“How the hell did the Zombie Apocalypse become a ubiquitous all-consuming (no pun intended) meme? What is it about the story of hungry undead that keeps it from ever dying? … Here, at the dawn of a new age of planetary limits, zombies are our greatest teachers.”
Tag: 06.25.13
Barnes & Noble’s Very Bad Year: Losses Doubled From Previous 12 Months
“With losses mounting in its Nook segment, Barnes & Noble reported a net loss of $154.8 million in the fiscal year ended April 27, 2013 compared to a loss of $65.6 million in fiscal 2012.”
Broadway’s Straight Plays Show Surprising Box-Office Strength
“Several Broadway plays” – Tony-winner Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Bette Midler vehicle I’ll Eat You Last, Nora Ephron’s Lucky Guy, starring Tom Hanks – “are performing powerfully at the box office as summer begins, a time when plays usually fade fast while increasingly tourist-heavy audiences opt for musicals.”
What Happens To The British Museum If Scotland Secedes From The UK?
“It’s a very serious question,” said museum director (and Glaswegian) Neil MacGregor. “The British Museum is the first cultural evidence of the union. It was part of the response to [Bonnie Prince Charlie’s rebellion] of 1745 – the first British thing created after that threat to the union – and it sent out a big statement.”
Johannesburg Acquires A Ballet Company
With an initial annual grant of R8 million (roughly $791,000), the City of Johannesburg is effectively assuming funding of the company currently called South African Mzansi Ballet (itself the product of a two-company merger last year). The troupe will be called either Johannesburg Ballet or Johannesburg City Ballet.
Pedro Almodóvar Rules Out Working For Hollywood
“If I make a movie in English, the money will come from Europe, so that I can keep my independence and freedom. The way they produce in Hollywood doesn’t fit me. There are many people with decision-making power, and I’m not accustomed to working like that. But here there are wonderful actors and actresses that I would like to work with.”
Mark Adamo On Portraying Jesus As A Married Man
The composer and librettist of the new opera The Gospel of Mary Magdalene talks about what he found in years of studying scripture – the Canonical Gospels, Gnostic and apocryphal gospels, the letters of Paul – that led him to depict Jesus of Nazareth and Mary of Magdala as husband and wife.
Will Jane Austen Replace Charles Darwin On England’s £10 Note?
She’s “quietly waiting in the wings” to do just that, says retiring Bank of England governor Mervyn King. (Now there’s evolution for you.)
Israel’s Most Prominent Authors Campaign Against West Bank Evictions
“Twenty four authors – including the acclaimed triumvirate of David Grossman, Amos Oz and AB Yehoshua – have put their names to an appeal to save the [Palestinian] villages of the South Hebron hills.”
L.A.’s Reprise Theatre Company Closes Its Doors
An organization dedicated to revivals of musicals, led since 2007 by artistic director (and television star) Jason Alexander, Reprise “cited its inability to raise funds for the decision to permanently shut down.” The company’s last mainstage project was an autumn 2011 production of Cabaret.