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60 Art Directors Petition the Firing of Theater J Artistic Director Ari Roth for 'Political Reasons,' Including André Bishop of Lincoln Center Theater and Oskar Eustis of the Public Theater

More than 60 artistic directors of major theater companies from across the country has signed a letter denouncing the D.C. Jewish Community Center’s firing of Theater J artistic director Ari Roth “for blatantly political reasons."The Washington DC Jewish Community Center, which runs the theater, did not give a reason for Roth’s firing other than to say it was not about Middle East politics. But Roth said he had been fired for insubordination after talking to the news media about the latest in a series of proposed productions that would have aired critical ideas about Israel. Roth has been the artistic director of Theater J for 18 years.“It is absolutely clear that Roth was fired because of the content of the work he has so thoughtfully and ably championed for the last two decades,” the directors said in the letter, which was released to the media.The signers include André Bishop of the Lincoln Center Theater, Oskar Eustis of the Public Theater, Martha Lavey of the Steppenwolf Theater Company, Emily Mann of the McCarter Theater and Bill Rauch of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
By Jaime Prisco

  • Critically Acclaimed Score for Alejandro G. Innaritu's 'Birdman' Deemed Ineligible for An Oscar: Antonio Sanchez Files an Appeal

    Fans of the amazing Antonio Sanchez’s drum-heavy score for Alejandro G. Innaritu's widely acclaimed film "Birdman" will be disappointed to hear that it is has been deemed ineligible for an Academy Award this season.The branch disqualified the movie for best score because its soundtrack includes pieces of classical music in addition to Sanchez’s score. But this decision has not come without controversy. There is a highly contentious debate about whether or not to overturn the decision between Sanchez, Inarritu, Fox Music and the chairman of the academy's music branch executive committee, the details of which have not been previously reported.When the Golden Globe nominations were announced, "Birdman" topped the list with seven nominations, including one for best original score. Later that day, Dave Hanson, the Academy Awards's manager, passed along a note from Charles Fox, chairman of the academy's music branch executive committee, to Sanchez through his manager, notifying the composer that his score was ineligible and would not appear on the academy's long list for the best original score Oscar consideration.Fox wrote, "The [music branch] committee viewed the film, reviewed the cue sheets and discussed the score at length, particularly with regard to Rule 15, Section II-E of our Awards Rules, which state, 'Scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.’”
    By Jaime Prisco

  • K-Pop F.T. Island Announces US Tour Dates for New York and Los Angeles

    Hit K-pop group F.T. Island have announced two United States shows in their tour for late January, marking the States' first Korean concerts of 2015.
    By Jaime Prisco
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