08 ENTERTAINMENT CONTACT US AT: 8351-9409 YWENNSONG@HOTMAIL.COMThursday March 26, 2020

TERRENCE MCNALLY, a four-time Tony Award-winning playwright, died Tuesday of complications from the coronavirus. He was 81.

McNally, a lung cancer survivor who lived with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, won back-to-back Tony Awards for his dramas “Love! Valour! Compassion!” (1995) and “Master Class” (1996). He also earned Tonys for the books for the musicals “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993) and “Ragtime” (1998).

Last year, he earned the Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater just as a Broadway revival of his 1982 drama “Frankie and Johnny at the Clair de Lune” opened in an acclaimed produc-tion starring Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon.

Beginning with his first Broad-way play, 1965’s “And Things That Go Bump in the Night,” McNally charted a multifaceted career that touched on his diverse interests in opera, history and gay culture of the late 20th century.

He is survived by his husband, Tom Kirdahy, whom he wed in 2003 in a civil union ceremony followed by a 2010 wedding.

(SD-Agencies)

Tony-winning playwright dies at 81

Terrence McNally

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER has opened up his wallet for the medical community.

The “Terminator” star has donated US$1 million to a GoFundMe account called Front-line Responders Fund. The account is run by Flexport, which says its focus is on getting critical supplies like masks, gowns and gloves to frontline responders who are bat-tling coronavirus.

“I never believed in sitting on the couch and complaining about how bad things are, I always believed we should all do our part to make things better,” Arnold tweeted on Tuesday. “This is a simple way to protect our real action heroes on the frontlines in our hospitals, and I’m proud to be part of it.”

The fund raised about US$3.3 million in 24 hours, thanks in large part to Arnold’s donation.

(SD-Agencies)

Schwarzeneggerdonates to medical responders fund

FROM finding ways to help others cope to sheltering in place to cancel-ing events, here’s a look at some of the ways the U.S. entertainment industry is reacting to the spread of the coronavi-rus, which most people recover from but can cause severe illness in the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Gaga shelves albumLady Gaga has shelved her forthcom-

ing album “Chromatica” for now, saying it’s not the right time amid a global fight with the coronavirus.

Gaga said on her social media pages Tuesday that “after a lot of deliberation, I’ve made the incredibly tough decision to postpone the release of ‘Chromatica.’ I will announce a new 2020 release date soon.”

The album had been scheduled for release April 10. Gaga already had a set of Las Vegas concert dates tied to the release canceled, and said Tuesday that she had also planned a surprise set at

the Coachella music festival, which was also previously postponed.

“This is such a hectic and scary time for all of us,” Gaga said. “And while I believe art is one of the strongest things we have to provide joy and healing to each other during times like this, it just doesn’t feel right to me to release this album with all that is going on during this global pandemic.”

Film fests find new waysFilm festivals whose in-person ver-

sions were canceled are forging ahead in other ways.

Turner Classic Movies is holding a Special Home Edition to air from April 16-20, featuring classic films like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Casablanca” and “North by Northwest” and inter-views with from festivals past with film legends from Peter O’Toole to Faye Dunaway.

The TCM Classic Film Festival attracts film buffs to Hollywood each year, but this year’s edition was canceled due to

the spread of the coronavirus.And South by Southwest, one of the

first major entertainment events to cancel over the coronavirus, announced its awards Tuesday for the small films that would have screened there. The grand jury prize for narrative feature went to 22-year-old Cooper Raiff’s “S—house,” a micro-budget coming-of-age comedy about a college freshman struggling with the transition.

Halted hall induction back on for fall

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induc-tion ceremony, which was also pushed back from the spring over coronavirus fears, has been rescheduled for fall.

The ceremony, featuring commemo-rations of the late artists Whitney Houston and The Notorious B.I.G., as well as performances honoring Depeche Mode, the Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails and T-Rex, was originally planned for May 2 has been reset for Nov. 7.

(SD-Agencies)

Gaga says wrong time for ‘Chromatica’

Lady Gaga has shelved her forthcoming album “Chromatica” for now. File photo

WORLD-FAMOUS singer and saxo-phonist Manu Dibango has died from a coronavirus infection at the age of 86 in France, his management team said Tuesday.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the loss of Manu Dibango, our Papy Groove, who passed away March 24, 2020, at 86 years old, fur-ther to Covid 19,” read a statement on Dibango’s Facebook page.

Cameroon-born Dibango arrived in France in the early 1950s and studied jazz and saxophone in the northern city of Reims, where he started playing in clubs, according to a biography on his Facebook page.

African jazz legend Manu Dibangodies from coronavirus in France

In the early 1960s, his style of play-ing took on more African rhythms as he collaborated with Brussels-based musicians from Congo and he began touring in Africa, developing his trademark pumping rhythms.

In the late 1960s, Dibango started his own band, played with a string of French musicians and in 1972 he had a major hit with “Soul Makossa,” a song that brought him international success.

In 2010, Dibango received the “legion d’honneur” medal in his adopted country France. He was diagnosed with a coronavirus infec-tion earlier this month. (SD-Agencies) Saxophonist Manu Dibango.