A suspect targeted Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth at the Longacre Theatre with such messages as “I’m serious, people are gonna die like Aurora”, “I know they leave their exit doors unlocked”, and “I got 600 people on my hit list and that’s gonna be a mass murder for real.” Twitter refused to release the user’s identity to the NYPD until served with a subpoena.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Bob Hoskins, Diagnosed With Parkinson’s, Retires From Acting
The 69-year-old, “one of Britain’s best-loved actors, known for his gruff bonhomie, has been working for more than 30 years. He first found fame on the small screen in Dennis Potter’s Pennies from Heaven, and then in cinemas” in such titles as The Long Good Friday, Brazil, Mona Lisa, Mermaids, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
Oxford American Editors Fired Over Sexual Harassment Charges
Marc Smirnoff, who founded the literary journal in 1992 and kept it going through more than one financial crisis, and his girlfriend, managing editor Carol Ann Fitzgerald, were dismissed after a board investigation “produced detailed accounts of a workplace rife with sexual harassment.” Smirnoff furiously denies the accusations, even as he confirms some of the accusers’ accounts.
The Gonzo Documentary That Has Liberia’s Government Nervous
In The Ambassador, Danish filmmaker Mads Brügger heads to the Central African Republic “with plans to open a match factory staffed by pygmies. His real aim, though, is to worm his way into the upper echelons of government and smuggle out a swag of diamonds under the guise of diplomatic immunity” – with Liberian credentials purchased from a corrupt official in Monrovia. Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf wants to prosecute Brügger; the CAR government appears not to care.
Art Exhibitions We Thought We’d Never See: A Show In Tehran About Human Rights Abuses And Catholic Iconography
“In a surprise move, an exhibition focusing on human rights abuses is due to open at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art next month. The show, dedicated to the German sculptor and kinetic artist Günther Uecker, includes … the series ‘The Human Abused: 14 Pacified Implements’, … [which is] based on the Stations of the Cross.”
A Ballet Not Merely By, But About Tchaikovsky
Boris Eifman “has mined the drama of the Tchaikovsky symphonies to create a ballet biography of the composer -Â a life told in dance, entitled simply Tchaikovsky. According to Eifman, Tchaikovsky was an artist consumed by a conflict between his orthodox faith and his sexuality.”
Choreographer Nigel Charnock Dead At 52
He co-founded DV8 Physical Theatre in 1986, then went on to work as a solo artist and to create his own company, Nigel Charnock + Dancers, as well as making work for other companies. “Nigel had a love-hate relationship with a lot of things, but dance as a form was up there near the top of the list. He was critical of the lack of content in dance and of most contemporary choreographers, … [and for] many years, he tried to stop dance audiences from coming to see his work, particularly dance critics.”
Will Seattle Opera’s Money Woes Become The Company’s New Normal?
“It became clear over the last year that Seattle’s financial situation, which had worsened since 2008, was serious, and that the company would end the 2011-12 season with a rare shortfall: approximately $1 million in a budget of about $20 million. In the language of the news release that the company issued on June 26, it is ‘reshaping for a leaner economy.’ Translated into English, it is desperate.”
Turns Out The Olympics Have Been Good For The West End, Despite Fears
“Andrew Lloyd Webber has admitted he was wrong to predict a West End ‘bloodbath’ during the Olympics after figures showed takings for his theatres have risen by 25 per cent since the Games began.”
Here’s Another Thing Ballet Training’s Good For: Olympic Hammer Throw
“Hammer thrower Sophie Hitchon reached the Olympic final yesterday” – setting a new British record in the process – “and then credited her years of ballet training for helping her deal with the 80,000 crowd cheering her on. … Amazingly, the blonde haired thrower said ballet and hammer throwing had actually complemented one another.”