Composer Tom Kitt and lyricist Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal) and book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (the chief creative officer for all Archie Comics properties) “have departed the production due to ‘creative differences’ … Director Trip Cullman and choreographer Camille A. Brown, who collaborated this season on the Tony-nominated Broadway production of Choir Boy, remain attached.” – The Hollywood Reporter
How Suzanne Farrell Came Back To New York City Ballet, 26 Years After Peter Martins Fired Her
Amy Brandt, who danced in Farrell’s company in Washington, DC, talks with Farrell about her return to the troupe where she became a star, and watches her coach Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen in a piece that Balanchine choreographed on her: the “Diamonds” act of Jewels. – Pointe Magazine
One Of The Princes Of New York’s Avant-Garde Dance Scene Also Choreographs Ice Dancing
Jonah Bokaer says that working with Team USA ice dancers Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter has been one of the most rewarding projects of his life. – Dance Magazine
You Have One More Year To Pull In A Bigger Audience, Scottish City Government Tells Arts Centre
The municipal council of Perth and Kinross, alarmed by poor attendance and financial performance at the Perth Theatre and Perth Concert Hall, warned the nonprofit which operates the twin venues that it has a year to work a turnaround. – The Stage
Cancel Culture, Miss Saigon, And Butterfly
Cancel culture is not the same as the rising desire to engage with art’s social implications. But both phenomena are indications of a country that is fundamentally shifting the way it engages with entertainment. As such, the titles in Houston have been criticized for inaccurate and stereotypical portrayals of Asians. Since its premiere in 2017, theater critics have taken issue with the representation of women and Vietnamese people in “Miss Saigon.” And the local production of “Madama Butterfly” was itself a piece of self-commentary. – Houston Chronicle
Journalism’s Dependence On Freelancers Has Impoverished It (And The Profession)
“In truth, freelance journalism, as a career, is mostly an anachronism. Given the rock-bottom rates on offer, few writers actually support themselves with full-time freelancing… But for most of us, freelance journalism is a monetized hobby, separate from whatever real income one earns. The ideal relationship for a freelance journalist to their work becomes a kind of excited amateurism.” – The New Republic
Ralph Fiennes On The Challenges Of Making A Movie About Nureyev
While other films about ballet have gone for big-name actors with body doubles for the dancing bits — think of “Red Sparrow” and “Black Swan” — Fiennes was committed to casting a dancer as Nureyev. Yet the dancing scenes, he says, “were a big, big, big challenge, because I don’t have a ballet background, and I needed the help of the ballet masters and choreographer to know if it was good, because not every time a dancer dances it’s as good as it could be. It was scary.” – Washington Post
What Twitter Thinks About You Based On Your Online Behavior
Seeing what Twitter thinks you like can be a fun activity — but it can also be an odd experience to see what the company infers about you from your online moves. The psychology around targeted advertising is complex. On the one hand, if we have to see ads, it’s probably better that they’re in line with our interests. On the other, knowing how much advertisers know can feel a bit, well, creepy. – Vox
The Rise Of Interest In Fascism – Among Readers, Publishers
These books and classes seem to ask an underlying question: Is what the world is experiencing today a replay of the Nazis and Italian Fascists? Probably not. But the parallels these writers see are difficult to deny. Even Francis Fukuyama’s latest books have re-examined democracy in our current age. – Los Angeles Times
OK, What’s Going To Be On Broadway Next Season?
Is it too soon after this year’s Tony nominations came out? So what? Bring ’em on: “When it comes to new musicals, looking beyond Broadway can reveal productions that may yet be players in the coming season. It’s also a reminder of the almost inextricable relationship that now exists between non-profit institutional theatres in the US and their commercial counterparts.” – The Stage (UK)
Let’s Take A Little Closer Look At This Claim That A Netflix Show Caused A Spike In Teens Dying By Suicide
Did the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why *cause* the spike? Bit of an issue with a recent study that claims it did: “Importantly, the researchers don’t know if the people who died by suicide watched the show or not.” – Vice
Finnegan’s Wake Turns 80, And People Are Still Mad At It
But there’s a pretty strong reason to read – or attempt to read, or annotate – difficult works. “So is it an indecipherable ruse or a harbinger of hypertext? Could it even be … therapeutic?” – LitHub
If You Call A Series Of Movies About Fierce Women ‘Playing The Bitch,’ Does That Subvert Anything?
Well, British Film Institute, you wanted to “start a conversation,” and you sure have. – BBC
Latinx People Are A Deeply Reliable Movie Audience, But Where Are The Latinx Movie Stars?
There’s some massive underrepresentation, and certainly underfunding. For the new El Chicano, for instance, the filmmaker says, “It took a bunch of Canadian hockey fans to get behind an all-Latino movie set in East L.A.” He also “remembers one studio note in particular: ‘If you could figure out a Caucasian influence, that will help its prospects.'” – The Hollywood Reporter
The Faces (And Words) Of This Year’s Tony Nominees
Vulture somehow found time to photograph and interview a lot of people on the list: “The nominees spoke about their shows, their collaborators, their group texts, and their reactions to being nominated, before heading off to their Wednesday matinees.” – Vulture
A Transgressive Manifesto from ‘A Void’
The seductive intelligence of a manifesto. – Jan Herman
Property details
At Rosmersholm, “there is a slight problem with damp.” – David Jays
Britain Is On The Hunt For A New Poet Laureate After Being Turned Down By Its First Pick
Poet Imtiaz Dharker had been tipped by several British news sources as the next poet laureate, following Carol Ann Duffy, but she said no: “I had to weigh the privacy I need to write poems against the demands of a public role. The poems won.” – The Guardian (UK)
A Two-Time Olivier Winner Says He’s Prioritizing TV Because Theatre Doesn’t Pay Enough
David Bedella says he has to focus on LA instead of London. “TV offers celebrity and financial security and these things are important in an age where you don’t know where your next job is coming from. I want to be able to make the kind of money to support my family and not worry.” – The Stage (UK)
Another WWII Movie? Yes, And A Necessary One
The movie Where Hands Touch is about a young adult romance – about what happened to the generation of biracial young Germans who were born to white German mothers and French colonial African soldiers during and after WWI. Director Amma Asante (Belle, A United Kingdom) “poured into it her fears that racism and bigotry are flourishing today. ‘We wonder about Nazi Germany and how it got that way. It started with language and scapegoating, and we’re using a lot of [that same]language today,’ she says.” – The Guardian (UK)
It’s Time For Summer Music Festivals, And One Has Finally Figured Out Equal Gender Representation
It’s a pop music festival, of course (where are we with that equal rep, classical and new music festivals?). But not of course, because no other festival has achieved anything like parity. Says the Primavera fest: “It can be done now and it should be done now, but you need to want it. We hope that our move can spark change.” – The Guardian (UK)
Sometimes, TV Lets People Just Be People
That is to say, occasionally trans women get cast as women, no need to elaborate, and sometimes trans men get cast as men, ditto. But. “While television has made great strides in L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion with shows such as Orange Is the New Black and Pose, when trans actors are called in to read for a project, they still find they are only considered for parts specifically written for transgender people.” –The New York Times
What Is A Character Actress?
Margo Martindale, who is so famously called that name that it’s her official title on the Netflix show Bojack Horseman: “Sometimes you do things for money, and sometimes you do things for money that are different, too. But I’m trying very hard not to repeat myself.” – HuffPost
What Was It Like When The Chicago Symphony Returned From Its Seven-Week Strike?
A volunteer usher: “We don’t realize the richness this music brings into our lives until we don’t have it. … Our souls were hungry.” – Chicago Tribune
Australia’s Big Portrait Prize Has A Few Issues
Or so says a reviewer of the entries: “Like most creaking institutions built upon the cursed ground of a prize named for a self-hating, racist xenophobe, it’s also haunted.” – The Guardian (UK)