“The official population of Morundah in NSW is 76 but Councillor David Fahey says only 24 people ‘actually live in the village’. … But the first time the local Morundah Bush Entertainment Committee put on an opera in 2006, it sold 1100 tickets in three hours. … Since then the tiny Riverina town has become a regional cultural hub serving not only the Urana Shire population of about 1200 but also drawing regular tourists from around Australia.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
‘Jon Stewart Of Egypt’ To Get Series On U.S. Elections
The satirist Bassem Youssef, now in exile after one too many visits from Egyptian security forces, “will host The Democracy Handbook for F Comedy, Fusion’s new digital platform,” as part of the network’s 2016 election coverage. “The series … follows Youssef as he comes to America to learn the lessons of democracy.”
‘Parasite’ Homes On Rooftops Could Be Paris’s Next Affordable Housing
An NGO called les Toits du Monde is the developer behind the scheme, which uses prefabricated metal-and-glass boxes bolted into steel supports. on top of existing buildings.
Raleigh, NC Gets A Ten-Year Plan For The Arts
“After engaging more than 4,000 citizens for input over the course of 10 months, the 34-member arts plan steering committee announced in January that a draft of the plan is ready, with eight overarching goals, both short- and long-term, and 63 strategies designed to help achieve these goals.” (The plan was approved by the City Council that day.)
That Stolen Picasso Seized In Turkey Last Week? It’s A Fake
“The Picasso Administration, charged with managing the artist’s estate, … said the canvas is a copy of a 1940 work by the great Spanish artist, Woman Dressing Her Hair – and the original is in the hands of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).”
Pina Bausch’s Old Company Has A New Director
Adolphe Binder, currently artistic director of the dance company at the Gothenburg Opera in Sweden, “will be the fourth person to run the Tanztheater Wuppertal since Bausch’s sudden death in 2009. “Unlike Dominique Mercy and Robert Sturm, who ran the company just after Ms. Bausch’s death, and Lutz Förster, who succeeded them in 2013, Ms. Binder has no direct relationship with Wuppertal.”
Soprano Collapses Onstage As She Finishes Her Death Aria; Audience Thinks It’s Planned, But It’s Not
Véronique Gens, 49, was singing Béatrice in a concert revival of Benjamin Godard’s 1889 opera Dante at the old Royal Opera in Versailles. As she reached her final phrase – “Where the angels gather human tears to change them into stars” – she lost control of her voice and collapsed, first into the arms of the mezzo and then to the floor, her head lolling on her chest. The mezzo signaled to stop the music and an ambulance was called. The cause was evidently a sudden loss of blood pressure. (in French; Google Translate version here)
Filmmaker Jacques Rivette Dead At 87
“[He was] was the pre-eminent theoretician of the French ‘New Wave’ and the film-maker who, with Jean-Luc Godard, came closest in his own work to realising the movement’s aims and aspirations.” Yet he ultimately came to believe that there is no such thing as an “auteur” – “that ‘A film by Jacques Rivette’, for example, was a contradiction in terms.”
Riccardo Muti Has Hip Surgery After Fall
“Chicago Symphony Orchestra Music Director Riccardo Muti has withdrawn from his Feb. 11-20 residency here so he can recover from a hip operation following a minor accident, an orchestra spokeswoman announced Tuesday night.”
Is This Why The Pinter Estate Clamped Down On The Wooster Group?
Samuel French chief Bruce Lazarus “maintains that the Pinter estate had not been prepared to grant any subsequent license [for The Room] because the British agent had lined up a ‘first-class’ production in the UK, which had an option for a U.S. transfer. Lazarus points out that French could have simply said no but said his company persuaded the U.K. agent to allow the L.A. production, with restrictions.”