Russian Doll Season 2 will be ‘very different’! Alan & Nadia are mysteriously linked
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After the first season of the comedy-drama Russian Doll released on February 1, 2019, on Netflix, fans are waiting to see what happens to Nadia and Alan. Russian Doll Season 2 was confirmed in June 2019. The filming resumed in March 2021, after a one-year delay. The production was planned to start on March 30, 2020, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The good news is that the principal photography for the second run was completed.
According to Natasha Lyonne’s Instagram post from June, the filming for the second season is finished and the production is currently under editing stage. The operation code name for the season was ‘Black Gumball’.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Natasha Lyonne (@nlyonne)
After the release of eight episodes on Netflix, critics and audiences praised the series. It received several nominations at the Emmys, including in the Outstanding Comedy and Lead Actress categories. Time’s Judy Berman described the series as “cerebral yet propulsive” and praised its many layers calling it, “2019’s best new show to date.”
Russian Doll follows Nadia Vulvokov (portrayed by Natasha Lyonne), a game developer, who dies repeatedly, survives on the same night in an ongoing time loop. Later she tries to solve it, leading to her finding Alan Zaveri (Charlie Barnett) in the same situation. It also stars Greta Lee, Yul Vazquez, and Elizabeth Ashley.
The first season ends with Nadia and Alan finding them trapped in two separate timelines, where they run into alternate, pre-loop versions of each other. They are unaware of the future loops. They achieve success at preventing each other’s first deaths, and the episode ends with an implication that the pair becomes friends in both timelines.
The storyline for Russian Doll Season 2 is yet to be disclosed, however, in a recent interview with TV Insider, Charlie Barnett hinted at the plot. Although he didn’t reveal much but he noted, “Russian Doll is very different, this [Season].” Particularly, those differences show up within “the principals that have followed up last season,” Barnett shares.
According to the show’s creator, Amy Poehler told in her statement, “I can’t give any spoilers away.” “Natasha and the writers have done an amazing job. The season that we’re gonna bring is going to be so exciting.”
The director Leslye Headland said to THR, the lead character, Nadia will always be the part of the show. “Alan and Nadia are intrinsically and inexplicably linked to one another,” said Leslye.
There are no words from the creators regarding the release date of Russian Doll Season 2. As the filming has fully wrapped up we could expect Season 2 in summer 2022.
Also Read: Outlander Season 6 could make the audience emotional & ‘on the edge of their seats’
Andrew Abrams on a dream realized and his next Madison show
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Andrew Abrams only had to wait two decades for this dream to come true.
Abrams, the artistic director of Capital City Theatre, wrote the music for “But I’m a Cheerleader!”, an original musical co-authored with Bill Augustin way, way back in 2002. The show’s based on a 1999 cult film about a teen cheerleader (played by Natasha Lyonne) who embraces her sexuality and finds love after her parents force her to attend a conversion therapy camp. After a seemingly endless array of fits and starts, Abrams and Augustin’s musical is set to receive its first professional staging in late February, at the Turbine Theatre in London’s Battersea Station.
“I loved the story,” says Abrams, who first saw the movie a few years after high school. “But as the years went on, I had to ask myself, is the world too progressive now to be OK with this? This is a show about people being sent to straight camp.”
Over the past few years, the cultural and political pendulums have swung back again, as representation and LBTQ+ rights have become flashpoint issues across the country. “We took a step backward, and it’s relevant again,” says Abrams.
The musical always enjoyed popular support. It won Best of Festival at the New York Musical Theater Festival in 2005, but problems with negotiations over production rights left it stuck in development for years. Other stagings — at a workshop in Georgia in 2011, a 2013 reading in London — resonated with audiences but failed to generate enough momentum to carry the show to the next step. Still, Abrams persisted.
“We did the show at a festival in London in 2020, and the reaction was really positive,” says Abrams. “High school and college girls felt they had a story they could connect to. It made them feel better about themselves.”
That positive reception was the final boost to propel the show to a full production — which, naturally, was slowed again by issues with the pandemic and live performances, which delayed the opening three times. Assuming there are no further COVID-19-related delays, it’s finally set to open Feb. 18 and run until mid-April. If the show finds success at the Turbine, it could end up transferring to a West End theater and touring around the United Kingdom.
The London debut has been stripped down from its original 20-person cast. This version features a dozen actors, many of whom are double-cast: The mother of the main character, for instance, doubles as a drag queen later in the show.
Abram wrote the music for the show, and Augustin wrote the lyrics. Abrams is particularly proud of the song “Wrestling,” a tune about one character’s struggle to be himself.
“It doesn’t forward the plot, but it’s the heart of the show,” Abrams says.
Abrams’ professional career now centers on musical theater, but he was always a music person first. He majored in voice at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and had initially planned to become an opera singer. While he was in college he founded Middleton Players Theatre, a community theater program. He looks back on those summers spent music-directing shows at MPT as a sort of on-the-job training experience.
It wasn’t until he moved to New York that he committed to a career direction. “I was sort of like, whatever takes me first: musical theater or opera,” he recalls. The latter won: He landed a gig as the assistant conductor of the national touring production of “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
While in New York, Abrams applied to the BMI Musical Theater Writing Workshop Program, where he learned the ins and out of writing a show and produced the first draft of “But I’m a Cheerleader!” He also taught, directed music and performed as a means of figuring out the musical theater repertory.
Abrams had wanted to start a professional theater company in Madison since the 2000s, but it wasn’t until Gail Becker, Capital City’s current managing director, approached him about becoming artistic director of a new company in 2014 that he realized the time was right. Capital City debuted in 2015 with a production of “Violet” in UW–Madison’s Music Hall and is currently in the middle of its sixth season. Abrams says that, thanks to strong donor support, the company is in better shape financially that it was before the pandemic hit.
Abrams flew to London this week to oversee the final run-up to opening night for “But I’m a Cheerleader!”. When he returns, he’ll turn his attention to Capital City’s next production, “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” a show based on (what else?) Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.” Abrams calls it the “most expansive thing we’ve ever done.”
The show features an element of audience immersion — actors will move and sing among the audience members — and it’s being staged at Four Winds Farm in Fitchburg instead of a traditional theater space. The venue presents its own set of challenges.
“We have to bring everything in ourselves,” explains Abrams. “How do we make sure the sound works?”
“Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” opens June 3 in Madison’s Capital City Theatre.
Aaron R. Conklin writes his award-winning coverage of the Madison-area theater scene for madisonmagazine.com.
Danielle Brooks: What To Watch If You Like The Peacemaker Actress
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The show may be named after John Cena’s The Suicide Squad character, but Peacemaker cast member Danielle Brooks has been stealing scenes left and right as Leota Adebayo since it premiered. In fact, I would say that her character is the heart and soul of creator James Gunn’s uproarious series, and I would not be surprised if she alone inspired some to get an HBO Max subscription in order to watch it.
If that happens to describe how you became acquainted with Peacemaker, then perhaps you have already seen the following Danielle Brooks movies and TV shows that are available to stream. If the DC TV show is actually how you first became acquainted with the Augusta, Georgia native and Julliard graduate and you would like to explore more of her filmography, please read on. We shall start with the groundbreaking series that first made Brooks a household name.
(Image credit: Netflix)
Orange Is The New Black (Netflix)
A mild-mannered, upper-middle-class woman (Taylor Schilling) is forced to abandon her fiancé (Jason Biggs) and her comfortable lifestyle when she is convicted of a crime she committed years earlier and is sent to a prison where she struggles to relate to her colorful fellow inmates.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: Danielle Brooks shared several Screen Actors Guild award wins for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series with the Orange is the New Black cast for her breakthrough performance as the silver-tongued Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson on showrunner Jenji Kohan’s acclaimed Netflix original dramedy, which was inspired by Piper Kerman’s revealing memoir of the same name.
Stream Orange Is The New Black on Netflix.
(Image credit: Netflix)
Master Of None (Netflix)
A professional actor of Indian descent (series co-creator and former Parks and Recreation cast member Aziz Ansari) and his friends (Emmy winner Lena Waithe and Eric Wareheim) struggle to navigate life through multiple avenues - from race to romance to religion and more - while living in New York City.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: Speaking of acclaimed Netflix original dramedies, Danielle Brooks also appeared on three episodes of the clever and unique Emmy winner, Master of None, in the recurring role of Shannon, who could actually be described as who Taystee might have become if she steered clear of incarceration and took up a career as a casting agent.
Stream Master Of None on Netflix.
(Image credit: Netflix)
Social Distance (Netflix)
A recently single man trying to stay sober, a dysfunctional family who come together over webcam to honor their recently passed patriarch, a couple who try inviting over a third person to help get through their rough patch, and others struggle through various stressful circumstances that come with living in quarantine in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: Danielle Brooks’ next Netflix original project was the third episode of the extremely timely anthology series, Social Distance as a nurse and single mother who is forced to leave her young daughter home alone and communicate with her via webcams while caring for her elderly patient.
Stream Social Distance on Netflix.
(Image credit: Netflix)
Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine (Netflix)
A TV host (comedian Sarah Cooper) struggles to hold her morning talk show (and her own sanity) together despite various stressful circumstances in the midst of…well, 2020, to put it simply.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: In Danielle Brooks’ next Netflix original project with some timely social commentary, she plays a fellow TV host who refuses to do her show because of all the shit going on circa 2020, in Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine - a unique comedy special with a dizzying assortment of celebrity guest appearances, which was directed by Brooks’ Orange is the New Black co-star, Natasha Lyonne.
Stream Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine on Netflix.
(Image credit: Sony)
The Angry Birds Movie (Amazon Rental)
A temperamental red bird (Jason Sudeikis) and his fellow, flightless friends (including Josh Gad as the speedy Chuck, and the explosive Bomb, played by Danny McBride) must band together and use their unique skills to defend themselves when their secluded island paradise becomes invaded by strange, green pigs.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: For the first of her many voice acting roles, Danielle Brooks played two characters (the blue jay Olive Blue, and crossing guard Monica) in 2016’s The Angry Birds Movie - the fun, feature-length adaptation of the blockbuster mobile gaming app.
Rent/Buy The Angry Birds Movie on Amazon.
(Image credit: HBO Max)
Close Enough (HBO Max)
A stoner couple in their early thirties struggle to cope with issues like raising their young daughter, fighting giant mutant spiders, and other common problems that arise with adulthood while living in Los Angeles.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: One of Danielle Brooks’ more recent and notable voice acting roles is the elderly, retired LAPD officer Pearle Watson on Close Enough - a hilarious HBO Max exclusive animated series that fans of Adult Swim’s programming will love, which also has a number of awesome Regular Show callbacks.
Stream Close Enough on HBO Max.
(Image credit: Neon)
Clemency (Hulu)
A prison warden (Alfre Woodard, in one of her many roles that should have gotten an Oscar) begins to question her own feelings about capital punishment and the emotional and psychological toll that the job has taken on her as she begins to develop a connection to a young inmate on death row (Aldis Hodge).
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: In the same year that Orange is the New Black had its final curtain call, Danielle Brooks gave a stunning performance in another drama about incarceration (not as an inmate, but as the former girlfriend of Aldis Hodge’s death row inmate character) in Clemency - a stark and distressing story masterfully told by writer and director Chinonye Chukwu.
Stream Clemency on Hulu.
Rent/Buy Clemency on Amazon.
(Image credit: Pressing Pictures)
Sadie (Amazon Rental)
Disappointed to learn that her father is still not yet coming home from active duty, a 13-year-old girl (Sophia Mitri Schloss), whose personality is largely modeled after her dad’s militaristic perspective, is convinced that she should take action to maintain his position in the family when her lonely mother (Melanie Lynskey) begins dating a new man (John Gallagher, Jr.).
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: In 2018, a year before she starred in Clemency, Danielle Brooks appeared in another tense, socially conscious drama - writer and director Megan Griffiths’ dark coming-of-age story, Sadie - as a bartender named Carla who is also friends with the title character’s mother.
Rent/Buy Sadie on Amazon.
(Image credit: Crackle Plus)
Eat Wheaties! (Amazon Rental)
After he is named co-chair of his college class reunion, a geeky man (former Veep cast member Tony Hale) gets on social media for the first time and then uses it to get in touch with actress and filmmaker Elizabeth Banks, whom he claims he was friends with, and becomes the subject of viral mockery as a result.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: Sadie also stars Emmy-winning actor Tony Hale, with whom Danielle Brooks also appears alongside in 2020’s Eat Wheaties! - an inventive, quirky, and endearing dramedy about learning to be comfortable in your skin without needing to prove anything to anyone else, from director Scott Abramovitch.
Rent/Buy Eat Wheaties! on Amazon.
(Image credit: IFC Films)
The Day Shall Come (Hulu)
A preacher named Moses (Marchánt Davis), who has developed his own obscure belief system partially inspired by African nationalism, is given a chance to save his impoverished family from eviction by a woman (Anna Kendrick) who, unwitting to him, is an FBI agent conspiring to expose his otherwise well-natured intentions as evidence for incrimination.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: Of all the thought-provoking, socially relevant titles in Danielle Brooks’ filmography, perhaps the absolute funniest (if not the most boldly ridiculous) is The Day Shall Come - a deliciously dark absurdist satire directed by British comedian Christopher Morris of The IT Crowd fame - in which the actress stars as Moses’ wife, Venus Al Shabaz.
Stream The Day Shall Come on Hulu.
Rent/Buy The Day Shall Come on Amazon.
(Image credit: Lifetime)
Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia (Amazon Rental)
A woman originally born in New Orleans (Danielle Brooks) who develops a strong singing talent at a young age grows up to become one of the most renowned gospel performers of her generation, especially after she begins to use her music as a tool in the fight for equality at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
Why it’s worth checking out if you like Danielle Brooks: Danielle Brooks received an Emmy nomination for her role as an executive producer on Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia - a powerful biographical drama that originally aired on the Lifetime Network in 2021, and in which she gives an inspired performance as the legendary, titular crooner, Mahalia Jackson, that would also earn her several additional acting nominations.
Rent/Buy Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia on Amazon.
From Orange is the New Black to Peacemaker and all the stunning titles in between, it is no wonder how Danielle Brooks has made herself into one of the industry’s most acclaimed and versatile talents working today.
I Wanted To Go Deeper Than Just a Portrait of a Band”: Rita Baghdadi on her Sundance-Premiering doc Sirens
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Sirens
Trying to make it as a twenty-something in a band is hard enough. But when that band is Slave to Sirens, the Middle East’s first all-female metal group, the stakes and the obstacles can seem off the charts. Which is exactly what makes Moroccan-American director and cinematographer Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, world-premiering in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at this year’s Sundance, so engrossing. The film focuses on the band’s co-founders and guitarists Lilas and Shery, who over the course of a brisk 78 minutes navigate friendship and sexuality, artistic vision and international fame – all within the explosive confines of Lebanon’s often misogynistic and homophobic society. (And then the Port of Beirut literally blows up.)
Luckily, Filmmaker got the chance to catch up with Baghdadi (My Country No More) just prior to the doc’s January 23rd debut to learn all about Sirens and Slave to Sirens – and creating an environment in which Arab women can become the stars of their own true stories.
Filmmaker: So how did this film originate? Did you connect with Lilas with the idea for the documentary in mind?
Baghdadi: For years I had been wanting to make a film set in the MENA region (Middle East / North Africa). I wanted to make a film that would challenge the Western perception of what it’s like to grow up in the region; to counteract the negative stereotypes of Arab people that I felt damaged me when I was growing up. I just always assumed that, since I’m Moroccan, the film would take place in Morocco.
Fast forward a few years. I was searching for new music online when I came across Slave to Sirens. They had just put out their four-song EP and I was blown away by their talent. Then I saw a photograph of the band – five young women standing in the middle of a Lebanese forest wearing all black. You know when you see a picture of someone and you get this feeling like you have to meet them? That’s how it was. I remember Lilas was standing on the far left side of the frame with her arms crossed. I can’t explain it, but something about her presence drew me in.
I messaged the band online and Lilas and I ended up Skyping for hours, talking about everything. Then I met the rest of the band on a video chat and they invited me to come meet them in person and film a bit, with no real pressure to make anything specific. In November 2018 my producer Camilla and I went to stay with Lilas for a week.
The other part to this origin story is actually something I didn’t even realize until recently. Just prior to me connecting with the band in 2018, my dad in Morocco had been diagnosed with a terminal brain disease. Looking back on it now, as I was struggling with the thought of losing my dad I think I was looking for a way to reconnect to my Arab side. I recognized myself in Lilas, and that was a really powerful moment. I’m so thankful we met and were able to make this film together because it changed my life for the better.
Filmmaker: How long was the shoot, and how did you go about shaping the narrative? Did you always intend to center the story on the relationship between Lilas and Shery, or did that structure emerge in the editing room?
Baghdadi: I shot for three years, from 2018 to 2021. Even before I started filming I knew the film was going to center on Lilas. She had a rawness about her, and it really felt like her music was a reflection of her inner struggle. I could not, however, predict where the story was going to lead us. I only knew that I wanted to go deeper than just a portrait of a band.
It wasn’t until about a year in that I started to learn more about the dynamic between Lilas and Shery. I had only gotten bits and pieces because it was still largely a secret, and it took time for me to gain the trust for them to feel comfortable telling me. But even then I wasn’t 100% sure that we could pull it off in the edit because by the time I started filming a lot of the important details were already backstory, and I wanted the film to feel very in the moment. I was never going to sacrifice authenticity to force a storyline; everything had to feel earned. So the structure of the film still remained to be seen.
When we first got into the edit, our editor Grace Zahrah put together a 10-hour assembly of scenes. After watching it with our supervising editor Lindsay Utz we discussed how we felt and what themes were emerging. From that moment Grace and I were on the exact same wavelength. I said to her, “This is the film I want to make, this is the story I want to tell,” and she was all in for it. I think it took about four months for Grace to assemble the first cut. Then we started testing it. And while there was still a lot of work to do, at that point we knew we had a film that was going to resonate with a lot of people. Then we spent about six more months rewriting, recutting, and fine tuning until everything was in its proper place.
Filmmaker: At what point did Animal Pictures – founded by EPs Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph – come onboard?
Baghdadi: Animal Pictures came onboard shortly after my first shoot. In November 2018 I came back from Beirut with only five days of footage because I had gotten horrible food poisoning. At that point I knew that I could make a feature but I didn’t know how I was going to prove it. I cut together the best three-minute sample I could and showed it to a dear friend and colleague, Lysa Heslov. Lysa immediately showed it to her friend Danielle Renfrew Behrens (producer of Montage of Heck and Queen of Versailles), who happened to be starting a new company, Animal Pictures, with Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph. We sat down with Natasha, Maya and Danielle and showed them the sample, and the rest is history.
I feel like this film had stardust on it from its inception. Not that it was ever easy to make, but the evolution of it all was remarkably organic from the very beginning. It’s like the story of the Sirens was meant to be told.
Filmmaker: The film depicts quite a few emotionally fraught encounters. How does everyone involved feel about the final cut?
Baghdadi: Making Sirens was only possible because of the three-and-a-half years of trust built between the band and me. All of the young women in the film are incredibly brave, but Lilas and Shery really gave a lot of themselves because they want to make a difference in the lives of young people in the region. It’s been an emotional journey, but so far I think the outcome has been cathartic and positive for everyone involved.
Filmmaker: Besides being a director and an accomplished DP you’re also an active mentor (and member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia). Does this mentorship extend to your film’s characters? Do you have a plan to bring Slave to Sirens and their music to the wider world?
Baghdadi: One hundred percent. I believe in giving back as much as you take. And mentorship is a proven method of elevating the careers of women of color.
My relationship with each of the Sirens is like that of a big sister. I love them and I want to help them achieve their dreams. They have the talent, they just need more opportunity. Recently we secured a guitar and bass endorsement with Dean Guitars. And, with their first full-length album set to be finished this spring, the goal is for the band to start meeting with record labels. It’s been a rough past few years for the music industry during the pandemic. I’m really hoping this summer we can get them out to international festivals and have some fun playing for a crowd!
Celebrity Social Media Round-Up for January 24, 2022
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The assumption about Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas (which started when she changed her name on Instagram, dropping the Jonas) was way off. They weren’t breaking up, they were preparing for a baby.
Natasha Lyonne would make a great Batman (have you seen in her a black suit?) and she’d also make a great Catwoman and a fantastic Joker. She has the range.
Excited to announce I play Batman in the new Batman film. — natasha lyonne (@nlyonne) January 23, 2022
So over the weekend, noted anti-vaxxer and misinformationist (I just made that word up but it fits!) Robert Kennedy Jr. did some gross comparison at a rally and Twitter realized he’s married to Cheryl Hines (who is on Curb Your Enthusiasm). This is not new and he’s made his feelings about vaccines known. He’s written books. He does as many media appearances as he can. He’s been doing this for a very long time, so it’s curious that Twitter is painting her as a victim who needs to “get out.” HBO and her castmates would absolutely know about this. Whatever her stance is on vaccines, she keeps that to herself, but she works enough for me to guess that she is vaccinated. When they hosted a party, she requested guests be vaccinated or provide a negative COVID test (source). She doesn’t post about him at all – maybe because he’s been banned from Instagram?
Kate Hudson is promoting a skin care collaboration with Juice Beauty, which is a step towards her own line. This seems like a fit with overall brand but it’s stiff competition. There are so many skin care lines, on top of the ones attached to celebrities (like JLo, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rihanna and Miranda Kerr). Skin care is the new fragrance.
The Adele concert cancellation story passed pretty quickly in the US, but it’s still making headlines in the UK. A story out of the Daily Mail (I know, mountain-size grain of salt) is reporting that the problems went beyond COVID and that disorganization, too many last-minute changes, no overall vision for the show, nerves, and backstage fights led to missing the deadline. Her boyfriend Rich Paul was around (and DeuxMoi had an… interesting story about him up this morning) as Adele ‘clashed’ with her long-time managers. Again, it’s the Daily Mail so it’s not rock solid but the reason I’m leaning towards there being more to this story is because Vegas is a tightly-knit town and what happens at Caesars wouldn’t stay at Caesars. Staff would be talking and the source for this story is a local reporter. Local reporters know the ins-and-outs of these casinos and hotels. They talk to people on the ground, from the ushers to the cleaning staff to the sound engineers. This was not Adele’s venue, it’s a concert hall, so a hardcore, Beyoncé-style NDA would be difficult to enforce.