Matthew Westphal – Page 1032 – ArtsJournal Wayback

High Anxiety: Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Hard Road Back To Acting

The Pulitzer-winning playwright (Between Riverside and Crazy, The MF with the Hat, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot) began his career as an actor, and old colleagues still want to work with him. But until this summer, he hadn’t been onstage since 2004, and in the meantime he’d let stress affect his health in other ways and backed out of several acting jobs he’d already accepted. As the time approached for the revival of Mamet’s American Buffalo he’s now co-starring in, his body brought things to a crisis.

Keeping Monet’s Gardens Growing For 40 Years – Meet The Head Gardener At Giverny

Gilbert Vahé began work at Giverny when the restoration of the gardens first began in 1977, and (except for a five-year temporary retirement that ended this January) he’s been there ever since, “work[ing] to maintain the original aesthetic – a certain profile of color and light – that corresponds to Monet’s vision.”

At The Stella Adler Acting Studio’s Summer Workshop For Teens In Poverty

A reporter visits Summer Shakespeare, Adler’s five-week intensive program for teens living at or below the poverty level. Says director Kern McDonald, “The concept of the Stella Adler Studio – that being a better actor is equal to being a better human – is the base of this program.”

There’s A New Generation Of Film Composers, And You Can Hear The Difference

“If this year’s Academy Award nominees for best score are any indication, new blood is beginning to course. Justin Hurwitz, who won the Oscar, is only 32 – and La La Land was his third score for a feature film. Mica Levi, 30, was nominated for her second feature, Jackie. Moonlight composer Nicholas Britell, 36, scored his first major film in 2015. But it’s not just the relative youth and wetness-behind-the-ears that are noteworthy. These composers, and several others, are shaking up the sound of Hollywood. Film scores are starting to have personality again.”

Extremist Found Liable For $3.2 Million For Destroying Shrines In Timbuktu

“On Thursday, the International Criminal Court ruled that former rebel Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, the man convicted of ordering the attack on the ancient landmarks in Timbuktu, was required to pay ‘individual, collective and symbolic’ reparations of up to $3.2 million (2.7 million euros). Al-Mahdi was jailed last September for nine years by the Hague-based court after he pleaded guilty to ‘intentionally’ directing attacks on nine historic Timbuktu mausoleums and its Sidi Yahia mosque.” He is the first person to be convicted of cultural war crimes by the ICC.

Arts And Culture Are Big Business In San Francisco: Study

“A new economic prosperity impact report, organised by the non-profit organisation Americans for the Arts, reveals that San Francisco’s arts and culture sector annually brings in $1.45 billion and supports over 39,000 full-time jobs. According to the report, the City by the Bay accounts for nearly 1% of the $166.3 billion generated by the sector nationwide.”

Art Institute Of Chicago Becomes Battleground In PC Wars Following Instructor’s Departure

“Michael Bonesteel, an adjunct professor specialising in outsider art and comics, … resigned this year after two Title IX complaints were filed by transgender students” and he was consequently stripped of some courses and required to revise his syllabus for another and have it approved. Since then, reports Jori Finkel, the School of the AIC has been receiving some serious pushback over alleged censorship.

Two Kennedy Center Honorees (So Far) Decide To Boycott White House Reception

“Dancer Carmen de Lavallade said on Thursday that she would be honored to attend the Dec. 3 ceremony at the Kennedy Center, buuuut … ‘In light of the socially divisive and morally caustic narrative that our current leadership is choosing to engage in, and in keeping with the principles that I and so many others have fought for, I will be declining the invitation to attend the reception at the White House.'” Norman Lear is sitting out the party as well, and Lionel Richie is, for now, on the fence.

Architect Gunnar Birkerts, 92

“Birkerts was best known for light-filled modernist buildings that reflected the Scandinavian architectural tradition that influenced him. Many” – among them, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the Corning Museum of Glass, the south wing of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, and the Latvian National Library – “were essays in bold curves or angular, irregular shapes.”

Author: Matthew Westphal