Eleven was a significant age for both Mark Nadler and Stephanie Pope. Nadler, knowing every popular song and showing flair at the piano, begins making a living as an entertainer, appearing at parties and Bar Mitzvot throughout his hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa. “Fifty-three years later, I’m stil l working and thinking, ‘I get paid for this!’ Nadler says. Pope takes her first dance class at 11. “In terms of dance, that was late,” she quips. Stephanie Pope attends the 3rd Annual Black Women on Broadway Awards at The Lighthouse, Pier 61 on June 10, 2024 in New York City. (Jared Siskin/Getty Images for BWOB) Growing up in New York City, that class was at the prestigious Dance Theatre of Harlem, which gave her a basis for a Broadway career that lasts to this minute. “I’ve been performing for so long, people think I’m 104,” Pope says. Pope and Nadler’s combined experience might well add up to 104 years. Mark has graduated beyond kids’ parties and ceremonies of passage. For decades, he’s been a fixture on the international theater and cabaret scene. In several roles. He’s done thousands of shows as the solo headliner and another thousand as the music director or partner for much of the world’s musical theater talent. In passing, he mentions a shows he recently did with Camden native Christine Andreas and George Dvorsky. Pope caught the eye of one Bob Fosse. He and his one-time wife, all-time muse, and lifelong collaborator, Gwen Verdon. They cast her in a production of “Sweet Charity,” and she rarely missed appearing in a Fosse show since then. This includes Fosse’s last original show, “Big Deal.” Her Tony nomination derives from doing a 1999 revue of the master choreographer’s work, “Fosse.” Like Nadler, Pope’s versatility is well-established. It goes beyond the first thing you think of when you hear her name, dance, to acting and singing. She was Chita Rivera’s understudy in the original production of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and performed Rivera’s original role,Velma Kelly, in a production of “Chicago” while Rivera played Roxie. “Stephanie is an incredible singer, all soulful and with a style that makes everything she sings sound new. It’s thrilling to be in her audience,” Nadler says. “I’ll pay him later (for saying that),” Pope jokes. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15, Mark and Stephanie join forces in a show called “Christmastime in the City” at Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Grill, part of a lustery cabaret series produced by veteran impresario Randy Swartz and hosted by Rittenhouse Grill owner GarthWeldon. Dinner, starting at 5:30 p.m., and other packages are available at 215-772-1701. “It’s not only Christmas music,” Nadler says by telephone from New York. “Monday is the second night of Hanukkah and other holidays take place adjacent to Christmas, so we’ll be covering a variety of traditions. I can guarantee you the Hanukkah song will not be ‘I Have a Little Dreidel.’ “Mark’s arrangements set what he and I are doing apart from what you might expect,” Pope says on the same telephone call. Nadler mentions “We Need a Little Christmas” from the Jerry Herman’s musical, “Mame,” is among the numbers the Rittenhouse audience will hear. Broadway performers tend to meet. Nadler knew of Pope, and at some point near the turn of this century, around the time Stephanie was doing “Fosse,” he called her and invited her to do a song in a weekly show he did at Sardi’s called “Broadway Hootenanny.” He’ll be reprising the Hootenanny at Sardi’s on Tuesday, Jan. 13. “It was a breakout moment,” Pope says. “I performed so much in musicals, I never had the opportunity to do much cabaret.” The Rittenhouse stage is tiny, but Stephanie says, “I will be doing some steps.” Nadler comments, “Stephanie is a dancer. When she’s just standing still, you see she is a dancer. Her presence is an entire ballet.” “Christmastime in the City” is a holiday show, and both Mark and Stephanie say their main purpose is being creative while spreading joy. “We can use a bit of joy right now,” Nadler says. Anchor change at ‘CBS Evening News’ The latest round of musical chairs at “CBS Evening News” brings Tony Dokoupil to the anchor desk once presided over by Walter Cronkite, Douglas Edwards and Bob Schieffer, on Jan. 5, about a year after it last occupants, John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, failed to make the once prestigious newscast competitive. Tony Dokoupil, co-host of "CBS This Morning," throwing out a ceremonial first pitch when the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers played on May 27, 2023, in Baltimore. He'll be the next "CBS Evening News" anchor. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Dickerson and DuBois have both announced their departure from the evening news digest that airs 6:30 p.m. locally on Channel 3. Dokoupil comes to the show after almost seven years as one of the co-hosts of “CBS Mornings,” most recently with Gayle King and Nate Burleson. His promotion marks one of the first moves made by Bari Weiss since she was named editor in chief at CBS News by the network’s owner, Paramount Skydance, earlier this fall. One question will be whether Dokoupil can reverse the record of Dickerson and DuBois and their predecessor, Norah O’Donnell, and move “CBS Evening News” out of the deep third-place ranking it’s held among national network newscasts in recent years. It’s arguable that “CBS Evening News” has not had a footing in evening news ratings since the days of Scott Pelley and hasn’t come close to being a contender for ratings glory since the time of Dan Rather. Industry buzz says Weiss considered bringing O’Donnell back to the anchor chair she vacated a year ago or offering the job to Fox News Channel anchor Bret Baier. Dokoupil got the job, and I, for one, like the choice. Dokoupil may not have as deep a news resume as his main rivals, ABC’s David Muir and NBC’s Tom Llamas, but he conducted some of the more challenging interviews during his years at “CBS Mornings” and has been in the trenches enough to have stature and credibility. His years at “CBS Mornings” also reveal Dokoupil to have the personality that draws viewers to him. He is not the first to advance to CBS’s main anchor spot from morning television. Two of his “Evening News” predecessors, O’Donnell and Katie Couric, graduated from the morning ranks. It may refreshing to see the stamp he brings to the tarnished show and whether he can attract enough viewers to propel CBS News from the rating doldrums it’s occupied for so long. Dokoupil’s morning career has not been without controversy. Last year, while interviewing author Ta-Nehisi Coates about his latest book, “The Message,” one that goes into some current issues from Coates’ point of view, why he was so tough and negative about Israel while never mentioning the tactics or terrorist acts committed by Hamas and other entities that vow to erase Israel from the map. Dokoupil prefaced his question by saying he knew some would not appreciate him challenging Coates — CBS asked Dokoupil to apologize to the writer — but he stood his ground and made his point while asking a legitimate and important question. Among those who looked uncomfortable at the exchange was Gayle King. Among those who applauded Dokoupil’s journalistic mettle was Weiss, editor of an online news site she founded, The Free Press. Maybe Dokoupil will being an edge to evening newscasts that’s been missing for quite a while. Then there’s the question of how much newscasts on legacy stations matter at all. None among CBS, NBC, and ABC can compete for ratings or influence with Fox News Channel. It attracts the largest audience of any television news entity. MS NOW and CNN do not do as well as Fox News Channel, but they have more reach than the legacy networks seem to. That’s something Tony Dokoupil, David Muir and Tom Llamas may not have it within their power to change. In his new role, Dokoupil will most likely be one of the hosts of CBS’s primetime news magazine, “48 Hours,” which these days seems to deal mostly with crime, and do some reporting on the Cyclops Network’s most admired news program, “60 Minutes.” One of Weiss’ next decisions is who will replace Dokoupil on “CBS Mornings.” She may take time with the choice. Gayle King’s contract is up in a few months, and Weiss might want to make a total morning overhaul rather then filling their separate gaps. Another CBS move Tony Dokoupil’s ascension to “CBS Evening News” may have overshadowed another move Bari Weiss made last week when she hired reporter Matt Gutman from ABC to be a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles. Gutman’s is the second major departure from ABC to a rival in the past year. Matt Gutman attends the 19th Annual Stand Up For Heroes Benefit Presented By Bob Woodruff Foundation And New York Comedy Festival at David Geffen Hall on Nov. 10, 2025 in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation) Llamas left Disneyland to join NBC as its lead national anchor. Like Llamas, Gutman is known for his incisive reporting from the world’s hottest spots, including Israel and the Ukraine. Gutman joins CBS on Jan. 5, the same day Dokoupil takes the anchor desk. Hoda Kotb replacement After almost a year of Jenna Bush Hager introducing an assortment of guest co-hosts on the fourth hour of NBC’s, “Today,” a successor to her original mic mate, Hoda Kotb, has been chosen. Hager’s new co-host will be Sheinelle Jones, who spent years as one of the hosts on the third, 9 a.m., hour of “Today” and came to NBC from Philadelphia’s Channel 29, where she was one of Mike Jerrick’s co-hosts on “Good Day Philadelphia.” Jones’ last year has been tumultuous. She took a leave of absence from “Today” in the fall of 2024 to tend to her ailing husband, Uche Ojeh, who was dealing with a glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that was known to be terminal. Sheinelle Jones appears on NBC's "Today" show at Rockefeller Plaza on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in New York. (The Associated Press) Jones and Ojeh married in Philadelphia in 2007, while they lived in Philadelphia. Ojeh died from the disease in May 2025. Jones returned to the third hour of “Today” in September and told her personal story to her audience. Now Sheinelle begins her next chapter, with Hager in the fourth hour of “Today,” which airs at 10 a.m. It is one of my two favored shows in the time slot. The other is Channel 29’s “Aftershow,” which always impresses me with how different it is from anything else on television. The pairing of Sheinelle Jones and Jenna Bush Hager seems perfect. Both have a way of speaking directly to her audience, a trait Channel 29 viewers noticed in Jones while she was part of our local market. Getting Golden Globe serious The 2026 Golden Globe nominations, issued last week, have me scurrying to catch up with its selections in both movies and television. I have to admit I’m worried that it’s mid-December, and I have yet to see a 2025 movie that is the obvious choice for a Best Picture award. I’m hoping Guillermo Del Toro’s “Frankenstein” will fill the void. While I think “The Pitt” and “Adolescence” are unbeatable in their respective categories, I have to take a closer look at Apple TV’s “Pluribus,” the locally-produced “Task,” and “Mobland” before I make a final opinion about who should take home a Golden Globe. I have time to investigate. The Golden Globes will not be handed out until Sunday, Jan. 11, when the 2026 ceremony airs at 8 p.m. in CBS, locally Channel 3. Nikki Glaser is once again the host which, frankly, does not thrill me. ...read more read less