Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond in <em>Sunset Blvd</em>.
(
Marc Brenner
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Topline:
Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce announced the nominations for the 78th Annual Tony Awards on Thursday morning.
Familiar names: Those nominated for awards include film and TV stars George Clooney, Nicole Scherzinger, Sadie Sink, Sarah Snook and Mia Farrow, plus Broadway legends such as Audra McDonald, James Monroe Iglehart, Brooks Ashmanskas and Jeremy Jordan. (That list doesn't include those who were/are on Broadway this season and aren't nominated, like Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr., Kieran Culkin and Nick Jonas.)
Three shows are tied for most nominations: Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her and Maybe Happy Ending with 10 each, including best musical. Operation Mincemeat and Dead Outlaw, were also nominated for best musical,
Read on . . . for a full list of this year's nominees.
Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce announced the nominations for the 78th Annual Tony Awards on Thursday morning. The full list is below.
The awards ceremony, hosted by Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, will be June 8 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
No one show is sweeping the nominations of this year's Tonys — and that's a good thing. It was one of the strongest seasons in memory. Sure, there were celebrities — those nominated for awards include film and TV stars George Clooney, Nicole Scherzinger, Sadie Sink, Sarah Snook and Mia Farrow, plus Broadway legends such as Audra McDonald, James Monroe Iglehart, Brooks Ashmanskas and Jeremy Jordan. (That list doesn't include those who were/are on Broadway this season and aren't nominated, like Denzel Washington, Robert Downey Jr., Kieran Culkin and Nick Jonas.)
But it wasn't a great season because (or just because) of so many famous people on stage.
It was great because the shows are spectacular.
That's likely why three shows are tied for most nominations: Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her and Maybe Happy Ending with 10 each, including best musical. These are excellent productions, but there is so much goodness here. Operation Mincemeat, also nominated for best musical, managed to be simultaneously moving and zany — perhaps the most fun show I saw this year. And the other musical nominated, Dead Outlaw, is wildly original, with earworm tunes.
And that list doesn't include the shows that were nominated for things other than best musical … but were fantastic, nonetheless. There was the warm charm of BOOP!, based on the Betty Boop cartoon character; the glitz of SMASH, based on the TV show; the joy radiating from Real Women Have Curves.
Then there are the plays. Plays are often overshadowed during Tony season — it's the musicals that will tour, after all, and plays tend to have shorter runs. But this year, it was often the plays that dazzled. The Picture of Dorian Gray has six nominations (though not for best play) — and it is a wonder. Sarah Snook becomes 26 characters and the production uses live video and recorded video to have her interact with … herself. Purpose is a funny, incisive look from Tony-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins about how racism warps one American political family. John Proctor is the Villain has a punch of an ending. Oh, Mary! is a raunchy farce.
All this is to say — if you're in New York, go see a show that opened this season on Broadway. Any show, whether it is nominated for a Tony Award or not. This is the rare year when no matter what you choose, you're likely to be moved to cry or dance or laugh. There is spectacle. There is diverse representation. There are majestic performances. There is intensity. This season, Broadway is not just back — it is raising the bar. Here's the list:
<em>Buena Vista Social Club</em>
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Matthew Murphy
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2025 Tony Nominations
Best Musical Buena Vista Social Club Dead Outlaw Death Becomes Her Maybe Happy Ending Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Best Play English The Hills of California John Proctor is the Villain Oh, Mary! Purpose
Best Revival of a Play Eureka Day Romeo + Juliet Thornton Wilder's Our Town Yellow Face
Best Revival of a Musical Floyd Collins Gypsy Pirates! The Penzance Sunset Blvd.
George Clooney in <em>Good Night & Good Luck.</em>
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Emilio Madrid
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Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck Cole Escola, Oh, Mary! Jon Michael Hill, Purpose Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face Harry Lennix, Purpose Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California Mia Farrow, The Roommate LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose Sadie Sink, John Proctor is the Villain Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
<em>Dead Outlaw</em>
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Matthew Murphy
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Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd. Jonathan Groff, Just in Time James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her Audra McDonald, Gypsy Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd. Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play Glenn Davis, Purpose Gabriel Ebert, John Proctor is the Villain Francis Jue, Yellow Face Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Tala Ashe, English Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day Marjan Neshat, English Fina Strazza, John Proctor is the Villain Kara Young, Purpose
Alana Arenas (Morgan) and Kara Young (Aziza) in <em>Purpose.</em>
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Marc J. Franklin
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Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical Brooks Ashmanskas, SMASH Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw Danny Burstein, Gypsy Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical Joy Woods, Gypsy
Best Direction of a Play Knud Adams, English Sam Mendes, The Hills of California Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Direction of a Musical Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending David Cromer, Dead Outlaw Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.
Best Book of a Musical Buena Vista Social Club, Marco Ramirez
Dead Outlaw, Itamar Moses
Death Becomes Her, Marco Pennette
Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson and Hue Park
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre Dead Outlaw, Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna
Death Becomes Her, Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey
Maybe Happy Ending, Music: Will Aronson, Lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Music & Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, Music & Lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez
Best Choreography Joshua Bergasse, SMASH Camille A. Brown, Gypsy Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club
Best Orchestrations Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending Bruce Coughlin, Floyd Collins Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Blvd.
Best Scenic Design of a Musical Rachel Hauck, Swept Away Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending Arnulfo Maldonado, Buena Vista Social Club Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her Derek McLane, Just in Time
Best Costume Design of a Play Brenda Abbandandolo, Good Night, and Good Luck Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray Rob Howell, The Hills of California Holly Pierson, Oh, Mary! Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Costume Design of a Musical Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical Clint Ramos, Maybe Happy Ending Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her Catherine Zuber, Just in Time
Best Lighting Design of a Play Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, Good Night, and Good Luck Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, John Proctor is the Villain Nick Schlieper, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Lighting Design of a Musical Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd. Tyler Micoleau, Buena Vista Social Club Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun, Floyd Collins Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her
Best Sound Design of a Play Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Palmer Hefferan, John Proctor is the Villain Daniel Kluger, Good Night, and Good Luck Nick Powell, The Hills of California Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Sound Design of a Musical Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd. Peter Hylenski, Just in Time Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins
Best Scenic Design of a Play Marsha Ginsberg, English Rob Howell, The Hills of California Marg Horwell and David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Scott Pask, Good Night, and Good Luck
Special Tony Awards will be presented to:
The musicians who make up the band of Buena Vista Social Club - Marco Paguia (Music Director, Conductor/Piano); David Oquendo (Associate Music Director, Guitar); Renesito Avich (Tres); Gustavo Schartz (Bass); Javier Días, Román Diaz, Mauricio Herrera (Percussion); Jesus Ricardo (Trumpet); Eddie Venegas (Trombone); Hery Paz (Woodwinds); Leonardo Reyna (Piano);
The Illusions & Technical Effects of Stranger Things: The First Shadow (Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone & Edward Pierce).
As previously announced, the 2025 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre will be presented to Great Performances, Michael Price, New 42, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award will be presented to Celia Keenan-Bolger. Harvey Fierstein will receive the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.
The Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 13, the state’s only active nuclear power plant. All eyes are turned to power plant as the debate about extending its life returns to Sacramento. But what’s it like inside?
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Beth LaBerge
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KQED
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Topline:
Diablo Canyon is California’s last operating nuclear power plant. Just years ago, the plant was slated to close, and employees worked to decommission it, until a 2022 about-face by Gov. Gavin Newsom led the state to extend its operations to 2030. Now lawmakers in Sacramento are talking about allowing it to operate even longer, potentially to 2045.
What do those who oppose the plant say? Local groups, some of whom have protested the plant since its construction, are banging the drum ever louder about their concerns for safety or a catastrophic meltdown, as well as the danger posed by spent nuclear waste at a site near several seismic fault lines.
What about academics? Academics are furiously analyzing how much keeping Diablo Canyon open would cost and if it would support or hinder the state’s clean energy transition. And business groups are lining up in support.
Read on ... for a rare look inside the last operating nuclear power plant in the state.
The most striking view off one of San Luis Obispo County’s winding coastal roads is not the lashing ocean waves of the Pacific Ocean or cows plodding out from the shade of a California live oak tree.
It is two enormous concrete domes that come into focus along a final climb that began 7 miles back at Avila Beach. The land sinks away, and what looks like a small town emerges, showcased in a palette of grays, whites and terracotta.
This is Diablo Canyon, California’s last operating nuclear power plant.
Just years ago, the plant was slated to close, and employees worked to decommission it, until a 2022 about-face by Gov. Gavin Newsom led the state to extend its operations to 2030. Now lawmakers in Sacramento are talking about allowing it to operate even longer, potentially to 2045.
But local groups, some of whom have protested the plant since its construction, are banging the drum ever louder about their concerns for safety or a catastrophic meltdown, as well as the danger posed by spent nuclear waste at a site near several seismic fault lines.
Meanwhile, academics are furiously analyzing how much keeping Diablo Canyon open would cost and if it would support or hinder the state’s clean energy transition. And business groups are lining up in support.
So when PG&E offered press tours earlier this year, KQED accepted. The nuclear power plant has not garnered this much attention in years, but now, once again, all eyes are on Diablo Canyon. What does it look like inside?
Out on the water
PG&E’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant tour started on a boat in a protected marina just south of the reactors. This, and another cove just outside the breakwaters, are the site of a key piece of the plant’s cooling system — and a major concern for environmentalists, who argue it hoovers up and kills marine life and have called it “the most destructive facility” along California’s coast.
Dipping a hand in Diablo Cove, the water is lukewarm, not the frosty standard for the ocean in these parts.
That’s because Diablo Canyon draws 2 billion3-2.5 billion gallons of ocean water daily — enough to fill more than 3,000 Olympic-size swimming pools — into the plant to cool equipment, and discharges the water back into the ocean typically 16 to 17 degrees hotter.
The warmer water makes it feel as if a chunk of Southern California’s coast has been lobbed off and transferred north.
Out on the water, there was a hotbed of animal activity: a floating sea otter and chubby seals sunning themselves on rocks.
There were other species too — sea bass, stingrays, and California’s state fish, the garibaldi, which typically live farther south along California’s coast, but have moved here.
Diablo Canyon staff said the warm water leads to essentially no change to the environment. Because fishing and other activities are not allowed within 2,000 yards of the plant, it’s a “de facto marine sanctuary,” said Tom Jones, a senior director in charge of future planning for Diablo Canyon.
But the California Coastal Commission, the state agency tasked with protecting the coastline and its natural resources, reported in 2025 that the plant’s cooling system kills almost two billion larval fish annually, plus other organisms that aren’t measured.
While adult populations may be abundant in Diablo Cove, the commission wrote that adults often appear far from where they spawn, and their presence here may be the result of productive marine habitats nearby.
The commission also warned that removing eggs and larvae near Diablo Canyon leads to “a significant reduction” of species dozens of miles from the plant.
“These planktonic organisms,” wrote the commission, “constitute the base of the food web in California’s coastal waters.”
To the turbine deck
We donned hard hats and safety equipment and passed through heavy security to enter the “protected area,” which consists of spaces closer to the nuclear reactors.
We entered the turbine deck, an industrial building the size of two-and-a-half football fields. It was hot and loud on the deck, with a slight vibration underfoot.
The steam-driven turbine inside is an enormous semi-cylinder that looks like a horizontal steel pipe cut in half, and spins a generator to produce electricity.
The PG&E guide pointed out the window at a containment dome, where uranium atoms are split apart, releasing huge amounts of heat.
A cascade of effects follows: the heat warms water and creates steam, the steam travels through pipes to turn the turbine, the turbine connects to a generator, which makes electricity that’s then sent across the grid and delivered to about three million Californians.
Nuclear generates nearly 9% of the state’s energy supply, part of an energy mix that includes gas, hydroelectric, solar, wind, geothermal and even small amounts of coal.
While California’s demand for electricity has been flat for years, it’s now growing with the adoption of electric vehicles, people swapping gas appliances for electric ones, and data centers.
The debate to keep Diablo Canyon open is spurred, in part, by this uptick in demand. Maureen Zawalick, senior vice president and chief risk officer at PG&E, said stepping into the turbine deck reminds her of the end uses of all this power: “safety in hospitals, kidney dialysis, stop lights and everything else.”
The state’s growth in the 20th century was built on a foundation of fossil fuels, but leaders see its future as being powered by the buildout of renewables like solar and wind, along with batteries to store excess power.
When heat waves strained California’s power grid and caused rolling blackouts in 2020, state lawmakers and Newsom voted to extend Diablo Canyon’s operation.
Now, as electricity bills continue to rise and demand is forecast to grow, proponents argue that keeping the plant open even longer can help California wobble across the precarious middle of the tightrope.
The simulator
We shed our safety gear and headed to the training building, with classrooms and an exact replica of the control room, called the simulator.
It was cool and quiet again as employees completed a training exercise, manipulating switches, lights and screens on a semicircle of vertical boards. Zawalick said the simulator’s seafoam green walls are meant to inspire calm, but its very existence is due to nuclear disasters that have occurred elsewhere in the U.S.
Simulators became a requirement for all nuclear power plants in 1979 after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania. The partial meltdown was the most serious nuclear accident in U.S. history and was caused by both human and equipment failure.
Practicing in a replica of Diablo Canyon’s actual control room is meant to train workers with the muscle memory to handle a variety of emergencies.
Employees spend 20% of their time in the Diablo Canyon simulator training for everything from planned refueling to routine maintenance to major emergencies.
Spent nuclear fuel
To finish the tour, we drove uphill and farther from the ocean to find dozens of hulking concrete cylinders that contain spent fuel, called “dry casks.”
The nuclear material is the concern of resident groups who fear an earthquake or terrorist attack could destabilize the storage and spew radioactive waste into the ocean or nearby communities. People living nearby are mailed annual emergency preparednessdocuments and have access to a free dose of potassium iodide, which protects the thyroid gland against radiation.
Linda Seeley has rallied against Diablo Canyon for decades as a member of the anti-nuclear nonprofit Mothers for Peace.
“As much as I would love it if nuclear waste were not toxic and lethal to a thousand generations in the future, that’s not the fact. The fact is that it is toxic,” she said.
Once fuel has been used inside the plant, radiation levels are dangerously high and have the potential to kill an exposed person in minutes.
The spent fuel spends 7 to 10 years next to the reactors in “wet storage,” a large pool of water treated with chemicals. The liquid absorbs heat and decays of the uranium, which has high levels of radiation.
The nuclear material is then packed into the double-lined, stainless steel and reinforced dry casks, roughly 20 feet tall. Each is bolted to a 7.5-foot-thick, steel-reinforced concrete pad designed to withstand earthquakes. The fuel requires special handling for tens of thousands of years.
Diablo Canyon is located roughly 3.5 miles from the Hosgri fault, which presents the main seismic risk to the plant. Another fault, the Shoreline, is closer to the plant, but smaller. Some seismologists are concerned that a quake along the faults could cause a meltdown.
The U.S. government is legally obligated to take ownership of all commercially spent nuclear fuel, but because the government has not yet built a permanent place to put it, the fuel is stored at the power plant.
Current solutions like Diablo Canyon’s dry storage casks, while they may be thorough, are only licensed until 2064 by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Zawalick said PG&E is confident in the storage of Diablo Canyon’s spent fuel, though. She pointed out that nuclear power is “the only energy source that knows exactly where every ounce of our waste is.” The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and PG&E monitor the spent fuel on a daily and annual basis. “It’s secured, it’s inspected, it’s audited, it’s sampled. I’m a fan of all energy sources, but I don’t know where solar panels are sent when they’re done, and batteries, and all of that.”
Zawalick pointed to the powerful transmission lines carrying energy created here out to millions of Californians: to illuminate rooms for special and mundane occasions, preserve food in refrigerators, run air conditioners, and warm their shower water.
Order and safety come up frequently on the Diablo Canyon Power Plant tour: background checks, armed guards, seismic protective measures, reminders to hold on to handrails when on steps. The result is a calm and kempt environment, situated on a hillside overlooking the Pacific.
But underneath the serenity lie the inherent risks of nuclear power, especially when sited near seismic fault lines. Diablo Canyon has been the source of passionate debate as long as the idea of it has existed. And any effort to keep it operating longer will be no different.
And with that, the tour was over, and the guides returned to their work. A cow made its way slowly across the access road, with no idea of its contentious neighbor.
Thomas Dambo's "TROLLS: A Field Study" exhibition is at the South Coast Botanic Garden through October.
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Courtesy South Coast Botanic Garden
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In this edition:
Spaceballs at Griffith Observatory, Netflix is a Joke kicks off, Trolls take over South Coast Botanical Garden, and more of the best things to do this week.
Highlights:
Where to even begin with all the incredible comedy listings for this year’s Netflix Is a Joke festival? Pretty much every venue in L.A. has a comedy show this week.
Griffith Observatory is hosting a very special screening of the best spoof of all time ever (don’t @ me), Spaceballs.
L.A. has a wealth of architectural and modern building feats, many of which we have more access to than any other city, given our (relative!) youth. UCLA’s School of Architecture has some of this history on display at the "Core Samples" exhibit, including posters from talks by Frank Gehry and John Julius Norwich and archival materials.
We all need a good story to start the week, and this one is the best. Pasadena Humane has rehomed its last dog rescued from the Eaton Fire. Artemis, a German shepherd, is happily in his forever home, and now we can all sleep a little easier. What a good boy!
Music this week includes the last of the free spring lunchtime concerts at the Colburn on Tuesday, May 5. Licorice Pizza has more picks, including Meshell Ndegeocello at Blue Note on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, Sports are at the Roxy, Saults are at the Teragram, Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman play Disney Hall, and over at the Grammy Museum, there’s a screening of the Ann Wilson documentary In My Voice, followed by a conversation with the Heart legend herself. Thursday, The Dear Hunter will be at the Glass House.
Tuesday, May 4, 6 to 10 p.m. Griffith Observatory 2800 E. Observatory Road, Griffith Park COST: MEMBER ADMISSION, $45, MEMBER ADMISSION, $50 WAITLIST; MORE INFO
I don’t even really have to say it, do I? Griffith Observatory is hosting a very special screening of the best spoof of all time ever (don’t @ me), Spaceballs. In celebration of the upcoming sequel, Spaceballs: The New One (tbd if that was necessary), star Josh Gad will be on hand and the evening includes parking, drinks and snacks, and photo ops. It’s currently waitlist-only … may the Schwartz be with you.
Cinemasianamerica
Through Thursday, May 7 Laemmle Royal 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A. COST: FROM $11.50; MORE INFO
Just in time to kick off Asian American Pacific Islander Month, director Quentin Lee has put together an exciting screening series at the Laemmle Royal, featuring 30 years of Lee’s work. The Cinemasianamerica series runs through May 7 and includes screenings of Ethan Mao, The People I’ve Slept With, The Unbidden, Rez Comedy, and Last Summer of Nathan Lee. The series will wrap with Comedy InvAsian III, a sneak preview of Lee’s stand-up showcase. Most screenings include a Q&A with Lee and fellow cast members.
Core Samples
Through Tuesday, June 30, by appointment UCLA Architecture and Urban Design 1317 Portola Plaza, Perloff Hall 1118, Westwood COST: FREE; MORE INFO
L.A. has a wealth of architectural and modern building feats, many of which we have more access to than any other city, given our (relative!) youth. UCLA’s School of Architecture has some of this history on display, including posters from talks by Frank Gehry and John Julius Norwich and archival materials, including VHS tapes, faculty portraits, 35mm slides of student work, travel photographs, office drawings, and posters. It uses a classroom space to allow visitors to explore, so since the exhibit is also a working teaching archive, you do have to make an appointment.
Netflix Is a Joke Festival
Through Sunday, May 10 Netflix Is a Joke Festival Multiple locations COST: VARIES; MORE INFO
WANTAGH, NY - SEPTEMBER 10: Comedian Pete Davidson performs onstage during Oddball Comedy Festival at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on September 10, 2016 in Wantagh, New York.
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Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
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Getty Images North America
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Where to even begin with all the incredible comedy listings for this year’s Netflix Is a Joke Festival? Whether you’re a theater person (see: Rachel Bloom guesting with Theater Adult on May 7), a fan of roasts (head to the Forum for the Roast of Kevin Hart on May 10), an SNL superfan (Pete Davidson at the Wiltern on May 9) or a podcast junkie (Girls Gotta Eat at the Palace Theatre on May 7), there’s a show for you. I didn’t even mention the 40th Anniversary of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse with the B-52s and Danny Elfman (May 4) or the Lizzo show at the Greek (May 7)! Pretty much every venue in L.A. has a comedy show this week – it might be harder not to see comedy. So find your favorite (or someone you’ve never heard of!) and get a taste of the L.A. and international comedy scene right here.
Anissa Helou x Now Serving: For Lebanon
Monday, May 4, 7 to 8 p.m. 727 N. Broadway #133, Chinatown COST: FROM $11.49; MORE INFO
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Now Serving
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L.A. Times restaurant critic Bill Addison hosts this conversation with James Beard-winning cookbook author Anissa Helou at cookbook store Now Serving in Chinatown. Helou’s latest is Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland, celebrating the diversity of dishes from the Mediterranean country.
TROLLS: A Field Study
Through Sunday, October 4 South Coast Botanic Garden 26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula COST: FREE WITH GENERAL ADMISSION ($18); MORE INFO
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South Coast Botanic Garden
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South Coast Botanic Garden
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Thomas Dambo’s oversized trolls are as cute as they are creepy. Twelve of those giants made entirely of reclaimed wood have made their way across the pond to guard the South Coast Botanic Garden until October. Walk through this fairytale land with admission to the gardens or plan a special guided weekend Troll Trek.
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Elly Yu
reports on early childhood. From housing to health, she covers issues facing the youngest Angelenos and their families.
Published May 4, 2026 5:00 AM
New amendments to legislation would require independent evaluations of state education programs that spend at least $500 million annually.
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Laure Andrillon
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CalMatters
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Topline:
A bill in the state legislature would require evaluations of statewide education programs, like transitional kindergarten. LAist reported in February that the state had no plans to evaluate the new grade for four-year-olds, despite billions of dollars being spent.
Why it matters: The bill’s author, state Assemblymember David Alvarez, said he was shocked to find out how much the state has spent on initiatives without a plan for evaluation. “I really see this as the opportunity to really cement what I think is a good governance practice, long-term,” he said.
A bill moving through the state legislature would require independent evaluations of any new education initiative that costs at least $500 million a year or $1 billion in one-time spending.
The proposed requirement is part of a larger bill that would restructure the role of the state superintendent, an elected position that currently oversees the California Department of Education.
“That means that as we make massive investments, as have occurred in the last several years, like universal transitional kindergarten, that there is a built-in independent check to tell us what is actually working,” Assemblymember David Alvarez, the bill’s author and chair of the assembly subcommittee on education, said at a hearing a few weeks ago.
”For TK, as you've covered well, you know, it's nonexistent,” Alvarez told LAist.
The state has spent billions on the program, including $3.9 billion to administer it this fiscal year.
The amendments to the bill also follow reports from the research group Policy Analysis for California Education, as well as the Legislative Analyst’s Office, that recommend reshaping the role of an elected state superintendent to include evaluation duties. But Alvarez said he thought it was crucial to take the legislation a step further and include a fiscal trigger to make evaluations mandatory, and envisions the requirement to apply to new state spending.
How would reviews work?
The bill as currently written only applies to new initiatives, but the superintendent would have authority to order reviews of existing programs like transitional kindergarten.
"I'm hopeful that as we engage more with the administration on this issue, that there's an interest in evaluating a program like this one of this magnitude and others,” Alvarez said. Other existing programs include the Community Schools Partnership Program, a wrap-around services initiative, and the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program.
The bill would allow for the independent evaluations to be done by outside research organizations.
“I really see this as the opportunity to really cement what I think is a good governance practice, long-term,” he said. “ Resources are limited, and we don't have an infinite number of dollars to do all the work we want to do, so we’ve got to make sure that dollars are being used in the best way that serves the most number of students.”
Have thoughts?
Who oversees the state's education budget?
The California State Assembly's Subcommittee on Education Finance and the State Senate's Education Committee are the points of contact for proposals and oversight of public education funding, including:
Kavish Harjai
has been keeping track of progress on the LAX Automated People Mover.
Published May 4, 2026 5:00 AM
The workers represented by the union have been testing and commissioning the LAX Automated People Mover, which is seen here going through reliability and safety testing in April 2026.
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Kavish Harjai
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LAist
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Topline:
A subcontractor on the LAX Automated People Mover project owes a group of workers unpaid wages and benefits, according to a grievance filed by the union representing the workers. An arbitrator in March sided with the union in its case against the subcontractor, Alstom Transport USA.
What does this mean: The arbitrator’s decision calls on Alstom to pay the workers back wages and benefits. The International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 18, who brought the grievance forward, said Alstom has “already shown that they don’t intend to comply with the arbitrator’s award.” In that case, the general contractor, LINXS, would be liable to remedy the pay issue, according to a copy of the arbitrator’s decision shared with LAist by the union.
The broader context: Disputes in large-scale capital projects are not uncommon. This is one of many surrounding the Automated People Mover and not the only one to involve subcontractors. Earlier this year, LAist reported about how the main contractor, a group of companies called LINXS, is engaged in legal battles with two of its other subcontractors.
Read on … for more details about the arbitration.
A subcontractor on the LAX Automated People Mover project owes a group of workers unpaid wages and benefits, according to a grievance filed by the union representing the workers.
An arbitrator held a hearing on the matter last December and formally sided with the union in his decision, which was released in March.
The International Union of Elevator Constructors, Local 18, had argued in a grievance filed in May 2025 that subcontractor Alstom Transport USA has been paying people who have been preparing train vehicles for passenger service and testing parts at a lower rate than what’s outlined in a labor agreement governing the project.
The union said in a statement to LAist that it is “satisfied” its claims were backed by the arbitrator and that the decision reflects the power of collective action.
The union added that this isn’t the end of the fight since Alstom has “already shown that they don’t intend to comply with the arbitrator’s award.”
The arbitrator noted in his decision there is some uncertainty as to how many workers would be affected since some of them were hired directly by Alstom and others through third-party firms. The union says there are 28 total workers who, regardless of how they were hired, should be compensated for their work and estimates Alstom owes them millions in wages and benefits.
A spokesperson for Alstom said it is “reviewing the arbitrator’s recommendations.”
“Alstom remains committed to reaching a fair and competitive wage and benefit package that recognizes the valuable contributions of our employees,” the spokesperson said.
LINXS did not respond to a request for comment.
Disputes in large-scale capital projects are not uncommon. This is one of many surrounding the Automated People Mover and not the only one to involve subcontractors working on the project. Earlier this year, LAist reported about how the main contractor, a group of companies called LINXS, is engaged in legal battles with two of its other subcontractors.
At the heart of this dispute is the collective bargaining agreement that sets wages for on-site construction work, establishes dispute procedures and ensures there won’t be work stoppages over labor issues on capital projects owned by Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that oversees LAX. The project labor agreement was first forged in 1999 and, in 2020, the airport’s board renewed it for an additional decade.
LINXS agreed that it would be bound to the agreement and “shall require all of its subcontractors … to be similarly bound,” according to a copy of the arbitrator’s decision the union shared with LAist.
The union has claimed that the Alstom employees were doing work that is covered by the agreement and that they should be paid accordingly.
Alstom, according to communications cited in the arbitrator’s decision, said it never signed a document called a Letter of Assent, which formalizes a company’s obligation to follow the project labor agreement, and that, even if it did, its employees’ work isn’t covered.
The arbitrator’s decision
David Weinberg, the arbitrator, said the testing and commissioning work Alstom employees did is covered by the project labor agreement. Weinberg added that Alstom consented to abide by the agreement when it signed a contract to work with LINXS.
“Not signing the Letter of Assent does not absolve Alstom of its contractual obligations to LINXS or to the Union under the [Project Labor Agreement] due to the pass-through provision,” Weinberg wrote in his decision.
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Weinberg said that the Alstom employees should get paid the national wage and benefits rate for the International Union of Elevator Constructors for any hours of work completed starting 60 days before the union filed its grievance. Weinberg also ordered Alstom to provide the hours of work completed on-site.
Weinberg said in his decision that if Alstom does not comply, LINXS would be on the hook, though for a smaller amount. LINXS would be liable to pay for any hours of work starting 60 days before Nov. 4, when it became a formal party to the grievance.
