“Performer Harrison Knights is behind the venture, called Trans Voices Company, which aims to help address a lack of casting opportunities for non-cisgender actors.” – The Stage
Author: Matthew Westphal
The 10 Most Influential Films Of The Decade (Per The New York Times)
Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott: “The most popular movies and the movies we love most aren’t always the ones that shape the industry, reflect the times or change the terms of cultural discourse — for better or worse. The films on the first list, whether we like them or not …, made a difference in the world of entertainment and beyond.” (also includes ten favorites from each critic) – The New York Times
Vienna State Opera Finally Stages Work Written By A Woman (It Only Took 150 Years)
“I really want to shake up this old-fashioned, beautiful, wonderful place a bit,” says composer Olga Neuwirth, 51, whose adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando opens on December 8. (The house actually commissioned an opera from Neuwirth back in 2004, only to reject the libretto written by Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek.) – The Guardian
Metropolitan Opera Will Keep Peter Gelb Through 2027
“The five-year extension [of his contract as general manager] … will give Mr. Gelb at least a 21-year reign at the opera house, the largest performing arts organization in the United States. The only Met general managers with longer tenures than that have been Giulio Gatti-Casazza (who held the post for 27 years beginning in 1908) and Rudolf Bing (1950-72).” – The New York Times
Boris Johnson Promises Conservatives Will Spend £250 Million On Culture (One Quarter Of What Labour Promises)
“The Conservative Party election manifesto, launched yesterday afternoon by the UK prime minister Boris Johnson, pledges the establishment of a £250m fund ‘to support local libraries and regional museums’. The Tories describe this as ‘the largest cultural capital programme in a century’.” Last week, the Labour manifesto released by Jeremy Corbyn included a pledge to budget £1 billion for arts and culture. – The Art Newspaper
After Five Years, Are We Really Sure We Know Who Hacked Sony Pictures?
“The massive cyberattack just before Thanksgiving 2014 crippled a studio, embarrassed executives and reshaped Hollywood. The FBI blamed a North Korea scheme to retaliate for the comedy The Interview, but many whose lives were upended have doubts.” – The Hollywood Reporter
StubHub Sold To Viagogo For $4 Billion
“Campaign groups have urged regulators to protect music and sports fans from the threat of rip-off prices after eBay agreed to sell StubHub, its ticketing business, to the Swiss ticket reseller Viagogo in a $4bn (£3.1bn) deal.” – The Guardian
Propwatch: the climbing tackle in ‘Touching the Void’
How do you capture the scale, the struggle, the elemental extremity of mountain climbing? In the theatre? It’s simpler than you think. After all, they both use the same kit. – David Jays
New Zealand Works To Make Maori A Mainstream Language
“New Zealand is hoping that by 2040, one million Kiwis will be able to speak basic te reo Māori, the Maori language. This ambitious goal is part of an official language strategy that sees the revival of New Zealand’s Indigenous language as a key part in national identity and reconciliation.” (audio) – Public Radio International
Who Was The World’s First Movie Star? (And Why Haven’t We Heard Of Him Before?)
Until now, the honor had been thought to belong to Florence Lawrence (“the Biograph Girl”), who became famous under her own name following an outrageous publicity stunt by her new studio in 1910. But new research has found that a French slapstick comedian called Max Linder was marketed as “Max” by 1907 and under his full name by 1909. He became famous in both Europe and Hollywood, and Charlie Chaplin considered him a major influence — yet he was forgotten after his bloody death in 1925. – The Guardian