What a Weird Pandemic Summer It's Been – We need Bruce Springsteen To Save The Day by Brad Balfour Around this time of the year, I usually look back so as to orient myself about going forward. But, what a wack summer it's been. Having suffered through the coronavirus – literally and conceptually – I find myself settled into a motivational miasma; it's easier to stink up the couch than drive myself to further heights, get up, clean up and get out to ramble around the city. Bei

Radha Mitchell In Every Dreamkatcher a Nightmare By Jay S. Jacobs There is a whole world out there which we barely remember and hardly understand. Dreams and nightmares are a place where our imagination goes wild, where normal logic or real-world conventions hold no sway. It is a world that fascinates actress Radha Mitchell – who was born in Australia but has been based out of the US since the mid-1980s. She has put together a diverse and impressive body of work, from arty fi

NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS (2020) Starring Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Theodore Pellerin, Sharon Van Etten, Ryan Eggold, Kim Rios Lin, Drew Seltzer, Carolina Espiro, Denise Pillott, Lester Greene, Amy Tribbey, Guy A. Fortt, Brett Puglisi, Alexander Carney, Brian Altemus, Deepti Menon, April Szykeruk, Alana Barrett-Adkins, Michael Erik, Jingjing Tian and Aurora Richards. Screenplay by Eliza Hittman. Directed by Eliza Hittman. Distributed by Focus Features. 95 minutes. Rat

Chelsea Cutler – Terminal 5 – New York, NY – March 3, 2020 On a rainy night in upper Manhattan, Chelsea Cutler came out on a Tuesday with an energy only ever reserved for a Saturday night. Almost instantly, she connected with her sold out Terminal 5 crowd. Jumping right into “Are You Listening,” the crowd immediately rose to her level, not missing a single word. Chelsea’s most recent album, How to Be Human, had only been out a few months since dropping in mid-January but the

Jane Birkin Cultural Icon/Singer/Actor/Writer Presents a One-Time Concert – Birkin Gainsbourg The Symphonic by Brad Balfour In the late-'60s, a French song, "Je t'aime, moi non plus," came out and stirred both controversy and accolades as well as becoming an international pop hit – even getting considerable airplay in the very uptight USA. As sung by Jane Birkin, with her hushed, breathy, half-whispered vocals, it prompted explicit sexual fantasies – just as Serge Gainsbourg,

Todd Phillips at the Deadline Awardsline screening of “Joker” in New York. Todd Philips and Joaquin Phoenix Director and Actor Formed a Unique Union in Making Joker an Award-Oriented Hit by Brad Balfour Attending a Joker screening a second time – thanks to Deadline‘s Awardsline screening series – not only provided further insight but also a chance to hear director Todd Phillips explain himself, just as he did at the film’s World Premiere Q&A. Phillips is no stranger to contro

Gilbert O’Sullivan – World Café Live – Philadelphia, PA – July 10, 2019 – Photo by Jim Rinaldi © 2019 Gilbert O’Sullivan It Wasn’t Out of the Question by Jay S. Jacobs For years, if American fans wanted to see 1970s sensation Gilbert O’Sullivan in concert, they would have to fly to Europe or Asia or something. You see, O’Sullivan, who was the best selling solo artist of 1972 – beating out the likes of Elton John, Rod Stewart and Neil Diamond – had not played in the United Sta

Snoop Dogg – Gramercy Theater – New York, NY – January 22, 2020 Click below to scroll through concert photos! Scroll through pictures of the concert. Photos by Mark Doyle © 2020 #SnoopDogg #2020 #ConcertPhotography #CalvinBroadus #MarkDoylePhotography #markdoyle #January22 #ConcertPhotoAlbum #newyork #TheGramercyTheatre #ConcertPhotos

Epica – Webster Hall – New York, NY – January 12, 2020 Scroll through concert photos. Photos by Mark Doyle © 2020 #2020 #January12 #AriënvanWeesenbeek #Epica #ny #IsaacDelahaye #CoenJanssen #byMarkDoyle #ConcertPhotography #MarkDoylePhotography #PopEntertainmentcom #SimoneSimons #ConcertPhotoAlbum #RobvanderLoo #newyork #MarkJansen #ConcertPhotos #WebsterHall

American Muslim AMERICAN MUSLIM (2019) Featuring Mohamed Bahi, Debbie Almontaser, Aber Kawas, Imam Shamsi Ali, Kobir Chowdhury, Rafael Espinal, Bedor Elhanafi Bahi, Zaid Nagi, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Rabbi Marisa Alana James, Rev. Khader El-Yateem and Linda Sarsour. Directed by Adam Zucker. Distributed by Longnook Pictures. 82 minutes. Not Rated. Screened for Cinematters: New York Social Justice Film Festival. “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of M

Tony Smith Tony Smith Veteran New Yorker Preserves the Disco Experience as Sirius Radio’s Master DJ by Brad Balfour To fully appreciate DJ and music master Tony Smith, it’s good to know that when Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer of Sirius XM Radio, had his own special birthday party, it was Tony to whom he turned as the turntablist of record. As anyone knows, Sirius has become the ultimate online radio network. Greenstein was confident that Tony could pro

Kiana Ledé – Webster Hall – New York, NY – October 6, 2019 – Photo by Tyler Michael DiValerio © 2019 Kiana Ledé – Webster Hall – New York, NY – October 6, 2019 She took the stage and the mood shifted drastically. It went from relaxed and patient, to “a five-year old on Christmas morning who’s getting a new puppy” kind of excited. She was greeted with a cheers, claps, screeches, and whistles that lasted longer than her opening song, “Can I.” She stood there, grateful, with arm

Judith Light, Oona Yaffe, Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock in “Before You Know It.” Hannah Pearl Utt, Jen Tullock & Oona Yaffe On the Big Screen Before They Know It by Jay S. Jacobs It makes sense that Hannah Pearl Utt and Jen Tullock’s first film looks at the downtown New York theater world, because that was where it all began for them. The two met years ago in the Village years ago as aspiring actresses and writers. Nearly a decade after they first started the screenplay fo

Paul Downs Colaizzo and Jillian Bell at the Philadelphia screening of “Brittany Runs a Marathon.” Jillian Bell and Paul Downs Colaizzo Get a Runner’s High with Brittany Runs a Marathon By Austin Gomberg It was a long run – a marathon, I guess – for the indie film Brittany Runs a Marathon to get out from the starting line. A sweet, funny and soulful look at an out-of-shape thirty-something woman who tries to get her life in order by impulsively entering the New York Marathon,

The Kitchen THE KITCHEN (2019) Starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, Elisabeth Moss, Domhnall Gleeson, James Badge Dale, Brian d’Arcy James, Margo Martindale, Common, Bill Camp, Jeremy Bobb, Alicia Coppola, E.J. Bonilla, James Ciccone, John Sharian, Stephen Singer, Myk Watford, Brandon Uranowitz and Annabella Sciorra. Screenplay by Andrea Berloff. Directed by Andrea Berloff. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. 102 minutes. Rated R. More and more it is looking like wom

Gilbert O’Sullivan – World Café Live – Philadelphia, PA – July 10, 2019 – Photo by Jim Rinaldi © 2019 Gilbert O’Sullivan – World Café Live – Philadelphia, PA – July 10, 2019 Before this abbreviated two-night US tour – in which he played at New York’s City Winery and Philly’s World Café Live on two consecutive nights – the last time 70s Irish pop troubadour Gilbert O’Sullivan played in the United States, Jimmy Carter was the president. The Bicentennial was a huge deal. Charlie

Patti LuPone Patti LuPone – The Kimmel Center – Philadelphia, PA – June 9, 2019 Legendary Broadway diva Patti LuPone took the stage at Verizon Hall at Kimmel Center for a rare afternoon concert – I guess Patti wanted to be sure to watch the Tony Awards later that night – with her latest one-woman show Don’t Monkey with Broadway. Well, not completely one-woman, she was accompanied throughout the show by stunning pianist Joseph Thalken and the local choral group Brotherly Love

Redemption (Geula) REDEMPTION (GEULA) (2018) Starring Moshe Folkenflik, Emily Granin, Yonatan Galila, Sivan Shtivi, Shahar Even-Tzur, Avigayil Atara Koevary, Sendi Bar, Ruthy Borenshtein, Hadas Ben Aroya, Assaf Talmudi, Gadi Pogatch, Hagay Nachman Yekutiel, Rivka Sofer, Yael Benaya, Yam Shoshan, Nana Ron Elias, Ronny Raz Doitsch, Naomi Rosen-Chouraki, Hedva Romano and Adva Shoua Yeoshoua. Screenplay by Yonatan Ben-Yaakov, Erez Kav-El & Yossi Madmoni. Directed by Yossi Madmoni

The Sun is Also a Star THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR (2019) Starring Yara Shahidi, Charles Melton, Jake Choi, Camrus Johnson, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Miriam A. Hyman, Cathy Shim, John Leguizamo, Hill Harper, Keong Sim, Faith Logan, Anais Lee, Kay Day, Annie Pisapia, Assibey Blake, Matthias Sebastiun Garry, Matt Post, Jordan Williams and Donna Hayes. Screenplay by Tracy Oliver. Directed by Ry Russo-Young. Distributed by Warner Bros. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13. I have walked by and noticed th

Maggie Rogers – Hammerstein Ballroom – New York, NY – March 29, 2019 Scroll through more concert photos above. Photos by Tyler Michael DiValerio © 2019 #March29 #HammersteinBallroom #ConcertPhotography #MaggieRogers #2019 #PopEntertainmentcom #TylerMichaelDiValerio #newyork #ConcertPhotoAlbums #ConcertPhotos