NEW YORK - On a chilly November evening, wearing a light leather jacket and a scarf, American actress Auli'i Cravalho was freezing as she plunged through a pair of gleaming doors into a candlelit bar in midtown Manhattan.
"I do not know how people layer here. I'm in total awe," said Cravalho, who had just come from a photo shoot at a park on the Lower East Side.
Like the plucky young heroine she voices in Disney's Moana films (2016 to present) - the sequel, Moana 2, was the top-grossing film in Singapore over the past weekend - Cravalho grew up in a tropical climate in Kohala, Hawaii.
But recently, the 24-year-old had been living in an apartment in the New York neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen, with her partner and her best friend, while starring in the Broadway revival of Cabaret.
Cravalho plays singer Sally Bowles in the John Kander and Fred Ebb musical, first staged in 1966, about a Berlin nightclub during the rise of fascism.
That night would be her first back in the show since she sat out a few performances after she "had come this close to vocal hemorrhaging".
"I have a newfound respect for the leads of these musicals because, my gosh, it is tough," said Cravalho. It had been a whirlwind few weeks, but she was gregarious as she sipped tea poured from a miniature teapot.
In addition to performing an emotionally demanding role eight times a week, there were promotional appearances for Moana 2, the follow-up to the 2016 Polynesian animated adventure - a global phenomenon that was the most-streamed movie on any American platform in 2023, according to Nielsen.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 04, 2024-Ausgabe von The Straits Times.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 04, 2024-Ausgabe von The Straits Times.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
CALLIGRAPHY IS BIG WITH ARTIST
The boulders hiding in the alcove of Tong Yang-tze's (right) Taipei apartment testify to this Taiwanese calligrapher's daunting perfectionism. They are paper - remnants of discarded artworks, crumpled together like used tissues and soaked into inky wads of pulp. Hundreds of old drafts of writing, including many of her efforts to draw Chinese poetry at a monumental scale, have been recycled into these rocks over the years, most recently as she worked on her commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which debuted on Nov 21.
Mattel sued over Wicked dolls with porn website link
LOS ANGELES - Mattel was sued on Dec 3 by a South Carolina mother for mistakenly putting a link to a pornographic website on packaging for dolls tied to the blockbuster movie Wicked.
Taiwanese musician-director Liu Chia-chang a composer of hit songs
Famed veteran Taiwanese musician and director Liu Chia-chang has died at the age of 81.
Actress Kristal Tin reveals lung cancer diagnosis
Former TVB actress Kristal Tin revealed on Instagram on Dec 3 that she has undergone successful surgery for lung cancer.
South Korean entertainment schedules up in the air
SEOUL - Schedules of performances and interviews in South Korea have been thrown into a state of uncertainty by a sudden martial law declaration that was lifted only a few hours later.
Host Dasmond Koh surprised by martial law edict while in Seoul for work
Upheaval in Seoul, South Korea
Squid Game returns to end 2024 with a bang
In this monthly column, The Straits Times' streaming picks for December include the long-awaited second season of the survivalist hit Squid Game (2021 to present) and its non-lethal equivalent.
Flow speaks Volumes, The Room Next Door a thin melodrama
In the wake of a devastating flood, a cat finds refuge with motley stranded animals on a tattered sailboat.
Funeral rites come alive in The Last Dance
The Hong Kong drama offers fascinating glimpses into the city's funeral traditions
Tolkien and anime work well together, says Japanese director
NEW YORK - It has been a decade since the work of fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien last appeared on the big screen.