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Big Oil Funding Museums Is Starting To Backfire Spectacularly

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Greenpeace activists shut down the British Museum for four hours Thursday when they scaled the building’s columns to protest an exhibition sponsored by oil company BP.



“Greenpeace is calling on the British Museum to end its partnership with BP,” Greenpeace spokesman Stefano Gelmini told The Huffington Post in an email. “The British Museum faces a choice — continue to prop up one of the world’s dirtiest companies, or drop BP and show a strong commitment to the present and future generations,” he added.


The exhibition in question, “Sunken Cities,” opened this week, showcasing artifacts from two ancient Egyptian cities that have been submerged in the Mediterranean sea for more than a thousand years. Greenpeace called BP's support of the show a “stunning irony,” since fossil fuel-spurred climate change contributes to rising sea levels and flooding.


The 85 activists who participated in the protest scaled the museum columns and posted banners on the facade. The 27-foot-long signs bore the words “sinking cities” along with the names of cities, like New Orleans and Manila, that have experienced devastating floods.


Gelmini was unable to say whether any of the participants were facing charges.



The protest came on the heels of two Tuesday demonstrations by BP Or Not BP?, a theatrical activist group dedicated to ending “oil sponsorship of culture, in all its forms.” As part of the protests, 10 performers crashed the evening VIP reception and read out lists of cities endangered by rising sea levels while a performer playing a BP representative drenched them in water.



Greenpeace alleges that BP exerted influence over the London museum, leading to “curatorial decisions on exhibitions that held strategic political and commercial value for BP.”


Both activist groups want the British Museum to cut ties with the oil company when their five-year partnership ends next year. They point to a recent comprehensive report by the Art Not Oil Coalition that appears to show BP and several art institutions — including the British Museum — collaborating in the oil company's favor. (BP Or Not BP? is a member of the Art Not Oil Coalition.)



The most worrying examples involve BP attempting to use the museum to further its influence in countries where the company wants to drill, said Jess Worth, co-founder of BP Or Not BP?


For instance, when BP was seeking drilling permits in Mexico, the company allegedly used a Days of the Dead festival to gain access to Mexican government officials.


BP spokeswoman Shannon Wiseman said the company “never” seeks “curatorial influence,” but admitted that BP and the museum work together to select exhibitions for BP to fund.


Museum spokeswoman Kate Morais said, “Corporate partners of the British Museum do not have any influence over the content of our exhibitions.” She added that the Days of the Dead festival was "produced in collaboration with the Mexican Embassy, as part of the UK Mexico Year" and "there were therefore understandably Mexican government representatives present at key moments in the festival which was enjoyed by 80,000 visitors."


But as long as the museum continues to get BP funding, protests probably aren’t going away.


"They can't allow BP to sponsor an exhibition called 'Sunken Cities' and not expect these kinds of repercussions,” Worth said.

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This Is How Architects Imagine Manhattan's Skyline Of The Future

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Fourteen years from now, New York's skyline will be one vastly different than the recognizable profile visible today.


With dozens of new projects set to make their mark on the city, the creative design company Visualhouse -- specializing in 3D visualizations -- has released a rendering of New York in 2030. “This image shows the who’s who of modern architecture -- with buildings designed by Jean Nouvel,Rafael Vinoly, Bjarke Ingels Group, SOM, Foster + Partners, and Kohn Pedersen Fox, just to name a few," said Visualhouse CEO and Founder, Rob Herrick. "How these modern day masterpieces all fit together in the sky space, that will be the legacy for New Yorkers in 2030 and beyond." 




The rendering includes recently opened buildings, under construction projects, and future proposals, to offer a hypothetical view of a dramatically more vertiginous New York. Some of these additions include Nordstrom Tower, which, when completed, will have the tallest roof in the United States; BIG’s nearly complete VIA 57 WEST432 Park Avenue; and various projects around the newly developed Hudson Yards site, such as 30 and 35 Hudson Yards (both by Kohn Pedersen Fox), 15 Hudson Yards by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and SOM’s nearby office and residential complex, Manhattan West.


While many of these projects have already begun construction, only time will tell if this hypothetical New York materializes, and we can only wonder what other surprises may be in store for one of the world's most recognized skylines. 


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The Captivating 'Weiner' Shows A Political Career Combusting In Real Time

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"Shit. This is the worst."


Those are the first words that escape Anthony Weiner's mouth in the new documentary "Weiner." Holding a phone to his ear and looking exasperated, he repeats, "This is the worst. Doing a documentary on my scandal." Someone apparently comes on the other end of the line, and Weiner feigns enthusiasm. "Hi," he exclaims as a pinched look of anxiety sets in. Whatever news he's awaiting can't be great, but Weiner is trained in the fine art of politics. By this point in his career, all the world's a stage. 


"I don't know," he says, addressing the camera after the call has ended. "I guess the punchline is true about me: I did the things. But I did a lot of other things too." Weiner looks down longingly.


This is the first of countless "holy shit" moments in "Weiner," the entire 96 minutes of which is really just one long onslaught of "holy shit" moments. The fact that it exists at all is flooring. No movie since "The War Room" -- the 1993 documentary detailing Bill Clinton's first presidential bid -- has provided such a frank look at the inner workings of a political campaign. It just so happens this one descended into one of the most embarrassing and degrading scandals of our time.


The phone call that opens the movie? That's Weiner learning he's about to be embroiled in yet another career-threatening scorcher. After that, it becomes impossible to decide which "Weiner" scenes are the most shocking. Is it the meeting where dejected campaign staffers air their candid frustrations? Is it the sight of him laughing at footage of his own cringeworthy implosion on MSNBC while his wife, longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, looks on in disbelief? How about rehearsing the inflections he will choose when informing the public he is "profoundly sorry"? Maybe it's Abedin refusing to appear in one of his final campaign ads? No, in reality, none of those compare to the footage of Sydney Leathers, the young porn actress Weiner had sexted during his second scandal, stalking him on Election Day. Leathers is seen chasing him through a McDonald's near the site of his concession speech.


Co-director Josh Kriegman gained such unbridled access to Weiner after working for him during part of Weiner's 12 years as a New York member of the House of Representatives, even as Weiner's chief of staff during the 2005-06 term. When Weiner resigned in 2011 after tweeting a suggestive photo of his groin, Kriegman approached him about a documentary outlining the aftermath of the scandal. Upon deciding to run for New York mayor in 2013, Weiner agreed to let Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg, the director of PBS' "The Trial of Saddam Hussein," document what he hoped would be a comeback story. And at first, it was. 


Despite the apprehension of many pundits, the Brooklyn native gained rapid momentum. His platforms, largely built on aiding the middle class, lent him the lead in multiple polls. As evidence, the film juxtaposes a spirited Weiner rally with a near-empty one for Bill de Blasio, who ultimately won the election. But three months after his campaign began, Weiner was caught once again sexting younger women, this time under the all-too-perfect alias Carlos Danger. Here is where the story kicks into high gear.



But "Weiner" goes beyond the salacious evidence of a disgraced politician melding a public battle with his private demons. It may have seemed foolish, but letting Steinberg and Kriegman in so thoroughly proves the best decision Weiner could have made, as the greatest achievement of this movie -- culled from 400 hours of footage -- is that it humanizes him without being deferential. Arriving amid arguably the wildest presidential election in history, "Weiner" charts the theatrical nature of a grueling political bout and the media's culpability in glamorizing public figures' transgressions. It is also relentless in its honesty about a man desperate to redeem himself and nearly incapable of speaking truthfully about the timeline of his lewd flirtations.


Even when the second scandal broke, Weiner didn't relent and the directors' access endured. They still showed up at their own will to chronicle campaign stops, media appearances and the goings-on at Weiner's headquarters. The only terms that had been set remained intact: Whenever Weiner and Abedin requested privacy, it was granted.


"What grounded us was the idea of showing what you see in media and then showing the behind-the-scenes," Steinberg told The Huffington Post last week. "We did that throughout. You could see the judgment that was against Huma at one point, and then you see her at home putting her kid to sleep. ... You see the noise and then you see the silence." 


To be clear, "Weiner" doesn't absolve its titular subject. Nothing can, really. But you may still find yourself feeling bad for him. You may recognize that he is an intelligent man with admirable political aspirations, and you may blanch at the crude New Yorkers who thought it appropriate to approach Weiner on the street and holler their dissent in his face. If nothing else, you will certainly sympathize with Abedin, who, through it all, stayed by Weiner's side, remaining controlled and dignified. 


"Our intention going into it was to take this person -- both these people, really, Anthony and Huma -- who had been so much reduced to caricature versions of themselves, and to get a chance to really round them out as full human beings," Kriegman said.



Kriegman and Steinberg have offered Weiner and Abedin the opportunity to see the documentary multiple times, but neither the politician nor his wife wants to relive the experience it depicts. In Weiner's case, one must wonder if that's how he really feels, considering he is seen in the film chortling at his own disastrous appearance on Lawrence O'Donnell's show. The Clinton family also has not requested to see the movie, despite the fact that Abedin serves as the vice chairwoman of Hillary's current campaign. 


But what really gives "Weiner" a gross resonance is the presidential dogfight that is currently unfolding. More specifically, it's Donald Trump, who is seen in a brief video from 2013 saying, "We don’t want perverts elected in New York City!" 


When the movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, its contents netted instant comparisons to the spectacle that was materializing on a national stage. Much in the same way that "Weiner" holds news outlets accountable for their sensationalized fixations on Weiner's personal life, countless think pieces have dissected whether the media are to blame for Trump's ascendency. In some ways, we can draw a thin line linking the audacity that made both Weiner and Trump attractive candidates for the many American who are disenfranchised with calculated establishment politics.


The directors are keenly aware of their movie's significance.


"It provides a look at our politics as driven by an insatiable appetite for entertainment and spectacle," Steinberg said. "We don’t have to look very far in terms of Donald Trump to see that. And while I think Anthony and Donald Trump are very different politically and personally, they both understood that in order to be a successful politician in today’s 24-hour news cycle, you need to put on a show. By being brash and by having an air of authenticity, you get attention and you get votes. We're really excited about how this film raises questions about our politics and how our media is functioning today." 


"Weiner" opens in New York and Los Angeles on May 20. The movie will premiere on Showtime in October.

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Striking Photos Show The Very Real Places Moms Find Themselves Breastfeeding

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For breastfeeding moms on the go, nursing in public can be a part of everyday life. This photo series from Cloak -- a collection of clothes designed to accommodate nursing moms -- celebrates these real breastfeeding moments.


In the photos, moms Asiya Vickers, Raychelle Balentien and Yael Marmon breastfeed in public situations where they feel comfortable -- with and without covers, in a subway station, on a park bench, at a cafe and more.



"We wanted to create photography that demonstrates the courage and fortitude of those who choose to breastfeed in public, and do so as they resume work and daily life," creative director and co-producer Maggie Cely told The Huffington Post, noting the controversy that still surrounds this issue today.


Cely said the creators issued a callout to friends and acquaintances, and she reached out to her own network to find mothers to participate in the photo series. The pictures are meant to be a candid depiction of breastfeeding in a busy environment, in contrast to the many glamorous, ethereal breastfeeding portraits that exist.


"As a nursing mother of two who pumped or nursed each baby for over a year, I was shocked at how incredibly challenging it was to nurse in public,"Cloak founder Mara Kelly told HuffPost. "At the same time, the last thing I wanted to do was be tethered to my apartment all the time."


Keep scrolling to see more photos of moms breastfeeding on the go. To learn more about Cloak's mission to support nursing moms, visit the company's website and Kickstarter page.  


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Rare Copies Of 13th Amendment, Emancipation Proclamation Go On Sale

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Two of the most important documents of American history could soon be yours, if you have millions to spend. 


Rare copies of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the Emancipation Proclamation will be sold by Sotheby's, an auction house in New York, during its “Two Centuries of American History” auction on May 25. It is the first time both copies of the anti-slavery documents will be up for sale, simultaneously. 


"The significance of them is really overwhelming," Selby Kiffer, international senior specialist for books and manuscripts at Sotheby's, told the Huffington Post. "In terms of historical significance -- other than the Declaration of Independence, bill of rights and the constitution -- these rare two documents are some of the greatest documents of American history."


The 13th Amendment, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, is only one of 14 original copies that exist, most of which live within the confines of various museums and institutions, Kiffer said to HuffPost. Lincoln, who signed the document on February 1, 1865, called the amendment a "king's cure for all the evils." A copy was consigned by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American history, a non-profit dedicated to the development and preservation of history education, which is selling the document to raise money for the resources it needs.  


The copy of the Emancipation Proclamation up for auction -- which was dated January 1, 1983, and freed all slaves in confederate-owned territory -- is one of 27 copies in existence, 20 of which are framed in institutions. The remaining copies are owned by private collectors, one of whom, Kiffer said, bought a copy of the document from Sotheby's in 1989 and is now putting it back up for auction.  


The anti-slavery documents will be on sale to the public and are expected to attract millions of dollars. The Emancipation Proclamation is estimated to fetch between $1.5 to $2 million while the 13th Amendment is estimated to sell between $2 to $3 million.  

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Artist Transforms 19th Century Church Into Stunning Kaleidoscope Of Color

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The walls of a historic 19th century church are now bathed in rainbow lights thanks to an installation by UK artist Liz West.


The 700 colored acrylic mirrors that make up West's "Our Colour Reflection" installation shoot light up the ironstone walls of St John's Church, built in 1891 and which now serves as an arts center in Scunthorpe, England.



West created mirrors in 15 different colors which range in diameter from 30 to 60 centimeters. Set at different heights, they reflect the former church's walls, ceiling and nave and reveal parts of the architecture that might otherwise go unnoticed.


"To me, the title 'Our Colour Reflection' speaks about both the physical mirroring of the architecture and visitors experiencing the installation but also the emotional, mental and perhaps spiritual pondering that we all may do when given the time or chance," West told The Huffington Post.



The artist said she spent two years researching and planning the installation, taking time to consider the history of the building and the connotations of working within a former place of worship.


Her mirrors mimic the soft, multicolored light reflected through stained-glass windows, frequently associated with church aesthetics. The symbolism has not been lost on visitors. 


"One lady observed that to her it felt like the stained glass had fallen out of the windows and onto the floor, shimmering in the sunlight," West said.



The artist frequently plays with bright light and color in her installations, many of which utilize fluorescent lights. "Our Colour Reflection," by contrast, relies on natural light and thus shifts in character depending on the time of day.


"It is playful, elegant, engaging and probably my most thoughtful and quiet work," West said.


"Our Colour Reflection" opened on May 14 and runs until June 25.


Scroll down to see more photos of the installation:


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The Long, Complex And Very NSFW Relationship Between Photography And Sex Work

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Warning: This article contains nudity and may not be appropriate for work environments. 



A photographer by the name of E.J. Bellocq was born in New Orleans in August 1873 to an aristocratic family. He was born with a condition similar to artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, which left Bellocq with a stunted, misshapen physique and a forehead that came to a point. His affliction cast him as an outsider, and as such, fellow outsiders welcomed him into their circles. 


Although he made his living as a commercial photographer, snapping photos of ships and machinery, Bellocq would make frequent, furtive trips to New Orleans' red-light district, called Storyville. There, he took countless portraits of sex workers in their homes or the brothels at which they worked. 


Bellocq's photos are exceptional in that they depict their subjects not as one-dimensional pinups or targets for the male gaze, but as real people on the job. Some women are fully dressed, lounging in their homes, tinkering with their things, playing with a pet. Others are nude, but, even when reclining on a bed, their faces reveal the artifice of the pose, as if the subject and viewer are together laughing at the silliness of the gesture. 



In 1949, at 76 years old, Bellocq fell down some stairs and hit his head, only to die a few days later. His brother found the photo negatives in his apartment and sold them to a junk shop. Around 20 years later they were discovered by a fellow photographer who realized their value. 


Bellocq was not the first photographer to document the world of prostitution so often kept hidden from public view. And he is certainly not the last. An exhibition titled "Scarlet Muse" at Daniel Cooney Fine Art will examine the work of 20 photographers from the 19th century to the present, tracing the storied and complex relationship between photography and prostitution.  


The alliance between sex work and photography has been convoluted from the start, teetering back and forth between empowering and exploitative, empathetic and objectifying. The images in Cooney's exhibition aren't just revealing in their exposure of flesh, they lay bare the taboo subject matters so often kept of of sight, offering the beauty and the ugliness without apology. 



The journey began with a daguerrotype dating back to the 1850s. The image, by August Braquehais, depicts a dark-haired young woman in a white gown and stockings, her legs spread to reveal a darkness between her limbs. She grazes her lips with her finger while gazing intently at the viewer. Whether she's attempting to seduce the photographer or warn him to remain silent, the gesture seems more illicit than the nudity. 


As time went on, daguerrotypes gave way to black-and-white film, which later made room for color. The subjects shift as well, from old-school courtesans to mid-century transgender bohemians in Paris to the prostitutes on the forefront of San Francisco's gay liberation movement. Aside from just sharing the stories of their subjects, the images together form a larger narrative of sexual identity, liberation and transgression. 


In the 1940s and beyond, Bob Mizer, a pioneer of homoerotic photography, snapped deliciously kitschy photographs of scantily clad hunks, subverting the tropes of pinup culture with a man as the object of desire. In the '90s, artist Philip-Lorca diCorcia embarked on a conceptual series titled "Hustlers," in which he picked up male prostitutes in Hollywood to take their picture, compensating them with their working rate. 



One of the more recent photographers represented in the exhibition is Scot Sothern, who chronicled the sex workers walking the streets of Los Angeles in the 1970s and '80s. The black-and-white photos depict the sordid underbelly of LA nightlife, mixed with Sothern's genuine fascination, concern and, yes, sometimes arousal.


"I’d like to think I’ve made pictures that evoke empathy," Sothern said in an earlier interview with The Huffington Post. "Much of it is exploitation and I can’t claim I’ve made anyone’s life better by taking their picture, but, you know, I [want] people to see the wrongs they would otherwise turn their backs to. I think art is best used when it’s subversive and I’ve always had kind of a fuck-you attitude."


Sothern's comment illuminates a connection with Bellocq's work, in that the types of artists often drawn toward subject matter on the margins of society feel similarly outside of norms themselves. Although the subjects' bodies are in full view, the photographers' visions are equally laid bare. As Sothern said: "If I’m doing it right, every picture is a selfie. If you look at one of my pictures and you feel it in your gut then you are going to think about it as well, and you can’t do that without making some kind of judgement on the guy who snapped the shutter. I think I’m right there naked to the world in every shot."


Maybe you buy it, maybe you don't, but surely there's some invisible thread that has kept photographers enamored with the oldest profession for so many centuries. Whether pure fascination, an obsession with defiance, camaraderie, compassion, or corrupt curiosity, we may never be certain. 


"Scarlet Muse" will run from June 9 to July 22, 2016 at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York. 


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Arianna Schools Trevor Noah On The Sleep Revolution

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Arianna Huffington visited "The Daily Show" on Thursday to talk with Trevor Noah about sleep deprivation, the role of media in the 2016 election, and the sleep habits of a certain presidential candidate. When it comes to sleep deprivation and exhaustion, Huffington said, “Politicians brag about it, instead of effectively admitting that they are making decisions while drunk. Because that’s what science shows.”


 They also explored the meaning behind one of Trevor's tweets.






Watch the clip for the rest of their conversation.

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Single Dad Illustrates Life With His Daughter In Heartwarming Comics

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French dad and teacher Yannick Vicente has always enjoyed drawing, but lately, life with his 4-year-old daughter Anaé has breathed new life into his art.


"My daughter is an endless source of inspiration," Vicente told The Huffington Post. Two weeks ago, the single dad started posting illustrations of his day-to-day life with Anaé on his Facebook and Twitter, and from there, they've exploded across the internet. "I've received hundreds of messages from parents around the world," Vicente said. 



"Parents recognize moments of life they have lived with their children," he added. "Many thanked me and said they were moved."


Vicente, who has also illustrated children's books since becoming a father, said the popularity of his comics is humbling, but that this project is above all, something special for his daughter. And he plans to keep illustrating their time together for as long as she likes.


As for her reaction, Anaé loves the illustrations, but "she laughs a lot because she finds that I am thinner in the drawings," Vicente told HuffPost. "Her favorite is the one with the hairbrush."


Keep scrolling and visit Vicente's Facebook page to see his heartwarming illustrations of fatherhood.



H/T Upworthy

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Dad Brightens Kids' Days With Encouraging Lunch Box Notes

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Saying Luke Pieczynski is dedicated to adding art and creativity to his family's days is probably an understatement.


For more than 380 consecutive days, the father of three, who lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, has sketched notes for his kids with charming doodles and affirmations.




Pieczynski told The Huffington Post he and his wife have hidden little notes for each other to find for years, which partly inspired the notes for his kids. However, the more elaborate designs were prompted by the death of his oldest daughter's teacher. 


"She really took to her teacher and loved her like she loves her family," Pieczynski said. "Three months into the school year we were informed that her teacher was murdered, and we, as parents, had to figure out how to explain death to a 4-year-old."


Pieczynski told HuffPost that the teacher inspired his daughter, who is now 5, to value creativity. To help continue that encouragement, he decided to create works of art to add to her lunch.


"My hope was just to give her something to smile about during a very tough time for everyone at her school," he said.




Soon, family and friends began encouraging Pieczynski to post his sketches online. The dad was sketching two to three notes a week at that point, but when he decided to share them with a larger audience, he committed to completing at least one sketch every day. He's now drawn notes for more than 380 consecutive days. 


Though his oldest child was the first to get the notes in her lunch, Pieczynski said his middle child started showing interest in them a few months ago so now they both get surprises at lunchtime. For school days, he completes sketches the night before so he can add them to their lunches the following morning, and on weekends, he creates the notes by the end of the day to share with his kids. For now, the dad has no plans to stop sharing his sketches (and a bit of creativity) with his family. 


"As long as my kids like them I'll keep creating them," he said.


Check out more of Pieczynski's sketches below and head over to Lunch Note Sketch on Instagram and Facebook to learn more. 












H/T DaddiLife

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'Waitress' Star Finds Strength In The Female Narrative On Broadway

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Much of the buzz surrounding “Waitress,” which is now playing at New York’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre, has emphasized the musical’s all-female creative team — the first in Broadway history.


Still, one person hadn’t picked up on that anomaly until late in the game: the show’s leading lady, Jessie Mueller.


“I honestly didn’t know that was the case until somebody brought it up. I hadn’t noticed,” Mueller told The Huffington Post. Ultimately, she believes her oversight is a positive thing: “Everybody was there simply because they were the best person for the job.”


To her point, few new Broadway musicals boast such an impressive pedigree. “Waitress,” which is based on Adrienne Shelly’s 2007 film of the same name, is directed by Diane Paulus, who nabbed a Tony Award for the 2013 revival of “Pippin.” Choreographer Lorin Latarro, who worked on the immersive theater sensation, “Queen of the Night,” was brought in to give the cast slick moves, while Jessie Nelson ("I Am Sam") provided the book. Then, of course, there’s the anthemic, pop-rock score, written by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles.



“Waitress” finds its heartbeat, however, in Mueller. The 33-year-old singer-actress brings undeniable warmth and charm to the role of Jenna Hunterson, a waitress and pie-making aficionado at a small-town diner who feels trapped in a loveless relationship with an abusive husband (Nick Cordero). After discovering that she’s pregnant, Jenna finds herself in a surprise affair with her gynecologist (Drew Gehling), and sets out on a journey of self re-discovery with the help of a few imaginative pie recipes.



“I think it’s really important for women to see a character who has not taken care of herself, but then see that person taking control again and experiencing a redemption.”



Mueller, who hails from Evanston, Illinois, first played the role in a 2014 workshop during her Tony-winning run as Carole King in the smash musical, “Beautiful,” and said she connected to the “inherent goodness” of Jenna, portrayed by Keri Russell in the 2007 film.


“There’s something about her soul that I just really loved,” Mueller said. “There’s a lot of pain there, but there’s also a lot of strength. That really appealed to me.”



Before “Waitress” began its out-of-town run in Cambridge, Massachusetts last August, Mueller spent time with victims of sexual and domestic violence at the Mount Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention (SAVI) program in New York. That process, she said, was an “interesting challenge” that allowed her to get inside Jenna’s head but made her feel “blessed to not know what that’s like firsthand.” 


Mueller wants audiences to see her portrayal of Jenna as a cautionary, albeit uplifting, tale that’s told with plenty of humor. Though “Waitress” tackles a number of serious themes, it offers its star plenty of opportunities to show off her comedic chops, too. In fact, Mueller said her favorite number is not her centerpiece ballad, “She Used to Be Mine,” but rather the sexy “Bad Idea,” which finds Jenna and her doctor in flagrante delicto atop an examination table.


Discovering those nuggets of comic relief, she said, was “hugely satisfying” and strengthened the musical's redemptive message. 



“In today’s society, I still think young women are taught to stay out of the way, take care of everybody else and not put themselves first,” she said. “I think it’s really important for women to see a character who has not taken care of herself, but then see that person taking control again and experiencing a redemption.”


Certainly, that work has paid off. The show, which opened on April 25, received four Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for Mueller.


Pointing to her Tony victory for “Beautiful” just two years ago, Mueller is refreshingly modest about the critical raves she’s received for “Waitress." Still, she said, “To be recognized for this show, which we have worked so hard on and I love so much… I feel really, really lucky." 



Given that "Waitress" arrived at a time when the need for diverse narratives has dominated the cultural discourse around show business, Mueller said she is proud to be associated with a musical that's embraced a female perspective wholeheartedly. 


“If young women can look at this show and say, ‘Oh, I can be a book writer, I can be a director, I can be a choreographer,’ that’s such a great thing, because it hasn’t happened before,” she said. “I hope that people are just more open than ever to hiring the best person for the job, no matter what their gender or their sexual orientation or their race is, and that we’re finally getting to a point where we are inclusive and not taking anyone out of the equation.”

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America Ferrera Breaks Down The Difference Between Tokenism And 'True Diversity'

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America Ferrera wants to remind Hollywood that tokenism is not "true diversity."


The "Superstore" producer/actress delved deep into the state of diversity in television and film in a guest blog published Wednesday on Deadline.com. Ferrera wrote about her personal experiences in the industry, and warned that "the tricky thing with casting diversely is avoiding the kind of tokenism that only pays lip service to the issue." 


Ferrera breaks down the issue further by explaining how tokenism greatly differs from truly diverse casting. This distinction, she writes, is particularly important as the industry looks to embrace diversity. 



Tokenism is about inserting diverse characters because you feel you have to; true diversity means writing characters that aren’t just defined by the color of their skin, and casting the right actor for the role.



During a conversation with NPR in January, Ferrera revealed that the role of Amy on NBC's "Superstore" was the first time in her career she was offered a character that wasn't written for a Latina. And she wasn't alone, in her guest blog for Deadline she once again stressed that "Superstore" stars Colton Dunn and Nico Santos were also cast in roles not specifically written as Black or Asian characters. 


"Of course, when I stepped into the role of Amy, she became Latina because I’m Latina… It just wasn’t her only point of definition," she wrote in her blog for Deadline. "We’re all the sum of our experiences. I don’t know any people of color who go around thinking, 'I’m going grocery shopping as a Latina,' or, 'I’m going to read this book as an Asian person.'"


And "Superstore" has found success with its diverse cast, it became NBC’s highest rated first-year comedy in two years and was renewed for a second season in February. But Ferrera knows there is still plenty of work to be done in the industry when it comes to diversity. 


"Diversity is on everyone’s agenda today, but it’s something I’ve had to think about my entire career, because, in a way, it’s like the tax you pay for being a person of color in this industry," she wrote in her blog. "You don’t get to avoid these questions. It’d be great to go and audition for roles that don’t have to be representative of every Latino person on the planet, but we aren’t always given that freedom. I can’t just play a housekeeper or a drug dealer, no matter how interesting the character might be, because I always have to think about whether I want to play a role that’s perpetuating the same old stereotypes."


Read the "Superstore" actress' full must-read guest column on Deadline.com. 

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The Heartbreaking Story Behind Iconic Children's Book 'Love You Forever'

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When "Love You Forever" was published in 1986, parents across the country sang its sweet refrain to their children at bedtime, selling millions of copies in its first few years. By 2001 it was listed as No. 4 on Publishers Weekly's list of best-selling children's books.


But before "Love You Forever" was a nursery staple, it was a simple, four-line poem that children's book author Robert Munsch would sing silently to himself after his wife gave birth to a stillborn baby. It was the second stillbirth the couple had to mourn.


Munsch says the song was too painful to sing out loud. For a long time, he couldn't even share it with his wife.


"[The song] was my way of crying," Munsch told The Huffington Post.



After the second stillbirth, doctors told the couple that they would never be able to conceive -- news that devastated Munsch, who had worked in orphanages, received a master's degree in Child Studies, and dedicated his life to writing children's books.


"You know when someone walks up to you and gives you a sucker punch right in the solar plexus? [It felt] like that," Munsch told HuffPost.


The couple went on to adopt three children, but Munsch used his song as a way to grieve their two previous losses. He would sing it to himself like a silent lullaby, never writing it down or saying it out loud. 


Then, one day, a story popped into his head.


"My stories," Munsch told HuffPost, usually "come gradually through storytelling. This one came all of a sudden."



Munsch often performed his material in front of crowds before writing anything down. One day, the song was in the back of his mind while he was performing at a theater. He made up a story to accompany the song on the spot, and just like that, "Love You Forever" poured out on stage.


Unlike his past work, which could take years of performing to flesh out, this one came out whole. Munsch told his audience about a mother who would sing her son the same lullaby at night throughout every phase of his life -- even sneaking into his room to sing it when he's fully grown. 


It was the first time anyone -- including Munsch's wife -- heard the now iconic song, and Munsch says the audience was visibly emotional. As for his wife, "she felt it, too."


When Munsch brought the story to his publisher to be produced as a book, they turned it down, saying it was too dark for the children's genre. His distributer decided to publish the book instead.


"He said when he read it, he just felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up," Munsch said.



Some readers have found the mother's actions in the story strange, but many others have been moved by her unconditional love. Online reviewers recall their parents singing their own versions of the song or say they still get choked up when they read the book as an adult. 


Munsch believes the story resonates with readers because it affects both parents and children.


"The book is kind of an ideal, the way we hope things will happen," Munsch told HuffPost. "It's the only one of my books that escaped being a children's book."



Munsch, now 70 years old, has written 50 children's books throughout his career. His three adopted children -- Andrew, Julie and Tyya -- have starred in five of them.


He retired from storytelling after he suffered a stroke in 2008 and says he now finds himself relating to the mother in "Love You Forever" when she's old and sick at the end of the story.


He's still proud of the book, not only because it's his most successful, but because he hopes it offers solace for others just as it did for him.


"For someone who picks up the book, it's their story, not mine." Munsch said.

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Newborns Pose In Plaster Casts Of Their Moms' Pregnant Bellies

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Jocelyn Conway takes an original approach to newborn photos.


Since February 2015, the U.K. photographer has been taking pictures of babies in "bump bowls" -- plaster casts of their mothers' pregnant bellies.



"I love the idea of the baby being back in its bump for a photo!" Conway told The Huffington Post. "The babies usually love being back in their casts! They seem to settle straight back in to their 'home' for the last nine months! It's lovely to see!"


The photographer took a body casting course five years ago, and eventually came up with the idea for her now trademarked "Bump Bowl" project to put her new skills into practice. She generally makes the casts when the mother is about 34 to 36 weeks pregnant.


For the safety and comfort of the babies, each image is created as a composite of multiple photos, so the newborn is always be physically supported in the bowl.



Said Conway, "I love doing the bump casts. It's such a privilege to be a part of someone's life at such a special time, and be involved in making memories for the family and for the baby when he or she is older."


Keep scrolling and visit Conway's website to see more of her creative newborn photos and behind the scenes process.



H/T BabyCenter

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Photographer Reveals How He Got The 'Truth' Out Of Vladimir Putin

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Platon, a photographer who's worked with many top world leaders, was sent to Moscow in 2007 to take pictures of Russian president Vladimir Putin when he was named Time Magazine's "Person of the Year." 


After an intimidating start, Platon broke the ice by asking the Russian leader if he was a fan of The Beatles. When Putin revealed he too loved the group, Platon says the pop culture connection completely changed the dynamic of their interaction and helped him get the "truth" out of Putin. 


In the video above, watch Platon explain what it was like working with Putin and see the powerful image that has become "a banner to show everything that's wrong with power and authority in Russia."

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Sometimes Tom Hiddleston Apologizes For Almost Punching People On Set

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Tom Hiddleston is used to flashy fight sequences. In the three Marvel movies he's made (and the fourth one that will shoot this summer), these elaborately choreographed scenes are staged in front of green screens. We may panic watching Loki dangle from the side of the rainbow bridge in Asgard, but obviously no children, small animals or hunky Internet boyfriends were harmed in the making of the "Thor" films.


Hiddleston's latest movie, "High-Rise," is far less action-driven, and perhaps that's why the movie's fight scene was far more dangerous. Or at least he was worried it would be. 


HIddleston plays Dr. Robert Laing, a 1970s pathologist who moves into a chic, full-service London apartment tower seized by a dystopian class structure. In the 40-story building, the privileged reside in the top half, while the underclass is relegated to the bottom floors. The besuited Laing moves to the 25th story following the death of his wife, and he is quickly invited to opulent parties thrown in the owner's penthouse. After a power outage, resources dwindle and a surreal tribe warfare breaks out. From there, the movie -- based on J.G. Ballard's novel and directed by Ben Wheatley -- gets pretty bonkers.



None of it is as adrenaline-inducing as Hiddleston's superhero work, but that's precisely why the 35-year-old Brit had to apologize in advance to a stuntman in case he inadvertently clocked him. The scene in question is a raid at the high-rise's in-house supermarket, where supplies have grown scarce. A brawl erupts.


"The raid ... was very, very chaotic," Hiddleston said. "I shook hands with a stuntman who I knew was going to play somebody involved in a fight with me. Ben had said, 'I don’t want this to look like a superhero fight,' and he said that as a huge fan of superhero films. He said, 'I don’t want this to look choreographed so that it has kinetic action. ... Do what you need to do, warm up, plan whatever you need to plan.'"


Wheatley shot the scene with handheld cameras so as not to need unnecessary cuts in the editing room, meaning the action was captured continuously. He offered for Hiddleston to wear pads for protection, but the actor's "transparent" white dress shirt didn't allow it.


"But the stuntman was padded up," Hiddleston said. "We just shook hands and we were on a parquet floor, and we just rolled around. We warmed up a bit and we looked at each other and I said, 'I apologize in advance if I accidentally clip you on the ear.'"


Both men made it out unscathed, and Hiddleston called the experience of staging a fight sequence on the fly "refreshing." Now he's off to the end days of Ragnarök, where the character stakes are high but the actors' physical risks, if all goes well, are relatively low. (No offense to Robert Downey Jr., of course.)


"High-Rise" is now in limited released and available on-demand. It also stars Elisabeth Moss, Sienna Miller, Jeremy Irons, Luke Evans and James Purefoy.

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Peek Behind The Scenes At One Of Apple's Most Secretive Facilities

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Unlike actual apples, the fruits of Apple Inc.'s labor don't grow on trees. They're made by humans, some of whom labor long hours for a meager monthly wage that would barely buy them an iPhone of their own.


A feature published last month by Bloomberg's Shai Oster offers a rare peek inside one of Apple's most secretive production centers: the Pegatron factory on the outskirts of Shanghai, where some 50,000 Chinese workers transform raw silicon and plastic into the iPhone 6S.


The factory sits on a sprawling campus that includes cafeterias, courtyards and its own fire and police stations. Safety netting spans the gaps beneath catwalks. Face scanners and security gates greet workers at the door, where they must present an ID badge to gain entry. 


The security measures are designed to keep employees from working more than 60 hours a week, according to Bloomberg. But some workers say they need to exceed the 60-hour limit just to make ends meet. 


Pegatron does make available a few concessions to its workers' humanity, such as snack bars and lounge areas outfitted with Wi-Fi. Such spaces offer hints that factories in China might be entering a new era, where a modicum of comfort softens the brutal efficiency of factories past.


While inside the Pegatron factory, photographer Qilai Shen snapped a series of photos of subjects alternatively moving and mundane, capturing the rhythm and pulse of a place where nearly no outsiders go.


Like the iPhone's silicon guts, the whirring machinery of Apple's factories often remains hidden. Now, here it is on full display:


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Colombian Poet Has The Perfect Clapback For People Who Say He Doesn't Look Latino

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Carlos Andrés Gómez has light-skin and green eyes. And yes, he is Latino.


"After the show she asked me: 'Carlos Andrés Gómez is your stage name, right? I mean I’ve never met a Hispanic who looks like you, so, uh, what’s your real name?'”


The Colombian author and HBO Def Poet shared this anecdote in his poem "Juan Valdez," which has amassed more than 700,000 views since MiTu posted it on Facebook on May 13. Gómez told The Huffington Post the question regarding his name is "verbatim" what a woman asked him a few years ago after a performance in Indiana. 


"I didn't have a clever or poignant response in the moment," he said. "I was honestly so shocked by how ignorant the questions were I was dumbstruck - this [poem] is what I wished I had said to her." 


Actress Rosario Dawson and hundreds of others have shared the poem since it was posted. In it, Gómez asks "What exactly does a 'Hispanic' look like?" before going through a line-by-line breakdown of stereotypes about who Hispanics are, what their physical appearances should be like and what they do.


Gómez delivered his powerful poem at New York City's Nuyorican Poet Cafe on Dec. 11, 2015 to cheers and applause as he took a moment to define who he is.


"You want to know what I am? I am a Latino, living in the United States. My name is three words that can’t be abbreviated. Yea, I want you to remember all three. Yea, I want you to say them like me. And yea, remember both of those accent marks baby. My name is Carlos. Andrés. Gómez."


Watch the full poem above. 

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The Bottom Line: ‘Goodnight, You Beautiful Women’ By Anna Noyes

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Energized by the stillness of domesticity, a man begins to throw his belongings into the quarry behind his home: knives and fragile china, cast away and sinking. When his wife wakes up to find a dusty absence where their refrigerator once was, she knows to worry. Soon after, he throws himself into the quarry, too. 


It's an odd scene that could be thought of as parabolic, until in breaches into cloudy, incomprehensible territory. Like the man's grieving wife, we're left in a haze of earthy images.


"Hibernation," the first story in Anna Noyes' biting collection Goodnight, Beautiful Women isn't about the man's illness, but his wife's response to it. She works to make sense of his erratic behavior and to accept that he's gone for good; she struggles to comprehend her own fritz of feelings, hollowness tinged with guilt-ridden relief. 


The quarry reappears in another of the collection’s stories, “The Quarry,” in which two sisters are cautioned against swimming by their mother, who offhandedly warns them about yeast infections. Collette, 10, follows the rules, even after an encounter with a sinister male babysitter leaves her disillusioned with the adult world. She’s thrown further askew when she spots her 15-year-old sister flirting with the man near the quarry, diving in and laughing intimately. We feel Collette’s loneliness congealing, even if she doesn’t make sense of it yet herself. She lashes out, leaving a dead bug on her sister’s pillow, waking her up to make sure she sees it.


In another story that examines the lasting effects of abuse, a young woman reveals her compassion for her father, even if she felt compelled to run away from him. She winds up taking advantage of her new, adoptive family, and reflects on her own deviancy, “Why do I do what I do? When I was little I’d wake up in the night and pee in the wicker wastebasket in the living room. I did this for months. The house was thick with the smell, and dad blamed it on the dog. I knew he was thinking of getting rid of our dog, and I did it again, and he got rid of her. I really don’t know why, I just did it because.”


The brave women in Noyes’s stories speak in their own assured voices, weather-worn by gusty Maine winters and steady in spite of a cracked foundation. We follow their winding paths toward self-awareness, which can hit like a glass shattering on craggy earth, if it ever comes.


These women aren’t in control of their sexual awakenings -- many are introduced to their own physicality by fumbling intruders -- but they are in charge of their reactions, which often involve fleeing to freedom, over and over, at the expense of others.


Noyes is among a bevy of women cataloging the whirring dangers of youth, among them Lindsey Hunter and her page-turning novel of female friendship Ugly Girls, and Robin Wasserman, whose Girls on Fire follows a Nirvana-loving pair and their suburban exploits. But unlike her ilk, Noyes does nothing to romanticize rough-and-tumble girlhood. She plunges into it, floats in its muddiness, and emerges to gaze on it without appraisal, like a hiker meditating on a pond. 


The bottom line


Women combat the bleak Maine wilderness and more insidious dangers within their own homes in a debut as rich and quiet as a walk in the dark. 


Who wrote it


This is Anna Noyes’s debut short story collection. Her fiction has appeared in Vice, A Public Space, and Guernica.


Who will read it


Fans of quiet short stories, earthy language, and fiction centered on women’s experiences.


What do other reviewers think


Kirkus: “These flawed female characters struggle to survive against threats both external and internal in this well-written debut.”


Publisher’s Weekly: “Noyes has a fluid, raw, and strikingly original manner with both language and emotion, and much of the writing in this collection is tender and innovative.”


Opening lines


Joni called the sheriff right after it happened. Her voice was clear and steady, and the line she used was the right one. I believe my husband has drowned in the quarry by our house.


Notable passage


I look back. Bert’s standing outside the store, our two hot chocolates in his hands. His gray-blonde hair is blowing like seeds from a kicked dandelion.


“Turn around,” I say, but she won’t.


Goodnight, Beautiful Women
By Anna Noyes
Grove Atlantic, $24.00
Publishes June 7, 2016



The Bottom Line is a weekly review combining plot description and analysis with fun tidbits about the book.


Also on HuffPost:


22 Summer 2016 Books You Won’t Want To Miss



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Nude, All-Women Production Of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' Honors Free Expression

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Shakespeare’s plays express an affinity for expressive dress. In “The Taming of the Shrew,” the caddish Petruchio withholds food, sleep and beautiful attire from his new bride as punishment for her forwardness, hoping to change her ways. In “Twelfth Night” and “The Merchant of Venice,” women disguise themselves as men in order to achieve their goals.


If outfits are favorite motifs of the Bard, what should we make of a clothes-free production of one of his best-known plays, “The Tempest”? According to co-director Alice Mottola, who headed up such a production performed this week at Summit Rock in New York City’s Central Park, nudity graces the play with themes of free expression and equality across cultures. This interpretation makes sense; the play, for those unfamiliar, is about an aristocratic crew caught in a storm that brings them to an island rich with magic and isolated inhabitants.


The production company describes the aesthetic choice on its site as such:



This Tempest focuses on the contrast between the harsh restrictions of "civilization" -- where political maneuvering costs thrones and lives -- and the Edenic, magic-suffused tropical island on which the sorcerer Prospero and his daughter Miranda have lived in exile for twelve years. The contrast will be dramatized not only through performance and staging but also through inventive and integral use of costuming, with the harrowed, conspiring shipwreck victims initially forced to navigate the play’s island setting in constricting outfits suggestive of European aristocracy.



The play’s "selective use of nudity to dramatize 'The Tempest''s central themes of alienation and reconciliation," the company continues, "builds on a long tradition of free expression in theatrical productions held in outdoor settings."


Modern takes on Shakespeare’s plays aren’t uncommon. His stories are often adapted into contemporary novelizations, the most recent slate published by Hogarth, including a forthcoming rewrite of “The Tempest” by Margaret Atwood, confronting the threats posed by global warming.


Another recent political take on The Bard involved an all-women production of “The Taming of the Shrew,” one of the playwright’s “problem plays,” for its arguably oppressive themes. The director, Rebecca Patterson, told The Huffington Post, "I don’t think [casting women] changes the meaning. What it does is liberate the play from simplistic gender politics into its deeper universal humanity."


Check out Mottola's liberating, nude production -- co-directed by Pitr Strait and co-produced with the Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society -- of "The Tempest" below.









Also on HuffPost:


This Theatre Group Performs Shakespeare, Only Drunker


 



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