Author: Matthew Westphal

Alfred Hitchcock Harassed And Bullied Tippi Hedren? That’s Not What We Remember, Say Cast And Crew Of ‘The Birds’

“In her new [memoir], Hedren alleges that the director made sexual approaches to her and regarded her as his personal property. … [Two biographers] argue that Hedren’s claims are not supported by others who worked on the films, or by the shooting schedules and other documents in Hitchcock’s archive.”

Broadway’s First A Cappella Musical Is Coming, And Here’s A Chat With The Woman Who Co-Wrote It (And ‘Frozen’)

Kristen Anderson-Lopez on In Transit: “When we started this a lot of people didn’t know what a cappella was. For advertising in the Off-Broadway version, we called it ‘vocal orchestration,’ because a cappella was this weird Latin term that the marketing team was afraid would alienate people. Now our tagline is ‘Broadway’s first a cappella musical.’ The culture’s awareness and understanding of a cappella, and all the things a cappella can do, has changed. It’s not just a bunch of old guys singing ‘Blue skies smilin’ at me!'”

Jean Jacques Perrey, Granddaddy Of Pop Electronica, Dead At 87

“For those who don’t realize it, Jean-Jacques first started recording electronic music in 1952, long before the Moog synthesizer was first made for sale in 1967. … “His crazy, happy music has been heard everywhere from commercials, to Sesame Street – in hip-hop songs, in dance remixes and most famously, for decades in the delightful featured music in Disneyland’s ‘Main Street Electrical Parade.'”

China Passes New Law: Movies Must ‘Serve The People And Socialism’

“It forbids content that stirs up opposition to the law or constitution, harms national unity, sovereignty or territorial integrity, exposes national secrets, harms Chinese security, dignity, honour or interests, or spreads terrorism or extremism. Also banned are subjects that ‘defame the people’s excellent cultural traditions’, incite ethnic hatred or discrimination, or destroy ethnic unity.”

‘Fairy Tales For The Disillusioned’: French Authors Put Twists On Perrault’s Classic Stories

“The 36 stories are by Charles Baudelaire, Anatole France Guillaume Apollinaire and other writers associated with the French decadent literary movement. … Each story comes with a twist, from a wolf who is tricked by Red Riding Hood into strangling the girl’s grandmother and is then arrested for being an anarchist (‘I did 20 years of hard labour, while the slut inherited her grandmother’s savings’) to a Cinderella keen to be humiliated.”

The Nauseous Anxiety We’ve Been Feeling Over The Election Is A Good Thing (If You’re A Sartrean)

Simon Critchley, on the connection between the “Brexistential dread” in his homeland and the fear and loathing on this side of the Atlantic: “The lesson of existentialism is that the nausea that we feel is actually the emergence of a genuine, lived sense of our freedom. Anxiety is the motor that drives the engine of freedom.”

There’s A Place In New York Where Spiritualism Is Still Alive And Well, And Mediums Still Communicate With The Dead

“Nestled on the banks of the jewel-toned Cassadaga Lake in south-western New York, the world’s largest spiritualist community” – Lily Dale – “was first established back in 1879. Since then, the tiny wooded hamlet has served as a sanctuary for those who wish to take part in the community’s stated mission to ‘further the science, philosophy, and religion of spiritualism’.”