Yes, the representation of LGBTQ+ characters on television has gotten much better over the last decade or so. But in musicals, even new ones, argues Dom O’Hanlon, “you can usually spot the token gay character a mile off. Reduced to a supporting role and often aligned with such stereotypical gay professions as dress designers, makeup artists, personal assistants and cabin crew, contemporary writers use gay characters for quick quips and a ‘sashay away’ for light comic relief.”
Tag: 11.24.17
Why Are So Many Adaptations Of ‘Swan Lake’ So Dark?
Black Swan isn’t even the half of it. John Neumeier’s version features Mad King Ludwig; James Kudelka’s includes gang rape; Michael Keegan-Dolan’s centers on abuse by Irish priests. There’s even another film coming out about a ballerina in the lead role losing her sanity. David Jays talks to dancemakers about the darkness they find at the heart of the story.
The Guggenheim Bilbao, 20 Years On
“Despite a slight dip in attendance after the 2008 financial crisis, the museum has welcomed more than 20 million visitors – two-thirds of them from abroad – since it opened on 19 October 1997. In a city of around 350,000 people, the original feasibility study calculated that 400,000 visitors a year were needed to justify the initial expense (estimated at $228m by the economist Beatriz Plaza) and ongoing subsidy (currently around €9m a year).”
Rasta Thomas Sues American National Ballet For Firing Him
“[Thomas] signed a contract on July 19 making him artistic director of the nascent American National Ballet, based in Charleston. The news sent a buzz of excitement through the dance community. On Aug. 22, he was fired. … This month, Thomas filed a lawsuit in circuit court alleging breach of contract, fraud, violation of South Carolina’s Payment of Wages Act, wrongful appropriation of Thomas’ name and likeness, and interference with a contract.”
Italian Court Clamps Down On Commercial Use Of Michelangelo’s David
“His are the most famous curves in Florence and adorn everything from aprons to fridge magnets, but images of Michelangelo’s David can now only be used with official authorisation, a court in Italy has ruled.”
Authors Beg With England To Pay For School Libraries
That’s right, it’s 2017, so authors like Philip Pullman and Marjorie Blackman have to send frantic letters to their government, begging them to fund school libraries. “The letter highlights how England has lower rates of teenage literacy than other developed nations, according to international rankings. And it claims there is a general decline in the number of books issued to children, adding there has not been a related increase in electronic books.”
London Has A Night Mayor, And New York Is Looking For One. Is LA Next?
Part of the idea would be making nightlife safer through smoothing the permit process for party spaces. “In the months since December’s tragic Ghost Ship fire in Oakland, which killed dozens of young music fans, Los Angeles has cracked down on unpermitted warehouse parties, which often play host to music and communities shut out of mainstream venues. But those shows have a huge cultural value, and still continue — just further under the radar in more marginal spaces. Meanwhile, promoters and venue owners say the permitting and building-code process is more time-consuming and expensive than ever.”
Carol Burnett Changed TV, And Maybe The Future, Fifty Years Ago With Her Show
Here’s how it went down in the beginning, according to Carol Burnett herself: “I had this terrific and unheard-of contract that read if I wanted to push that button, the network would have to give me 30 one-hour comedy-variety shows. … I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ And they said, ‘Oh, no, no, no. Carol … all comedy-variety shows are hosted by men — Sid Caesar, Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, Dean Martin … It’s not really for you gals.’” Yeah, wrong.
Mary Adelman, The Typewriter Whisperer Of New York, Has Died At 89
Her shop was like a (crowded, metal-and-ribbon-smelly) office of therapy for writers when the typewriters clogged up. “The shop attended to the typewriters of such well-known writers as Isaac Bashevis Singer, David Mamet, Erich Maria Remarque, Nora Ephron, Gene Shalit and Philip Roth. Joseph Heller had a Smith-Corona with keys that flew off (they were soldered back on). The novelist David Handler was so grateful for Mrs. Adelman’s assistance that he made her a character in a mystery, The Girl Who Ran Off With Daddy.”
Suggestions For An Architecture Tour Of Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Times architecture critic takes his mother-in-law, and then all of us, on a tour of nine stops through the city: “I sort of tied myself in knots trying to produce the list. I had to balance architectural significance against geography: the buildings had to make up at least a semi-coherent loop, rather than forcing us to hopscotch all over the map. I also wanted the choices to suggest some kind of narrative progression, some sense of how architecture (and Los Angeles) changed over those decades.”