Tristan Baker and Oliver Royds first became business partners in 2015, when they designed and built the pop-up theatre in London that housed Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female Shakespeare trilogy and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights. “Out of that experience came Troubadour Theatres, their new company … [which has] developed a reusable, modular construction kit that can turn an empty site into a huge temporary auditorium in 12 weeks.” – The Stage
Author: Matthew Westphal
A Fierce (And Weird) Battle Over Who Gets To Be New Hampshire’s Poet Laureate
“At issue is a controversial nominee for state laureate, private negotiations with a governor who says he’s ‘not a poetry expert,’ and a bit of verse that an elected official described to me as ‘a misogynistic poem about sex with Condoleezza Rice on Air Force One.'” – Slate
Should Books Include Credits The Way Movies Do?
Trapeze, an Orion/Hachette imprint, is starting to do just that. David Barnett observes that almost 60 people were involved in the publication of his new novel: “the editors, the marketing and PR types – but also the smaller but crucial roles: the proofreaders who make sure you haven’t started calling Maisy Maisie in chapter 12, the all-important cover designers, the team behind the audiobooks, …” – The Guardian
Mezzo Sarah Connolly Withdraws From BBC Proms And English National Opera For Emergency Breast Cancer Treatment
“She had been due to star in the ENO’s Orpheus and Eurydice, which is choreographer Wayne McGregor’s opera directing debut, this October. Alice Coote will step in to play the role of Orpheus, while Julie Boulianne will now take her place at the BBC Proms, singing Berlioz’s [L’Enfance du Christ]. – BBC
Examining The Ethics Of Partnering In Dance
Ilya Vidrin was a competitive ballroom dancer until the day he fractured his back while partnering. “In the years since, the incident has led him into a deep exploration of the less tangible elements involved in partnering: motivation, trust, interpersonal chemistry and implicit agreements.” His studies, including a PhD, have led him to form what he calls the Reciprocity Collective, with which he’ll be offering a “partnering and science lab” at Jacob’s Pillow. – Times Union (Albany)
Will Other Museums Follow The Louvre In Removing The Sackler Name? Probably Not, And Here’s Why
Other institutions have said they’ll stop accepting Sackler money, but none have said they’ll drop the name from any existing buildings. “That is because removing a name, even one that has become culturally toxic, is an enormously complicated decision, mined with legal, financial and moral concerns. Here are some of those issues.” – The New York Times
‘Grand Theft Brancusi’: Collector Claims He Was Tricked Into Selling Sculpture, Sues Philadelphia Lawyer For $200M
“In a lawsuit filed this week in New York State Supreme Court, Manhattan collector Stuart Pivar, a one-time friend of Andy Warhol, says he was swindled out of a 1920 cast of the sculpture [Mademoiselle Pogany II] by John H. McFadden, a Philadelphia lawyer, arts patron, and scion of a prominent Main Line family.” As Pivar puts it, “Philadelphia lawyer hornswoggles savvy New York collector out of $100 million. That’s my story.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Fabio Luisi Resigns As Music Director Of Florence’s Maggio Musicale
Luisi, music director of the Zurich Opera House and former principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, only took up the post (one created for him) at the Tuscan music festival-cum-opera house in April of last year. He’s leaving, one year into a five-year contract term, as a result of one of the political power struggles that seem to afflict Italian cultural institutions regularly. – Musical America
Four Members Of All-Female Afghan Orchestra Disappear During European Tour
“Zohra, a 35-member orchestra, performed at a concert on July 13 at the Pohoda Festival in the [Slovakian] town of Trencin … Four members went missing from their hotel on July 14, police said.” – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
When An Ex-Undocumented-Immigrant Actor Plays A Guard Holding Refugee Children In A Border Jail
In George Brant’s solo play Tender Age, actor Carlo Albán (whose parents brought him from Ecuador to the U.S. as a child) plays a Latino Texan who takes a job as a guard in a Brownsville Walmart-turned-detention center for children who’ve fled Central America. Peter Marks travels to the O’Neill Theater Center to see the play in development. – The Washington Post