“Italian police recovered the paintings during a raid of a Naples country house belonging to Raffaele Imperiale, a 41-year-old businessman linked to the Amato-Pagano clan, one of Italy’s notorious mafia groups. According to Reuters, police were first tipped off to the location of the paintings after arresting 11 of the group’s suspected members. Imperiale, however, remains at large and is believed to be hiding in the United Arab Emirates.”
Dressed As Cossacks, Russian Nationalists Vandalize Moscow Photography Shows
“Another photography exhibition in Moscow was raided by protesters dressed as Cossacks, others in camouflage and a municipal legislator – the third such attack in the Russian capital this week. The back-to-back attacks centred on images of Ukrainian soldiers who fought against pro-Russian rebels that are part of a photojournalism show at the Sakharov Center.”
They’ve Found A ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ Starring Maggie Smith
“Dame Maggie’s 1967 portrayal of the playful debutante Beatrice … is thought to be the earliest British television broadcast of the whole play. But the screen version of the famed National Theatre production by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli was assumed a lost treasure missing from the BBC’s archives.”
Forget The French. Who’s To Blame (Credit) For Deconstruction? The Americans!
“Central to the story of deconstruction, but often neglected, are the various American contexts that cultivated and disseminated deconstructive undertakings. Even though the image—to some, the bogeyman—of the European theorist persists, the truth is that deconstructive literary theory was largely an indigenous creation. This change of perspective throws new light on the scapegoating of French Theory for the decline of the humanities.”
What’s The Root Of All Evil? Not The Love Of Money
Philosopher Christopher Freiman: “Some of history’s greatest philosophers, then, agree that wrongdoing tends to be motivated by self-interest. Alas, I’m not one of history’s greatest philosophers. Although most assume that an immoral person is one who’s ready to defy law and convention to get what they want, I think the inverse is often true. Immorality is frequently motivated by a readiness to conform to law and convention in opposition to our own values.”
Ottawa’s National Arts Center’s $25 Million Plan To Be An Arts Venture Capital Fund
“A statement from the NAC said that the creation fund, which the Ottawa performance centre hopes to increase to at least $25-million, is intended “to provide a source of venture capital [to] artists and arts organizations” across Canada.”
Climate Change? Artists Have Always Been Fascinated By Weather
Over the stretch of a millennium we see the impact of previous weather cycles—periods of extreme cold, of drought, of floods, of time when the Thames froze over—and the impression made by such momentary oddities as meteors or rainbows. In past centuries, these might be read as signs from God: tokens of punishment or reminders of the need for fortitude. By the later 19th century, Hardy could use the rain that falls on a grave as a pointer to nature’s indifference; an indifference that is there, too, in the “Time Passes” section of Woolf’s To the Lighthouse. The meaning of English weather changed as the English themselves changed.
Survey: Theatre Top Ticket Prices In London’s West End Up 20 Percent In Four Years
“The most expensive seats have increased by £7 since last year alone, when they cost an average £86.78. Since The Stage began records in 2012, the average top-price seat has increased from £72.12.”
Chicago Radio Exec Retires, Assesses State Of Classical Music Radio
“There are stations that feel that digital will save them should the audience dwindle. They have to be very careful because the competition is so great. A single station is going to have a hard time making up lost over-the-air revenue online. Over-the-air radio isn’t going away for now, and this is not a head in the sand view—over-the-air is still the mainstay.”
The Genius Of Lorraine Hansberry Tragically Had To Be Transmitted In Only Three Plays
“She saw what we were about to enter into. She had an extraordinary understanding of the cycles of social movements. What does it mean to be fully engaged in the world? Are you going to stand on the sidelines and critique it? Are you going to abstract it and be of no use in your abstractions, or are you going to be engaged and be part of the solution?”
Writing A 150,000-Word Pulp Novel In A Month, To Win A Bet
“I bet you five pounds that you can’t write a 150,000-word novel in one month. If you do it, you get the five quid and I publish the book. If you don’t, I get a fiver off you, and I have to go back to publishing local poets. I hate local poets. In fact, I hate all poets. And all poetry. I have a long-standing and deeply entrenched hostility to the form.”
Can Toronto Figure Out A Way To Fix Its Botched Public Space?
“Our collective cultural efforts of the 1960s were vastly more adventurous than they are today. Ontario Place is often described as ‘utopian,’ which is right in two senses. One, in its futurist ambition: the architecture embodies modernism’s faith in social progress, technological advances and radical innovation for its own sake. And two, in its production: It was built incredibly fast, driven by a relatively young architect – and it wasn’t entirely clear what the place was for.”
What Does Storytelling Mean In An Age Of Virtual Reality Headsets?
“The FoST Summit also offers workshops, like a mime class given by members of Cirque du Soleil or a lesson on drone photography, as well as performances from groups like Lin Manuel Miranda’s improvised hip-hop musical comedy troupe, Freestyle Love Supreme, and the Pilobolus dance company.”
The Met Gets Sued For One Of Its Best Picassos
“The estate of a German Jewish businessman sued the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Friday in an effort to claim one of its most valuable Picassos, ‘The Actor,’ asserting in court papers that the museum does not hold good title to the painting because the businessman was forced to sell it at a low price after fleeing the Nazis.”
Should Actors Be Able To Remove Their Ages From IMdB?
“Actors, like Donald Trump, prefer to remain ‘semi-exact’ when it comes to the facts. Perception is our domain, not to be undermined by actuality. A fact like an actor’s date of birth stands in the way of our dreams at some point in all our working lives – we’re no different from anyone else in this – but it’s notoriously true that actors contend with age in unequal ways.”
An American In Paris, Whose Paintings Found New Fame In New York In The 1990s
“Working in a small apartment-studio on the Left Bank, Ms. Jaffe refined and extended her inquiries into the drama of form and color — always at a distance, literally and figuratively, from the currents of American art.”
Women Anchor – And Fly – City Ballet This Season
“The company, almost halfway through its four-week fall season, is being characteristically bounteous with repertory by its founder-choreographer, George Balanchine, which in turn is bounteous with ballerina roles.”
The World’s Oldest Train Station Hosts A Performance Of Steve Reich’s Different Trains
“Reich’s Grammy-winning 1988 work was performed at Edge Hill station, with passenger trains rolling in and out of Liverpool on both sides of the stage.
About 1,200 people watched on the station’s Victorian carriage ramp.”
Portland’s Real-Life Feminist Bookstore (And Community Space) Tells Portlandia Off
“The store says that none of its current board and staff members were involved in the original decision to allow Portlandia to film inside the store six years ago, and that the ‘small flat fee per episode filmed’ doesn’t cover its lost profits.”
Why Don’t Plays About The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Get To U.S. Stages?
“The American theatregoing public doesn’t even know about what it isn’t allowed to see.”
A Bad Week For Orchestras – Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Orchestras Out On Strike
“There’s no happy ending in sight for any of these situations. One can only hope that everyone has learned from the bitterness of other recent disputes to try to minimize the collateral damage and work hard for a swift resolution. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are two of the country’s leading orchestras, and while they are out, there is a lot of great music not being made.”
Philadelphia Orchestra Musicians Walk Out On Strike As Gala Audience Waited
“Friday night, a crowd of about 1,000 sat in Verizon Hall waiting for the orchestra to appear for the scheduled start of the Opening Night Gala. But no Philadelphia Orchestra appeared on stage. Unbeknownst to most in the audience, the 96 musicians and two librarians belonging to American Federation of Musicians Local 77 had decided to go out on strike about an hour before curtain time.”
Pittsburgh Symphony Musicians Go On Strike
“Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra musicians are on strike after unanimously rejecting calls for a 15-percent pay cuts, pension changes and staffing cuts they say are proposed by management. Musicians are actively protesting in front of Heinz Hall in downtown Pittsburgh. As a result of this strike, all performances scheduled to occur this weekend, including the John Williams event have been cancelled.”
Pittsburgh Symphony Musicians Strike: What They’re Saying
Players: If Pittsburgh Symphony Management’s proposed cuts were realized, “many of the PSO’s finest Musicians will leave. The Orchestra will be unable to attract replacements of the same caliber. The reputation and stature of the Pittsburgh Symphony would forever be diminished.”
New York City Starts $5 Million Fund For Women In Film And Theater
“New York is set to become the first city in the country with a major municipal program geared toward helping female filmmakers and theater-makers. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment is to announce on Thursday a new five-part initiative to promote equality behind and in front of the camera, in film and television, as well as onstage.”