Author: Matthew Westphal

This Ballet Company Is Canceling ‘Nutcracker’ But Not Its Fall Season

The Richmond Ballet is foregoing its annual cashflow lifeline because the piece simply involves too many people to be done safely while the pandemic continues. But the company’s Studio Series will begin performances on Sept. 15, with maximum audience reduced from 250 to 70 and both viewers and dancers wearing masks. – Richmond Times-Dispatch

‘I Do Not Envy Ms. Berg Her Position’ — New Director Of Jewish Museum Berlin Begins An All-Too-Sensitive Job

After thirty years at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam, Hetty Berg is taking the helm of an institution which is, thanks to history, both highly visible and loaded with baggage. The museum’s situation is even more fraught than usual now because of two thorny issues in Germany: the return of anti-Semitism and the BDS movement, a controversy over which cost Berg’s predecessor his job. – The New York Times

Drop Local Content Quotas For Australian TV Networks And Industry Will Be Wrecked, Say Producers

Current licensing rules for free-to-air commercial TV broadcasters in Australia require a set number of hours of original, locally produced drama, nonfiction/news and children’s programming each year. Those broadcasters are lobbying the conservative national government to eliminate those rules entirely, but even their “fallback” position, accepting a “simplified” quota system, would see spending on Australian programming fall by half and the loss of up to 4,600 jobs, says Screen Producers Australia. – The Guardian

Actors With Disabilities Are Finally Starting To Break Through

“If a successful cultural transformation can be defined as the moment when you can finally stop counting heads, the first sign of that may be when you realize that at least there are heads to count.” Reporter Mark Harris meets with a crop of young performers landing roles and awards — but who still, always, find they have to educate producers, colleagues, and audiences. – T — The New York Times Style Magazine

Guy Who Punched Picasso Painting At Tate Modern Sentenced To 18 Months In Prison

“The incident took place on December 28, when Shakeel Massey, a Spanish architecture student, punched Picasso’s 1944 painting Bust of a Woman numerous times. He held metal padlocks and wrapped his hand in a scarf to break through the protective glass, ripping the canvas before tearing it off the wall. Museum visitors looked on in shock as security guards detained him. Massey told the guards at the time that the act was a ‘performance.'” – Artnet

Three Suspects Charged As Part Of Worldwide Movie Piracy Scheme

“The men, who have been charged with copyright infringement conspiracy, were accused of being members of the Sparks Group, a sophisticated piracy outfit spanning several continents … [that] ‘allegedly circumvented copyright protections on nearly every movie released by major production studios, as well as television shows.'” – The New York Times

New Chief Of Paris Opera Will Begin Work Next Month, A Year Early (But What Of His Current Job In Toronto?)

When Canadian Opera Company general director Alexander Neef accepted the appointment to run the Opéra national de Paris from 2021-22, he was cutting short his Toronto contract by four years. But now he’s leaving for Paris right away, following a special request to COC from France’s Minister of Culture because of the situation in Paris. The COC’s board chair says Neef can run both companies from Paris until the board finds Neef’s successor. – Ludwig Van

‘Visceral And Virtuosic’ Dutch Novel Wins International Booker Prize

“The 29-year-old Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld has become the youngest author ever to win the International Booker prize, taking the award for their ‘visceral and virtuosic’ debut novel, The Discomfort of Evening. … The £50,000 award for the best fiction translated into English … will be split equally with their translator, Michele Hutchison.” – The Guardian