The Bristol Old Vic, “which in 2007 suffered a period of closure and a threat to funding, officially reopens this week after a year and a half’s makeover. As well-loved by architectural historians as by British actors, it has given up some surprisingly subversive secrets.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Dance New Amsterdam Adopts Plan To Climb Out Of Debt
“Dance New Amsterdam, a nonprofit dance company and school in lower Manhattan, on Wednesday announced a five-year debt recovery plan to try and win over potential donors. The plan includes increasing class and theater attendance, increasing business hours, attaining corporate sponsorship and maximizing space rental.”
Addicted To Addiction (Oh Yes, It Happens)
“This argument is almost as old as addiction research itself. From the field’s beginnings in the early 20th century, two factions have been at war: those convinced that addiction is about an uncontrollable physiological response to a substance, a ‘disease’ that needs to be treated under a medical model, and those who think it is simply a sign of weak moral character.”
First Hansel And Gretel Ballet Treatment To Premiere In Scotland
Christopher Hampson, the new artistic director of Scottish Ballet, “announced plans for a new work based on the story of Hansel and Gretel – his first full-length choreography for the company and the first large-scale ballet to be based on the fairytale.”
Ontario Orchestra Fails To Pay Musicians, Using Fees To Fund New Season Instead
“Brampton Symphony Orchestra (BSO) CEO Michael Todd admits that musicians from the May concert weren’t paid, and instead funds were redirected to support the upcoming season.” BSO administrators blame a city fund that didn’t provide expected funding; city officials claim they made no such commitment.
Indian Political Cartoonist Arrested For Sedition
“A political cartoonist who was jailed on sedition charges for drawings that mocked corruption in the Indian government was released on bail Wednesday. … [Aseem] Trivedi was arrested Sunday based on a political activist’s complaint that his cartoons insulted the country.”
Afghanistan Veterans Turn Their Experiences Into Theatre
“The Two Worlds of Charlie F was conceived by the producer Alice Driver after a conversation with a surgeon about casualties returning from Afghanistan. Most of the actors are W.I.S. soldiers from the British armed forces; some are drawn from Commonwealth nations. The playwright cum poet cum novelist Owen Sheers developed the script after group workshops with the members of Bravo 22 Company, incorporating many of their stories and jokes.”
Louis Kahn’s Only Design For New York Is Finally Finished
“The park – a memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt – was conceived four decades ago. The visionary architect who designed it died in 1974. The site, a landfill along one of the more dramatic stretches of waterfront in New York City, remained a rubble heap while the project was left for dead.”
Translating Miriam Makeba Into Dance – Without Makeba
Choreographer Nora Chipaumire’s Miriam, which she describes as “a solo for two people,” is definitely a translation rather than a representation of the late South African singing star. “[V]iewers of workshop showings … complained to Ms. Chipaumire that they couldn’t find Makeba at all … [and] Omar Sosa’s score, which runs from dense percussion to ruminative electric piano, refers to Bach’s music but not Makeba’s.”
US Appellate Court Upholds $220K Damage Award In File-Sharing Case
“The top four record labels have won a significant decision in their long-running suit against Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the Minnesota woman found by a court to have ‘lied’ about illegally uploading music to the Web.” The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the trial’s award of $220,000 in damages, which a previous appeal had reduced to $54,000.