Marjan Neshat, a 45-year-old Iranian American actor, is having a real one, with three critically acclaimed performances in one season. Says playwright Sanaz Toossi, "She’s a very Chekhovian actor. ... She’s so interested in the tiny ways we can destroy each other." - The New York Times
It's big for L.A.: "Five dance studios, a 200-seat performance area and classrooms for the Debbie Allen Middle School of the Performing Arts. The facility also has a studio theater and art gallery." Thank you, Grey's Anatomy and Fame. - Los Angeles Times
Happy day after Mother's Day in the U.S.: "The kingdoms are at odds. The baby cannot care for itself, the art cannot create itself, and rarely can the two be done in tandem." - The Atlantic
"Parnell had been in several bands, including the British prog-rock outfit Atomic Rooster, when he auditioned for This Is Spinal Tap, a deadpan sendup of rock clichés, and got the role of the drummer, Mick Shrimpton." He fit in just fine. - The New York Times
Sometimes, collectors of physical objects also make a transition to "curating" those objects in digital forms for social media or other online exhibits. But others hold tight, and try to figure out conservation along the way. - The Observer (UK)
The Keller, where the Portland Opera and Oregon Ballet Theatre perform, isn't seismic safe, a report says. (That's not even addressing the myriad of acoustic problems in the auditorium.) But it's part of Portland's civic architecture. What should the city do? - Oregon ArtsWatch
Director Awoye Timpo and dramaturg Arminda Thomas: "We were thinking about this notion of what what does it mean to expand the canon? .. Now what we think of is exploding the castle of classical canon." (Note: The transcript of this podcast is here.) - Slate
Not shocking, perhaps, but still pretty monstrous: "The increasing pride with which the studio uses exact replicas of artists’ work leads one to wonder whether those artists are being fairly compensated for that usage, if at all." (The answer is pretty much "nope.") - Hyperallergic
"The most many reviewers could bring themselves to call it was 'horror-adjacent,' 'horror-inspired' or as containing 'horror elements.' Even the CBC's own Eli Glasner suggests it's 'merely the veneer of horror.'" Cue the side-eye emoji. - CBC
The song contest, which bookes say will undoubtedly go to Ukraine's entry this year, also got a boost from the end of most COVID restrictions. "Much-loved events in the run up to Eurovision have been held for fans for the first time in three years." - BBC
The trade group the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America "started a diversity initiative in 2020 to 'encourage and promote the participation of L.G.B.T.Q.+, BIPOC, and underrepresented groups,'" but some Millennials and Gen Zers had started on their own. - The New York Times
Ncuti Gatwa will be the first Black man to play the Doctor, taking over from the first woman to play the popular and culturally powerful alien hero. - BBC
Simon Jenkins does not like the plans for a new building. "I could not imagine that London might inflict any more visual damage to the Thames than it has already done. No city on earth has made such a mess of its river." - The Guardian (UK)
