“From the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden, Kirsty Wark takes us on an unprecedented journey behind the scenes with The Royal Opera featuring live rehearsals, interviews and insights.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Promoting Shakespeare As Europe’s, And Not Just England’s, Bard
“Leading British academics are seeking to persuade the European parliament to adopt Shakespeare as its European laureate in time for the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016.”
Blessed Virgin Mary To Appear On Broadway, Courtesy Of Fiona Shaw And Colm Tóibín
“Drama Desk Award winner Fiona Shaw (Medea) will play the Virgin Mary in the Broadway debut of Irish novelist Colm Tóibín’s The Testament of Mary.” The piece “takes place after the crucifixion. Mary is hounded by her son’s disciples who want to write a new book claiming her son as the ‘Son of God.’ But Mary’s not buying it.”
21 Emotions For Which There Are No English Words (An Infographic)
“That sort of painful, sort of bittersweet, sort of wistful feeling you get looking out the window or driving at night or listening to a far-off train whistle? There’s a word for that in Japanese.”
Is Umami The Key To Human Happiness?
“Although glutamate was discovered in 1908, it wasn’t until the 1980s that it came to be described as ‘umami’, the fifth flavor. It is a savory taste, to go along with our other flavors of sweet, salty, bitter and sour. … Our hero scientist Dr. Kanye West (no, the other Kanye West) wonders: is there a link between umami and human happiness?”
Unknown Titian Discovered In Bowels Of Britain’s National Gallery
“Is it just possible that Titian paid for a syphilis cure with a portrait? If so, it would not be the only astonishing thing about this painting, which has just been rediscovered in the basement of the National Gallery.”
Florida’s Kravis Center Settles Labor Dispute For $2.2M
“The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach will pay the money to 248 employees represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, AFL-CIO, Local 500. … The relationship began to deteriorate in 2000 when the center fired six stagehands, refused to recognize the union and declared an impasse in negotiations.”
Budding Ballet Boyz: The Talent
“When former BalletBoyz Michael Nunn and William Trevitt launched something they called the Talent three years ago, it was an experiment, an apprenticeship ensemble … Already, however, the Talent has become one of the UK’s most popular companies, with a new tour set to premiere works by A-list choreographers Russell Maliphant and Liam Scarlett.”
Kennedy Center To Review How It Selects Honors Winners
“The Kennedy Center has formed a committee of artists and community leaders to review the heretofore opaque process by which winners of the annual Kennedy Center Honors are selected. … [The move] is part of a series of steps the center has taken in response to a controversy that erupted in September over the lack of Latino honorees.”
Ada Louise Huxtable, 91, Dean Of Architecture Critics
She virtually created the modern profession of architecture critic, at The New York Times (where, in 1970, she won the first-ever Pulitzer Prize for criticism) and subsequently at The Wall Street Journal, which published her final column last month.