Author: NY TIMES

Schele Williams first saw “The Wiz” when a tour of the original Broadway production came through Dayton, Ohio. She was 7 years old, and recalled it being the most “beautiful reflection of Blackness that I had never seen.”Years later, she was cast as Dorothy in a high school production of “The Wiz,” and the thrill of that experience led Williams to pursue a career in musical theater. She even used the show’s soaring finale, “Home,” as one of her audition songs.Now, after working on Broadway as an actor (“Aida”) and an associate director (“Motown”), she is directing the first Broadway…

In a sprawling tent encampment in Gaza, the Israeli bombs fall close enough to hear and feel. But daily life is also a struggle against hunger, cold and a growing sanitation crisis.A lack of sufficient toilets and clean water, as well as open sewage, are problems that displaced Palestinians have struggled with since the early days of Israel’s assault on Gaza.For two months after Salwa al-Masri, 75, and her family fled to the city of Rafah, at the southernmost tip of Gaza, to escape Israel’s military offensive, she said she would walk 200 yards to reach the nearest bathroom. If…

Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States has the capacity to keep Kyiv supplied with the weapons, technology and intelligence to fend off a takeover by Moscow. But Washington is now perceived around Europe to have lost its will.The Europeans, in contrast, have the will — they just committed another $54 billion to reconstruct the country — but when it comes to repelling Russia’s revived offensive, they do not have the capacity.That is the essence of the conundrum facing Ukraine and the NATO allies on the dismal second anniversary of the war. It is a stunning reversal.…

When the February sun shines across the baseball world and the standings show everyone is undefeated, it’s easy to slip into the zen state of spring training nirvana. But there’s one question in our annual spring survey that brings us back to life. That’s the part where we asked voters, a panel of 31 executives, former executives, coaches and scouts, which teams, front offices and managers are feeling the most pressure. As always, they have some ideas!Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone and Yankees (16 votes): Does it sometimes feel like Brian Cashman has been the Yankees general manager since the days…

The New York Times’s film critic Alissa Wilkinson has a theory about movies: They’re all about relationships. No matter how big the action, the suspense and tension we experience when watching a film is often really about the feelings between the characters.But romantic relationships often fall back on old tropes, like the long-suffering wife of an ex-cop who can’t resist that one last, risky case. (We all know her; she leaves teary voice messages urging him to be safe.) Some of this year’s Oscar-nominated films give us fresher portraits of love. Alissa and our host, Anna Martin, discuss the relationships…

Florida’s Legislature has passed a sweeping social media bill that would make the state the first to effectively bar young people under 16 from holding accounts on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.The measure — which Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would “be wrestling with” over the weekend and has not yet signed — could potentially upend the lives of millions of young people in Florida.It would also probably face constitutional challenges. Federal courts have blocked less-restrictive youth social media laws enacted last year by Arkansas and Ohio. Judges in those cases said the new statutes most likely impinged on social…

I always wince when people say they like classical music, “but not the new stuff.”Comments like that are not only shortsighted — the old stuff was, in its time, of course new and often radical — but they also don’t take into account how varied contemporary music is, and how much of it is actually quite easy to love.Take Anders Hillborg’s second piano concerto, “The MAX Concerto,” which had its local premiere with the New York Philharmonic on Thursday. Programmed somewhat arbitrarily between works by Sibelius and Rachmaninoff, it was more entertaining than either of them, and just as well…

A cargo ship struck by a Houthi missile in the Red Sea this week is partly submerged but still afloat, its operator said on Friday, having survived what appeared to be the Houthis’ most damaging attack yet.The vessel, called the Rubymar, will soon be towed to Djibouti or Aden, a port city in Yemen, where its remaining cargo will be transferred onto another ship and sent to Bulgaria, said Roy Khoury, the head of the ship’s operator, Blue Fleet Group. Its engine room and one of its holding compartments is underwater, he added.Most of the Houthi missile and drone attacks…

Russian authorities have warned Aleksei A. Navalny’s mother that if she doesn’t agree to a secret funeral, the late opposition campaigner will be buried by the state on prison grounds, according to Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman.Lyudmila Navalnaya, Mr. Navalny’s mother, was given three hours to agree to the ultimatum but she refused to negotiate, arguing that Russian authorities had no legal right to decide the time and place of her son’s burial, according to Mr. Navalny’s spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh.“She is demanding compliance with the law, which requires investigators to hand over the body within two days, from the moment the cause…

“I think if it’s a national stadium and it’s a catalyst for regeneration in south Manchester… there has to be a conversation with the government.”Much of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s media interviews on Wednesday may have left Manchester United fans excited, but there were plenty of surprises as Sir Jim Ratcliffe finally confirmed his takeover of a 27.7% stake in the club.Amid the good stories of “pumping Manchester City and Liverpool off their thrones” and intrigues with Sir Alex Ferguson, his comments about the women’s team make them sound like an afterthought, merely raising the question “What if this was a…