“While their politics may be unappealing, you’re missing out on some expert storytelling and brilliant characterisation if you ignore these books.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The New TV Golden Age Is Letting Stars Break Out Of Their Typecasting Boxes
“Midcareer actors took note of Bryan Cranston’s transition from the goofy sitcom dad on Malcolm in the Middle to the megalomaniac drug lord in Breaking Bad (and the four Emmys it earned him).” Now, for instance, Katie “Dawson’s Creek” Holmes is playing a scheming sports agent, controversial comic Sarah Silverman a sad and struggling 1950s lesbian, Patrick “Capt. Picard” Stewart a skirt-chasing, coke-snorting TV pundit.
Russian Military Court Tries Ukrainian Filmmaker On Terrorism Charges He Says Are Made-Up
“Oleg Sentsov and his co-defendant Alexander Kolchenko, a leftwing activist, are accused of being part of a terrorist conspiracy in Crimea, setting fire to the offices of a political party and planning to blow up a statue of Vladimir Lenin in the capital, Simferopol.”
Joseph Scafidi, 94, Longtime Executive Director Of San Francisco Symphony
“Over the course of his long career, the Symphony’s activities grew from an 18-week season to its current year-round schedule, and the annual budget grew from $200,000 to more than $4 million. [He] worked closely with no fewer than five music directors, beginning with the legendary French conductor Pierre Monteux in the 1940s and continuing with Enrique Jordá, Josef Krips, Seiji Ozawa and Edo de Waart.”
Ballet San Antonio’s Artistic And Executive Directors Suddenly Resign
“[The company] on Thursday announced the resignation of its executive director, Courtney Mauro Barker, and the departure of its artistic director, Gabriel Zertuche. … A spokeswoman for the ballet said the organization would have no further comment beyond its announcement, which gives no reasons for the departures.”
How ‘Hamilton’ Recasts Thomas Jefferson As A Villain
Which a show with Alexander Hamilton as its hero would do, of course. “If Hamilton is the 99 percent, Jefferson is, in the show at least, the one percent. If Hamilton is Barack Obama (who told Jon Stewart he thought the show was ‘phenomenal’), Jefferson is Mitt Romney.”
Visiting The Harlem Renaissance – Via Virtual Reality
For instance, there’s “an avatar that could be programmed with biographical information on W. E. B. Du Bois, whmo users could ask questions to find out about his history. In the surrounding blocks Ethel Waters might be singing the debut performance of ‘Stormy Weather’ at the Cotton Club, and crowds are gathering at the Apollo Theater.”
Banksy Has Designed A Dystopian Theme Park – ‘Dismaland’
“Once you get past Dismaland’s eerily institutional security checkpoint, the castle looks like it’s one breeze away from collapsing. But wait, there’s more: A dead princess backdrop for prime photo ops, a whale jumping out of a toilet and through a hula hoop, and a sculpture of a woman getting viciously attacked by sea gulls. But at least the food at this park is affordable – free hot dogs, to whomever can guess what meat is in them. Welcome to Dismaland: Everything is awful.”
Cirque Du Soleil Plans $25 Million Broadway Show
“The company, which has been acquired by a group of private equity investors, said that the production, to be called Paramour, represented one step in a broader effort to expand its presence in New York and in the world of theater. … [They also] said it would run indefinitely after opening next spring.”
How To Spot A Fake: Art Forgery Secrets Revealed!
“Art authenticity is all about perception. If the world thinks a work is authentic, then it is authentic. But forgers know that a convincing provenance is actually more important than an aesthetically perfect forgery or one that would fool forensic tests. … Provenance is the biography of an artwork, but provenance, like art, can be forged.”