Howard Sherman: “The convention of the fourth wall is deeply ingrained in most regular theatregoers … But when such techniques [for breaking it] are deployed intentionally before, during and after a performance, the effect can be magical. … There needn’t even be a show in performance for the effect of bringing audiences on stage to have an impact. Even in smaller spaces, let alone iconic ones, allowing patrons to stand where the actors perform creates an inversion that can be highly affecting.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Orlando’s New Ballet Company Will Go Out Of Its Way To Protect Its Dancers’ Bodies
Joseph Gatti’s vision for his new troupe, United Ballet Theatre (which debuts this weekend), was inspired by a fracture in his foot three years ago: “The injury really opened my eyes to the organization of a company and the care and treatment that needs to be addressed constantly. I wanted to create a company that’s treating the dancers not just as artists but as athletes.” His plan, the Gatti Method, is “to build strength training, conditioning, recovery time and physical therapy into UBT’s daily schedule.”
New App Makes Bollywood Movies Accessible To Millions Of India’s Blind
“XL Cinema [is] an app developed in India that can synchronise an audio description of a movie with its cinema audio track. … Before the app’s arrival, the only way to watch a movie with audio description was to wait months after the film’s release to order a DVD from [the NGO] Saksham, if [it] had created one for that film.”
Mary Pratt, 83, Canadian Painter Who Rendered The Everyday Extraordinary
“Pratt painted items she saw around her, transforming them. A jar of currant jelly glowed from within. The aluminum foil holding a meal of fish seemed to have eerie qualities. The flowers she picked outside became beacons of strength.”
Can North America’s Shakespeare Theatres Expand Their Audiences Without Losing Their Reason For Existing?
Peter Marks: “One can sense, in visiting … companies and talking to leaders of classical theaters across North America, a revolution in how to package Shakespeare is not only gradually gaining momentum but is also being viewed as essential. At Stratford, for instance, an ethos prevails of theater as not simply a passive entertainment. More and more, it’s a conveyance for other social and intellectual activities on the sprawling festival campus.”
For Orchestras, Programming Music By Women Isn’t Just Doing The Right Thing – It’s Smart Audience Development
Peter Dobrin: “This is not about righting a social injustice, though programming more women is clearly that. … The predilection for passing through the graduated hoops of listener to subscriber to donor hinges upon emotion … [and] it means a lot to listeners when they see their own identity reflected in what their orchestra does.”
Top U.S. Organist, Accused Of Sexual Misconduct, Loses Positions At Oberlin And Holy Cross
“James David Christie, widely regarded as one of the greatest organists of his generation, has resigned his post as distinguished artist-in-residence at the College of the Holy Cross … He has also left Oberlin College and Conservatory, where he was a professor of organ and chair of the organ department. Christie has played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra since at least 1980, and he served as Wellesley College organist for years. A group of former students wrote Holy Cross president Rev. Philip L. Boroughs earlier this month, charging that Christie ‘is an imminent danger to students on your campus.'”
Troubled Newseum Loses Yet Another Top Exec
“Scott Williams is leaving the struggling Newseum after six years — including the past six months as the journalism museum’s president — to lead the Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tenn. Williams is the latest of a string of senior executives to depart the struggling institution that last August began exploring the sale of its Pennsylvania Avenue building or closing entirely.”
Brian Murray, Beloved New York Stage Actor, Dead At 80
The South African-born Murray began his career at the Royal Shakespeare Company before settling in the U.S., where he had a 50-year career that included directing and occasional film appearances as well as countless roles on and Off-Broadway (including three Tony nominations) and in regional theater.
Palmyra Will Be Ready For Tourists By Next Summer, Say Syrian Officials
Governor Talal Barazi of Homs province: “The authorities now have a project to repair all the damage caused to Palmyra’s Old City. There are also good offers from the world powers to restore the artefacts and historical value of Palmyra. I suppose that Palmyra will be completely ready for receiving tourists by summer 2019.”