Susan Jonas: “The presence of women [in top theatre jobs] is typically inversely proportionate to resources. So it does indeed matter when women are leaders of not one but six of the biggest theatres in Britain and Ireland. I recently interviewed five of these groundbreakers … Each is a unique visionary, but I learned that they do share certain elements beyond gender.”
Blog
University Free Speech Is Being Tested On US Campuses. It Should Be
“The current campus disruptions over what is and isn’t acceptable speech cannot be judged a blessing in disguise—they are far too illiberal and misguided for that. But by interfering with business as usual, perhaps they will also make it harder for the purported leaders of U.S. higher education to speak in lofty clichés while selling their birthright to deep-pocketed authoritarian sponsors.”
What A Difference It Makes When A Woman Director Films A Sex Scene
Uta Briesewitz, who was David Simon’s director of photography on The Wire and is now directing episodes of his current series, The Deuce, talks about filming a masturbation scene with Maggie Gyllenhaal and explains how she can tell just by watching whether a sex scene was directed by a man or a woman.
At 88, André Previn Is Composing More Than Ever
Well, as he explains, his arthritis won’t let him conduct, so what’s he going to do? With Renée Fleming about to premiere his new song cycle, and with a monodrama written for her in the works, Previn talks to David Patrick Stearns on his career as he heads toward 90.
Jazz Drummer And Vocalist Grady Tate Dead At 85
During the 1960s and ’70s, he was one of the busiest jazz drummers in America, playing with a range of stars from Quincy Jones to Stan Getz to Ella Fitzgerald to Peggy Lee to Roberta Flack to Doc Severinsen on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show to Simon and Garfunkel’s 1981 concert in Central Park to Angelo Badalamenti’s band for the original Twin Peaks. As a singer, he scored his first hit with “Windmills of My Mind”, but his voice is in the heads of an entire generation because of his work on Schoolhouse Rock.
Weeks After Hurricane Harvey, Surveying The Damage To Houston’s Wortham Theater Center
“Long air ducts – large plastic tubes or funnels – run everywhere, even to the upstairs foyers. An indoor lake consumed the carpet at the front of the main theater’s auditorium (now covered in plastic sheets); fortunately the orchestra pit was sealed off. … The waters covered the focal point of any theater – the stage, not yet completely dry. An entirely new stage may be required. The full havoc that descended on the Wortham, however, becomes evident only on a visit to the corridors beneath the orchestra pit.”
Hachette Kills Weinstein Books Imprint Following Harvey Weinstein’s Assault Scandal
“In a statement to staff issued on Thursday, Hachette Book Group said it had ‘terminated’ the imprint. A joint venture between the Weinstein Company and the Hachette-owned publisher Perseus, Weinstein Books released around 10 books a year, with titles ranging from books by media personalities to film tie-ins. It was run by two women: editorial director Amanda Murray and publishing director Georgina Levitt.”
Eli Broad, The Medici Of Los Angeles, Is Retiring From His Philanthropy
“I am retiring. Now. Right now. I am just tired,” said the 84-year-old billionaire, who has done more than any other single person to shape L.A.’s current cultural scene. Even so, report Adam Nagourney and Adam Popescu, “the practical ramifications of Mr. Broad’s decision may be limited; the announcement in many ways marks the end of what has been a slow-motion fade.”
Now That Atlanta’s New Ballet Company Has Gotten Off The Ground, What Next?
Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre, launched this past spring by five dancers who left Atlanta Ballet following the arrival of a new artistic director last year, has its organizational structure and early donors lined up, its first performances this month and next, and home venues secured in downtown Atlanta and the suburbs. Where to now? “As the group coalesces,” reports Candice Thompson, “[de facto leader John] Welker expects it will remain a company of five core dancers, performing in-house choreography. But there are plans for growth.”
Venezuelan Gov’t Cancels Dudamel’s Asian Tour
Only a week before departure, Nicolás Maduro’s regime has called off the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra’s tour to Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Taipei under conductor Gustavo Dudamel. This is the second time an overseas tour by Dudamel and a Venezuelan ensemble has been cancelled since the conductor, one of the country’s biggest international celebrities, began criticizing the Maduro government’s violent crackdowns on protesters earlier this year.