Joseph Young is stepping down from his role as music director of the Berkeley Symphony after six years. Photo: Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle Joseph Young is stepping down from his role as music ...

In 1996, British actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste was essentially introduced to the cinema world with her astonishing turn opposite Brenda Blethyn in Mike Leigh’s “Secrets & Lies,” which earned her an ...

Director John M. Chu debuted two special projects this fall: one work of art, one human. The first was his fifth child, daughter Stevie Sky Chu, with wife Kristin Hodge, who gave birth on Nov. 9, the ...

In the ancient Roman arena, “Gladiator II” gets a thumbs down. Paul Mescal finds himself blown out of the acting arena by Denzel Washington and Connie Nielsen. Lucius (Paul Mescal) leads a hopeless ...

Actor Mike Ryan exudes likability, authenticity and unfussy purity of intention onstage. Whatever the role, he makes his lines sound commonsense yet necessary. Even when he plays a villain — such as ...

Cynthia Erivo, left, is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in “Wicked,” directed by Jon M. Chu. Photo: Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures The marketing of “Wicked” has been so obnoxious for so long — ...

According to Katherine Rundell, who’s written many award-winning books for kids and adults, in the last 50 years, the amount of wildlife crawling, climbing, swimming and flying through the air has ...