That’s pretty much the tenor of this essay by Rob Buscher, Festival Director of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, on the blog of Opera Philadelphia, which just completed a run of Puccini’s final work.
Author: Matthew Westphal
What’s The Root Of All Evil? Not The Love Of Money
Philosopher Christopher Freiman: “Some of history’s greatest philosophers, then, agree that wrongdoing tends to be motivated by self-interest. Alas, I’m not one of history’s greatest philosophers. Although most assume that an immoral person is one who’s ready to defy law and convention to get what they want, I think the inverse is often true. Immorality is frequently motivated by a readiness to conform to law and convention in opposition to our own values.”
Two Brothers Play The Same August Wilson Role At The Same Time On Opposite Coasts
“The work of August Wilson has for years sustained Brandon and Jason Dirden, actor brothers who have found themselves turning again and again to his plays for meaning and inspiration. Now, for the first time, the two are playing the same role, at the same time, on opposite coasts: Levee, the angrily ambitious trumpeter in one of Wilson’s best-known plays, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. … The two spoke in a joint telephone interview about their relationship with Wilson and with each other.”
Oscar Brand, 96, Folksong Legend Who Hosted Radio Show For 71 Years
“[He was] a folk troubadour, raconteur, broadcaster and writer whose radio show Folksong Festival aired for 70 years and helped introduce then-unknown entertainers such as Bob Dylan, Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez.”
‘Birth Of A Nation’ Has Tricky Needle To Thread: ‘To Inspire But Not To Incite’
“The coming film, which recounts a violent 1831 slave rebellion and includes scenes that evoke present-day outrage over fatal police shootings of black men, has been marketed as an urgent call to action. … But when The Birth of a Nation arrives in roughly 2,000 theaters on Friday, Fox Searchlight is hoping that a parallel and largely invisible marketing effort – one intended to contain and frame Mr. Parker’s message – will ease the film into communities already on edge.”
When Sergei Polunin’s Mother Finally Saw Her Son Dance
Galina Polunina, who gave up her home and marriage for the sake of her son’s dance training, and who pushed him hard, had watched him become one of the world’s great young dancers only via video. Julie Kavanagh, author of Nureyev: The Life, who has known Sergei Polunin since he was a prodigious 13-year-old, brought her to London to see him perform in person.
Under A Curse? Terry Gilliam’s Don Quixote Movie Stopped In Its Tracks *Again*
“The director and legendary Monty Python member has revealed that his famously beleaguered passion project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, a film that finally looked like it was moving forward after seven failed attempts over almost two decades (one of which became the subject of a documentary), has been delayed just days before production was set to begin.”
Once They Thought It Was A $25 Copy – Now They Think It’s A $25 Million Raphael
“The painting, a Madonna composition, had been obscured by discoloured varnish and was attributed to a minor hand. Its potential as a work of one of the giants of art history, as revered as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, was initially spotted by the historian Bendor Grosvenor.”
L.A.’S ‘Moses Of Theater’, Mark Taper Forum Founder Gordon Davidson, Dead At 83
“Starting in 1967, Davidson’s artistic vision, professional connections and business savvy were indispensable in transforming L.A. from a passive backwater where theatergoers largely consumed the Broadway touring shows to a wellspring for new works that won Tony Awards and Pulitzer Prizes.”
Gloria Naylor, 66, Author Of ‘The Women Of Brewster Place’
“The Women of Brewster Place won both the American Book Award and the National Book Award for first novel in 1983 … It gained further attention when Oprah Winfrey adapted it for ABC in 1989 as a two-part television movie, in which Ms. Winfrey starred with Robin Givens, Mary Alice and Cicely Tyson.”