First, it canceled a full day of shows. "Then, late Saturday night, the production said that it was canceling all performances until April 8 “due to the detection of a limited number of positive covid test results within the company." - The New York Times
Sometimes they get the accents right (Kate Winslet, on her second try), or sort of right (Kate Winslet, on her first try). Sometimes, not so much (Jude Law). - The Guardian (UK)
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, delivered a pre-recorded message: "Our musicians wear body armour instead of tuxedos. ... They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can't hear them. But the music will break through." - BBC
Yes, cancel Will Smith's movies, but by all means, award a Grammy to Louis CK, media folks. Great job. (Here's a tweet that explains the issue.) Anyway, congrats! - Los Angeles Times
To be fair, Al Jolson was a Broadway star long before he hit Hollywood. Still, when he returned to the stage, "consumers tossed money over the box-office transom by the sackful, creating one of the biggest box-office advances in memory." - The New York Times
And activists, including the co-director of last year's documentary nominee Crip Camp, would very much like that to change. (The report focuses on representation of and by Black, indigenous, and other people of color, and women of all races and ethnicities.) - Variety
Linguistic assimilation was meant to unify Italy as a country. "Even by the 50s, though, Italian remained a made-up language, manufactured and largely spoken by the intelligentsia, and associated with politeness and self-control." - LitHub
How? Safety, actually: "Producers sought out more controlled environments for outdoor shooting. Even with a 87-day shutdown, the number of shoot days on backlots dropped only 15 % from 2019 to 2020." And now studios want more land. - Los Angeles Times
The novel Brother of the More Famous Jack has just been reissued - and "The title alone deserves a party. It puts its finger on a big category – the person who gets used to being an adjunct. It’s a category traditionally inhabited by women." - The Observer (UK)
A new movie revives the (surprisingly intense) discussion. "Isabelle Popp ... proposed a 'words to Fabio' standard for mainstream romance coverage that boils down to: the sooner he’s mentioned, the less effort or expertise went into the story." - Slate
McGowan, who has died at 90, "created a new international area of academic study, now known as early dance, and received national honors in both Britain and France." It's hard to imagine modern thinking (or movies) about the French court untouched by her scholarly influence. - The New York Times
The composer changed musicals, yes, and he was generous with his work, allowing others to adapt it to the screen. Sometimes that worked well - Original Cast Album: Company - and sometimes (er, Into the Woods, 2014, anyone), not so much. - The New York Times
But he's not actor Will Smith. After the slap, "Will Smith — a podcaster, gamer and PR guy for indie game studio Stray Bombay who lives in San Francisco — girded for a new tweetstorm of commentary misdirected" at him.- Variety
Eric Yip is the youngest winner ever - and he's an engineering student. And "Yip, who cites Ocean Vuong as a writer who made him realise he 'had a right' to be heard, speaks Cantonese and Mandarin, but writes poetry in English." - The Guardian (UK)
The lead organizer started a new union from scratch, and raised money through GoFundMe. "It looked like a quixotic venture," to vastly undersell the difficulties. But Jeff Bezos' rocket ship sure didn't help the company's argument. - Slate
