“A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth’s sprawling novel set in post-colonial India, … will be adapted into a lavish eight-part series with a script from Andrew Davies, the screenwriter whose hits include the famous 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and last year’s adaptation of War and Peace.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Other Half Of Eiko And Koma Launches *His* Solo Career
Together, the Japanese-American duo Eiko and Koma had a successful decades-long career performing what one might describe as New York neo-Butoh. But Koma had to give up dancing after a foot injury several years ago, and Eiko eventually began performing alone. Now, thanks to what he calls a “miracle,” Koma is onstage again, with scenery he designed and painted himself.
Olivier Award-Winning Playwright To Lead, And Build Up, African-American Theater Company In Memphis
With the appointment of Katori Hall – author of The Mountaintop (about the last night of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life) and now working on a bio-musical of Tina Turner – as artistic director as well as a new stage and headquarters, the Hattiloo Theatre “is making a shift to be a main if not the main player in black theater in the country,” says company founder and CEO Ekundayo Bandele, who relinquished his artistic director title in order to hire Hall.
Sydney Opera House’s Opera Theatre To Begin $52M Renovation, Including ‘Acoustic Enhancement System’
The $71 million (Aus) project in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the first part of a $273 million (Aus) plan to renovate the entire complex, will replace engines, hoists, and other backstage equipment as well as a “state-of-the-art acoustic enhancement system” (presumably electronic) to improve the auditorium’s famously poor sound quality. (And Sydney’s leading newspaper now has no arts writers to cover this story.)
At La Scala Ballet, Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss (Three Bosses Ago)
Frédéric Olivieri had been director of the Milan opera house’s ballet company from 2002 to 2007. His successor, Makhar Vaziev, left in late 2015 to bring order to the wildly-troubled Bolshoi Ballet; his successor, modern-dance choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti, was a poor fit with Italy’s most august classical ballet company and resigned after eight months. So the return of a familiar face with a steady hand was greeted by La Scala’s dancers with applause.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.09.17
Connecting
I recently attended the second annual Charlotte Jazz Festival. I wrote about it last year, too, making blogging about it, I guess, a tradition. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-05-09
If This Can Happen at the Met and the British Museum…We Have A Big Problem
Two completely unrelated news items have prompted this post. It has become pretty clear of late that many people do not know how to behave (gosh, is that too old-fashioned a term, even?) in art museums. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-05-09
Brooklyn Rider and a New Cellist
Michael Nicolas, who replaced founder Eric Jacobsen, spoke to CultureCrash about the group, its repertoire, and his own role in the mix. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-05-09
Techno-folk or Lieder? Jitka Suranska’s Love Affair With Looping.
I’ve recently had cause to research the term “modern modernity” as it applies to music. The nice thing about this kind of research is that it leads me to revisit videos of mine that I … read more
AJBlog: OtherWorldly Published 2017-05-09
Art Dealer ‘Forgets’ $1.6 Million Painting In Paris Taxi
“The artwork is by Argentina-born Italian sculptor and painter Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), entitled Concetto spaziale (Spatial concept), with an estimated value of 1.5 million euros, police said.” The canvas was later returned by the cab driver.
The Pursuit Of Happiness – At An Actual Happiness Summit Conference
A “consciousness lecture,” an “intention experiment,” electronic “personal meditation assistants,” and the MIT Mood Meter: a reporter visits the first-ever World Happiness Summit in Miami.
Edwin Sherin, Theater And Television Director, Dead At 87
In his stage career, he was best known for his Tony-winning production of The Great White Hope starring James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander (whom he later married). In his prolific television career, his longest gig was as sort of in-house director and executive producer for Law and Order.
‘Black, Openly Gay, Virtuosic, And Arrogant’ – Also Unconventional And (Yes) Mad: Composer Julius Eastman Gets Revival 27 Years After His Death
He studied and then taught with Morton Feldman; he sang with both Meredith Monk and the New York Philharmonic; at the premiere of one of his pieces, he put on a dress and served the audience soup. (The description in the headline, by the way, is by his little brother.) David Patrick Stearns has a look at this singular figure, the subject of a festival now underway in Philadelphia.