Maybe. Australia seems to have prizes for everything in art, but none is a big national prize like the Turner in the UK. “A major, national contemporary art prize therefore needs two things: a continuing bequest to support the prize financially, and a group of major institutions to support it.” – The Guardian (UK)
Blog
The Man Who Was Called ‘Mr. Followspot’
Linford Hudson worked at London’s Palladium Theatre for more than 50 years, and he just got a special Olivier award for his skill. “I was born to do the followspot,” he says. ‘A lot of people try and fail. It takes a lot of finesse and feeling. I don’t use sights.” And he has stories. Ask him about the time Bette Midler flashed him, but don’t ask him about the parties Sammy Davis Jr. threw for cast and crew alike. – The Stage (UK)
Netflix Suddenly Isn’t Casting To Apple TVs
Until very recently, you could start a Netflix video on your phone and then “cast” it to your Apple TV. Then, boom, it just … stopped working. That’s “a change Netflix says is due to “technical limitations” and not a business disagreement with Apple.” Hmmmm. – Variety
How Did The Moomins Get So Popular?
For years, they were a secret of Finnish literature, guarded by those who loved them fiercely. Then the author died, the books were reissued, and the absolute flood of character consumer opportunities began. (And now there’s a new “all singing, all dancing TV adaptation.”) – The Guardian (UK)
The World’s Longest-Running Soap Opera Finally Features A Black Family
It’s been a long time coming for Coronation Street. “To many observers, the addition, while welcome, came astonishingly late for a show, known as ‘Corrie,’ that debuted in December 1960 and that has been watched by up to a third of the British public — including, reports say, Queen Elizabeth II.” – The New York Times
The TV Show That Revived Musicals Comes To An End
After four seasons, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is ending, but it began at a time when critics declared the TV musical utterly moribund after the decline and fall of Glee (and, earlier, Smash). But more than a little show that could, the wild plot and edgy comedy of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend got around certain issues with musicals and musical theatre by framing all of the music (150 original songs so far) as an imaginary therapeutic device for the main character, allowing her “to escape from her overwhelming emotions and her unfeeling family.” – The Atlantic
Groundbreaking Writer Vonda McIntyre Has Died At 70
The Nebula and Hugo-award winning McIntyre was a good friend of Ursula LeGuin’s, and founder of the Clarion West writers’ workshop in Seattle. She wrote feminist science fiction, including about issues of birth control and consent in the future, and she long advocated for other women in the genre (oh, and she wrote five Star Trek novels, including The Wrath of Khan). She pushed to finish one final novel before her death of pancreatic cancer. – The New York Times
LACMA’s Director Defends The Incredible Shrinking Design
While an awful lot of art and architecture folks are asking what (the hell) happened to the original LACMA redesign, Michael Govan, as he must, defends the plan: “I’m just going to say, for the record — and I believe it fully — that through the process of refinements, we now have a better building.” – Los Angeles Times
New York Is Getting An Underground Green Space ‘Lowline’ To Go With Its High Line
What is this sci-fi word salad? The underground park will have a ventilation system and a year-round garden, “thanks to remote skylight technology that filters sunlight underground through fibre optic helio tubes.” Obviously. – The Observer (UK)
Instagram Seduces Booklovers With The ‘Seven Day Cover Challenge’
Bookstagram – that is, reviewers and other book people on Instagram – are addicted to book covers, and book cover posting challenges. One fashionista/book lover: “I got out all the books I had in closets. … I got the boxes out and found myself surrounded by books and thinking about all the feelings I have around books, that visceral connection to them, and not listening to Rachel Maddow for a change.” – The New York Times