The Buzz

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This article was published 25/06/2015 (3985 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRAD OSWALD / TV

Halle Berry faces unique post-partum challenge

When it premièred last summer, CBS’s sci-fi-flavoured summer drama Extant looked very much like a show with a one-and-done future ahead of it — the story (how do you explain a pregnancy that happened while you were in outer space?), the star (Halle Berry, a big-screen presence who’d shown no previous inclination to do network-TV projects) and the marketing angle (CBS called it an “event” series) all suggested that this was a show with little potential to continue past Year One. But the challenge of writing beyond that first storyline has been accepted by a new set of producers, and Berry has signed on to take Molly Woods and her extraterrestrial offspring into an uncertain but intriguing future. Season 2 premières Wednesday, July 1, on CBS and Global.

 

JILL WILSON / MUSIC

Out of Africa

Guitarist Mdou Moctar is a Tuareg (nomadic Berber) performer from Niger who has gone from a homegrown star on Africa’s MP3-trading networks to international touring act. Playing his Fender left-handed, Moctar takes the Tuareg style in unconventional electronic directions. He also stars in Akounak Teggdalit Taha Tazoughai, a film homage to Prince’s Purple Rain, whose title translates as “Rain the Colour of Red with a Little Blue In It.” The film screens at the Good Will Social Club on Sunday, June 28; Moctar performs with his band the next night.

 

KEVIN PROKOSH / THEATRE

Stage it with music

There seems no end to the number of celebrated movies and television series that savvy producers are lining up to usher onto the stage. The latest title ready for its theatrical treatment is Downton Abbey, the enormously popular PBS costume drama chronicling the life of a wealthy British family. Series composer John Lunn is collaborating with the show’s creator, Julian Fellowes, on a global theatrical tour. Also in the works: School of Rock, The Musical; Groundhog Day; Diner; First Wives Club; Freaky Friday; The Honeymooners; and Mean Girls.

 

RANDALL KING / MOVIES

Miller Time

When local film writer Caelum Vatnsdal first approached Dick Miller about writing a biography of the cult actor (Bucket of Blood, Little Shop of Horrors), his heart sank when he was told that a biography was already in progress. Luckily, Miller was referring to the screen bio That Guy Dick Miller, which opens at Cinematheque on Friday, June 26. Vatnsdal will introduce the film and conduct a Skype interview with Miller after the 9 p.m. screening. Vatnsdal’s own book, which includes an interview with Jack Nicholson, is nearing completion.