“More than a century ago, before women had even won the right to vote in many countries, actresses headed up some of the U.S’s most popular and successful action movies – even if they performed stunts in skirts that ended only a few inches above their ankles.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Vienna Festival Fires Director Of Flagship Opera Production, Two Months Before Opening Night
Charging that he had not provided the production and set designs on time, the management of the Wiener Festwochen dismissed Dmitri Tcherniakov, a 45-year-old Russian known for inventive and sometimes controversial stagings, from a high-profile period-instrument production of Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Theater an der Wien. (in German; Google Translate version here)
How Reality TV Is Like Greek Tragedy (No, Really)
“In fact, by shaming their characters, these shows are trafficking in a very old, very deep aesthetic pleasure. Aristotle called it ‘catharsis’.” Only in this case, the emotions involved aren’t pity and terror.
A ‘Hamilton’ Skeptic Explains Why The Show Isn’t Really So Revolutionary
Lyra Monteiro: “My argument is basically that the play does a lot of this thing that we call ‘Founders Chic’ … It’s still white history. And no amount of casting people of color disguises the fact that they’re erasing people of color from the actual narrative.”
How The False Story Of Kitty Genovese’s Murder Spread All Over The World
“The murder had a major impact on people’s basic ideas about human nature – but it was based mostly on misconceptions and misreporting about Genovese’s murder … The soul-searching went on for decades, long after the original errors were debunked, evolving into more parable than fact.”
Athens And Epidaurus Festival Director Forced To Resign When His Programming Turns Out To Be Belgian And Not Greek
“The Belgian artist Jan Fabre has resigned as artistic director after local artists rebelled against his plan to turn Greece’s major arts festival into ‘a tribute to Belgium’ and devote eight of the festival’s 10productions to those from his homeland.”
‘New’ Rembrandt Created By A Computer
“The painting, which is being billed as ‘The Next Rembrandt,’ was created using data from more than 168,000 fragments of Rembrandt’s work. Over the course of 18 months, a group of engineers, Rembrandt experts and data scientists analyzed 346 of Rembrandt’s works, then trained a deep learning engine to ‘paint’ in the master’s signature style.” (includes video)
‘Pieces Of The Ceiling Are Falling Onto The Stage’: Concert Cancelled At Very Last Minute
Patrons were already arriving for the performance by the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra on Tuesday evening when the management of the Salle Métropole in the Swiss city closed the venue for safety reasons. (in French; Google Translate version here)
Johan Kobborg Suddenly Finds He’s No Longer Artistic Director Of His Ballet Company; Dancers Threaten Walkout
In his two years at the helm of Romania’s national ballet company, Kobborg is universally acknowledged to have raised standards and reinvigorated the troupe. But this week, one day after a new interim director took over the Bucharest National Opera, Kobborg found his name missing from the ballet’s artistic director slot and listed instead among the corps. The new boss says it’s a misunderstanding: he wants Kobborg to stay, but there’s not supposed to be a “ballet artistic director” post at the house at all. The dancers are saying that if Kobborg goes, they go. (in Romanian; Google Translate version here)
Hollywood Composer Found Bludgeoned To Death In His Florida Home
“Deputies in Citrus County, Forida say Don Terryl ‘Terry’ Plumeri, 71, was found dead due to extensive upper body trauma on April 1. Plumeri had rented the home in tiny Dunellon, about 80 miles northwest of Orlando, for many years.”