“The critically acclaimed epic play Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) by Suzan-Lori Parks has won the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for a theatrical work inspired by American history … A check for $100,000 will also go to Ms. Parks, a Pulitzer Prize winner for the drama Topdog/Underdog.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Rothschild Family Treasures Find A Resting Place In Boston
“The gift all but closes the book on a collection that was started in the mid-1800s by Baron Nathaniel von Rothschild and his brother, Albert, and became entwined with 20th-century history.”
How Mexican Filmmakers Reached Hollywood’s Top Tier
It’s not just Alejandro González Iñárritu’s wins for Birdman. Alfonso Cuarón won last year for Gravity, and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki won Oscars two years running for those movies. Then there’s Guillermo del Toro, Rodrigo Prieto, and others. “So who is this band of Mexican artists and how did it fight to the top of one America’s most competitive industries?”
Opening Up Paris Theatre To Visitors And Expats
“While the locals flock to the 300 or so venues, they are largely un-visited by tourists and expats because one of the main requirements for a visit is a good knowledge of French. At least that’s what Carl de Poncins says. He quit his job as the marketing director of a multinational company last year to focus on making theatre accessible for English speakers by introducing surtitles.”
How Much Should A Funder Be Able To Dictate What The Art It Funds Should Accomplish?
“It is a given now that in order to get a foundation grant, it’s often not enough to simply apply for funding of what you do day in and day out. What do funders want? Innovation! New ways of ‘engaging’ younger audiences! High-impact special projects that others will want to emulate!”
What Happens When You Let A Listicle Writer For A Finance Website Name The Ten Most Influential Choreographers Ever?
Well, for a start, you get Maurice Béjart and Pina Bausch ranked ahead of Marius Petipa and Bob Fosse. And there’s more to argue about where that came from. (On the other hand, at least she doesn’t forget about hip-hop and Bollywood.)
Relations With The U.S. Or No, Cuba Is Not Returning Exiles’ Art
“With the recent loosening of US restrictions on trade with Cuba, prisoner exchanges and the promise of warmer relations to come, the two countries are closer than they have been for 50 years. But for those Cuban exiles in the US whose art was seized by the Cuban authorities in the 1960s, restitution of their property is still no closer. Cuba continues to reject the charge that the art in question was stolen, and has no mechanism for its return.”
Henry Segerstrom, 91, Philanthropist Who Transformed Orange County, California’s Cultural Life
The scion of a lima-bean-farming family, Segerstrom turned some empty fields into South Coast Plaza, one of America’s high-end shopping meccas. He went on to donate the land and much of the money to build the venues at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, renamed after him in 2011.
Poetess, Actress, Aviatrix, Rockette, And Other Gendered Occupations
“Listen to Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss the history and etymology of feminine suffixes – including -ess, -ette, and -trix – with University of Michigan professor Anne Curzan.” (podcast)
Turnip Princesses And Boy Cinderellas: A Rediscovered Collection Of Fairy Tales Is Even More Different From The Grimms Than You’d Think
“Working just a few decades after the Brothers Grimm, Schönwerth considered scholars his natural audience, and as a result the tales he recorded are bawdier, racier and significantly more scatological than the collection the Grimms published under the title Children’s and Household Tales.” The English translator of a new collection tells us more.