St James Theatre, New York
The hilariously deranged riff on Titanic loses some scrappy charm in its Broadway transfer

According to its creators, the idea for Titaníque, the extremely campy Céline Dion jukebox musical now open on Broadway, originated as a drunken riff between friends – what if the Québécois Queen of Feelings not only sang the theme song of the movie Titanic, but sincerely believed she survived the disaster? A Céline-ified Titanic is an appropriately silly concept – possibly no one has provided the world as much camp sincerity as the 90s power ballad pioneer, and the beloved movie could use some unserious updates. Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue, the co-authors, made the show extra zany, extra gay, extra “kooky crazy” (to quote the truly inimitable Dion) and set sail in the theatrical equivalent of a rowboat; the first staging of Titaníque took place in the basement of a shuttered Manhattan grocery store. Adaptable and very meta, the show upgraded to a series of ever-larger craft: a buzzy, post-pandemic Off-Broadway run, a world tour, then an acclaimed West End stint.

Though, to my deep regret, I missed out on the original Off-Broadway run, I found myself nostalgic for those humble beginnings while attending the new-and-improved Titaníque at the too-cavernous St James Theater, where the jazzed-up show now has the budget and scale befitting an ocean liner. Or, more accurately, a corporate reality TV show; the tiered risers, on-stage band (who, it should be noted, sound great) and, most evocatively, neon-red stage lights look less like Titanic, even a very loosely interpreted one, and more like The X Factor, as Mindelle joked in one of her many asides as the singer. Why? Who’s to say. Self-awareness counts for a lot in the very funny Titaníque, though not an explanation.

What a relief that this is the end for Sam Levison’s grim drama. A show which was once blackly funny is now humourless torture porn

To say that season three of Euphoria is long-awaited would be something of an understatement. HBO’s high school drama debuted in 2019, when it garnered a fanfare of attention with its heady mix of grinding trauma, heavenly eyeshadows and cheap/daring (delete as appropriate) feats, including a locker room scene starring 30 penises. In the years since, it cemented itself as a show with much to say about gen Z’s relationship to sex, drugs and mental health, and pushed Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney and former Disney teenybopper Zendaya to the A-list. It has also released a mere 18 episodes in that time, a victim of everything from the Covid pandemic to the Los Angeles fires. Like a new Rihanna album, Euphoria season three has – in time – become shorthand for a pop culture mirage that would maybe, possibly arrive sometime before 2030. At least, we hoped, before most of the cast were in their 30s.

Excitement, too, has waned over time. Rumours of rifts between the cast and creator Sam Levinson have only grown since its return was confirmed last autumn, and the press tour that followed has had a distinct flavour of “contractual obligation” about it (social media posts from the cast were few and far between, while Zendaya, in an interview with Variety, ambiguously described filming as a “whirlwind”). It brings me no pleasure, then, to report that, based on the three episodes released for review, Euphoria’s third (and probably final) run was absolutely not worth the wait. It’s a grubby, humourless work of torture porn that’s obsessed with and repulsed by sex work.

Elle Hunt on her month wearing Meta’s smart glasses and the privacy concerns around the technology

According to Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s AI-powered glasses are “personal super intelligence” that “let you stay present in the moment”.

Journalist Elle Hunt reports on her time wearing them for a month. Elle tells Nosheen Iqbal about the highs and lows of the experience, the features that could be transformative for people with vision impairments or hearing loss, and the risks wearable tech poses to our privacy.

Donald Trump has said the US will begin blockading the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to take control of the strategic waterway. Key US politics stories from Sunday 12 April at a glance

Donald Trump has said the US will begin blockading the strait of Hormuz in an attempt to take control of the strategic waterway from Iran in the aftermath of failed peace negotiations between the countries in Pakistan.

The US president also threatened to bomb Iran’s water treatment facilities as well as its power plants and bridges, repeating an earlier threat, if Tehran did not agree to abandon its nuclear weapons programme – the key sticking point between the two sides.

Musician says he wanted to attend the protest despite the consequences a potential arrest could have on his music career

Massive Attack frontman Robert Del Naja has been arrested on suspicion of showing support for a proscribed organisation after attending a mass protest against the ban on Palestine Action in central London on Saturday.

Del Naja, also known as 3D, was among hundreds of fellow demonstrators in Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon, holding a sign that read “I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action”.

US senator appears at Manhattan rally alongside New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who cautioned that AI is ‘coming for human jobs’

Bernie Sanders has sounded an alarm over the US economy, warning “the worst is yet to come” unless workers overcome a “ruling class” of billionaires.

The US senator spoke at a rally in Manhattan on Sunday alongside Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, who cautioned that artificial intelligence was “coming for human jobs” amid mounting concern over the technology’s rapid development.

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the SQUARE
TULIP
ON MY KNEES, I CAN SEE FOREVER
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Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

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AUGUSTA (ANP/AFP) - Golfer Rory McIlroy heeft voor het tweede jaar op rij de Masters gewonnen. Hij is daarmee de vierde speler ooit die deze prestatie levert. Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo en Tiger Woods gingen hem voor.

De golfer uit Noord-Ierland behaalde in Augusta in de Amerikaanse staat Georgia zijn zesde grote titel. McIlroy won zondag met één slag voorsprong op Scottie Scheffler.

Met zijn overwinning verdient McIlroy 4,5 miljoen dollar.