Laura Miller: “When people feel compelled to tell each other the same story over and over again, there’s usually something about it they can’t quite work out. Each iteration promises, yet fails, to finally make sense of it. The life and work of Steve Jobs is that kind of story, and our preoccupation with telling and retelling it points to some sizable cracks in the American psyche.”
Month: October 2015
Kenneth Branagh’s Theatre Company – Can He Succeed Where Olivier Foundered?
Michael Billington: “Olivier, for all his genius as an actor, had a strange capacity for picking duds. … The case with Branagh is totally different. Even at the start of his career, he successfully created and co-ran the Renaissance Theatre Company. He is shrewd enough to know the public craves stars.”
Houston’s Alley Theatre Just Got A Makeover – How’d It Come Out?
“In fact, some at the opening commented that, except for the new red carpet, the 46-year-old building looks much like it did before the makeover, which, in a city where nearly everything is torn down, is a positive thing.”
How Does a Casting Director Work?
“Bernie Telsey has been casting hit musicals, films, and TV shows for more than 20 years. [Here he] talks about what he’s looking for in an audition, how diversity has changed on the stage and screen during his time in the business, and how finding talent isn’t necessarily the hardest part of the job.” (audio)
Aaron Sorkin’s Movies Make Waves, But Do They Make Money?
“Very few writers are Aaron Sorkin. Very few writers have worked as both TV showrunners and Oscar-nominated screenwriters while consistently maintaining a lively presence in the press. … One might’ve expected Sorkin to have reached peak cultural relevance in 2010 [the year of The Social Network]. But no: Aaron Sorkin does not peak, he just has increasingly brief plateaus.”
After Uncertain Period, Milwaukee Ballet Is Back On Solid Ground
There’s a new executive director after nearly two years without one, artistic director Michael Pink has extended his contract for another five years, and donors have given a $300,000 challenge grant to launch a fund dedicated to new work.
The Year We Obsessed Over Identity
“[We’re] in the midst of a great cultural identity migration. Gender roles are merging. Races are being shed. In the last six years or so, but especially in 2015, we’ve been made to see how trans and bi and poly-ambi-omni- we are. … There’s a sense of fluidity and permissiveness and a smashing of binaries. We’re all becoming one another. Well, we are. And we’re not.”
A Pop-Up Arts Center In A Calais Migrant Camp
“The venue – a dome-shaped tent dubbed the Good Chance Theatre – runs workshops on writing, drama and choral singing, as well as poetry and spoken word events. It was founded by playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, who plan to stage weekly productions created by migrants, as well as host touring productions by theatre companies and artists from around the world.”
For The Arab World, Palmyra Was Just Another Day
The response to ISIS’s destruction of the ancient city in Arabic media was rather muted compared to the horrified reaction in the Western world. Dina Matar explains.
Electronic Music Festival Has To Relocate After Being Accused Of Satanism
Organizers of the Unsound Festival “said that multiple churches in Krakow … had withdrawn from hosting concerts for the weeklong festival, which started on Sunday.”