The small but well-regarded company will henceforth call itself Skylight Music Theatre. Administrators said in a statement, “Skylight’s goal in the name change is to accurately capture the range of experiences patrons may have throughout each season and minimize the misconception that Skylight only produces opera.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Oakland Ballet Postpones Spring 2012 Season
“The Oakland Ballet Company has postponed the launch of its spring season, citing a budget deficit.”
SOPA And PIPA: How The Web Won The War
“The web-wide protest launched last Wednesday against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) made this much clear: Whatever happens with the ill-conceived legislation, which could essentially shut down any site at any time for vague ‘copyright violations,’ the larger battle has already been won.”
Rudi Van Dantzig, Choreographer, Dead At 78
“As a choreographer, Van Dantzig made more than 50 works, most of them on contemporary themes, although he also produced well-received versions of standard classics … Many of his ballets contain a strong thread of social criticism; he was not afraid to explore difficult subjects” such as homosexuality and environmental pollution.
Meet India’s Best-Selling English-Language Novelist
Chetan Bhagat, a former Goldman Sachs banker, has published five books, all romances and all selling more than a million copies. Bhagat concedes to his many critics that his works aren’t great literature, but argues that they encourage social mobility.
Ethan Stiefel To Retire From Dancing
A principal with American Ballet Theater since 1997, and one of the company’s stars, Stiefel will give his last performance this July during the company’s New York summer season. Last year Stiefel began work as artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Prado Responds To Budget Cuts By Opening Seven Days Per Week
“Madrid’s Prado Museum has started opening seven days a week and will lengthen its highly visited special exhibitions to offset the pain of government cutbacks. Despite enjoying record attendance, the [museum] is feeling the blow of a 6 million euro ($7.75 million) subsidy cut as Spain tries to rein in its swollen deficit.”
Illuminating Dance: A Lighting Designer Speaks
“Michael Hulls, the man who paints the dancing of Sylvie Guillem, Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and a small elite handful of others,” talks about the history of stage lighting, his preference for chiaroscuro, and a peculiar run-in with the Royal Ballet’s lighting technicians.
Yasmina Reza Doesn’t Care About Her Characters’ Backgrounds
“Because even if you say to an actor, ‘This character was beaten up as a child’, what can they do apart from say, ‘OK’ and then just get on with it? It serves them nothing. Writing is a lot more organic than that. It’s not at all intellectual.”
Jacobean Revenge Tragedies Enjoy A Vogue
“On the face of it, few things seem more remote to 21st-century Britain than the world of Jacobean tragedy … So what is it about these violent and baroque plays … that haunt our contemporary imagination? What kind of culture did they spring from? And why are they once again filling our theatres?”