Latest news with #WestSideStory
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Phantom of the Opera returns to Sydney Harbour amid Opera Australia woes
Following this year's disastrous financial results, Opera Australia will restage its hit 2022 production of Phantom of the Opera for next summer's Opera on the Harbour season. The season will kick off the beloved Andrew Lloyd Webber musical's 40th anniversary year in March and promises a lucrative box office – the 2022 Handa Opera on the Harbour season sold 61,580 tickets, despite being dogged by wild rain and unpredictable weather, narrowly missing the record 65,000 tickets sold to West Side Story in 2019. It comes at a crucial time for the national opera company, which posted a $10 million operating deficit this year, following disappointing returns for its 2024 production of Sunset Boulevard. Opera Australia chair Rod Sims said that when the results were released in May, the company was committed to 'better programming', trimming procurement costs and 'taking a stronger look at musicals'. 'We'll need to be sure of their financial success, and if we can't be, we just won't do them [musicals]. We won't be taking the sort of risks we took with Sunset Boulevard, so that won't happen again,' he said. However, the return of the Simon Phillips-directed production of Phantom of the Opera is a surefire winner – at the time of its premiere season, Herald critic Lenny Ann Low gave it four stars. 'Watching this fantastical, old-school stage spectacle outdoors, with a backdrop of twinkling planes, bats soaring overhead and the reflections in the harbour of glowing skyscrapers, is simply glorious,' she wrote. 'Director Simon Phillips and conductor Guy Simpson have charged Andrew Lloyd Webber's best-known work with a thrilling force that merges grandeur, nuance and old-fashioned fun.' She said: 'Georgina Hopson shines as Christine Daaé' while Joshua Robson as the Phantom brought 'lusty fury and sinewy heartbreak to the role'.
The Age
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Phantom of the Opera returns to Sydney Harbour amid Opera Australia woes
Following this year's disastrous financial results, Opera Australia will restage its hit 2022 production of Phantom of the Opera for next summer's Opera on the Harbour season. The season will kick off the beloved Andrew Lloyd Webber musical's 40th anniversary year in March and promises a lucrative box office – the 2022 Handa Opera on the Harbour season sold 61,580 tickets, despite being dogged by wild rain and unpredictable weather, narrowly missing the record 65,000 tickets sold to West Side Story in 2019. It comes at a crucial time for the national opera company, which posted a $10 million operating deficit this year, following disappointing returns for its 2024 production of Sunset Boulevard. Opera Australia chair Rod Sims said that when the results were released in May, the company was committed to 'better programming', trimming procurement costs and 'taking a stronger look at musicals'. 'We'll need to be sure of their financial success, and if we can't be, we just won't do them [musicals]. We won't be taking the sort of risks we took with Sunset Boulevard, so that won't happen again,' he said. However, the return of the Simon Phillips-directed production of Phantom of the Opera is a surefire winner – at the time of its premiere season, Herald critic Lenny Ann Low gave it four stars. 'Watching this fantastical, old-school stage spectacle outdoors, with a backdrop of twinkling planes, bats soaring overhead and the reflections in the harbour of glowing skyscrapers, is simply glorious,' she wrote. 'Director Simon Phillips and conductor Guy Simpson have charged Andrew Lloyd Webber's best-known work with a thrilling force that merges grandeur, nuance and old-fashioned fun.' She said: 'Georgina Hopson shines as Christine Daaé' while Joshua Robson as the Phantom brought 'lusty fury and sinewy heartbreak to the role'.
New York Times
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
He's Bringing Rossini to Philadelphia and ‘West Side Story' to Rome
It was the morning of the dress rehearsal for Leonard Bernstein's 'West Side Story,' at the Baths of Caracalla, the ancient ruins that are the traditional summertime venue for the Rome Opera, and the show's director, Damiano Michieletto, was concerned. 'Some of the Jets have problems with precise pronunciation,' he said. After deciding to do the musical in English rather than in translation, he did not have the funds to hire a full American cast for the Jets, a gang rumbling to take the streets of New York. You could tell, he fretted. (The diction was less of a problem with the Sharks, the rival Puerto Rican gang, he said, 'because Italian, you know, that works.') That might have been his least concern. This year, Michieletto was given free rein to come up with the program for the Rome Opera's summer Caracalla Festival, which runs until Aug. 7, keeping in mind that 2025 is a Jubilee year for the Catholic Church expected to draw millions of pilgrims with varying musical tastes to Rome. In a break from past programming, he decided that the first major new production would be 'West Side Story.' A musical — gasp — was headlining one of Italy's most highbrow cultural stages and was an unusual choice in a country where musicals are considered a minor genre and often dismissed. That did not faze Michieletto, who over the past 20 years has built a reputation as a visionary, nonconformist, at times over-the-top, director whose work is in demand across Europe. In September, he will make his debut at a major American opera house with Rossini's 'Il Viaggio a Reims' at Opera Philadelphia. There he will be presenting a revival of a much-lauded version first staged in Amsterdam in 2015 and reprised several times since. For his new work at the Caracalla Festival — which this year is titled 'Between the Sacred and the Human' because it casts a wide musical net, from a staged production of Handel's oratorio 'The Resurrection' to 'West Side Story' — he opted to focus on the electric energy of a work that was directed and based on an idea by Jerome Robbins, one of the great choreographers of his generation. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Los Angeles Times
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Elmo said what? Sesame Workshop pins ‘disgusting' racist, obscene tweets on hacker
It seems Elmo's world recently included vitriolic racist, antisemitic and foul-mouthed social media posts. 'Sesame Street's' perpetually 3½-year-old mascot caught his social media fans off guard over the weekend as he seemingly traded his wholesome tweets on X (formerly Twitter) in for hateful posts, including calling for violence against the Jewish community and others using lewd language to demand that President Trump release Jeffrey Epstein's 'client list,' alleging he was involved in the late financier's sex trafficking operation. The obscenity-laden posts shared Sunday went viral, with screenshots also making the rounds. As of Monday morning, the posts have been scrubbed from Elmo's page. A spokesperson for Sesame Workshop, the organization behind 'Sesame Street' and Elmo, told the Associated Press in a statement, 'Elmo's X account was compromised by an unknown hacker who posted disgusting messages including antisemitic and racist posts.' 'We are working to restore full control of the account,' the spokesperson added. A representative for X did not immediately confirm the alleged hack or provide additional information to The Times on Monday. In addition to the problematic tweets, the alleged hacker left a mysterious link on the beloved puppet's page. The link, which has since been removed, redirected followers and internet sleuths to a user's Telegram channel. On Telegram, the user appears to take credit for the hack. 'Thanks Elmo,' reads one Telegram message shared Sunday, the same day Elmo's odd posts hit the timeline. In another Telegram message, the user praises Adolf Hitler and rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West), who has his own handful of controversies involving antisemitism and hateful comments. The since-deleted tweets presented a very dramatic tone shift in the red furball's online presence. Elmo, whose X activity mostly consists of photos with friends and wholesome greetings, notably broke the internet last year with an innocuous post: 'Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?' The tweet, which is pinned to the top of Elmo's profile, prompted some brutal honesty from a range of followers. 'Resisting the urge to tell Elmo that I am kinda sad,' replied 'West Side Story' star Rachel Zegler. Fielding online confessions of existential dread and general anxiety, Elmo responded to fans that he 'learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing.' He added: 'Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you.' In the wake of the viral tweet, Sesame Workshop also offered fans and followers a mental health resource guide on its website, reminding users on X that 'Mental health is health!' Clearly, the alleged hacker didn't get the memo on Elmo's longstanding agenda of kindness and compassion. Former Times staff writer Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Dance runs in the family: Kabir Khan
Behind the camera and on the dance floor — Kabir Khan and daughter Sairah talk rhythm, roots and aspirations Few know that Kabir Khan , director of films like Kabul Express, Ek Tha Tiger, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Chandu Champion, is also a skilled dancer. He has now found a dance partner in his daughter Sairah, who has been training in several dance forms since the age of three. We spoke to the filmmaker about the dancer in him, while Sairah shared her career plans. I dabbled in dancing a lot in DU: Kabir Khan Talking about his love for dancing, Kabir shares, 'I dabbled in dance a lot when I was in college, we had a good choreography team at Delhi University, where I graduated from. It's safe to say we were good because we won awards at the university and in Lady Shri Ram College where my wife Mini (Mathur) studied. I spent six months on the production of the musical West Side Story with choreographer Ashley Lobo. It also featured Parvin Dabas, Gauri Khan and others, so that was a phase when I was dancing a lot. Mini showed her dancing chops on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, and now Sairah dances better than both of us put together. So yes, dance does run in the family.' 'I'd put up performances for my parents as a kid' Talking about how she fell in love with dancing, Sairah says, 'My parents enrolled me in a ballet class when I was three years old, and I started enjoying it. I was very dramatic as a child and would put on performances for them. I was dancing to Sheila Ki Jawani when I was two. I trained with Ashley Lobo, did professional certificate courses in different styles, and now I dance simply because I enjoy it.' To this, Kabir adds, 'We enrolled her in the class because she had already started dancing. She would dance to Katrina's (Kaif) songs, which we would record and send to her.' 'Documentary filmmakers are considered serious people, but they are the most interesting people I have met in my life' Reminiscing about his journey from dancer to documentary filmmaker to finally directing large-scale commercial movies, Kabir shares, 'Dancing is about team building, and was something I really enjoyed. I'm still in touch with many people from the West Side Story production. Gauri and I became friends during that project. Documentary filmmaking is what I studied – I did my master's in filmmaking. At some point, I felt those films lacked a wide audience, and I felt frustrated. That's when I wrote Kabul Express, based on my journey with a friend in Afghanistan. I landed a three-film contract with YRF, and the rest is history.' Does the tag of a documentary filmmaker paint him as a serious person? 'Documentary filmmakers are considered serious people, but they are the most interesting people I've met in my life,' says Kabir, adding, 'They have varied experiences because of their travels. Just last year, I caught up with many documentary filmmakers at a festival in Kathmandu, and the interactions, as always, were quite interesting.' I love being in front of the camera, but maybe not as an actor: Sairah Sairah is often asked if she would take up after her parents. But she has other plans. 'I'm hoping to study at New York University first,' she says, and continues, 'Both my parents' movie sets have always been a playground for my brother and me. My brother Vivaan has taken to filmmaking. While I love being in front of the camera with the spotlight on me, maybe not as an actor. But let's see.' Pics: Prathamesh Bandekar
