“The theatre profession are a hugely superstitious bunch, especially where employment is concerned. Old traditions involve actors never cleaning out their makeup box (in case they never need it again), and, if they find a thread, winding it around a finger in hope of securing a lengthy contract.” And that’s just the start …
Author: Matthew Westphal
Upright Citizens Brigade Adds Third Theater
The comedy-improv group, which has earned a reputation as a training ground for future Saturday Night Live stars, has opened a new stage in New York’s East Village. UCB already has a Los Angeles outpost as well as its flagship house on West 26th Street in Manhattan.
Sesame Street Comes To Pakistan
“The TV show has a new cast of local characters led by a vivacious 6-year-old girl named Rani who loves cricket and traditional Pakistani music. … The U.S. is bankrolling the initiative with $20 million, hoping it will improve education in a country where one-third of primary school-age children are not in class.”
Russian Ballet Shoes Are Cutting Into Capezio’s Market Share
Two Russian shoemakers, Grishko and Ballet Class, “have taken center stage in the production of ballet shoes around the world. The companies’ exports have become so large they are challenging international competitors that boast decades of experience in the industry.”
Ireland Chooses Poet And Former Arts Minister As President
Michael D. Higgins, a veteran legislator, peace activist and poet who served as Ireland’s first-ever Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, has been elected the nation’s ninth president. While arts minister, he established a string of new arts venues across the country, founded the national Irish-language television network, and relaunched the Irish Film Board.
21st-Century Treehouses (Of A Sort) Rise In Milan
“Plans for ‘vertical forests’ – 25-floor buildings, flecked with balconies full of bushes and small trees – are sprouting up in several European countries. Fittingly, Milan, the continent’s design capital but also one of western Europe’s most polluted cities, is leading the way with the construction of two green towers.”
Lauren Cuthbertson, ‘The Least Diva-Like Of Ballerinas’
“On stage, she might be praised as an extraordinary actor, as intelligent musically as she is stylistically … But to her colleagues, she is simply known as Lozza, Chicken or (to her friend and fellow dancer Edward Watson) Loopy Fucking Loo.”
Warner Music Group Gives Up Bid To Buy EMI
“Warner Music Group owner Len Blavatnik withdrew his bid for EMI Group’s recorded music business after failing to agree on a price with owner Citigroup Inc. … Warner Music offered about $1.5 billion, less than the $1.7 billion sought by Citigroup.”
Composer Leaves $14M To Women’s Causes
Ann Southam, a Toronto-based composer who died in 2010, “has willed $14 million to the Canadian Women’s Foundation … This gift marks the largest ever donation to a Canadian women’s organization.”
‘Virtuoso Modernism’ – Royal Welsh College of Music And Drama’s New Building
“A sharp-edged plastic roof oversails the college like the shimmering wing of a Jumbo jet, and the drum of its new concert hall suggests a vast, wooden-ribbed turbo-fan.”