By ELISE RYAN, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Kimberly Belflower knew “John Proctor is the Villain” needed its final cathartic scene to work — and, for that, it needed Lorde’s “Green Light.”

“I literally told my agent, ‘I would rather the play just not get done if it can’t use that song,’” the playwright laughed. She wrote Lorde a letter, explaining what the song meant, and got her green light.

Starring Sadie Sink, the staggering play about high schoolers studying “The Crucible” as the #MeToo movement arrives in their small Georgia town, earned seven Tony nominations, including best new play — the most of any this season. It’s among a group of Broadway shows that have centered the stories of young people and attracted audiences to match.

This image released by O&M/DKC shows Sadie Sink, left, and Amalia Yoo during a performance of “John Proctor Is the Villain” in New York. (Julieta Cervantes/O&M/DKC via AP)

Sam Gold’s Brooklyn-rave take on “Romeo + Juliet,” nominated for best revival of a play and led by Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler with music from Jack Antonoff, drew the youngest ticket-buying audience recorded on Broadway, producers reported, with 14% of ticket purchasers aged 18-24, compared to the industry average of 3%.

The shows share some DNA: pop music (specifically the stylings of Antonoff, who also produced “Green Light”), Hollywood stars with established fanbases and stories that reflect the complexity of young adulthood.

“It was very clear that young people found our show because it was doing what theater’s supposed to do,” Gold said. “Be a mirror.”

Embracing the poetry of teenage language

The themes “John Proctor” investigates aren’t danced around (until they literally are). The girls are quick to discuss #MeToo’s impact, intersectional feminism and sexual autonomy. Their conversations, true to teenage girlhood, are laced with comedy and pop culture references — Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, “Twilight,” and, of course, Lorde.

This image released by O&M/DKC shows, from left, Maggie Kuntz, Morgan Scott and Amalia Yoo during a performance of “John Proctor Is the Villain” in New York. (Julieta Cervantes/O&M/DKC via AP)

Fina Strazza, 19, portrays Beth, a leader who is whip-smart and well-intentioned — but whose friendships and belief system are shaken by the play’s revelations.

“You have so much empathy and are so invested in her, but she still has these mishaps and slip-ups that young people often have,” said Strazza, nominated for best featured actor in a play. Some audience members have given her letters detailing how Beth helped them forgive themselves for how they handled similar experiences.

The script is written in prose, with frequent line breaks and infrequent capital letters. Director Danya Taymor, nominated for best direction of a play a year after winning a Tony for another teenage canon classic, “The Outsiders, ” was drawn to that rhythm — and how Belflower’s depiction of adolescence captured its intensity, just as S.E. Hinton had.

“There’s something about the teenage years that is so raw,” Taymor said. “None of us can escape it.”

Classic themes, made modern

During his Tony-winning production of “An Enemy of the People,” Gold found himself having conversations with young actors and theatergoers about climate change, politics and how “theater was something that people their age and younger really need in a different way, as the world is becoming so addicted to technology,” he said.

That conjured “Romeo and Juliet.” The original text “has it all in terms of what it means to inherit the future that people older than you have created,” Gold said.

Alyah Chanelle Scott,from left, Kathryn Gallagher and Julie Lester appear in a scene from “All Nighter” in New York. (Evan Zimmerman/MurphyMade via AP)

Building the world of this show, with an ensemble under 30, was not unlike building “An Enemy of the People,” set in 19th century Norway, Gold said: “I think the difference is that the world that I made for this show is something that a very hungry audience had not gotten to see.”

Fans, Gold correctly predicted, were ravenous. Demand ahead of the first preview prompted a preemptive extension. Word (and bootleg video) of Connor doing a pullup to kiss Zegler made the rounds. “Man of the House,” an Antonoff-produced ballad sung by Zegler mid-show, was released as a single. With the show premiering just before the U.S. presidential election, Voters of Tomorrow even registered new voters in the lobby.

This image released by Polk & Co. shows Rachel Zegler as Juliet, left, and Kit Connor as Romeo, during a performance of “Romeo + Juliet” in New York. (Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman /Polk & Co. via AP)

Audiences proved willing to pay: Average ticket prices hovered around $150. Cheaper rush and lottery tickets drew lines hours before the box office opened. Every week but one sold out.

“The show was initially really well sold because we had a cast that appealed to a really specific audience,” said producer Greg Nobile of Seaview Productions. “We continued to see the houses sell out because these audiences came, and they were all over online talking about the ways in which they actually felt seen.”

Building a Gen Z theater experience with Gen Z

Thomas Laub, 28, and Alyah Chanelle Scott, 27, started Runyonland Productions for that very reason.

“We both felt a lot of frustration with the industry, and the ways that we were boxed out of it as students in Michigan who were able to come to New York sparingly,” Laub said. Runyonland was launched in 2018 with the premise that highlighting new, bold voices would bring change.

This image released by O&M/DKC shows, from left, Maggie Kuntz, Morgan Scott, Fina Strazza and Amelia Yoo during a performance of “John Proctor Is the Villain” in New York. (Julieta Cervantes/O&M/DKC via AP)

This spring, Scott, known for playing Whitney in HBO’s “Sex Lives of College Girls,” acted off-Broadway in Natalie Margolin’s “All Nighter.”

“I was standing onstage and looking out and seeing the college kids that I was playing,” Scott said. “I was like, ‘I respect you so much. I want to do you proud. I want to show you a story that represents you in a way that doesn’t belittle or demean you, but uplifts you.’”

Producing “John Proctor,” Scott said, gave Runyonland the opportunity to target that audience on a Broadway scale. Belflower developed the show with students as part of a The Farm College Collaboration Project. It’s been licensed over 100 times for high school and college productions. The Broadway production’s social and influencer marketing is run by 20-somethings, too.

This image released by O&M/DKC shows, from left, Amelia Yoo, Morgan Scott, Sadie Sink, Fina Strazza, Nihar Duvvuri and Hagan Oliveras during a performance of “John Proctor Is the Villain” in New York. (Julieta Cervantes/O&M/DKC via AP)

Previews attracted fans with a $29 ticket lottery. While average prices jumped to over $100 last week (still below the Broadway-wide average), $40 rush, lottery and standing room tickets have sold out most nights, pushing capacity over 100%. The success is validating Runyonland’s mission, Laub said.

“Alyah doesn’t believe me that I cry every time at the end,” Laub said. Scott laughs. “I just want to assure you, on the record, that I do indeed cry every time.”

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Harnessing a cultural catharsis

The final scene of “John Proctor” is a reclamation fueled by rage and “Green Light.” Capturing that electricity has been key to the show’s marketing.

“The pullup (in ‘Romeo + Juliet’) is so impactful because it’s so real. It’s like so exactly what a teenage boy would do,” Taymor said. “I think when you see the girls in ‘John Proctor’ screaming … it hits you in a visceral way.” That screaming made the Playbill cover.

“In my opinion, the look and feel of that campaign feels different from a traditional theatrical campaign, and it feels a lot closer to a film campaign,” Laub said. The show’s team indeed considered the zeitgeist-infiltrating work of their sister industries, specifically studios like Neon and A24.

In May, “John Proctor is the Villain” finished its second “spirit week” with a school spirit day. Earlier events included an ice cream social — actors served Van Leeuwen — a silent disco and a banned book giveaway. For those not in their own school’s colors, the merch stand offered T-shirts, including one printed with the Walt Whitman-channeling line said by Sink’s Shelby: “I contain frickin’ multitudes.”

Julia Lawrence, 26, designed the shirt after the show’s team saw her TikTok video reimagining their traditional merch into something more like a concert tee.

“It’s just so incredible to bring Gen Z into the theater that way, especially at a time when theater has never been more important,” Lawrence said. “In a world that’s overpowered by screens, live art can be such a powerful way to find understanding.”

By AYAKA McGILL

TOKYO (AP) — Eager customers joined long lines outside of stores from Tokyo to New York City hours before they opened in hopes of snaring a long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 video game console.

The much anticipated Switch 2, being released around the world Thursday, is an upgrade to its eight-year-old predecessor with new social features meant to draw players into online gaming. Nintendo is counting on the Switch 2 to boost sagging sales.

In the U.S., a chaotic pre-order process in April left some fans frustrated after the consoles quickly sold out. Still, some eager fans lined up early Thursday at retailers such as Target in hopes of purchasing a unit.

“I’m just rolling the dice here,” said Edgar Huo, who was in a line of about 25 outside of a Target in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. Many of those waiting for the store to open had ordered online, but a few like Huo hoped for a chance at purchasing any extra inventory the store had.

In Japan, the new consoles were sold through a competitive lottery system that Nintendo said got about 2.2 million applications.

Outside the official draw, some retailers offered their own lotteries to pre-order the devices.

Koji Takahashi was among those who missed out on the official draw but he was selected in the second round of a lottery held by a major electronics retailer in Japan.

He was first in line waiting outside the store, arriving four hours ahead of its opening. He hoped to secure a limited supply of Nintendo accessories to buy along with his pre-ordered Switch 2.

“I feel very sorry for those who weren’t successful in the lottery. But I also had tough time getting this far, so I hope they forgive me!” Takahashi said.

Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser told CBS Morning Plus today that the company is aware of the demand for its newest system and is working to get units into the hands of customers.

“We have a steady supply of manufacturing that will be coming in, and we believe we’ll be able to meet that demand all the way through the summer, through Father’s Day and then on into the holiday period also,” Bowser said.

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The new console comes with a larger and higher resolution screen than its predecessor, with improved processing power, offering smoother and more vivid graphics. Central to its updated system is a new “C” button on its controller, which will launch a “GameChat” feature that requires a subscription to Nintendo’s Switch online service. It allows players to “communicate with friends and family while playing a game,” and lets them share their game screen with others. A built-in microphone will also allow chatting with other gamers.

Nintendo has said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026.

The company has promised to roll out attractive software for the Switch 2 later this year, including “The Legend of Zelda” games, a Pokemon title and a Kirby game, as well as offerings from outside software companies.

Nintendo is capitalizing on the launch with the opening of a store in San Francisco and the Super Nintendo World amusement facility in Orlando, Florida, both set for this month.

The Switch 2’s rollout arrives at an uncertain time for much of the gaming industry due to new tariffs implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump.

In the U.S., the Switch 2’s baseline launch price is $449.99 — significantly higher than the original Switch’s $299 price tag.

U.S. preorders for the Switch 2 were delayed for several weeks so the company could assess the potential impact of tariffs.

By CHRISTOPHER KIMBALL for Associated Press

Straccetti di manzo, which translates roughly from the Italian to “little rags of beef,” is a trattoria staple. The cooking is minimal and quick, making this ideal for a weeknight dinner, but the beef must be thinly sliced.

In this recipe from our cookbook “Milk Street Backroads Italy,” we freeze the meat for about 20 minutes to firm it a bit, which allows a knife to glide through the grain. After a quick sear in a hot skillet, the steak slices go directly onto a bed of peppery arugula and sweet-tart tomatoes. We prefer tri-tip steak for this recipe, as it has great flavor and a tender texture.

This image released by Milk Street shows a recipe for straccetti di manzo, made with steak with arugula and parmesan. (Milk Street via AP)

Don’t dress the arugula and tomatoes too far in advance or they will wilt and turn soggy. Wait until after the beef is sliced before tossing the veggies with the oil, lemon juice and salt. Also, don’t stir the beef during the first three minutes of cooking. Allowing it to cook undisturbed will give the meat a chance to develop flavorful browning.

Balsamic vinegar, reduced as it deglazes the pan, acts as tangy-sweet dressing when combined with vegetables. Shaved Parmesan, along with black pepper and a final drizzle of olive oil, are perfect finishing touches.

Straccetti di Manzo

Start to finish: 45 minutes (25 minutes active)

Servings: 4 to 6

This image released by Milk Street shows a recipe for straccetti di manzo, made with steak with arugula and parmesan. (Milk Street via AP)

Ingredients:

1½ pounds beef tri-tip steak

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

5-ounce container baby arugula

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more to serve

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 medium garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

Parmesan cheese, for shaving

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Directions:

Place the steak on a plate and freeze, uncovered, until partially frozen, about 20 minutes. Using a sharp knife, slice the beef against the grain on the diagonal no thicker than ¼ inch. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper; toss to coat. On a deep, wide platter, toss the arugula and tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the lemon juice and ¼ teaspoon salt.
In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil until barely smoking. Add the garlic and pepper flakes; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beef in an even layer; cook without stirring until only a little pinkness remains and some liquid has been released, about 3 minutes. Stir, redistribute in an even layer and cook until no longer pink, about 1 minute. Using tongs, place the steak on the vegetables, leaving the garlic in the pan.
Add the balsamic to the pan and bring to a simmer over medium-high; cook, scraping up any browned bits, until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Discard the garlic; pour the balsamic over the steak. Shave Parmesan over the top, then finish with additional oil and black pepper.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more recipes, go to Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street at 177milkstreet.com/ap

By DEVNA BOSE, Associated Press

The doctor is in — the mailbox, that is.

You can now do self-administered tests for everything from thyroid function to HIV in the privacy of your own home — and that list continues to grow, as the Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first at-home cervical cancer test.

While the tests can make it easier for people to access health care and can be helpful for those who have extreme anxiety about sensitive or invasive medical exams, experts warn that most of the tests cannot replace an actual in-person visit.

Here’s what doctors say you can test for at home, and when you should make the trek to your physician’s office.

What kinds of at-home tests are available?

There are two kinds at “at-home tests.”

In one type, the patient collects the sample and sends it off to a lab; the new cervical cancer test is like this.

The other gives an instant result — think COVID-19 and pregnancy tests.

What are the benefits of at-home tests?

HIV home-testing kits can improve rates of diagnosing sexually transmitted infections in rural communities and help people who are nervous about going to the doctor to seek a sensitive test, said Dr. Joseph Cherabie, an infectious diseases specialist in St. Louis.

“You really want to get people to care as quickly as possible, but some people could be very anxious about that results as well,” Cherabie said. “And they have very negative reactions.”

Labs are required to report a positive HIV test, instead of putting the onus on the patient who took the test, Cherabie said, and often the patient is matched up with HIV support services.

“If you are part of a sexual and gender minority community, going to a doctor’s office can be full of a lot of historical trauma, and you may prefer to just do testing at home without anyone judging you or asking you invasive questions about your sex life,” Cherabie said.

This photo provided by Teal Health in May 2025 shows the company’s Teal Wand self-collection device for at-home cervical cancer screening. (Nicole Morrison/Teal Health via AP)

The new cervical cancer test — which tests for strains of human papillomavirus, or HPV — involves a testing swab that’s like a tampon, said Dr. Susan Modesitt, a gynecologic oncologist at Emory University in Atlanta.

It is not, Modesitt said, a replacement for a Pap smear, the exam in which a metal speculum is inserted in the vagina to scrape cervix cells. A doctor’s visit also involves a pelvic exam, a chance to talk about abnormal bleeding — a sign of endometrial cancer — and other symptoms and issues, like menopause or STIs.

“There are so many other reasons to see your doctor and get an exam outside of a cervical cancer screening,” she said.

The at-home cervical cancer test from Teal Health requires a prescription, and the company said that results are not left for the patient to interpret.

I live in a rural area — can I take an at-home test?

Some at-home tests can replace a trip to the doctor’s office. That’s especially true in rural areas, where it can be difficult to get a colonoscopy.

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“The colonoscopy requires a pre-op, and you have to drive maybe 70 miles for it,” said Dr. Steven Furr, board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians who practices in rural Alabama. “You get anesthesia. It’s actually almost like a surgical procedure in many ways.

“So, for a lot of people, that’s pretty arduous. That’s where an at-home test can come in handy.”

But, Furr said, if your test reveals issues, you need to go to your doctor. Plus, patients should always discuss test results with their physician instead of interpreting them on their own, he said.

Who shouldn’t do at-home tests?

If you have symptoms of what you’re testing for, go to the doctor.

At-home colon cancer tests aren’t the right option for people with a history of colon cancer or high-risk conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, said Dr. Zachariah Foda, a gastroenterologist at Johns Hopkins. He added that they’re also not recommended for people who are having GI symptoms.

While there are tests for many things — running anywhere from $15 to $400, depending on what is being evaluated — Furr said it’s essential to make sure that your test is FDA-approved so you can better trust the results.

“Anytime we get people involved in their own health care and help them understand what’s going on, I think that’s a good thing and it gives us a chance to talk,” he said. “Any kind of screening is better than no screening.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.