“Researchers at Tokyo’s Keio University say they have found that the birds have ‘advanced perceptive abilities’ and can distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ paintings, recognising beauty the way humans do. The team – which previously published research saying that pigeons can tell a Monet from a Picasso – was seeking to find out whether the animals may also be able to prefer one to the other.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Off-Broadway And Regional Stalwart T. Scott Cunningham Dies At 47
He was “a simultaneous[ly] zany and empathetic performer of the Off-Broadway stage whose short, but productive career saw him originate roles in plays by Nicky Silver and Douglas Carter Beane. […] [His] soft, malleable face and large brown eyes … could express a soulful sorrowfulness, a pained yearning or a verging sense of panic.”
Gergiev Launches New Label For Mariinsky Theatre
“I have the good fortune to be able to rely on a large organization, the Mariinsky Theatre, whose label is more a tool for influence than a business venture. So I can put together all the projects that I want, without constraint.”
Soprano Measha Brueggergosman Recovering From Emergency Open-Heart Surgery
“Doctors have told Ms. Brueggergosman she has every chance of making a full recovery from an emergency procedure to repair a dissected aorta, a rare and often fatal affliction.”
Immortality, Glory And Happiness
“This is what the Greeks called ‘glory,’ and it expresses a very different understanding of immortality than is common amongst us. One lives on only through the stories, accounts and anecdotes that are told about one. It is in this that happiness consists. This has a very peculiar consequence for societies like the United States, so singlemindedly devoted to the pursuit of happiness. We assume that the question of happiness is a question of my happiness or, more properly, of my relation to my happiness. But why?”
Nina Ananiashvili On Her Final Bow: ‘I’m Trying Not To Think About It Too Much’
A Q-&-A with the 46-year-old ABT star, who gives her final performance with the company this weekend as Odette/Odile. She’s heading home to Tbilisi to concentrate on directing the State Ballet of Georgia – and to be with her two children and her husband, Georgia’s foreign minister.
Gergiev Hires Hot Young Director To Restage Mariinsky Ring
The company’s version of Wagner’s tetralogy, which has been touring the world for several years, has had no credited stage director; critics far and wide have made note of a certain dramatic slackness in the performances, while reaction to George Tsypin’s designs has ranged from “magical” to “outlandish” to “pretty funky.” But “it will be different in¬London [this summer], promises Gergiev. He has enlisted the young Anglo-Russian theatre director, Alexander Zeldin, to re-direct the existing production – the word being used is ‘re-imagining’ – so the version we see will be tighter and fresher.”
Dublin’s Abbey Theatre Faces Job Cuts
“Negotiations on redundancies are under way at Ireland’s national theatre, the Abbey, as funding cuts and the economic downturn force budgetary belt-tightening. More than 25 jobs may be cut, mainly from the 120 administrative staff, according to an Abbey spokeswoman, and it is hoped the redundancies will be voluntary.”
Academy Expands Best Picture Oscar To Ten Nominees
“Having 10 best picture nominees is going [to] allow academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize,” said the Academy’s president. Having ten nominees in the category was the standard between 1932 and 1943.
‘Hollywood’s Version Of A Stimulus Package’
“First there’s the number of people who watch the Oscars themselves. The Academy’s thinking: The more blockbuster films that are nominated, the more people will watch.” Then there’s the box office: “Best picture nominees simply make more money. So the more best picture nominees, the more films moviegoers think they’re supposed to see to stay hip with the cultural conversation.” And think of what all the extra ad revenue will do for journalism …