Says the director of the Public Theater, “I feel like I’ve spent the last couple of years outlining very big problems that American theater has to tackle and now we’ve moved into an environment where it will be more difficult to solve those problems.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Did That 1896 Film Clip Of A Moving Train Really Cause The Audience To Run From The Screen In Panic?
“According to the tale, as the silent black-and-white image of a moving locomotive filled a movie screen in Paris, the people in the cinema thought it was going to drive right into them. They panicked, and bolted for the back of the theater.” In fact, that’s probably the movie business’s first-ever urban legend. Eric Grundhauser walks us through the evidence. (includes video)
How Fred Astaire Helped Debbie Reynolds Learn to Dance
Seeing this story, we can finally understand what Reynolds meant when she said that, excepting childbirth, her big number in Singin’ in the Rain was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. (includes video)
Miami Herald Eliminates All Classical Music Coverage
It’s already been nearly a decade since the paper laid off its critic, Lawrence A. Johnson; since that time, the Herald has licensed reviews and articles from Johnson’s subsequent venture, South Florida Classical Review. Now the paper has abandoned even that.
To Sing Bess In ‘Breaking The Waves’, Keira Duffy Had To Train, And Eat, Like An Athlete
“I had probably the most rigorous routine I’ve ever had in my professional life for this role. There was a lot of physical conditioning I had to do. It’s a monster role, and the emotional stakes just get higher and higher and that takes an incredible toll physically.”
Is It Even Possible For A Sketch Called ‘The Real Housewives Of ISIS’ To Be Funny?
Well, the BBC tried it, and the resulting tweetstorm was pretty strong – and so was the counterbacklash. (In fact, this isn’t the first time ISIS humor has been tried, although the first practitioners were themselves Syrian.) (includes video)
Do Matching Gifts Help Juice Up Arts Crowdfunding Campaigns?
It seems there was no existing research on that question – so one organization organized this pilot project to find out.
Cameron Mackintosh Gives Up On Attempting To Salvage ‘Martin Guerre’
“The producer said he had given the Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil musical ‘three shots’ and acknowledged that the writing team had ‘unfinished business’ with it. But he added: ‘I firmly believe there is something wonderful in there but I am not the person that will ever get it out of them.'”
Makeshift Bookstore Helps Make Life In South Sudan Refugee Camp Bearable
“[Juma’a Ali] is fiercely proud of his role as the bookseller of Malakal. His little shop stands as a source of education and distraction from the often unbearable conditions the camp’s residents live with on a daily basis.”
Bringing Dance Education To Homeschooled Kids
Christopher Connolly of Dance Manchester tells how one encounter with a homeschooling parent – along with “a few risks and a leap of faith” – led to a program for a difficult-to-reach community.