newsmakers

newsmakers

NBC’s ‘SNL’ hires black woman for cast

NEW YORK

NBC’s comic institution “Saturday Night Live,” criticized recently for a lack of diversity, said Monday that it was adding a black woman to its repertory cast when new episodes start again later this month.

Sasheer Zamata, a recent University of Virginia graduate who has worked with the New York Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe, will join for the Jan. 18 episode, for which Drake is the host and the musical guest.

The 137 regular cast members who have been part of “Saturday Night Live” since its 1975 debut have been mostly white and have included only four black women. The most recent was biracial Maya Rudolph, who left in 2007. Black men, including Eddie Murphy, Tracy Morgan and Chris Rock, have played more prominent roles.

The lack of a black woman among the 16 regular or featured players became an issue this season when the two black male cast members, Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah, commented publicly about it and made it known they would no longer dress in drag to portray black women.

“SNL” turned the issue into comedy when “Scandal” star Kerry Washington was a guest host. Washington was portrayed as exasperated when she was asked to impersonate first lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Beyonce in the same skit. At the top of the show, an “SNL” producer apologized for the number of black female characters Washington needed to play that night.

Behind the scenes, though, “SNL” founding executive producer Lorne Michaels was busy conducting comedy showcases across the country, searching for a black woman to join the cast.

‘Downton’ draws record audience for season debut

NEW YORK

“Downton Abbey” drew a record-breaking audience for Sunday’s much-anticipated season premiere.

PBS and WGBH-TV announced Monday that the fourth-season debut of the lush British series attracted 10.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Fast National data.

This audience improves upon the viewership of the third-season premiere by 22 percent. PBS says it’s the highest-rated drama premiere in network history.

The two-hour episode picks up the action six months after the sudden death of Downton heir Matthew Crawley on last season’s finale.

NYC museum presents ‘Little Prince’ exhibit

NEW YORK

Antoine de Saint-Exupery crafted “The Little Prince” in New York City, mentioning Rockefeller Center and Long Island in one draft of the beloved children’s tale — references he ultimately deleted.

That page is contained in the French author’s original handwritten manuscript, which is the subject of a major exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum celebrating the book’s 1943 publication.

“The Little Prince: A New York Story,” which opens Jan. 24, features 35 of his original watercolors and 25 pages from his heavily revised 140-page text, written in Saint-Exupery’s tiny script.

Some visitors may be surprised to learn that “The Little Prince,” which has been translated into more than 250 languages and dialects, was written and first published in New York.

“It’s well documented that he wrote the book here, but it’s not well known to the general public,” said Christine Nelson, curator of literary and historical manuscripts at the Morgan.

“Because the manuscript brings you back to the moment of creation, we wanted to set the exhibition in the place and time of creation,” she said. “It focuses on the emergence of this work in New York during the war. He was writing it just within miles of where this exhibition is being shown.”

Saint-Exupery, a French aviator and best-selling author, didn’t live to see his book published in France after the war. He died while piloting a reconnaissance flight in 1944, weeks before the liberation of Paris.

Associated Press