Wait, what? Yes, a new work in the traditional Cantonese opera format shows a young Donald Trump meeting the Chairman on a trip to China in 1972. The hope is that this piece, titled Trump on Show, could show younger Hong Kong audiences that their traditional music-theater isn’t just a historical curiosity. – Quartz
The Political Fairy Tales Of Edouard Laboulaye
“Laboulaye’s creative work has been eclipsed by his political career” — a judge during France’s Second Empire, he was committed to women’s rights and the end of slavery — “but in his day he was recognized as a writer of fiction, too, and especially known for his fairy tales … [in which] rulers are more often than not oppressors, and women and outcasts and peasants usually win out.” – The New York Review of Books
Biopic Of India’s Prime Minister To Be Released On Election Day After Commission Declines To Intervene
“Opposition parties, including the Indian National Congress, had petitioned the Election Commission to delay the film’s release until after the polls close on May 19, on the grounds that it was propaganda for the incumbent prime minister and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Producers announced that the film” — titled simply PM Narendra Modi — “will release simultaneously in 38 countries.” – Variety
The Chaotic Genius Of Gwen Verdon And Bob Fosse Through The Eyes Of Their Daughter
It goes without saying that Fosse and Verdon are far from the only people ever to struggle with internal conflict and resort to self-deception. It’s by virtue of their inner landscape, rather than their glamour and artistic labors, that audiences can find common ground with them. – Washington Post
They Told Us The Digital Revolution Would Make Our Lives Better. It Hasn’t Turned Out That Way
Douglas Rushkoff: “In some ways, we’re all hostage to our technologies, or we’re simply at the mercy of this system. We’re being steamrolled by our devices, and the result is a kind of emotional slavery. And we know that billions of dollars are going into applying everything, every nasty trick we know about behavioral finance, to the digital realm.” – Vox
The Writers Guild Deadline Gets Extended To Friday
The extension came right before the original deadline of 12:01 am on April 7th, “after a Saturday afternoon meeting with a small group of talent agents, at which the agencies said that they would present proposals to the guild for a negotiated settlement and requested an extension. But the guild warned that the requested extension, 12:01 a.m. April 13, would be a ‘true deadline.'” – The Hollywood Reporter
The Intense, Often Silent Relationship Of Authors And Their Translators
The dance of translation can be difficult and sublime, but the author and translator(s) can never forget (or sometime forgive) the fact that “translation is not only a two-way but a three-way relationship, with the publisher – the person who takes the financial risk – as the third partner.” – The Guardian (UK)
A Book As Artist’s Fever Dream
The book Flesh Film is as much the artist’s creation as the author’s. – Jan Herman
Martha Graham and Beyond
A strenuous program of dances may have pleased the choreographer – if she only could have offered minor corrections. – Deborah Jowitt
Does Australia Need Its Own Turner Prize?
Maybe. Australia seems to have prizes for everything in art, but none is a big national prize like the Turner in the UK. “A major, national contemporary art prize therefore needs two things: a continuing bequest to support the prize financially, and a group of major institutions to support it.” – The Guardian (UK)
Netflix Suddenly Isn’t Casting To Apple TVs
Until very recently, you could start a Netflix video on your phone and then “cast” it to your Apple TV. Then, boom, it just … stopped working. That’s “a change Netflix says is due to “technical limitations” and not a business disagreement with Apple.” Hmmmm. – Variety
How Did The Moomins Get So Popular?
For years, they were a secret of Finnish literature, guarded by those who loved them fiercely. Then the author died, the books were reissued, and the absolute flood of character consumer opportunities began. (And now there’s a new “all singing, all dancing TV adaptation.”) – The Guardian (UK)
The World’s Longest-Running Soap Opera Finally Features A Black Family
It’s been a long time coming for Coronation Street. “To many observers, the addition, while welcome, came astonishingly late for a show, known as ‘Corrie,’ that debuted in December 1960 and that has been watched by up to a third of the British public — including, reports say, Queen Elizabeth II.” – The New York Times
LACMA’s Director Defends The Incredible Shrinking Design
While an awful lot of art and architecture folks are asking what (the hell) happened to the original LACMA redesign, Michael Govan, as he must, defends the plan: “I’m just going to say, for the record — and I believe it fully — that through the process of refinements, we now have a better building.” – Los Angeles Times
New York Is Getting An Underground Green Space ‘Lowline’ To Go With Its High Line
What is this sci-fi word salad? The underground park will have a ventilation system and a year-round garden, “thanks to remote skylight technology that filters sunlight underground through fibre optic helio tubes.” Obviously. – The Observer (UK)