“Just as plays have used fight consultants for decades, both for the safety of the actors onstage and to ensure convincing portrayals, now the title of intimacy director, choreographer or consultant is appearing more often in the credits. ‘As an actor, I can’t tell you the number of times where I’ve been told by a director, ‘So, kiss there,’ without any further direction or insight on where a person’s hands go, who initiates, who stops, how long does it go?’ says Emily Sucher, [an] intimacy consultant.”
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Mezzo Anne Sofie Von Otter Publicly Blames #MeToo For Husband’s Suicide
“Her husband, Benny Fredriksson, took his life after Sweden’s Aftonbladet printed anonymous accusations that he was a ‘little Hitler’ who bullied and terrorised staff during his 16 years as head of Stockholm’s Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, the city’s leading arts and culture centre. The newspaper interviewed 40 people who claimed he had turned the centre into his own personal ‘dictatorship’, forced women to rehearse naked and pressed a woman to either have an abortion or forfeit a role.”
Bill Loud, 97, Father Of The (Literal) First Family Of Reality TV
“An American Family, a PBS series created by filmmaker Craig Gilbert, chronicled the Loud family of Santa Barbara, Calif. — Bill, Pat and their five children — for seven tumultuous months. … In the course of the series, the family home almost burned down in a wildfire, the children, ranging in age from 13 to 20, tested their freedom, and Bill and Pat struggled with a marriage that unraveled to the breaking point — all in full view and judgment of the world.”
As MoMA Expands (Again), Fed-Up Staffers Consider Striking (Again)
“Legions of museum staff at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) are racing to meet deadlines as the New York City institution undergoes a $450 million renovation and expansion, its second major overhaul in two decades. But due to stalled union negotiations over issues such as raises for longtime employees, healthcare costs, and job security for entry-level curators, more than 250 of them have been working without a contract since May 20th and are inching closer to going on strike for the first time since 2000, when the museum was about to close for its previous expansion project and significantly reduce its workforce with little guarantee that past employees would be hired back.”
Pay For Music Directors At US Orchestras Soars To New Highs
“The average compensation for the music directors of 64 American ensembles … [has] topped $600,000 for the first time.” For the 2015-16 season, nine music directors were paid more than $1 million; Jaap van Zweden in Dallas and Riccardo Muti in Chicago made more than $3 million each.
ACT UP Protests Whitney’s David Wojnarowicz Show (It’s 1990 Again)
“On Friday evening, the New York chapter of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, more commonly known by its acronym, ACT UP, staged a protest-cum-performance at the Whitney Museum, alleging that the Manhattan institution’s current career retrospective of the late artist and writer David Wojnarowicz fails to connect his legacy of rageful AIDS activism to the ongoing battle against the epidemic.”
Disney, Fox Shareholders Approve $71.3 Billion Acquisition Deal
“Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox shareholders on Friday voted in favor of a $71.3 billion deal, in which Disney will acquire large parts of Fox, including the 20th Century Fox film and TV studios, Fox’s entertainment cable networks and its international assets.”
Louvre’s Delacroix Exhibit Was Most Visited In Museum’s History
“A record half a million people went to the Louvre’s Eugène Delacroix blockbuster, which is headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the fall. The survey brings together 180 works that span the French painter’s career. With nearly 540,000 visitors, it is the busiest show in the history of the Paris museum.”
Remains Of 1,800-Year-Old Library Discovered In Cologne
The walls of the structure, which dates to the second century, included niches for storing several thousand scrolls. Access to the ruins will be preserved when the construction project that unearthed them is complete.
Local Gov’t Funding For Arts In UK Has Fallen 11% In Past Five Years
“The £8.8m budget cuts for 2018/19 extend the ongoing decline in [local] councils’ cultural spending, which has fallen by roughly £48m over the past five years. … Several large councils have cut their culture budgets entirely. This does not necessarily mean they have turned their backs on the arts. Some have transferred responsibility for culture to an independent entity, while others are balancing their budgets with raised income. A few that once allocated money for the arts now plan to turn a profit from cultural activities.”