Week in Review: December 9

Chris Hadfield Takes to the Stage

Canada’s favourite astronaut is stepping into a new adventure – and the spotlight. The National Ballet of Canada has invited Hadfield to perform as a Cannon Doll in The Nutcracker on December 24. Each year, the ballet company invites different celebrity guests to perform the comical role. This year will mark the first time the role will be filled by an astronaut.

 

Picasso Painting Auctioned in Charity Raffle

Sotheby’s Paris is auctioning off the chance to purchase the 1914 Picasso Man in the Opera Hat for a mere €100 euros ($146 Canadian dollars). The painting is currently owned by The International Association for the Safeguart of Tyr, an organization that hopes to raise €5 million from the auction to use towards the protection of the ancient Lebanese city of Tyre. The draw takes place December 18.

 

Picasso's Man in the Opera Hat

 

NBC Proclaims The Sound of Music an Epic Success

NBC has released off-the-chart ratings for last week’s televised production of The Sound of Music staring country star Carrie Underwood. With 18.6 million viewers tuned in, Entertainment Division Chairman Robert Greenblatt has declared that NBC is keen to jump on another project of a similar nature in the new year – and perhaps more than one.

 

Jim Hall Dies, Age 83

A profoundly talented and influential jazz guitarist, Jim Hall passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday at his home in New York. With a career dating back to the 1950’s, Jim has worked with a long list of notable musicians including pianist Bill Evans, singer Ella Fitzgerald, and saxophonists Sonny Rollins and Paul Desmond – just to name a few.

 

In this hour-long documentary, the life and works of Jim Hall are explored.

 

 

Estelle Parsons Returns to Broadway

At 86 years old – an age when most performers are long retired – the 1968 Bonnie and Clyde Academy Award winner will once again take to the stage. This time Estelle will play Alexandra in The Velocity of Autumn, a new comedy from playwright Eric Coble. Alexandra, a 79-year-old artist, locks herself in her Brooklyn home with a mass of explosives after a quarrel with her family. It’s then up to her estranged son (Stephen Spinella) to try and talk some sense into her.

 

Categories: MPMG