“I don’t want to fight any more. I’ve been fighting stupidity all my life. … The problem is that when you defend your dignity people say you have a bad character. If that’s true, though, everybody with any sort of character has a bad character.”
Tag: 07.18.18
Creator Of ‘The Simpsons’ Talks To The Times About Apu
“Well, I love Apu. I love the character, and it makes me feel bad that it makes other people feel bad. But on the other hand, it’s tainted now — the conversation, there’s no nuance to the conversation now. It seems very, very clunky. … I think particularly right now, people feel so aggrieved and crazed and powerless that they’re picking the wrong battles.”
Paris Opera Ballet Sues One Of Its Own Dancers Over Leaked Survey Revealing Unhappy Company
“You’d think the Paris Opéra Ballet would be in damage-control mode after a leaked dancers’ survey, in April, brought up worrying reports of harassment and mismanagement. But instead of addressing these issues internally, the French company is suing one of its own dancers in order to strip him of his union representative status and subsequently be free to fire him.”
Actor Gary Beach, Tony Winner For ‘The Producers’, Dead At 70
“Mr. Beach won the 2001 Tony for best featured actor in a musical for “The Producers,” … in which he originated the role of the cross-dressing director Roger De Bris. He began his acceptance speech at the Tonys memorably. ‘Heil Mel!’ he shouted.” He received additional nominations for playing Albin in La Cage aux Folles (2004) and Lumière the candelabra in Beauty and the Beast (1994).
Defying UK Trend, V&A Museum Attendance Up 26%
“A new and less intimidating entrance has helped the [Victoria and Albert Museum] achieve record visitor numbers, bucking a trend of sharp falls across the UK’s museums and galleries. The museum said more than 4.4 million people visited the V&A and its London satellites, Blythe House and the Museum of Childhood.”
US House Rejects Cutting NEA Budget After Last-Minute Attempt To Do So
The vote on Wednesday was 297-114. It was a boost to arts advocates, who argued that such funding was just a tiny fraction of the federal budget yet offered any array of benefits to local communities. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) proposed the funding cut via an amendment to a larger government funding bill, arguing that the purpose was to make a “small dent” in federal spending
Conductor Kurt Masur Honored With Google’s Doodle Today
It’s Masur’s efforts orchestrating peace that Google highlights in a doodle Wednesday celebrating the conductor’s 91st birthday. In 1989, when Leipzig was at the center of the pro-democracy movement that resulted in the fall of the Berlin Wall, Masur was part of a group that helped avert a confrontation between protesters and police that could have led to bloodshed.
Trump Appoints Acting Head Of The National Endowment For The Arts
While some have decried the decision, pointing out that Mary Anne Carter’s primary form of engagement with the arts is piloting the dance career of her young daughter, who attends a school for the arts and dances competitively, it makes a refreshing break from a pattern established by Trump’s early appointees, to choose department heads that appear actively opposed to the discipline their agency is intended to manage and protect — for example, installing Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, when her most significant achievement is the dismantling of Michigan’s public school system.