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☆ This Ballerina Has a Mission: ‘Being as Human as Possible’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Gia Kourlas | More About Gia Kourlas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

There was a point, during Cassandra Trenary’s debut as Juliet last summer at American Ballet Theater, when it became easy to forget that she was performing the role at all. She just was Juliet: furious, despondent, at her wit’s end. It was wildly raw and vulnerably human. Typically, in Kenneth MacMillan’s production of “Romeo and Juliet,” that moment is drawn out, with Juliet deeply arching her back in a cambré derrière over the tomb. Trenary, a 29-year-old principal dancer with Ballet Theater, is on a mission to be authentic — to make it seem as though, as she said, “life is unfolding in front of you through this vocabulary that is very not humanlike.”

Persons: Cassandra Trenary’s, Juliet, Kenneth MacMillan’s, Romeo, Trenary, ” Organizations: Ballet Theater, Ballet

☆ Of all the apps that have tried to be the Twitter Killer, Meta's Threads is probably the one we're all going to start using
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg's Threads is probably the app best poised to take down Elon Musk's Twitter. The door's now open for two billion people to start threading their thoughts in a place that's not Twitter. Meta's slated to debut its new rival to Twitter — an app called Threads — on July 6. Threads' main advantage is probably the number of people already using Instagram, or a reported two billion monthly active users in 2021. Meta's chief product officer, Chris Cox, has called Threads a response to creators and public figures who wanted a platform that's "sanely run."

Persons: Donald Trump's, Elon, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, it's, Morgan Stanley, it's gunning, Chris Cox, Musk, Zuckerberg Organizations: Elon, Twitter, Meta, Facebook

☆ ‘The Light in the Piazza’ Review: Outside, Looking In at Love
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Naveen Kumar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

That’s the idea behind the mother-daughter tour of Florence in “The Light in the Piazza,” the 2005 musical romance composed by Adam Guettel and written by Craig Lucas. revival directed by Chay Yew opened on Wednesday, a sensational performance by Ruthie Ann Miles delivers a feeling close to the sublime. She honeymooned in Italy; now it’s the summer of 1953, and her marital flame is dimming just as her daughter, Clara (Anna Zavelson), first discovers desire. That Margaret and Clara are Asian American adds a further layer of shading to their outsiderness abroad. (“I’m as different here as different can be,” Clara sings.)

Persons: Adam Guettel, Craig Lucas, Chay Yew, Ruthie Ann Miles, Miles, “ Sweeney Todd, ”, Margaret, Clara, Anna Zavelson, Miles imbues, ” Clara, it’s, Fabrizio, James D, Gish Organizations: New York City Center, Broadway Locations: Florence, “, Italy, American

☆ Gail Collins on ‘The Most of Nora Ephron’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Gail Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Enter writers like Nora Ephron, a fighter for the cause who was a genius at using wit to handle any woe. “The Most of Nora Ephron” is a tome that includes so much of what she published, from current affairs journalism to food blogging to Broadway plays. “I hope that you choose not to be a lady,” she told the 1996 graduates at her alma mater, Wellesley. “I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. Pointing out how ridiculous the status quo is breaks its spell and gives us the freedom to dream up something better.

Persons: topick, Nora Ephron, Nora Ephron ”, Nora, “, Carl Bernstein, Gail Collins, ”, ” Doris Lessing’s, Miss, Nick Pileggi, Clarence Thomas, it’s Organizations: Broadway, White, Disney Locations: America, Washington, mater, Wellesley, “

☆ Farhad Manjoo on ‘South Park’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Farhad Manjoo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But it isn’t the topicality of “South Park” that best explains America. In “South Park,” correctness of any sort — religious, scientific, pedagogical, geopolitical or whatever else — is sus. For Donald Trump Jr., “South Park” memes are the height of wit. In 2018 “South Park” even acknowledged that Al Gore was right: ManBearPig turned out to be real. But the damage was done; the monster had already begun to eat the people of South Park.

Persons: topick, ”, Trey Parker, Matt Stone’s, Parker, Stone, Donald Trump’s, Vladimir Putin’s thuggery, Ron DeSantis, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Stone’s, they’ve, Eric Cartman’s —, Andrew Sullivan, “, Donald Trump Jr, Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Cartman, Bob White, Al Gore, ManBearPig Organizations: Trump Locations: America, Colorado, South Park

☆ Serena and Venus Williams invest in golf with franchise ownership in Tiger Woods' new competition
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Now, Serena and Venus Williams are turning their talents to golf. A head-spinning week of revelations in the golf world continued Thursday as the Williams sisters’ Los Angeles Golf Club (LAGC) were announced as the first franchise of the TGL – Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s tech-infused stadium golf competition set to launch in January 2024. LAGC is the first of six franchises set to compete in the TGL, a competition formed in partnership with the PGA Tour. TGL/TwitterOn Twitter, Ohanian announced that his and Williams’ daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., would be a co-owner in LAGC. Twelve PGA Tour players have been confirmed to feature, including Woods, McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, and Collin Morikawa.

Persons: Serena, Venus Williams, Williams, Woods, Rory McIlroy’s, Alexis Ohanian, Mike McCarley, Ohanian, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr, “, Amy E, Price, ”, LIV Golf, McIlroy, Mike Ehrmann, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa Organizations: CNN, Angeles Golf, Ohanian, National Women’s Soccer League, Angel City FC, LAGC, PGA Tour, Twitter, Olympia, TMRW Sports Locations: Ohanian, Angeles, LAGC, Saudi, Palm Beach , Florida

☆ Ilya Kabakov, 89, Dies; Soviet-Born Artist Depicted Grimness With Wit
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Penelope Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He had been struggling with a heart condition, his stepdaughter Viola Kanevsky said. For decades in Soviet Russia Mr. Kabakov was, by day, a well-known children’s book illustrator, a state-sponsored artist with his own studio and art supplies (which he shared with his underground artist friends). He created some 150 children’s books before 1988, when he left the country for good. Yet he was also leading a double life as a conceptual artist. His albums had titles and scenarios that recalled the work of novelists like Mikhail Bulgakov, the author of “The Master and Margarita,” a dark 1967 satire of life under Stalin.

Persons: Ilya Kabakov, Viola Kanevsky, Kabakov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Margarita, ”, Stalin Organizations: Soviet Union Locations: Mattituck, Long, Soviet Russia, Soviet

☆ The best wit and wisdom from Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Shareholders watch Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger from the overflow room during the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 6, 2023, in Omaha, Neb. Berkshire Hathaway 's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday included dozens of questions spanning topics such as investing strategy, artificial intelligence and politics for the legendary investors at the helm of the conglomerate: Chairman Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie MungerBut it wasn't all strictly business. Buffett and Munger — who are 92 and 99 years old, respectively — cracked jokes and shared wisdom from decades in the investing world throughout the more than five hours spent answering questions. Tens of thousands congregated at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska were left laughing on multiple occasions by quips from the nonagenarians. Here's some of the best moments from the "Oracle of Omaha" and Munger:

☆ On 'Star Wars' day, Carrie Fisher receives posthumous star on Walk of Fame
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Rollo Ross | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A dress featuring actor Carrie Fisher as Star Wars character Princess Leia, is worn by her daughter Billie Lourd as she attends the posthumous unveiling of the star of Carrie Fisher, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 4, 2023. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLOS ANGELES, May 4 (Reuters) - May the 4th, the annual unofficial "Star Wars" day, was bittersweet for fans in Hollywood as Princess Leia actress Carrie Fisher, who died at age 60 in 2016, received a posthumous star on the Walk of Fame on Thursday. Along with a large group of fans, "Star Wars" droids R2-D2 and C-3PO and a pair of Stormtroopers came to the ceremony, as did actor Mark Hamill, director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. "My mom is a double whammy, a Pez dispenser and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Watching her mother in "Star Wars" as Princess Leia changed Lourd's perception of her.

☆ Robert Patrick, Early and Prolific Playwright of Gay Life, Dies at 85
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Penelope Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Robert Patrick, a wildly prolific playwright who rendered gay (and straight) life with caustic wit, an open heart and fizzy camp, and whose 1964 play, “The Haunted Host,” became a touchstone of early gay theater, died on April 23 at his home in Los Angeles. One day in 1961, a 24-year-old Mr. Patrick followed a cute boy with long hair into the place, where the playwrights John Guare, Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson and, soon, Mr. Patrick, all got their starts. The cute boy was John P. Dodd, who went on to be a well-known lighting designer and die of AIDS in 1991. No one was paid, except the cops, because Mr. Cino was not just running an unlicensed cabaret but also a gay hangout, which was illegal in the early 1960s. Its young playwrights, particularly Mr. Patrick, churned out plays, playlets and monologues akin to TikToks, as Don Shewey, the author and theater critic, said in a phone interview.

☆ New AFL boss steals spotlight from Jones's Wallabies pitch
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Australia rugby union coach Eddie Jones poses with a ball, flanked by Wallabies players Andrew Kellaway and Reece Hodge at a news conference, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Melbourne, Australia, May 1, 2023. Whether the AFL’s late press call was by coincidence or design, Rugby Australia officials were left fuming as the spotlight shifted away from their global sport to the homegrown game popular in only the nation's southern states. Appointed in January, Jones's second stint in charge of the Wallabies sees them much diminished from his first when he took them to the final of the 2003 World Cup on home soil. In 2002, Jones was the last Australian coach to win the Bledisloe Cup, the annual series against New Zealand. Rugby Australia will hope Jones can deliver Rugby Championship wins along with his sharp wit and penchant for a sound bite to help build more buzz around the fallen twice World Cup winners.

☆ ‘Good Night, Oscar’ Review: Sean Hayes With Demerol and Cadenzas
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jesse Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Oscar Levant, the troubled midcentury musician and wag, often said he’d erased “the fine line between genius and insanity.”He says it again, or a version of it, in “Good Night, Oscar,” the unconvincing biographical fantasia that opened Monday at the Belasco Theater. But on the evidence of the character as written, and especially as impersonated by Sean Hayes in a gloomy if accurate performance, Levant doesn’t erase the line so much as fudge it. Certainly the play, by Doug Wright, fails to make much of a case for the genius part of the joke. Instead, it offers a spray of Levant’s most famous quips, like the one about Elizabeth Taylor: “Always a bride, never a bridesmaid.” And instead of dramatizing how marvelous Levant was, it just says so repeatedly. Mostly it’s just a cry; Levant doesn’t seem brilliant but ill.

☆ 'One of a kind': Australians pay tribute to 'icon' Barry Humphries
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Australia's Barry Humphries poses after receiving his Most Excellent Order of the British Empire from the Queen at Buckingham Palace, London October 10, 2007. REUTERS/Steve Parsons/Pool/File PhotoSYDNEY, April 23 (Reuters) - Australians have paid tribute to Barry Humphries, the comedian best known for his character Dame Edna Everage, as both a "one-of-a-kind" entertainer and a charming and intelligent man. The Sydney Morning Herald said Humphries died on Saturday at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, where he had been treated for various health issues. Another Sydneysider, Lucy Bloom, said it felt like the character of Dame Edna would never come to an end. "Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone.

☆ Australian comedian Barry Humphries, creator of Dame Edna, dies at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Australian television talk show host Dame Edna (L) appears as a guest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" as talk show host Jay Leno laughs at one of Dame Edna's humorous comments. Barry Humphries, the comedian best known for his character Dame Edna Everage who blossomed from an Australian suburban housewife into a self-described gigastar, died on Saturday. The Sydney Morning Herald said Humphries died at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, where he had been treated for various health issues. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Humphries in a tweet, calling him a "great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind". It was the character of Dame Edna who made Humphries famous.

☆ Barry Humphries, Australian comedian best known for alter-ego Dame Edna Everage, dies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Australian comedian Barry Humphries, best known for his drag character Dame Edna Everage, has died aged 89. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1934, Humphries created the character of housewife Edna Everage in 1955 as a social satire. Before Edna made it big, Humphries appeared in numerous West End productions including “Oliver” and “Maggie Way” in the 1960s. Throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s, Humphries landed a series of TV talk shows, specials and films, as Dame Edna and his other alter-egos Les Patterson and Sandy Stone, among them The Dame Edna Experience in 1987. As well as performing on television, Humphries was a prolific author Marianna Massey/WireImage/Getty ImagesIn 2000, Humphries won a Special Tony Award for his Broadway show “Dame Edna, The Royal Tour”, officially breaking into the US market.

☆ Dame Edna Everage creator Barry Humphries dies aged 89 in Sydney
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Australian comedian Barry Humphries died aged 89 after suffering complications from hip surgery. Humphries was best known for his outrageous character Dame Edna Everage. Australian PM Anthony Albanese said he was "a great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind." The Australian actor and comedian was best known for his Melbourne housewife character, Dame Edna Everage, which he debuted in 1955. Dame Edna was well known for appearing on as well as hosting television chat shows, often reducing other guests to tears of laughter.

☆ Jessie Ware Centers Herself With ‘Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Caryn Ganz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Scrolling through a list of cultural influences on her phone in the bar of a New York hotel, Ware debated what to include. 1Photo BoothsI’m constantly trying to make my phone take pictures that look old and romantic, and the photo booth just does that. What I’ve just started doing is taking selfies of myself, but pretending that I’m being caught off guard so that I can get really good photos with my children. 2‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’It’s dirty and naughty and I probably should be doing something else, but I’m there, invested in the Kathy and Kyle drama. It’s so good for being able to work out your route for the day, like, I’m going to go to this coffee shop, then I’m going to go to the famous cemetery in Buenos Aires, and then I’m going to walk from there.

☆ Barry Humphries, creator of Dame Edna, dies at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

April 22 (Reuters) - Barry Humphries, the comedian best known for his character Dame Edna Everage who blossomed from an Australian suburban housewife into a self-described gigastar, died on Saturday. The Sydney Morning Herald said Humphries died at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, where he had been treated for various health issues. It was the character of Dame Edna who made Humphries famous. "Edna has this way of doing things, it seems to take the curse off it," Humphries told Reuters in 1998. That changed in 2000, when he was 66, and his "Dame Edna: The Royal Tour" on Broadway earned him a Tony award and role in the sitcom "Ally McBeal".

☆ Barry Humphries (Dame Edna to You, Possums) Is Dead at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Margalit Fox | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Oh, Possums, Dame Edna is no more. To be unflinchingly precise, Barry Humphries, the Australian-born actor and comic who for almost seven decades brought that divine doyenne of divadom, Dame Edna Everage, to delirious, dotty, disdainful Dadaist life, died on Saturday in Sydney. His death was confirmed by the hospital where he had spent several days after undergoing hip surgery. For generations after the day she first sprang to life on the Melbourne stage, Dame Edna reigned, bewigged, bejeweled and bejowled, one of the longest-lived characters to be channeled by a single performer. She toured worldwide in a series of solo stage shows and was ubiquitous on television in the United States, Britain, Australia and elsewhere.

☆ Scoot Henderson on being a projected top pick in the 2023 NBA draft and his endorsement deal with Puma
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( John Lynch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Scoot Henderson is projected to be one of the top draft picks in the 2023 NBA Draft. So, you know, I'm just blessed that I came here and made the right decision. So I knew it was gonna be pretty tough, and I knew I was gonna really develop from it at a high level. And, uh, like I said, like I'm gonna keep saying, I'm blessed that I came here. And Puma, they gave me that confidence that I needed in a group, and in a brand like Puma, man.

☆ More women become truckers as the industry tries to overcome a shortage of drivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

She's one of many in the trucking industry leading efforts to bring more women into the fold. Associations like Women In Trucking work to increase the rate of women drivers, technicians and executives, particularly younger women or those switching careers, like Johnson. Now, with the industry facing a daunting driver shortage, initiatives to bring in women drivers from other industries have escalated. The share of women truckers has increased significantly in recent years: Women now make up almost 8% of truck drivers and sales delivery drivers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Navigating shortagesThough many women joined the industry during the pandemic, Covid-19 lockdowns stalled training and testing for truck drivers.

☆ Biden honors Springsteen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mindy Kaling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueWASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden made an observation when conferring the National Medal of Arts on rocker Bruce Springsteen on Tuesday: "Bruce, some people are just born to run, man." Springsteen and a host of actors, authors, singers and other artists joined Biden in the White House East Room where they received either a National Medal of Arts or National Humanities Medal for their contributions to American society. Comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose "Veep" show made light of the vice presidency - an office Biden once held - was also honored. Actress Mindy Kaling, a main character on the long-running television show, "The Office," set in Biden's hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, received a medal as well. "I'm trying to go back to back myself," said Biden, who has said he intends to run for re-election in 2024.

☆ Ryan Reynolds Sells Mint Mobile for $1.35 Billion to T-Mobile
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Will Feuer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ryan Reynolds used his celebrity and wit to build Mint Mobile into a low-cost competitor in the crowded wireless business. Now, the Hollywood star and his backers are cashing in: selling the upstart brand to T-Mobile US Inc. in a cash and stock deal valued at up to $1.35 billion.

It was a far cry from the barbs Macron traded with Boris Johnson when he was in Downing Street. The French foreign minister at the time, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said France had been "stabbed in the back". Macron's hardball tactics to ensure French fishermen got a good deal had made him the bete noire of British tabloids. But even before news of the AUKUS deal he was incensed by Johnson's decision to leak details of their conversation to the press, a French official said. A French official let out a sigh of relief after it wrapped up: "It went well, didn't it?"

☆ The job cuts by companies like Uber and GM targeting low performers show CEOs are taking a hard-line approach to management
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Rebecca Knight | Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

To wit, GM this week said it was axing roughly 500 salaried positions in performance-related job cuts. Business advisors who work with executives told Insider that companies conduct what are sometimes called "quiet layoffs" for two main reasons. Job cuts send a potent messageGM this week said it was axing roughly 500 salaried positions in performance-related job cuts. He recently told Insider that the widespread layoffs in tech are more likely due to companies parroting each other rather than necessary cost-cutting. In other words, a rival's announcement of job cuts gives other companies reason to follow suit.

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