“Darin Webb, 47, faces 20 years in jail on wire-fraud charges for embezzling $3.4 million from storied Manhattan agency Donadio & Olson, according to a recently unsealed federal criminal complaint.” The agency represents among others, Chuck Palahniuk and the estates of Mario Puzo and Studs Terkel.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Moroccan B-Boys Make Break Dancing Their Own
“In Morocco, where state funding and institutions for the arts is scarce, break dancing has empowered young people to make their own entertainment since its arrival in the 1980s. … While protesters and outspoken artists were targets, dancers flew under the radar because they were seen as apolitical. When a second generation of Moroccan B-boy crews emerged in the early 2000s, their art really began to flourish.” (photo journal)
Could A Classical Music Talent Show Become A TV Hit? (Well, It Worked In Hungary)
“Virtuosos is a talent contest which already has a track record of attracting a mass viewership – in its native Hungary. It was started in 2014 by entrepreneur Mariann Peller, … with impressive results: the show’s fourth series has been reaching audiences of over 700,000 per episode, with the 2017 final not far short of the million viewer mark – nearly one in ten of the country’s population, which is comparable to the reach in the UK of mass market talent shows like The X Factor or Britain’s Got Talent.” Now Peller is going to try bringing the show to Great Britain and the U.S. – with no less than Plácido Domingo signing on to be a guest judge.
‘It’s The Most Gorgeous, Loveliest Thing You Can Possibly Hear”: Charles Wuorinen On His Opera ‘Brokeback Mountain’
Okay, he was being a bit facetious, but he said that and a whole lot more to reporter Tim Teeman for an extended feature on the genesis of the opera from the hit film and E. Annie Proulx novella and on its upcoming production at New York City Opera.
Exodus From Board Of Chicago’s Black History Museum
“Chance the Rapper and his father, Ken Bennett, are among seven trustees who have resigned from the board of the DuSable Museum of African American History … The group of seven represents one-third of the museum’s board.”
Emperor Constantine’s Giant Finger Found In The Louvre
“A bronze index finger in the Louvre, which was initially believed to be a toe, has been revealed to be the index finger of a colossal bronze statue of Emperor Constantine in the Musei Capitolini in Rome. Fragments of the 12m-high, early fourth-century bronze statue of Emperor Constantine are among the most valuable bronzes in the Capitolini’s collection.”
Stratford Festival Cancels Opening Night Following Bomb Threat
“Just half an hour before the sold-out opening night performance of The Tempest was set to begin, police officers asked the hundreds of well-dressed patrons to immediately evacuate the theatre, telling them to go as far from the building as the Avon River and Water Street.”
Ratmansky Reconstructs The Original Steps Of Petipa’s ‘Harlequinade’
Marius Petipa created the commedia dell’arte-themed ballet in 1900, and it remained in repertory in St. Petersburg for almost 30 years; when later versions were choreographed by Lopukhov, Gusev, and Balanchine, the actual movement was a combination of steps passed down orally and newly created in Petipa’s idiom. For American Ballet Theater, Alexei Ratmansky went back to the Stepanov notation of the Petipa original made when it was new – and what he discovered was a surprise.
Mary Ellyn Hutton, Longtime Cincinnati Post Classical Music Critic, Dead At 77
“Hutton wrote for 23 years for the Post, starting in 1984. … After the daily closed [at the end of 2007], Hutton established musicincincinnati.com, which was named ‘Best Web Site’ by the Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.”
Broadway Finishes Another Record-Breaking Season
“A rapping Hamilton and a (quietly) rocking Boss propelled Broadway’s box office to new heights over the past year, as rising demand and even faster-rising ticket prices shattered industry records. Over all, the 67 shows that ran over the last season brought in $1.7 billion from 13.8 million patrons, according to figures released Tuesday by the Broadway League.”