Celebrity
Jordan Donica, Tony Award Nominee For ‘Camelot,’ Is Broadway’s Rising Star In 2023
N.Y. – At nine or ten, Jordan Donica’s aunt took him to New York City to rid him of any concept he could make on Broadway. Thank goodness, that plan completely bombed.
“It was pouring outside, but that didn’t stop me from dancing around Times Square. In his own words: “My aunt had to tell me to slow down,” he reflects on his time in New York, where he is now a contented resident. Here, in the center where all things radiate outward, is what I love most.
Donica hasn’t slowed down, either, as he has just been nominated for his first Tony for playing the handsome, brave knight Sir Lancelot in a stunning Lincoln Centre Theatre rendition of the classic musical “Camelot.”
I can only be grateful, and that gratitude fuels my desire to strive even more. Really. In his own words, “my first thought was, ‘I’m excited to get back to work.'”
The life of Donica, a man with a big voice who moved about a lot as a young man but always kept Broadway as his ultimate goal, is inspiring. He began telling his middle school pals that he already had his life figured out. The words “Broadway Bound” were included in his initial email address.
Donica, who graduated from Otterbein University in 2016, honed his skills in regional theatre, performing in productions such as “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Weathervane Playhouse in Ohio and “South Pacific” at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Donica hasn’t slowed down, either, as he has just been nominated for his first Tony for playing the handsome, brave knight Sir Lancelot.
In 2016, he made his Broadway debut as Raoul in “The Phantom of the Opera,” completing a full circle. As a young boy, he had watched the Phantom’s performance in New York and been blown away by his talent. To paraphrase, “I was thinking, ‘I need to learn how to utilize my voice the way that man is using his voice.’ Then I went out to accomplish that.
Donica has appeared in “Charmed,” “Blue Bloods,” and the Los Angeles and San Francisco productions of “Hamilton,” where he played the roles of the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson, respectively. When “My Fair Lady” was revived at Lincoln Centre Theatre in 2018, he debuted in the part of Freddy Eynsford-Hill.
He portrays a noble but self-centered knight in the epic “Camelot,” who finds himself in a love triangle with King Arthur and Guinevere. Songs by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe remain, but Aaron Sorkin has rewritten the plot to center on the democratic ideal.
In “My Fair Lady” and “Camelot,” Donica played roles that needed him to be both passionate and sweet and brave and sword-catching, respectively, under the direction of Tony Award–winning director Bartlett Sher.
She comments, “You have a wonderful artist on your hands who is capable of immersing themselves in a part and in a world and delivering very different things in both cases.” “What makes him so unique is the way his body and voice are so in sync with each other, as well as his profound intelligence and boundless creativity.”
Donica in “Camelot” starts out appearing on stage almost like a holy angel (singing “C’est Moi” with the words “Here I stand as pure as a prayer/Incredibly clean with virtue to spare”), but by the end of the music she has become quite human, a process that he characterizes as both sobering and enjoyable.
Donica hasn’t slowed down, either, as he has just been nominated for his first Tony for playing the handsome, brave knight Sir Lancelot.
“America is my personal Camelot. And every day, we must struggle to spread the word about what freedom and the United States mean. If we don’t bring it into being through words, he argues, it doesn’t exist.
The part requires a lot of vocal and physical stamina. He planned and acquired 15 pounds, reasoning that he would lose water weight by sweating. His physical therapist immediately saw that Donica had dropped weight during his most recent visit because the table’s settings no longer accommodated him.
Donica celebrated his first birthday in Chicago after being born in Minnesota. He then spent the next eight years in Tennessee before relocating to Indiana. He wondered if there was a future in Kidz Bop and commercials featuring singing children (such as those for Oscar Mayer hot dogs and Welch’s juice).
When I was a kid, I watched those advertisements with my mom and thought, “Those kids there are so cute! I bet I could do that!” He questions, “Why don’t I try that?” I don’t think she took me seriously at all. However, I truly believed that I was being serious.
At a theatre camp, he went to in Indianapolis, Donica was the only one who committed to falling back into the arms of a stranger as part of a team-building exercise for the actors.
He reflects on his elementary school teacher’s words, “You’re going to do well in this because you trust.” When you’re in the theatre, you’re safe. I’m afraid you will put me in a bad place since I’ve been taught to trust.
The trip to New York City was challenging for a young man who preferred open spaces to crowded ones. His mother wasn’t trying to discourage him; she only checked to see if he was serious. Now since they’re friends, he’s invited her to the Tonys.
On June 11, he competes against Kevin Del Aguila (Some Like It Hot) and Kevin Cahoon and Alex Newell (Shucked) for the greatest performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical.
Donica, who has been known to watch reruns of the Tony Awards on YouTube, is still in disbelief that he will be in attendance. To this day, I don’t believe it, mostly because I never intended to become a Tony Award winner. As a kid, I wanted to participate in a Tony Awards performance.
SOURCE – (AP)
Washington — On Friday, “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill visited the White House with President Joe Biden, leaving with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a newfound respect for the job.
“I love the merch,” he added, removing his glasses briefly at the White House daily press briefing following his meeting with Biden. Hamill, 72, famous for playing Luke Skywalker, joked with reporters that he’d answer a few questions as long as they weren’t about “Star Wars.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
“I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president,” he told reporters. He’d been to the White House previously, during the Carter and Obama administrations, but he’d never seen the Oval Office, which he described as impressive. According to Hamill, Biden displayed photographs and other memorabilia from the Oval Office.
Hamill claimed Biden told him to call him “Joe,” to which Hamill responded with an alternative suggestion: “Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?”
“He liked that,” said Hamill, who also portrayed the Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Both Mark and the White House were hazy about the cause for his visit. But Mark, a Democrat and Biden supporter with a sizable social media following, has been posting about the president’s reelection campaign this week.
“May 1 Not Quench Your Thirst For Biden’s Re-election!” he tweeted on May 1.
On Friday, he wrote, “May 3 be absurd that the guy who tried to steal a fair election is allowed to run again,” referring to Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
May 4 is unofficially known as “Star Wars” Day, partly due to the famous Jedi line “May the Force Be With You.” The pun is “May 4 be with you.”
AP – VOR News Image
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Mark also provided his voice for “Air Alert,” a downloadable program linked to Ukraine’s air defense system. His voice warns citizens to take cover if Russia launches another aerial strike on Ukraine.
SOURCE – (AP)
Celebrity
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
LONDON — Kevin Spacey, the Oscar-winning actor, has denied new charges of inappropriate behavior by men who will appear in a British television documentary airing next week.
In an online interview with journalist Dan Wootton, Spacey stated that he has never done anything unlawful and has struggled to return to work since being convicted of criminal charges in a London court last year.
“I can’t go through this again, allowing myself to be baselessly attacked without defending myself,” he said in the “Kevin Spacey: Right Of Reply” interview, which aired late Friday on Wootton’s YouTube channel.
AP – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Last July, a London jury cleared Spacey of sexual assault charges stemming from 20-year-old allegations made by four men. The court triumph was his second since defending himself against a $40 million lawsuit filed in New York in 2022 by “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp.
The documentary “Spacey Unmasked” will be shown on Channel 4 in Britain on May 6 and 7 and on Max in the United States.
“I take full responsibility for my past behaviour and my actions, but I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me,” said Spacey, who received Academy Award nominations for “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty.”
“I’ve never told someone that if they give me sexual favors, then I will help them out with their career, never,” he said.
Rolling Stone – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Spacey, the creative director of the Old Vic Theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, said that he was a “flirt” with men in their twenties and occasionally made “clumsy” advances.
“I’ve clearly hooked up with some men who thought they might get ahead in their careers by having a relationship with me,” he went on to say. But there was no conversation with me. It was all part of their plan, a plan that was always destined to fail because I wasn’t in on the deal.”
The actor also stated on X, formerly Twitter, that he had “repeatedly requested” that Channel 4 give him more than seven days to reply to the claims brought against him in their program.
Spacey said that the network turned down his request “on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me.”
ABC – VOR News Image
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
Spacey said he had struggled to return to work since being acquitted of all criminal charges, characterizing the experience as a “life sentence.”
His acting career had suffered since 2017 when he was publicly accused of inappropriate behavior at the start of the #MeToo movement. He then lost his starring role as Frank Underwood in the Netflix thriller “House of Cards”.
SOURCE – (AP)
SAN FRANCISCO — The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an auditing firm hired by Trump Media and Technology Group only 37 days ago with “massive fraud” on Friday, but not for any work done for former President Donald Trump’s media company.
The SEC accused the accounting firm BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin F. Borgers, of “deliberate and systematic failures” in over 1,500 audits.
CNN – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
The charges include failing to follow accounting regulations, falsifying documents to conceal flaws, and falsely claiming in audit reports that its work fulfilled audit criteria.
To settle SEC accusations, BF Borgers agreed to pay a $12 million fine, while its owner consented to pay a $2 million fine, according to the SEC. Benjamin Borgers did not immediately return a phone for comment.
BF Borgers and Benjamin Borgers both agreed to permanent sanctions, which will take effect immediately and prevent them from handling SEC-related matters as accountants.
According to the company’s most recent annual report filing, Trump Media appointed BF Borgers as its auditor on March 28. The business acknowledged that BF Borgers had similarly addressed its audits before its public offering by combining with a cash-rich shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp.
The company had already hired at least two other auditors, one who resigned from the account in July 2023 and another who was fired by the board in March, just as it was rehiring BF Borgers.
Trump Media “looks forward to working with new auditing partners in accordance with today’s SEC order.”
AP – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
The SEC discovered that BF Borgers’ shortcuts included:
- Copying audit documents from the prior year.
- Changing the pertinent dates.
- Passing it off as current documentation.
In addition to inaccurately recording work that was never completed, the fake documentation detailed planning meetings with clients that never took place and “falsely represented” that both Benjamin Borgers and another reviewer had authorized the audit work.
AP – VOR News Image
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
“Ben Borgers and his audit firm, BF Borgers, were responsible for one of the largest wholesale failures by gatekeepers in our financial markets,” stated Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s enforcement director. “Thanks to the painstaking work of the SEC staff, Borgers and his sham audit mill have been permanently shut down.”
SOURCE – (AP)
‘Star Wars’ Actor Mark Hamill Drops By White House For A Visit With ‘Joe-Bi-Wan Kenobi’
Kevin Spacey Denies New Allegations Of Inappropriate Behavior To Be Aired On UK Television Next Week
F1 Now Makes 3 Stops A Season In The United States. Could Miami Become A Victim Of Oversaturation?
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The Canucks Ready For All-Canadian Second-Round After Eliminating Nashville
The Kentucky Derby Is Turning 150 Years Old. It’s Survived World Wars And Controversies Of All Kinds
Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’
Canada’s RCMP Charge 3 Indian Men Over Sikh Leaders Murder
AI Election Disinformation Surges on Social Media in India
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Microsoft: Job cuts in tech sector spread, Microsoft lays off 10,000
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David Lee Roth Unloads Over Wolfgang Van Halen “This F—in’ Kid”
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