Broadway To Vegas

Copyright: March 15, 2020
By: Laura Deni
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HARVEY WEINSTEIN BECOMES A TEACHING TOPIC: IN SCOTLAND YOU NEED TWO WITNESSES TO A RAPE

Harvey Weinstein

Last week's sentencing of convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein to 23 years in prison brought some vindication to his victims though there is never closure for rape or sexual abuse. Weinstein was used as a teaching tool for a class on Gender and the Media taught by Professor Karen Boyle with contributions from researcher Caroline Darke; Brenna Jessie from Rape Crisis Scotland; journalist Lesley Riddoch; Jenny Lester from Zero Tolerance; writer Claire Heuchan; Petya Eckler from the University of Strathclyde; Talat Yaqoob from Women 50/50 and Michael Higgins from the University of Strathclyde.

A hot button topic concerned the BBC inviting Engerder Scotland's Feminist Organization to participate in a debate over Harvey Weinstein. Alys Mumford of Engender replied in a post on their blog Engender which was used by the class.

On the blog she explained:

"We were invited to debate the ‘two sides’ to sexual harassment, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, and the success of #MeToo. When pressed for what the other side of this debate could possibly be, we were told that because of the way women are ‘self-promoting’ on social media sites such Instagram men can be encouraged to interact with them in a certain way.

"When I had caught my breath, I explained to the poor researcher on the phone that we couldn’t possibly take part in something which reduces the nuanced, intelligent and heartbreaking discussions of the past week to a debate which suggests women play a part in their own abuse.

"This is victim blaming, pure and simple. And, even more damaging than this, it is the false creation of a debate where none should exist.

"To take a prominent story about men’s abuse of power to harass, assault and abuse women and present it as a story with two sides is to discredit all those who speak up about such abuse. To suggest that women are in any way responsible for the violence perpetrated against them is to deny the culture of violence and patriarchy we live in. And to ask an organisation which campaigns for women’s equality to engage in anything which suggests that sexual harassment is two sided goes against decades of work by those campaigning for an end to violence against women.

"The thought that this debate will go ahead is awful. To think that a women who shared her #MeToo story will find herself mentally scrolling through her social media profiles to find signs of provocative posts. That perpetrators of abuse will have yet another mitigating circumstance to cite when justifying their actions. That people whose minds were opened, just a little, by the stories of harassment over the past week, will again see sexual harassment as ‘just one of those things there’s no right answer to’.

"This is not an isolated incident. The belief that women’s lived experiences can be debated, analyzed and questioned is pervasive. Yet again, the onus is on women to prove their point, to stand up for equality, and to challenge sexist assumptions. Telling our stories is not enough. We must tell them in the right way, at the right time, and to the right people. And then, still then, we have to share our stories, repeat them and defend them.

"There are not two sides. Be on the right one."

Engender refused to participate and BBC dropped the segment.

Senior citizen prisoners are separated from younger inmates and Weinstein immediately complained that he shared a cell with two old men.

His attorney carped that the women were basically asking for it and that she intended to appeal the conviction.

"It is not difficult to find contemporary evidence of how sex and sexualisation are used to discredit women complaining of rape and sexual assault," Boyle told the class. "For instance, when the New York Times published sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, his response was to suggest that he had misunderstood what was and was not appropriate sexually. In other words, he tried to make it about sex and miscommunication, not abuse.

"If women are sexualized in relation to sexual assault, this is also a way of making the violence against them invisible as violence. There are almost endless variations of the idea that she was somehow ‘asking for it’. Weinstein and his supporters also used this approach to try to discredit his accusers. For example, they used sexualised red carpet photographs of Weinstein’s accusers to discredit their accounts. They wanted us to believe that because the women were pictured smiling with Weinstein at glamorous public events (which were part of their jobs), they couldn’t possibly be ‘real’ victims of sexual abuse. This tactic makes sure that the focus stays firmly on the women and what they did (or didn’t) do: not on whether Weinstein’s behaviour was inappropriate, abusive and/or criminal."

At least in American there is the possibility of bringing a rapist to trial.

One of the most anti-women - backward nations when it comes to rape laws is Scotland.
Speak Out Survivors was founded in Scotland because of the failure of the Scottish Criminal Justice System. That has to do with a corroboration requirement.

What is meant by 'corroboration' in the prosecution of sex offences in Scotland? The legal definition of corroboration requires two sources of evidence to identify the perpetrator and two sources of evidence to the act of penetration. A child under the age of 13 cannot give consent so the sexual activity is classes as rape. However, if the victim is over the age of 13, then corroboration requires two sources of evidence to prove that consent was not given.

Thus rape cases never make it to court.

It doesn't matter if the victim told a family member, a friend, a teacher, a social services worker or if even any documents had been filed by those who had been informed. Prosecution wouldn't be possible because evidence available "don't meet the legal requirements for corroboration."

Boyle, a professor of feminist media studies at the University of Strathclyde, also heads up the Gender Studies Program there. She is one of the founder members of Gender Equal Media Scotland and that's an organization where academics and researchers work with journalists and the feminist third sector "to push forward."

"A stereotype is a shorthand way of referring to the characteristics of a group of people.

"Frustration with the ways in which women were stereotyped in the media was a key concern driving some of the first feminist media criticism. For instance, in 1974 a journalist called Molly Haskell wrote a book about the roles women had played in Hollywood film called From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies. Similarly, there have been studies detailing the stereotypes of Black, gay and lesbian, and disabled characters in film.

"Part of the reason stereotypes mattered to these critics is that stereotypes are expressions of power. With stereotypes, the dominant group in society tries to convey something about a marginalised group. It is no accident, for instance, that there haven’t been studies of stereotypes of white men in cinema. White men, as a group, are not stereotyped in that way. Instead, they are social types: cowboys or action heroes, businessmen or detectives, politicians or athletes. In contrast, when marginalised groups are reduced to stereotypes there are a much narrower set of roles open to them, and critics argue that one of the problems with this is that stereotypes don’t match the diversity of our lives.

Harvey Fierstein

"However, media theorist Richard Dyer explains that the problem with stereotypes isn’t that they are inaccurate. There will nearly always be people who ‘fit’ a given stereotype. For instance, in the documentary The Celluloid Closet actor Harvey Fierstein says that he liked the sissy character in classical Hollywood film because he thinks of himself as a sissy. Although he recognises that the stereotyping of gay men can be limiting, these stereotypes still offered him a recognisable point of identification at a time when gay men were not otherwise visible in the movies.

"His demonstrates some of the complexities of thinking critically about stereotypes. Yes, they are limiting. But they can also be embraced in ways that exceed these limitations. The larger point here, though, is about power. Self-identifying (as Fierstein does) is rather different than a powerful group determining that this stereotype tells us something about all gay men. The problem, then, is not that stereotypes are inaccurate, but that they make a claim about an entire group.

"In this sense, stereotypes tell us as much, if not more, about the beliefs and fears of the people doing the stereotyping as they tell us about the group being stereotyped," opined Boyle.

An accusatory finger is frequently pointed at the media.

The Global Media Monitoring Project is the largest and longest longitudinal study on the gender in the world’s media. It is also the largest advocacy initiative in the world on changing the representation of women in the media. It is unique in involving participants ranging from grassroots community organisations to university students and researchers to media practitioners, all of whom participate on a voluntary basis.

Every five years since 1995, GMMP research has taken the pulse of selected indicators of gender in the news media, studying women’s presence in relation to men, gender bias and stereotyping in news media content. The fifth research in the series was conducted in 2015 by hundreds of volunteers in 114 countries around the world.

"Across a 20-year period, the needle towards parity has shifted by only 7 points. At this rate it will take another 8 decades for numerical gender parity to be reached, all things remaining equal. In 2015, only 24% of those who were heard, seen or spoken about in the print, broadcast, television and radio news were women.

"This was the exact same figure found in 2010. In 2020, we will have a chance to see whether this stagnation—on this and on several other indicators—was only temporary. The function in which women appear least is as experts. These are people who are interviewed for their expert or professional opinion on any issue. This is another indicator in which traction was lost between 2010 and 2015, after having risen 3 points in the preceding 5-year period. Women appear most as ordinary people, providing testimony based on personal experience or on popular opinion."

"Gendered representation is a choice that journalists make. It’s a choice of lexicon. It’s a choice of images and angles, of who to interview and how to portray their subjects. It’s a matter of professionalism in journalism, that question of ethics, of fairness, accuracy, balance, truthfulness and objectivity," declared Boyle.

From counting women to making women count.

In the US, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media conducted a study which focused on films from 2007-2017, revealing that men outnumbered women in family films by a ratio of 2:1. This report also considered race, disability and representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and asexual people. It found that white leading characters outnumbered leading characters of color by 4:1, that less than 1% of family films featured an LGBTQIA lead; and less than 1% of family films featured a lead with a disability.

On US television, as in the UK, the picture was better: the Centre for the Study of Women in Film and Television report for 2018-19 found that females comprised 45% of major characters on broadcast network, cable and streaming programmes. 17% of female characters were Black.

An interesting test regarding the role of women in fiction is called the Bechdel Test. The test requires that there are not just women on the screen but that they have a conversation with each other about something other than a man.

The long-running Celluloid Ceiling project run by the Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University monitors the position of women in the top-grossing films at the US box office on an annual basis. They also look at the creative roles women fulfill in prime-time television. Their results make for fairly depressing reading.

In their report on the 250 top grossing films of 2018, they found that women were:

• 26% producers
• 21% exec producers
• 21% editors
• 16% writers
• 8% directors
• 4% cinematographers

When they narrowed in on the Top 100 films, the situation was worse. Women were:

• 18% producers & executive producers
• 14% editors
• 15% writers
• 4% directors
• 3% cinematographers

Seyi Akiwowo outlined the kinds of online abuse which led her to form Glitch, a campaigning and advocacy organization working to end online abuse. Online abuse is an umbrella term for a broad range of tactics and malicious behaviours online. The Women’s Media Center note that: ‘The harassment of women online is violent, sexualised, and sustained. For men, harassment means mainly name calling.’ This makes it a form of gender-based violence against women, defined by the United Nations as ‘any harmful act directed against individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their gender.’

"A key concern of feminists dealing with gender, violence and representation is the way our words can either illuminate or obscure what we are talking about, making it more or less possible for victim/survivors to recognise their own experiences, continued Boyle.

"The use of ‘victim/survivor’ here is deliberate. Feminists have argued that language emphasising victimisation can deny women’s agency, defining them by what someone did to them. For this reason, many campaigners prefer the term ‘survivor’. However, this does not necessarily capture the harm of violence. Women may not always feel like survivors and there is no shame in having been victimised. There is lots of evidence that women in sexual assault cases can experience criminal trials and media coverage as revictimising. This is a useful reminder that the journey from victim to survivor is not a straight line. The term victim-survivor tries to keep both positions visible. "There is no right or wrong here: victim, survivor, victim/survivor can all be the ‘right’ terms to use in different circumstances," she cautioned. "The important point is to be alert to the different meanings these words can carry.

"When it comes to naming those who commit violence, the concerns are a bit different. Feminists are critical of language that suggests men who commit violence are exceptional. Using terms like ‘monster’, ‘beast’ or ‘evil’ to describe abusers can be tempting because it suggests abusers should be instantly recognizable. The reality, as decades of feminist research has shown, is that rapists, domestic abusers and sexual harassers are ordinary men. Men in families. Men in communities. Which is not to say that all ordinary men are abusers, of course.

"Language which obscures the reality of abuse. Sexual assault stories are often reported in the media as ‘sex claims’, ‘sex scandals’ or ‘inappropriate behaviour’ suggesting these are stories about sexual morality not abuse. This language trivialises men’s abusive behaviour and sexualises women’s experiences."

Class contributors – Linda Thompson from the Women’s Support Project, Seyi Akiwowo from Glitch, Brenna Jessie from Rape Crisis Scotland, and Jenny Lester from Zero Tolerance - identified some of the key problems in current media representations of men’s violence against women. Some of these problems include: reductive stereotypes; sexualization; language which minimizes the effects of abuse; victim-blaming; and minimizing the responsibility of perpetrators.

"Even in stories which tackle men’s violence against women and children sensitively, headlines can derail an article. Some of the most common problems with headlines are sensationalizing violence, making violence seem like something that ‘happens’ rather than something that is done by someone to someone else, or creating sympathy for the perpetrator of violence."

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This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

ART AND ABOUT

GRAMMY MUSEUM PRESENTS THIS IS NAT KING COLE

Nat King Cole

one of the most honored and iconic performing and recording artists of all time. To showcase the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient's professional and personal achievements, the Grammy Museum presents This Is Nat King Cole, which will bookend his centennial celebration. The exhibit will open on, what would have been, Cole's 101st birthday, March 17, 2020, when Cole's daughters, Timolin and Casey Cole, will discuss the stories behind the exhibit with moderator Scott Goldman at the Museum’s Clive Davis Theater. The exhibit will run through summer 2020.

This Is Nat King Cole will offer a retrospective of Cole's career, his most significant professional accomplishments, his relationship with Capitol Records, as well as, a glimpse into his personal life through handwritten letters to his wife and family, among other items. The masterful pianist and vocalist's initial focus was jazz, having formed the Nat King Cole Trio while in the late ’30s. Cole was signed to Capitol Records in 1943 and released his debut album, The King Cole Trio, a year later at the dawn of the LP format. The album topped Billboard's inaugural album chart. He went on to record nearly 700 songs for Capitol, including 150 singles that charted on Billboard's Pop, R&B and Country charts. That phenomenal success led to Capitol's iconic round building on Vine Street in Hollywood to be informally known as "The House That Nat Built."

Along with his trailblazing music career, Cole is recognized for his contributions to the struggle for racial equality. This Is Nat King Cole will take a look at Cole as an essential figure in several sociopolitical advancements, including the U.S. civil rights movement.

Exhibit highlights include:

Tuxedo worn by Cole during his 1960 visit with Queen Elizabeth II

Kimono given to Cole during a 1960 visit to Japan

Cole's Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, awarded posthumously in 1990

A collection of handwritten letters to Cole's wife, Maria, written between 1948 and 1956

Beaded gown worn by Maria Cole at a celebration of Nat's 25 years with Capitol Records

A Tiffany sterling silver box from activists Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver gifted to Cole and engraved "Nat King Cole, The Best Friend A Song Ever Had".

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SWEET CHARITY

SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE (SAS) has announced that Prince Charles has become their Patron. Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) which is as grassroots movement tackling plastic pollution and protecting coastlines for all to enjoy safely and sustainability.

The organization is celebrating their 30th Anniversary. They emphasize that " One marine mammal or sea bird dies every 30 seconds due to plastic pollution."

Surfers Against Sewage is proud to work with over 100,000 community volunteers around the UK, protecting our beaches for the future. The charity founded the Plastic Free Community movement, now active in 650 locations nationwide, and the Plastic Free Schools initiative which will reach 1.3 million school children in 2020. The charity will be rolling out an ambitious program of marine conservation in 2020, and setting out a vision for the decade ahead, tackling issues including plastic pollution, climate change, habitat loss and water pollution.

"EVERYTHING" IS CANCELLED: KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON

If there ever was a recent time when the motivational poster Keep Calm and Carry On, produced by the British government in 1939 in preparation for World War II is appropriate - it's now.

If the COVID-19 virus doesn't kill us the hysterical panic driving the world into - not just a recession but a possible depression - will have formidable consequences.

So, if possible, get a grip, take a breath and calm down. Also, wash your hands.

As a general rule of thumb - assume it's shut down unless you've been told otherwise.

After New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a press conference that no gatherings of more than 500 people will be allowed, excepting schools, hospitals, mass transit, and nursing homes Broadway announced it would go dark, something usually associated with honoring the death of a legend. That ban became effective effective on Friday, March 13. and lasting through April 12, 2020.

The last time Broadway was dark for such an extended period was during the 2007 stagehand strike when theatres were shuttered for 19 days.

Broadway recovered then and will this time.

Unfortunately, some individual productions won't be as fortunate.

SIX, the musical reimagining of Henry VIII's wives, was set to open on March 12, while Lincoln Center Theatre's Flying Over Sunset was to have played its first preview. Revivals of Caroline, or Change and Plaza Suite were to have begun previews March 13.

Whether insurance policies cover any financial losses will depend upon each policy and their specific riders. Shutting down because of a worldwide pandemic is a unique shutdown cause.

Kent Schmidt is a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney in its southern California office who specializes in business litigation. He has been fielding calls from companies since the outbreak on Contractual Performance Disputes and if a pandemic excuses performance of contractual obligation especially when it comes to these events. Of this he says;

"The music/entertainment industries face thousands of disrupted business relationships and corresponding contracts, ranging from tickets with fans that will have to be refunded to multi-million dollar licensing agreements now worth far less than before," Schmidt connented.

"Although force majeure clauses and the legal doctrine of impossibility of performance will apply in many cases, another legal theory that is particularly appropriate to the sports/music industry and cancellation of major events is the frustration of purpose rule. Frustration of purpose finds its origins in English law, from a scenario substantially similar what we now face with cancelled seasons and major sporting events. Those cases are a series of English appellate decisions arising from the cancellation of a coronation in 1902. The courts held that, even if it were possible for the contracts to be performed—renting rooms along the parade route—the entire purpose of the transaction was to view the coronation. Thus, the purpose of the contract was frustrated and the parties should be released from their contractual obligations. In much the same way, hundreds of ancillary contracts associated with major sporting events will come within the same frustration of purpose rule. Without fans in attendance, the purpose of the contract is frustrated and the party should be released from having to perform," continued Schmidt.

"There will be years of litigation as courts and other tribunals sort out the legal ramifications of pulling the plug on these events and decide which party is left holding the bag. These issues come down to contract questions including the language in agreements, and applying contractual doctrines. But equitable considerations will also predominate. Particularly for situations in which one party is better able to absorb the loss, the courts will apply a fairness principle," Schmidt stressed.

"In many commercial contracts associated with the music/entertainment industries, substantial consideration is paid well in advance of performance of the contractual duty. For example, licensing fees and advertising contracts are signed, sealed and delivered, long before the season starts. Since possession is nine-tenths of the law, there will be questions relating to whether licensing fees and other consideration already paid prior to the pandemic will have to be refunded," Schmidt says.

A quick check as to what has cancelled found that:

Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall in NYC cancelled all shows including the New York Pops through March. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is closed as are other artifacts venues.

Guild Hall in East Hampton New York has cancelled all events "including those in The John Drew Theater, the Guild Hall Museum, and our Classroom, through March 31."

Following California Governor Gavin Newsom requesting that all non-essential public gatherings of 250 or more people be canceled it was announced that: Hamilton has postponed its return engagement at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, which was slated to have opened last Thursday, March 12. The new opening date in April l, 2020.

The Los Angeles City Center Theatre Group has suspended all performances until further notice. The organization had been presenting the national tour of The Book of Mormon at the Ahmanson, Antipodes at the Mark Taper Forum, and Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

All concerts and performances by the LA Philharmonic, based across the street from City Center at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, are canceled through March 31.

All events between now and March 31 at Pasadena Playhouse have been transferred into limbo with the venue working to reschedule as many events as possible.

The Geffen Playhouse, which was in the middle of Man of God, has suspended performances and canceled a run of Theresa Rebeck's Bernhardt/Hamlet.

The Old Globe in San Diego issued the following release:

"Following guidelines released last night (Wednesday, March 11, 2020) by Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health in response to the increasing challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19, The Old Globe has announced that it will suspend public performances effective immediately, and, per the guidelines, at least through the end of March. "Two productions now in rehearsal, Little Women and Faceless, will be postponed until further notice.

"Further, all community-based programming run by the Globe’s Department of Arts Engagement in partnership with neighborhood non-profit and other organizations will be temporarily suspended, or, where possible, conducted online. And The Old Globe Classical Directing Fellowship, scheduled for next week, will be rescheduled for later this year."

For the fourth time in their history Disneyland has closed as has Disney World and Disney Paris. The Louvre Museum in Paris is shuttered as is the Eiffel Tower.

Beginning today, Sunday, March 15, France has declared that all non-essential stores, restaurants, movie theaters and cafes will be shut down to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

San Francisco docked Sting's The Last Ship, while performances of Hamilton have been cancelled through March 25. It is slated to run through May 31.

The Curran, the Bay Area home of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, announced March 12 afternoon that it would similarly cancel performances of the two-part play through March 31. Additionally, San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater shuttered remaining performances of Toni Stone in its 1,040-Geary Theater, as well as performances of Gloria at its 283-seat venue, The Strand.

If you have anything planned. check to see if it is still taking place. Different events and venues have different refund policies.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC has cancelled all performances through March 31, 2020.

The Embassy Series in Washington DC a long time popular season of musical events held at various embassies have cancelled scheduled performances for the remainder of March and all of April. They hope to reschedule.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company has dropped the curtain through April 19, 2020.

Organizers of the Boston Marathon have postponed the run until September.

The National Association of Broadcasters cancelled their Las Vegas convention where over 100,000 attendees were expected.

The Smith Center in Sin City has cancelled all performances.

With occupancy rates in single digits Las Vegas Strip resorts are laying off entire departments with those employees told to file for unemployment insurance. Buffets are shuttered, poker rooms and race books closed and all entertainment got the hook including cabarets after several hotel workers including an employee of Hakkasan Nightclub tested positive.

Even libraries arre affected.

In Las Vegas, "at this time, all 25 Library District branches will remain open and operating on regular hours. As a precaution against the outbreak, however, the Library District announced today that effective immediately, it is canceling all group activities, programs, events, rentals of meeting rooms and performing arts centers, art gallery receptions, and community outreach activities through June 30. (During this period, library customers who are unable to return their materials due to illness or exposure to the virus, will not have to pay fines for overdue materials.)"

Houston, Texas school closing for two weeks with teachers told to prepare on line teaching lessons and "resume teaching on line on March 23."

New York cancelled its St Patrick's Day parade for the first time in 258 years over coronavirus fears. Althhough the river has been dyed its traditional green, Chicago also halted its parade. There must be some type of an Irish curse to follow.

The NCAA cancelled the Division I men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments aka March Madness.

The entire world appears to be in the same containment boat.

Monaco's royal family cancelled its glamorous Rose Ball for the first time since was established by Princess Grace Kelly in 1954.The event was scheduled to take place on March 21, but will now be postponed as a precautionary measure.

The ball, held in the Salle des Etoiles of Monte-Carlo Sporting, raises funds for the Princess Grace Foundation, which supports people and children in need by developing humanitarian and philanthropic projects. Prince Albert II, his wife Princess Charlene, and sisters Princess Caroline and Princess Stephanie are regular attendees at the ball along with the younger members of the royal family.

This year's ball was supposed to be themed on Indian film industry - Bollywood, with Christian Louboutin serving as show curator.

Monaco's royal family is not the only royalty that has been affected.

The Swedish royal family cancelled a dinner reception at the Stockholm Palace earlier this month in light of the virus outbreak. The disease also led to the postponement of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium's upcoming state visit to Italy. It was reported that Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain are being tested for coronavirus. That decision came after Queen Letizia met with Minister of Equality Irene Montero last week. Later Montero tested positive for coronavirus, and both she and her partner, vice president of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda Pablo Iglesias, have been quarantined. All government officials will also undergo testing.

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, 44, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has tested positive for coronavirus. She started feeling sick late Wednesday, shortly after getting back to Canada from a London speaking engagement. She tested positive Thursday and will remain in isolation for the time being, a spokesman said.

In Great Britian the royals have stopped shaking hands, something which Prince Charles has been quoted as saying "is hard to remember not to do."

Queen Elizabeth has cancelled all engagements. Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla have postponed their European tour.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel will shutter restaurants, movie theaters and cafes.

Food and food service is known to be a major source of spreading disease. With that in mind from coast to coast buffets are closing or changing mode of operation.

In Las Vegas MGM Resorts will close buffets at Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Luxor and Excalibur and ARIA starting today, Sunday, March 15, 2020 and re-evaluate the closure every week. Wynn properties in Las Vegas and Boston not only closed their buffets but also their showrooms and cabarets.

Beginning last Friday the Dutch Apple Dinner theater in Lancaster, Pennsylvania instituted several new policies including: " The hot buffet line will no longer be customer served; we will now have attendants with gloves serving the buffet items as customers walk through the buffet. All guests will be served a choice of tossed or caesar salad to their table. The dessert buffet will now consist of pre-plated desserts. We have discontinued the use of all reusable table linens and are using only disposable paper products."

Starbucks has announced some stores may close, while others may transition to drive-in or app order only.

Getting creative and finding a way to impliment The Show Must Go On mantra is the production of Harry Townsend's Last Stand at City Center Stage II in New York City. According to a press release the show "will continue as scheduled. Per Governor Cuomo's advisement, the show will reduce the seating capacity of the theater by 50% to allow for social distancing. Our audience's health and well-being and that of our company are of the utmost importance and the venue has implemented advanced hygienic and health safety protocol precautions. We welcome audiences to experience this wonderful play that's relatable to just about every family, starring the iconic Tony Award winner Len Cariou and the great Broadway actor David Lansbury."

Another venue getting creative and doing it their way is Opera Grand Rapids one of the first in the world to stage comic opera.

While arts organizations around the country canceled performances and closed their doors, Opera Grand Rapids found a way to bring a performance safely to its community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rather than risk gathering a large audience in a confined space, the company received unprecedented permission from composer and librettist Derrick Wang to record and share the performance of Scalia/Ginsburg, an opera inspired by the unlikely friendship of Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia. The cast will perform in front of a very small audience at the Betty Van Andel Opera Center, where the production will be recorded by Aria Show Technology and then virtually broadcast to ticket holders this weekend.

“As the week progressed, the Met, Broadway and other arts organizations began closing their doors in an effort to halt the spread of this novel coronavirus,” said Emilee Syrewicze, executive director of Opera Grand Rapids. “We could not in good conscience continue with our scheduled performances in front of a live audience without potentially risking everyone’s health.

Scalia/Ginsburg The Opera. Image: Derrick Wang

“Yet, we did not want to simply cancel. Instead, in less than 24 hours, we found a way to transform this performance into an experience that highlights the power and possibility of opera. We are an opera company with a millennial staff committed to finding unique solutions and opportunities to bring opera to the masses - even in the face of a global pandemic. We hope that now, even more people will be able to tune into the virtual performance.”

Proving public health and the arts do not have to be mutually exclusive, the show would not have been able to go on without the support of title sponsor Metro Health - University of Michigan Health.

“As a physician, I believe the arts are essential to our overall well-being – especially at moments like this, when our routines are upended and anxiety comes into everyday life,” said Peter Y. Hahn, president and CEO of Metro Health. “We cannot lose sight of what enriches the human experience. As an organization that prizes innovation, Metro Health is proud to support this solution by Opera Grand Rapids to ensure that this historic performance of Scalia/Ginsburg can be appreciated in a new way.”

SPREADING THE WORD

MAJOR PETE BUTTIGIEG

Pete Buttigieg

was jaw dropping, perfectly magnificent and entertaining when he took over for Jimmy Kimmel last Thursday by hosting the ABC late night talker. The gig had been announced four days earlier, prior to the announcement of no audience. Major Pete learned of the "no audience" situation shortly before taping. He was polished perfection - from the opening stand up monologue (referring to no audience: “But when you don’t have a real audience, you have to fake one, just like Trump’s inauguration.”) to the hilarious, pre-taped skit in which he applied for a job at a pretzel store - to interviewing Sir Patrick Stewart to playing a quiz game with Sir Patrick as Lavar Burton served as MC.

Hosting a talk show isn't an easy job. In fact, it's one of the most difficult in television. Major Pete put the other hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert on the back burner.

Graduating from Harvard and Oxford as a Rhodes Scolar, Mayor Pete, who served in Afganistan as a Naval Intelligence Officer, is the better educated. He's nothing short of gracious and charismatic.He doesn't come across as mean spirited or a smart-mouth. While the other talk show hosts seemed thrown by no audience, Major Pete was unflappable. He even showed off his keyboard playing skills (he also plays guitar).

Fallon, who has a bad habit of laughing at his own jokes, was unable to be funny on his "comedy" opening, but rallied when interviewing Dr. Oz. Colbert was a disaster when he opened by running around an empty theatre. Then, out of breath, momentarily grabbed onto his desk, slightly put his head down and waited a few seasons before sitting down. If he was dizzy and waiting for that to pass, then he needs to immediately see a doctor. Otherwise, he is out of his element competing with Mayor Pete. Colbert, who was at the top of his mark during his Colbert Report tenure, has survived thanks to his unbridled, pure hatred of Donald Trump. Colbert got his stride back interviewing Dr. Sanja Gupta.

Mayor Pete, on the other hand, wasn't thrown by any event. He didn't just pop questions at Sir Patrick but was able to really converse. When Sir Patrick told about actually getting legally married while eating dinner in a Chinese restaurant, (and who knew he married a gal from Reno, Nevada) Mayor Pete was able to tell a sweet story about how, as mayor of South Bend, Indiana,, he married his first couple in which a piece of string was tied to the bride's finger as a wedding ring. Shortly thereafter she gave birth via C-section.

If Mayor Pete had his own late night talk show the other hosts would have their mettle tested.

In the meantime, talk shows have now suspended production for at least two weeks.

NBCUniversal has halded production of more than 35 shows. Among the shows affected include all three of Dick Wolf's popular Chicago dramas, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, as well as Law & Order SVU, The Kelly Clarkson Show and New Amsterdam.

CHARLES BARKLEY who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 after a 16-year professional career, said he will sell his 1993 NBA MVP trophy and memorabilia from the 1992 Dream Team Olympic to build affordable housing in hometown of Leeds, Alabama.

The retired basketball star made the announcement while being interviewed on WJOX 94.5.

“We’ve probably got 30 eyesores, as I call them, where houses used to be when I was growing up. Either a rotted-up house or there’s just weeds that are overgrown,” Barkley told the Birmingham radio station. “I want to work with the city of Leeds. I want them to give me the spaces, number one. I want them to give me the houses, and I’m going to use my own money selling my memorabilia.”

Barkley said much of his memorabilia has been stored at his grandmother’s home in Alabama, Sports Collectors Daily reported.

The entertainingly droll Barkley brought home two gold medals while playing for Team USA during the Olympic Games - once in 1992 in Barcelona and once in 1996 in Atlanta.

. . “So I checked with my daughter. All that crap is hers, to be honest with you. She said ‘Dad, if you’re going to build affordable houses in Leeds, I would love for you to do it.’”

Barkley told WJOX his daughter told him she wanted to keep one piece.

“I think she’s going to take the ’92 gold medal because of how sentimental it is to the world," Barkley said. "But all of that other stuff is just an eyesore.”

Sports fans will consider them treasures.

The "eyesores" will be gaveled down by sports card company Panini.

DUKE OF WINDSOR'S BAHAMAS ESTATE could be yours. Several years after Prince Edward, the Duke of Windsor, abdicated as King of England in 1936 to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, his mother, Queen Mary, told him she would cut off his allowance if he ever moved back to Britain. The queen sent him to the Bahamas and gave him the island's governor’s job where the couple bought a Bahamian mansion while awaiting completion of the renovation of Government House, the official residence.

On their arrival at the island of New Providence, the Windsors bought a large country estate on four acres located on a ridge just outside Nassau overlooking gorgeous ocean and bay views. The Spanish-colonial home was built in the 1930s by British-movie-producer Frederick Sigrist who was also a pioneer in aviation. The 15,000-square-foot main residence has retained its British character with wood-paneled walls and fireplaces, four of which were imported from English country homes. The lushly planted tropical grounds flow out from the terraces and loggia and contain flower gardens, fruit and coconut trees. The swimming pool and spa have views of the ocean and manicured grounds. Restaurants, shops and a casino are only a short stroll from the estate.

Named Sigrist House, Prince Edward's former home is one of the most exquisite properties in the islands and is priced at $8.5 million. The listing agent is Mark Hussey, of Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty, Nassau.

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

THE NEW YORK CITY MAYOR'S OFFICE OF MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT (MOME) congratulates the winners of the second round of the NYC Women's Fund for Media, Music and Theatre! This year, MOME awarded a groundbreaking 94 grants for a combined $2 million in funding.

The Women's Fund is a $5.5 million, three-year program funded by MOME that awards grants to projects in music, theatre, film, and digital media by, for, and about women. The NYC Women's Fund is the first of its kind in the country, and is part of MOME's larger efforts to increase fairness in the creative economy.

THEATER PRODUCTIONS RECEIVING AWARDS INCLUDE:

Lauren Petty - Title: All Over Everywhere
About: An interdisciplinary performance that involves confrontations between human beings and the imperiled natural world.

Lyndsey Bourne, The Tank - Title: I Was Unbecoming Then
About: A choral play about the minefield of girlhood - when good hair was never so important.

Melissa Moschitto, The Anthropologists - Title: No Pants In Tucson
About: A subversive physical comedy propelled by America’s obsession with regulating the female body.

Melisa Tien - Title: Swell
About: An avant-garde musical theater work featuring original songs by and about immigrants and the children of immigrants.

Lois Weaver - Title: Last Gasp
About: Set against a backdrop of climate catastrophe & political grief, Last Gasp is a call and response to the precarities of our age.

Jaime Sunwoo - Title: Specially Processed American Me
About: Unpacking SPAM's legacy in Asian America through a narrative collage of oral history, song, shadowplay, music, and cooking.

Tara Ahmadinejad, Piehole - Title: Disclaimer
About: An Iranian-American woman hosts an anti-war dinner party, but fears warp her plans.

Ellen Maddow, Talking Band - Title: The Lemon Girls, or Art for the Artless
About: A comedic celebration of older women - and those who will become older women.

Deepali Gupta, Lucy Jackson - Title: United States v. Gupta
About: A new music-driven theatrical work by Deepali Gupta, about her father’s highly publicized criminal trial for insider trading.

Mallory Catlett, Restless Productions NYC - Title: Rainbird
About: Rainbird is an opera that tells the story of a mysterious resurrection and one community's violent response to the unknown.

Tori Sampson, Vineyard Theatre and Workshop Center - Title: This Land Was Made
About: This theatrical work delves into liberation, peace, love, and self-defense. At Miss Trish's bar, it's all just talk - until the revolution walks through the door.

Julia May Jonas, The Bushwick Starr - Title: All Long True American Stories
About: A five-play theatrical event, created from a female perspective, responding to five "masculinity" plays of the American canon.

Alexis Roblan - Title: Samuel
About: Four adult sisters struggle to maintain their connections to each other and reality in this comedic horror play.

Sanaz Toossi, Roundabout Theatre Company - Title: English
About: English follows four adults in Iran studying for the TOEFL in hopes that one day, English will make them whole.

Rinne Groff, Clubbed Thumb - Title: The Woman's Party
About: This new play directed by Tara Ahmadinejad is about a madcap night in 1947 when two groups of women, each claiming to stand for the "real" National Woman's Party, attempt to oust their rivals physically and procedurally.

Debra Ann Byrd, New Heritage Theatre Group For Harlem Shakespeare Festival - Title: Becoming Othello: A Black Girl's Journey
About: The solo show is a poignant tale of a young woman's life and her gender flipped journey to becoming Othello.

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This is not your typical, totally boring textbook.

In the pages of How To Earn A Living As A Freelance Writer (the first to be lied to and the last to be paid) you'll find sex, celebrities, violence, threats, unethical editors, scummy managers and lawyers, treacherous press agents, sex discrimination; as well as a how-to for earning money by writing down words.

The staff of Broadway To Vegas wishes everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

FINAL OVATION

MAX VON SYDOW the Swedish stage and movie star died Sunday, March 8, 2020 in his home in France.. He was 90.

His theatrical background laid the base for a vast onscreen career in nearly a dozen Ingmar Bergman productions as well as defining roles in The Greatest Story Ever Told; The Exorcist and Game of Thrones.

Von Sydow featured in more than 100 films and television series. He received two Academy Award nominations for his performances in Pelle the Conqueror (1987) and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011).

On August 1, 1951, von Sydow married actress Christina Inga Britta Olin (1926–1998); the couple had two sons, Clas and Henrik, who appeared with him in the film Hawaii, playing his son at different ages. They divorced in 1979. He is survived by his second wife Catherine Brelet whom he married on April 30, 1997 in Provence, France.

MARK CROWLEYTony award winning playwright best known for The Boys in the Band, died March 7, 2020 in Manhattan. He suffered a heart attack, after which he underwent open-heart surgery and died while recovering. He was 83,

He got his career start as Natalie Wood's assistant.

His career was dedicated to creating works that often shed light on the queer experience, seen by audiences in theatre and on television. His other plays include the 1970 vacation drama Remote Asylum, the autobiographical A Breeze from the Gulf, the divorce comedy Avec Schmaltz, and the Catholic Church scandal exploration For Reasons That Remain Unclear.

In 1979 and 1980, Crowley served first as the executive script editor and then producer of the ABC series Hart to Hart, starring Wood's husband Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. His other credits include the teleplays for There Must Be a Pony (1986), Bluegrass (1988), People Like Us (1990), and a reunion special of Hart to Hart in 1996.

MERWIN FOARD who forged a successful career as a Broadway Standby died March 9, 2020 in his home state of North Carolina after a long battle with liver disease. He was 59.

He accrued more than a dozen Broadway credits understudying major roles in such Broadway productions as The Addams Family, Aladdin, and Sweeney Todd.

Foard was a main focus of the 2012 documentary The Standbys about the demanding world of Broadway standbys and understudies, because of his work backing up big names - Nathan Lane in The Addams Family, Michael Cerveris in Sweeney Todd and Brian Stokes Mitchell in Kiss Me, Kate.

In The Addams Family musical, he appeared as Gomez opposite actress Brooke Shields as Morticia.

Foard’s resume of non-standby stage and screen work was also long: He made his Broadway debut in Showboat in 1983, and went on to play roles ranging from Richard Henry Lee in 1776 to President Franklin Roosevelt in Annie.

His voice can be heard in the ensemble for 10 Disney movies including Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast and most recently, Frozen Fever.

He sang with CPCC Summer Theatre, playing Danny Zuko in Grease in 1981. He moved to New York, enrolled in the Manhattan School of Music and soon found himself on the Showboat stage. A month after that show closed, he was working with Angela Lansbury in the revival of Mame.

Foard’s final Broadway role was playing standby to the roles of Jafar and the Sultan in the sold-out Aladdin in 2015.

He moved back to Charlotte in recent years to seek treatment for chronic liver disease. His final stage role was as Joseph Pulitzer in the North Carolina Theater’s production of Newsies in Raleigh in July 2018.

Divorced from actress Rebecca Baxter, he is survived by their daughters Phoebe and Bailey Jean and his sister Betty Foard Stewart.

Next Column: March 22, 2020
Copyright: March 15, 2020 All Rights Reserved. Reviews, Interviews, Commentary, Photographs or Graphics from any Broadway To Vegas (TM) columns may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, utilized as leads, or used in any manner without permission, compensation and/or credit.
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