Author: Matthew Westphal

‘I’m A Pretty Antisocial Socialist’: Glenda Jackson Talks To Ben Brantley About Her Return To The Stage From Politics

“Appearing before a live audience again, she says she felt no more nervous than she had before any performance from decades earlier – which is to say, she was terrified. ‘You can go onto that stage every night, and it’s always the equivalent of going onto the topmost diving board, and you don’t know if there’s any water in the pool. Every time I say, ‘Yes, I’ll do it,’ I think, ‘My God I don’t know how to do it. I can’t do it.’ We are sadomasochists as well as being brave, actors, and we torment ourselves.'”

‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ Is Even More Relevant Today Than It Was In 1991

“Almost 27 years to the day after the movie’s release (when it became a surprise sleeper hit at the box office and an award winner), Silence‘s cultural impact feels more profound than ever. Audiences’ obsession with true crime and the pathology of serial killers, the ongoing conversations about female representation in Hollywood, even Hannibal Lecter himself – all of it is at the forefront of so much of today’s pop culture.” David Sims explains why.

How Sesame Workshop’s First-Ever Outside CEO Took ‘Sesame Street’ To HBO And Possibly Saved The Company

When Jeffrey Dunn came to Sesame in September 2014 (after a career at Nickelodeon and the company that owns Thomas the Tank Engine), licensing revenue was plummeting and revenue from PBS was covering less than 10% of the TV show’s production costs. Journalist Kerry Hannon reports on how Dunn has turned the company around.

Making Ancient Egyptian Poetry Come Alive In English (With A Kiwi Accent)

“Egyptian poetry can come across as leaden and cryptic in English translation, which is why [Richard Bruce] Parkinson” – an Egyptologist who recently translated one of the civilization’s most popular narratives, The Tale of Sinuhe – “got his friend, New Zealand-born novelist and veteran Hammer film actor Barbara Ewing, to record a dramatic rendering. She gives it staggering-hearted new life.” (includes video)

Jazz Violinist Didier Lockwood Dies Suddenly At 62

“While Lockwood acknowledged [Stéphane] Grappelli as his hero, he by no means limited himself to the elder violinist’s ‘gypsy jazz’ milieu. Lockwood was already a rock star by the time he met Grappelli – a veteran of the progressive band Magma – and would proceed from his tutelage to a career heavily identified with jazz fusion. In addition, Lockwood was a composer of violin concertos as well as two operas, and created a musical with his first wife, singer Caroline Casadesus.”

Ping-Pong At The New York Philharmonic (That’s Onstage, Not In The Lobby)

“Michael Landers and Ariel Hsing, table tennis champions in their early 20s, are featured as the Ping-Pong-playing soloists in Andy Akiho’s energetic concerto Ricochet, which will have its American premiere on Tuesday as part of the Philharmonic’s Lunar New Year gala. And yes, this is the first time a Ping-Pong table has been onstage at David Geffen Hall.”

Is It Time To Completely Rethink Ballet Class?

“Eventually, around the beginning of the 19th century, ballet class took the form and structure of what professional ballet dancers now do every day, beginning at the barre with pliés and ending in the center with allégro. … Yet today’s ballet dancers need to be much more versatile.” Emma Sandall talks with dancers, artistic directors, pedagogues, and researchers about what in ballet training could change for the better.

Sackler Family’s OxyContin Money Disgraces Cultural Institutions Around The World: Columnist

Psychiatrist Allen Frances, author of Twilight of American Sanity: “There is no Pablo Escobar Wing at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and no El Chapo Guzman gallery at the Guggenheim. Columbia University doesn’t host a Sinaloa Drug Cartel Center of Developmental Psychobiology. Oxford would no longer be Oxford if its library were named in honor of the Cali drug cartel. … We agree to aggressively prohibit the sale of blood diamonds, but we allow the Sacklers’ clever use of blood money to cloak their drug shame under philanthropic fame.”

Comedian Sued By Ex-Husband For Defaming Him In Her Standup Act

“The lawsuit, described by a leading lawyer as a test case [for comedians], relates to a show by Louise Beamont (stage name Reay). Hard Mode was billed as a ‘provocative show [that] explores censorship and surveillance’, though one critic described it as being ‘at its core … about a very recent and raw heartbreak’. Thomas Reay is also suing his wife for breach of privacy and data protection, is seeking £30,000 in damages plus legal costs and wants an injunction to prevent her publishing statements about him, she said.”