Arts & Culture Celebrations, Snubs and Historic Moments: What You Missed at the 80th Golden Globe Awards

The awards show premiered on Jan. 10 to the second-lowest ratings in its history, despite delivering an evening full of turbulence

By JUJU JAWORSKI Contributing Writer

Awards season is a jam-packed blur for film and television enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike. To some, the Golden Globe Awards may seem indistinguishable from program ceremonies like the Oscars. (As I explained to my hometown friend, the Golden Globe Awards celebrate both film and television whereas the Oscars focus solely on film.) While awards shows such as the Golden Globes can appear performative or illegitimate, they serve as a time and place to celebrate the labor and love that goes into the world of cinema and television. This year’s Golden Globes was no different — yet, it was packed with surprises and snubs, just like previous years.

Despite NBC hitting its second-lowest ratings for the awards ceremony — averaging 6.25 million views — the Golden Globes was full of first-time nominees and boundary-breaking wins. The ceremony returned to television this year after going off-air in 2022 due to criticism of a lack of diversity in its voting body directed toward the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the organization that runs the Golden Globes.

This year, the HFPA president, Helen Hoehne, stepped onstage to note the organization’s strides toward creating room for diversity within the HFPA, while host Jerrod Carmichael highlighted the lack of diversity from the HFPA in years prior. Carmichael opened the night saying, “I’ll tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m Black.”

Carmichael, a well-known comedian, provided high energy and laughter to audience members, as well as numerous quick changes, sporting some of the ceremony’s best looks. The broadcast ran past its strict 11 p.m. end time, causing stress from producers, and not reaching the four biggest honors — best drama series; best comedy series; best picture, comedy or musical; and best picture, drama — until after the designated end time.

“The Banshees of Inisherin” was the most nominated film at the event with eight honors and took home one of the prized gems of the evening: best picture, musical or comedy. Steven Spielberg’s “The Fablemans” followed by taking home best picture, drama. For television, the big winners were “House of the Dragon” (drama) and “Abbott Elementary” (comedy or musical).

“ The late Toni Morrison said that your life is already a miracle of chance, just waiting for you to order its destiny. ”

Bassett, 2023 Golden Globe winner

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“Abbott Elementary” stood out at the Golden Globes, taking home multiple acting awards for cast members Quinta Brunson in her performance as Janine Teagues (best actress, comedy or musical series) and Tyler James Williams in his performance as Gregory Eddie (best supporting actor, musical, comedy or drama).

Mike White’s “The White Lotus” also made waves when it was awarded the titles of both best limited series and best supporting actress in a limited series for Jennifer Coolidge’s performance as Tanya. White and Coolidge had memorable speeches, both expressing their immense love for one another. Coolidge was not only remembered for her acceptance speech but also for her time presenting, as she exclaimed, “And the Oscar goes to ...” before correcting herself: “Oh, no, no, wait, Golden Globes.”

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Angela Bassett made Marvel history by winning best supporting actress for her role as Queen Ramonda in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Her speech was incredibly moving as she said, “The late Toni Morrison said that your life is already a miracle of chance, just waiting for you to order its destiny.” She ended her speech with dedicating the award to “Black Panther” star and 2021 Golden Globe Award winner Chadwick Boseman, who passed away in August 2020.

While Michelle Yeoh (best actress, musical or comedy) and Ke Huy Quan (best supporting actor) won accolades for their outstanding performances in “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” the acclaimed film was snubbed for the category of best picture, musical or comedy, losing to “The Banshees of Inisherin.” With the 2022 film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert being rated as the ninth-best movie of all time on IMDb, the loss was seen as an upset.

Yeoh’s stunning acceptance speech expressed the magnitude of her win. She opened her speech by saying, “I’m just gonna stand here and take this all in. Forty years, not letting go of this. So just quickly, thank you Hollywood Foreign Press for giving me this honor. It’s been an amazing journey and incredible fight to be here today, but I think it’s worth it.” When rushed out by music, signaling to wrap up her speech, Yeoh moved forward, saying, “Shut up, please,” in one of the most iconic moments of the evening.

Yeoh’s win was energizing and hopeful, as she discussed feeling her age play a part in her career, but receiving this role reignited her spark. “As time went by — I turned 60 last year — and I think all of you women understand this: As the days, years, numbers get bigger, the opportunities get smaller as well,” she said. “Then along came the best gift: ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’”

The Golden Globes also honored performances such as Austin Butler’s portrayal of the titular character in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” as well as awarding showrunner Ryan Murphy (“Glee,” “American Horror Story”) with the Carol Burnett Award.

The evening seemed to be filled with high spirits, partly due to flowing drink and limited food. As White said in his acceptance speech, “I was gonna give this speech in Italian, but I’m too drunk because there’s no food. The food — when you got there, they were like, ‘The food is over, you can’t have any.’ It was just drink.”

Despite the laughter and high energy of the evening, the HFPA still has work ahead of them in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion. In response to the 2022 controversy, the HFPA has added six Black journalists to the organization as well as 103 nonmember international voters in an effort to create an equitable space. In prior years, the HFPA had no Black members in the organization. During the broadcast, Hoehne stated, “We commit to strengthening our partnership with Hollywood and with the worldwide fans who celebrate, like we do, the best in film and television. We will continue to support groups that amplify a variety of voices and continue to add representation to our organization from around the world as we did this past year.”

As awards season continues on and Oscar nominations were recently released, it may seem like the logical conclusion that the Golden Globes would foreshadow the Academy Awards’ winners. However, it has been shown in past years that the two often have little to no correlation. For example, the 2022 Golden Globe winners for best picture, “The Power of the Dog” (drama) and “West Side Story” (musical or comedy), lost to “CODA” (best picture) at the Academy Awards, despite being nominated at both award shows. The Golden Globes, seemingly a more wide-ranging awards show with many more categories than the Academy Awards, may start off the awards season but won’t predict future winners.

The Golden Globes was an evening to remember and a catalyst for the remaining awards season for the film and television industry.

By CHRISTINA IOANNIDES Staff Writer

As anticipation for the fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” grows, “Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical” is the perfect way for fans to enjoy a refreshing and fun take on the beloved sci-fi horror series. Following up its original 2021 NYC run at the Players Theatre, the show has come to Playhouse 46 at St. Luke’s, finding great success and extending its intended January 2023 closing date into March.

Written by Jonathan Hogue and directed by Nick Flatto, the musical primarily adapts the TV show’s first season. Set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s, the story follows a group of young friends (Mike,

Lucas and Dustin) in their search for the missing Will Byers. Accompanied by Will’s mother Joyce, the jaded police chief Hopper and the superpowered human experimentation subject Eleven, they discover a mysterious parallel world called the Upside Down, infested by the monstrous Demogorgon that threatens the peace of their small town.

“Stranger Sings!” is best enjoyed by those who are wellversed in the source material, as the comedy is highly referential to the television series on a whole. While season one is the main focus, various references are made to the later seasons, such as the Scoops Ahoy ice cream shop from season three and Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” from season four. The play’s structure was somewhat loose, oftentimes trading plot depth and details for gags and fan service. Though this may be slightly confusing for newcomers in the audience, it has proved worthwhile for the greater comedic purpose.

As a relatively small off-Broadway production, the show cleverly takes advantage of its limited cast and performance space. The actors transition seamlessly through multiple roles; for example, the character of Will hilariously appears as a puppet voiced by Caroline Huerta, who also plays Will’s mother Joyce. “Stranger Sings!” does not shy away from breaking the fourth wall in every creative manner, from occasional audience interactions to an entire song by Joyce referencing Winona Ryder, the actress who plays her in the original series.

The fourth-wall comedy is facilitated by Walt Spangler’s uniquely immersive set design. The show is staged in the round; the basement theater has been transformed into the Byers home, with the Dungeons & Dragons table as a centerpiece surrounded by the iconic Christmas lights strung around the room and audience members seated on all four sides. There is little separation between performer and viewer, giving the impression that we are right alongside Mike, Lucas, Dustin and Eleven on their paranormal adventure.

Through the actors’ vibrant and passionate performances, the majority of the characters are adapted humorously yet faithfully from their television counterparts. However, some of the play’s funniest moments come from the more creative liberties taken with characterization. The aforementioned

Will puppet, the dancing Demogorgon and a very sexualized Steve Harrington all drew laughout-loud moments from the crowd. The cold and intimidating scientist known as “Papa” became a twirling, flamboyant character and his few minutes on the stage were some of the most memorable. Most notably, though, the sidekick character Barb Holland leaps beyond her minor role in the TV show as the overshadowed best friend, surviving her struggle in the Upside Down and stealing Nancy’s spotlight through a dazzling performance by SLee.

Each and every cast member gets their time to shine, bringing their vocal talents to Jonathan Hogue’s catchy, high-spirited original songs. The opening number “Welcome to Hawkins” introduces the quirky small town where

“nothing ever goes wrong”; subsequently, of course, everything goes wrong as Will is pulled into the Upside Down. Other standout tracks include Nancy and Barb’s earworm of a duet “Forever,” in which they cheerfully affirm that “best friends never die” (a nod to Barb’s death in the series), as well as “The Dad I Never Had,” a rare moment of sincerity as Eleven longs for the familial connection she was denied during life in the lab.

“Stranger Sings!” is a must-see for fans of the sensational Netflix series. As much as the parody thrives in ridiculousness, an earnest passion and love for “Stranger Things” shines through in every aspect of the production. If you have yet to jump on the bandwagon, there’s still time to catch up, as “Stranger Sings!” now runs through March 5, 2023.