Though no one gets married in The Prom, the musical celebrates same-sex prom-going even as it lampoons celebrity culture, with a glitzy finale set (obviously) at the prom. “But all that glittered was rivaled after Saturday evening’s performance when two brides, gleaming in rose-gold sequins, exchanged marriage vows onstage.” – The New York Times
Blog
Tarantino And Women
He doesn’t exactly have the best reputation when it comes to the women in his movies. And then there’s his exchange with a reporter at Cannes this year. “His curtness in dismissing the concerns of a woman journalist (dredging up memories of his painfully testy exchange with critic Jan Wahl in 2003) made the exchange explode across the internet. And it reignited a conversation that’s dogged the director for years and that has, post-#MeToo, risen in volume: As a filmmaker, is Tarantino bad to — or for — women?” – BuzzFeed
Walter Benjamin Believed WWI Changed Human Nature, But Culture Gave A Little Hope
It seemed like a good time to republish this, LitHub decided. “In their buildings, paintings, and stories, humanity is preparing to survive culture, if it comes to that. And the main thing is, they laugh as they do it. Their laughter may sound barbaric now and again. Let it. It may be that the individual will surrender a bit of humanity to the masses who will return it to him one day with compound interest.” – LitHub
Listen To Cate Blanchett, And Don’t Let Your Creativity Lapse After Having Kids
Well, not Cate, actually, but her character in Where’d You Go, Bernadette? That character hasn’t been able to create anything for years. The movie’s director, Richard Linklater: “Creativity thwarted is probably the most toxic thing in the world. You know, the artist thwarted is lethal.” – NPR
Some Ideology Can Kill, But How To Alter, Or Preferably Squelch, Those Ideas?
It’s a mess. “In political violence, as in so many other parts of modern life, inspiration comes from an ever more bizarre range of origins. Portions of the [alleged El Paso shooter’s] manifesto read like an eco-terrorist rant from the 1980s. Others read like Timothy McVeigh.” – The Atlantic
Paul Robeson’s American ‘Othello’
A new play about the play, and the man, and his affair with the woman playing Desdemona (who happened to be Ute Hagen), and also her husband (who happened to be José Ferrer) … well, there’s a lot to discuss about American theatre history. – BBC
What’s The Matter With Renoir’s Nudes?
Trying to sell Renoir as a progressive, or even a feminist … just no. – Hyperallergic
Making The (Big) Leap From Edinburgh Fringe To Broadway
The musical Six is about – what else – the wives of Henry VIII, a musical inspired by Beyoncé and Ariana Grande. That makes it an obvious candidate for Broadway, right? Yep: “The show started out in a 100-seat venue at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 before moving to London’s West End. It will open at New York’s 1,000-capacity Brooks Atkinson Theatre next February.” – BBC
NYCharities Just Disappeared, Taking Thousand Of Small Dance Companies’ Dollars With It
This is not a pleasant story. “In theory, NYCharities was a small dance company’s dream. Free to use, the nonprofit acted as a clearinghouse for companies to accept credit and debit card donations online. It also allowed companies to sell tickets to galas and events, set up recurring donations and even give donors the option to pay processing fees themselves—an important feature for dance companies with small budgets.” And then? Well, it stopped transferring money, returned no phone calls, and disappeared. (Now the NY Attorney General is investigating.) – Dance Magazine
On Sunday, A 6-Year-Old Was Thrown Off The Tate Modern’s 10th-Floor Viewing Platform
The 17-year-old who appears to have thrown the child – who was airlifted from the London museum in critical condition after landing on the fifth-floor roof – was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, and the museum went on lockdown for hours. – The New York Times