Vanessa Williams receives diploma from Syracuse

By Diego Norona (AP)

A newly disclosed set of documents that Colombia\'s government says were recovered from a slain rebel\'s computers indicate senior Venezuelan officials tried to help arm Colombia\'s main guerrilla army.

The electronic documents _ more than a dozen _ were shown to The Associated Press on Friday.

They detail alleged meetings between senior Venezuelan officials _ including that country\'s chief of military intelligence and interior minister _ and top leaders of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Some discuss the procurement of weapons, others rebel...

By Joan Marcus (AP)

\"No, No, Nanette\" is one of those Broadway musicals that is the perfect combination of tap and tune _ catchy songs and dance numbers guaranteed to get an audience giddy.

It did in 1925, then again in 1971 and now, 37 years later, that fizzy feeling is back, courtesy of City Center\'s \"Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert.\"

If any show epitomizes the exuberant, frivolous gaiety of 1920s musical theater, it is this concoction, which features a hypnotic, hummable score _ music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach.

The production, which...

By MARK HUMPHREY (AP)

Eddy Arnold, whose mellow baritone on songs like \"Make the World Go Away\" made him one of the most successful country singers in history, died Thursday morning, days short of his 90th birthday.

Arnold died at a care facility near Nashville, said Don Cusic, a professor at Belmont University and author of the biography \"Eddy Arnold: I\'ll Hold You in My Heart.\" His wife of 66 years, Sally, had died in March, and in the same month, Arnold fell outside his home, injuring his hip.

Arnold\'s vocals on songs like the 1965 \"Make the World Go Away,\" one of his many No. 1 country...

By Mary Altaffer (AP)

He can\'t sing and he can\'t dance, but Gabriel Byrne can charm _ and he did while portraying the chivalrous King Arthur in \"Camelot.\"

After playing the tormented shrink Dr. Paul Weston in HBO\'s \"In Treatment,\" the Irish actor went from couch to court, starring Wednesday in Lerner and Loewe\'s beloved 1960 musical.

It was the first of five performances through Saturday, with one of the world\'s greatest pit orchestras _ the New York Philharmonic _ continuing its recent annual tradition of producing semi-staged musicals.

The 70 instrumentalists, conducted by...

By MONIQUE CARBONI (AP)

Picture two young people trying to enjoy their wedding night in the bedroom right next to the groom\'s parents, and you\'ll get an idea of the frustrating yet touching comedic premise of Ayub Khan-Din\'s warmhearted play, \"Rafta, Rafta ...,\" currently in a New Group production at off-Broadway\'s Acorn Theatre.

Atul Dutt (an engaging Manish Dayal) finds the romantic mood difficult to sustain after a rocky first night with his bride, Vina Patel (charmingly portrayed by Reshma Shetty.)

The couple is temporarily living with Atul\'s affectionately bickering parents, while saving...

By Evan Agostini (AP)

It will be Whoopi and Tony.

Whoopi Goldberg will serve as host of the 2008 Tony Awards June 15 at Radio City Music Hall, the show\'s executive producers, Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss, announced Thursday.

\"I love Broadway and I\'m thrilled to be doing anything for the first time,\" said Goldberg, who\'s hosted the Academy Awards four times. \"I\'m gonna have a blast.\"

Goldberg, a regular on ABC\'s \"The View,\" has been on Broadway with her own one-woman show as well as in revivals of \"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum\" and \"Ma Rainey\'s Black...

By Joan Marcus (AP)

More than a quarter-century has not diminished the theatricality of \"Top Girls,\" British playwright Caryl Churchill\'s incisive dissection of how women deal with power and class.

The proof is on display at Broadway\'s Biltmore Theatre where Manhattan Theatre Club has assembled a top-notch company of actresses for its compelling revival of what is one of Churchill\'s most intellectually bracing plays.

\"Top Girls\" may be very much of its time _ it\'s deliberately set in the early 1980s at the height of the Thatcher-Reagan era _ but its feminist themes resonate just as...

By Scott Suchman (AP)

\"Glory Days\" didn\'t hang around Broadway long enough to gather much glory.

The $2.5 million musical about the reunion of four young men after their first year of college opened and closed Tuesday after one performance and 17 previews.

\"We adore `Glory Days\' and everyone connected with this production,\" producers John O\'Boyle and Ricky Stevens said Wednesday in a statement. \"Sadly, given the overnight reviews and our low advance sales, we believe it is prudent to close the show on Broadway immediately.\"

The show, the first Broadway effort by Nick Blaemire and...

By Joanna Lewis (AP)

When the Pentagon announced an obscure California company had won a lucrative military contract, no one mentioned any plans for a Caribbean outpost _ a tropical shell the company quickly created that allowed it to duck millions in taxes and deflect U.S. lawsuits.

It\'s legal, at least for now. Contractors large and small have been heading offshore to shield piles of taxpayer dollars, according to an Associated Press investigation, but irate lawmakers are thundering that they\'ll put an end to it.

Almost a decade ago, a few months after winning the deal that has totaled more...

By ALESSANDRA TARANTINO (AP)

The China Philharmonic Orchestra performed for Pope Benedict XVI in a landmark concert Wednesday that could indicate warming relations between Beijing and the Vatican.

Benedict called it a \"truly unique event\" and offered a \"thank you\" in Chinese at the end of the hour-long concert.

He praised music as a bridge between cultures and peoples and expressed greetings \"to all the people of China as they prepare for the Olympic Games.\" The pontiff said he wanted to reach out \"to your entire people\" and that he had a \"special thought\" for Chinese Catholics loyal to the...

By ALESSANDRA TARANTINO (AP)

The China Philharmonic Orchestra performed for Pope Benedict XVI in a landmark concert Wednesday that could indicate warming relations between Beijing and the Vatican.

Benedict called it a \"truly unique event\" and offered a \"thank you\" in Chinese at the end of the hour-long concert.

He praised music for being a bridge between cultures and peoples and expressed greetings \"to all the people of China as they prepare for the Olympic Games.\"

The pontiff said he wanted to reach out \"to your entire people\" and that he had a \"special thought\" for Chinese Catholics...

By ALESSANDRA TARANTINO (AP)

The conductor leading the China Philharmonic Orchestra in a landmark concert Wednesday at the Vatican said he feels honored to perform for the pope, saying music breaks down cultural barriers.

Ties between the Vatican and China\'s communist government have been strained for decades, and the concert could indicate warming relations.

\"Music is beyond any religion, culture, language, and I would say music is the language of God because language is understanding each other,\" conductor Yu Long told The Associated Press in an interview before the Wednesday evening...

By KELSEY McNEAL (AP)

It was the 100th episode of \"Dancing with the Stars\" _ but the last for Mario. The 21-year-old R&B singer and his professional partner, Karina Smirnoff, were eliminated during Tuesday\'s results show, which also served as a special celebration of the ABC dancing competition\'s 100th episode.

Mario and Smirnoff performed a Viennese waltz and a jive during Monday\'s performance show, earning 53 out of 60 points. The judges crowned Mario \"a new prince\" following his ballroom dance but called his feet \"bloody ugly\" after his Latin dance. Mario came in third place following the...

By Scott Suchman (AP)

\"Glory Days\" is an eager pop-rock musical examining past, present and future _ as seen through the eyes of four best friends, a quartet of guys who have returned home after their first year of college.

It\'s a modest show, barely 90 minutes in length, with not much plot but plenty of emotion as it attempts to sort out the thoughts and feelings of these young men who still have some growing up to do _ and maybe growing out of relationships with their high school pals.

Whether that\'s enough for big, bad Broadway is doubtful, but \"Glory Days,\" which opened Tuesday at Circle...

By (AP)

\"Speed Racer\" stars Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci are better known for smaller independent movies than summer blockbusters.

Yet they could not pass up the chance to work with Larry and Andy Wachowski on the brothers\' first writing-directing effort after \"The Matrix\" trilogy.

After the lesbian thriller \"Bound\" and their science-fiction franchise, all dark R-rated affairs, the Wachowskis have gone the family route with the PG-rated \"Speed Racer,\" a live-action and computer-animated update of the TV cartoon series.

Hirsch, who starred last year in Sean Penn\'s...

By Evan Agostini (AP)

Hours after confirming her engagement to Ryan Reynolds, Scarlett Johansson flashed a diamond ring at the Metropolitan Museum of Art\'s Costume Institute Gala.

The 23-year-old actress unveiled the sparkler while walking the red carpet _ sans Reynolds _ at Monday night\'s celeb-studded event, which drew the likes of Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

Johansson, flanked by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, posed for the cameras in a cream gown by the designers that showed off her curves. Her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said earlier in the day that...

By Louis Lanzano (AP)

A lovesick former mental patient was convicted Tuesday of stalking and harassing Uma Thurman for more than two years, showing up on her front doorstep and movie set and sending the actress a series of creepy love letters.

Jack Jordan, a 37-year-old out-of-work lifeguard and pool cleaner, faces up to a year in jail. He was convicted of stalking and one count of aggravated harassment, and acquitted of two other harassment counts.

Jordan, who looked calm, was led from the courtroom in handcuffs. The judge ordered a psychiatric exam before his next court date on June...

By Chris Pizzello (AP)

Nearly 25 years after leaving Syracuse University, Vanessa Williams will get her bachelor of fine arts degree this weekend.

The 45-year-old actress-singer, who stars in ABC\'s \"Ugly Betty,\" will also deliver the convocation address Saturday to graduates of Syracuse\'s College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Williams attended Syracuse\'s drama department as a musical theater major from 1981-1983. She earned the remaining credits for her degree through industry experience and performances on stage and screen.

In 1983, Williams became the first black Miss America. She...

By Louis Lanzano (AP)

A Manhattan jury has convicted a lovesick former mental patient of stalking and harassing actress Uma Thurman.

Jack Jordan faces up to a year in jail.

The verdict comes after a weeklong trial that featured gripping testimony from the Academy Award-nominated actress. Thurman says she was \"completely freaked out\" by Jordan\'s behavior.

Prosecutors say he stalked her off and on over the last three years. He showed up at her front doorstep and her SoHo movie set and sent a series of bizarre cards and letters. Her parents say he also called them up in tearful, suicidal...

By Elise Amendola (AP)

A musical by John Mellencamp and Stephen King, scheduled to be produced next season in Atlanta, has been postponed, the Alliance Theatre announced Monday.

The Alliance announced in February that \"Ghost Brothers of Darkland County,\" with music by Mellencamp and a book by horror master King, would open in April 2009, with the object of preparing it for a Broadway run.

The Alliance notified subscribers on Monday that the project has been delayed because of \"unanticipated scheduling problems which could not be resolved in time for the production.\"

Members of the...

By Dan Steinberg (AP)

Harry Connick Jr. and the Gershwins, George and Ira _ Broadway\'s newest trio.

The jazz pianist-singer will return to Broadway in spring 2009 in \"Nice Work If You Can Get It,\" a new musical comedy using Gershwin standards, producer Scott Landis announced Monday.

Connick will play a Long Island playboy in the show, which will feature a book by Joe DiPietro, one of the authors of \"I Love You, You\'re Perfect, Now Change\"; music by George Gershwin, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin.

\"Nice Work If You Can Get It\" will play a pre-Broadway engagement at Boston\'s Colonial...

By Louis Lanzano (AP)

The attorney for a man accused of stalking actress Uma Thurman has conceded that his client\'s behavior was obsessive. A prosecutor went much further, saying the man\'s actions \"terrified\" the star.

Whether the defendant had criminal intent to scare or harass the \"Kill Bill\" and \"Pulp Fiction\" actress is up to jurors to decide. They were expected to resume deliberations on Tuesday.

Jack Jordan, 37, is on trial in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on charges of stalking and aggravated harassment. He faces up to a year in jail if convicted. Jurors began deliberations...

By JULIE JACOBSON (AP)

Alvin Colt, a Tony-winning costume designer whose work spanned more than 60 years of theater from \"On the Town\" to the \"Forbidden Broadway\" revues, has died at 92.

Colt died Sunday of natural causes at Roosevelt Hospital, said Susan Noack, his niece.

\"Alvin Colt was a huge icon in the world of theatrical design,\" said designer Bob Mackie. \"He had great style and humor in his professional and private life. He was a gentleman and he certainly was a hero of mine.\"

Colt\'s first show was \"On the Town,\" the 1944 musical about sailors on a 24-hour shore leave in New...