“Laurence des Cars is an anomaly in the male-dominated world of French museums. Since March 2017, she has been running the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, with its envied collection of French 19th-century masterpieces, and the Musée de l’Orangerie across the river, for which Claude Monet produced a celebrated series of water lilies. Ms. des Cars was a strong contender for the job. To begin with, she was already partly doing it.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
RuPaul Said Trans Women Shouldn’t Be On ‘Drag Race’ – But They Should (And Have Been)
In comments to The Guardian that he later walked back, RuPaul said, “You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body. It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing.” And he followed up on Twitter: “You can take performance-enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics.” Spencer Kornhaber offers a rebuttal.
A New Low? Casting Women In Tenor Roles Is Not Going To Fix Opera’s Gender Imbalance
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston responds to an article arguing that we might soon be seeing female tenors on the opera stage: “‘Looser gender divisions in casting’ may well be possible in Shakespearean theatre, where speaking rather than singing voices are involved, but there are no female professional opera singers, even those of us who sing in the contralto range, begging to sing tenor roles such as Rodolfo (in Puccini’s La Bohème) or Alfredo (in Verdi’s La Traviata) at pitch.” (Or even transposed, for that matter.)
Broadway Fans Battle For The Chance To Be Volunteer Ushers
“Greet audience members, take tickets, work the concession stands, run the elevator. Point the way to seats, restrooms, box offices and exits. These are some of the tasks of a volunteer usher at theaters across New York City. The lure: a free ticket. The competition: increasingly fierce.”
How Vetters Screen The Fakes Out Of Tefaf
“This month, 189 of the world’s leading specialists in fine and decorative art – from Old Master paintings to 20th-century design – will gather to work their way through the objects in the fair. They are the final line of defence … on authenticity, provenance and condition.” Jane Morris meets some of the vetters and explains how they work. Says one, “We’re judging ‘beef on the hoof’.”
After Backlash, Ballet Company Revamps Triple-Bill About ‘Woman’ Choreographed Only By Men
“The Montreal-based Grands Ballets Canadiens has changed the name and theme of its show Femmes, after women” – and not only women – “criticized the company for commissioning a ballet touted as a tribute to women but choreographed by three men. The Grands Ballets was also criticized for the way it promoted Femmes, which included online ads with a picture of three male dancers trapped in ice.”
Buyers Of Weinstein Company Back Out Of Deal After Discovering Millions More In Debt
“Three sources close to the investor group, led by former Obama administration official Maria Contreras-Sweet, said Tuesday that it found at least $50 million in undisclosed liabilities on the New York company’s books. The surprise debts, which would have significantly increased the purchase price of the assets, torpedoed negotiations.”
Eight Writers Get Surprise MacArthur-Style Literary Award
The Windham-Campbell Prizes, no-strings-attached grants of $165,000, go to English-language writers who don’t know they’re being considered. This year’s winners include British authors Olivia Laing and Sarah Bakewell, American playwrights Suzan-Lori Parks and Lucas Hnath, novelists John Keene (US) and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda/UK), and poets Cathy Park Hong (US) and Lorna Goodison (Jamaica).
Organizer Of Disastrous Fyre Festival Pleads Guilty To Fraud
Billy McFarland, 26, pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud and agreed to pay restitution of $26 million to the Fyre Festival’s investors. He faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for each count, though he will probably get eight to ten years.
Vladimir Jurowski Will Be Next Music Director Of Munich’s Bavarian State Opera
The well-funded company, among the world’s busiest and considered among its best, has engaged Jurowski, currently chief conductor of the London Philharmonic and formerly music director of the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, beginning in 2021. He will be joined at the company by a new superintendent, Serge Dorny, who currently runs the Opéra national de Lyon in France.