“The verdict was handed down after a brief hearing in which the judge was read reports by three experts — including one retained by the prosecution — who agreed that [Sofya] Tsygankova was criminally insane when she killed her daughters [in March of 2016]. … The judge then ordered Tsygankova, now 34, committed to a state mental hospital.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Indianapolis Symphony Quietly Extends MD Krzysztof Urbański’s Contract
The 35-year-old conductor’s existing contract was set to expire with the end of this past season, but last fall the orchestra’s board added two years to Urbański’s tenure, which now runs through the 2019-2020 season. ISO management made no public announcement of the extension at the time and only revealed it in response to this reporter’s inquiry.
Paris Opera Ballet Sues One Of Its Own Dancers Over Leaked Survey Revealing Unhappy Company
“You’d think the Paris Opéra Ballet would be in damage-control mode after a leaked dancers’ survey, in April, brought up worrying reports of harassment and mismanagement. But instead of addressing these issues internally, the French company is suing one of its own dancers in order to strip him of his union representative status and subsequently be free to fire him.”
Actor Gary Beach, Tony Winner For ‘The Producers’, Dead At 70
“Mr. Beach won the 2001 Tony for best featured actor in a musical for “The Producers,” … in which he originated the role of the cross-dressing director Roger De Bris. He began his acceptance speech at the Tonys memorably. ‘Heil Mel!’ he shouted.” He received additional nominations for playing Albin in La Cage aux Folles (2004) and Lumière the candelabra in Beauty and the Beast (1994).
Defying UK Trend, V&A Museum Attendance Up 26%
“A new and less intimidating entrance has helped the [Victoria and Albert Museum] achieve record visitor numbers, bucking a trend of sharp falls across the UK’s museums and galleries. The museum said more than 4.4 million people visited the V&A and its London satellites, Blythe House and the Museum of Childhood.”
You Think Spike Jonze Is A Filmmaker? Ha – He’s A Dancer (And A Dance Filmmaker)
The general public known him as the auteur behind Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Her. But some of his best work has been in dance-heavy music videos for the likes of Björk, Fatboy Slim, and Weezer. Jonze has even created for himself a dancing alter ego with an, er, inimitable styke.
Pittsburgh Playhouse Gets New Home With Three Theatres This Fall
The new complex, which opens in October, will have 535-, 250-, and 100-seat performance spaces as well as a production area and a tech space that are each over 10,000 square feet. “The facility will house the REP, a professional theatre company; a theatre for young audience; and the students of Point Park University’s theatre and dance departments.”
Stan Dragoti, Director Of ‘Love At First Bite’ And ‘Mr. Mom,’ Dead At 85
“A son of an Albanian immigrant, Dragoti came from the world of New York advertising. He made his Hollywood debut by writing and directing Dirty Little Billy (1972), a Western about the early years of the outlaw Billy the Kid (played by Michael J. Pollard). Dragoti then helmed Love at First Bite (1979), the great Dracula spoof starring George Hamilton as the Count, and got story credit on Mr. Mom. He directed that film, starring Michael Keaton and Teri Garr, from a screenplay by John Hughes.”
That News Report About The Clay Tablet With The Oldest Known Excerpt Of The ‘Odyssey’? Almost Everything About It Was Bogus
Yes, it is a clay tablet from the early centuries CE and it does have a passage from Homer’s epic inscribed on it, but that’s about all that the English-language stories got right. (For a start, we have plenty of excerpts from the Odyssey that are older.) Emily Wilson, whose widely-praised translation of the work was the first ever done into English by a woman, clears up the confusion.
How An Isaac Asimov Sex Scene Changed My Life
Slate writer (and trans man) Evan Urquhart: “I knew [when I was 12 that] I preferred old-fashioned books by men for men (or adolescent boys), and I read these as if I were a native rather than a visitor to their world. This stood in contrast to the way I consumed girl culture: by trying to absorb and mimic the attitudes of straight girls … I was trying to play a part based on the adventures of the Sweet Valley Twins, but I could never get it exactly right. In The Robots of Dawn, the third entry in Asimov’s Robot series, I found something else.”