Sutton died of complications from Covid-19. The New Orleans native – who never relocated from her home city – acted in her first movie with The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman in 1974, but she had “honed her acting abilities beginning in 1968, when she joined one of the rare African-American theatrical troupes in the Deep South. The Dashiki Project Theatre, founded by students at Dillard University and other historically black colleges and universities in Louisiana, was based in New Orleans and mounted plays that reflected the complexities of African-American life.” – NPR
Tag: 12.12.20
Why Author Allie Brosh Went Silent For Years
The author, whose illustrated tales resonate with what seems like anyone online (the memes are legendary and numerous), basically went radio silent after the publication of Hyperbole and a Half. Seven years – and many traumas – went by. But her new book is hitting at a weirdly accurate time. “I didn’t know quarantine was going to happen when I wrote the material, but I do hope that the last chapter in particular—the one about being your own friend—could be helpful for people feeling a similar type of loneliness to what I was feeling when I wrote it. It was a deep, new kind of loneliness that I’d never felt before.” – Time
After A Suitable Boy Was In Development For 25 Years, Mira Nair Brings It To The Small Screen
The director says she didn’t direct it as a series, though: “I actually treated it as long-form cinema. It’s about rhythm for me. It’s about trying to find that thread that takes us through. And of course, music for me … is really the oxygen that drives my cinema.” – NPR
Making The Most Of The Sounds Of Home
Bella Chen takes ambient sounds from around the world – the world where musicians can’t travel at the moment – and turns them into inspiration for improvised, online performances. – BBC
Noah Creshevsky, Composer Of ‘Hyperreal’ Work, 75
Creshevsky studied composition with some modern legends, but he “found his calling in the studio-bound world of electronic music. Using the prevailing technologies of the day — at first cutting and splicing magnetic tape, later using samplers and digital audio workstations — he made music that was dizzyingly complex in its conception and construction. But because he built his works from everyday sounds as well as voices and instruments, his compositions felt accessible, engaging and witty.” – The New York Times
Sure, There Are Zillions Onscreen, But Nutcracker Season Doesn’t Feel Real This Year
And that’s a problem for the future. The Nutcracker is “the production that helps make a lot of others possible. That holiday ballet can account for 20% of many companies’ ticket sales, and, in the case of a major company like Chicago’s Joffrey, about half of its annual earned revenue. Ashley Wheater, the artistic director of The Joffrey, told us the company has lost more than $12 million in earnings during the pandemic and has had to cancel newer works they had planned.” – NPR
Barcelona Gives Same-Day Testing For Concertgoers A Try
More than 1000 people gathered for the experiment: Take a same-day, 15-minute antigen test, and then enjoy a concert. In this case, the concert was a free, indoor, rock and roll experiment wherein 500 people got to enjoy the music while the other 500 are serving as a control group. “The crowd reveled in the newfound freedom, dancing closely together and jostling one another for a bit of fun.” – Seattle Times (AP)
Movie Musicals Like ‘The Prom’ Do A Massive Disservice To The Shows’ Stage Actors
The movie, which premiered on streaming December 11, is an ode to the power of Broadway. Its journey from stage to screen, though, “underscores the inequities underneath the surface of Hollywood’s shiny stage musical adaptations, which often leave the original cast members hanging — and render invisible the work they’ve done to make the production what it is in the process.”- Los Angeles Times