second game of the NBA Finals, between the Thunder and Pacers,

Tony Awards offer many intriguing matchups in a star-studded season

June 7, 2025

A pair of singing androids. Two Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. A drunken Mary Todd Lincoln. A musical with a corpse as its hero. A “Romeo and Juliet” with teddy bears and rave music. Not to mention George Clooney. Broadway has had a stuffed season with seemingly something for everyone and now it’s time to recognize the best with the Tony Awards. They’re set for Sunday night on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ with Cynthia Erivo as host. Broadway buzz is usually reserved for musical but this year plays powered by A-list talent are driving the conversation.

Tom Felton will become Draco Malfoy again — this time, on Broadway

June 5, 2025

The original Draco Malfoy from the “Harry Potter” movies will slip into his old role on Broadway this winter in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” Tom Felton will be making his Broadway debut in the role, beginning performances at the Lyric Theatre on Nov. 11 and playing through March 22, 2026. Malfoy was Potter’s nemesis in the books and eight movies. But in the play set 19 years after the events of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” Potter’s son Albus becomes friends with Malfoy’s son Scorpius at Hogwarts.

Kara Young, already on a Broadway streak, could make Tony history with her role in ‘Purpose’

June 3, 2025

Kara Young’s work in the play “Purpose” has earned her a Tony Award nomination and a chance to make history. Already the first Black person to be nominated four times consecutively, if she wins, she’ll be the first Black performer to win two Tonys in a row. “Purpose,” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ drawing-room drama is about an accomplished Black family revealing its hypocrisy and fault lines during a snowed-in gathering. Young made her Broadway debut in 2021 in “Clyde’s,” was in “Cost of Living” the next year and co-starred opposite Leslie Odom Jr. in 2024’s “Purlie Victorious” winning a Tony.

How Christopher Gattelli crafted Broadway’s ‘Death Becomes Her’ and made it a Tonys powerhouse

June 2, 2025

When he was first asked to lead the Broadway hit musical “Death Becomes Her,” director and choreographer Christopher Gattelli loved it, but refused to work on the big, splashy opening number. It was just too delicious. So Gattelli worked out everything else about how to put Robert Zemeckis’ 1992 comic cult classic onto a stage and only then turned to the brassy song, “For the Gaze,” a winking nod to gay men. What Gattelli crafted is an opening number for the ages: Mid-song costume changes, spangly jumpsuits, tuxedos, high-kicking Vegas showgirls, a body double doing somersaults and a Liza Minnelli cameo.

What to watch for at the Tony Awards, Broadway’s biggest night

May 30, 2025

The Tony Awards this year will be held Sunday, June 8, from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It will be broadcast live to both coasts on CBS and Paramount+. Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-winner and three-time Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo will host. There are new six new musicals hoping to win: “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Dead Outlaw,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Maybe Happy Ending” and “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical.” For new plays, it’s “English,” “The Hills of California,” “John Proctor Is the Villain,” “Oh, Mary!” and “Purpose.” Audra McDonald, the most recognized performer in the theater awards’ history, could possibly extend her lead as most decorated actor.

Special Tony for educators goes to NYC high school teacher who urges students to ‘step out the box’

May 29, 2025

The special Tony Award that honors educators is going to a New York public high school teacher who shows how theater skills can apply to a career in the arts and also far away from it. Gary Edwin Robinson says he tries to show how theater can “help develop you in whatever area you’re going into.” Robinson teaches five drama classes a day, offering an average of 95-100 students a three-year sequence of 45-minute sections. The award includes a $10,000 prize and a pair of tickets to the Tony ceremony and gala. Robinson’s students will also receive a visiting master class taught by Carnegie Mellon drama professors. The Tony Awards will be held June 8.

Phineas and Ferb return this summer with zany new episodes and a small change

May 28, 2025

The beloved cartoon duo Phineas and Ferb are returning for new episodes this summer after a decade away and pretty much nothing has changed. Except maybe one thing. The most observant viewers will notice Phineas’ shirt has one extra stripe. Other than a fourth stripe on Phineas’s orange-and-white T-shirt, “Phineas and Ferb” return with all the characters that Gen Z viewers so adored, including Perry the Platypus, the mad scientist Dr. Doofenshmirtz, the easily excitable older sister Candace and the bully Buford. The first two episodes air June 5 on Disney Channel and Disney XD and premiere on Disney+ the next day.

Tony Award nominee Marjan Neshat makes history in celebrated Broadway play ‘English’

May 20, 2025

Marjan Neshat, a veteran of stage and screen, teaches fledgling actors. This spring, her students got to celebrate her becoming a Tony Award nominee. Neshat earned the nod for her work — appropriately enough — playing a teacher in Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-nominated play “English,” which premiered on Broadway in the fall. The play has made history by making Neshat and her co-star Tala Ashe the first female actors of Iranian descent to be Tony-nominated. Neshat adores the plays of Anton Chekhov and watching movies on the Criterion Channel and she’s obsessed with the novel “Anne of Green Gables.”

MARK KENNEDY Entertainment Writer.