Remember how the veneration of relics is catching on again? If you should have a mind to make a holiday pilgrimage, The Smart Set has a list of top Nativity-related relics, including the Holy Swaddling Clothes, the Holy Umbilical Cord, and the Blessed Virgin’s Breast Milk.
Tag: 12.07.09
Milwaukee-Area Bookstore Busted For Posing As A Co-Op
“The Open Book store in Shorewood has sent an apology to its member-owners for misrepresenting itself as a co-operative venture but is continuing to solicit money before correcting its status.”
Fela-Mania! Focus Features Plans Biopic Of Afropop Superstar
Following on the success of the current Broadway musical Fela, Focus has hired African-British artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen (Hunger) to direct a feature on the Nigerian musician and activist. The film project has no connection with the stage production.
Rolando Villazón Schedules Return To Stage
The Mexican tenor, “who cancelled all his 2009 engagements after a cyst was found on his vocal cords, will make his comeback” at the Vienna State Opera in “a one-off appearance in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore on March 22. … [He] is then scheduled to sing the role of Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Berlin State Opera on March 26 and 31 and April 2.”
Mo’Nique Takes Lessons, On Camera, In Oscar Campaigning
The uninhibited comedienne, considered the front-runner for Best Supporting Actress for playing the mother in Precious, invites two African-American former Oscar nominees onto her BET talk show and asks them (very frankly) about the process of campaigning to win the statuette.
Staging Sound Of Music At Last, Paris Embraces Musicals
“The French had the food, the philosophers and the designer clothes, but if there was one cultural genre where London could always claim undisputed superiority it was musicals — with the best shows and the biggest audiences outside New York.” Now Paris is making inroads.
This Decade, London Became The World’s Dance Capital
“One reason for this has been the dramatic increase in venues. After decades of being squeezed into cramped and dirty spaces, a mix of private and public money has finally given dance the theatres it needs.”
Hurdles Ahead For Zumthor’s LACMA Makeover
LACMA director and CEO Michael “Govan is known for a keen interest in contemporary architecture,” but his recruitment of Pritzker Prize winner Peter Zumthor to reconfigure the campus will be viewed by many Angelenos “as merely the latest in a long line of high-profile architectural plans to remake the museum, none of which has so far come close to fulfilling its early promise.”
Baritone Nathan Gunn, How Do You Keep So Buff?
Because he spends so much time on the road, “his workout is a blend of whatever he feels like doing and is [dependent] on available equipment. But Mr. Gunn will always try to perform a series of strength exercises for about 20 minutes a day five times a day.”
Nicholas Martin To Exit As Williamstown A.D.
“Martin, who succeeded Tony winner Roger Rees as Williamstown artistic director in 2008, will continue in his role throughout the upcoming season at the Massachusetts theatre hub,” then step down.